This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 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 concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

God uses many things in the Christian’s life to teach us to live by faith. God leads us into difficulties in order that we may trust Him to lead us out. Man’s extremities may be providential or may be forced upon us or may be of our own creation. Regardless, they are God’s opportunities to use them for our good. For it has been proven that they are not hiding places from God but meeting places with God. Faith is usually born of despair because faith works better when there is no natural hope.

And there’s this little poem that I put in here. Doubt sees the obstacles. Faith sees the way. Doubt sees the dark some night. Faith sees the day. Doubt dreads to take the step. Faith sores on high. Doubt whispers, who believes faith answers I. Another definition of faith is confidence in others, reliance upon testimony. True faith is composed of the following, knowledge, belief, and trust. Knowledge one must be informed before he can have faith. This is true in the things of man, so it is in Christ.

It is impossible to have faith in Christ without the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,” Romans 10 and 17. Sometimes we may ask for more faith, but this is out of order. To increase one’s faith, one has only to read more of the Word of God, because a person can have faith, but he also must know that it exists. Number two, belief. The second element of faith is belief. everyone knows what belief means, that is, to accept it as the truth.

People can know that there is a Savior by the name of Jesus and believe that He can save. Yet this is not saving faith. To have faith in a chair, one must know that it exists and believe that it can hold him up. Still this is not complete faith in the chair until the third element is involved and that is number three, trust. Trust is essential to faith in everything. It is most essential in saving faith. It is one thing to know that Christ died and believe it.

It is quite another thing to trust Him. The dying and resurrected Savior for salvation. Let us take the chair again, for example. The one knows that a chair exists and believes that it can hold him up, but faith in that chair is not exercised until he sets in it. Are you trusting completely in Christ for your salvation? In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, Ephesians 1, 13. We see according to this that faith comes by hearing and then trusting what you hear.

In order to trust more, you have to hear more. It is to have, or as we have seen, how God has faith in himself, the Holy Spirit, the children, his son, we should come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. Because that Jesus was faithful to the death of the cross and stands now on the right hand of God as faithful high priest, God has not asked us to die for him, but to live for him.

And without faith, it is impossible to please him. Hebrews 11-6. Galatians 2.20 says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. When our Father makes us a promise, we as children of faith should trust the one whom we have never seen to fulfill for us what we cannot see.

If I trust the Lord to give me a car, then I would patience wait for it. We are not to scheme and connive to bring about the ways of God to supply our need. Of the ways of men. If I do not wait for the car, then I am not trusting. When the car comes, I no longer hope for it, because the end or results of my faith is finished. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope.

But what a man see it, why does he yet hope for it? But if we hope for that which we see not, then we do with patience, wait for it. Romans 8, 24 and 25. But if we hope for that which we see not, then we do with patience, wait for it. All of us based upon your confidence that you have in the Lord. And in this last statement, faith is no longer faith when I see the things I hope for or trust So the fulfillment of a promise is the end of faith because faith is what brings us to the fulfillment of a promise.

And then I have a couple foot notes. Now that was 47 years ago. You know it doesn’t hurt to refresh my mind and think you know that’s still pretty good for the day. So here you are and you trusted Christ is your Savior. Do you have anything that’s challenging your faith. What more faith? Get more of the Word of God and it’ll work that away. Now I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book of Mark, the Gospel of Mark, chapter eight, because it’s so difficult for people to understand because it’s hard to trust something that you cannot see.

But I didn’t make this world, it’s here, so I know God made it. And The easiest thing in the world is to realize, you know, I’m here. I didn’t make me. Did you make me? I didn’t make you. See, you are a creation of God, especially designed by God. And God loves you and wants you to have eternal life and they go to heaven. But to go to heaven, you see, you have to be perfect and nobody’s perfect. By your works, you can’t be perfect, But by your faith in Christ, you can be.

So faith can get you something that your works can’t get you. Go into church, can’t get you to heaven. Give it money. Live in a good light, can’t get you to heaven. But if you put your trust in Christ and what He did on the cross for you, you get to go to heaven and it’s free. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that who soever, they leave it in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

So if you’ll believe it, that’s not blind faith. That’s faith in the facts because of God says something. It’s truth. And if it’s truth, it’s the fact. And so it’s faith in what God says. It’s faith in the truth. Therefore you can rest assured that if God made it promised, it’s based upon God’s faithfulness to keep his word. Can you trust God? that is faith. Can you take God at His Word? So if He walked in here right now and offered to you a free gift of eternal life, and you say, yes, I believe that Christ died, paid for my sins, and I’m going to accept that payment He made for me.

Do you believe that if God promised you eternal life, that He’ll do it? Do you really believe He’ll give you eternal life? God can’t lie, and God is faithful to His Word. And if you want your faith to become strong, then you must know what the Word of God says. You may know you have eternal life and you’re going to heaven when you die and you can feed on pabble them for the rest of your life. But you must absorb the book.

You’ve got to study the book. So here in the book of Mark in chapter 8 I want you to see this. I kind of title this a little bit along the lines of the stumble before the fall, the stumble before the fall. See, you may know Christ is your Savior, you’ll go to heaven when you die, but you’re not there yet. And because you’re not there yet, you still got life to live. And isn’t it true that a lot of people when you’re learning how to walk, you stumble.

ball. As you begin to walk with the Lord, some Christians understand this. You don’t just… I just fell. I fell into some sin. No, if you’ll probably find out there were some signs of stumbling before you fell. And if you’ll notice, you need to watch your step. The things you think about, the things that you say to you. Because there could be evidences. that you’re stumbling before you fall. There is a verse in the Bible says, pride cometh before destruction, before a fall.

So notice what he says in verse 27, Jesus went out and his disciples into the towns of Sitzidorea Philippi, and by the way he asked his disciples saying to them, whom do men say that I am? The answer said, John the Baptist, some says Elias, some others, one of the prophets. He said, but whom say ye that I am? Peter says, thou art the Christ. Verse 30, he charged him that they should tell no man of him, and he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be dejected of the elders of the chief priests, scribes, and be killed, and after that three days rise again.

And he spake that sayeth openly, and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. Jesus is God in the flesh. And here’s a man correcting God. Now is that a good thing to do? I don’t think that’s the best thing that he could have done. But there’s a reason why Peter did those things. In verse 30, but when he had turned about and look on his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Peter rebukes the Lord and then the Lord rebukes Peter.

Now somebody here is wrong. I wonder which one Nau And he said to Peter, he says, get the, for thou hast not thou the things that be of God, but the things that be of man. In other words, you’re not making a wise decision. You’re not thinking right. You’re thinking as a man. These are man’s thoughts. And that man’s thoughts comes from the devil. You’re not thinking right. But before he ever fell, there were signs of stumbling. And if you’ll notice this, it will happen.

Look there in the book of Mark chapter 9 and verse 4. In chapter 9 and verse 4, they had gone upon this mountain. He had already done told him, he says, you’re not going to taste of death. It means you’re not going toDiff, until you see me transfigured. And as though I was coming in my power in great glory, I’m going I’m gonna let you see this. So he takes him upon a mountain. And while he were up there, in verse two, and after six days, Jesus take with him Peter and James and John, took him to a very high mountain because he’s gonna show him something nobody’s ever seen before.

This ought to really increase your faith, would it? Well, it ought to. But you see, Peter had a vision problem. His vision was blurred. He didn’t really have good discernment and he didn’t see clearly, even though he’s on a mountain peak, all of a sudden there’s Jesus and Moses and Elijah, all three of them. I mean, you know what he says right off the bat? What we ought to do is make a monument to all three of you guys.

So he says there in verse five, and Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles, one for you one for Moses and one for Elijah. Isn’t that wonderful of him? Now, he didn’t take him up there in order that they could build a monument to them or tabernacle to them. But regardless of whether it was Moses and Elijah, the Bible says they disappeared and there was only Jesus standing there.

But you see, he did not have good discernment about the will of God and things begin to get cloudy in in his mind, but one step leads to another step that causes the problem. Look there in chapter 14. Chapter 14 and verse 26. 14 verse 26. Now this is after they had, you know, celebrated the Passover, they had sung the hymn and then it says they went out into the night. Verse 26. When they had sung the hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives and Jesus said of them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night.

For it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen. I will go before you in the Galilee. But Peter said unto them, although although all shall be offended, yet will not I. This is what you would call having a boastful pride. not just being filled with pride, but as though he could do for Christ, what Christ cannot do for himself. And that’s protect himself. Or if everybody else does it, I’m not like everybody else.

I’m different. And if they all forsake your Lord, here am I. Aren’t you glad you got me? It is so good for us to be here. You know the other two guys never said anything? Peter was always saying something. And so he says in verse 29, although all shall be offended yet, will I not? And verse 30, and Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, that this day, even in this night, before the cockroach twice thou shalt deny me three times.

But he spake the more beheminantly. Now this is pride personified. He is manifesting his rebellious attitude. You see, he didn’t just fall when he denied the Lord three times. He was stumbling before he ever got there. When you say, I fell into some great sin and I don’t know what happened. You try to think back, you’ll probably find out there were some times that you were stumbling and you didn’t pay attention to it. You were not careful. And God may even speak to you.

The Holy Spirit said, you know, this isn’t right and this is wrong. And you didn’t heed what I told you. then you wonder what happened. Well, that’s what happens. Look in chapter 14, verse 37. Verse 37, you’ll notice he was lacking in his prayer life. Was he lacking in his prayer life? Well, look, who is it that came to him one night and says, look, I’ve got a serious problem, and I need you to pray for me. Would you just pray for me one hour?

Well, I mean, who asked him? Oh, it was the Lord. the Lord in the garden, he said, would you just pray for me? Look at what he says here, where he says in verse 37, and he cometh and findeth them sleeping and said unto people. He says, Simon, sleepest thou, couldest not thou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray lest ye enter into […] into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. You need to pray.

When you have trouble with your flesh, you might need to pray. You might need to talk to the Lord. You might need to get a little bit closer to the Lord. You don’t curse the darkness or anything like that or the disappointments and the disparities of life. You just get closer to the Lord. And so, can you see that it’s just one thing leads to the other that leads to the other that leads to the other? So you begin to stumble and you…

Look there in same chapter, but verse 45. Verse 45, and you’ll notice that it makes the statement in verse 45 to 50, and as soon as he was come, he’d go a straight way to him and say, master, master, and he kissed him. Now we’re talking about Judas’s carrot that night when he was gonna betray him. They took their hands on him and took him. So Christ was just in the garden, and they had failed to pray for them like he wanted.

And then the Bible tells us that Judy shows up and betrays him with a kiss. And then in verse 47, and one of them that stood by drew a sword and smote a servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. I think he would probably aim him for the head. Jesus answered and said unto them, are you come out as against a thief with swords and would stave to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching and you took me not.

But the Scriptures must be fulfilled and they all forsook him and they fled.” Because see, the one that took the sword and cut off the ear, that was Peter. Peter did that. Because you see, when you don’t pray right and you get a boastful attitude about how strong you are and how great you think you are, did you know that God has a ways and means committee of bringing pride down? Nobody in this room better be lifted up with pride because I can guarantee that God will humiliate you and He will humble you and He can bring shame upon you and nothing flat because God doesn’t play games.

God means what he says. God hates pride. Pride is rebellion against God and against his will. A majority of people are filled with it, but they just don’t see it and don’t understand it. And they don’t wonder what’s happening in their life and why they’re not strong as they ought to be because they don’t take heed to the little stumbling and it’s so it happens to them. Also look there in in verse 53 to 54, I want you to see this.

In verse 53, and they led Jesus away to the high priest and with him were a symbol of all the chief priests and the elders in the scribes and Peter followed him afar aw. And then what else did he do that was bad? He sat with the servants. And then what else did he do that was so bad? He warmed himself at the foul. All of this reveals his attitude. There’s a bad attitude that he has. You see, he tried to save him, but he couldn’t do it.

He didn’t have the power to do it. He had said things that he shouldn’t have said. He was proud and he was boastful. He’s having to eat his words. And yet the Lord says, you’re gonna deny me. And he did. Three times that night he denied the Lord. But he didn’t think he would. He said he never would. Though I’ll be offended, I will not be offended. Why is he following me far off? Because he’s afraid. Why is he at the friend’s fire to warm himself?

No. And then somebody comes along and they see who he is and they recognize just exactly who he is. So look there in verse 68. In verse 68, it makes a statement. But he denies and I know not, neither understand I, what thou says. In other words, I have a problem with my hearing. I don’t understand what you’re saying. You must be speaking in a different dialect. It might be a mild form of lion, but it does get worse until blatant lies.

Because you see, that’s what happens. You start off little and then say more and then you say more and it gets worse and worse. One light it cover another light, it covers another lie. And there’s a price to be paid. Look there in verse 17, in verse 16, And I made saw him again and began to say to him that stood by it, this is one of them. They recognized him. It says, you’re one of his followers. He says, no, I am not.

I am not. I don’t even know the man. How proud and boastful he was right before this. See, he didn’t fall at this moment. He was stumbling before this moment that caused him to fall, to say something, and to do something he would have never done. Over the years, I’ve lived long enough to see people who have known the Lord, loved the Lord, and then they get too big for their britches. And they think they can play games with sin and get away with it.

They don’t have to watch themselves as careful. It doesn’t matter how close they get to the edge. It’s like they don’t even care if they fall over the edge. Well, it wasn’t my fault I felt. And then they blame it on something else or somebody else. If you fall, you did it, because you should have backed up from the edge. You should have watched your testimony at all times because it’s the will of God. And so there’s a conclusion to all of this and I wanna read this one verse to you before I get to it in verse 71.

But he began to curse and to swear, I know not this man of whom you speak. And the last part of verse 72 and when he thought there on, he thought about what he’d done done. He wept. He wept. He was having a bad day at the office. Now, turn very quickly to the gospel of John in chapter 21. You remember at the beginning of Christ’s ministry when He came to them in chapter four, and He says, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Remember that? Christ has just spent three and a half years in this deep Bible study with these guys, And they all failed their final exam. What a bunch of failures. Well, it wasn’t over yet. Christ was crucified just like He said He would. Came back from the dead three days just like He said He would. And then Peter says, you know what, fellas? I’m going fishing. Look, they’re in verse three of chapter 21. Simon, Peter said unto them, I’m going fishing.

that’s where they were three and a half years before. In other words it didn’t pan out. We thought this was the guy and we thought this was gonna happen but no everything’s gone wrong. I’d have messed up now so I might as well just hang it up and they all were in the same boat. They said unto him, we also go with thee. That’s what they said. See, they had a leader. Is he lead him in the right direction?

No, but they’re gonna follow. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately and that night they caught how much? Nothing. You see, once you know the Lord and you know God’s will, the rest of your life will be a big old fat zero. I don’t care if you make millions of dollars. I don’t care if you become a president of a bank or you’re a lawyer or whatever President of the United States if that’s not what God wanted for your life.

You are a failure nothing else matters You get one chance to live your life to be what God wants you to be So anyway, it says in verse four, but when the morning was now come Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus Jesus said unto them children. Have you any meat? Tell me all about the fish you caught. You ever seen them go fishing and you walk up to them? How many fish did you catch?

And if they hadn’t caught anything. Well, we sure enjoyed the boat ride. But it was a beautiful day out there. Boy, I really got a tan. You have a dig catch in the fish? Well, I know, well, not a lot. How many did you catch? Did you got anything to eat? Remember what Jesus said in John chapter 4. He says, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. So now he’s asking them, he says, you got any meat to eat?

I think there’s more to it than just the fish. Did you catch anything that really satisfies? Are you really satisfied? Is this the direction you want to go for the rest of your life? And so he says there in verse six, and he said to them, cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find. You see, if you do what God wants you to do, did you know that you will be able to find everything else everything else you need in life.

I don’t care what it is. But you forsake God. You go your own way and just do whatever you want to do. You’re going to come up empty and the very God that wanted to give you so much could have given you everything. And so they did it and says they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of the fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loves said in the field, hey, it’s the Lord, it’s the Lord.

Well, by now they probably get in the picture. Who is the one who took the initiative? Was it the disciples seeking the Lord, or was it the Lord seeking the disciples? Always remember, when you walk away from serving God and being what God wants you to be, it’ll be the Lord. He ain’t gonna let you go. He’ll track you down. He gonna track you down. He don’t give up on you. You’re his child and he loves you. And you’d be surprised how many times you can fail and fail and fail and fail.

And yet the Lord keeps coming after you. So in verse 10, Jesus said to them, bring of the fish which you have now caught. And in verse 12, Jesus said to them, and you ought to underline these three little words in your Bible. Come and dine. You’ve heard that song. Come and dine the master, call it, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus’ table any time. He who fed the multitude, turned the water into wine to the hungry call it now, come and dine.

Who’s the one that wants to have fellowship with you? Your heavenly Father. He loves us and even when we fail he still loves us and he pursues us. But you can try everything in light that you want to but you’ll never be satisfied. You’ll never catch what you want because year after year rolls by is it. What have you caught? What are you doing with your life? And I’ve watched people that have despised their life because they threw it away.

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 Bible Line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing tool free. 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 line 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.