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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. and 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.

I want you to take your Bible, turn me to the book of Isaiah, the book of Isaiah. I want to show you a verse. Every time I read it, they kind of knocks my socks off. Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53. You know this is the crucifixion chapter in the Old Testament, telling what’s going to take place, 700 years in advance. It tells all about the sheep that one astray, and how the Lord had laid upon him the iniquity of us all.

Then it tells us down here in verse 10, looking in verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He had put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, it pleased the Lord. it pleased the Lord. What we look upon is one of the most disgraceful things that any man could do to somebody that was perfect, but it pleased the Lord. Sometimes we have ill feelings toward God because He allowed something bad to happen to us.

Did you ever stop and think that some of the things that happens to you and I could be very pleasing to the Lord because God knows what that’s going to accomplish in our life. Did you ever think that you might get too big for your bridges? That you can handle it and you get filled with pride and exalted above measure and that God knows that this little trial that you go through might be a way of bringing you back to earth and realizing that you know you really don’t have it all together do you?

not as strong as you thought you were. You know what worrying and fears and all those things are to let you know you’re not as strong as you thought. So the Lord allows you to have grief. But here he’s talking about his son because God knew that what his son was doing was to please the Father and knew what it was going to accomplish and it was going to be worth it all. Take your Bible and turn with me to the book of John chapter 8 in the New Testament.

John chapter 8, John chapter 8 is an interesting verse. Three main things that I want you to see in this verse. John chapter 8 and look there in verse 29, John chapter 8 verse 29 and he that sent him is with me. He that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone. For I do always those things that please Him.” Now Jesus is speaking here. Notice these three important things in this one verse. He that sent me is where?

Is with me. He says, as the Father has sent me into the world, even so send I you. And he says, I’ll never leave you and never forsake you. Doesn’t he say that? So while you’re in this world, he said, I’ll never leave you and never forsake you. Look what else that says in the next part of that verse. The Father hath not left me alone. The Father hath not left me alone. Now does the Father know everything that we’re going to have to face?

Does he know what you’re going to have to face down the road? Of course he does. And he’s promised that he’ll never leave you alone. He that hath sent me is with me. Isn’t that good? When He gives us this great commission in the book of Matthew chapter 28, low I am with you most of the time. I am with you sometimes. I am with you in the good times. Or I’m just with you in the bad time. All the time.

Always. You know that’s such an easy thing to say. But do you have trouble remembering that at times that he knows who you are, where you are and what you’re going through? It would be great if we had good memories. Could always remember all those important things. that we should remember. Now look at the last part of that verse. For I do always those things that do what? I do sometimes those things that please him. Most of the time I please the Lord.

Now Jesus says, for I do, what’s that Nick word? Always. Now that’s what Jesus did. Always. That means when Jesus was a little child he had to always be pleasing to his father. And when he was 12 years old and astonishing the lawyers there in Jerusalem, he was pleasing his father. And when his parents came to find him, whatever he said and how he was pleasing to his father. It means that when he was a carpenter, he must have been pleasing to his father.

He did always those things that please always. Now you and I know that there’s time to our life when we really pleased the Lord. He is so pleased and then there’s other times. Is he pleased when we are doubtful of his provision? Do you think he’s pleased when we’re worried sick to death? Maybe we don’t always please our Heavenly Father, but Jesus did. So there’s a different between us and Him. He is always and He did perfectly and there was no wrong.

But understand this, that if these three things that are here, if we look at it as though as he has sent his Son into the world, even so has he sent us and he is with us and he’ll not leave us alone and if we do those things that will please Him, we should always be in a position of strength. Now you hear them talk about this deal with I ran. You ever hear them talk about the deal with I ran?

Just a little bit maybe. But they always say, and they go back sometimes to Ronald Reagan, negotiate from the position of strength. And when you try to negotiate from a position of weakness, well, you don’t usually get what you want. But do you realize who you are? Do you realize who your father is? Do you really understand you are a child of the king? Do you know that when it comes to the things in this world, even though the devil is afters, and we’ve got the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, we’ve got all these things.

The temptations of the world, you and I, if we trust the Lord, are always dealing from the position of strength. Believe that. You’re not weak just because you’re weak. You’re weak if you don’t trust the Lord. For if we trust the Lord, I can do all things through Christ which strengthen it to me. So we can always face anything in life from the position of strength. That means that you don’t have to compromise. You don’t have to, you know, yield to the devil, the lust of the flesh.

You can fight and win. Now I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Philippians in chapter 2. The book of Philippians and chapter 2. The Bible does tell us that we should be humble and humility is not a position of the body, it’s a position of the mind. Humility is submitting yourself to the will of God. That is being humble. Not to submit yourself to the will of God is exalting yourself being prideful and therefore God will have to humble you.

Now look what he says in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ. In other words, God wants you to think the way Christ thought. And well, how did he think? That’d be good to know. Well, how did he think? Because I’m supposed to think like him. Well, how did he think? And he says here in verse 6, who referring to Christ? Being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

He wasn’t robbing or stealing anything from God. He was equal with God. But made himself of no reputation. You see, the thing that we have to watch in life is when we get lifted up at the price. See, we want to have a good reputation. I say, build your character and let reputation take care of itself. Reputation is what people know about you in the light. They say, character is what you are in the dark. When nobody else is around, how are you really?

The way you really are. And sometimes we want to have fun. an image and we like to be glorified and lifted up, been praised. But God says, I want you to have this kind of a mind that though Christ was equal with God, thought it not robbery to be equal with, but made himself of no reputation. And look what he says. In verse 7, and took upon him the form of a servant made in the lightness of men, been found in fashion as a man he humbled himself became obedient on the death, even the death of the cross.

After he did that and after he died, you couldn’t get any lower than what he was. He says, I am but a worm in the eyes of people. Dogs have compass men. They have humiliated him. They’ve shamed him. They beat him. They did all these things to him. They mocked him. They crucified him. So you can’t have anybody do any worse to anybody. He truly submitted Himself and became lowly, humbled. And then He says in verse 9, wherefore God also had highly, did what to Him, exalted Him.

See, if you will humble yourself to the Lord, there’s a day coming when we get to heaven, God is going to exalt us. But that day hasn’t come yet. day of glorification has not yet arrived so that it’s important. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew. The book of Matthew, chapter 20, Matthew chapter 20. There’s an interesting little story here because everybody knows how important it is for Mama to be on your side. Without a little, there were 12 of these disciples.

But in verse 20, he says, then came to him to Jesus, the mother of Zebedee’s children with her son. So she came with her sons, worshiping him and desiring a certain thing of him. So here’s Mama with her two little darling boys, the sons of thunder, which probably means they were, could have been troublemakers, but they probably had attitude problems. But here’s Mama with her two little boys and she has a request from Jesus. Well what did she want?

Well it says in verse 21, He said unto her, what will thou? What do you want? What do you desire? She said unto Him, grant that these my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom. Why isn’t that wonderful? God bless mama. She wants her two boys to be with Jesus in the kingdom one on one side and one on the other side. That’s not asking too much is it?

Well, it ain’t over. Verse 22, but Jesus answered and said, ye know not what ye ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of? To be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, we are able. Now if that’s not pride, they had no clue what was coming down the road. They didn’t know what was coming right now in the road. Now Jesus did always those things that pleased him, but I would venture to say that some of these disciples Did not always do everything that pleased him Christ He says are you willing to be baptized with the baptism that I’m gonna be baptized with or are you willing to suffer?

Like I’m going to suffer. Yes Huh? You see up there in verse 18 he had just finished telling them Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death. Shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge, and to crucify him, and third day he shall rise again.” And here they are. It’s like they never heard a word that he said, but we are able, we can handle this.

Jesus said something that’s also very interesting. He says, oh, you will. You are going to suffer. And the disciples died many ways to cruel death. And very painful. We could go through all of the ways in which different ones died, but did they suffer? Yes, they did suffer. But you’ll notice what he says here in verse 23. He said to them, You shall drink in deed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.

But to sit on my right hand or on my left is not mine to give. But it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. Now they were going to be sitting on the throne and ruling in the the kingdom. But where are they going to sit on what side and all that there? Jesus didn’t tell them that. Now you would think, okay, they made your, you know, supplication, their request, let none their desire.

And that was the end of it. No, not the end of this story. Something else was going on. You see there in verse 24, and when the 10 heard it, they thought isn’t that wonderful for James and John. When the 10 heard it, they were moved with what? Here’s Jesus trying to get these guys on the control and man they blew it every time you turn around. Now there’s a split in the discipleship. Two of them against 10 and mama causes trouble, division, envy, jealousy, bitterness.

It all comes in there. And so when the tin heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. So now Jesus has got to have a healing meeting. So how to solve the problem. Do you think people ever get upset and bitter because somebody else gets to do something they didn’t get to do from. No, that would never happen. Not among God’s holy people. I mean, there’s no such thing in the family of God because when we read back there in Philippians in chapter 2, right above verse 5, it says, esteem others better than yourself.

But sometimes we resent other people getting something or a position or do something and then we think that’s belong to me. Are you mad? No, I’m not mad. You’re mad. No, I’m not. Then why are you how? I’m not hollering. You’d be surprised how blind we can be. Now I want you to see this. You see in verse 20 to 24, these were maybe good men, but they were blind to spiritual service. They didn’t know how it works. They just didn’t know how it works.

They thought it just gives you the position. Those are positions that are earned. You have to earn that. Salvation is free, but those positions of honor to serve must be earned. And they didn’t want to talk about that. Now I’ll show you this in just a minute. Now verse 25 to verse 28, they were blind to physical service. They just couldn’t see how this thing worked. So Jesus refers to the Gentiles and kind of gives them a little bit of a picture.

So in verse 25, then Jesus called them unto Him and said, you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. This is similar to what they wanted to have. have the dominion, the authority, we’re somebody, look at us. So in verse 26, but it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

So you see this was a simple little lesson in humility. You don’t rule until you learn how to serve. If you want God to use you, you have to submit yourself to His will. Whatever that might be. Hold your place right here and just look over there in chapter 23 of Matthew. This is a couple verses just to look at real quick. Look in verse 11. In verse 11 says of chapter 23, but he that is greatest among you shall be your boss.

You servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Now there’s several places in the scripture that you will see where it talks about, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. When you try to exalt yourself, you’re gonna be last. But if you’ll humble yourself and be last, because you put others first, you will be first. And most people never see it, and they never grasp the simplicity of what Jesus is talking about.

Now, look what he says in verse 12, whosesoever shall exalt himself shall be abate, but he that shall do what? Humble himself shall be exalted. So the way up is down. The way up is down. Submitting your will to God, now nobody can make you do that. You can be as ordinary and mean and as cantankerous as you wanna be. Nobody’s gonna tell me what I’m gonna do. No, I guess not. Do you think you win with that kind of an attitude or do you think you lose?

You’re the loser. That dirty job, I’m not going to do that. Have you ever thought that you deserve so much better? And I’m not going to get down and do this dirty little thing, this dirty little job. I mean don’t you know who I am? And you exalt yourself and you’re too good? You don’t mind if somebody else does it, but not me. You got a spiritual problem. You might not know it or believe it, but does the Bible ever say anywhere about deceived not yourself?

You can be deceived and not even be aware of it. But it’s revealed by the little things that you say and do and somebody else might have to reveal it to you. But anyway, if you’ll look over there in verse 30 of chapter 19, you’ll notice in verse 3, but many that are first shall be what? And the last shall be first is dealing with the subject of humility. And if you exalt yourself and it’s you above everybody else and everybody make me happy, everybody serve me and I dominate and I’m the victor, dictator, you lose.

The person who humbles and submits himself to the world, they win. And there’s a lot more to that, but we won’t get into that right now. Now go back there to the book of Matthew. Matthew in chapter 20, and you’ll notice now, he comes to something else. Look there in verse 29. Now we have the story about two blind men. So see, there’s some people that are just blind to spiritual service. people are blind to physical service and there’s people that are just blind.

You can’t see it all. But notice what he says here in verse 29, and as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. Now from Jericho, it was a long hill up toward Jerusalem and it’s a dry, dusty old road. I’ve been on that road six times. I’ve been in Jericho. I’ve been in Jerusalem. But now notice, he says, a great multitude followed him. And behold, two blind men. I was just kind of interested. You know, that’s amazing.

It happened to be two blind men. Sitting by the wayside, and when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out sin, have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. And the multitude rebuked them because they should hold their peace, but they cried them say, no, have mercy on us, oh Lord, thou son of David. And Jesus stood still and called him and said, what will ye that I shall do unto you? See, there’s people hollering quiet, quiet.

What if you were one of those that were blind and you knew that the son of God was coming by, the son of David, they’re supposed to be able to make the blind to see. And you were sitting here and you were blind. What would you want? You see, when there’s people that are blind to the position of service that is supposed to be of humility, you don’t see that other people are blind. You can’t sense how they think and how they feel.

But when it comes to service, you’re supposed to care about people who can’t see. Maybe they need a little milk. Spiritual people can understand and see because there’s other people that are blind and they’ve never seen before. They don’t have the eyes with which to see. He says, what do you want me to do for you? In verse 33, they said unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. What was he doing also with the disciples teaching them?

He was opening their eyes so they could see something, a lesson in humility. See, those that could see had no mercy on those that couldn’t see. I can see that’s all I care about. Isn’t me, me, me, me? Yeah, but what about the people that can’t see? Well, I know I’m saved and I know I’m going to heaven. I know my little pink is going to be inside the pearly gates. Yes, but what about those who’ve never heard the gospel.

When you really care, you have no trouble with the preacher always giving the gospel and doing the little wall of the illustration because you want them to hear too. Spiritual people do. Cardinal Christians don’t. Am I making myself clear? I hope so. But not know what he says here. In verse 34, so Jesus had what did he have on him? So you have compassion on them. Touch their eyes and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed Him. Take your Bible and just turn over there to hold your place here.

But look in chapter 23, Matthew chapter 23 and just look at a couple of verses. Don’t have to read all the verses but just so that you kind of see this in verse 16. He says, woe unto you, ye blind guides blind. Looking verse 17 ye fools and blind. Looking verse 19 ye fools and blind. Did you know that if you’re a fool it’s because you’re blind? You’d notice what he says there in verse 25, Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup under the platter, but within there are full of extortion and excessive.

Thou blind Pharisees, clean first at which is within the cup, and the platter that the outside of them may be clean also. Then he also goes over down to here. You’re blind, blind, blind, blind. You’ve heard of that statement of the blind, lead the blind, and they both fall into the ditch. Did you know if you don’t have spiritual eyesight, you’re blind? Did you know that it says in the book of Peter that you are blind because you cannot see a far off?

You’re blind when you can’t see a far off, when you have no vision, you can’t see. Christians, it’s talking about Christian believers who are blind. Do you know the scripture talks about people that are asleep awake out of sleep? The Bible talks about that. 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 Main. 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. We believe that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.