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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 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.

Take your Bible and turn with me to the book of Proverbs, the book of Proverbs and chapter one. There’s times when you’ll hear me say things that I’ve said before, because when you talk as long as I have and many messages that I have, you’re going to hear some things that you’ve heard before. But as Peter says, you know, to stir up your remembrance. In other words, it’s not something necessarily new, but just stir up your mind so that you can remember something that you’ve already known.

But maybe you haven’t thought about recently. But there’s some things in God’s word that really is important. And sometimes it seems like God’s people forget this great admonition of God. And they think they can just wing it on their own. Like, they don’t need the Lord. You know, I don’t learn enough that I don’t need to stay in it like I used to, stay with it like I used to. You’ll see what I mean. Proverbs chapter 1. chapter one and you’ll notice in verse two, where it says, to know wisdom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding.

Now you can hear, but remember when Jesus was here, he says, let him that hath ears to hear, hear, understand. When he talked about the seven churches in the book of Revelation and chapter two and three, he says, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches. So whether it was Christ their talking or to the book of Revelation, it’s in the Old Testament, they were dull of hearing and it just seems like God’s people get part of listening.

They don’t want to keep obeying the Lord. They just don’t seem things working out the way they think it ought to and so they just like give up on God. Well if this is the best God can do, I might as well just take matters into my own hands and be my own leader, my own guide, and they get tired and impatient. Don’t want to wait on God. And that’s a dangerous move. You remember there’s a man named Abraham who got impatient and his wife got impatient about waiting for this child to be born?

They jumped a gun and looked at it today. Look at all the problems that we have today because somebody became impatient and did something he shouldn’t have done. Why? Well, he listened to his wife. I mean, I’m not saying it’s bad to listen to your wife, but the wife ought to make sure she gives good, godly advice, but she didn’t. She says, why don’t you have a child by Hagar? Now, does that sound like good advice to you? Would you recommend your husband doing that?

All right. So here in the book of Proverbs in chapter 1, look now in verse 5. Verse 5, a wise man will hear and will increase learning. And a man of understand and shall attain under wise counsel. So that means that you should listen to people that are wise and have some good counseling and seek counseling before you make major decisions. Some people just do what they want and I’ve had people make all kind of decisions and they come to me and say, I pastor, what do you think?

No, you asked me before you make the decision, not after you made it. If you wanted my advice, you would have asked me first. Now you want me to condone the decision that you already made. And it’s better off that if you want my advice, ask me before you make a decision, don’t ask it. After you did not, it’s done. My advice ain’t gonna matter when I order. And then verse 7, verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Fools despise wisdom. They despise instruction. Now the wisdom that he’s talking about here in the book of Proverbs is godly wisdom. There’s a lot of smart people in this world filled with the wisdom of the world. And they know how to make money. They know how to live life. They know how to be happy. They know what they do. they want, they know how to satisfy the desires of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of the life.

They know that. So as far as the world is concerned, there’s a lot of wise people because they get what they want. But see you and I are not supposed to go according to, well, Psalms 1. We’re not just sitting in the council with them. We’re not to listen to what they have to say. Now it all depends, I guess, on what it is, but when talking about the wisdom of God, It’s a totally new ball game. It’s something separate.

There’s the wisdom of God, the wisdom of man. And we have human perspective, divine perspective. And so you wanna see things from God’s perspective because you’re looking down the road at the result of making God’s decision versus making man’s decisions. And there’s a way that seems with right, seems with right because it seems wise. It seems like the right thing to do. It’s just that you don’t look down the road far enough at the results of that decision. And wisdom from God helps you to see and understand and make wiser choices for your life.

So he makes a statement here that wisdom is something that God wants you to receive because God knows you’re going to need it. And wisdom is like arrows that are shot into the air and troubles are like arrows that are shot into the air. which would you want first? The wisdom before the arrow of problems or you want to try to get the wisdom after you have the problem? It’s better to have the wisdom first. So God has promised you can have the wisdom if you come to me and get it.

But the problems are on their way. Problems are already on their way. The arrows have already been shot and think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though nobody has shot any arrows. Arrows are on their way. Trouble is on its way. You and I are going to face those. But look what he says here. Look there in verse 22. Verse 22 says, how long ye simple ones, naive ones, will ye love simplicity and the schooners delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

Turn ye at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you. I will make known my words unto you because I have called and you refused. I have stretched out my hand, no men regarded. I mean, this is like God said, look, I wanted you to know the truth. I wanted you to listen to what I have to say. Everything God says to do or not to do is because he doesn’t want you to hurt yourself. It’s because he loves you.

He wants the best. But if you don’t listen to what God says, then God says, I’m gonna laugh at your reprove. In other words, it’s coming. So he makes a statement here in verse 25, but ye have said it not. In other words, counted as nothing, all my counsel, and would none of my reproach. You won’t listen to me. Even when I tried to correct you, you wouldn’t listen to me. I told you. You said, well, I haven’t heard God say anything.

Did you know that sometimes God says things to you from parents? Sometimes it comes from grandparents, and sometimes it comes from the preacher, Sometimes it comes from friends that you know. Did you know that God uses people? They come into your life? Sometimes they come at the right time and give you advice on something that will really help you and you don’t listen to it. Because after all, you don’t consider the truth that said, you consider the person that brings the message.

And because I don’t like that messenger, I’m not gonna listen to your message. And you can lose out. You can mess up. God doesn’t have perfect messengers. God uses people, but He doesn’t use perfect people. There aren’t none, except in their new birth. But what you see, and what I see is individuals in a flash birth. And we feel like you don’t have the right to try. Who do you think you are telling me what I can and cannot do?

But did you know that sometimes God may send somebody just at the right time to say the right thing? They can help you with the problem that you don’t have the answer for, and you rejected it? And then you have your problem and you’re under why God didn’t come through. He did. But you didn’t listen. You mock it or you make fun of it. And as he says here in verse 26, I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh.

When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction come up as a world when when distress and anguish come upon you. God said, all this stuff is going to come. The anguish. Look what he says. The distress, the fear, your destruction. Those are things that happens in everybody’s life. But you see God wants to give you good. Good counsel and try to help you as those things come into your life, what does God want you to do about it?

How does He want you to handle it? And God says that He will make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. So important. Now look there in chapter 2. In chapter 2, look in verse 9, then shall thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity, yay, every good path. You see, when you listen to what God says, He’s going to show you the good path, the right path. And then it’s down in verse 15, it says, whose ways are crooked and they throw it in their path.

That’s the wicked path. There’s two paths that are mentioned here. One that’s good and one that’s bad. But now notice, if you will, there in verse 10, when wisdom entered into thine heart, knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul. In other words, when you want to do what God wants you to do, knowledge learning answers is pleasing. You’re glad you listened. It always brings joy to your soul when you listen to what God had to say because it won’t be long before you find out God was right.

God’s way always right. It’s always the best. And you’ll find out as time goes on, God’s way saves you a lot of trouble. because you see the trouble is, is people trust themselves. And God says, lean not until I know and understanding in all thy ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path. That’s in the Bible somewhere, isn’t it? Proverbs what? Chapter three verse what? Five and six, but you know most people never read verse seven. Look at verse seven.

Be not wise in thine own eyes. And here’s what he means. Fear of the Lord. and depart from evil. Fear of the Lord is to fear sin. You ought to be so afraid of rebellion. Not love rebellion, fear rebellion. The last thing I want in my life is the rebel against the Lord. Because I know there’s serious consequences that goes with that. But some people see they mock God because they have no fear of sinning. They have no fear of living in rebellion to God.

And so when they don’t listen to what God says, there’s consequences to the decisions, and then you’re going to fall apart. Your calamity will come. It’s going to happen. Now back to the chapter two. I want you to see this in verse 11. Discretion shall and here’s two words you ought to underline it will preserve you. See there’s a lot of things that can that can destroy you as it says in chapter one, but there’s some things that can preserve you.

Keep you sound-minded, protect your life, keep you strong, and they give you the peace that you want. And he says in verse 11, understand and shall keep thee. Now get this, there’s two things that are mentioned here about deliver. One, if you look there in verse 12, to deliver thee from the way of an evil man, and two, down there in verse 16, to deliver thee from a strange woman. Well, there’s things that people do in this life. There’s men that have maybe the wrong example, the wrong direction, and you just don’t follow anybody or everybody.

You’re gonna have to realize you gotta stand before the Lord. So you want your steps to follow the Lord’s, and you don’t follow the man that’s on the wrong path. Because if you follow the man that’s on the wrong path, you’re gonna end up where he ends up. So you don’t want that. So you seek the Lord and you walk with God and you seek wise counsel and follow Godly people and you’d be surprised how much more peaceful your life will be.

How many more answers you’ll have to problems. And then when you have problems, you have surrounded yourself with some good Godly people that can help you through it. Don’t be so lifted up with pride. I don’t need anybody. Yes you do. Who says God? And see pride is when you lift yourself up so I don’t need anybody. Yes, you do. It’s pride that keeps us from listening to others. And so as you go through here and you see this and it really will help you.

Now take your Bible and look in Proverbs chapter four and verse seven. Verse 7 and 8 are two good verses. And verse 7, it says, wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. And with all thy getting, get understanding. Exalt her and she shall, and here’s these two words, promote thee. That word means to exalt thee. In other words, there is, wisdom is a promoter. It promotes you. Do what you like to have somebody who knows the best about you and the talents and abilities that you have, And you had that person promoting you.

Well, that’s what wisdom does. But that’s the wisdom of God. And God can exalt you and use you in a way that you never dream possible. Always put the Lord first and He will exalt you and promote you. Listen to what God says and it’ll be a blessing to you. Now, we looked at this before, but look at it one more time. Look here in chapter 11 of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 11 and look there in verse 30.

But because we’re talking about the judgment that man may make, everybody needs to make wise decisions. The right decisions. And the Bible talks about you and I being a tree of life, a tree of life. It means that other people get life through you. You don’t have the power, no, but we know that as a tree God wants to let that juice run through us and out those branches and produce some fruit that will remain. That’s the winning of souls.

He that winneth souls is wise. That’s back there, you know, a thousand years before Christ. This was King Solomon and David knew this and we’ve read it before about what David had to say about this. When I am old and so forth, I want people to know about your salvation and so on and thy strength and thy power and he still wanted to be used even when he became great headed. But in verse 30 the fruit of the righteous, the tree of life and he that win if souls is wise.

So that means if you don’t win souls you’re probably not as wise as you think you are. Now take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of Luke the gospel of Luke. the Gospel of Luke and there’s a lot of stories in Luke that I enjoy reading and at times I teach some of these things in Sunday school but I want to show you something about the judgment of man. The Bible in the book of Proverbs warns us about the wisdom of man.

That the wisdom of man is not as bright as he thinks he is. So his judgment is not as good. Now there’s no doubt there’s time than I christened life when we have questions. We have doubts, but we also know that we can go to the Lord. So he says here in the book of Luke in chapter 7, look in verse 19, and John calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus saying, art thou he that should come, and look we or look we for another.

This is a question. It deserves an answer. Now what kind of an answer are you going to give? So they were to leave John and go and get an answer and come back to see John. But when they went to get the answer to the question, they were told something and they were told to look at something. They were told to observe and to come to a conclusion and what to go back and tell John. So their answer back to him, well, reveals their wisdom.

That’s why it says there, if you look real quickly, look in verse 35, where he says, but wisdom is justified of all her children. In other words, wisdom has children. If you’re wise, nobody knows it except by the decisions you make. So your decisions, your choices in life, reveals your wisdom. And if you make some dumb decisions, people will question your wisdom. If a man makes three decisions in a row that’s right, the wife says, he’s the smartest man in the world.

But if he makes three decisions in a row that’s dumb, he’s the most stupidest man in the world. In other words, you’ve got to make some right decisions for the wife to have respect for your judgment. If you make wrong decision after wrong decision after wrong decision, It’s possible that somebody’s going to question your judgment. Isn’t it possible? So if you want people to think you’re smart and wise, then you try to make the right decision. So you may be a little slower in coming to the conclusion, because you want to listen to more facts.

Because you want to be right. Some people make decisions and they don’t even have to have all the facts at all. They say, did you know, I know the answer, I got the answer. Wait a minute, you don’t even know the question. You won’t listen. Listen to the whole thing. Remember, everybody has problems. And as a preacher, I get to find out what some of those problems are. I have no desire to hear every life’s problems. But sometimes, in trying to solve problems, I have to listen to a problem.

And there’s always her side, his side, and the truth. And just because the person who came to me with the problem doesn’t mean that he’s telling me the truth. True? It might be because I don’t know the whole thing and I can give advice on little knowledge and to be the wrong thing to tell them. I love talking to everybody involved. So he says there in verse 20, when the men were come unto him unto Jesus, There’s a John Baptist have sent us unto thee, say, an art thou he that should come, or look before another.

And in that same hour, he cured many of their infirmities and the plagues and of evil spirits, and unto many that were blind, he gave sight. Wait a minute, you ought to know if I’m the son of God, or do you look for another? So in the same hour, look what he did. So a wise man would look and observe and watch and come up with the right answer. Now can you come up with the right answer? As you read the word of God and if you’ve looked over your life and you’ve seen those results of many of your own decision, can you find out that, you know, God is right.

God is right. Well here they were able to watch and observe Jesus doing something miraculously. In Luke in verse 22, Jesus answering, said unto them, Go your way, tell John what things you have seen and heard how the blind see the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the death here, the dead are raised to the poor, the gospel is preached and blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. You have your answer. Their judgment is revealed. How wise are they?

But now see, they saw and they went back and they told. And he says in verse 24, and when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John. But see, they had the message, they went back and they told. Others were there also and they watch Jesus. They saw the same thing that these that came from John saw, but they did not come out to the same conclusion. Everybody has ears, but not everybody hears.

People got eyes, but not everybody sees. So he says there in verse 24, what went she out into the wilderness to see? See, there’s a question. The question deserves an answer. The answer reveals the wisdom of the person that answers the question. In light there’s all kinds of things that will happen in your life, trials and tribulations, testings. How you handle them reveals how wise you are. People watch to see your choices. For example, if I had a man tell him, Oh, I love the Lord.

Oh, I love the Lord. Okay. Do you read the Bible? I haven’t got time. What church do you go to? Well, I don’t go to church. But he loves the Lord. He really loves the Lord. When’s the last time you won somebody to Christ? Or have you talked to him? But, well, I haven’t got time to do that. Now, by the things he’s telling me and the choices that he’s made about what he does or doesn’t do, will answer my question.

Does he really love the Lord? Christ says, if you love me, serve me. If a man don’t serve him, I don’t believe he loved him. Am I wrong? That’s how the Bible says the judge. So you see, there’s things that people do that reveal things. Can give answers. Wisdom is justified by our children. Here’s a woman. She has kids. Look at the kids. She might be looking at the face of the mom. The way they act might reveal how they’ve been taught or trained.

Especially when they’re little small ones, they get big enough, hate their own their own. But sometimes you hope, oh I hope they’ll serve the Lord like you’re supposed to. Look what else it says here. So he says in verse 25, but what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft-raim and behold they which are gorgeously apperled and lived delicately are in King’s courts. But another question, what went you out for to see? A prophet? Yeah, I say unto you and much more than a prophet.

This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. You know, a lot of times you wonder about that last statement. No prophet ever born greater than John the Baptist. But I say unto you, he that is, as he says here, at least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist.

He says, that doesn’t make any sense. What a statement to make, but don’t understand it. If you don’t understand it, it seemed like Jesus just made a statement that doesn’t make any sense. No prophet as great as John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is. But remember this, in this world as a man, John the Baptist, but he’s limited. He’s in a physical body. He can only do so much.

Let’s say for example, long comes janky. And I trust Christ as my Savior, and God’s Savior gives me eternal life. But I’m not a good servant of the Lord, but did you know what? I would rather be me saved in the least in the kingdom of heaven than John the Baptist here and be unsaved. As great as he is as a man born of woman, but the greatest thing is a man born of God. The second birth is greater than any man ever born of a woman, excluding Jesus, you know, because you can be the greatest man ever born upon this earth, able to do anything and everything.

But if you haven’t trusted Christ as your Savior, the man who does is greater, regardless of how that person may live. He made the wisest decision. Now, get this. And verse 29 is very important. It just looks like it’s just thrown in there, it hasn’t had much value. But look at verse 29 and on the line this word, all, or circle that word, all. All the people that heard him and the publicans. So the common people, the tax collectors, the worst justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

In other words, when John came and he preached, the people believed what John the Baptist said. And if they believe what he said, then they were baptized. So they heard, they believed, and they were baptized, and that reveals their wisdom. So those people were wiser than those in verse 30. in verse 30. But contrast, the Pharisees and the lawyers, and there’s another word, you ought to underline that word, rejected, rejected the counsel of God. But who is the one that gave the counsel of God?

John the Baptist. See, God can use people to bring forth the word of God. 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 2 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 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 Klopp is looking up.