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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 message will be a blessing to you and your family.

We’re glad to have y’all here today. I want to speak a little bit on the path to glory. You see, we’ve all trusted Christ as our Savior here in this world, and this world is not a place of glory, but we can bring glory to the Lord. And the Bible talks about us being on a path, the path of life. And on this path of life, sometimes you feel like you’re walking it all by a little lonesome. As he says in the Old Testament, the Psalms talks about his footsteps are in the sea.

You know if it’s footsteps in the sea, it’s kind of hard to follow somebody else’s footsteps because it doesn’t leave a track, it doesn’t leave a trace. And each one of us has got to learn how to walk on water, trust in the Lord. But sometimes we get scared, so we want to put one foot on the water, one foot on the land. Just in case we start to sink, I can get back over there. Well I remember when I decided I’m going to go to Baba College, I cut all ties.

I had nothing to go back to. There wasn’t nothing for me on the land, so I might as well just give it a writ and find out just how excited life can be. But he, no, the Lord, he didn’t, hasn’t let me drown yet. And I’ve fell a couple of times, but he says he will always uphold his people with his right hand and lift you back up. So I’m thankful to the Lord. So but turning your Bible to the book of Psalms, the 16th Psalm, the path of life is a path that will lead you and I, one of these days to glory.

Now we don’t walk this path to get to heaven, but we know that whenever our course is run, when life is all over, we’re going to be in heaven with the Lord. We’re going to be in glory where everything is perfect. But now in this life, seeking to serve the Lord on a path that leads to glory, but a path that’s full of obstacles and trials and and tribulations and all kinds of things. But you know one of the greatest things I’ve found out over the last 50 years is that God hasn’t left me on that path alone.

Sometimes I felt like I was alone and it’s nice knowing that the Lord is always with me. He’ll never forsake me, never leave me and all that. That’s great. But every once in a while, along that path, it seems like God has brought others onto the same path and we walk together. And sometimes we’re only in people’s lives temporarily, and then they leave or you leave on a different road that God may have for you. Sometimes God brings us together.

I was telling them in the class that, kind of like the prophecy. We have in the Old Testament, a lot of the like mountain peaks and there’s little streams. And those little streams come together, And next thing you know, you’ve got a river. And by the time you get to the New Testament, it’s just one gigantic rushing river when all the prophecy’s all gonna come together and they’ll be fulfilled. And sometimes it’s like that in your life. You never saw any continuity in your life.

There’s time when it seemed like everything was so isolated, nothing had a purpose. And then as you get on down the road, you see how God did this? And now I see why he did that. Now I can see this. And all those things begin to come together and give meaning and purpose to your whole life where at one time you thought, I sure was God would use me. And you find out he has been, you just didn’t see it.

And you don’t know everything. But it’s a good thing to know the Lord. And I want you to look there in Psalm 16. Now Psalm 16, yes, written by David, but he also refers to himself, but it looks like it’s referring to the Son of God himself, to the Messiah. And it’s a great prophecy that’s written here. And about not leaving my soul in Hades or Sheol and not allowing the Holy One to see corruption, as it says there in verse 10, but look in verse 11.

Thou wilt show me in your underlineness the path of life. See, even though Christ was perfect, He yielded everything in His life to the Lord. And He says, all things that He did, He did by the power of the Holy Spirit. So you and I, as we trust Christ as our Savior, and God didn’t take His home, but He talks about us running a race, a course that’s set before us, a path. we learn how to walk with the Lord one step at a time.

And you know, as you start down this path that you’re walking, you can’t always see where it’s going to lead to. But there’s some things about this path that will help you to understand because the further down the road you get is you just trust the Lord. You’ll see how God can bring things into your life. And you’ll find out that there’s some things that in your life they’re not as important as you want thought they were. I have even had some of the students, I didn’t know that my life was going to be so full.

I don’t have time to do this or this or this or this. They haven’t got time to change their mind. And your life can become so full because you’re just doing so much for the Lord that you enjoy it. And no, there’s a lot of things that I want to do but you’re so limited. You’re only one person, but sometimes God brings somebody along that’s just the right person at the right time in the path and God uses them.

Because God’s people can accomplish more when there’s unity and people work together. So whenever I hear somebody say, you know, I’m just my plate so full, I just can’t yet tell me all about it. But you see, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got the same amount of time to live. All of them know what you want to do with it. And I thrive on this. Some people, they run from it, but I thrive on it because I am excited about the potential of growing something.

Don’t you like to see something grow? We got to start with something. And so, it’s serving the Lord is such a wonderful thing. And to lose yourself totally in whatever God has for you, what God wants you to do, It’s a marvelous thing. So great way to live. But look what he says in this word. Dao will show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy. If you’ll just understand and believe that you’re living your life for the Lord and in the presence of the Lord and, well, I wonder where he is.

What he lives within me. Live your life as though you’re always every moment walking in the presence of the Lord. walking with God and He’ll walk you through whatever it is that you have to go through. And then He says, at thy right hand there is pleasure forevermore. That’s where you’re going. That’s going to be the end result of walking in the presence of the Lord today. Of what God has for you and me down the road, it’s going to be a wonderful thing.

Take your Bible look in the book of Proverbs, the book of Proverbs in chapter 4. Proverbs chapter 4, been a while since I taught the whole book of Proverbs, but I have and it’s a wonderful book. Pro and verbim more than meets the eye. But whatever you do see, there’s something that’s still under that you don’t see. That’s why he says that you dig like a man looking for silver or gold. to find the treasures that God has in his word.

So you look there in chapter 4 and look at verse 25. Verse 25 says, let thine eyes look right on. Now the word find the mark. Find the mark. Keep your eyes set on the mark. And the Bible talks about us running the race, talks about us, pressing on toward the mark of the high calling. Find out what is that one thing that God wants in mind like more than anything else and you put your eyes right on it and you don’t look to the right you don’t look to the left you’re like an old mule that’s got blinders on you know just keep some looking straight ahead.

So that you stay focused and you keep doing what God says to do and look at the next part of that verse. Right on, then he says straight before the, keep your eyes on the ball. What is it that God wants you to keep your eye on? And that’s what you do. Now, turning the Bible to the book of Hebrews, excuse me, I want you to look at this, verse 27, when he says turn not to the… Right hand nor to the left.

Remove thy foot from evil. Because you see you’re gonna stay on the right path, the straight path. But look over there in the book of Hebrews. I want you to see this. It’s tight, very good into the subject of chastening. But there’s a statement there that kind of gives you an idea about this path that we’re on. And you’ll notice there in Hebrews chapter 12, looking verse 13. You’re supposed to walk with the Lord and you know that it’s a path that will leave one day straight to glory, but we’re not there yet.

We’re on a path. And if you’re on a path, you shouldn’t get off the path. It’s kind of like walking circumspectally, as we said before, like a long pale cat on a fence with bark and dogs on both sides. The cat better watch his step. and you and I need to watch our step because there is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and you notice in verse 13 and make and you ought to underline these two words straight paths for your feet, straight paths.

And you see the devil wants you to get off the main path. He wants you to follow him and so when Christ says follow me so if you follow the Lord then you want to walk in the steps and you’ll walk a straight line. When I’ve gone, they’ll come in. And I used to go up in those mountains and I would spend a week to 10 days all by myself. And I had a jeep that was just a wonderful jeep.

It was a British military Austin scam. Had a Rolls Royce motor in it. Torsion Barce was mentioned. It was 1961. They used it in the British. You used it in Sahara Desert. And this thing was one awesome jeep. and it would go where no other jeep would go. It had all that weight up on those front wheels and you could put it in the forward drive or take that out of forward drive going to any speed. And this was all of them years ago.

Anyway, I’d get up in the mountains and I’d go where there wasn’t no roads. And I knew I could get back because all I had to do was follow my tracks. And then it’s snow. And you know when it snows, it covers over the tracks. When it covers over the tracks, you can’t see the trail that you’ve just came because sometimes I make my own road. I always like to do that. Always like to get off that beaten path.

But sometimes I would walk and I could find my way back out of the mountains by always remembering, always go downhill, always go downhill. And sometimes I would go down and hill and to a valley and they’d be mountain going up all the way. I’d be in trouble again. But I never got lost, temporarily disoriented, but never lost. because I always had an idea. I have like a built-in GPS. When I could go outside and I could just automatically tell which way is north, south, east, and west, I know which way to go.

I’ve driven all across this country, and I’ve done it without maps. Because I just have an idea. I’m supposed to go this way. It hasn’t always worked out good. There’s been occasions when I have made a wrong decision. And I remember one time Betty, she asked me, she’s a Yankee. She says, I’ve got to go down to Denver. And she says, well, how do I know how to get back home? That’s just simple. It’s simple. There’s the mountains. We’re in the foothills.

You’re going out into Denver. When you get ready to come home, just look at the mountains and go west. Well, that day, for some reason or other, she couldn’t see the mountains. It was all falling here or something. She could not find the mountains. She had a problem. Because see, if you lose sight of what you’re focusing on, then you can lose your direction. And so many people, they lose their direction. See, after a while, as you begin to live your life, you don’t even know what’s happening sometime.

And you thought that was it, and you start going that direction, and you find out you’ve done it the wrong way. I’ve done that so many times. And it’ll happen, even when you’re trying to serve the Lord in a spiritual way. Another thing I want you to look at, I looked there in the book of Proverbs chapter 15. Come back to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 15. Proverbs 15, now it says in verse one, a soft answer turned it the way wrath, which is a good thing, grievous words stir up anger.

Did you know that’s part of the path? In the past, it tells you what to say, what not to say and what to do, what not to do, and all these things, you know. But look there in verse 24. And you ought to underline this little statement there. In verse 24, the way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell below. From hell beneath. The way of life is above. You say, well, what does that really mean?

Well, I want you to hold the place right here, but turn all the way over to the book of James, the book of James in chapter three. James chapter three. And I want you to see this because when you talk about the path and it’s from above and you’re to look up to the Lord for direct. Look, this is what he’s talking about, I believe. In verse 15, this wisdom, and this is what the book of Proverbs is about, descended not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

Hmm. I wonder what he’s talking about. Look what he says in verse 13, who is a wise man and, in dude with knowledge among you, Let him show out of a good conversation or behavior, man of life, his works with maintenance of wisdom. But if any have bitter envy and strife in your hearts, which is the type of the flesh, because you’re walking in the flesh, strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth, this wisdom, the fleshly wisdom, the wisdom of the world is not from above.

So when you’re talking about, I want to serve the Lord and I want to walk on this path that leads to glory, the path of life and what God has for me and what God’s going to do for me. That’s what I want. That’s what you focus upon. Then he says in verse 16, for where in being and strife is, there’s confusion and every evil work. Did you know that something will mess up your life fast as when you start in being and become jealous of what somebody else has?

eat at you on the inside like cancer. It’ll destroy you. But you’ll know where that comes from. Where does it come from? Does it come from the Lord? Or does it come from the devil? Then what’s what he says in verse 17, but the wisdom that is from above, see that word above, above is first pure and peaceable and gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy. And then he says in verse 18, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

See, all this is talking about the path that God wants you and I to walk. So to walk this path requires a certain amount of wisdom to know the path and how to find the path and how to stay on the path because there’s all kinds of things in the world trying to lure you away from the Lord and some people are lured because you look over there and there’s a devil and he’s got a little trinket. Hey over here look over here or you’re trying to focus upon the Lord and lo and behold here’s this good looking blond bombshell over there you know if I won’t get your attention or somebody come along to hey look I got all this money if it look what you can be, look what you can have, look how rich you can have.

When you like to have money, I mean if you had money, look what you could do with your life. And so over the thing, wait a minute, what does God want? You find out what God wants you to do, you focus upon that, you look right on, keep your eye on the target and you don’t move to the right and you don’t move to the left and you’ll need the word of God, the wisdom of God, so you can stay focused and keep doing what God wants you to do.

And if you do that, God says it will yield this peaceable fruit of righteousness, as it says in the book of Hebrews in chapter 12, unto everyone that it’s exercised there by. So just keep that in mind. Now go to Jeremiah chapter 6. Jeremiah in chapter 6. Jeremiah chapter 6. And look at this. Remember, we often say this, if something is new, then it’s probably not true. And if it’s true, it’s probably not new. So that’s why you take the word of God and it’s always living.

It’s a great book. He also says in the book of Jeremiah that it’s not within man that walk up to direct his steps. But in the book of Jeremiah, it does tell us this, find the old paths, seek the new paths. Today you have people who are considered themselves to be, and people talk about the millennials, you know. A new generation of people, young people that’s coming up, and they’re forsaken the old traditions, whether it’s church, whether it’s government, or whether it’s ruled and standards and convictions or a character.

And let’s just do our own thing. of the best definition of this is a bunch of junior high kids. And put them on that level and you’ll have a better understanding. Because some people don’t want truth. They say that’s the old, fashion, outdated book, you know. And we’re in something new and better, different. And most people are, they become just lazy and they’ve lost vision. And so you and I, should we give up what we know to placate to the generation today?

Because they want us to accept whatever they want to do. And if you take any strong stand, it’s you that get attacked for doing right. Instead of them correcting their ways, because there’s a lot of people have no desire to correct the way they are. They don’t know and don’t believe that there is a cause and effect. You read what you sow. But here in Jeremiah in verse 16, I want you to see this. He says, Thus saith the Lord, Standy in the ways, and see, and ask, and you ought to underline this for the old paths.

Because see, if it’s the true path and it’s the right path, it’s probably an old path. You see, I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel. I just want to go according to what God has already given. I do not need the world to give me directions on how to live. I do not need the world to tell me what to accept and not to accept. I don’t need the world out there to tell me that homosexuality is okay, abortion is all right, getting a little social drink every once in a while is nothing wrong with that, or shacking up with somebody and having sex before marriage because that’s all acceptable now.

Not what God is, and this hasn’t changed. So I’m going to stay with the old path. This is what I believe. This is what I think is right. And I’m not going to take my eyes off of what God says. Because see, I already know that little road that just barely goes, it just bears off to the right. Did you know that I’ve looked down the road, I see where that road’s going. I don’t want to end up where they’re going.

That’s not the path for me. That’s a path that lead up to destruction. And I like this path over here. I’ve already walked on it for 53 years. I think I’ll just stay right. right here. Seek the old truths always. Look what He said to verse 16. And ask for the old paths, where is the good way and walk therein? And ye shall find rest for your souls. For they said, we will not walk. And they said, we will not walk there.

They said, we will not. Did you know this was right before? Never a connector came in from Babylon. Took care of the matter, they wouldn’t listen. We will not. We will not. We are the new millennials. We will do whatever we want to do. We’re a new generation. Yes, you are. God bless you. You’re so wise. I think you’re better off when you just stick with the book and let God determine what’s right and what’s wrong and you stand with God.

And you won’t go too far off that old familiar beaten path if it’s a good path. It’s a right path. It’s the proper path. It’s the one that God wants us on. And you know there’s something else thatudebs mentioned here. And I know that even Schofield didn’t put a note in there. I thought they would have done that. But he says, ye shall find rest under your souls. that phrase, you shall find rest for your souls. Did you know that there’s a verse similar to that in the New Testament book of Brah of Matthew chapter 11?

You need to see it. Let’s go there. Matthew in chapter 11, because in the New Testament it just simply makes that statement, but it doesn’t tell you where it’s found. And I I believe it’s an important scripture. In Scripture, let’s say in verse 28, Matthew 11 and verse 28, when Christ says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Did you know once you trusted Christ as your Savior and you have to understand you have ceased to work for your salvation.

To know that you don’t have to work to attain salvation. It is such a load off of your mind. It’s like weight’s been lifted off your shoulders. I don’t have to earn. It just takes it off. When I knew that I had somebody that could take those lectures for me, it was like somebody just took 10,000 pounds off of my shoulders because I knew that I can’t make it. I can’t get it done in time. And so, God sends this person along.

God sends that one along. God sends that one along. Did you know that in your serving the Lord, there’s time for God to bring the right people into your life to help you and encourage you to be a blessing to you. And sometimes when you’re not doing what’s right, sometimes they’ll come along and they’ll rebuke you too. Do you know that person is just as much important as the one who always wants to compliment you? How many of you like to get compliments.

I mean, he would like to get reviews. Not as many. Only Gary raised his hand, but he’s used to his wife. Just joking. You have the opportunity in walking with the Lord to understand that God even chases those whom he loves. That’s what he said. But here in this verse 29, he says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, he says, for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” You see, there is a path that God has for us.

And this path is a path that will lead to glory. We’re not there yet, but we have a responsibility to the Lord to live the way God wants us to. And yes, in this path there’s a lot of obstacles and things like that, but keep your eyes focused on the Lord and He will bring you through, clean through, and you can trust the Lord for that. One verse in closing, Proverbs 4 verse 18, Proverbs in chapter 4, Proverbs chapter 4, look there in verse 18.

Those who know the Lord are considered to be the just. You have been justified, your God’s child declared righteous. But the path of the just is as shining light that shines more and more onto the perfect day. See the path that leads to glory. That’s perfection down there. And our path that we’re on is one day going to lead us to that perfect day. Until then you and I, the just, are supposed to be the light on this path that leads to glory.

Let’s pray, shall we? Father, we thank you so much for your words that you’ve given us, so much we don’t understand but help us, Lord, in that which we can and do. To walk according to the truth that we already have. We’re thankful, Lord, for the ministry you’ve given us, for the path that each one of us have, been given, help us to walk and to be faithful. This at our eyes straight, to look right on, move not to the right nor to the left, because what we do is important.

Thank you for the privilege of knowing you and this hurt you. In Christ’s name we pray, amen. We at Bibleline would like to extend a free offer to those who support this ministry financially. This month we are sending a free copy of the book, book, The Gospel Driven Man, for a donation of any amount. It is a small way that we can show our appreciation for your support of this radio program. Without your thoughtful gifts and prayers, we would not be able to remain on the air.

The book explains the basic doctrines of the Bible and can help you to be more confident in leading people to Christ and for understanding the driving principles of the gospel itself. So during the following month, we would like to send to you a free copy of The Gospel driven man by Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold for a donation of any amount to Bibleline. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address.

Thank you again for your continued support and prayers and helping us bring the clear gospel message to the world. 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. Caught 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.