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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.

Turn in your Bible to the book of Matthew chapter nine. Matthew chapter nine. Have you ever heard somebody say, you know you should have been a member of the IFA-ADA-only club. Anybody ever heard that? If I’d have only done this, if I’d have only, if I’d have only. Well I want you to see a few of those IFA-ADA-only. Here in Matthew chapter nine and verse 35 and Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

But when he saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then said he unto his disciples the harvest truly is plentyous, but the labors are few. Pray there for the Lord of the harvest that he was in forth labors into his harvest. Now you don’t need labors unless there’s a harvest. So there must be a need for labors. I believe God needs labors. That’s why for the last 52 years I’ve been laboring.

I’ve been working for the Lord because I want to. I do believe there’s a harvest that needs to be reaped and I want to get some. I’m not going to get all of them neither are you. You’re not going to win everybody you talk to. But I do want to sow seeds on purpose to deliberately sow seeds as I go through life. I don’t know where that seed is going to fall, on what mind is going to be soft, receptive, or hard, cold, or briars and thorns.

I don’t know. I just want to be faithful and sow in the seed and leave the results to the Lord because Because I don’t want to get to heaven and find out that if I had only sewed the seed, things could have been so much different. There could have been so many more people challenged to do what I did, if I would do it. Or how many people would have trusted Christ as Savior? Because if I’d only cast more seeds.

So there has to be the passion of an individual. you can’t just do it because, you know, well, it’s a verse in the Bible, but you have no feeling. You have no compassion. Remember, he says he was moved with compassion on them. It’s like feeling their hurt within you, sensing what they’re going through, sheep without a shepherd, having no direction, don’t know. I know the Lord and I want others to know the Lord. I know the the will of God for my life, and I want others to know that.

I do believe that there is a day of judgment coming. I believe this there’s going to be the judgment, see the Christ, and I’m going to be there. And I also believe that there’s going to be another judgment, the great white throne judgment. And it looks like I just might be there, not to be judged, but as a witness, a testimony. And we’ll look at a little bit of that. But chapter 10 starts job where he takes his disciples and he sends them into the harvest.

And he told him he says, now don’t go to the Gentile, just go to the house of Israel. And then says something a little interesting. Look at in verse 11. He said, and into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter. See, it didn’t matter what city, it didn’t matter what town. Go, cover the nation of Israel. And whatever town you go into and whatever city you go into, this is what you do. So like, we’re supposed to go so winning.

Where, wherever you are, whatever the shopping center may be or whatever the house you may knock on or whatever the person is in the aisle that you’re going to talk to or that’s a service station, but whatever. I don’t have to ask God, is it your will? I already know his will. I do depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead me as I go, as I witness, but I do not depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead me to do it.

I depend upon Him to guide me as I do it. I’ve already been commanded. If you wait until the Holy Spirit says that one over there, that one over there, no the third one on the right, I want you to talk to that one. I can’t wait for my time on the other two. I’m so glad you did that. No. Because you don’t know who’s going to hear and who’s not going to hear. They made this statement here in verse 11, enquire who is in it is worthy.

And they’re abide till you go thi worthy, you mean they got to deserve it? Well, not so fast, Charlie. And verse 12, he said, and when you come into a house saluted, you walk up, hallelujah. No. There was been, how was your mother? Oh, my mother is fine. How was your mother? Well, my mother is fine too. And how was your father? My father is fine. And how was your father? My father is fine too. And how was your son?

My son is fine. So you can spend a lot of time doing that, but there’s some people that need a little extra tension, you know, getting to know him a little bit. But he makes this statement, in verse 13, and if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. In other words, don’t say God bless you. Peace be unto you. Shalom, like him, like him, Shalom.

You don’t have to say that because you don’t162 that. Only those that listen to what you have to say. And who’s those that are worthy? Those that heard what you said and listened to your message. See there in verse 13, if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon him. But now look in verse 14. And whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words. That’s what determines it. Will they hear what you say? Will they listen to what you have to say?

And he says, when you depart out of that house city shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the day of judgment than for that city.” Now, there’s two things in that verse I just wanted to bring your attention to. One is there’s a day of judgment, and what you’re saying and what you’re doing, they’re going to have to give a count of.

What you’re doing, they are responsible for. You talk to people about the Lord. Their response, there’s accountability. That’s why you don’t have to get unglued. But you know there is a day of judgment coming. But just there’s a few little points that I’d like to make you aware of. And it says, shall be more tolerable. See tolerable means based upon amount of light that you have received. Some people get a lot of light. Some people don’t get as much light.

But the people sometimes that don’t get as much slight believe the message and those that hear a lot don’t believe it. So they shall receive the greater judgment. There is a principle here. What about you and I? Is it possible that you and I are going to be judged someday? Not only for what we did, but what we could have done based upon what we could have known and didn’t do it. I believe there’s a good possibility. Isn’t it true that you’ve often heard this?

We’re going to be rewarded in heaven for what we’ve done. And some people may have wood hands double. And some people may have gold, silver and precious stones. Some people may be rewarded greatly and some people not so great. We often say that people who are standing at the great white throne judgment are going to be judged according to amount of light they had. And so some people have a lot of light, and some people have a little light.

It’s going to be more tolerable for some than for others. I wish to understood all of it, but I don’t. Some things God hasn’t clearly revealed, and they bother me, to the point where I sometimes struggle with certain scriptures scriptures because I want to know the scriptures so bad because I hate for there to be a truth that I can’t teach dogmatically because I don’t understand it. And I believe there’s a lot in God’s Word that I’ll never understand.

I’ve only lived 52 years since I trust the Lord and I think if God gave me another 52 years I’m gonna be a very old man and I’m still not gonna understand it all. So I try to pick up a little bit here and a little bit there and try to find things that will challenge and motivate me. Now I’m not saying that everything that I say and teach is that dogmatic. When it comes to the gospel and how a man goes to heaven, there’s no wavering on that.

Salvation is the gift of God. It’s not of works. No man can earn his way to heaven. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, that whosoever anybody would believe that when he died and paid for their sins he would give them everlasting life and they would not perish. So I believe that and that you can know now that you have eternal life and know that you’re going to heaven when you die. But I’ll have to admit there’s a lot of things I don’t really understand and I wish they did.

I know here, he says, Sodom and Gomorrah, look what he says, Verily I sinned you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Now as he’s talking about just judging the land, well, you don’t know, he’s already done that. If he’s just going to judge the land, what do I care? But are you talking about the people that lived in that city, or the people that lived on the land, That got to work all that out, but I do know this.

If it’s going to be more tolerable, and he’s talking to God’s people, his disciples, so that they would understand a little bit that you can’t make everybody believe. They were sent, they had a message, they were supposed to listen to it, and they’re going to give a count. Not only we who are supposed to go and to tell the message, but they who are supposed to listen to the message. So he says, in verse 16, Behold, I sin you forth as sheep in the mist of wolves, be therefore wisest serpents and harmless as doves.

It means don’t brawl and don’t ball. Don’t cry about all the things that’s going to go wrong because I told you to do what I told you to do. He says, some in verse 17, as he says, beware of men, some are gonna do you wrong. They’re gonna harm you. They’re gonna say things to you. So in the last part of this chapter, he talks about in verse 26, fear them not because of what they call you. Verse 28, fear them not because of what they do to you.

In verse 31, fear them not because of, you know, of what is my value. What’s the value in all of this? Why should I do this? Why should I go through all this suffering to reach somebody and the persecution they can come and maybe even die? You know, if God says, I might die doing this job, how important then must that job be? If God is willing for me to die, to get the gospel to somebody, that whoever I’m supposed to reach must be of great value.

Should we look at it from God’s point of view? These things affect me. And this is why I believe it is so important. I want you to take your Bible and look there in the book of Matthew and chapter 11. And look at another scripture with me. And look in verse 20. And verse 20. He makes this statement in comparison and showing you something that’s going to take place. Then began he to upgrade the cities where in most of his mighty works were done because they repented not.

They did not believe what he said. And he had gone even to his hometown where he was raised. People knew him. So he had to wind up saying no, a prophet has no honor in his own country. and then he goes further than that in his own family with people that know him. Sometimes the hardest people to ever talk to are those that know you, that really know you. And then when you try to correct things or try to tell them something that’s very important, sometimes they remember who you were instead of who you are now.

Hold your place right here, look in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. And look in verse 5. And he said unto them that the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. He came to pass on another Sabbath, came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered, the scribes and the Pharisees watched him. Whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they may find an accusation against him.

And he knew their thoughts said to the man which had the withered hand, rise up and stand forth in the mist. and he arose and stood forth. Then said, Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? And looking round about them, he said unto the man, stretched forth thy hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored, whole as the other.

And they were filled with madness and commune one with another, what they might do with Jesus. It always comes down to this issue. What will you do with Jesus? Will you accept Him or reject Him? Will you believe or not believe? Even the miracles that He did was for the purpose of getting people to believe. And He says that the works that He did, they would not believe it. And because they would not believe it, there is going to be a price to pay.

So go back there to the book of Matthew in chapter 11. And look what he says now in verse 21, Woe unto thee, Corazon, Woe unto thee, Bethsaida. And here’s a little letter I want you to do a word I want you to kind of circuit there into the if. See that word, If the mighty works which were done in you had been done entire incitement, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. My question I automatically asked was, then why didn’t he do it?

Doesn’t that make sense? Why wouldn’t he do it? He said, if what I’m doing here, these miracles that I’m doing, if I had done them back then then they would have repented. They would not have been destroyed. Maybe the people would have believed. Or maybe as a nation or as a city or a bunch of, you know, they were sodomites, they would have changed their mind, reconsidered, turned from their evil deeds. So in my mind, Well, Lord, if you knew that, why didn’t you do that?

Just like with Elijah and all, there was times when he would heal a person, but he didn’t heal everybody. There was time like, you know, the Syrian. He had leprosy. He come to see the man of God in. He got healed, but not everybody. See God knows the thoughts of people. And whether or not I can have a great understanding of her to clear, I don’t know. But there are things that I wish I had all the answers to.

But what I look at is this, God can’t do anything wrong. He can’t make a mistake. He’s not a respecter of persons. So He knows how much light every man has. He knows what you know. He knows how much light you need to make a decision. Some people, he says, had less light, and they believed, why should he give somebody else more light, even though they would have believed it, but they didn’t, with the same amount of light and understanding that somebody else had.

Some of those things, they bothered me, but there are several things mentioned here. You notice where he says, if the mighty works which were done in you had been done, entire inside them, they would have. So it shows you also that things that could have been different if somebody either knew or understood something. I don’t understand some of the reasons why God does what he does, but then I don’t need to know. what God’s word does say is that He is going to call every man into judgment, every man.

Whether those that know the Lord and are delivering the message or those that hear the message and whether or not how much light do they actually have. If they had this, they would have done this. If God had given you more knowledge, would you have done more? But is it possible for God to hold knowledge back from you because you don’t obey the knowledge you already have? And you seal your own fate. Because you refuse to believe, refuse to trust.

I believe one day we’ll get to heaven and we’ll find out what our unbelief, even as a child of God, has cost us. The thing that God looks for in every individual is the word faith. Somebody that believes God with the amount of knowledge or truth that He has given you, then God can give more. Yes, maybe somebody would have done differently had they known me. more and that’s why he says, why did the princes of this world crucify Christ?

Had they known? If they had more knowledge and they were so wise, why did they crucify the Lord of glory? And if they had more knowledge, they could have made different decisions. See, there’s some things that’s going on behind the scenes that you and I will probably will never understand. But I want you to see this in verse 22, because it deals with the subject, there is going to be a day of judgment. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable, more tolerable than somebody else.

It means that some people had more light than what others had. It appears that what he’s saying in context is that what I’ve done here and the miracles that I’ve done gives you more light than what they had. And it’s going to be more tolerable for them because they had less light than what you’ve got. Or it’s because they are going to have greater sufferings when they go to hell because they had more truth given to them, a greater opportunity of understanding, and yet not truly understand.

Now just hold place right here. Turn me to the book of Matthew chapter 13. Matthew 13, look in verse 10. In Matthew chapter 13 and verse 10 he says, and the disciples came, said unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, because, but see there is a reason why he did it. It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Some would be able to understand and some people would not understand, but the reason some could understand and some could not understand was because of desire.

Some desired to know truth. Some desired as they did in the Old Testament to know and to understand the things that Isaiah had prophesied. So in verse 12 he says, for whose whosoever hath means hath understanding. Do him shall be given, I believe, more understanding, and he shall have more abundance, but whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” I wonder what it’s really talking about. It’s talking about those that understand and can understand more, and And those who do not want to understand, will understand less than what they could have had.

So there’s a God who I believe balances things out because God is a good God and they’re righteous God and He has to be just and everything that He does. God can do no man wrong. I don’t understand it all, but I know what His word says and I hope that God will even down the road, give me greater understanding. But what I want you to see is this. You see there in verse 13, therefore speak eye to them in parables because they seen, see not.

Hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, said, by hearing ye shall hear, shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. So they lacked the desire to know truth, because those who want to see, want to hear, want to understand, will be able to. And when he spoke in a mixed crowd speaking in a parable telling stories and illustrations the way he did, those who wanted to understand, could understand what he’s talking about, that search for truth.

Now, not all the time that all the disciples understand everything about the parable, but they had the desire to want to know and they would ask them, what do you mean by this? Explain this to us. Sometimes Jesus would even say to them. Understand it. Do you understand? So he lists his here in verse 15. For this people, their heart is whacked, gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, their eyes, they have closed. They did it. So they hear, but they don’t really hear because they don’t want to hear.

They don’t understand. See, there’s some Some people who seek truth, who seek after God even talking about search for me with all your heart. There was a time when I was as a lost man and I found out later that God was the one that was looking for me. We often say, I found the Lord. Well in reality, He wasn’t lost. HeRESULTS into the world of seek and to say that which was lost. Now who was lost, lost? We were lost and God saw us.

And so there’s things that happens in our life that causes us to want to know truth and we begin to seek. And so we can find something, the truth, and yet all the time God was doing the one that was seeking us. But look what he says here. As you go through this in verse 15, their ears and their eyes, as he says here, they have closed. And then it says it in backwards, lest at any time they should see and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart, should be converted and I should heal them.

they’ve closed their eyes. They are dull of hearing. And so therefore they have lost their desire to understand. Understand this. Is it possible that you could come to church and the preacher could teach the Bible? And if your heart has gotten to the place where it’s gotten hard between you and God, and you hear the word of God but not benefit from it, you hear but you don’t hear, you don’t understand. Did you know you could go through the motions and you can see the Scriptures and not get anything out of it?

That can happen whenever you have lost the desire to obey. The reason for studying the Word of God and this desire is this hunger for righteousness and they shall be filled. But a lot of God’s children have lost their hunger. They’ve lost their desire. They don’t really want to understand. And because of that, someday we’re going to have to give an account to the Lord. And we’ll think, if I had only, if I had only. So we’re seeing from some of the scriptures that yes, there is a difference and it’s more tolerable for some than for others.

And then he talks about some being condemned because of the judgment or the testimony of others. I don’t believe that God is going to allow an unbeliever to condemn a believer. So therefore, we will, I believe, give testimonies because there’s going to be a day of judgment. And so just keep sowing the seed. Whether you understand how it works, just do it. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tapp of 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.