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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 concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

You see, God can use a rebellious person to get other people to seek the Lord. You know what was interesting yesterday? And usually this doesn’t happen. Me and Gary, and there’s these two guys, and so we gave them tracks. And so we waited a little while and kind of bade them a little bit. So finally I asked this one guy, says, do you know where you’re going when you die? He said, well, I hope I’m going to heaven. What does that tell you?

He’s not sure. Because if they hopin’, that means it depends on them. So if it depended upon the Lord and they really trust in him, you can say, I know I have eternal life. So anyway, it helps you discern that. We let it go for a while and just rock on. Finally, he walked up to me and he says, I’ve got a question for you. Now, I’ve never had anybody do this before. He comes to me and says, do you know where you’re going when you die?

Now, he wasn’t trying to win me to the Lord. He just wanted to know what my answer would be. Because when he says, I hope, I says, oh, I hate to hear that. And I had a few remarks, but I didn’t let it drop. So he comes and asks me. Because he want to know, well, what would you say? I says, I know positively beyond the sheave it out. I have eternal life. I can’t go to hell if I tried.

And so it was interesting. And so later, we got them out and explained to Walla Delostration. They both trusted Christ that they’re Savior. He just thought it was so neat. But I’ve never had nobody reverse the question on me. But he did. So that was good. God can use you in time, anywhere. And God can even take a rebellious person, and God can use them. And he can do it. So look what we have here. Down here in verse seven, he says, and they said, everyone to his fellow come and let us pass lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us.

So they cast slots and the lot fell upon Jonah. Now did God know they were gonna do this? Before he ever brought the storm? Well of course, God knew this. And verse eight and they said unto him, tell us we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us? What is thine occupation? Well, kinda where do you do? Where are you from? Who are you? And when’s comes to God? What is thine country? And of what people are thine?

He said to them, I am a Hebrew. and I fear the Lord.” Oh, R.D., caps Jehovah. The God of heaven which had made the sea and the dry, what’s he doing now? He’s witnessing. He’s telling them who he is, but he’s witnessing. Then were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him, why hast thou done this? For the man knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he told them. Why did you do? Here’s people that don’t know the Lord want to know why didn’t you serve the Lord Why didn’t you do what he said do?

Why did you run from God? Look what you brought upon us by your disobedience? Well, you know there might be some people one of these days that wants to know why we didn’t do more and What if he hadn’t a went to Nineveh? Think of all the people that would have never heard the truth if he had not gone and it spared the whole city But here you have all this information that’s packed in here. It ought to help a person to realize we do make a difference.

If I didn’t think I’d make a difference, I would want to serve the Lord. But it makes a difference. I’ve watched over the years, what if I hadn’t gone to Bible college? And what if, if, what if I hadn’t gone to Colorado? What if I hadn’t gone to Georgia? What if I didn’t come down here? It doesn’t make you, you know how many they said they had trust the Lord of last Friday night? 61. I think it was 61, trust the Lord.

Because they had a few more of the college kids, they came back and they went on and they had a great time. So what if we hadn’t started the college? What if we hadn’t had those kids? What if they didn’t go so went in? They were doing this before I came here. Were they? Were they? No. But they’re doing it now. Do you make a difference? Can you influence people? You say, well, those 61 people, it really doesn’t matter.

It matters to them. And whenever they die and they get to go to heaven when they die, they’ll be so glad that those kids went out there and met them at some shopping center and they trusted the Lord, they’ll be mighty glad. Your life does matter. You know, they got this little slogan going out around now. Black lives matter. Every soul matters. Every person, every little baby in a mother’s womb matters. It’s a life, it matters. So anyway, that’s another sermon.

I have to preach that to another time. But now notice what he says here. In verse 11, then said they unto him, what shall we do unto thee? That the sea may be calm unto us, for the sea wrath and was impetuous. So he told him what to do in verse 12, and he said of them, take me up and cast me forth into the sea. That means he’s going to go what direction? Down. See, he ran from the Lord, from the presence of the Lord, and he goes down, down, down, and he He asked to pay for his rebellion.

So now it’s affecting other people’s lives. So what are these doing? Throw me overboard. Can you believe that? Just throw me over to, is this one pathetic individual who is, he’d rather die than take the gospel to somebody. And we often say Jesus Christ would rather die than live without us. But we would rather die so that we don’t have to reach somebody. Sometimes we might get pretty pathetic. You can get caught up in a thousand things and a thousand causes.

But we ought to be busy about trying to get many people as we can to trust the Lord. That’s still what it’s all about. So you look down here in verse 13, nevertheless the men rode hard to bring it to the land. They didn’t want to do that. But they could not, for the sea rough and was to peshis against them, were for they cried unto the Lord.” Now L-O-R-D means Jehovah. See, they prayed unto their gods, now they’re praying to the true and living God that made heaven and earth, as Jonah told them about.

So now they’re talking to the Lord. We beseech the O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life and lay not upon us innocent blood, for thou, O Lord, have done as it pleased. You did this because it pleases you to chastise his child. Did you know that whenever you trust the Lord and your God’s child, you can live any way you please. But God is free to bring whatever consequences He wants in your life. And that pleases God to chasten you because God still wants the best for you.

God doesn’t cast you away. He still wants the best. Even for His rebellious children, God still works in their life because he wants to get people to come back to him and he works in their life. Now notice it, he says in verse 15, so they took up Jonah, cast him forth into the sea and the sea cease from her raging. Now we finally got peace. Jonah’s gone. End of the story, right? It’s the end of the story. Jonah is now, he’s gurgling up water, he’s underneath, He’s gone.

But you know, God did something else. That was miraculous when you get right down to it. So in verse 16, then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. You’re talking about some people here in the gospel, getting right, crying out to God and now making sacrifices and making vows. This is all the result of rebellious man. What could he have done if he had an obedient man? Now look in verse 17, Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

As Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Now remember we had just been over there in the book of Matthew in chapter 12 verse 38 39 where he talks about these people who had came to him the Pharisees and says, give us a sign. And so he says, an evil and adulte’s generations seeketh after a sign, but there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the way, Ola, of the great fish, even so must the son of man be.

three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So Jesus put his stamp of approval upon this story. And yet this is one of the stories that most people try to prove this is not real. This never happened. It’s just a story, it’s a made up story. Because you can’t get swallowed up by a big old fish and they try to say how small his throat is and he can’t get through there and all that. Listen, if God prepared a fish to swallow a man, PHOTO- do you think God would take into consideration how big that fish would have to be?

I’ve had people say, well, I don’t believe the Bible because I don’t see how God got all of those people and all of those animals in that little old art. I was like, well, how many animals were there? Well, I don’t know. So you don’t believe the Bible because you don’t know how God got all those animals in that little art. Well, but you don’t know how many animals were? Well, how big was the art? Well, I don’t know.

So you don’t believe the Bible because you don’t know how God got all those animals and you I wasn’t even, you know how many they were. Into that little art, you know how big it was. I said, doesn’t that sound a little stupid to you? You see, you can believe truth or you can deny it. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Believe that? I believe that. And if you can believe that, you can believe everything else God says.

So he makes a statement here. Three days and three nights. I’m not interested in whether or not. Was Jonah in the belly of the fish, did he die? Or he was just there, you know, fighting for air. And here’s the stomach and he’s in there and we draw all over his head and he’s trying to stay alive and, you know, and all this stomach acid in there eating at him, you know. You know, if God put him in there, I believe God can keep him there.

Or as some say, well, he went down into hell. Okay, well, if he went down into hell. But wherever he was, God brought him out in three days. And that’s the point. It was like a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now notice what he says in verse one. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fishes belly. So we know he prayed, but where was he when he prayed? In the fishes belly.

Now, was the fish inhaled too? Well, I don’t know if the fish was there, I know the fish was in the water and Jonah was in the belly of the fish and he prayed and there’s a list of what he did pray for from the belly of the fish. But whether did he die I don’t know and I really don’t care. Verse two, and said I cried by reason of my infirmities or my afflictions. Onto the Lord and he heard me in the Lord I knew if I run from God it might get bad but I didn’t know know is going to get this bad.

And that’s the way it is sometimes with people. They run from the Lord, but they don’t think it’s going to be that bad. In other words, I can get away with it. God loves me so He’s not going to beat me up bad. And then they realize after a little while, you know, my life is miserable. I’ve lost a lot. It’s cost me a lot. And I need to get back to the Lord like I ought to be. Now look what He says.

So He says here in verse to unto the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of hell, cried I and I heard as my voice out of the belly of hell.” Now the word here is used is shield, new pessimist uses Hades and so is this where he was? Where did he go? Actually to hell already to go to the belly of the fish and what he went through and he prayed out of this belly of the fish.

So just remember this he went in, gone for three days and three nights, he came out and that’s the point I would remember. Whether he died or not is not that big of an issue to me and you can believe it either way, I won’t argue with it. I really don’t care. Some things are just not an issue to me. But now notice what he says in verse 3, but thou have cast me into the deep in the mist of the seas and the floods compass me about.

all thy billows and thy waves pass over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. Maybe I need to talk to the Lord about this. He confesses to the Lord and does the Lord, you know, he’s out of sight. Now God doesn’t know where he’s at. I mean, God can’t hear him, can he? God can still see and God can still hear. You know, that’s why I love people.

I think do more sins at night because God can’t see me in the dark. You know, midnight is dark and God can’t see is good. He might mistake me for somebody else. See that? Well, anyway, he says here in verse 5, the waters compass me about, even to the soul. So he’s talking about praying out of the belly, out of the fish, and that there is water, even to the soil, the depths closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped around my head.

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with her bars was ever before me. Yet thou hath brought up my life from corruption. In other words, he knew… I’m going to die, but whether did he die, I don’t know. But he talks like I was at the verge of dying because of what was happening to me and the water and because of the weeds and so forth and where he was and God kept him alive, brought him back.

So where he was is not the issue. God put him in a fish and all we know is he came out of the fish. Now the fish could have swim all over the place and down to the depths and who knows how long this took. He might have had a ride you wouldn’t believe. Kind of like right now one of them roller coasters. But he makes his statement, when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord. And my prayer came in under thee into thy holy temple.

But he says that he prayed out of the fishes belly. So, after all of this that’s written before that, is this is where he still was? Then he says, They that observe lion vanities for sake, thy own mercy. For I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. So we have a nice little story of Jonah runs from the Lord.

And he had to pay a price. So after God gets through with a little chastening, he ran to the Lord. And it’s always nice to know where the Lord is. We have a song that we sing called sometimes wasted years, wasted years. And I heard that song back in 1962, I believe it was, and a group by the name of the treble heirs, they came and they sung that song wasted years. As they sung that song, I was only 20 years old at the time, and I thought, how many years I’ve wasted?

I was only 20 years old. I thought, how many years I’ve wasted? Because whenever you only live 20, it looks like, well, I’ve wasted a lot of time. And I thought, man, I’m getting a slow start on this thing. I was 18 when I trusted the Lord. And I wanted to do so much for the Lord, but I felt like, man, I’ve wasted so much time. I’d already dropped that out of high school. I was 17. And ran away from home and joined the Navy and lasted there about six months and then got out and then I’m told people how that.

Well even while I was 17 years old I hitch-tiked across America. Went all the way out there to California, you know, got me a little old job, made a little money. And I remember I was working at the University of Georgia in the cabinet shop and I think they paid me. It was about $3, $4 an hour. And I went out there to California and they paid me $17 an hour working in the cabinet. So I didn’t have to work long, got me some more money.

As soon as I got me some money, I’m ready to go in. So then I got picked up in New May, Arizona. I got picked up in Los Angeles. I got picked up. And I was telling somebody all these stories. And they said, are you going to put all that in your book? No, I hadn’t thought about that. So you need to put that in there too. I said, all right, I’ll put that in there. I haven’t wrote my book yet.

I’m working on another book. And because my little granddaughter, she crawled up in my lap and she said, Papa, tell me a story. So I tell her the story about when I cut off her, my dog’s tail and all that. And of course, my son just, oh, cringes when I would tell them stories about some of the dumb stuff that I’ve done. And she said, tell me another story. And I tell another story. Tell me another story. I tell her another story.

Finally she looked up and she says, Papa, you need to write a book. I says, if I do, I’m gonna dedicate to you. And that’s the name of my book, Papa, tell me another story. So if I ever do his name up, I told him the other day I said, this book, I finally got it started. I said, but by the time I get it finished, I’m gonna have to dedicate it to your little girl. Cause you’re gonna be a grown woman, the time I get this thing done.

So, you know, it’s amazing how God can work in your life and bring things in. But just so that you get this, take your Bible and turn all the way over there the book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, and chapter 12. Because it’s anything that you got to keep in mind is that the Lord loves you. The Lord still loves you. When he says, God so loved the world. Does God love me more when I was lost than He does now that I’m saved?

It’s amazing how many people think that after they get saved and things ain’t going right, God doesn’t love me. Well, you believed He loved you when you were lost and He paid for all of your sins and He died for you. He really loves me. Yeah, but now, now, as you serve the Lord, you still believe God loves you. And if you don’t serve the Lord, don’t you believe He still loves you? Well, it’s amazing how that the devil can work on your mind.

And after thinking, wow, you think, you know, God doesn’t care. What did He cared about you when He paid for your sins? I love that song. When He was on the cross, I was on His mind. And I like to think that when He was on that cross, He wasn’t thinking about nobody but me. little O me. Now he might have thought about you, but I know he thought about me. And because he thought about me, I know that he loved me.

So now that in my life, in my life, does God still love me as much? And because of his child, does he love me more? And he says, I will reveal myself to them that love me. See, we were not saved because we loved the Lord. were saved because He loved us. He wants us to love Him and He says, if you love me, keep my word. If you love me, obey me. If you love me, serve me. And He that serves me, He says, my Father will honor.

So do you want God to honor? Yes. All right. But if you don’t do it, God doesn’t make you serve Him just like God doesn’t make anybody go to heaven. If you don’t want to go to heaven, but if you trust the Lord, I’m sorry you’re going. But I told the couple of people at the other day. I says, no, there’s a heaven. Beautiful heaven. Gorgeous heaven. No problem like we have here. New heaven or newer. I says, but God wants you to go, but He won’t make you go.

Now you didn’t ask to be born in this world, but He is asking if you want to go to their new one. And that’s your choice, but it doesn’t make you. God does not make you serve him. He may make you wish you had, and he does chase in his children. Why does he chase in you? Because he mad at you. He’s out to get you. He got up this morning with a hangover and look over the banister of heaven, and he said, I’m going to get you today.

Now that’s the way some people think God is. Not God. Look what he says here in verse 5. Verse 5 of chapter 12, where he says, and ye have forgotten the exhortation would speak unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou thee what? Chasing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuke of him. In other words, don’t quit just because God says no. Don’t quit just because God tells you no, because God has to rebuke you on something.

Don’t get your feelings hurt because God didn’t let you do what you wanted to do, or go where you wanted to go, or be what you wanted to be. Don’t get mad at God. You’ve ever think that God has timing. Some things you may not be ready for yet. And if God gave you some things too early, you couldn’t handle it. So God is very wise and sometimes patience, child, patience, child. Learn to trust your heavenly Father. Some things you can’t make happen.

Some things you can’t rush. And you can’t make God do things for you when God says patience, child. But now notice what he says. End this verse 6. For whom the Lord loveth, he does what? He’s chasing us. So does God love you? Yes. Why did God go after Jonah? Because God loved Jonah and God still needs Jonah. God had a work for Jonah to do. So God still worked on Jonah because he loved him. And when you go astray, it’s not because, well, God hates you and he’s going to get you.

Now, God loves you and the things that he does in your life is because he’s trying to get you to come back to him. And if you will, then he’ll bless your life. But he’s scourged at every son whom he received. If you endure chasing, and God deals with you as with sons, But what soon is he home to Father, chafed and none? We do that in our family, we chation our children, we don’t let them do everything they want to do.

Well, some parents do, I should say. But not if you love them. Yes, sometimes you have to say no, not now, not today, but sometime. All righty. I want you to look up here. This hand represents you and me and this wall of represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us. Now he hates our sin, but he loves us. But for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us once it’s to go to heaven and to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God.

And none of us are perfect. We’ve all sinned and come short of God’s perfection because of sin see we can’t get in. And God says you cannot save yourself. You’re already condemned. There’s nothing you can do to remove yourself from the condemnation. This then represent Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into this world. Why? Because he loves us. He hates our sin but he loves us. practition what did he do reliever he loved us what if he said well I love you but he didn’t do anything about it love made him do something so he took all of our sins paid for it this showed us he loved us we had toTweet him backarij he paid for our sins and we as to there is no guarantee that we would even believe But it made it possible for everybody to have eternal life.

And so God says, He paid for our sins and came back from the dead. And if we would believe He did it for us, He would put that payment to our account and we go to heaven on what Christ did for us. If you’ve never trusted Christ, I urge you to trust Him. Let’s pray, shall we? With headbound eyes closed, no one looking around. Right now in the quietness of this moment, would you just talk to the Lord and say, Lord, I know I’m a sinner and I believe Christ died.

Christ died, I believe He played for my sins. And I’m going to trust Him and Him alone as my only hope of going to heaven. And friend, if you’ll trust Him, God said He would save you, give you eternal life. Would you trust Him? If you will, I’d like to pray for you. Would you slip you in a very quickly and put it right back down? Am I going to have you forward right where you’re sitting? That made sense to me.

But your head’s still bowed and eyes closed. And you have what I spoke on this morning. You that already know the Lord. Some of you have already made up your decision, But you that haven’t, and you’re not sure about what God wants you, would you pray about it? Would you do what somebody asked me to do? Yankee, would you just pray about it? Would you pray to the Lord, Lord, do you want me to come to Bible College? Do you want me to take a night class?

What do you want me to do? What does God want you to do concerning your finances? Are you really supporting the Lord’s work the way you should? that you have no guilt that you’re failing the Lord. I don’t know, I never look at the books. I don’t care who gives what, but I’m talking about one day we’ll have to give an account of the Lord. But this morning you say, yes, I want God to go for my life, and I will pray about it.

Would you just let me hand it very quickly and put it right back down, say, well, at all? Yeah, well, at all. If you’ve already made up your decision, I pray this in the Lord’s favor. Our Father, we thank You so much for all You’ve done for us. Let’s each one here. We pray Lord, those that are watching by internet would also see and hear and understand, trust Your Savior, and let us know by just clicking on the computer.

We commit this day to You. Thank You for all You’ve done. Bless us in Christ name we pray, Amen. Hello, this is Peter Amato with Bibleline, and we hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We’re so thankful Your support of Bibleline, and we would like to offer You a free gift. During this month, for a gift in any amount, we’re going to send you Dr. Arnold’s teaching series on the book of Colossians. Paul writes to a concerned pastor about false teachings that are entering his church.

Some were teaching that one could find additional and greater knowledge outside of Jesus Christ, which is not true. Paul teaches that Christ is the head and we are complete in him. This teaching series is certain to help you in your spiritual growth. So email, call or write to us today to receive your CD series on the book of Colossians. This 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.