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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, 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 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.

Take the Bible and turn to the book of James James and chapter 1, James and chapter 1, as in everything, we sometimes fail to take heed to the consequences of our own decisions. It’s so very easy to blame God for things that we do. For example, a man says, I lost my job, I lost my job, and then because I lost my job, I had financial difficulties. So I went bowling and when I went bowling I met this young lady.

And when I met this young lady, well, we had an affair and my wife found out about it and she divorced me. But it wouldn’t have happened if God hadn’t allowed me to lose my job. It all happened because of that. And so therefore it was God’s fault. God allowed me to be tested above what I was able to stand and it wasn’t my fault. Well, you know, that kind of started way back there in the garden when the Lord had to talk to, what was that first guy’s name, Adam?

Yeah. And he says, you know, that woman you made, it was that woman you made, it wasn’t my fault, it was that woman that you, you made, God, you did it. And of course, you know, the woman, you know, it was that serpent, not my fault. And so the blame game has been going on for a very long time, very long. And so I guess you could say even Martha at the funeral of her brother, he’d been dead for four days and she was still in a bad mood.

She still wasn’t on cloud nine. She wasn’t even got over it yet. I guess she’s still in the morning. But her statement to Jesus was, you know, if you had been here, this wouldn’t have happened. This is your fault. It really is a blame. The way she felt and how she was going through, it was his fault because if you had been here, this would not have happened. Why weren’t you here? Why didn’t you do something about it? And you’d be surprised as we live our lives how many times we say it, the same thing.

But we don’t say it out loud, but we think it. God, you let this happen to me. You let this happen to me. this and it’s all your fault. So God does send trials and so forth into our lives. But understand the difference between trials and you know, testings and temptations. They are not exactly the same. In the book of James in chapter 1, verses 1 to verse 12, it talks a little bit about trials, but those are trials are mainly from without outside of you.

And then verses 13 to 18, it deals with the temptations that are from within you. You see, you have the lust of the flesh and you desire things and therefore sometimes God gets the blame for that. So I want to give you quickly three reasons on why not to blame God, but it’s so easy to do so because God is so, anyway, he’s sovereign. God can stop anything. He can cause everything to be smooth in my life. And if something goes wrong in my life, well, Lord, why did you do that?

You could have changed that. It’s your fault. But anyway, I want you look there in chapter one. And this deal is with a person who needs to learn patience, a person who needs to learn wisdom. But he also talks about a person that is double-minded. In other words, kind of a wishy-washy person. You know, is one way this time in, another way, and then back and forth, back and forth, like a yo-yo. The thing about the Lord is if you’re looking, verse 17, he makes this statement, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

He says, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no verbleness, neither shadow of turning. It means that God is not double-minded. God is not double-minded. He’s not this way and then He changes mine and then He’s this way, and then He’s this way and then He’s this way. No, you can no-encound on God being the same. He doesn’t go changing up on us. God’s character is involved, and therefore it’s very important. So he says in verse two, my brethren, so he’s talking to those who know the Lord, count it all joy when you fall in the divers’ testings.

He says, knowing this, that the trying of your faith work with patients, so it has a work to perform. The problems of life, the things that we go through in life, has a function, there is a purpose for various testings in life, and it works to produce something in our life. So God uses those things to develop the character that He knows is lacking in your life, so He knows the right testing to give to you. And many times the testing is designed to reveal to you what you’re lacking.

So when you lack it, you go to the Lord and you request the wisdom that you need, or the strength that you need, or the patience that you need to endure whatever that trial or testing may be. And so he says in verse 5, if any man lack wisdom, in that word, if means that you do lack it, and that you’ll go to the Lord and you’ll ask the Lord and God will give to you that which you need.

And as you go down through here, it makes the statement in verse 12. Blessed is the man that endures the temptation, the testings, the trials. For when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. So you understand that there’s the God that loves you, a God who’s made a promise to you that you’re going to be rewarded or blessed because of your enduring that problem. Remember, Sunday I talked about he that is faithful and that which is little is faithful and that which is much.

So God tests you in small areas so that he can give you something bigger and better, usually a bigger testing, bigger trials. And so you have to earn the right to get the big things. So be faithful in little things and he’ll give you some bigger things. Because you see, you always have to have something that challenges your faith. So as your faith grows, those little bitty things, well, they don’t do the work anymore. You have to have something bigger and bigger and bigger to make your faith grow.

That’s why we say faith is born in despair. So it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been serving the Lord, you still have moments of despair and God wants to use that in order to get us where He wants us to be. Now, when you go from verse 13 on, it’s talking about a little bit different things. It’s talking about something that’s on the inside of you like the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.

So he says in verse 13, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. In other words, because of the nature of God, God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted He any man. So you know right off the bat, God is not the cause of you doing wrong. You cannot blame God for why you do what you do. It’s not God’s fault. knows he gave to you a mind that you can think and reason, ask some logic and come to a decision and God wants to help you to make wise choices.

So I want to help you to understand a little bit about how God uses various things to help you and I that make better choices. So here in these verses, he’s simply talking about something that’s within every one of us. We all have a sinful nature, so we do that which is wrong. When it comes to the Lord, if you know there’s some things that God cannot do, it will help you. God does not tempt any man to sin.

In other words, He’s not the one that baits you. God doesn’t do that. God is not trying His best to trap you, to lure you into trouble so that He can zap you. No, that’s the devil. That’s the devil that does that. So you understand that. The other thing is, is understand the nature of the temptation. It is sin and it leads to death. See what he says in verse 14, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust.

That’s from within you. That’s on the inside. And entice, then when lust hath conceived, then it produces a problem. Then sin is involved. I wrote down a little statement, sin is desire plus choice. When you decide to take the bait, that is the sin. When you decide to take the bait in the mind, as some would say, in the heart of man. You see, it’s one thing to see something, desire, but when you have decided that if I can, I will.”

Let me read it to you. The sin is not yet in the act, but in the decision, I will. There’s somebody else who got in trouble because he mentioned five times, I will ascend above the throne of God, and I will be like the most high. I will, I will, I will, I will. You see, it wasn’t, he didn’t have to do it yet. It was all decisions made. You can decide to kill somebody, but you haven’t killed them yet.

But the decision to kill somebody is still sin. And you can hate somebody enough that you want to do them wrong, even though you haven’t done it yet. But it’s still sin. Now our government waits until you commit the act, and then they get you for committing a crime. In other words, it boils down to if I could, I would, and if I can, I will. And so you can create the sin for which God can judge. See God knows the heart of man and God sees the decisions that we make in our heart and yet has not fulfilled.

And God can chase him because of that. So just understand how God does work. Now in verse 17 and verse 18, it deals with the nature of the gift. Look what he says about God. God cannot tempt any man to sin. And when we do, it comes from within an individual and because of the nature of temptation and where it comes from, you understand its character. the character of your old sinful nature. Understand the nature of God and His righteousness and what He will and will not do.

And also understand that every good and perfect gift comeeth down from the Father above. Look what He says in verse 17. Every good gift, every perfect gift is from above. Comeeth down from the Father of lights. And there’s nothing wrong with what God has and what God does. God is a good God. Always understand, even though God may chase in you because He loves you, He’s still always doing what is best for you. Do you believe that? For we know that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to those were called according to his purpose.

So there’s some things that yes God wants to do in our life. So let me just mention this to you, because it’s so important to know. The testing of life, the trials of life, the temptation to do evil, the fulfillment of the act. All these things produce pain in our life. Now I want you to take your Bible and look there in the book of Revelation, Revelation in chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21. And notice what he says there in verse 3.

Verse 3 says, And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death.” Neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. You see, all these things in life, the death causes pain, the sorrow, disappointments, all the causes pain.

And so you’ll find in several places in scripture where there is the difference between the torture, the torment and the comfort. And so they’re used to get a person to see and to understand that. For example, take your Bible and turn it to the book of 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians in chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalon chapter 4 is a familiar verse but just to see what it says in verse 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

You can sorrow, but sometimes the sorrow that you have or the grief that you have is because of something you don’t understand or trust the Lord for. In other words, their sorrow doesn’t have to be like the people that have no hope. Yours can be different. You may still asara, but not as those that have no hope. And then down in verse 18, he uses this word. We’re for comfort one another with these words. So between those two verses, there must be something said to produce the comfort.

And as you know, in this life, we would not know what it meant when you go to the book of Luke in chapter 16, and it talks about the rich man and Lazarus, and how that Lazarus died and was taken to Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man died, and well, he opened his eyes in hell. And it says that Father Abraham coments in Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his sphanging water and cool my tongue for I am what?

Torminid in this flame. Abraham says, remember that thou and thy lifetime, you were comforted and he was not. Now he is comforted and thou are tormented. Those two words, the contrast, you and I would not have any clue about beyond this life when God talks about the peace that you’re going to have, the comfort that you’re going to have. Without sorrow, without death, without pain, you would have no clue just how wonderful that would be if you didn’t understand how sorrowful you can be and the things that you can go through in life.

So there’s a lot of things that God does in this life that inflicts pain that He allows to teach us some things. You see, it’s the opposite that causes you to appreciate when it’s time for the comfort. So God in this life allows us to have pain and comfort so that we would understand when He talks about a place called hell, we wouldn’t want to go there because of the pain. But if you never experienced pain, never experienced hurt, well, that ain’t going to be that bad.

So, a God allows us to have to go through some of these things and lo and behold, we have an awful lot that we need to learn. But what I want you to see is he talks about in hell they were torment and in Abraham’s bosom they were comforted. So there’s things that you and I are going to go through in life that will produce pain, but God can use the pain to help you and I to be wise.

Now all pain is inflicted to teach us that that only the Lord gives permanent comfort. So as you live your life and you go through these things and you’ll find out there’s some things that you may not like. God even cursed the ground so that it would not produce its yield. And it comes with thorns and briars and all these things that happens, which we don’t really like. God loving us knows that we would truly be some bored individuals.

If it wasn’t for having to work. Do you know one of the worst things in the world is when you have nothing to do? You don’t know what to do with yourself. I haven’t been there. I just heard people talk about it. But it must be a terrible thing. So sometimes we learn how to pray. So God allows the pain because the pain produces something and it helps us to grow closer to the Lord. Now, I was told about Josephus who was a Jewish historian and wrote a lot back in the times of Christ.

And it says that when they talked about Elijah and how that he prayed and that when he prayed for the rain to come. Their theology was that he drew a circle on the ground and got inside the circle and he says, I will pray and not leave the circle until the rain comes. Now, I don’t know if it’s true, but some people call it a circle, a prayer where you believe God so strongly that you would draw a circle and get into that circle and say, I am going to pray to the Lord to answer my prayer, or I will not leave this circle till He does.

How strong is your faith? Now that’s going a little too far. I won’t leave the circle until God answers my prayer. Now, buddy, you’re talking about putting out a fleece. Gideon did it. He got away with it. There’s other people that do it and they get away with it. But you need to be very slow and careful before you just copy what somebody else does. Unless you find out you are tempting God, you know, like jumping off the Empire State building and trust them, well, if the Lord doesn’t want me to get hurt, He’ll catch me.

So I’m going to trust the law. I’m going to show everybody my faith in God. Yeah, you might show your faith in God, but there is a thin line between faith and foolishness. You may have an appointment with the ground. The Bible talks about, temp not the Lord thy God. I wonder who said that. Jesus said that. He said that to Satan. When he says, jump off the temple, that pinnacle of the temple wall, he says, you’re not even going to hurt your little foot.

The angels will bear the up. Let’s all stab you toe. He says, temp not the Lord thy God. In other words, you don’t test God. God wants to test you. But there’s things that God has said that He says, this is fair game. You can do this. Things that are within the will of God. So you studied the Word of God so that you can talk to the Lord and pray to the Lord. You see, if we didn’t believe in spite of everything that goes on, that it would ever make a difference, most people would never pray.

Why pray if it’s not going to accomplish anything? So evidently there is something about prayer that we don’t understand how it works. But only that God says that it does work. And we’re supposed to believe that it works. So I wrote a couple of things down here. When it comes to children, you can tell them, don’t put your hand on the stove because the stove is hot. What will generally a child do? He’s going to test and see if what you’re saying is true.

Sometimes we want to test God and see if what God says is true. And maybe there’s some things you can do. some things that you cannot do. Be smart. So if you lay your hand up on that hot plate and you leave it too long, what’s going to happen? You’re going to get burned. And when you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. But the pain is supposed to teach you and I that if we do this again, we will get burned again.

So it teaches you to be wise so that you don’t do that again. What is one of the main reasons for inflicting pain to a child when they’re young? There is a reason for it. And it’s a good reason. Parents should inflict pain to her child when young to teach her respect for authority. Believe it or not, God’s words children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. And it says in the book of Proverbs, spare the rod and spoil the child.

The reason that we’ve got such a rotten government is because we probably have too many spoiled brats that were raised and now they’re in Washington. So you learn by inflicting pain, suffering some consequences. One of the greatest ways for you to be wise is to make wise decisions. And one way to learn how to make wise decisions is to make bad decisions and suffer consequences. We want to keep everybody from suffering the consequences of their decisions. We don’t want them to hurt.

We always talk about, I want a better life for my kids than what I had. I don’t. I want them to learn just like I learned because that’s the way most people do learn. And so I want them to learn. I told my kids, you can afford to go and borrow as much money as you can afford. Daddy will not go into debt for you. I will not borrow money for you. You want to go into debt? You go into debt.

Go as far as you want to go. And if you go to jail, you can pay your way out. I didn’t put you in there. I will not get you out of jail. I just wanted to make it sure they understand, you know, I think it’s good that they know there’s a limit. And if you want to make some stupid idiotic decisions, you suffer the consequences of your decisions. Daddy’s not going to bail you out every time you turn around and they just think that’s what I am, no, I’m not going to do that.

I want to teach you to be responsible and make good decisions and the way you’ll make good decisions is suffering the pain some of your bad decisions. You said, that’s cruel. No, that’s not cruel. It’s kind of like having some bird eggs and say there’s four of them in a nest and three of them have already hatched and there’s one that’s trying to get out so you wanna help that one. So you crack open the rest of it and you try to help him get out of there.

And for some reason or other, he’s just so weak he can’t do anything and he dies. The other three are okay. So why? Because the struggling is what builds the strength to live. 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 Bible and 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.