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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

the book of 1 Peter, the book of 1 Peter in chapter 1. Some of these things are similar, but I wanted to run a few of these things by Him. Understand this, because of the importance of our life, the difficulties are more strengthened upon God’s children than the children of the They have difficulties. We have difficulties. Saved and lost a light, rained upon the just and the unjust. But we have pressure upon us. They don’t have. You see, the devil’s got them, but the devil’s also working on us.

But there’s the pressure that comes from the Lord of wanting us to do the things that we’re supposed to do. Then we have the devil working upon us, trying to keep us from doing what God wants us to do. And make the right decision. And to live the godly life is a difficult thing. I don’t want you to be misunderstood or me to be misunderstood. Let me just share this with you. Satan rushes you, frightens you, pushes you, confuses you, condemns you, stresses you, discourages you and worries you.

That’s what he does. How’s he doing? More people can see the devil working in their life than they can see God working in their life. But remember this, God steals you, the verse that we just read from the book of Psalms 23, reassures you, leads you, enlightens you, forgives you, calms you, encourages you, comfort you. You see, there’s the positive and there’s a negative. The Lord’s also working in your life and the devil is also working in your life.

Sometimes you wonder, I ever win. It ain’t over yet, but payday someday. Peter just sung about when we get to heaven and see all the faces, the faces of the people that we through much difficulty reached. You see, these people that trust Christ as their Savior with great difficulty, they’re most of them it’s not easy. When I think about my own life, 73 years, one man witnessed at me, one man. I will scarcely ever reach with the gospel by the skin of my teeth out of all these years.

One man came into my life and left my life but he He gave me the gospel and was a great difficulty he did that because he was struggling in other areas of his own life. And a lot of things going on, but one day he set me down and explained it to me. And I thought, what if he’d have missed me? So here in chapter 1, look there quickly in verse 6, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though Now for a season, if need be your unhappiness to manifold temptation, right now at this time you may be under a lot of pressure and life has become difficult because it requires a lot of decisions and you don’t know what the future holds.

But you and I know who holds the future but we still have to go through it and there’s no easy way. I want you to also notice that in verse nine. Receiving the end of your faith. In other words, what is the end result of you living by faith? Now it’s not just that I’ve already been saved. I already have eternal life. I’ve already been saved by faith. But for me to be here, even though I know, as he says in verse 4, I have an inheritance that’s incorruptible and undefiled that fate if not away reserved in heaven for me, I’m already saved.

But at the present time we may be in heaven is through manifold temptations. But then he makes a statement there in verse 7 that the trial of your faith has been much more precious and gold and silver that those things pass away. But what God has for you is the praise, the honor, and the glory. He says, I’m going to give to you at the period of Jesus Christ. Right now in this life, we suffer, but the time will come when we’ll stand before the Lord and God is going to honor you.

He’s going to make it worth your while. It will be worth it all. But between now and then, serve the Lord is going to be very difficult for you because you have within you an old sinful nature and you’ve got a new birth and these clash. And you’re always battling. You’re battling all the days of your life. But the end result of this is that we want to see people know the Lord. And so we work at that. But the end result of us living by faith should be the people that we reached.

And then when we get to heaven, we’ll see all their faces, all the faces of the people that we reached. But It was difficult. Do you realize how difficult it is just to find time to study God’s Word? How difficult it is to on a weekly basis be faithfully and given to the Lord’s Word? How difficult it is at times. How difficult it is at times to get out of that bed and your only day off and you deserve it, you’ve worked hard for six days and just to spend that one day that you have and you give that to the Lord and you come and you sit and you listen and you learn so that you can have the strength to go for another week.

It’s so difficult when it’s the only time you have and that you give that up for the Lord. You sacrifice that for the Lord. So yes, it’s difficult sometimes to talk to people about the Lord. Just think how rare the opportunities are that most of God’s children even have or take for those people that pass their way, or the context that you come across. How difficult it is for most Christians to share their faith with someone else, because it’s difficult.

We don’t know how they’re going to accept it. We don’t want to be rejected. And the devil’s always saying, not now. It’s not the right time. And maybe it’s not the right time, but their battles go through. And you’re looking for opportunities to serve a lot, and how rare it is. But we have to go through that. Look there in verse 11. In verse 11 it says, searching what manner of time the spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify when it testified beforehand, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow them.

Suffering of Christ came first. Then the glory that should follow. And in first Peter, we have a tremendous example given to us of the Lord. He came into this world and He died on that cross. He suffered, but the Bible says, God has raised Him from the dead and given Him a name, which is above every name, that nobody, nobody, can ever take away any of the glory that belongs to Him, and that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

But the point is, in this life we suffer. We’re not here to see how happy I can be. It’s not my turn, my time to see how joyful I can be. Though at times I will have happiness and at times I will have joy. But there’s also a lot of sorrow in life. There’s a lot of grief in life. But we keep serving God and doing what God says to do because if we don’t do it, There’s a world that will never hear the gospel.

They’ll never get to be in heaven. But because of the difficulties we were willing to go through, the price that we were willing to pay, there’ll be people in heaven for all eternity. When we get to heaven, you ask all those people. Was it worth all the sacrifices that people made while they were here? I’m glad that my father-in-law took the time to tell me about how to have eternal life. And since then, I thought, man, I want to spend the rest of my life telling people this, believe us the best news in all the world.

Also look there in chapter two in verse 19. Chapter two verse 19. For this is thanks worthy if a man for conscience toward God, endure grief. Suffering wrongfully. You mean in this life I could suffer grief? In this life I can suffer wrongfully? Yes. There’s people in this world that will do you wrong. And there’s people in this world that God will not stop them from doing you wrong. suffer. You see, it’s not fair. Who cares about being fair?

It’s the way it is. When you get to heaven and God rewards you for your faithfulness in spite of how things were, regardless of all the difficulties you had to go through, do you think your heavenly Father is going to let you lose out? Or is he going to bless you? And he’s going to give you praise and honor and glory when you get to heaven. It will be worth it all. And so He makes a statement here in verse 20, for what glory is it?

When you be buffeted for your own faults, you take it patiently. But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. He’s describing the Christian life. In this life, you’re going to suffer. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to faithfully do what God wants you to do. You may be struggling because there’s conflict in your marriage and you want to do right and maybe the other person doesn’t. You may be trying to educate your kids in the principles of the Word of God and they don’t care anything about it.

Maybe you got teenagers, a grandkids and they turn you off and want nothing to do with it. And you struggle with how can I reach them, how can I help them? And it’s going to be difficult at times and it’ll hurt you and you’ll grieve because of it. And maybe you’ll lose a loved one or maybe lose one of your children. Men bet he’s not getting younger, we’re getting older. One of these days she may be without a husband.

One day I may be without a wife. But whatever comes down the road, and there’s going to be difficult times, but I do believe that God still wants us to be faithful. not to doubt in the dark what God gives us in the light. Serve God with all your heart. And though it may be difficult at times, so what? You stop and think about the disciples. Do you think they had any difficulties? Think about the apostle Paul. Did he have difficulties?

When Christ was here, did everything go just like he had planned that he wanted? He came into the world. And he came because he so loved the world, but he allowed the world to treat him as they wanted to. To me, it would have been very difficult for them to spit on me without spitting back or to pull my beard on my back without me wanting to clobber every one of them, Jesus would have had to do that. I couldn’t have done that.

That was too high for me. I don’t have that temperament. I have a fight back, get even temperament. I’m just like you. Some things are not fair, but you’re going to have difficulty in your life. Remember that because it’s true. Looking verse 21 where it says, for even here unto word you called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. Follow His steps. You in this life, me in this life, we’re gonna hurt and we’re gonna suffer and we’re gonna grieve.

There are gonna be difficulties but the price you pay it will be worth it all because as the date come in when God is gonna reward you for everything you’ve gone through and And it’s a lot of difficulty that we have. Look in chapter three and verse 14. In verse 14 he makes a statement, but, and if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are you, you’re happy because you suffered. Do you get that? If you don’t serve God, you have no right to be happy.

He says in the book of John, happy are ye if you do these things that I tell you to do. When you do what God wants you to do, there should be a joy, satisfying of the soul that I did what my father wanted me to do. I lived the way he wanted me to live. Whenever God looked over the banister of heaven and he says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The people were not pleased with him, but God was pleased with him.

People may not give you respect. They may not appreciate you the way you think you ought to be appreciated, but there’s a God in heaven that loves you and appreciates you. And it would be a sin for God not to remember all of your work and labor of love. He doesn’t forget. And he said he’s going to reward every man for all of his work said he’s done when we get to heaven. It will be worth it all. See there in verse 15, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of why you’re willing to suffer for him because that’s the context.

Can you explain to people why you can keep moving on and keep going? when it’s so difficult at times, why are you willing to suffer like this? Why are you willing to do what God wants you to do? Would it seem like everything is going against you? Be ready to give an answer. Why he means so much to you? Why you love him so much? Why are you willing to sacrifice so much because he means so much. And he says, if you’ll serve me for the gospel sake and for my sake, he’s going to bless you.

He’s going to reward you. It’s going to be worth it all. But he keeps telling us it’s going to be difficult. And listen to me, I can not, nor can any man and remove all of your difficulties. You’ll either serve God with them or you won’t serve them at all. But he doesn’t remove all of the difficulties in life so you can have a nice, sweet,less, people ride through. There’s trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble. Every day there’s trouble. And along the way God might even let you have a little joy and a little peace and a little rest.

Now I know what he’s talking about when he says, the thousand year reign of arrest is gonna take about a thousand years to rest up, but that time is coming. Now I want you to also look at another verse with me. Down here in the book of 1 Peter chapter four, excuse me, verse 18 of chapter three, I just got to let you see this verse. I think it’s here for a reason, not just to let us know that Christ suffered for us, that He did, but why He wants us to suffer.

You see what he says in verse 18, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, why that He might bring us to God. Being put to death, He was willing to die to bring us to God. And He is an example. He wants us to be willing to die if necessary to reach people that we might bring them to God. He did the work and it tells us now, tell everybody about it. If it was important for Christ to die for every man, it’s important for those who know him to live for every man, to live for that person we’re trying to reach.

Now remember the devil’s gonna try to keep us from reaching people. And it’s going to be difficult for us to maintain and to keep going. This is why the Bible talks about us encouraging one another, exhorting one another, motivating one another, praying for one another. Why? Because it’s difficult. It’s difficult reaching the lost man. You have to constantly keep trying to figure out how can I reach more? Look there in chapter 4 and verse 1. as much then as Christ had suffered for us.

Why is He telling us this? Because He wants us to be willing to suffer for Him. And suffering for Him means the difficulty going through the difficulties to reach somebody else. Because it’s not the easiest thing in the world. So when talking to people about the Lord is the most difficult thing you will ever do. And faithfully keep doing it all the days of your life. I’ve been winning people to Christ for 55 years, almost 55 years since I first heard the gospel.

First two years you have to scratch those. I never let anybody learn first two years. I was pathetic. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. I’d chase more people out of your way. But look now in chapter 4 and look in verse 12. He said in verse 12, “‘Beloved think it not strange concerning the fire trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ’s suffering that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad.

When that time comes, after you have been here, suffered a while. And then you get to go to heaven. What you’re going to see and get is going to blow your mind. It’ll be worth it all. So he says, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you. That fiery trial is what the devil and the world does to keep you from doing what God wants you to do. That’s what makes it so difficult. It’s a trial.

It’s a fiery trial. But he says in chapter one in verse seven. that the trial of your faith, being much more precious and golden silver, though it be tried with fire, may be found in the praise, honoring glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ, at the appearing when it’s over. It ain’t over yet. So until then, we get tired. We get weary. We get rebuked. We get down. We get disappointed. We have despair. We grieve. And sometimes we don’t know if it’s worth going on.

I’ve got to constantly keep trying to challenge and motivate people. Do you realize how few people challenge and motivate me to keep going? Every once in a while I get a nice little note to somebody that’ll say something and they have no idea what a, I call it a power surge. That’s what it is. Now I want you to see this. Look at it in verse 18. And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

If the righteous scarcely be saved, do you realize, and I mentioned this before, what people have to go through just to have the courage to witness to somebody. And it’s difficult, and most people it’s scarcely ever done. So that the ones that are reached how difficult it was. The people that we reach, whether by internet, the radio, whatever way, dualize how much money people had to give for us to be able to do that. Somebody’s paying a price. And sometimes it gets difficult for somebody to be found faithful.

And if they stop, it all goes off. If people didn’t work in the various positions of ministry around him, they’d all stop. Think of how many people probably have trusted Christ of their Savior and just say the last five years that I’ve been here with all the things that go on. And just think about Friday night, they had 73 or more. Whatever it took to reach them and that there’s difficulty, somebody has to get the bus and drive the bus, pay for the gas, pay for insurance.

Taught to maintain it. And then for the ones that go and take the other ones with them, do you realize how difficult it is for some of these kids to do this and some of the college kids to do this? When there’s something else they could be doing? Or they look at it and say, nobody else is doing it. Why should we do it? That makes it difficult. It makes it difficult when you as an individual who know the Lord and He’s done for you the same thing He did for everybody else.

He died for everybody the same way. And if you don’t serve the Lord, you know it makes it difficult for the ones that do because they can’t understand, doesn’t He mean anything to you? What difficulties are you willing to go through to stay faithful, to keep doing what God wants you to do because it will be worth it all. So for every one of us, yeah, there’s a price to pay. And some of these people will be reached only by the skin of the tea because it’s difficult.

And some, when you stop and think, the difficulty that people have had to go through to get the gospel to somebody. Now, Louie’s going to be taking and going down on a missionary trip, not an attorney dad, Betty and I and Bob Gilbert will be going to India. You see what’s nice to have a vacation. Have you been on any of those vacations? We’ll be going every day. And they’re difficult. You have no idea the difficulty we went through.

We just are our passport with our visa. And then all the things that we had to do, it took Jen two and a half months working on my little thesis thing that I had that we had to go through over and over and over again, just trying to get some difficulties. Sometimes I’ll be so tired. the Hanworth she ever got time to do it, but that’s all she got was time. But she wears a full-time job and then she would take and still do this.

There’s difficulty. But one day we’re going to find out it will be worth it all. Look up here. This hand represent you and me. The wallah represents him. We all have sin on us. God says that he loves us. He hates our sin. And for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us. He wants us to go to heaven. We have to be perfect and none of us are perfect. We’ve all sinned.

We’ve all come short of God’s perfection. And God says you cannot earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven. He says, There’s only one way to get to heaven. And most people have heard this. They just don’t understand it. Jesus Christ had no sin. He was God in the flesh. He came into this world, lived a perfect life, and voluntarily took our sins and paid for their own cross. He came back from the dead and God says, all you have to do to go to heaven, will you believe that when Jesus died, He died for you, paid for your sin so that you wouldn’t have to pay for them?

The only thing that makes his whole thing work is if you will believe he did it for you. You’re saved by grace through faith. It doesn’t cost you anything. It’s free, but you have to believe he did it for you. That’s faith, taking God at his word. And if you will believe that, he will give you as a free gift everlasting life and you get to go to heaven on what Christ did for you. And understand this.

You think about the difficulties When Christ was here and yet He finished the race that was set before Him, endured the cross. When you partake of the bread, you realize what He was willing to go through for us and how He suffered for us and how that He bore our sins in His own body on the cross. when he shed his blood, he gave his life. He did this and he says, I suffered for you. And here we are beneficiaries of this.

And God says, now I want you to suffer for them. Take the message to them. And God says, I will reward you regardless of how difficult it may be. And you may even die for your faith because of what you’re doing for the Lord. It will be worth it all because there’s a God in heaven that keeps the books. Let’s pray, shall we? Our Father, we thank You so much for Your blessings. Thank You for giving us the free gift of everlasting life.

We pray, Lord, Your will to be done in the lives of each person here. And we pray, Lord, Your blessings upon the individual who indicated that they would trust you as Savior by doing so they become your child for all eternity. And while we ask your blessings upon each person, we want them to realize the importance that whenever the difficulties seem like it’s just too much, consider Him. Consider Christ and what He was willing to go through as He suffered for us.

We’re not paying for people since Christ did dead. But Father help us to be willing to get that message to them so that they can have that free gift of everlasting life. So bless today in Christ’s name. Are you a new listener to Bibleline? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel Driven Man. Every day we receive many emails from folks who have questions about repentance and salvation, about faith in works, and about how to to share the Gospel with friends and loved ones.

This book, The Gospel Driven Man, covers all those topics, and we want all new listeners of Bibleline to receive a free copy. There’s no obligation, no donation necessary, simply call us at 1-800-576-3771 or write to us and request your free copy of The Gospel Driven Man. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address. And God bless you and thank you for listening to Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline.

If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. Trump it will sound and we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.