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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.

We’re doing some studies on the life of Christ. What we’re talking about, Jesus is a child, Christmas is over, that passed. But Him coming to the world is something we’re never to forget. But also, we’ll be talking about something else we’re not supposed to forget. And that’s forgetting about who He is and what He did and having a communion service. But I do believe it’s Him very important. So turning your Bible to the book of Luke, your Bible to the book of Luke.

Mary had been told she’s going to have a young one. So she goes to see her cousin Elizabethan. Lo and behold, her babe, John the Baptist, leaked in her womb. And she wound up saying to Mary, she says in verse 45, Blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. To live with that expectation that what God said would happen will happen. That’s really what we’re all living about.

Is believing what God said and looking for that great moment when the Lord is gonna split the sky, we’re out of here. One day we’ll be in a new heavens and a new earth, but until then we got work to do. And then notice what Mary said in verse 46, Mary said, my soul to magnify the Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced in God and my Savior. Now, so she talked about the body because she’s gonna bear the body in her body and she talked about her soul and her spirit.

So great things are going to happen. See there in verse 49, for Heath, that is mighty, have done to me great things, and holy is his name. For he that is mighty, have done to me great things. I like to believe that that’s true for me, and you’re supposed to believe that that’s true for you, that he which is mighty, have done great things, and will do great things. And Jesus says in John that he’s going to leave, but you’re You’re going to do greater things than what he had done.

That’s another sermon. But look in verse 57, when Zechariah didn’t believe the angel that told him, says, you and your wife got a surprise for you. Y’all even have a kid. And he had some questions and doubts and God wouldn’t let him talk. Just put a piece of tape across his mouth and he couldn’t speak. And so it came time to give this John to bad, this kid that was going to be born, give him a name, got to have a name.

So, well, why don’t we just call him Zechariah after his father? So to see down there in verse 57, now Elizabeth full time came that she should be delivered and she brought forth the son. Her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had shown great mercy upon her. And they rejoiced with her because in her old age, she’s having a young man. So he says in verse 59, verse 59, and it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child and they called him Zechariah after the name of his father and his mother answered and said not so but he shall be called John and they said under her There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name, and they made signs to his father how he would have him called.

And he asked for a writing table and wrote saying his name is John and they marveled. In verse 64, his mouth was opened immediately, his tongue loosed, and he spayed and he praised the Lord. Well, he had to learn a great lesson. So here in the book of Luke in chapter 1, we’re talking about, as the scripture says, what manner of child is this? What manner of child is this? See the verse 66? and all that hurt it laid them up in their heart saying, what manner of child shall this be?

And the hand of the Lord was upon him. And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied. And this is what he talks about. He finally gets a chance to talk. Remember, they have waited 400 years, silent years, from Malachi to Matthew. In between the Old Testament and the New Testament, 400 years and nothing has happened and all of a sudden, hey, this child is born. John the Baptist and said, what kind of a child is this going to be?

Born of this old couple in these days. And he says in verse 68, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. See, they knew that he was the forerunner of the Messiah. It mentions that in the book of Malachi, where it talks about John the Baptist didn’t give him by name, but his messenger shall come and he will be like a forerunner. To sit the path straight and get people ready, hey the Lord has come, the Lord has come in.

Well, not everybody believed John, some did. And so they had and he was preaching the baptism of repentance. Repentant did not mean turn from all your sins, trying to earn your way to heaven. It simply meant change your mind. Believe the message that John the Baptist was preaching, that you should believe on him whom he hath sent. So those people that believed on Jesus Christ were baptized in water. Their baptism didn’t save them but it just was a picture of what they believed because he says, I baptize you with water but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”

That didn’t take place until the day of Pentecost. So you notice down through here, he says in verse 70, he says, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began, from the very beginning, God prophesied that the Messiah would come into the world. Jesus would come. And so in the Old Testament, He used many different prophets over a number of years telling you what nation He would come through, what tribe, tribe of Judah out of 12 tribes.

And then He had to come from a certain lineage of the family of David. And then He had to be born in Bethlehem, Africa, southern part of Judea. And the book of Daniel says the very year He would come. So Jesus Christ in the fullness of time made of a woman came right on schedule. And he was who he claimed to be. He was the Son of God. So John the baddest was born first and they were cousins. So it’s interesting as you go down through here and you see what he says.

Look what he said in verse 74 that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of the enemies might serve him without fear. This is going to happen someday. It’s not all over yet, but this is prophesy. In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou child talking about John the Baptist is not talking about the Messiah here. This is John. Shabbi called up prophet of the highest for thou shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his way.

So it’s talking about John the Baptist and while he’s still a child, they knew who he was, what he was there for, and prophesy now. And he says in verse 77, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God, because God is going to have mercy on him when raised, because no man can earn his salvation. No man can work his way to heaven. Don’t we all need a little mercy?

We need a lot of mercy. So God sent His Son into the world, but He sent another one right before Jesus came. And He was John the badness to go and to prepare the nation of Israel. Hey, God is coming to visit. If you ever had somebody call you up, this is your mother-in-law and I’m coming to visit. You might want to straighten up the house a little bit. Because you’re getting prepared, somebody’s coming. Or you check the refrigerator if you have enough food to feed the crew.

Or you call them back and say, I’m going to be out of town on the vacation. But whatever, you know that something is going to happen and they were prophesied. Christ the Messiah is coming to Israel. Later on after Jesus was rejected, he says, Dow newest, not the day of thy visitation when God came to visit. Isn’t that something here’s a nation has been waiting for him all these years. He finally shows up and they didn’t recognize him because you see they were looking for a lion of the tribe of Judah to deliver them from the iron heel of Rome and he comes meek and lowly and as a lamb was led to a slaughter.

is what we were waiting for? Yes it was. They could not discern between the first coming and the second coming. When Christ came the first time He came to suffer, to down the cross, to make a payment for our sins. When He comes back in power in great glory, which is just coming. He came the first time just like He said. He’ll come the second time just like He said. The second coming we use referred to it as two phases of the same coming.

Just like watching a football game, there’s four quarters but only one game. He came the first time and the Bible talks about his return. He’s coming back. The first phase he’s coming back in the air for his saints. We call that the Rapture. Seven years later he’s coming back with his saints to rule and reign and every I will see him and he sets up his kingdom upon the earth. But seven years before in the moment the twinkling of an eye were changed and caught up to meet the Lord of the air.

So shall we ever be with the Lord. So that’s what’s coming. And notice what he says down here in verse 79. This is similar to the vision that the Apostle Paul had on the road when God revealed to him the great things you’re going to suffer for my name’s sake. And I’m going to send you to the Gentiles and before Kings. And as he was talking to in chapter 26, and to King Agrippa, he says, I have not been disobedient to this heavenly vision.

And he says pretty much the same thing here, to give light to them that said in darkness. And in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace and the child grew, talking about John the bad, wack strong in spirit was in the desert still the day of his showing unto Israel. Now how would you like that? Grow up and you got to go into the desert and you stay there until time is ready. You know his ministry didn’t last that long.

Anybody remember how how he died? They cut off his head. Remember he was trying to get people, hey look the Messiah is here. Somebody messed up and took another man’s wife and he told him, says, you’re not supposed to do that. And so Philip’s wife, well, she didn’t like that. She said, I want his head on a charger. So he did cut off his head. Now, you think, now, wait a minute, I’m the forerunner of the Messiah. And this is what’s going to happen to me.

What wrong did John do? Some people say, well, you should have minded your own business. You are not trying to tell people how to live. Well, know that that’s exactly what he’s supposed to do. You know what the preacher’s supposed to do? Now you’re not going to like this, but I’m going to tell you anyway. Tell you how to live. The preacher’s supposed to tell you how to live. But how do we tell you how to live? According to the word God, not his personal opinion, but what the book says.

This is the guide, the guide, our feet under peace. So we’re told how we’re supposed to live. But most people don’t like that. He didn’t like it, chopped off his head. So the child grew and had a wonderful ministry. It was short-lived, but he fulfilled the purpose of God. And you know what Jesus said about John the Baptist? There has not been a man born among women greater than John the Baptist. But he also says, everyone, the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist.

The greatest man in the world without a new birth. Isn’t as good as the weakest believer in Christ. It’s better to be a believer in Christ, never accomplish anything, never do anything, but you have trusted Christ as Savior. You get to go to heaven. But you can be the greatest man in the world and never go to heaven. And there’s a lot of people that the world considers to be great individuals. But just because the people voted on him in an opinion poll and they’re la la la, that doesn’t mean they’re going anywhere.

God doesn’t see as man sees. But he’s talking about the kingdom of heaven. This is when he comes back down as king sets up his kingdom upon the Supplementary Earth. A man saved there is greater than a man living here. Now take your Bible and I want you to show you this. Talking about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Look at in verse 39. Verse 39 of chapter 2, when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned unto Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth, and the child grew, wack strong in spirit, fill with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

Now this child is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is now born and he’s beginning to grow. And the Bible says in the wax strong and spirit filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. Now, notice something else. If you look down in verse 51, we’ll kind of jump over there just a little bit. Because the day is talking mainly about, you know, the life of Christ, or you got to go back to when he began. He’s already been born.

We just finished celebrating Christmas and how wonderful that is. And I love Christmas. I don’t have anything wrong with Christmas. I don’t like all the devilish things about Christmas. I believe that Jesus Christ coming into the world was a great thing. Being born because it was prophesied. But we’re not told to celebrate His birth. But we are told to remember, and that’s why we have the Lord’s communion, His death on the cross about the blood and about the body.

But if there had been no birth, there had been no body, there had been no blood. And his body, the Bible says, has stopped, prepared me. And that body was to be the payment, the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus Christ would have to die. And so he died and he paid for our sins. He came back again from the dead. And it says down here in verse 51, and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them.

But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. Jesus increased in wisdom, let me mentally, and statute, that’s physically, and in favor with God spiritually and man. So you have socially. So in all these areas, Jesus Christ grew as a child and he listened and he learned. Someone asked the question, at what point did Jesus come to understand he was the Son of God? That was to be interesting. In spite of all these things, there’s things he still learned.

But the Bible talks about how he laid aside some of those few attributes as far as not use them as the Son of God and as a man he had to learn. And as a man, he got tired and as a man he got thirsty and as a man he got hungry. And he was abused and shamed, spit on and beat and all those things, but he was still God in the flesh. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh.

He was God and He was man. He was the man God and the God man. He was perfect. And so you and I one day will understand a little bit more than what we do right now, but it’s taught in the Bible. So I want you to see this. Look there in verse 25 of chapter 2. You know at this time you think surely there ought to be somebody that was expecting Jesus Christ to be born. Lo and behold, there are a few that the Bible talks about looking for the Messiah.

So in verse 25, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Ghost was upon him. Waiting for the consolation of Israel. That’s Jesus Christ. He was waiting for this one to console the people. They had all these problems, all these weaknesses. When you read Isaiah 61 and talks about, and the spirit of the Lord was upon me and at the knowing me to preach the gospel and blah, blah, blah, and also to anoint the most, and do this and to heal the brokenhearted and to set the captives free.

You know, that’s Jesus. It’s a reference to him. So he says here in verse 25 and It was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death Before he had seen the Lord’s Christ Here’s an old man the Bible says in Jerusalem his name was Simeon and The Lord revealed to him you’re not going to die until you see the Lord’s Christ, the Lord’s Messiah, the one that He prophesied. Wouldn’t you like to have something like that happen to you?

I would like to say the Lord told me last night in a dream. Yanki, you’re not going to die. You’re going to get to go up in the rapture. How would you like that? I wouldn’t mind that. But I’m not coming for a hundred years. What? I don’t know when he’s coming, but whenever he comes, I’m looking forward for the upper taker, not the undertaker. So I’d love for the Lord to come back in my lifetime. I really would.

Hank Listerm always talked about that. He was ready for the rapture, or he talked about the rapture. And anybody who talks about the rapture a lot, it seems like you also have this burden to try try to get as much done as you can. Just keep giving a gospel, as though that’s nothing else as important as that. If you get a chance, if you can read the book that I did on the gospel driven man, it’s through it all the way.

It’s not just, that’s why it’s called the gospel driven man. I had a guy call me up yesterday. No, he wrote me a letter. He wrote me a nice letter. And he says, I like that book so well. He said, my wife and I, we read that book, And we want to help get that book in as many hands as possible. And we’re willing to give you so much money, pay for the books, so that you can send it out free to anybody that supports the radio broadcast.

Anybody that supports the radio broadcast, you send it to them for free. He should not pay for it. And the shipping charges. Wouldn’t it be something? It’s awesome. So I says, I’m in the state of shock. says, I have to get back with you later and say, we can start this thing because I’m for it. I love the idea. And that way, he’s not just buying a book and giving somebody is causing somebody else to write in for the book, but maybe help to keep the, you know, the broadcast on the radio.

So however the Lord wants to work things, I’m all for it. I can’t believe that I want to get the gospel out more than he does. Can you believe, can you have a greater burden for souls than God? I feel that God has a way. And this is why I was mentioning this and I’ll mention it later on in church service. Yesterday, when we had about 70 people trust Christ as Savior in the morning and yesterday service, we had about 155 in here and about it.

Peter came up here and he was peaking. Somebody else was peaking. We always have a professional peaker. You can’t just do that. You have to know how to peek. You know, be professional peakers. And just to see so many that trust the Christ. And so after it was all over, I went in the office, put my Bible up. I came back and I talked to a few people. And this one man and woman were standing there and they had a little baby.

And I said, so this is the one that was competing against me today. And they left. The little baby was sitting over here and just crying, you know how babies like to interrupt them. You know, services. I think the The devil walked down the aisle, saw the little baby and pinched the little baby. But anyway, the baby didn’t win. And I asked the lady, I says, do you know where you’re going to go in? And she says, yes, I do.

I said, did you trust Christ as your Savior today? She said, yes, I did. And her husband said the same thing. And so they just heard it. They understood. And to me, that is what it’s all about. When you’re going to leave this world, you’ve got to know you have this is why Christ came. This is what it’s all about. This is what communion services about. People trust in the Lord. That’s what it’s about. It’s about the gospel. Otherwise, there’s no reason for it all of this, but it is important.

But anyway, as you look here, he made the statement in verse 27, he came by the spirit into the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law here to be circumcised, then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, now let us die by servant, the pardon piece, according to thy word for my eyes have seen thy salvation. Now when you go back to the Old Testament, you’ll see the word salvation mentioned an awful lot of time.

But God’s salvation that was prophesied was the Messiah. And though in the Old Testament you may not see the word Messiah all the time, but you’ll find salvation, mine holy one. Through the book of Isaiah, it’s mentioned an awful lot of time, my holy one, my holy one, my righteous servant, my branch. Those are all indications. He’s talking about his son. talking about his son that’s going to come. And anyway, he kind of has a word to say to Mary, and then go down in the verse 36.

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Fanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age. You notice it doesn’t tell the woman’s age. Don’t mind telling you some time the man’s age, but sometimes they don’t like to tell the woman’s You know that’s just something. Must be a reason for that. Not sure what it is. She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about, widow, four score and four years.

So she’s 84 years old, 84. Now that’s up there in ages, isn’t it? That’s pretty old. And we talk about some of the people. You know what I did one day, I was playing golf with a guy that was 85 years old. And he beat me. I was only about 35 at the time. I thought, here’s a man 50 years older than me. And he just beat me in golf. I despised him. So they humbled me. I thought, Lord, you humbled me.

And I know I’m better than him. So I was traveling through Louisiana one day and started this low country club. And I walked inside and there was some magazine articles, newspaper articles about this old man, who he was. But all about his economy. It was all over the walls in this little old country club. Anyway, I said I want to play nine holes. So I got my clubs and I got me a golf cart. And then they said, well, we’re going to put this other guy with you.

And I said, well, all right. somebody else is going to slow me down. I could have hit the ball and go. So I saw him in this little old man, old man. And he was going to walk and carry his clubs. And here I am and I’m going to ride in a golf cart. This old man is going to walk and carry his clubs. I said, I don’t need the cart. I walk, carry him a club. He was just going to relax and enjoy it, you know.

But if he’s going to walk and carry his clubs, I guess I might as well. So I thought, I’m going to teach this old man old lesson. Hello, this is Peter Amato with Bibleline, and we hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We’re so thankful you’re supportive 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. 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 after 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.