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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 BibleInemistries.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.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians 9, 1 Corinthians in chapter 9. In 1 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul was talking about running a race. And in the process of running this race, he says they’re in verse 25. And every man that strived for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we are incorruptible. I wondered who are they? They do it to obtain a corruptible crown.

Who is they? But we an incorruptible crown. So I could spend some time on trying to discern which one it’s referring to. Is that talking about the lost man or the saved man who refuses to run the race? Or the saved man that doesn’t discipline himself. But But we know that when you get right down to it, everybody today knows a little bit about the computer. I have had computers since about 76. A man gave us one for our Christian school in Colorado.

It was called a systems 32. And the language it was written in was RPG 2. And so it was a big machine, very expensive, cost about $30 something thousand dollars, brand new. That was the computers back then, that’s how much it cost. But anyway, the guy had some kids in our Christian school and he wanted to buy a system 34 so he had a system 32, he didn’t need any more. So he made me a good deal for the ministry there so we got it from him.

And that thing, you’d have to work at the death. You had to learn how to write and program it into that PG-2. So I got me a guy that knew a little bit more. I did some, but man, it would take so much time. It was sort of an all-of-a-time. And it wasn’t long before we got it working good and did the college and school and all that on it, did all of our finances. And since then, I’ve had big computers ever since.

I like using the computer. Now I never learned how to type. I wish I’d have learned how to type. I just have to do it one finger to time, one finger to time. But I’m fast and I’m accurate. I make a few mistakes just so that Jan, when she checks myself, she’ll find something. Because I know that she was always looking. But sometimes your files get corrupted. You ever had a computer get corrupted files? I’ve had all kind of programs and put on there.

And after a while, they get slow and sluggish, and sometimes they just crash. So I have to keep that little disk and delete what’s there and put it on there and reload it again and start sometimes all over again. And that can be very painful, time consuming. But when you were born into this world, you and I were born with a corrupted file. Our minds are corrupted. Everything about us was corrupted. We don’t think straight. We don’t love the way we should.

We have an old sinful nature. And that old sinful nature is like it keeps the files corrupted so that you don’t think the way you should. Your thoughts are not his thoughts and your life is not according to a holy life because we have corrupted files. And so sometimes it would be nice if we could just delete and start all over again if God would just give us this master, I could just stick it into the computer wherever that is and delete and then start all over again.

Man, that would be so easy. But we have to live our whole lives being corrupted because the way we think, the way we look, the way we perceive, judge, our judgment isn’t always true. We think it is. It seems like it is, and as the scripture says, there’s a way that seems right unto a man but the end, or other ways of death and destruction. It’s So we don’t love purely as we ought to. We don’t live purely as we ought to.

But think about the lost man. The lost man can live his whole life. And so whenever he lives his whole life, he’s got his birth. And he lives under a burden. Every person born into the world, we have a burden. There’s a burden just trying to stay alive. You have to eat. You got needs. So you’re under this burden all your life to provide for yourself. And so you’ve got to learn how to work and discipline your mind. You’ve got to go to school.

It’s all a burden. It isn’t going to school even when you go to college. It’s still a burden in it. It’s a burden. for exams. It’s still a burden. But when you get out of school, you won’t have no burdens anymore. Now there’s always burdens. Every day, you get married. You’re really going to burden. Have some kids and you’re going to have a burden because now you have another responsibility. Something to do. You got to take some people. They’re burdened down with little dogs.

Big dogs. Cats. Cats. There’s people here that love cats. But whatever it is, they got to be looked after. There’s a problem. The burdens. Just think about the lost man that after he has been born into the world, he’s lived his whole life under burden and then he dies to be banished from God’s presence for all eternity. To be banished from God. Jesus said about you, it had been best if the man had never been born, but the man still had a choice.

He wouldn’t have been born if God hadn’t allowed him to be born, but God gave him the freedom to choose and make decisions. But to think that you lived your whole life under a burden, work and having to deal with an old sinful nature, never really getting the peace and the joy that happens that you want and live your whole life like that. And then finally when you die, to be banished from the presence of God and sentenced to a literal fire burning hell for all eternity.

I don’t guess he can get any worse than that. Then along comes a person who trusts Christ as Savior. You trust the Lord. So you have a new birth, but your new birth is born incorruptible. And the Christian life in your new birth is an incorruptible life. Well we have our old sinful nature and there’s a lot of problems and so forth that we have to deal with and there’s still a burden and problems, but the new birth doesn’t sin.

And then when we die and we’re going to. The Bible talks about us receiving a crown, something that’s worth living for. What did your life amount to? You were born, you had a burden. Now you’re dead. Now what? And so as you study the Bible, you find that yes, they for a corruptible crown, but us an incorruptible crown, something that will make life worth living. So when we leave this world, God is going to give us a crown that’s incorruptible, something that really for all eternity is a symbol of what we’ve done with our life.

Now I don’t know what it is, I don’t know what it looks like, I don’t care. I just know that whatever God says, it will be worth it all, and that day is going to come. But when a lost man is born into this world, sometimes you find out, well, where were you born? Somebody asked me, Yankee, where were you born? Well, my parent told me I was in Reimersburg, Pennsylvania, and everybody’s heard of that. How many of y’all have heard of Reimersburg, Pennsylvania before?

Isn’t it wonderful that of all the places and all the world God could have had me born, He let me be born in a place no one’s ever heard of? Do you know who I am? Evidently not. Quite over here on this site. But you had to be born. And somebody said, well, when were you born? Well, I was told I was born on February the 4th, 19th. 1942, a couple of years ago. So you had to be born.

Now when you trusted Christ as your Savior, somebody says, Yank it, where were you born when you trusted the Lord? When you were born into God’s family. Well, I was in Athens, Georgia, and I was in the part of the apartments. I don’t remember the number of the house, but I do remember the day, and I remember the moment. So I know where I was born in the God’s family and I know when. Now some people can’t always recall everything.

Sometimes you’re young and you don’t know. Sometimes you’ve heard the gospel and you can’t remember where you were or whatever, but you better know that you were. You better know that you did. So once you’ve trusted Christ as your savior, Aren’t Christians under a burden just like lost people are under a burden? Don’t lost people have to go to work? Don’t Christians have to go to work? They get hungry? We get hungry? I mean they have to have clothes, we have to have clothes.

Well some people don’t. But somebody should. We used to have a rule at the camp. No smoking. No smoking. No skipping, no streaking. So that we just had a few little rules like that. No lip-blocking. No huggy bear smacking mouths. Nothing like that. Now when it comes to you and I understanding our purpose in life, God has given to us a burden. Now when you go back to when you read some of the Old Testament books, especially some of the minor prophets, burden of the Lord, a burden, a burden, a burden.

It’s a message that God gave to the people that were supposed to bear the burden of this message. In other words, you better listen up. Now God has given to us a burden. We sometimes call it, it’s our cross to bear. I asked this woman, I spoke in church about, you know, bearing your cross and bearing your cross. The whole thing was about bearing your cross. She came up and said, my cross is my husband. And she says, I’m about ready to dump my cross.

I said, ma’am, can we talk? She didn’t want to talk. Her mind was already made up and it was in concrete permanently said. So you have a bird, a purpose that God has given to you and I for living our life. So we’re supposed to take up our cross daily and follow Him. Now that’s not to be saved, that’s because we are saved, we’re God’s children. So we’re supposed to do this thing. And so take your Bible look there in first Peter chapter 1, first Peter in chapter 1.

First Peter chapter 1 kind of gives us a little bit of an idea of something that people in the world lost people and even Christians can live their whole lives for something that’s going to be corruptible. But look what he says here, 1 Peter chapter 1, and notice what he says here in verse 15. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all your manner of life, your manner of behavior. Because it is written, be holy for I am holy.

And if you call on the Father who without respect a person judges the court of two every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourn here in fear. So you’re supposed to live your life, I believe, in fear of missing the will of God for your life. Missing the fulfillment of the purpose God has given to you to live. So we didn’t ask to be born in this world, but lo and behold, we were born. And we had responsibilities.

And as a lost man, you still got to work. You still got to eat. You got to sleep. You got to have clothes. You got to have a place to live. All these are things. And all of this burden that we have mainly is because somebody is sitting back here in the garden and God says a man going to have to work by the sweat of his face. And he’s got to work. There’s all kind of things that God says, woman’s going to have children suffering, pain.

I guess before they could have had all the kids they want and they wouldn’t have suffered. But because of sin, childbirth is a lot of pain, suffering for people. But that’s because, you know, we have a burden to bear. And it seems like if it had not been for God given us work to do, to do, we would truly be of all men most miserable. So this burden that God gave to us, the toil of having a work for a living is truly a blessing of God.

I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have something to do. I love staying busy, living for something. One thing after the other, something One thing after the other, something to do, it’s a blessing in life. But it makes a statement down here in verse 18, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold. Now I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know that silver and gold was that corruptible.

I bet it would last my lifetime. So if you have any of that old corruptible junk and you don’t want to have it anymore, you just come and see me and I’ll take it off your hands. But we know that one day Everything in this world the silver and the gold is all gonna pass away and to think some people live their whole lives for these earthly valuables That are gonna simply pass away a burden That they work and labor for and then when it’s all over They have nothing to show for because you lose it all When a man dies, I I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a, you know, a U-Haul behind a Hearse because he’s not taking it with him.

You know, there’s one man he died. He’s going to die and he told his wife, he says, honey, when I die I want you to take that $200,000 we got in cash and I want you to put it in the casket with me. He says, we can promise. He says, I sure will, hun. So when he died, she wrote out a check for $200,000 and she put it in the casket. And if he can cash it, God bless him.

That woman wasn’t stupid. Told an other one says, oh honey, whenever, when I would die, take all my money and put it up there in the attic. She says, why? She says, so whenever I leave, I can pick it up on my way. He died. She went up there and looked and it was still there. She said, I know I should have put it in the basement. You know. But now, get this up. But silver and gold. these precious things that you may live your life for is a corruptible life.

And to think that some people, you’re born in corruption, you live in corruption, and you die in corruption. And to be banished from God for all eternity. But when we talk about Jesus Christ, we’re talking about something a little bit different. You see, with the Lord, His birth was incorruptible. His life was incorruptible. Isn’t he gonna get an incorruptible crown? Now take your Bible and look there in the book of Philippians in chapter two, Philippians in chapter two. Philippians chapter two, you’ll notice there in verse five.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who been in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant. This is when He became a man, made in the likeness of man. This is a little sermon that I preached a long time ago called the crib, the cross, and the crown. It’s a simple little outline, but the crib and the cross and the crown.

But I believe that represents a person’s life. You see you and I, we had a crib, we were born. We have a burden, we have a cross to bear. And one day when we lead this world, we’re going to stand at the Judgement City of Christ and God’s going to reward us as it’s going to be a crown for those who bore the cross. But when Jesus Christ came into the world… The Bible says that he was made like of the man born of a woman in the fullness of time Galatians chapter 4 born of a woman right on schedule.

Now, I was talking in Sunday school class this morning. I says, now if I was to give you a clue on how to meet me, you’ve never seen me before. But if I told you that I’m going to be downtown by the football stadium over here at three o’clock on Sunday afternoon, there’s the football game on, and I’ll meet you in the parking lot that I give them enough information to know how to recognize me. I don’t think so.

But if I told them that I will be riding backwards on a mule, plan a banjo, and singing Yankee Doodle went to town, is there a possibility I might be the only guy doing that? You just liable to recognize me, right? And with five pieces of information, you can find just about anybody in the whole world. there’s seven billion people on planet Earth. But if you know the person’s name and you know the country, you know the town, you know the street, and you know the number, you can send a piece of letter to anybody just about in the world.

Now when Jesus Christ came into this world, there were over 300 and something prophecies given. And He had to fit every one of them Now, do you think that you, did you have the power to determine where you were born? Did you choose your family? I did. No, I didn’t. We didn’t choose what family we were. Did you choose when you would be born? I mean, here you are. Why after 6,000 years, as far as we know, you were born?

What are you doing here? Who made you? What makes you think you’re so special? Because do you know who I am? If you’ve been created by God, you’re a creature of God, and you’re somebody’s important, you’re somebody special. But you and I have been made by God at a particular time in history. And we did not choose who our families were. We didn’t choose whether or not we would be in a rich home, poor home, you didn’t even decide whether you were male or female.

And there’s some people haven’t figured it out yet. They got their marbles or shooters missing them. But quite over here on this side. But now that you and I, anybody here ever shoot and play marbles, man, I tell you, playing marbles is so much fun. So, you know what the Bible says, you know, that that’s condemned in the Bible. It says marble knot. I don’t know whether you do this. But hearing Philippians look down again. I want you to see this in verse 8.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross, he had a burden, a mission. He had a message from God about what God wanted him to do. So Jesus Christ did that and he bore the cross that God had gave him to. And then he says in verse 9, wherefore God hath also highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. And this is the crown.

He is high, lifted up, exalted, bragged on, and every knee shall bow. Now whenever you study the four gospels, you’ll notice that Matthew, in the book of Luke, talk about the birth of Christ. Mark and the Gospel of John doesn’t talk about the birth of Christ. You see, Christ coming as the king, that was important to have the genealogy in there, his birth, the show that he had the right to be the king of Israel. That’s why it starts off.

Where is he that is born king of Israel? roll. Jesus was born and there’s a genealogy through Joseph. And then we go to the book of Luke. You have the genealogy through Mary showing that he is of the Son of Man. It goes all the way back to Adam. Because our Redeemer has to be a man, but he has to be a perfect man. And so in the book of Luke in chapter 1, when he starts off, he starts off in righteous letter to a man by the name of Theophilus tells him there’s many that were here and saw and heard and seen and are writing he says but let me set before you in order the story and as the Holy Spirit guided him he began to explain the birth of Christ and he is a medical doctor but he goes to and explains things that the other ones don’t now it’s not

in the book of Mark because you see Mark is a servant and the servant doesn’t have a divine pedigree, he doesn’t need it. The gospel of John, well he doesn’t have to record about the word because God never had a beginning, never has an ending. It just starts off in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word, he wasn’t born, but he tabernacle among us and it says it in verse 14. So each book represents something different.

So, but therefore, when you studied about the birth of Christ and that night of miracles, what a glorious night of miracles. Christ coming into this world was a miracle. And remember, God made Adam without a woman and without a man. He made a woman with a man but not a woman, made Eve. And then you have Jesus been made by a woman but not a man. It seemed like he can do just about anything he wants to do. You And I were not different.

We were all because of a man and a woman, two becoming one flesh. I am the result of two people, a man and a woman, not a man and a man, not a woman and a woman, but a woman and a man. I am just thankful that God gave me the chance to live life. I don’t know how all of us are going to end up yet, but I got a little bit of an idea. I would rather do have lived than not to have lived.

Are you glad that you had a chance to live? Because he could have kept it where you never would have existed. But lo and behold, wouldn’t it be a shame to live your whole life? And it’d be said about you. Been better if you’d never been born. Been better if you’d never been born. I don’t want that to happen. the word you know, you’re born and then banished from God for all eternity. One of the most important things for you and I to realize that we are going to be in the presence of God for all eternity and it will be worth it all.

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 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. 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.