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

You know as you read the Bible, it’s an amazing kind of people that God used. And it was always because they didn’t have hard times like we do. They just kind of floated through and everything went their way. And they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. They didn’t have the struggles and trials that you and I have. And so that’s why they were more faithful than what we are, ain’t that right? Don’t you agree with that?

Don’t that make you feel a little bit better? It doesn’t. But if you talk about Elijah, you know, a man of light passion, just like us. And you really believe he was just like us. I mean, a man of light passion, like us. Do you think these guys in the Old Testament were like us? Do you think they really struggled? I mean, they probably didn’t have to worry about their iPhone going off in a service, you know, or their computer crash.

You know, they didn’t have the problems that we have. Yeah, they had it easy. They really had it easy. Turn in your Bible to the book of… That was a good book. Daniel, the book of Daniel. In the Bible to the book of Daniel. And as you know, with Daniel, he was just a young fella, had everything he ever wanted. You know, he was of royal blood. I mean, he was right in there. He was somebody, he was somebody.

And had it easy all his life. You know, got everything he wanted and had all the respect people looked up to him. But you know when you read the account in the book of Daniel, it doesn’t seem like that’s the total story. You know, you don’t find hardly anything written against Daniel. You don’t find anything against somebody like Joseph, you know. And that’s because they didn’t have any trials. You know, they didn’t had the opportunities to go wrong like we do.

And the devil really gets after us, but he left them alone. They didn’t have all the problems like you and I have to go through. Isn’t that how you justify yourself a lot of times? You know you. Nobody knows what I’m going through. Nobody has to face a hardship like I do. Poor, poor, and we pity ourselves. and we justify why we fall, or why we’re not as strong as we ought to be. And, but I’m stronger than some people I know.

I’m just not as strong as other people that I know. So, you’re not one of those that compare themselves among themselves. What does God say about those who compare themselves among themselves are not, they’re not wise. But do we do it? Everyone’s on a while we probably fall. But here in the book of Daniel, He even had three friends of his and they had it easy to. I mean, they just kind of held together and just everything went their way.

They didn’t have, like I said, some of these problems. But when they were young, they were taken into captivity. So these little fellers, they were taken away from home and things. All of a sudden, everything changed. There’s things sometimes in life that seem like nothing’s going on. It’s just a, you know, a dead end road. There’s nothing exciting. You don’t see anything down there and there’s nothing behind you. It’s just one long old dirty, dry, lonely road. And it don’t seem like anything’s exciting.

And a lot of people get bored with life. And then all of a sudden, it seemed like something happens. Well, here’s these here young fellers. Mine and their own business doing their own thing, and all of a sudden, you know, this guy named Nevekka Nezra comes in and conquers them, and then they’re taken into captivity. Some like, you know, all of a sudden, something changes everything. Everything changes. I’ve had a few experiences like that in life, where it seemed like everything is fine, everything changes.

I used to live it in a motorhome and I’d be traveling around the country and then all of a sudden everything changed. Now I’m pastor of a church down here in Tampa, Florida and everything changed. I was no longer concerned about, you know, getting meetings out there and driving sleeping and campgrounds and just all that, all of that, that all changed and Now here I’ve been for four and a half years. Isn’t that something? Four and a half years is Pat.

You’ll have things in your life that’ll all of a sudden everything changes. You know, here’s a man that’s, you know, single. And he gets married. All of a sudden everything changes. And then everything’s fine. And then you start having kids. One little two little three little minions. And all of a sudden everything changes. Lows your job, things change. But you know, in the Bible, when you read some of these guys, they also had some of the same problem. Things changed.

And a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar, he had a nightmare one night and it just so happened, just so happened that God was able to bless this one little fellow named Daniel. And because he was able to tell him the dream, everything change for him. Everything changed. He was exalted. So God richly blessed him with great wisdom and he was able to understand these things. Look there in verse 19 of chapter 2, Daniel chapter 2. And look what he says in verse 2.

Now notice Daniel’s attitude toward God and how he recognized the power of God, the wisdom of God. And he says in verse 19, Then was the secret revealed under Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and he says, “‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, “‘for wisdom and might are his.'” Now, you don’t read anything where Daniel really blesses God out for, hey, I was in my own country, I’m out in my own business, and then this year, nut comes in here and takes me captive.

And now he’s got a bad rotten sneaking attitude. Does that sound like Daniel? No, he didn’t, he just realized who God is. In look where he said in verse 21, and he changed it the times and the seasons. He removed it kings and set up kings. Well, if he can do that with kings, can he do it with a little peons on the bottom? If he can cause things to rise, nations to rise, nations to fall, set up kings and move them, remove them.

But in God’s work in your life, think about it. God can do the same thing with you. You just don’t know when. And you don’t have to know. We’re supposed to learn how to be patient. But one of these days it seemed like all of everything changes. Now, I mean Betty’s been married almost, you know, in a couple more months, 54 years. Did you know when one of us dies? Now she says we’re both going together. If Lord wanted to let me hang around a little bit longer, it’d be alright.

But anyway, if one of us was to pass away, did you realize that everything will change for her or for me? It’s going to be totally different. I don’t know how to live a single life. I don’t remember ever being single. I know I was at one time, but I don’t remember it. It was so long ago. It seemed like I’ve been married all my life. But you know, God can allow things to happen and change everything. Today you’re sitting here and you’re healthy, you feel great?

Do you realize how bad you can feel tomorrow or this afternoon and how everything can change so quickly? Well, here in Danneong, they were just kind of floating along there and all of a sudden the guy has a dream. Do you know God did that? And then he knew that Daniel, well Daniel could interpret the dream. You see, God had a plan. He doesn’t always tell us what it is. And sometimes the darkest hour was planned by God. God allows some of those dark moments in our life.

Sometimes those things that just really shake us to the core and cause us to wonder about everything we believe. Do you really believe this? Do you really trust the Lord? Do you really love the Lord? And look what he says here in verse 21, and he changes the times and seasons. He remove of kings, sets up kings, He giveth wisdom unto the wise and knowledge for them that no understanding. He revealed the deep and the secret things. He knoweth what is in the darkness and the light dwelleth with Him.

So Daniel goes on and just praises the Lord and look where He is. Well, He’s just a captive over there, you know, and Babylon may be 800,000 miles away from home. may never get back. As far as I know he never did. But look how his life was uprooted, but with God still able to use him. God still used him. Now you turn over there to chapter three, look at chapter three real quick. There was, oh the cremate, anybody did bow down and worship when they heard this, you know, the music play and all that.

They were going to be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. You know those three Hebrew boys? Be shaken. You shake none of the baby we go. Do you realize those three guys were just minding their own business? Just doing their own thing. And everything was cool and then it got hot. All of a sudden everything changed. One man makes a decision and it changes their whole life, all of a sudden, they’re in a heap of trouble because they would not worship the image of this beast that they set up.

And so lo and behold, what are you going to do? So he says here in verse 15 of chapter 3, if you will be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the corn and the flute and the the heart of the sight with the sultry and decimal and all kinds of music. He fall down and worship the image which I have made. Well, but if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour into the mist of a burning fiery furnace.

And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? The very same hour. You’re going to be thrown into a fiery furnace. Things can change fast. One moment, there’s no threat. There’s no problem. And all of a sudden, Boom, everything can change. And God wants you and I to give Him the freedom, without questioning Him, arguing with Him, complaining against Him, to be able to interrupt our schedule, interrupt our plans, our goals, our purpose, whatever it might be, because God may have something a little bit better.

and he doesn’t sometimes ask our permission. He just doesn’t. And so there’s a lot of things you don’t have to plan. God does. And then who is that God? That shall deliver you. Did you know that there’s people in this world that are waiting to see if God is gonna deliver you from whatever problem you’re having because you made a mistake and told him that you knew the Lord and you loved the Lord and you’re walking with God and God’s going to supply all of your need.

You probably told somebody something like that. Or you probably made the statement, you know, my favorite version of the Bible is, but we know that all things work together for good. Now they want to see if that’s true. Did you know that people watched you on the job? Then you’d be surprised. Do you think people in the church even watch you. You think people in the church even know sometimes when you’re having a hard time, a rough time. And they want to know is your faith in the Lord strong enough that you really believe in the midst of the problem, before the problem, yes, yeah, you’re a great man of faith.

But now in the midst of the problem, how you doing? Does it cause you to shake a little bit? Trim just a little bit, doubt just a little bit, question just a little bit. then somebody wants to know us. Let’s see if God can get him out of this one. Well, you know what they said in verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach and the Bettego answered and said unto the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this manner.

We’re not careful. We don’t have to worry. We’re not worried about this thing. But if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O King. But if not, be it known under the O King, we’re still not gonna bow, bend, and they could have added the other one. We won’t burn either. But just think how fast, all of a sudden, now they’re in a burn fight, how things can change so quickly.

And they knew, now this is it, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna be burned alive. And look how fast something changed. They didn’t have the smell of smoke on them. Their hair wasn’t even singed. They did not fill the effects of any of the fire or the smoke. So can God do these things? Of course God can do these things. That’s God. Now, look a little bit here in chapter 6. In chapter 6, Daniel just does his thing, like praise.

They just praise. But there was somebody who watched him pray and got upset. And then there’s somebody else that watched him pray and was so glad he was delivered. You see, not everybody is always going to be for whoever and whatever you are. So, I guess you could say at one time, yes, he was a prisoner. And then because of his faithfulness to the Lord, he was given power, position, over princes, over presidents. Became a governor that could rule, look where he was, and look how God changed everything.

You and I don’t see down the road. We don’t know how it’s going to end up. I told the Lord recently, I said, Lord, I said, you know, I’m running out of time, you know. I thought about this one day, I was gonna preach a sermon on this. How do you give God a vision? How do you give God a vision? I mean, here I am, and I’ve got all these visions of what I wanna do. And sometimes I don’t think God really understands what I could do if he would give me millions of dollars.

Lord, do you realize what I could do? Lord, if you would only come through, if you only had a vision, and I can’t understand why my vision is bigger than God’s. Now, I want you to spend the rest of the week trying to figure out how can you give God a vision. Can you have a greater love for soul than God? Can you desire to do more than God would want you to do? Why would God hold me back?

Why would He limit me? Doesn’t He realize what He’s got in His hands? Lord, do you realize who I am? And you’d be surprised how easy it is to exalt yourself. But in your mind do you realize God has a plan? God has a vision. God has a vision. But see he’s got a lot of chilloms and he’s got a lot of things he wants a lot of us to do and we all work together to do what God says to do.

You’d be surprised what we could get done and God’s probably up here says can’t you see what I’m saying? can’t you see? Can’t you trust me?” And yes. So where was Daniel to be placed? All of a sudden everything changed. Why did it change? He prayed. He didn’t do anything wrong. He just prayed and everything went wrong or did it go wrong. There was a king that really liked Daniel. There were some other people who didn’t like Daniel. They knew that Daniel was going to have to die because they knew according to Daniel’s convictions he would not change just because you passed the laws and you can’t pray anymore.

So he prayed. Now he has to leave it in God’s hands. Did you know that God could alive this whole thing to be set up. I think it’s possible. For a king to see if God is able to deliver him, look what he says here in verse 20. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice under Daniel and the king spake, and he says to Daniel, oh Daniel, servant of the living God is thy God whom thou serveth continually able to deliver thee.

Do you think he wanted to know, can God deliver? If he didn’t think so, would he have ever gone to the den and cried out, Daniel? I mean, if you’re in a den of lions, do you expect the person to live? Then lions should be laying around there rubbing their tummy. Mmm, what? That was a good meal. But maybe Daniel doesn’t got old now and he was nothing but a bag of bone. and they say, you know, there’s not enough there to eat.

Who knows what went on in the mind, but God gave them a long jaw, and for whatever reason, Daniel was there the next morning. And a man spared Daniel, but he took care of those that were against him. But see, you know why God used those three Hebrew children and why he was able to use that? Because they didn’t have hard times like we do. They were just threatened, would going to be burned in a furnace of fire one hour later if you didn’t do what they said do.

And you’re going to be thrown into a dead of lions if you prayed. Now what if they was to pass a law here in this country? You can’t pray. Well you know the law, we got to obey the law. Oh really? Is that what Daniel did? Well you got to bow to government. Is that what those three Hebrew boys, that’s why they suffered because they believe God. They feared God more than they feared government, more than they feared anything or anybody.

So yeah, take a Bible looking on 105th Psalm, the 105th Psalm. Let me show you this. 105, I brought some of this up to you before, but just again, it won’t hurt you none. in the hundred and fifth Psalm. He’s going through and kind of rehearsing a little bit about some of the times of old and he tells them some of the things that’s going to take place. Look there in verse 7, he is the Lord our God, his judgments are in all the earth.

He had to remember his covenant forever, the Word, which he commanded to a thousand generations. Now somewhere along the line And I think that means something more than what’s just written here, but I won’t get in there right now. But looking verse 11, saying, under thee, while I give the land of Canaan, but look what they had to go through to get the land of Canaan. Four hundred years. They were down there in Egypt for a hundred years. That’s almost twice the age of America.

you stop and think? That’s a long time. But did God have a plan? God had a plan. God knew how long they were going to be down there and he told Abraham in advance. There it is. And then when people wanted to mess them up, he says, they were few in the book in verse 12 when they were but a few men in number, very few and strangers in it, very few. Remember, you had a man like Jacob and he had 12 sons.

Isn’t it wonderful to have 12 good, strong, godly kids that loved the Lord, their dad, their mom and loved each other and they were just the perfect children. The reason God was able to use Joseph was because, you see, they loved him the most. I hope y’all know the story of Joseph and you know that I’m not telling you the truth.

They hated him, except maybe Ruben, the oldest one, but now they had a problem. But what had Joseph done. He hadn’t done anything bad, but you know he was his father’s favorite. And somebody loved him and I guess maybe this jealousy and envy and all of kind of things in there. So what did they decide to do to this young boy? What are they gonna do to him? They were gonna kill him. They put him in a pit and then they saw some Ishmaelites killing by and say, hey, let’s sell them.

So they sold him. Isn’t it amazing that they came by just at the right time? Just at the right time. Just coincidence. And then he goes down into Egypt and lo and behold, he’s just minding. and his own business serving God and honoring God and keeping his mouth shut and just doing right. And the Bible says over and over again, and God was with him, and God was with him, and God was with him. And then here’s this woman and she tries to get Joseph in the trouble, to have sex with her.

So what did he do? He took a poll and got on the internet and says, what should I do? No, it says he grabbed his coat and ran. Isn’t that what everybody does today? See, the reason God used him is because he didn’t have the temptations like we have. He didn’t have problems like everybody loved him except his brothers. And everything went smooth for him them except these terrible accusations that she said he tried to rape me. So what happened to them now?

What do they do to him? They put him in prison. So he went from the pit into prison. What wrong has he done yet? And not anything wrong. Here I am trying to serve God and everything goes wrong. Welcome to the club. What did you expect? Everything to be rosy? No problems from here on end? How did you like Daniel in the closing time of his life to have to go through what he went through? How did he end up for Paul?

You know, after all those years of Paul dedicated, serving God, how did he end up for Paul? Yeah, he got permanent haircut. But see, they didn’t have to go through what we go through. I mean, the persecution we have today is so hard. Are we a bunch of wimps today? Just a bunch of wimps. We whine over the little list of things. And here, look what they go through, and we don’t see, you know, the whiny, where’s that whining chapter?

I saw in the hall of the faith chip of the whining chapter. Gotta have a whole list of all of those, the whiners. 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 CD on understanding difficult passages of the Bible. No donation is required. We’ve compiled on CD Dr. Arnold’s teachings on difficult passages. For example, does James chapter 2 teach that true faith will produce works? The 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 4811 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, 3-3-6-3-4. 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.