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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 Bibleignmenistries.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 want you to turn in your Bible to the book of Matthew Matthew in chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16, to get my two-hour message in, we’re going to have to really move. Matthew chapter 16 and verse 28, Jesus had said some things to the disciples and they said, that’s not going to happen Lord. And he told him, he says, Just look there, first of all, in verse 26, 4, he says, For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then, he shall reward every man according to his works.” There’s another world coming after this one. There’s another time. The Bible talks about this life in which we have as you study the Old Testament in the process of time, the process of time. But there’s things that happens to us in the process of time that we call a moment in time.

I would have loved to have been there at this moment because he told me, says some of y’all that are standing here are not going to die, you see the Son of Man as he is going to be in all of his glory in the kingdom. You see there in verse 28, verily I send you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they shall see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Now when he says taste death, he’s talking about physical death because when you get over there to the book of Hebrews in chapter 2 and verse 9 when he says that he tasted death for every man, means that he literally died for every man.

Many people don’t believe that, but I do believe when Christ died, he died for all the sins of every individual so that every individual could have the free gift of everlasting life. Chapter 17, he just made that statement. Some of you are going to get a chance before you die to see what I’m talking about. So he says in verse 1, and after six days Jesus taken Peter and James and John, his brother and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart.

Six days or maybe some people say 6,000 years, there’s gonna be this thousand-year millennium, the seventh day of rest, and it may be. I don’t have a problem with him. And in verse 2, and was transfigured before them and his faced it, shined as the sun. His raiment was white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto him Moses in Elijah talking with him. Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here.

If you want to, we’ll make three tabernacles, one for you and one for you and one for you. And that’s not going to happen. Nobody’s on the par with Jesus. And so after a while, they too were gone and Jesus was alone. He says, now don’t tell anybody about this until after I have been glorified. So later on you do hear about them telling about this little story. This experience, this one moment in time, where something wonderful that happens.

See there in verse 9 when he says, tell the vision to no man until the son of man is risen again from the dead, giving them a little inkling of something that’s coming in the future. You see, faith is us believing that what God says is true. That we’re believing that what he has promised he is able to perform. That he will do what he says he will do. So as we study the Bible, we find that there’s many things that God said, many things that God did.

In order to increase our faith, so that here we are 2,000 years since Christ was here. We ought to be the epitome of what faithful children ought to be because we have such a track record. not just the Old Testament, but the New Testament and 2,000 more years that what he said is true. And we ought to be able to trust him and to walk with him and to believe that. So anyway, this is something I wanted to share with you, but also look there in the book of Luke 4.

Luke 4, and Luke 4, and verse 1, there’s a little story about Christ at the beginning of his ministry. And as he began his ministry, of course in the book of Luke, he’d find him, well, he’s being born. And then the next thing, he’s 12 years old. And the next thing he’d know, 30 years, and he begins that earthly ministry. And the first thing that happens before he’s really used in a great way is he’s tested by the devil.

But remember, there is a sequence here. If you want to be used by the Lord in this life, then you know you’re going to have to be tested by the devil. He’s going to try you. And he casts questions and doubts upon God and everything he does upon his promises so that you and I won’t believe God. So that we’ll just look at the world and just try to be happy while we’re here and live for the world instead of realizing this is only a moment in time.

This isn’t all there is. There’s so much more. And so as he goes down through here, it says here in verse 5, and the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world, and see those words in a moment of time. The devil got out his big old screen and he cranked up his projector and put in his VCR, and he showed Jesus some stuff. and look, all the kings of the world, if you’ll fall down and worship me, I’ll give you all of this.

I mean, you have power and you’re going to have glory. That’s not why Jesus came. You see, He already left power and glory came into the world and He knew that this is just a moment in time, but he wants to win every battle. So regardless of what the devil threw at him, he did not bend, he didn’t move, he didn’t bow, he stayed true, and he saw something that most people never see. He said, ifaundering, you just fall down and worship me.

See that’s all the devil wants you to do is worship him. See he’s rebelled against God. So when you as a child of God, when you rebel against God, you’re worshiping the devil because that’s what he wants you to do. Anything but worship God. How’s he doing? Because see if you really understand the battle that goes on you realize that the devil is using an awful lot of God’s people and it doesn’t take much. You see the devil is able to get you so out of sorts with God that you won’t serve Him faithfully like you ought to.

You’ll use people, you’ll use circumstance, you’ll use anything, but it turns you slowly against God where you’re not faithful to Him. And so He makes a statement that there in verse 13, after the testing got through in verse 13, and when the devil had ended all the temptation, And he parted from him for good. Is that what it said? He departed from him for a season. You see a sign of being devoured. You know the Bible says that Satan walk about seeking whom he made devour.

An assigned to be devoured is a sign when you’re depressed, when you’re discouraged, When you’re in despair, when you’re loaded with doubts, and all the worries and cares of this world, it means that Satan is devouring you. You see, your confidence is supposed to be in the Lord. Who told you not to trust Him? Who told you that He wouldn’t keep His Word? Who convinced you that God’s way is not the best? It wasn’t from God. It had to be from another source.

Now look what he says in verse 14, and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit and the Galilee, and there went out a fame of Him throughout the regions, round about, and He taught in their synagogue being glorified and all. So the very two things He gave up from the devil, He got it later. Generally, your victory is going to be after you’ve gone through some of the times. testing than God can use you. But if you keep failing because of all your trials and tribulations, you have to take the test over.

And some people never graduate from kindergarten because they fail all the time. Learn to walk with God. Stand with Him. And when the trials and tribulations come, you just keep moving on. I want you to take a Bible look in the book of 2 Thessalonians in chapter 2, 2 Thessalonians in chapter 2, because in this moment of time that you and I get to live, we get a chance to make decisions. Sometimes we will believe what God says and sometimes we don’t believe what God says.

But look down there in chapter 2 and verse 8. get this. This is so important. On page 1272 in a church Bible, he says in verse 8, and then shall that wicked be revealed, the wicked one, the antichrist whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. The Lord, he’s coming back. But here he’s talking about in the tribulation period and when he comes back in verse 9, even him who’s coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved.

And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie. God will allow, permit somebody to believe a lie because they refuse to believe the truth. God wants all of us to know the truth, to believe the truth. And Jesus says, I am the way the truth and the life. He is truth. But you see, there’s people that do not believe the truth, don’t want the truth. Their minds made up, don’t bother them with the facts, and just think of how many people are going to spend any turn.

They separated from God because they wouldn’t listen to what the truth was all about. And so he says in verse 12, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth. So those that believe the lie was because they refused to believe the truth and that God will send this to them. Take your Bible and turn into the book of 1 Kings. 1 Kings, all the way back here in the Old Testament, 1 Kings and chapter 22 is an interesting little story that God had told Jezebel that she was going to die and then told Ahab something he didn’t like either.

And Ahab was a bad king, but he didn’t have any help. He had a bad wife, so you have to excuse him a little bit. But he would not listen to what God has to say. God could have one prophet and Ahab could have 440 prophets, and he wanted them to tell me what I want to hear. Tell me what I want to hear. Make me feel good. tell me good news. Well, the time came when they was going to maybe have this little war with Syria.

But you see, Ahab was king of Israel and there was Jehoshaphat done in Judah area. And so he said, let’s work together and go after the enemy. And Jehoshaphat says, what does the man of God have to say? He said, well, my prophet says, we’re going to win. He said, but isn’t there another guy around that just doesn’t fall in step with whatever your prophets have to say. So he says here, oh, there’s another one, but I don’t like him.

So he says in verse eight, and the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphan, there is yet one man, Makiah the son of Imla, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy, good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat says, let not the kings that don’t say that. So anyway, they got Makiah and brought him up. And he said, okay, tell us good news. But look what happened right before that. See that in verse 13.

Verse 13 of chapter 22 he says, and the messenger that was gone to call Makiah spake unto him, saying, behold now, the words of the prophet. Declared good unto the king with one map. They’re all on the same page. They all together agree. No, don’t ruffle the feathers. I mean, don’t rock the boat. You just go in there and tell them the same thing everybody else is saying. So he says, the words of the prophets declared good unto the king with one thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them and and speak that which is good.”

And Macias said, “…as the Lord liveth what the Lord said unto me, that will I speak.” The part is over. Well anyway, he goes and he tells him, says, this is what’s going to happen to you. And he says, I saw you all scattered in verse 17, a sheep that have not a shepherd. And they have no master in verse 18. And the king of Israel said on the Jehoshaphat, did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?

And he said here, Thou therefore the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And to the Lord says, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall? You see, it was time. The moment in time has come for Ahab to die. He had violated the Word of God, the will of God, and his wife had done things wrong.

He stole the vineyard of Nabah, and so many things that he had done. And he didn’t like God, he didn’t like his prophets, he didn’t like the truth. So the God says, you know, there was a time when you read the book of Job where it says that he came among the angels, the old Satan himself. And says, have you considered my servant job down there? Well, he had asked the angels, but then there was a lion angel. So he got the angel that was known as a lion angel.

So I believe that probably as a possibility, he wasn’t one of the good angels, but one that God can use. So I want you to go down there and tell him, Hey, it’s okay to go and tell all the prophets a lie so that all the prophets told the lie and So he got victory But the one true one says no so anyway in verse 23 and Now therefore behold the Lord had put a lion spirit in the mouth of all these dye prophets and the Lord has spoken evil concerning thee See, there’s another war that goes on that you and I cannot see.

You don’t see no spirits. You don’t see no angel unless there might be one or two sitting among you. Bible says, be careful to entertain angels unaware. You never know. But there’s another war. But in a moment of time, God is working in your life. And you’re going to be making decisions, important decisions, about what you’re going to do or not do, what you’re going to believe and not believe. So take your Bible and turn to Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews in chapter 11, all the way over there to the New Testament, the book of Hebrews, and Hebrews in chapter 11. We often call this the faith chapter because we have such a great cloud of witnesses. Those who have lived long enough to be good testimonies of what faith is all about, how you and I are supposed to live by faith. So he gives us examples in the testimonies of the Lord earth, sure, making wives the simple. You see, if we could learn from others that we don’t have to make the same mistake, but we should learn that there’s things that God has said, all the promises that God has made will not necessarily take place during your life.

All the prayers that you pray doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to be fulfilled in this life. Anybody in here ever pray that God would cure your financial problems? I mean just let me see. Yeah okay a lot of it. Anybody in here ever pray concerning health problems? Health problems. Your husband’s mental problems. You’ve got to go. I’ve got a few of those. I shouldn’t have said that, huh? And then the war began. Then the war began. But you have prayers about a lot of things, and you’ve lived long enough to see that sometimes your prayers haven’t been answered.

God does not always answer all of your prayers the way you want them to, but answer them probably He does. The answer was no. And you’d like to live to be 150 in good health. I might. It depends on if I’m really good health. I saw on news the other day, this lady was a hundred years old teaching in a school and they was on her nurse. She’s still teaching in a school, one hundred years old. And that’s had her own air and her face.

She didn’t look no hundred years old at all. Maybe that’s the key. Keep working with those kids. You’ll either kill them or they’ll kill you, but I don’t know what it’s… You might have to have a special abundance of blessings. from the Lord. But what I want you to see here in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, look there in verse 1 where it says, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

See, the only evidence that I need is what God says. He says things that I can’t see. I’ve never seen heaven. I’ve never seen how. I’ve never seen God. I’ve never seen my own spirit. One person says, I don’t believe anything I can’t see. I said, if you’ve got a brain, oh well, that was the end of that. There is another world. This place called heaven and what God has promised us about the judgment seat of Christ where we’re going to be rewarded for what we’ve done.

But you see, what God says is the truth. And if it’s the truth, it’s the facts. And if it’s the facts, that’s all the evidence I need his facts. So God cannot lie. So whatever God says is true. So I’m not talking about blind faith. I’m talking about faith in the facts. God said it. How much more would you have to have to be true? So faith is be able to believe what God promised. He is able to perform.

And so he says their inverse to, for by it the elders obtained a good report. And then he tells you what they were told to do and why they did it without seeing the consequences. Many of the things that God promised in the Old Testament, those people never got to see the fulfillment of the promise. You and I might trust God draw a lot of things, pray to the Lord about a lot of things, but never lived long enough to see the fulfillment of them.

Did you know that if God promised me that if we would start the Florida Bible College, if God promised me that I will be here four years from now, then that means that I will be here four years from now and I will not die because God promised. But did God show me anywhere in the scriptures where I am guaranteed tomorrow. Is there anywhere in Scripture where God guarantees you will be alive next year? That means you could do a lot of things and plan on a lot of things but you have no guarantee even of tomorrow.

You could pray for physical healing today but God may take you home tomorrow. You could have financial difficulties today in this moment of time and then you can pray and believe God’s gonna solve this problem. Oh, he’ll solve it. But he may not solve it according to your timetable or the way you expect. Now I want to show you this. Look there in verse 8. By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place where he should after receive inheritance.

Obeyed and he went out not knowing where he went living by faith is Obeyed the word of God When you just say I’m living by faith and you do absolutely nothing for the Lord. You’re not living by faith See I’m trusting Christ is my Savior. I’m trusting him to take me heaven That’s why I’m not trying to earn my way there could I know or I got it made But living by faith means obeying what God said because you believe that what God said is true and you obey it So as you go down through here everywhere it says by faith by faith by faith you could say by obedience by obedience by obedience Because you see if they obeyed It’s because they believed and they had faith to do what God says to do Many of God’s children don’t know enough of the word of

God to believe that it’s true. So they can obey it and So they think well ignorance is bliss when you stand at the judgment seat of Christ, you’ll find out that the ignorance is not going to be blessed. But notice what it says here in verse 9, by faith he’s so journed in a land of promise. And the last part of verse 9 says, the heirs with him of the same promise. And looked down in verse 11 where it says, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

In verse 13, these all died in faith, not have received the promise. You see, they were promised something, but it never happened in their lifetime. But Abraham, the Bible says that he was looking for something. See there in verse 10? For he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God. Abraham knew. He knew that it was going to be 400 years that his seed would be down in the another country and another land, and then God was going to bring them out, down in the book of Genesis.

And you can read that. So Abraham knew what God had promised with these physical eyes he’ll never see. Now he told him about the land that he was in, but he never got to see the seed that possessed the land, because it was a promise that God made, but it would not need Him to physically be here for God to keep His word. Now look at something else. Down here in verse 13 it says, these all died in faith.

They all died in faith believing, believing, trusting, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. They look down to the telescope of time and were able to see what God fixme was talking about and it would so change their life that they lived their life believing and trusting and always moving on believing that it’s true. You see we keep doing what we do because we know it’s right to do. We know that one day we’re going to stand before the Lord and God is going to reward us for the labor that we have given to Him.

I won’t get it here. I don’t expect it here. You are going to be hurt in this life. You’re going to be disappointed in this life, discouraged in this life. And a lot of the damaging things that happens to you is going to be an inside job because the devil is going to lie and deceive you. And try to rob you of the power and the glory and the praise that can be given to every man at the appearing of Jesus Christ, where He says that the trial of your faith in much more precious and golden silver, though it be tried with fire, may be found on the praise, honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

But can you believe that? Or do you believe the lie? Do you believe the doubts that come into your mind because it calls you to question if this Bible is true? Hello. Thank you for tuning in to today’s program. We hope that Bibleline is truly a blessing in your life. During this month to every person making a financial donation in any amount, we’re going to send to you the DVD series, The Poison of Bitterness. In this series on Bitterness, Dr.

Arnold will explain how we poison ourselves, those around us and especially our spouses with Bitterness. Everyone can relate to the Bitterness because it’s a human reaction to being hurt. But Bitterness is a poison that can ruin your life and this DVD series is yours this month with a donation of any amount. This is one of the most powerful teachings on the Christian life that Dr. Arnold has ever taught, so contact us today for this valuable lesson series. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address.

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.