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

Hold your place right here. Look there in Proverbs in chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 1. Now, Proverbs chapter 1, this is from the old preacher boy Solomon, and he says, A wise man, there in verse 5, a wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise councils. To understand a proverb and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Now get what he says here because it deals with the family. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, forsake not the law of thy mother. It is important to realize in most cases parents try to tell you the things to do that’s right. They don’t always, but they may try to the best of their ability. And so it’s a shame for a son to bring shame to his parents. And I never wanted to bring shame to my parents, even though at times I was ashamed of my parents.

But I lived long enough to realize they didn’t get to know what I know. Nobody is, I know of, ever told them about the Lord. Maybe they never had the chance of the opportunity because the whole time I was with my mom and dad, they never talked about God, they never talked about the Bible, they never had prayer in our home because that’s the way they were raised. They didn’t know how can they teach me something they didn’t know.

So they were ignorant, yeah, they were ignorant of what the word of God says. So when I understood, I wanted to make sure that at least I can try to tell my kid, but it took five years before I was able to leave my mama to the Lord. And so I’m thankful for that. And then I, I’ll let my one stepdad to the Lord. So there’s some things that will happen to you. Just, you just got to get over it and not dwell on the past and remember to keep looking forward and doing what God wants us to do.

Now, if you will look there in chapter 21 again, where says in verse 25, the desire of the sloth of killeth him for his hand refuses to labor, his hand refuses to labor. So it will kill you in the long run. Be somebody that is not afraid of work. The only place you find, I guess how would you say it, work and success, success comes before work is only in the dictionary. Because in real life, if you don’t do the work, you’ll never be a success.

You’ve got to learn how to discipline yourself and make yourself go. Make yourself go. Because my dad wasn’t there to make me go. My mother didn’t make me go. It’s not my wife that makes me go, but what makes me go? You got to have something that makes you go. make she strived to do as much as you possibly can. So it’s important. Look in Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22. And look there in verse 13 where it says, the slothful man says, hey there’s a lion outside.

I can’t go outside because I’ll get slain by the lion. Now his lie is better than the reason, good reasons of seven men. See a A lot of people have a reason why they can’t do certain things and it may be a legitimate reason, but a sloth of men can outlie anybody. And it will sound so good. And so that’s why you have to be careful. Now look at the next scripture. And that is, let’s see here where we are now.

Proverbs chapter 24. Proverbs 24 and verse 30. And there’s two verses here that I want you to look at. And one in verse 30 and the other one is verse 31. Verse 30 says, I went by the field of the slawful. Now what’s the slawful person? That’s the inactive lazy. lazy, idle man. So sometimes the script don’t mean thing. If you don’t know the meaning of the word, so you find out the meaning of the word, then when you go back and read that verse, dada, it makes sense.

I went by the field of the lazy, the sloth of the idle, and by the vineyard of the man, void of understanding, he just doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get it. And in verse 31 and low, you’re on the line this part. it was all grown over with what? He had carrots and he had corn and he had potatoes and he had no, he had thorns. He had thorns. Now take your Bible and turn with me all the way over to the book of Hebrews in chapter 6.

Hebrews and chapter 6. Now what does God say about his little darling children? Hebrews chapter 6. Once you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, your God’s child. And as a child of God, you and I are to grow in the Lord. And so if we will grow, we’ve got to listen. You can’t obey the Word if you don’t hear the Word. So in the previous chapter chapter 5 and verses 11 down to 14, tells us that you become dull of hearing.

In other words, you don’t hear, therefore you don’t do. And the only reason you should hear is because you want to do something. What do you do? What the word of God says. So he says, some babes in the Lord, they’re not strong enough and they can’t handle them. Look at in verse 6 now, verse 6 of chapter 6, if they shall fall away to renew them again and to repent and see, and they crucify to themselves the Son of God, a phrase and put them to an open chain.

Now I believe this is all written, this is scripture, all these scriptures is to the Christian, to the believer. But he says here in verse seven, for the earth which drank it in the rain that comeeth off upon it, and bring it forth herbs made for them by whom it is dressed, receive it, and here’s the thing, blessings from God. So he says, here’s the earth, it rains, and brings forth fruit. Here’s the Christian. The Christian should drink in the world of God and bring forth fruit.

And that’s why he’s talking about the blessings from God. But in verse 8, but that which bear thorns and briars is rejected. Not the land, but the briars. All those things are rejected whose end is to be burned. You don’t burn the land, but you burn that which is upon the land, And it’s a wasted life who is nigh on the cursing, whose end is to be burned, but in verse 9, but beloved, we’re persuaded better things of you.

I expect better things from God’s people because I should expect it. If I teach what the word of God says, I’m supposed to put my confidence in God’s word that it will do the work that God sent it out to do. And so as you hear and listen to what the word of God says, And if there’s any correction has to be made, you’re going to do it. That’s what I believe. Now, if you don’t, I get greatly disappointed.

And I’ve been disappointed a lot of times in my Christian life. But you have to understand why God says what He does, because see, all these things are important. But it doesn’t matter if you’re young or if you’re old. These truths doesn’t break it down into age brackets. The truth stays the same. And so that’s why we have to keep these things in mind. Look there in Proverbs 26, back to Proverbs, back to Proverbs 26. And verse 15, and here in this verse, verse 15, the slothful hiding his hand in his bosom.

Now this is similar to a verse we already read while ago. It grieved with him to bring it again to his mouth. That means to work for a living. And then in verse 16, the slugger is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that had or can render a reason. And this is what I was talking about just a moment ago. So look there now in Romans in chapter 12. It’s all the way over to Romans in chapter 12.

One day we were going to have a A college board meeting, and we had all of our people there and somewhere on the phone. And so I had to read a few scriptures and I read these scriptures that day because I figured like, here we are, we’re going to try to start a Bible college. I don’t know how much work could be done. And so I says, the Lord’s work is a business, but it’s the Lord’s business. I’m not talking about whether it’s a business for the world or all that, but it is a business.

But look what he says here in verse 10, be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honor, prefer in one another. In other words, you want the best for everybody else. You never want to put down somebody. You want everybody to succeed. You want them to do the best they can. See, God will reward you in heaven because you helped somebody else be what they ought to be. I want to try to get as many people involved in every area of the ministry that I possibly can.

But look what else he says here. In verse 10, not in here is something you need on the line that in your Bible there. Not slothful in business. Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Do you think that God, after now that we know what that word slothful means is to go through all those Old Testament verses. When God says, He doesn’t want us to be slothle. What do you think that means? He doesn’t want us to be what? And he clues?

Lazy. God doesn’t want us to be lazy. And then He says here, serving the Lord. So whenever you do and you serve the Lord, you rejoice in hope, you’re happy about things and it can change your whole attitude about things because you get so involved in what you can’t see the man who is in the boat if he’s rowing the boat it’s kind of hard to rock the boat if you got your hands on the oars it’s the person who’s not doing the rowing that’s standing up and shaking the boat and you’re gonna turn the whole thing over the person that stays busy most of the time when Israel had trouble was when they pitch camp not when they’re on the move.

As long as you’re working and doing something and you’ve ever heard this statement, an idle mind is the, I wonder what that means. Got an idea of what that might mean? An idle mind is the devil’s workshop where he can build all kinds of things there, can’t he? Get inside of you a little mind because you don’t have anything definite to think about. Keep your focus, keep Keep your mind on what God wants you to do. And you’ll be surprised.

Now look in Hebrews chapter six. We were just there, but I think I just read that verse to you. He said that you be not slothful, but followers of them who threw faith and patience and hear the promise. Now let’s quickly look at this other word. Slugger to habitually as in a slothful man. Now we’ll just look at the verses right here and just kind of read them that are right there on your notes to save a little time.

Proverbs chapter six and verse six. about go to the ant and do what? Observe the ant and learn from an ant. What does an ant do that I’m supposed to learn? An ant does what? Works. Have you ever seen an ant work? When I was in school I had two plates of glass and I put sand in it and you can put some ants in there and what’s interesting is you can watch them as they make their trails and so and that was always an intriguing man.

And then the watch at Ant cut a leaf off of a tree and carry a leaf that’s 20 times bigger than what it is and walk off of that thing. And I watched them when they showed it on the channel one night, I forgot what it was, but these army ants were swarming down in Africa. And they showed up also down in South America and they were just swarming all over the ground and they came up to a stream and they couldn’t get across because there’s water there.

And those little buggers, they went and chopped down some leaves off the tree and put them into the water and got on the leaf and floated to the other side. They’re not done. And the Bible says they store up in the summertime because winter’s coming. And so they would work hard and this is what they did. So in this verse, go to the ant thou slugger, Consider her ways and be wise. Oh, go look at it. You gotta look at that.

There’s a couple more verses there. That’s very good. Proverbs, come on. Proverbs chapter six. And you notice there’s several verses here that are really good that goes along with this. So in Proverbs chapter six where it makes this statement in verse six, go to the anthal slugger. Consider her ways and be wise. Which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provided her meat in the summer and gathered for food in the harvest. How long will thou sleep, O slugger? When will thou arise out of thy sleep?

Yet a little sleep, more than needed. A little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that travaileth, and thy one as an armed man.” You know, a person who is armed usually trying to take something from somebody else because he didn’t deserve it and didn’t work for it because he’s lazy and didn’t just get it from somebody else. Well, this is what he’s talking about. So God, does he want you to be a slugger, a lazy person?

No. Well, what about when we get older? They are here. I am. Yes, they’ve got to work. You never stop. There’s always something to do. Now look at the second thing here. How long without sleep, oh, slugged. Now look in chapter 10 of Proverbs. Well, right there. You might just stay in looking at the Scriptures here. In chapter 10, chapter 10, in verse 26, as vinegar to the teeth and it smoked to the eyes. So is the slugger to the men that send him.

How would you like to send a slugger, a lazy person to deliver something that’s very important, to do something very important? Would you sleep well at night? You wouldn’t know if they’re going to do the job or not do the job because you want to trust faithfulness. One of the things you always go by and everything is, is he faithful? Is he faithful? Is he faithful? If he’s not faithful, you can’t use him. So you always looking for people that are faithful.

They say something and then they do it. And they don’t have to have somebody force them to do it because your word ought to be your bond. You know, years ago, people that they told you something, their word was your bond. They didn’t have to sign the 15, 20 times. You’d be surprised, I got a sign. I got a sign. I still got a bunch of papers on my desk. I got a sign. And so you’re always got to sign something.

And so that means you’re committing yourself to something and you better know who you are. You better know what you are and how committed you are to whatever it is that you want to do. But anyway, look at the next statement there. The soul of the slugger desireth and half nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. In talking to this lady the other day, as I stood there and a person was just blessing me out and then cursing me.

I mean using all vulgar words and you’re a preacher. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a pastor. And I thought we had done very kind to somebody. But it’s never enough. I’ll go what you do for somebody that’s lazy. It’s never enough. because they develop a mentality. You owe me. You owe me. I deserve and shame on you if you don’t. And I’ve had people get mad at me and I was up there in Northside one day and you know we’re Northside.

This guy comes up to the door and he says I’m homeless and I don’t have anything and I don’t have anything to eat. And he says I I haven’t eaten in days and I sure appreciate it. Give me something to help me. I said, well, I’ll be glad to take in, get you some heat. And I said, there’s a huddle house right down the corner right here. And I said, I’ll be glad just to take you down here. So let’s go.

He said, well, I don’t like the huddle house. I said, you don’t want to go to the huddle house. I said, where do you want? He said, oh, I got this favorite place that I like to go. It’s on the other side of town. How much do you think I gave him? nothing because right before the Huddle House is a beer joint. One day out of the kindness of my heart I was just feeling compassionate and this guy came up to the door because the person was right there next to the church and everybody seems to find that house.

They just seem to know the pastor must live here and he’s a millionaire and so they’d come to the door and as one guy says I I got a wife and kids and we don’t have anything to eat. And so I gave him, I don’t know if it was 10 or 20. Anyway, he started walking off and I thought, I wonder. So I went back out there and I watched as he walked down the street. He walked in the Floyd’s package store and I thought, you just bought him a fifth.

I wanted to go out there and strangle that guy. But it wasn’t his fault, that was my fault. Sometimes you’re going to have people that will take advantage of you. Have you ever had anybody take advantage of you? And I tell the Lord, Lord, I want to be compassionate, but I know there’s got to be a limit. And I don’t always have the right judgment, you know, because I’m so easily fooled by somebody like that. Because I want to believe every story.

I want to believe that they’re telling me the truth. And down deep inside, I know that most of them are lying to me when they do it. And then I always wondered, well, I asked this one person, I says, and this is just, I says, well, where are you from? They’re Miami. I says, where’s your mother and dad? Miami? I said, why don’t you go to your mother and dad? Well, they’re not going to help me. I got a hunch.

I know why. they abuse whoever they can and they use and abuse. And you don’t want to be like that. So you got to make sure as Christians you maintain a good testimony at all times. Look at the rest of this. Proverbs chapter 20 verse 4, the slugger will not plow by reason of the co- it’s too cold. Ah well, not too hot. Therefore shall he beg and harvest and have nothing. You have to get to the place where you learn a need to work for the Lord and do all that God wants me to do.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of Ecclesiastes. Just turn to your right there, a few pages. Ecclesiastes in chapter 11. This is a really good scripture. It really is. I don’t know how Solomon got his wisdom except the Bible says he had it from the Lord. So he wrote a lot of things that are very wise and yet at the same time in spite of all the wisdom that he had that Solomon make all the right choices.

The man was a fool. In later life he became a fool. He let those women turn his head. He only had about a thousand. One would have been plenty, but no, he had to have a 700 wise and 300 porcupines. So there you go. Now here in Ecclesiastes in chapter 11, look what he says in verse 1, cast thy bread upon the waters. And so I say why should I do that? Who wants soggy bread? For thou shalt find it after many days.

In other words, invest now and you get returned later. Do what you’re supposed to do now and get the results later. That’s what he’s saying. And then note to what he says. in verse three, if the cloud be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. And if the tree fall toward the south or toward the north in the place where the tree fall up there, it shall be. That is wisdom. Wherever the tree falls and whatever the direction it falls, there shall it lay.

In other words, some people, and we have to say, you made your own bed now sleep in it. You ever heard that before? Oh, that can burn. But then he says here in verse four, He that observeth the wind shall not sow. Why can’t show because the wind’s blowing. Well, I can’t sow because it’s too hot. Well, not a non is too cold. And then sometimes we can’t go to church because I’m a kid to get a call. So the whole family had to stay home just to help blow that old kid’s nodes.

And then he says in verse 5, and thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child. Even so thou knowest not the works of God who make at all. just do what God says do because God says it and don’t try to figure it all out. Just know that if I’m faithful and if I work hard not apply myself, God will open the doors for me and God will use me.

And when He says, knock, it means knock and keep knocking. When He says seek, it means seek and keep seeking and ask and keep asking and you’ll find what you’re looking for. And so he says here in verse 6, in the morning so thy seed in the evening with whole not thine hand. In other words, be willing to share in hell, but you know that there’s going to be people who are going to take advantage of you. But our rather err on the side of compassion than to become so stingy that I have no heart left at all and become co-hearted.

So yes sometimes people will abuse and take advantage and then slander you and lie to you and curse you out and it’s all in a day’s work. That’s what I’ve said before. Serve the Lord like you’ve never been hurt. You can’t let things let you can’t let hurt you. So you just keep on going and God will bless. Look at the last statement on here we have and we’ve already read the verse but it’s a slugger that is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

Or what you got in your refrigerator? Well, he said I got a jug of milk. Now what’s that milk for? Well, it’s because I can’t go to church. Can’t go to church because I got a jug of milk in a refrigerator. It makes no sense, but that’s his reason. Now, a liar can top that. Or I guess you’d say a lazy person. A lazy person can come up with some of the best things, and they usually do the attacking.

That’s why the Bible says if you render a person that’s a scourner, You rent a certain person or a fool and that person will turn on you and try to cut you to ribbons. So they don’t accept, they don’t accept constructive, you know, words of wisdom. They just turn on you and like a pit bull can tear you to pieces and that’s what you have to watch. So yes, should we still be kind? Yeah, we still got to be kind.

let what a few people do to keep you from having a warm heart and be kind toward people. But know that there are some people that will never do anything. And sometimes you’ll be taking advantage of. And I, when I saw them, he had been drinking. And it’s amazing how that how many of the homeless always managed to be able to have smoke. I ain’t never figured that out. Their pores can be. They ain’t got a dime. They got no job.

They got nothing. they got cigarettes. You ever noticed that? And they all smoked themselves to death. So they didn’t got any money, but where did you get the money for the cigarettes? I’m going to start asking it because I want to know I have an enquiring mind. I haven’t figured it all out yet. But anyway, look up here. Very important. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. The Bible says we all have sin on us. And God says that we’re all sinners.

Sometimes we paint the worst picture of a person we can think of. And God’s eyes, there’s no difference. We’re all like that. We’ve all come short of God’s perfection. But God says that He loves us, but to pay for our sins, eternal separation from the Lord. And God says that He loves us, wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven, we have to be perfect as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect. None of us are righteous.

We’ve all come short. We’ve all sinned. And God says, you can’t save yourself. There’s no good deeds that you can do to earn your way to heaven. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin, because our sin separates us from the Lord. So Jesus Christ took the sin, paid it on the cross and came back from the dead. And so that’s why he says all we have to do is, the only thing we can do is believe he did it for us.

And if we’ll believe it, he puts the payment to our account, we get to go to heaven on what Christ did. And he says, you can know that you have eternal life. And I know, I know that that I know I have eternal life. Best news in the world. Our Father, we thank You so much for all that You’ve done for us. We’re thankful for the free gift of everlasting life. And that by faith and faith alone in what Christ did, we can know that we’re going to heaven.

We can’t earn it, can’t work for it, can’t buy it. And once we accept it as a free gift, You can never take it back. We’ll never cast this out, never lose it. Christ, never will. You’ve been listening to another great message from Pastor Arnold, and we at Bibleline thank you for tuning in. In appreciation to those who support this ministry financially, we would like to send to you the Dora Lake story. It is a true story about the splitting of a church in Minnesota after a young preacher taught a gospel message that contradicted the theology of Calvinism.

And can you guess who that young preacher was? Yes, it was Pastor Arnold. In this book, Pastor Arnold thoroughly discusses the dangers of the five points of Calvinism. And this book is offered to you as a free gift for your donation in any amount. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. We are pleased to be able to give a little something back to you for your financial support.

So for this month, receive the door-lakes story with your financial contribution of any amount, and thank you for helping us reach the world with the Clear Gospel. 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, and just keep looking up.