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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 first part of this two part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of, what’s a good book? Mark, let’s try Mark. The Book of Mark chapter 1, that sounds like a good place to start. Are we going to cover Mark? No. We’re going to cover chapter 1. No. But there’s a good verse here that I kind of like. And I want to read it to John the Baptist came on the scene and started preaching the gospel of the kingdom. The kingdom is going to be set up because the king is here.

The king was there. And so he was the forerunner and he announced the gospel of the kingdom. But the gospel of the kingdom is not much different from the message I would preach today because John the Baptist preached that behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The Bible says later on in the book of Acts in chapter 19, yes, as Paul was saying, yes, he did preach. John the Baptist that they should believe on Jesus.

They should believe on Christ. And so if He taught that, that’s what we teach. And He taught at the same time that Jesus was here and Jesus talking to Nicodemus says, you must be born again. So at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, He explained John 3 16. It wasn’t at the end of His ministry. It was at the beginning of it. Man’s always been saved the same way by faith alone. Trusting Christ is their Savior. Believe in it. Believe even that the one that was going to come was going to make a payment for the sins of the world.

But here in John, I mean that book of Mark, it makes this statement, look at in verse 1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When Christ came on the same, he had a forerunner and he was preaching the gospel and those that believed the gospel were baptized in water. And John says, I baptize you in water, but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. So the question comes down is did Jesus baptize where the Holy Ghost when he came?

Well, it really didn’t happen while he was here. It happened after he left. But he says, I’m not even worthy to bend down and tie shoes. But he’s coming. So he says there in verse eight, looking in verse eight, I indeed have baptized you with water, but He that baptize you, so baptize you with the Holy Spirit. So that was future, what He was doing right then. And if they believe the message that John the Baptist preached about Jesus, they were baptized in water.

Now it is that when we believe on the name of Christ and we believe it, we are baptized in water. But water never saves you. Water doesn’t wash the dirt off your neck if you don’t use so with it, and it sure will not wash away any sins. Otherwise we will not have needed Christ. So the Bible makes a statement in verse 4, John did baptized, in the wilderness and preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

In other words, if you believed, if you believed the message that he preached, you were baptized in water. Water did not save you, but it was a picture of something. It was a picture of the Holy Spirit baptism that was going to come later. So it was a picture of what we call the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. So the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, yes, typified by the burial under the water and resurrection. But when you believe on Christ, you believe He did it for you.

So then baptism is a picture of your death and your burial and your resurrection. direction. Because that was a picture of what Christ did for me. So when I’m baptized in water, I believe Christ died for me. When I come up out of the water, is I believe he rose again from the dead. So it’s a picture of what you believe inwardly to yourself and… Extra, those who watch it and observe it. So when did they actually get baptized?

I’ll take your Bible and turn over there to the book of Matthew. And chapter 28, the last chapter in the book of Matthew. And look what he says there. In verse 17, Christ had come back now from the dead. And in verse 17, and when they saw him, they worshiped him. verse 17, chapter 28, but some doubted. And Jesus spake and said unto them, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptize in them the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Teach in them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo I am with you, always even unto the end of the world. Now this command to his disciples was to go into all the world and preach the gospel and all the world. And you can’t do that in all the world in just a year and a half, two years. It took time. But before they were to go, he says, I want you to wait. Now he commissioned them to go.

But then he says, wait, look there in book of Luke, Gospel of Luke and chapter 24. Luke chapter 24. And look at verse 46, in verse 46. Now if you look up here on the thing on the chart, Christ came crucified, come back from the dead, and then he says the Holy Spirit is going to come. But the Holy Spirit does not come because people got together in the upper room and they prayed and won a court and they prayed him down.

No. The Holy Spirit came because of a promise. He came right on schedule. Fifty days from the resurrection of Christ, Pentecost, fifty days from came right on schedule. Mentioned in the book of Leviticus and chapter 23. So Christ came on schedule, Holy Spirit came on schedule. And I believe when He comes back the next time He’s coming right on schedule. He’s not behind time. He is right on time. He is always on time. Now, when this took place, the Holy Spirit came.

It came on the day of Pentecost, but something happened before the day of Pentecost. He had told His disciples going to all the world and preached the gospel, but now he says to them in chapter 24, in verse 46, and said to them, thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. That was written, it was fulfilled, just like he said. In verse 47, and that repentance, a change of mind, and remission of sins, because you change my fear, You’re an unbeliever and you repent means you changed your mind.

So when you changed your mind, you are forgiven of your sins because you believe that when he died, he paid for your sins. So you don’t have to work to pay for your sins like they’re installment payments. And if I make these payments, then God will forgive me. No, no, no. He died to pay for your sins so that you won’t have to pay for your sins. And that’s why I can’t go to hell today or tomorrow or ever because I don’t have any sins to pay for.

pay for my sin I have been forgiven. So the penalty never have to worry about ever again. So he says in verse 47, and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem and your witnesses of these things. So they were commanded to go just like it says in Matthew, but something added here in verse 49. And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you. Remember in John chapter 14 he said, I will ask the Father and he will send the Holy Spirit that he may be with you but also he will be in you and he will be the comforter and he’s just like Christ.

See when Christ was here himself he was limited to one body. Now he’s going to send them all out but he can’t go individually with each one of them but if he goes he’ll send the Holy Spirit that’s just like him and the Holy Spirit can go with each individual wherever they go in all the world. Just like walking around having Christ with you. So the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, is just like Christ. But the Holy Spirit points everyone to Christ and He lives within us.

He says, so before you go, I want you to wait. Wait until you are in dude with power from on high. This is This is where the Holy Spirit is going to come. So he says here in verse 49, but Terry Yi in the city of Jerusalem until you’d be in dude with power from on high. So yes, they were commanded to go, but they were commanded to wait. Just like we have kids that come to college. You’re commanded to go, but we say, wait a minute.

You might need to get the message straight before you start running and don’t know what you’re saying or what you’re doing. So we want you to wait until you learn before the disciples went out Remember they went to three and a half years of Bible college Right they were the Lord for three and a half years and on the last day the final exam They all failed How would you like to depend upon? 12 failures To reach the world But did he did he give me a second chance?

He’s a God of second chance and third chance and fourth chance and fifth chance. You know, if you say, I fell five times, well, just keep getting up. God doesn’t use perfect people. He uses people that are following, we’re sent for people. But it’s amazing how much God can accomplish through our feeble efforts. We’re just cheap radio sets. Cheap radio sets, that’s all we are. We just broadcast a message. We’re just telling people what He did. not going into all the world and tell them how wonderful you are.

You’re not. You’re going to all the world and tell them how wonderful he is. Always brag on to the Lord. Always brag on him. So anyway, they were commanded to go. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Acts in chapter 1. Acts in chapter 1. In Acts chapter 1, it tells us that yes, Christ has now come back from the dead. And He talks about how that for these 40 days, He gave them infallible proofs after his resurrection, he was God, infallible.

Things that he used to prove that he was who he claimed to be and nobody could deny it. Why? They watched him die. He was buried. He came back and they were talking to him. They saw the scars. This is him. This is the same one. Would you be afraid to die if the one that you just saw die and crucify. Well, he is. He’s alive. You wouldn’t fear death. This is why all of a sudden these bunches scaredy cats locked in an upper room Pengu feared for their lives, all of a sudden as bold as a lion.

And the Bible says in the Acts, he says, they noticed that these men had been with Jesus. Why? They would just like him. Confident and bold. Ready to charge hail with the squirt gun. But look what he says. Here in verse three, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days and speaking to them, concerning the things of the kingdom of God. And first of all, and being assembled together with them commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem.

Wait a minute, didn’t he just give them the great commission to go? Yes. But he also says to wait. Don’t leave until I say go. And he hadn’t said, go yet. He says, command it them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which said, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with a Holy Ghost, not many days in. This is what John, the Baptist preached at the beginning of his ministry and now it’s come to be fulfilled.

So we know that from this verse, not many days from this verse, something’s going to happen. So how far? Look there in chapter 2. Chapter 2 and verse 32. Chapter 2 and verse 32. Page 11, 51, and look at verse 32, and this Jesus hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses, therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost. He had shed forth this which he now see and hear.

So between that verse they’re in the book of Acts chapter 1 and this verse in Acts chapter 2 something’s happened. Because here he says in verse 33 having received of the Father the promise. So God promised that the Holy Spirit was going to come. Look up here. So the Holy Spirit came right on schedule. It was promised. Jesus told him, says, go in all the world, but wait until you’re in due with power from on high. You see, there is a power that you and I cannot explain that lives inside of each one of us.

And that we have a very explosive message. And remember, we kind of relate it to a hand grenade. It doesn’t matter who pulls the pen. It can explode. And so if you and I will pull the pen, don’t forget to throw it. You want to do some good. And the people will be affected by the power of the gospel. For the gospel is the power of God. The Holy Spirit is the power of God. power of God. Now, so we’ve been given that.

It’s not you and me that have the great ability to talk people into things. This message will do its work if we present it, clearly where people can understand it. Yesterday I had a person call me up on the phone, says, there’s this person that died and they’ve been coming to your church because I opened their Bible and they had your church bulletin in it. So I just thought that since he’d been going your church, you might want to tell the people that he passed away.

So I says, well I appreciate that and so on. And she says, well I tried my best to convince them to go back to the Catholic church. But he refused. I says, well that church that you’re going to is so far away. It’s so far away. You ought to go back to the Catholic church. And he would say that he likes coming here. And so he kept coming here for the last couple of months from what I understand from what she was telling me.

Because we have people to come and tell them, I can’t remember everybody. And I don’t know who the person is. If he walked in here right now, I wouldn’t know him. So I said, ma’am, you may wish that that person had gone back to the Catholic Church, but let me tell you this, since he did come here and he liked coming here. And even though it was further, there’s a possibility he found out something here that he didn’t find out at the Catholic Church.

Can I I’m going to tell you what it was.” She said, well, yeah. I said, well, let me ask you a question. Do you know where you’re going when you die? Well, I’m pretty sure I think so. Okay, in time somebody says, I think so, or I hope I am or whatever. You know they don’t get it. Because if you know, you know. Even you know, you don’t know. But if you’re hoping, you’re hoping, guessing, guessing, but if you know, you know.

And I know. So I explained it to one of the phone, and I says, does that make sense? She says, it sure does. I says, right now, will you trust Christ as your Savior? She said, yes, I will. I said, if you died right now, where would you go? She said, I’m going to heaven. I said, how do you know? She says, Christ died for my sins. She had heard it all her life, going to the temperature, but she never understood.

That gospel, the clear to God, is powerful, it’s potent. And it don’t take long for it to blast, to get the work done. It’s when it’s not clear that people have to go to a church for 10 years before they say, oh, now I get it. No, you should get it when the gospel is given. If it’s simple and it’s clear, they went out so into the other night and had about how many trusts the Lord? 64? So they must be making it clear because you can’t do that if you don’t make it clear.

So the gospel is powerful, but now look there in Acts in chapter one and verse eight. Remember, he said, wait until you are in dude with power from on high. It means the power to do the job. The Holy Spirit comes within you, takes the message that we give, and the Holy Spirit uses that message to enlighten a person’s mind, helping to see and understand. But it’s up to the individual to either believe it or not believe it. And some people will believe it, and some people will not believe it.

But he said in verse eight, but ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. So that’s why the lost man doesn’t have this power. The Christian does. The Holy Spirit lives within us and just waits for us to be obedient, to listen to the Word of God, and you’d be surprised how God can work in your life. God wants to do little bit of miracles in your life so that you’ll give the Lord the credit.

So He’ll lead you into impossible situations. Let’s say it’s happening, you can’t control. Cause He wants to control it. Put everything in God’s hands and after a while, it seemed like God isn’t everything that you do, and you’ll come to believe it. But you’ll notice, and you shall be what? Witnesses unto me. So witnesses means a soul winner, a person who goes and tells people, trying to persuade people. So as you read the book of Acts, it is a continual action, one soul winning story after the other.

So if you wanna find out what should I do with my Christian life, read the book of Acts. What did they do? these are the ones that was with Christ. What was their message? How did they live? And so many people think the Christian life today is just sitting around just studying the Hebrew and the Greek and just trying to be spiritual and God, they never do anything. No, no, no, no, that’s not what it’s about. It’s action. It makes you do something, makes you go.

It gives you that compassion. So this is what you find all the way through here. So in chapter two, look in verse one. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all in one accord in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind. It filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them. and they were filled, all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance, and there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven.

And then he says in verse six, and when they had noise, this was noise abroad, the multitude came together, we’re confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language. This is not unknown tongues. How can you have a language that’s unknown? If it’s a language and somebody knows it, this was Jewish people God using His disciples to reach. And so they came from all of these different places because it’s Passover and this is what they did.

And so they would give the clarity, the God, and it says they understood what they said. See they’re in verse 11, the Crete, the Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongue, the wonderful works of God. So they not only heard them speak, they understood what they said. And the Holy Spirit did that. So wouldn’t it be wonderful to have all these people from all these different nations to hear and understand the gospel, go back to wherever they came from.

And all of a sudden boom, because they came from all over the world and they go back all over the world, the gospel gets around the world pretty fast. Wouldn’t you say? It helps. But God says, this is what he wants to do. So we believe that the church, this body of believers, was born on the day of Pentecost because your baptized into a body, the Holy Spirit, the day you trusted Christ is your Savior, places you into the body of Christ.

Pretend like this. Christ was on the cross, hanging there, his body. Who is he hanging there for? For us. So when I believe on him in the Lord’s eyes a slight eye was hanging on that cross. I was in his body and he died in my place. So all those who believe are like baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. But God says that all of us as individuals from this period of time until the rapture is the body of Christ.

This period of time It’s called the church age, the grace age, the body age. This is where we are. So we know when the church age started, the repenting cost. We know that it’s going to end and God’s going to take us out of here, the body. Our head is in heaven, Colossians. Our body is on the earth, the book of Ephesians. So when you read that and you understand that, it helps clarify some things. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Acts chapter 10, Acts and chapter 10.

So we know the Jews were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. Now he talks about in chapter”],”10 of the book of Acts about Peter going to see the Gentiles. Gentiles are those that are not Jews. So and so he He says in verse 34, as Peter begins to open up his mouth, he’s going to tell him something. And he says, then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth, I perceive that God is no respect of persons.

The Jews is not better than the Gentiles. No one person better than another person. God so loved the world, every individual. But in every nation, he that feared him and walketh righteous is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel preached peace by Jesus Christ. is Lord of all. See, He already is. That’s why you can’t make Jesus Christ Lord. He is Lord. Anyway, He goes down to here and He published about all these things that were going on.

And He says down here in verse 40, and Him, God raised up the third day, showed Him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before God, even to them who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. They ate and they drink with him. So I love this part of the scripture because when I get my glorified body, eating is an over.

Can you see that? Am I reading into the scripture just a little bit maybe or is this for real? We’re gonna have the Mary supper of the lamb. What am I gonna do just sit there and drool over it? Or am I going to partake? I’m going to eat all the chocolate, eat clairs, I won’t. Maybe Betty went the other day to a little place called Two Jays or something like that. Over there in West Shores, it’s got a little rest right there.

So after we finish the radio broadcast, we always have a date. So for our date, we go, we breakfast together. So whatever we get, we get, we split it. We never get individual, we just get something good and split it. So anyway, We finish eating and then we come out and there’s a spickle counter there. It is loaded With all kinds of goodies and I told the lady at the counter. I says This isn’t right Y’all should not have this right where you’re getting ready to go out the door You got all these chocolate cakes and and then says you can they got chocolate eclairs?

I said I can’t have them She said if you want one, so all right I looked at that thing, it was about this big. Two bites, that thing’s gone. I said, that’s very expensive for just a couple bites. So I said, I’ll take two. I didn’t get out the door and pour that thing within hell. So anyway, we’re going to eat when we get to heaven. You got to make that point. But look down here now in verse 42, and he commanded us, commanded to preach the gospel unto the people, to teach unto the people, to testify.

And in verse 43, to Him give all the prophets witness that through His name, whosoever, open invitation, all whosoever, believe it in Him shall receive remission of sin. This was the message that they preached after the resurrection of Christ. This is in conjunction with what He said in the book of Luke in chapter 24th. Where to go and all, teach this? People, you can be forgiven. You don’t have to pay for your sins. God loves you that much. You should, that’s not fair because there might be some people you want them to pay.

I let this one woman to the Lord one day. I said, man, I said, this is great. She said, oh, I sure is. I am just thrilled with that. I says, I need to talk to your husband. She said, no, no, no, no. I don’t want him going I want him to go to hell. Didn’t believe somebody would say that. Well, she just trusts the Lord. She didn’t have time to grow in the Lord yet. It takes time to learn and grow a little bit, to care.

Well, it’s almost Christmas, and we’d like to give every listener a Christmas gift. Just for listening, we’d like to send Dr. Arnold’s CD on understanding difficult passages of the Bible. No donation is required. We’ve compiled on CD Dr. Arnold’s teachings on difficult passages. And just for example, does James chapter 2 teach that true faith will produce works? Does 2 Corinthians 5 17 mean that a true believer will no longer desire to sin? These and many other verses are explained in their biblical context so that you can have confidence in the agreement of all the Word of God.

Call us today toll free at 1-800-576-3771 or you can write us at 4,811, George Road, Tampa, Florida 33634. Again, no donation is necessary. Just your address so that we can send to you this important teaching. God bless you and Merry Christmas and thank you for listening to 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 Friends, 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. Believe in that the Lord is just looking up.