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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.

I was questioning this sermon that I’m going to preach this for you. whether I should or I should. So I am. Is it life wonderful? God has seen fit to bless your life of all kinds of interesting things. Some things are good and then you have some of the other sprinkles throughout. But it’s kind of like eating some, you know, two or three eggs sunny side up. It’s good to have some salt and pepper on it gives us some taste otherwise it’s just bland.

Your life would be the same way if you didn’t know how to turn on a microphone. It’s a good thing I can read sign language. Am I on now? Can you hear me all right? Do I have to start all over again? I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book of Philippians in chapter 3. Philippians in chapter 3. There’s a verse there that I want to share with you that’s talking about when the Apostle Paul began his ministry and goes all the way back until when he was only eight days old.

You know what Jesus said talks about when he was born and he even talks about Jeremiah when he was born. So you’re talking about when you learn how to give your testimony. It means being able to pick up parts of your life story and put it together where it makes for an interesting, exciting life. Now when you spread it out over a long period of time and at the time it’s not exciting, but you take out the key parts, put it all together and condense it down, it sure makes it a very interesting story to tell.

Everybody has an exciting life to tell because it’s yours. You see, your life isn’t somebody else’s, yours is its own individuality. And the thing that’s so neat is our testimonies are so important. That’s why God uses so many different kinds of people with different backgrounds and different experiences because of what it takes to reach different people. Some people can’t reach some people. It doesn’t matter what you do, you just can’t break through. There’s like a barrier wall, and somebody else can come along say the same thing you said and they accept it, especially your kids.

And you just hope somebody else will come along and tell your kids the same thing you told them but they’ll listen to somebody else. And then you’ll tell your kids, you know, I told you that. You never told me that. Yes, I did. No, you didn’t. You can start an argument over anything. So here in Philippians it gets all the way back to when he was just a little child. See there in verse 4, in verse 4 of Philippians in chapter 3 says, though I might have confidence in the flesh.

If any other man thinketh that he hath where he might trust in the flesh, I’m more. Circumcised the eighth day.” Now that’s going back pretty far in your lifetime isn’t it? I was only eight days old when I was circumcised, like who cares? I mean big deal. So you were circumcised when you were eight days old. But it’s because of who he was. He was of the nation of Israel. I mean he was a Pharisee. He was of the tribe of Benjamin.

somebody. And so all of this is important, especially if you’re Jewish and look who I am and look what I’ve done. And he says all of this, he says I’m not impressed with it. See there in verse 5, circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews touching the law, fair see? And blah blah blah blah blah. And he says all those things that were a value. He says, I counted them all but lost that I might have Christ.

In other words, Christ is more important than all those things that I’ve done or whoever I am. Christ is more important. Now, when you give a testimony, there’s nothing wrong with your testimony about where did you come from? Where were you born? What was your parents like? You see, there’s parts of our lives and stories that it doesn’t hurt the tale and to share with people. You need to be able to pick out parts of it. As you read the book of Acts, you’ll find out the apostle Paul told his testimony three different times, and that’s just what’s recorded in one book.

Who knows how many times? He shared, hey, let me tell you what happened to me on the road to Damascus. There I was, and in this light, and not me now in the knees. And then he may not tell exactly the same thing every time, but he got the story. And as you read, you’ll find out that there’s different parts in each one of those experiences that he tells, that was not exactly in the other one. Because it all depends on what people need.

And sometimes you’ll say this part, and then you’ll say, this part. And then you add a little bit to this. And it looks like maybe you contradict yourself, but no, it’s just that one is bringing out something that the other didn’t bring out. Now take your Bible and turn there with me to the book of Galatians in chapter one. Galatians in chapter one, it’s the apostle Paul at another time refers to another period in his life. And he tells us some stuff that, well, you say, well, I didn’t think that would be very important, but he was a religious man.

So when you give your test, when you always tell him what you thought, what you found out, what you did. Well, this is what he used to think. This is what he used to believe. And every one of you in here, if you trust it Christ is your Savior, you know you have eternal life. There had to be a time when you didn’t believe it. What was it like? What did you believe? Say, I don’t know. And you see, I didn’t believe it was a God.

What did you say? I didn’t believe it was a God. Alright, I thought it had to be good to go to heaven. We’ll say, I thought I had to be good to go to heaven. You see Beth, but it’s whatever is true, it’s whatever is your life. God wants to use you, not just at this moment, he wants to use all of you, all of your stories, everything that you have, that of which is about you. You see, God has brought you through a lot.

God has taught you a lot. When we wanted to start to reformers unanimous, I was looking for somebody that had been there. James has been there. So it was his life, it’s his stories that he has. It’s what he has lived that makes him valuable and important and he can do a better job. So it’s not something we run from, what we have to be able to pick and choose, what would be helpful. And you can be greatly used by God if you’ll let God use you.

Now I know there are probably some things in our past we’d just love to keep it quiet. I’m not talking about that. I’m not talking about glorifying sin. I’m talking about those lessons that you’ve learned. Surely you’ve learned something over these years that God can use for His honor and for His glory. And those are things that you can share with somebody. So here in the book of Galatians and looking verse 13, he says, for ye have heard of my behavior, my manner of life, my conversation in time passed in the Jews’ religion.

So he’s going back to win before he trusts the Lord. He’s talking about the way he was. He’s talking about what he believed, how he lived. And so he says, how that beyond major I persecuted the church of God and wasted it and profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in my own nation been more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my father. This is what I was like and he tells it. And it was a bad thing.

He says, I persecuted the church. If you look down there in verse 23 where he says, this man is now preaching the faith which once he destroyed. So you see, you don’t always have that perfect life is how God might be able to use your life. And the things that God has brought you forth. Did you know, men bury you? Well, I already didn’t fell in love with her. And I already didn’t pour it on my charm. It was irresistible charm.

It’s not her fault. She could not resist. I mean, I just totally overwhelmed her. But anyway, she came to me one day and she says, Yankee? She says, you want to go down to the Dairy Queen, get a nice cream? I said, hahahahahaha. I asked my mom in there, I says, can I use the car? I was 17. And she says, Yankee, be careful with the car. It was like, it was immaculate. It was a 56 Ford pink and black crown Victoria when they had the crown on the cross the top of a beautiful thing.

And they had just got it. And so I said, I will be careful. So I wasn’t about to go off to the Dairy Queen with just Betty. So I asked my friend, Wheeler, and my sister Kay. So anyway, the two boys in the front seat, two girls in the back seat, and we go to the Dairy Queen. I’m very careful. This mama’s little pride and joy. So weerest pulledUTERS to the Dairy Queen and I opened the door andiHUD I said, what would y’all like?

They couldn’t make up their mind. I said, well, if make up your mind, I might as well get back in and sit down. So I got in the car and a taxi cab. Man was driving a taxi cab. He was going 50 miles an hour, and he passed out at the wheel. Of all the places that he could have parked, he comes across the four lane highway and right into the Dairy Queen. He’s out at the wheel, and he’s going 50 miles an hour.

And of all the places that he could havewegian hit, he closed my door. He closed my door and I had just gotten my head down, caught some of my hair in the door, slammed me up against the thing and I had a brain concussion, but it never bothered me at all. But it slammed the car, turned it upside down. And they had a pitch-rabbit in the paper. We got a pitch-rabbit years later. was there and they took a picture of it.

And it was in the 1950s. So the cars upside down, we’re all laying upside down. And we don’t know how it happened. But I think he wound up in the back seat and then Betty wound up in the front seat. He even got all messed up. But anyway, it was so close of me having an amputation. Have you ever thought you were going to lose your head over something? When I think about how close I came to being killed, It blows my mind.

Another second, I’ve been dead, and I did not know the Lord. And I can see back as I look back over my life how God has so blessed and taken care of me. Now, I was at a time when I had a brace on my back when I was one to Bible school. And this brace had two metal rods in it, and I had to work for about two years. I’d hurt it on a job and I couldn’t hardly move.

And so after a couple years, I went to Colorado and got rid of that thing. And I was fine. But every once in a while, my back would catch. And when it catch, I couldn’t hardly walk. And I’d get up against the hallway, and I would make my way down the hallway, and I could barely move. And the kids would come by, hello, Pastor. Oh, well, I mean, I’d just, I’d get in the office and I’d try to sit down, and I couldn’t move.

And they give back to him, you need to go to the chiropractor. So I went to about two or three of them. The first thing he’d do is lay me on a thing, and they won’t turn me into a pretzel. And I said, I want to see one guy. I said, let me tell you something right now. If you try to twist me into a pretzel, I’m going to deck you. I said, I’ve already tried that. Don’t do it.

He laid me on that thing, and he started to twist me. I said, don’t you think about it. So anyway, I ain’t been back to him anyway. I’m not saying they’re bad. I’m just saying that back then, 45 years ago, I mean, they weren’t the best. But anyway, I was in such pain, constant. I’d stand and teach my classes and I would just hurt. I couldn’t hardly stand it. And then I preached and then I had all the ministries going on.

And I kept one, Lord, why, why? Why can’t I just have a body that doesn’t hurt? And finally, I went to one daughter. He says in about 20 years, those things are fused together and you’ll be all right. 20 years. I’d already gone through about 10 years. So I only got 10 years to go. So there was a lady in the church. I led her to the Lord, her husband, and her sons. This is Barlowson. And she came to me after church when nine, she says, Pastor, I think this will help you.

This is what I take when I have a pain pill. I need a pain pill. And it was a, she says, my muscles get tight sometimes. And this is a muscle relaxing. I didn’t know what that was. So I said, well, thank you. She said, I’ll give you two of them. It’s going to have one later. I said, well, thank you. So I went to the water fountain and I got those two pills. I took, I thought, if one will help, just think what two will do.

It’ll really speed up the process. So what I did is we went to a place called Coco’s and some of the people in the church who got out of there and they said, need luck with you down here at Village Inn. So I’m sitting there and Eddie is just a small kid then. And Betty’s sitting across from in. I don’t remember, I don’t remember. But anyway, I asked Betty, I’m looking at her and I said, honey, is the room moving?

She says, no, the room’s not moving. I said, yeah it is. I said, the room’s moving. It’s Yankee. The room is not moving. Something’s going on. And all of a sudden, I fell over on Eddie. We’re in a restaurant. And he’s a dignified little boy. over on him and he bad dad and he pushed me back up now if he’d have pushed me the other way too far I would have went in the floor but he was just enough that I was sitting straight I thought about that later and all of a sudden here I go again I fell over on him he says dad stop it get up so he pushed me back up and I said honey I think you need to call the ambulance or something so she calls 9-1-1 Anyway, she got the paramedics there and they come in there in the lights or flags and

I hate to go. No, a scene like that. There’s people from the church and visitors and all like it there. And I couldn’t move. I could not move. At least I didn’t think I could. They walked in there and the first thing they said was, can you stand up? I said, sure I can. Oh, boom. They caught me. So they put me in the ambulance and so Betty’s going to follow behind and I’m in the ambulance and there Eddie’s got in the ambulance with me.

Never forget they’re gonna take me to, I think it was Luton Hospital, anyway, on the way. I’m laying there on this little journey, or whatever you call that thing. And the guy was working on me, and all of a sudden, he says to the driver, he says, driver, you better pull over. We’re losing him. I thought they’re losing me. I’m dying. I am dying. I feel great. You don’t know how great I felt. I thought, I’m dying. I feel great.

I wasn’t worried about anything. I didn’t have any fears, no doubts, no nothing about where I’m going to go and I die. Nothing. I feel great and I’m dying. So they pull over the side of the road and I have a normal, I mean, I don’t know if it’s normal or not, my heart rate on the average. A resting heart rate’s about 44, 45, something like that. And during the daytime it’s around 55, and then sometime it gets up into 60.

I even went to the emergency room one time because it was pounding, like it was coming out of my chest. They said, you know what’s only 72. I said, but my heart rate averages pretty low. And so now it’s dropping. And so they were concerned. They pulled me inside the road. I didn’t die. Just so that you know that. All I remember is, I don’t remember nothing else. I wake up and I’m in the emergency room and I’m on this table.

And they found out, you know, what had happened? I had taken two of those pills and your heart is a muscle. And it was really resting my whole body. But I think how close I came to leaving this world. Now, you know, that’s not an exciting story that you like to tell, but it’s an experience, an experience where I almost died, but I didn’t. But I know that if it wasn’t for the grace of God, I wouldn’t be here.

And God has been good enough to spare my life over and over and over again. And I tell you that some of these things used to scare me to death. I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And I decided I’m going to work on the bus routes. So as I work on the bus route, you have all kind of experiences going to people’s homes and going inside and talking to people. Some of you lead to the Lord and you want to get their kids.

But for some reason, rather, Dr. Lee Robertson, who was a president of the Tennessee Temple at that time, he says, Yankee hears somebody for you to go buy and see. And I don’t know what the problem is, but they just wanted you to go buy and see them. I said, yes, I will. So anyway, I got that and there’s a, like a little business card, so it was on my route and so I was gonna go buy and see him.

So when I got there, this guy opened the door and he was couched. I mean, he was plastered. But you don’t know, he was drunk. And he said, come on in. So I, and Ferren Trimly went in. And I went on in there and he sat down at the table And so I sat down at the table and he looked over at me and he says, what do you want? I thought you’re the one that wanted me to come.

Oh, and he had a revolver sitting there on the table. And he picked it up and he had his shells. And he started putting the shells to the chamber. I said, what are you going to do? He says, well, when I get these in, I’m going to shoot you. So if you got something to say, say it. Well, I started talking. I started talking and talking and talking, and he finally put the last one in. And I said something that kind of got his attention about something so he opened it back up and started taking them out.

So I was taking them out and just talking. So when he got through, he said to you through, he said, no, no, no. I got some other things. I wanted to say, okay, I’m going to start putting it back in. He did that about two or three times. And I thought, I need to get out of here because you don’t ever know what the guy’s going to do. So I didn’t even try to lead him to the Lord as I can recall.

I don’t know. I just left because I wanted to get out of there. there. So when I got out, it was only a few days later, Dr. Lee Robertson called me in the office and says, you know that guy you went to see the other night, I said, yeah, I remember him. He’s just in the hospital want you to come see him. That way he can’t have a gun there. So I went to the hospital and I walked in there, he says, you remember me?

And I said, yeah, I remember you. I said, you don’t have a gun do you? He says, no, he smiled. He was sober now. And I let him do the Lord. But I thought to myself, you know, that could have been an ugly situation. One day I’m running a ranch meeting and we have several hundred kids sitting there and kids were asking questions and as they asked these questions I’d answer them as best I could from the Bible and all of a sudden this one kid asked and he had real long hair.

He says what do you think about people that have long hair? And I’m looking right at him and everybody can see him. He’s sitting there right in the middle, long hair. Now I don’t want to offend the kid. I don’t hurt the kid. I mean long hair ain’t gonna make a difference whether you go to heaven or I all has nothing to do with it. But he asked me a question. I said well and I said take your Bible internally here at the Corinthians and I said see the Bible says it’s a shame for a man to have long hair.

And then he said well how long is too long? I said, it ought not be the same as a woman’s. God says it’s good for a woman to have long hair. It’s her glory and so on. So anyway, we kind of got off of that and on something else. I went home that night, went to bed. I’m laying there in bed and the phone rings. And this guy on the other end says, are you Yankee Arnold? We’re mean and ugly.

I said, yes sir, who is this? He says, you’re Yankee Arnold. I said, yeah, he said, you run a youth group? I said, yes, sir. He says, my son was there tonight. He says, you mock him and made fun of his long hair. Says, no sir, I didn’t. He says, all I know is this, when I see you, I’m gonna kill you. He said, I’m gonna kill you. Do you understand me? And he was mad. I said, yeah, I understand.

So anyway, hung up. So the next morning I got a hold of Joe Potter. He’s a missionary down in Diana, down in South America. I said, Joe, yes, I said, I’ve got to go visit somebody. You want to go with me? Just share. He says, where are we going? I said, we’re going to see a guy that called me up last night. Oh, OK. I thought maybe I need to tell him. Because I don’t want him not to know what to prepare for.

Well, maybe I shouldn’t have told him. After I told him, I shouldn’t have told him. But I told him. So I told him what happened. He says, you’re going to what? That’s it. We’re going there. We’re not. I said, we are. I said, guys are you gonna kill me? I’d rather just get it over with it. I mean, I’m ready to go. Get it over with it. I don’t like living with that suspense. So we got in the car and we drove up to his house and there was no front.

You had to drive around to the downstairs. So I drove around downstairs and got out of my car and here comes his wife out the door. And she says, oh, preacher, preacher, get out of here. She says, my husband is looking for you now. She says, he has a gun and he’s going to kill you. Well, I never died before, I’ve got another experience. I says, well, can we come in and wait for him? I said, no, she didn’t want nothing to do with, she wanted me to leave.

I says, man, do you have any coffee? I just love a coffee, hot coffee and I did. I don’t know why, it’s just, I did, it’s never dawned on me that this could be my last day on Earth. So anyway, we went and said, down she fixed us some coffee. It wasn’t long before this car come flying down, and I’m talking about he’s sliding sideways. I mean, he’s speeding into his own backyard there, and he’s sliding sideways, and all of a sudden the car’s still rocking, the door’s opened up, and he’s slammed it, cutting, and he’s running to the door.

And Joe Potter’s standing, and says, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? How am I still worried about it? Don’t worry about it. I was too, but I have to give the appearance that I’m calm. I’m not afraid. Some people, sometimes you just numb. You don’t know what to do. Anyway, he busted the door and his wife jumped in front of him and tried to hold him back and says, and he’s looking at me with fire in his eyes.

I’ve never met this man before. I never done anything to this guy. And his kid asked the question, I just answered the question. No, when the kid goes home, who knows what they say? But it wasn’t long before he finally calmed down a little bit. And I said, can I tell you what happened? And I had the Bible, and I showed him, I said, look at this verse. It says it’s in the Bible. This is what it says. I said, but it has nothing to do with going to heaven or hell.

Anyway, he kept on, they both trust the Lord and they wanted to start driving their flatbed for our a ride. And so it worked out for the good. But you can’t have anything happen to you if you don’t do something and take a stand for something. Now I want you to take a Bible and look at this. Look there in the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 12. 2 Corinthians in chapter 12. Those are the introductory remarks to my message today.

Second Corinthians in chapter 12, I want you to see what he says in verse 16. He makes his statement, in verse 16, I say again, let no man think me a fool if otherwise yet as a full receiving, that I may boast myself a little. Now, I want to say some thing, but it’ll seem like I’m bragging, but I don’t want to brag, but I just want to say something because there’s some of the people that were doing so much good.

They were so holy. They were so right, but they were just carnally. That’s all it was. They didn’t see the truth. They were now putting Paul down and said, he’s the one that led him to the Lord. But now I’ll see, they’re carnally minded. And he says, now, let me tell you something. So he says they’re in verse 17, that which I speak, this is in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 17, That which, what’s that? You know what I said?

Oh, that was a topographical error. Second Corinthians chapter 11. But if you can find it in chapter 12, go ahead. But in second Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 16, he said, I say again, let no man think of me a fool. If otherwise yet as he full received me that I may boast myself a little, that which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly in this confidence of boasting. Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.

In other words, you wanna brag about what you’re doing? Let me, let me brag a little bit. If you wanna complain about all your suffering for Jesus’ sake, I mean, you’re just working so hard for the Lord and you don’t have, nobody has an idea what you go through. He says, you wanna whine and pine a little bit, you wanna moan and groan, you wanna learn a little bit? Let me tell you what’s suffering for Jesus’ love. Then he, buddy, he lowers the boom.

Due to the generous offer of an anonymous Colorado supporter of Bibleline, we want to make you an offer you cannot refuse. He has purchased 68 copies of the book, The Gospel Driven Man by Dr. Ralph Yankee-Arnold to be given to anyone who donates any amount as they thank you for helping to keep Bible Line on this station. He writes, What would be the most important item one could receive that would be appreciated, which which would answer many questions, which would be easy to read, understandable, and uses God’s Word as the source.

What came to mind was your book, The Gospel Driven Man. This book has helped me and my wife considerably. We have given the book out as gifts before and continue to do so. All the basic doctrines you hear me teach on the radio is found in this book. One book per donor. So remember, mail your gift up any amount today and we will send you your copy of The Gospel Driven Man. Be sure to include your mail-in address. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline.

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. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.