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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 year. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

Now I want you to take your Bible looking to book Joshua chapter 24 Joshua chapter 24 and looking verse 14 This is what he says in Joshua 24 verse 14. He says now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth and Put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in the Egypt and serve ye the Lord So they were told what to do and Then in verse 15 says and if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord Choose you this day whom you will serve either serve God or serve some false God, but make up your mind Don’t be a fence-drier either get in or get out get on or get off Get with it or forget it, but don’t play the game be sincere and do right But if you don’t, you’re a

Compromiser and you compromise truth. And there’s people’s destinies better at stake while Christians fill it. You know I heard that Nero was, what was he doing while Rome burned? He was filling. Some people say that Obama is doing the same thing. Now, we’re supposed to have a commander in chief that is stealing the people blind of everything that they have and wasting our substance on things that, well, that’s another story I have to fight sometime in my impulse. Well, look what he says here in verse 15.

He says, choose you this day whom you were served, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood or on or the gods of the emirites and who’s landing to up. But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord and because a strong man took a strong stand he influenced other people. And that’s why you always have to have good strong leadership. In your home the man ought to be strong.

Take a strong leadership. He also says here in verse 16 and the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods. Isn’t that wonderful? They heard what he said and they did it. And so everything is wonderful. And so I want you to see this also. Look there in verse 20 where he says, if you forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, Then He will turn and do you hurt. For sake the Lord, number one, serve strange gods, number two.

He says, He will turn and do you hurt and consume you. After that He had done you good. And the people said unto Josh, but we will serve the Lord. Now let me ask you this, is it going to make a difference on how you live your life? There’s a God in heaven that have these words written in His Word so that we will learn from that, Romans chapter 15, that we’re supposed to learn from that which has been written, because it was written not necessarily to us but for us, and we’re supposed to be wiser because of these stories in the Bible.

The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. So we’re supposed to know this and we’re supposed to believe it and it’s supposed to make a difference. Now look in verse 24, and the people said on the Joshua, the Lord our God will we serve and his voice will we obey and so Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and then a prayer it says In verse 29 it came to pass after these things that Joshua the Son of the Lord died been 110 years old.

So yes, he lived to be a ripe old age and God blessed. But see, you’re supposed to listen and learn from what Joshua did. He obeyed God blessed. You get to the book of Judges, you see, where they disobeyed and God had to chase them. In your Christian life, that’s why you see some Christians, they’re up and they’re down. They’re up and they’re down. They’re like a yo-yo. And their whole Christian life is like that. And you’re not going to have the peace that you want, the stability that you want, the joy that you want.

And there’s a price to pay. Now take your Bible and look in the book of Judges chapter 3. Judges chapter 3 and look in verse 7. Chapter 3 and verse 7. And you’ll notice that there’s these scriptures right here, verses 5, 6, and 7. Now to you, this is talking about the first apostasy. This is when they left and they left Jehovah and served other gods. Says that in the last part of verse 6. Verse 7, and the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot the Lord their God and served by them in the groves.

Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. God was mad. Now remember the people in Joshua’s day says we will not forsake the Lord. We will not forget but now you find out they forgot. They forgot and they did not do what God wanted them to do. And see they’re in verse 7 and forgot the Lord they forgot. You’d be surprised how you’ll read description and tell you over and over again remember remember remember remember remember the Lord in the days of thy youth that serve the Lord in the days of thy new you’re supposed to remember and so when you don’t remember it’s just like you never knew it at all memory is very important in your growth with the Lord so I want you to take your Bible and look at another scripture with him and this is if you’ll notice there in these verses he’s talking about the things that

God was going to do. Go back here to chapter 2. Chapter 2. And you’ll notice there in chapter 2 in verse 1. And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bocum and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt and it brought you into the land which I swear unto your fathers. And I said, and now he’s going going to tell them two things that he said. I said this, but I also said this.

Some people only hear one part or something only hear what they want to hear and they don’t hear the other part. So he says here, I said and an underlying this, I will never break my covenant with you. So this is the Abrahamic covenant and God says I will not break my covenant. his covenant was that he would have a descendant. He’s going to have a sea come down the road. That’s going to be the son of God. That’s going to make a payment and the nations of the earth are going to be blessed.

The families of the nations are going to be blessed. And that this seed would possess a land and God was going to give them a particular piece of land that they would have. It would be there forever. And that’s why we believe even to this day, regardless of how the The world lines up and what Russia wants to do and about the Middle East, God promised a piece of land over there to Israel and Israel is going to end up with it.

All of it. It goes all the way over to the Tigris and Euphrates, it’s going to get it all. And down to the now river, they’re going to get it all one of these days. Because the property that God gave to them is a lot bigger than what you have them over now with a little slice of a piece of pie. So it was also to bless the world through Christ. So there was a Abrahamic covenant. God made a promise to Abraham that he was going to do this.

So look what else he says here. So as you study, you’ll find out that this is about the covenant keeping God and the covenant breaking people. Israel broke the covenant over and over and over again. But God says, I said, and then He says they’re in verse two, and ye shallizza make no league with the inhabitants of this land, no covenants. And He also says, and, but yenostic, have not obeyed my voice, because He said, no league with the inhabitants of this land, you shall throw down their altars, you’re not to worship their gods, and they broke both of them.

But see, God is bound by His word, He must keep His word. Though He can chase an Israel, He cannot annihilate Israel. Moses even prayed, kill them all and start all over again. I can’t. I gave my word. You see, what you learn from all of this is that here you are, you trusted Christ as your Savior. God has promised me eternal life. God has promised that I’m going to get a new body someday. God has already promised me that I got a reservation in heaven and God’s promised me that he’ll never cast him out, never lose me.

So regardless of what I do, God can’t break his word. God can’t break his covenant. He says, I also said that if you disobey me, I’m going to keep my word what I promised, but I’m going to beat the thought out of you. And you can learn that from studying evil. All this is just picture Israel as though it was just a person. Israel is a person. And here’s this person that was down in Egypt. And here’s this person that went across the Red Sea.

And here’s this person goes into the wilderness. And here’s this person that goes into the land. And here’s this person that obeyed the Lord and God blessed. And here’s this person that rebelled against therency of Lord and God chasing them. And so God has had him in the land, God’s had him out of the land, but they’ve always been a paper. That is eternal security. So when you read that, you know, when God gives us where God has to keep us where He is a covenant keeping God.

But now notice what else He says here in verse 3. Wherefore I and you are on the land is two words, this law, but they’re being powerful. I also said this. I said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sight as their God shall be a snare unto you. And so you didn’t obey me. You got some thorns in your sign. And every time when you want to enjoy something’s going to prick you and rob you.

See, when you understand this, if you choose to rebel against the Lord, You’re still God’s child, but you’re heavenly father once you know I also told you that I can chase in you and discipline you and I’m gonna put a hedge of thorns about you and Every decision you make is gonna wind up hurting you. You’re gonna smart. You’re torturing yourself By your rebellion your discipline. So yeah, you can go ahead and do it But God says I also told you this so I want to take your Bible look in the book of Exodus in chapter 23 The book ofnatureconservancy, going back there to Exodus 23, and look at verse 32.

And notice what he says, he’s two verses, 32, 33. He says, now this is when before they ever got to the land, thou shall make no covenant with them nor with their gods. They broke that, didn’t they? Then he says in verse 33, Thou shall not dwell in thy land, they shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me, for if thou served their God, it will surely be a snare unto thee.” So when God says that later on over in the book of Judges, all God’s doing is keeping his word.

If they had just read, studied the word, they’d know if we do this, God’s gonna do this. If we do that, God’s gonna do that. Can’t you see that? Why if you know that this is true, why would you rebel against God when you know that God is going to keep his word? And God can chase in you and you may live, chase all your little dreams and waste your life and there’s a price to pay. But some people never learn.

Let’s go back to Deuteronomy chapter 28, Deuteronomy 28, just see this verse. Deuteronomy 28, and look at it in verse 1, because it’s just so important. Here he makes a statement in Deuteronomy. In chapter 28 verse 1, and it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this name, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.

This is the position God wanted Israel to have, the highest position of any nation in the world. But Israel, did they obey God or disobey God? Where are they now? They’re despised by every nation in the world. And they’re one of the smallest nations in the world and hated by almost everybody in the world. And this was written almost 3,000 years ago. And does he? Does God keep his word? Yes, he does. What’s that? Look what else he says in verse 2, and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake you.

Wouldn’t that be something you’re running down the road and the blessings of God, the goodness of God is chasing after you and overtake you and just overwhelmed you and passed you up? Wouldn’t it be good? But if you rebel against the Lord, the curses of God are going to run you down. They’re going to catch you. They’re going to overwhelm you. They’re going to knock you down. And you’re going to wonder, well, what happened? You made some dumb decisions.

You made a choice. And so you compromise and don’t serve the Lord wholly. That is so important. Look at verse 3, blessed shout out, be in the city, blessed shout out, be in the field and blah, blah blah blah blah. Now look there in verse eight. Verse eight says, the Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses and in all that thou saideth I hand unto him and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

The Lord shall establish thee and holy people unto himself as he has sworn thee if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God and walk in his ways and all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord and they They shall be afraid of thee. They shall be afraid of thee.” And he also promised he says, and I will not put any of the diseases of the Egyptians upon you.

That’s one of the best health insurance you can have. Is it your true, true, or certain of the Lord? If our country, America, would honestly, sincerely, no crisis, Savior, and dedicate ourselves to serve the Lord the way we should serve the Lord? I believe we wouldn’t have 90% of the diseases that we have in America. I believe it’s a part of the curse of upon this nation. But that’s just a little bit of Yankeeology in there. But now take your five and go back to the book of Judges.

Judges in chapter one. Judges chapter one. I looked down there in verse six where the Lord says that Judah and he got another tribe to kind of go with him because he wanted some help. So we asked Simeon and they started confident a few little people here and there, but then when they caught some of the people, they cut off their thumbs. Now I don’t believe God has asked us to mutilate people and that’s what they did. That’s what other people do.

I don’t believe God likes us when we mutilate our bodies. That’s the thing. I don’t think God puts scars and things on purpose. You got to have surgeries. One thing. When you started getting older, we get together and we’re just going to find scars bigger than your scar. And we say, I mean stitches, you got 14. I got 16. But I don’t think you ought to purposely try to do that. But this is what they did, and not the best.

Look in verse 19. In verse 19 of chapter 1 it says, And the Lord was with Judah and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron. of iron so it didn’t get everybody out. So there were left little pockets of the enemy in the land. So when you do that, it’s like getting all the things out of your mind that’s going to pull you down.

See, all Satan wants and all he needs is just a little beachhead. You see, you’ve ever heard of Normandy D-Day during the Secondgdala War, all of the allies that got together and because of Hitler, all they want to do is if they can hit this beach and just get a beach head and have a place to work from. You got to get a beach head. Well the devil knows all he has to do is just get a little piece of your mind, that little territory so that he can land there and then build him a fortress.

See this is kind of like what Putin’s over there doing in the Ukraine. If you just get inside the territory just get a little piece of the land there and get in some tanks and things like that in there and some supplies and all the things that he’s on in there. And he’s trying to get him a path straight down to Crimea so he can have it straight to the ocean. So he has total access there. Remember the Bible says that one day Russia’s going to come down against Israel.

But now he’s doing this but he’s trying to get a piece of land. And if he can get that little piece of land, well then he might be able to get a little bit more because you know nobody ever gets totally satisfied. You’ve got to have more, more, more, but if nobody’s going to stop you, well, why not? So that’s what you do. You’ve got a little piece of land. So all the devil wants you to do is just give them a little piece of your mind, just a little bit, give into them a little bit here and just give into the devil a little bit.

Compromise just a little bit, but compromise has consequences. And so there’s a great price to pay. And you may not want to pay that price. So you go to these things and you see them. Now take your Bible and look at it in Judges 2, Judges 2, where he says in verse 3, because now we come back to what he had said back there in the book of Exodus and what he said in the book of Deuteronomy and then here in verse 3, wherefore I also said I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your side and their God shall be a snaerny.

But why wouldn’t God drive them out? Because of their rebellion. So God is going to let them suffer hurt because of their… It didn’t have to be that way. Doesn’t have to be there. It’s because you don’t do what God says do. You say, well, they probably say, well, it doesn’t matter. But it does matter. All of these things matter. And so whenever you read it, you’ll see that. But I wanted you to see another verse with me and not just look there in verse 19 where he says, and it came to pass when the judge was dead that they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers in following other God to serve them and to bow down unto them, They cease not from their own doing nor from their own.

Hmm. They’re on what? Are you a stubborn Christian? Stubborn. Rebellious. A lot of people are stubborn and they’re very rebellious. Look there in chapter 17. Chapter 17. And look there in verse 6. Judges chapter 17 and verse 6. In those days, there was no king in Israel. But every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Do you see anything wrong with that? Anything wrong with that? God says in Jeremiah, it is not within man that walk up to direct his steps.

That means you’re not smart enough how to guide yourself. That’s why we’re supposed to read the word of God and study the word of God so that we can make wise your decision. But if you don’t, there is going to be a price to pay. So I thought that on Wednesday night, we would kind of go through the book of judges because there’s a lot of good things in the book of judges and we’ll kind of look at some of these things.

We know that just the book of judges itself covers about one fourth of the historical books of that kind period, 350 years. And so when you study it, you’re finding out how God dealt with his people for a long period of time before Samuel ever came on the scene before he ever known and saw to be the king of Israel. And it didn’t have to be the way that it was, but it shows you that when people rebel against God, God still has to keep his word about he will not totally annihilate the nation of Israel.

But he said he would chase them and that’s what he’s done. God cannot take your salvation away, aren’t you glad? regards to how wicked you live, how many times you repeat the same thing over and over again. So seven times they rebelled against the Lord. And seven times other nations came in. Seven different nations. Seven times they were in servitude. They mean they had to serve those nations. It had to be that way, but they did. They made themselves slaves.

So you’re going to either be a slave to the Lord or a slave to the world, but that’s why Paul says I am a do-loss. I’m a love slave, a love slave, a prisoner of the Lord. And so there were seven times when they cried out to God and God would deliver them. And God would bring some of these people. Just look at Hebrews in chapter 11, very quickly. Hebrews in chapter 11. See there in Hebrews chapter 11, when he’s talking about the heroes of faith, the Hall of Faith chapter.

And you notice there in the verse 32, he says, and what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and of Samson and Jethym, those four came from where? What time period? Now book of Judges. So even in spite of how bad things were, God was still able to raise up men and He used them in a great way. Because not everybody is represented by the whole nation. Even though our nation can go to pot, there’s individuals in the country that can still know and love and worship God.

Right up here. This then represent you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us because he loves us. But he hates what we do wrong and to pay for that sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us and wants us to go to heaven. To go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God and none of us are perfect. We have all sin. We’ve all come short of God’s perfection.

Isn’t it wonderful that if you do this consistently enough, pretty much the same way. Some of those six-year-old kid can watch it and study it and copy it and then share it, get somebody else a trust Lord. I think it’s awesome. I get totally amazed. But God says that He loves us. He hates what we do wrong. He said, we cannot save ourselves. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He said, Lord God in the flesh came into the world because He loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from Him.

So Christ took this hand, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead and said, if you know, if we would believe that when Christ died, He died for us. I believe when He died, He died for me in my place to pay for my sins. And that’s why I don’t have any sins to pay for. When I believe that He put that payment He made to my, He died in my place as my substitute. Therefore, I’m free.

I don’t have sins to pay for. I can’t go to hell. He loved me that much and He gives me as a free gift everlasting life. of best news in the world. Let’s pray, shall we? Head bow in eyes, clothes, and no one looking around. If you’re here tonight and maybe you’ve heard it before, but maybe just never trust the Lord, why not right now in the kindness of this moment just between you and the Lord? He said, Lord, I know I’m a sinner and I believe Christ died that He paid for my sins and I’m going to trust Him right now as my Savior.

Friend, God said, if you would trust Him, He would save you. Save you from hell. Give you eternal life. And you can know that you’re going to heaven because they’ll never catch you, I never lose you. Eternal life lasts forever. It’s a gift, totally free. You can’t lose it because God gives it to you by grace. Grace means unmerited. You don’t have to merit it to get it and you don’t have to merit it to keep it. So would you trust Christ as your Savior?

If you’re watching by internet tonight right where you are, there’s a little line on the screen. And if you’ll just click that on, it lets us know that you are watching and that you trust that Christ is your Savior tonight. I pray that you will. Love to hear from you. Father, we thank you so much for all that you’ve done for us, for the free gift of eternal life. We’ll ask each one here. And Father, help us understand that yes, there is consequences to our decisions.

We can make up our mind, I guess I’m going to serve the Lord and expect the blessings. But if I rebel against you, I know you still love me. You’re bound by your word. You can’t unlove me. You can’t cast me out. But Father, there’s a chastening coming. And Father, it’s not because that’s what you want, it’s because choices that we make. So bless each one of us, Let’s give us wisdom. We pray we’ll do right. Thank you for each one of hearing Christ’s name.

Amen. You’ve been listening to another great message from Dr. Arnold, and we hope that Bibleline is a blessing to you. In appreciation for your support of this ministry, we’d like to send to you a gift. During this month, for a gift in any amount, we’re going to send Dr. Arnold’s teaching on the subject of marriage. This nine lesson CD series includes titles such as, God’s view of divorce, eight pressures of raising children, how to love your wife, and the humorous but insightful teaching, and then the war began.

Whether you are married, single, or dating, you will certainly benefit from this teaching series on God’s design for marriage and divorce. And this CD Series is yours for a donation in any amount. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. and don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. 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.