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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.

I want you to take your Bible and turn it with me to the book of Psalms, the book of Psalms. In Psalms 32, we had mentioned last week that everybody does things wrong. We’re just seeing the results of the sinful nature of man in the world. And man has not improved. All the technology has not changed man’s sinful nature. He’s still as wicked as he’s always been. In the very beginning when there was Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, Cain killed it, he was just as mean and ugly and jealous and he murdered the man.

It was just as bad then as has always been. Nothing’s changed. Man’s sinful nature is still the same. You can’t improve the sinful nature of man. We have an old sinful nature and it’s rebellious, the truth to God. And here he says, what do you do when you do feel guilty? You ever do something wrong and you feel so guilty? Like eating that big old dessert and you feel guilty after you’ve done it. And you know that confession your sin is not going to change the outcome at all.

What do we need if you can just confess that sin and I didn’t gain one ounce? I think some people think that’s the way it is with sin. There’s no consequence of because I confess my sin. As long as I confess my sin, there’s no consequences. Surprise, surprise. And I told you before, you can drink alcohol and realize, oh, the air of my ways and confess your sin. But if you damage your kidneys, your kidneys are still damaged. It doesn’t solve the problem.

So sometimes there’s ways that you feel. And if you’ll notice down here in verse 5, I acknowledge my sin under the and my iniquity, have I not hid?” And I said, I will confess my transgression unto the Lord, and Alpha gave us the iniquity of my sin. And though you confess the sin that you do, you need to also change your ways. Should you change your ways and bring them into harmony with the Lord’s? I believe that’s what God wants us to do.

Now I want you to take your Bible and turn there too, since we’re right here, it’s Psalms 34. Look in Psalms 34. Psalms 34 and look in verse 18. As you go through life, you’re gonna find out that, you know, you’re gonna feel alone at times, abandoned at times. And it seems like just things just don’t always go right. But Lewity says in verse 18, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. Now the reason that I like this verse because I tied in with the book of Psalms and verse in chapter 51 where David prayed to the Lord and he says a broken and contrite spirit that’s what he’s looking for.

He God does not love the people who has a countenance of rebellion or pride, a a conceited attitude toward God or anything else. So God warns us about that. But look what he says here. And save it such as be of a contrite spirit. So in the book of Psalms 51 and verse 17, it talks about that. And that’s what God wanted from David. He says, this is better than sacrifice than what you can do. I want that broken heart.

Do you have a broken heart when you do that which is contrary to the Lord? And if you do, then God says that He can forgive you. But that’s what he’s looking for, not a prideful rebellion against him. Look in verse 20 and you’ll see he keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken. I wonder who that’s talking about. That was Jesus. In the Old Testament, some of these are Messianic Psalms and they will refer to the Lord Jesus Christ and written almost a thousand years before he came.

And he says in verse 21, evil shall slay the wicked and they that, hate the righteous shall be desolate. Ah, he says in verse 20, the Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate are left alone. Remember what Jesus said on the cross? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But God wants you to look, you’re not going to be desolate. You’re not gonna be left alone. There’s somebody who is always with you.

Once you trust Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit lives within you, and He will never leave you and never forsake you. Isn’t that good to know? That ought to make you feel a little bit better. Also, look there in the book of Psalms in chapter 10. Psalms, chapter 10. This turn to your left, there are a couple pages. Psalms, chapter 10. And I want you to look in verse 1, in verse 1. Because there There would be times in your Christian life when it seems like God is far, far away.

Have you ever prayed and sometimes it seems like the ceiling is made out of brass and you can’t get through it? Well there would be times like that and there would be times when it seems like all the lights have been turned off and you’re left in the dark. And sometimes it seems like all the walls are moving and closing in. And you don’t know what you can do, you don’t know where you can run, you don’t know where you can hide and sometimes you’re looking for just a little real light.

That little real light is always that little real hope. Something that you can believe God’s going to come through. But to me, I had to learn this long time ago. True faithfulness to the Lord is when you remain faithful when it appears that God has let you down. There will be times when you’ll think God has failed. God didn’t come through. I counted on him, I trusted in him and he let me down. You say, I’ve never been there, oh, you will.

Just, if God gives you enough time, you’ll think that. Well, look what he says in verse one. “‘Why stand to foul far off, O Lord, “‘why hideest thyself in time of trouble.'” In other words, I need help and I need it now. Isn’t it something that we always wait to pray, Lord? I need something two months from now I’m on a pray now feverishly and we don’t do that. We wait until the last minute and then it’s a crisis.

Have you ever created a crisis in your life? And then before that gets done, it seems like another crisis has hit. Then before you saw that one, another crisis. And we’re almost like the government, ain’t we? They become diversions. You know the devil works on diversion to do things to keep you from focusing upon what God wants you to do. So He creates a little trouble here. And then a little trouble over here, trouble over here. And sometime it seemed like they all hit it the same time.

That’s when it’s really rough, when it’s really hard. But I know what He says here. Look in verse 2, the wicked in His, and here’s that word you ought to underline them, pride. The persecute the poor. Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked, and here’s another word, boasteth, pride, persecutes. Verse 3, boasteth of his heart’s desire and blesses the covetous whom the Lord abhorth. In other words, you’re not on the same page.

There are wicked people in this world that seemed like they prosper. As he says in Psalms, have you ever become envious at the prosperity of the wicked? When here you are, you’re God’s child and you’re giving it all you’ve got and seeking to do what’s right and other people live like the devil and it seems like everything they touch terms they go and they’re happy and it said I thought the wicked was supposed to be miserable and I’m the one that’s miserable and they’re happy and just don’t seem fair.

Maybe I need to live like they do. And this is why David made the statement. He says, my feet had well nice lift. But I considered their end. In other words, it’s not over yet. It’s not over yet. When you and I leave this world, God is going to reward us and bless us with more blessings and more happiness and more whatever than what they ever even thought about. And it says that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be.

Are you going to win? going to win. Are they going to lose? They’re going to lose. Don’t look at it now, but down the road in results. And the Bible says, you shall reap if you faint not. Keep looking to the Lord, keep trusting the Lord. And God will bless. But look what else he says here in verse four, because this is the prideful person. This is why you have to watch that you don’t $\ do this and be like this because then you will sin against God and then you’re gonna have all those feelings of guilt because you didn’t do what God wanted youalyses to do.

So he says in verse 4, the wicked through the, and here’s that word again, pride of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. This is why God hates the sin of pride because the pride means I can handle it. What do I want to do with my life? I’m going to do whatever I please that makes me happy. And there’s Christians that make decisions based upon what they want and has nothing to do with what God wants.

God is not in all their thoughts. For you and I that know the Lord, we should always be thinking that, what would God want me to do. What does GodWhereas God want me to know? What does God want me to be? And you’re always thinking like that. Because that keeps you from being prideful and going your own way. All we like, sheep have gone astray. Now after you trust the Lord, that never happens anymore, right? Or is it possible for Christians that still want to go their own way?

So he says, God is not in all his thoughts. So evidently, God does expect to be in all of our thoughts. True, when you kind of come up with that conclusion. Look at, he says in verse five, his ways are always grievous. Thy judgments are far above out of his sight. As for all his enemies, he puffed at them. He had said in his heart, I shall not be moved. That’s why I wonder sometimes when we think as I shall not be, I shall not be moved.

I shall not be, I shall not be moved. That should be the theme song of most Baptist churches. They refuse to be moved. And yet it all depends on context and perspective of what you’re talking about at the time. There’s time when we are supposed to be according the Bible in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58, where he talks about being steadfast, unmovable. So we’re be unmovable because we know what we believe and nothing’s going to move me. And Paul says, I shall not be moved.

I will not be moved. So there’s times and yes, that’s true and that’s good, but you’ve got to remember. Make sure when it comes to the Lord, you’ll do whatever God wants you to do. He says here inBILITIES. For I shall never be in adversity. In other words, the PROULFUL MAN thinks that nothing is going to go wrong. Everything is going to be wonderful. Isn’t this why we sometimes go into debt? And things are going to be BETTER than it was last year.

And so therefore we are assuming, and is it possible that you can make decisions based on that and it gets worse? You lose your job. You can’t make the payments. Look what God did to me. Has God made us sign anything? Did God make us sign things? Well, when I got married, he brought that woman to me. God did that. Look what, it’s all God’s fault. You know God gets blamed for a lot of stuff. I think even the devil gets blamed for something they didn’t do.

Mama told her boy, says, you stay away from that lake. Mama can I just go down there and stand there and just watch the other kids? All right, but don’t you get in the water. If you get tempted, you just say, get behind me there. So Mama goes up there later and there’s her boy and they’re just a swimmin’ havin’ a big time. Then I tell you, mama, mama, mama, mama, you told me to tell the devil to get behind me.

I did mom and he pushed me in. Now my fault. Always somebody else’s fault, but look at the prideful man. See there in verse 7, his mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sit it in the lurking places of the villages in the secret places death, the, the he murdered the innocent. His eyes are privately set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly at his den. He lieth in wait to catch the poor.

He death catch the poor when he draw him into his net. He and humbled himself that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He had said in his heart, Thou hath forgotten. He hideth his faith, he shall never see it. God doesn’t know, and God doesn’t care. I mean, after God created the world, and then he took a vacation, and who knows where he’s at? He’s probably on the backside of some, you know, galaxy someplace over there having a big time, and here we are over here, and he’s in forsoocos, for Sukkah, and we’re on our own.

I believe God is, you know, this is what blows my mind. God is able to see every individual, but think about this. To see every individual at every angle, from every angle, every individual, everywhere, all the time. There is no place that his eyes cannot see or from every angle. You ever look at something from an angle, you ever watch these guys play golf and they line up that putt. And then they’ll walk on this side and they’ll look at that putt.

And then they’ll walk on the other side and line that putt up again. Then they’ll walk all the way on the other side and they’ll line up that putt again. Trying to see whether or not does it go downhill, does it go uphill, does it lean a little bit here? bit here and they walk up their halfway and they stand there trying to see the feel in their feet whether or not it goes this way or this way and then they look at the cut and see if the cups lean in this way just a little bit because if it leans a little bit that means it’s kind of slope to the right.

If it leans this way it’s gonna slope to the left. So they look at it from the other angle. Ah-huh, speeds up right there. Why they don’t look at it at different angles. Wouldn’t it be something if you could you automatically see everything from every angle all at the same time and got it right. Well that would be some golfer. I think the Lord you live inside of me but I’ve always been afraid to invoke divine intervention because that means I’m cheating against the other guy and I want to cheat the other guy because I’ve got God helping me in this poor fella doesn’t have God helping him.

So when I go play golf, I tell people, I’m a preacher. I say I preach better than I play golf. And the reason is because if I play too good, people would think that I spend too much time on the golf course. So I purposely play bad. Everybody buys all this? I don’t think y’all believe a word I’m saying. All All right, let’s look back at the word. In verse 12 says, a rise, old Lord, old God, lift up thy hand, forget not the humble.

See those words, you ought to underline it. Forget not the humble. Who’s the humble? The person that depends on God. Humility is not a position of the body. It’s a position of the mind. And so therefore, to do this. And that’s why it’s so important. Learn to do the thing that God wants us to do. Look in Psalms 25, you’re right there close, Psalms 25. Psalms 25 and look in verse 16. And you’ll notice in verse 25 and verse 16, he says, “‘Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me, “‘for I am desolate and afflicted.

“‘The troubles of my heart are enlarged. O bring down me out of my distresses. Look upon my afflictions and my pain and forgive all my sins. Consider my enemies for they are many and they hate me with cruel hatred. O keep my soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait on thee. It’s a good way to think. It’s a good way, mighty good way to think about what God has done for us.

Now, turning your Bible to the book of Matthew in chapter 5, Matthew and chapter 5, real quick, you are going to have to realize that as a child of God, everything is not going to go your way. But you already know that. But you still expect it to go your way and some things are not going to go your way. So in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is talking to the disciples and many of these things are going to apply to the time of the kingdom of heaven when he sets up his kingdom upon the earth.

Read Matthew as though he’s talking to Israel and it’s about how they’re going to be when he rules and reigns. But he says this, in verse 12, rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven. So you and I are supposed to know, yes, not everything is going to be wonderful that happens to you in life. A lot things are going to go wrong and you’re not going to have an easy road. It’s going to be filled with all kinds of problems and so forth in life.

And so he says, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. So even though that’s going to happen, here’s what I want you to do. You see, they won’t have to persecute you unless they know that you are good salt and a good light. see the following verses have to do with let them see your good works, that they may glorify your Father which is in heaven. But understanding by doing the things that are right, not everyone is going to glorify your Father which is in heaven, but there might be some that will.

But the reason why you do what you do is so important. And so he says in verse 13, ye are the salt of the earth. So therefore we are supposed to be little salt shakers. Have you ever been to a restaurant and you get ready to pour the salt out and it won’t come out? You know what somebody did? I was sitting there and I was trying to get it out and it wouldn’t come out. She came up and she took a knife and she just put it on the back of the salt thing and just running around the back of the thing.

and he just started falling out of that. He says, what did you just do? She says, it’ll work on the pepper. Also, took the pepper and then the pepper wouldn’t come out. So she just run a knife over the back of the shaker. And then we just started coming out of there. And I, but she couldn’t shake it. I couldn’t get it to come out. She had a new little trick. And I still can’t figure out how it worked.

But it worked. And I’ve tried it since then and it’s don’t ever work. I don’t know what George did. But sometimes, you know, the salt doesn’t come out. If the salt doesn’t come in contact with whatever you want it to, it doesn’t preserve anything and doesn’t change the taste of it. You’re there, but it doesn’t do any good. It’s like it’s lost its savory. It doesn’t have a purpose anymore. You and I are in this world. We have a purpose.

We have to come in contact with the world, but we’re not to be like the world. We are here to affect the world, and the world cannot see unless we as the light. So you see there in verse 14, ye are the light of the world. City that is set on the hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel of but on the can of state. And they give a light under all that are in the house.

Remember the purpose of the light shining is not so everybody gets to see you. It’s whatever the light is shining upon. There’s something that they want to see you and I are just to be tools in the hands of the Lord and therefore he says your reward will be great. But remember this rewards are earned. So God is going to bless us with many opportunities. They get rewards. Now remember this, when we get to heaven, God is not going to take all those people who earned and worked and got these rewards and give them to the people who didn’t do anything.

You see, God is not a Democrat. He said, well, he’s not a Republican. Well, whatever he is, he says, every man shall receive his own reward according to what? into what? His own labor. In other words, if you don’t labor for the Lord, you don’t get anything. But those that do are going to be mighty glad they did. And God’s going to reward you when you get to heaven. But getting to heaven is the gift of God. You see, the only way we get to heaven is because of what Christ did on the cross force.

So Jesus Christ came in the world and it says nobody can earn eternal life. Heaven is not a reward given to those who’ve been good. In hell, if you’ve been bad, everybody’s been bad. Nobody’s good enough to go to heaven. So when Christ died, He died for all. And only thing we have to do is believe that He did it for us and He gives us as a free gift, everlasting life. We go to heaven on what Christ did.

He came back from the dead and offered eternal life to whosoever believe it in him. Believe that he did it for them. So if I believe he did it for me, he puts the payment he made to my account. I get to go to heaven on what Christ did. That’s the best news in the world. Yesterday I was with Betty and they were over there doing some stuff with the big old 18 Wheeler. Betty says, you can’t get there’s a person here, a Jewish man and a couple others.

I want you to talk to them. So I went over there, I didn’t walk over there. And so we just stopped all of them, said, come into the garage and I talked to them. And two of the guys, trust the Lord, Gentiles, and a Jewish man. And it was so neat. Just explain the gospel to them. So they trust the Lord. They have eternal life. See, there first of all, you have to trust the Lord. They get eternal life.

So you go to heaven. Now, after you trust the Lord, now we serve the Lord, but we don’t serve the Lord to get there, we serve the Lord because we’re going there. I’m already, I’m going to heaven. But God says, well, if I would serve him here, he will reward me there. So look at the opportunities God gives to us to serve him. Some of you may have a lot of years, some of you won’t have as many years.

Some of you may have a lot of opportunities Some may not have it. It doesn’t matter how long you live or how many opportunities you have. Be faithful to do what you can with what you have where you are. And God says he’ll reward you when you get to heaven. But do you believe that? You’ve got to believe that because it is the truth and it’s so important. Let’s pray, shall we? Father, we thank you so much for all you’ve done for us.

Thank you for the opportunity we have to come before you. We thank you Lord for the opportunity to preach a word for every person here, for those listed by Redio. We’re so thankful that salvation is free. Christ paid it all. In Christ’s name we pray. You’ve been listening to another great lesson from Pastor Arnold, and we hope that you’re growing in the knowledge of the Lord through this ministry. To help you continue your growth and maturing, we are going to give those who make a financial donation in any amount, the DVD teaching series, How to Witness to a Jewish Person.

You know, most Christians think Jews really know the Old Testament, but in reality, most know very little. Though most are familiar with some terms of the Bible, very few know any details about how Abraham, their patriarch, was saved. Most have never read Isaiah 53 and have no idea it’s all about Jesus. So for this month only, for a donation in any amount, we’ll send you this DVD teaching series on how to witness to the Jew. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address as well.

God bless you and thank you again for supporting Bibleline. 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.