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

Now take your Bible and turn it above the Hebrews in chapter 3. Hebrews in chapter 3. I just want to show you a few little verses here. Because whenever you read the book of Hebrews, yes, it goes all the way back to the Old Testament. And even will tell us about, you know, in the beginning, talk about what God has done, how Christ is so much better, and all the things that He does for us goes back, talks about Moses, see there in verse 5 of chapter 3, and Moses was very faithful in all his house as a servant.

Isn’t it amazing that God doesn’t mention all those times when he was mad and angry and struck the rock twice? Sometimes God takes and puts down your faith what you did, what you did and doesn’t always hang over you what you didn’t do. When you get to the 11th chapter of Hebrews, it’s so wonderful that God doesn’t list any of the faults that those people had. He just bragged on the faith that they had. Now the more faith that you have, maybe the more He’s going to brag on you.

But understand this. God used Moses and there was the children of Israel So you go all the way back into time, and God used this man to bring the children of Israel across the Red Sea into the wilderness, and they all were supposed to pass under the blood, and so therefore they’re into wilderness. What did they have to do in the wilderness? That was so great. One is they could not take care of themselves in the wilderness. They couldn’t take care of themselves.

They were like a newborn babe. They were totally dependent upon God because they had to depend upon God for their clothes to last, depend upon God for their food. They were in a desert. They didn’t stop and raise crop. And God supplied their food from heaven miraculously, manna. supplied water out of rocks. You got there and try it. Out of rock and I think he just smite the rock or one time he told me to just speak to the rock.

Well the people had to depend upon the Lord every step of the way. So God is doing sometimes the same thing with us, teaching us as babes to totally depend upon the Lord. They didn’t really have anything to worry about because God took care of everything. They didn’t have to worry about enemies. Why? Because God take care of that. God would give them the victory. All they had to do is trust them. Believe God. Whatever God said to do it, if they just do that, everything would be fine.

They didn’t have to worry about any diseases. He says, you trust me and I’ll put none of the the diseases of the Egyptians upon you. You can’t get a better health care plan and that was before Obamacare. That was Jehovah Care. Jehovah Care was so much better. Wouldn’t be needed if everybody could just trust the Lord and we did right and God would take care of things. But there’s a price to pay when we don’t trust the Lord. So you go through these scriptures and he’s talking about, there is the rest that God has for his people.

He was teaching him to rest in the Lord, wait upon the Lord, and God would have to supply their needs, and God did. But there’s some people who wouldn’t always believe what God says, and they’d come along, and next thing you know, we were better off when we were down there in Egypt. But they don’t forget when they were down there in Egypt, they were crying out to God to deliver them from from the iron yolk. And God says, I’ve heard the weeping and wailing of my people.

So he says, Moses, I’m sinning you. Moses, I don’t want to go. Anyway, he had to go. Sometimes we don’t get to choose where we want to serve or how we want to serve. We just had to say, Lord, I’m reporting for duty. Just tell me what to do. And it doesn’t matter where you go and what I do, it doesn’t matter. That’s not important. It’s just what you want me to do. So wherever your station is in life, let’s do what God wants you to do.

So he says here in Hebrews, and I want you to look there in verse one of chapter four, where it says, let us therefore fear. Now, we know that when we read over there in the book of John, chapter 14, talk about being not afraid, being not afraid. You believe in God, believe also in me. And my father’s house, how many men? So if it were not so, I would have told you so. Be not afraid, be not afraid.

And here he says, what does he say? Let us therefore fear. No way of men. Is there a contradiction in the Bible? One place, don’t be afraid. Fear. But this fear here is fear that you might miss the rest that God has for you. The consequences of not learning how to walk with God, how to trust the Lord. So there’s these Hebrew Christians that now are getting to the place where the temple we believe were probably still standing at this time and the Jewish sacrifices were still being done and people were beginning to go back under the law and go back into what they came out of that never gave them the peace, the joy, the satisfaction and now going back into that bondage.

You don’t need to do that. God has something better for him. there’s a better rest because the law was work, work, work, work, you got to do, perform. And there’s a rest to the people of God. So we know that there was a rest for the seventh day. And there was a rest when they went into the wilderness. And they had to totally depend upon God. They had to rest in what God was going to give, because they couldn’t do anything else.

And so there’s a lot of lessons that you learned in your beginning stages of learning how to walk with God. It’s like a wilderness. You little babies, they’re totally dependent upon their parents. Well, they just keep trusting, but sometimes don’t they get to the place where they get a little bit too big for their bridges and get a little bit too independent and they don’t want mom and dad telling them what they can and do anymore and so now they they’re smart enough to do it on their own and you know they’re not but they won’t believe you so they have to find out for themselves and what do you have to do?

Let them. You have to sometimes cut the court, let them learn, let them, let them find out and next thing you know after a while, here they come and maybe after about 20-30 years of you know mom and dad weren’t so stupid after all and sometimes you have to find out you know maybe God knows what He’s doing after you get knocked down enough and drug through the mud enough and you realize that you’re not so smart after all and you can’t handle everything and you come back and say Lord I think I’ve learned my lesson.

There’s lessons like that taught in the Old Testament especially like in the book of Daniel when he had to deal with Neverkinezzar and also Belshazzar. They had to learn some lessons. But now notice here. He makes a statement in verse one, let us therefore fear less a promise than left us of entering into his rest. Any of you should come short of it, not believing the promise, to come short of believing what God says, not trusting what God says.

You ought to be afraid that there’s rest that you have promised to you and you come short of it because you didn’t listen to the Lord. to rest in the Lord in the midst of your work. There’s work for us to do. There’s a day coming when no man will work. But while we work, we have to learn how to rest our souls. Giving your body rest is one thing, but now you know that if you get down physically, there’s a good possibility.

It’s easier for you to get down spiritually. So therefore, yes, take care of the body. And a lot of people people take care of the body. They feed it well, they clothe it well, they rest it well, but their soul is totally depleted. They don’t rest the soul. And that’s why come unto me, there is rest for the person who learns how to trust the Lord. You realize all the work that some people do, trying to earn their way to heaven by their what?

Their works. And it can totally wear them out because they’re under such a bondage and it never gives the peace and the security. I finally made it. I can finally rest now. I’ve done. I’ve earned it. No, you got to do some more today. You mean it’s not over? No, no, no, you got to do some more tomorrow. You see, you got to keep working and keep earning it because it’s never finished. And what you did today, you could lose tomorrow.

That’s because when you’re trying to earn something that God’s it’s free. It’s what? It’s free. And people are trying to earn their salvation and salvation is the gift of God. Why? Because, see, Jesus Christ came into the world and did the work of God. This is the work of God that you and I believe in the work Christ did. Christ came and did a work for God and his work was that he went to the cross to pay for our sins, came back from the dead and if we accept what he did for us because we believe what God says there’s rest for our souls.

You don’t have to worry about where you’re going when you die. There is no more pressure to the strain, there’s no stress, there’s no bondage. Why? Because it was by grace are Are you saved? It’s not based upon what I do. I can rest totally in the work that Christ did on the cross for me. Therefore I have peace of mind. I know where I’m going when I die. I can’t go to hell if I tried. I know I got it made.

When it comes to my eternal salvation, my ultimate goal is I’m going to heaven. And it doesn’t depend on me. It depends upon God keeping his word and I can rest in that. So I’m not trying to work for it and earn it. And I’m not under that stress and that strain. I don’t have to try to be a hypocrite, claim to be something that I’m not. I am a dirty lousy, speaking rotten sinner and I ought to go to hell, but Christ died for me.

He loves me that much. And He made salvation to where all I had to do is believe it and trust Him. So there’s a rest in your salvation just by trusting Christ’s Savior. As a child of God, there’s also a breast for God’s children. You see, when they left the wilderness and they’re supposed to go into the land of promise. We sent the song just a while ago, I won’t have to cross Jordan alone. Well, Joshua was supposed to take the children of Israel across Jordan into the promised land.

all the children of Israel had to do, and it was all they had to do 40 years before, was simply trust the Lord. But because they didn’t trust the Lord, look what they brought upon themselves for 40 years. They didn’t get into the land that flowed with milk and honey. They were in the wilderness for 40 years. They didn’t have to be there because from Katie Sparnier, and it was only 11 days journey. And it It took them 40 years to go an 11 days journey.

And why? Because of unbelief. They came short of believing the promise that God made. Did it cost them anything? They died in the wilderness. And God had to bring in a new generation into the promised land. And it didn’t have to be like that. All of that was because they did not believe what God promised. God says, I will fight for you. I’ll fight your battle. I’ll defend you. I’ll give you victory. You just believe me and trust me.

There is rest for the person who learned how to trust the Lord. And so God has examples of a whole nation teaching us these important truths. And we say sometimes, well, I know the Bible. I know the Bible. You don’t know the Bible until the Bible controls your life. If the Bible doesn’t control your life, you don’t know the Bible. It’s not how many times you’ve been through the book. It has the book been through you. You can learn verses and all that application is where it is.

So you can accumulate knowledge and knowledge gives, well, they say power, but knowledge also puffs up. Corinthians in chapter 8, Knowledge, pāfata. You think you really know something, but you’re not wise until you can apply that knowledge to the experiences of life. That’s where wisdom comes from. And the wisdom that God wants to give is the wisdom that comes from above and not from the world below. But now notice in that parlet burst. Unless any of you should seem to come short of it, because there’s so much more that you could have.

So the Bible makes a statement about us another day, another day. Even Joshua, went to the land, they didn’t get the total rest that they’re supposed to have. They were supposed to have this victorious Christian life. And yet they had these battle all the time because they left pockets of the enemy in the land. Just like a Christian may get victory in certain areas and then defeat in other areas. Because you don’t get total victory because you don’t totally yield your life to the Lord.

You trust the Lord for this and I can trust the Lord for that. But this, I don’t think he can do anything about this. So that one thing can just drain you of all your energy. Wear you down, burn you out and you’ll blame God and you’ll blame the preacher, your blame, people, your blame, everything it goes on, but you won’t look at it and say, you know, it’s because I’m not trusting God. I’m not trusting Him. I’m worried about things that I should be trusting Him for.

And many people never learned that lesson. Now look what He says down here. And I want you to see the look in verse 3. For we have, a week which have believed, Do enter into rest, as he says, as I have sworn in my wrath. If they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. See, there’s things that God has done and he wants you to learn how to trust them. Enjoy life.

God has given to us freely all things to enjoy. But when you don’t put things in the proper perspective, then you don’t have the rest because your eyes are not on the Lord. Life is designed that forces us to look to God. That’s why he says we pray for our daily bread. We would love to be able to get something and secure it and never have to worry about losing it down here. There’s things that people don’t listen and don’t learn.

And so you find out there is a rest for the people of God. For example, got a problem with your wife, Turn it over to the Lord. Got a problem with your husband? Turn him over to the Lord. Got a problem with your kids? Turn him over to the Lord. You just do what’s right and trust the Lord for the results. But when you don’t, now you worry, worry, worry, worry, worry. And I’m sure that’s exactly what God wants you to do.

Right? I don’t give it to finances. I don’t give it what the problem is. I’ve had times, you know, people want to come and they want to talk to me in problems, whatever them. and I always start off with, versus all problems are spiritual problems. Whatever the problem may be, the problem is it’s the spiritual problem. There’s something spiritual behind it, and God uses the physical problem, material problems, and financial problems, social problems, all these problems that get you right spiritually.

Cause that’s where God wants you to be right. And we just don’t like all these other things that goes on. But see, if you’re right spiritually, you can bear anything else that goes on. If you’re everything you have, you lose it all. If you lose your mate, you can lose anything. But if you’re right spiritually, you can handle it. If you’re not right spiritually, you can’t handle it. So it reveals where you are. Pressure reveals a lot about yourself.

And that’s why it’s something that we don’t want to be under pressure because it’s too revealing. It shows that you’re weak, that you can’t handle it. You don’t know what to do. But when you have learned through years, trust the Lord, trust the Lord. way up on the Lord. And you shall be mounted with wings as eagles. You know, to be able to fly to shore when you can’t do that. Running, not be weary. Walk not faint. Those are not just nice, pretty little words.

We’ll make a little plaque out of that and put it on the wall. That’s such a nice verse. No, but you really understand what that verse is saying. Come in to me all year that labor and are heavy, laden, I will give you Oh, that’s pretty good. Put that on a plan. They’re more than just words. This book is more than just words on a piece of paper. God is trying to teach you and teach me you can’t handle it on your own.

It produces weight upon the soul, pressures, burdens too hard to bear. And so God says, wait up on the Lord, trust the Lord. Learn to walk with the Lord. Because you’d be surprised there’s rest when you let God do the work. The Christian life is not you trying to perform, it’s God performing through you. You sometimes, you just get out away. Let God be God. You’re not God. We think I’ve got to do God’s work because I’m God. No, I’m not God.

I want God to work through me, but I don’t want to be God. I want God to be God. So there’s something that’s done, you know, can always brag up on the Lord. Look what God has done. Look what God has done. Look what God has done. And you’ll be surprised. God has done a lawful life. And he says down here in verse four, he spake in a certain place on the seventh date on this wife. And God did rest the seventh day from all his work.

And in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, down in verse seven, again, he limited a certain day, saying in David, today, after so long a time, as he is said, today, if you will hear his voice, hard not your heart. And then you’ll notice down here in another day, in verse eight, for if Joshua, Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterwards have spoken another day. There’s another day that they call a thousand year reign upon the year.

It’s another day but it’s a day of rest. And many people associate the first six days as six thousand years as the six days of a week and you rest it on the seventh day. So many believe that the thousand year reign is that seventh day of rest that’s coming in the future because these are simply types of it. So then, and verse nine, looking verse nine very quickly, there remain it therefore a rest to the people of God.

Not this is not talking about how to be saved, this is already the people of God. There is a rest where you and I learn how to trust the Lord, way to fund God. And you’d be surprised what he could do. So then he talks about something that seems strange. Let us labor that we may enter into his rest. Let us labor that we may enter into his rest. Now we know that studying is a weariness of the flesh.

But whenever you spend the time and you labor, and this is what we try to get college kids to do, labor in the studying and memorize it and doing the work so that you can learn how to trust God, how you can learn how to rest in God. So let us labor, and that’s why you find in verse 12, for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Pearson even to the divided the sun, their soul and spirit of the joints and moral and is the discern of the thoughts and the intents of the heart so that you can have rest of the soul while you’re living in the body that God has prepared because it’s the spirit that makes you God conscious So that you, you, your soul, learn how to trust in the Lord while you’re living in a weak vessel,

a body that’s going to fall apart one of these days. And so everything that we need, the Bible says God has provided for us. And as you read through the book of Hebrews and it talks about the anchor of the soul, where does it say that in the book of Hebrew? The anchor of the soul Look there in chapter 6. Chapter 6, look there in verse 19, which hope we have as an anchor of the SOU-L. So you’re learning to get the rest you need for the body and you have to learn what you need.

Now I’m not everybody’s the same. Don’t try to go to the pace that everybody else goes. Find out what it is it take to keep you strong and trust the Lord for that. And then learn what is the rest that I need. Not out everybody’s the same. Not everybody studies the scriptures, the same amount of time and praise the same amount of hour. Find out what it takes for you to keep your soul strong in the Lord. Anchored to that which is within the veil.

There is a rest for the people who are anchored because you don’t drift. You’re anchored. And I believe it’s a very important thing. Look up here just quickly. In case somebody here doesn’t know the Lord or somebody watching by internet, letting this hand represent you and me, the wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. Now God says that He loves us and He hates our sin, but He loves us. And the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God.

Now God loves us, wants us to go to heaven, but to go to heaven we’d have to be perfect as righteous as God. None of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. We’ve all come short of God’s perfection. We’re not good enough to go. Somebody says, you mean I’m not good enough? That’s about the way it is. You’re not good enough. Heaven is perfect and you’re not. I’m not. We cannot save ourselves. So God says, you cannot earn eternal life by the good things that you do.

It’s not according to your works. So what did God do? He said his son, this hand representing Jesus Christ, said his son into the world who lived a perfect life. Had no sin, took hours, and did a work that only he could do. He died in our place, came back from the dead, and God simply wants us to trust in the work he did. Rest in this truth. Rest in this that what he said and what he did, he did it for us.

So 55 years ago when I was 18 and lost, I heard for the first time Christ died for me. And God wants me to trust the work that He did. So I can rest in that fact and know that I’m going to heaven not because of any work that I do. I have entered into His work. I’m resting in what He did. And therefore, I don’t have to worry anymore. Where am I going to go when I die? I can’t go to hell.

It’s impossible. Why? Because of his work. Not because of what I’ve done. Not what I’m going to do. Otherwise, it was still dependent upon me. No, it is finished. All I have to do is accept the work that Christ did on the cross was for me. And he gives to me as a free gift ever lasting life. life. Awesome, awesome news. Let’s pray, shall we? With heads by a nice close, no one looking around. If you’re here tonight, and maybe you have never really trusted Christ as your Savior, maybe you’re trying to earn your way to heaven by trying to be good.

You know, trying to earn it. God says you can’t earn it. It’s not by your works. Stop trying. You’ll never be good enough. But He did a work for you and He wants you to accept that. He died on that cross to pay for your sins so that you wouldn’t have to pay for them. Would you believe it? Will you trust Him? He said, if you’ll trust Him, He’ll give you as a free gift everlasting life and never cast you out, never lose you.

So I’m going to ask in just a moment if what I said made sense to you that if you will, will you trust Jesus Christ tonight as your savior? So it has bound nice clothes. No one looking around. I’m not going to embarrass you. I’m not going to have you forward. But right where you are, would you say, yes, that made sense to me and I will trust Christ as my Savior right now. Would you just slip in a very quickly and put a rep back down?

And what at all? And what at all? If you’re watching by internet, remember all that you have to do. It’s the only thing you can do. Trust the Lord. Believe He died for you. And if you will believe it, He will save you and give you eternal life. And you can know that you’re going to heaven when you die. Father, we thank you so much for all you’ve done for us and help each one of us to learn that as we live our lives, there’s so many lessons, so many valuable lessons that you’ll bring us to the end of ourselves so that we have no other choice but either to fall apart or to trust you.

Help us to lean on you to walk with you. To enter into the rest because you will work for us and and you will work through us. We are your work, a workmanship. Thank you for all you’ve done. I stand right. 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, 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 Bible Mind. Thanks for joining us on Bible Mind.

If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 40-811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will shout. that we will be changed. God, 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.