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

Discuss a few things. I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book of Galatians. the book of Galatians. There’s a lot of things going on in Middle East right now, especially with the nation of Israel and Russia moving in. And, you know, it’s just sad to see now they’re talking about the Temple Mount and the mosque on the top of it, and where the Temple needs to go, and just all kind of interesting things.

Now, we know somewhere along the line, something’s got to take place. The temple has got to be built. So something that’s got to happen to make this come about. And so Israel somewhere along the line has got to have somebody comes on the scene and demands they get recognized as a nation. And somehow, and I would mention an insta-bedi, in 1968 I preached a sermon at the college there in my youth group and it was on the subject of Revelation chapter 17.

I talked about Jerusalem and I said I believe that there’s a good possibility Jerusalem in order for peace has to be turned into an international city where they will recognize the religion of Islam, Judaism, Christianity all in the same place and move in the UN in order to guarantee peace. Now, right now that doesn’t look like a possibility, but I haven’t given up on that sermon that I preached that long ago. I still believe I might have been right, but we will see.

We will see because I know the end game. I know what’s going to happen. So just like when they play football, I told somebody, I know the score before it ever starts. Zero to zero. So, you gotta be good to be able to figure that out, you know, know these things. But in the book of Galatians in chapter two, there’s a statement that’s mentioned here, and I believe it’s important because in the book of Timothy in chapter three, verse 15, it talks about how the church is the pillar, the ground of the truth.

So when an individual in a church learns the truth and is like pillars in the church, they’re pillars because they’re the backbone of the church. And I believe our church has some good pillars in it. We’ve got some people that are backbone. I mean, they’re strong and solid on the Word of God and clarity of the gospel and all on the same page. And I think that’s wonderful, I really do. But if you will, I want you to look here in verse 9 where the Bible says in second chapter of Galatians, and when James, Cephas, and John, who seem to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given in the meat, they gave to me in Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision.

The right hand of fellowship was the right hand of fellowship in the gospel. It means they had the same message. The gospel is that which is important. I believe the gospel should be that which determines our boundary of fellowship. So you have in every church, every ministry, you have pillars and you have killers. You know, some that wants to build and those who want to kill. Satan has people that he wants to use and there’s people God wants to use.

So you always have this. There’s dual competition. In other words, there’s always something in seeing a comparison or a contrast. You’ve got to say, look at this and compare that to this. You’ve got to have these two things. That’s why in the book of Matthew chapter 7 it talks about the narrow road and the broadway. narrow and broad. Many and few and talks about the two trees, a good tree, bad tree, good fruit, bad fruit. And Jesus is telling this, so he’s the good prophet and then with the fall of prophets.

But there’s always, and it follows where he says that, depart from me, you workers of iniquity, He makes his name and he says, I never knew you. And then the very next person in the scripture talks about the sand and the rock, the wise man, foolish man. You know he got to have something to help you to see this? He has to show you this. Whenever you read the Bible you’ll find out that God talks about salvation and then their service.

If you put things in the rightful place, it’s fine. It is no problem with it. And so take your Bible also and now look over it in the book of Romans in chapter 15. Romans in chapter 15 and look in verse one. Talking to those that are strong and then you find out it’s also talking about those that are weak. In verse one of chapter 15, he says, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, not to please ourselves.

Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. In other words, allow the Lord to use us to help somebody else to become strong and to edify them. See, what does the word edify mean? It means to beautify what’s there and add to it. You’re always trying to build people up so that they are better after they have met you, then before they met you, so that you’re encouraging people. Sometimes they’re better because you rebuke people.

So then he says in verse three, for even Christ, please not himself. So we’re talking about pleasing others, pleasing Christ. As though we have a job to do, seeking to please the Lord, pleasing others, but most times our whole lives have been on, you know what it pleases me. Well, what pleases us ought to be that which pleases God and that way you won’t have any problem. I am so pleased if I can please God. Then he says there in verse three, for even Christ please not Himself by edges written, the reproaches of them that reproaches thee fell on me.

Now look at verse four, for whatsoever things were written a four time were written for our learning. Now we have a whole Old Testament. We often say the Word of God, all of it is written for us, but not all of it is written to us. There’s many things in the Old Testament. God said the various ones, things that he said to the nation of Israel, that he didn’t say them to us. But there’s principles that we can learn from the Old Testament, but they are written for our learning.

So if they’re written for our learning, there must be something that we’re supposed to learn in the Old Testament. wouldn’t you say? So some Christians, all they want to do is just study the New Testament. Now studying a New Testament is good, but there are stories in the Old Testament that makes it come alive. It’s like just studying Bible doctrine. It’s not as lively as some other class may have. I remember whenever I took it, Dr. Cameron, sometimes he had his book, and I could sit there and he’s reading his book.

Just reading book. But it was what was there. He already didn’t wrote it. So he didn’t have to worry about messing up. He just read what was written right there. But then he would take off on a tangent and he’d start telling the story. And I’ve never seen anybody that could tell a story like Dr. Mark Cameron. He could have you laugh and in stitches. It was funny. And sometimes you know the stories can make truth come alive. So that’s why you need those Old Testament stories.

Those are illustrations for doctrinal issues. Otherwise just plain, straight Bible teaching doctrine doesn’t excite you as much as if you can sprinkle a little bit with a few little stories here and there. So that’s one of the things that we try to do. But look in verse 4 again. For what’s of our things we’re written, a four time we’re written for our learning that we through patient and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. When we see how God worked in the lives of those who’ve gone before us.

As he says in the book of Hebrews in chapter 12, we are, comes to bond with so great a cloud of witnesses, which we believe is a reference to those in chapter 11. All these Old Testament saints who had lived by faith. Therefore, if they live by faith, we can live by faith. And that’s what gives us the confidence that, hey, God kept his word and what God says he’s going to do, he’s going to do. Now, take your Bible and go back there to the book of Isaiah.

chapter 55, Isaiah chapter 55. Sometimes you’ll have people wondering, why does God do what He does? Why doesn’t He make it easier and simpler? He could have just done away with all the problems that there is in the world and just created us. Well, we would just naturally be right already and we wouldn’t have to have this whole sinful problem. We wouldn’t have to die. We would just, you know, create it where we didn’t have a sinful nature, no even options, no possibilities.

Don’t give us a choice. Don’t make us make a decision. We might make the wrong one. You say, how do you know? Well, they already tried that and they messed up. And look at the world today. God could have changed things, but there’s a reason why God does what He does. And I believe that God still in throne. He hasn’t been over throne. He’s still there. He knows what’s going on and He’s in charge. Now here in the book of Isaiah in chapter 55, Lewis says in verse eight, for my thoughts are not your thoughts.

Neither are your ways, my ways, say of the Lord. For is the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts? So God says, you can’t think like he does. Your ways are not like him. And this is why in chapter 53 says, all we like sheep have gone astray. So evidently we’re not thinking the way he thinks. And we’re not going the way he wants us to go.

So there’s consequences to us going astray. So God says, as a sheep, you can go astray, but there’s a price to pay. That’s, I’ll be in the line in the song. That’s a rhyme from them. Now take your Bible and go to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28, Deuteronomy and chapter 28. Here, get the picture. There was a little fella who had some brothers, and his name was Joseph, and his brothers sold him down into Egypt. He goes down into Egypt because God knew that there was going to be a famine in the land, and God had to have a place to raise this nation, because he told him, and he says, you’re going to be the greatest nation in the whole world.

he had about 70 up there that belonged to Jacob and all of his kids and kids and so on, about 70 of them now. So God sent a man in advance down there so that he could be placed in a position of leadership. But before he got to the palace, he had to go to the prison. Before he went to the prison, he was in the pit. So you find that God had sent a man in advance because God knew what he wanted to do.

So he has even a Pharaoh have a dream, seven fat cows and seven skinny cows. And so only one man knew the understanding of the dream and that just happened to be Joseph. And so he knew that there’s going to be seven plentiful years, seven skinny years famine. And so he told Pharaoh, he says, I want to put you in charge. So for seven years, they stored it all up. And then next came the famine. And it was also up there where Jacob lived.

So now Jacob has to go down in, send some of his kids, get some grain so that we can live. It didn’t take long before here comes seven of them down in there. And so here’s this Nile River. The Nile River is about 4,000 miles long and it runs north. But it goes up into Egypt and goes into the Mediterranean. And so when it gets up into there, it branches out at the end land, and the land of Goshen, the most fruitful place in all of Egypt, the nicest place.

Because of one man who obeyed the Lord, and I guess at time we’re wondering whether or not Lord, why did you let this happen to me? Because God had a plan. And God allowed them to have the choicest land, and they stayed there for several hundred years, about 400 years. The next thing you know, there’s a whole bunch of them. Some people say two million, two and a half million. I don’t know, but there’s a whole gob of them.

I’m an easy gob, oh, three scads. But anyway, there’s a whole lot of them. And so now God miraculously has a man, leads him out, cross the Red Sea, and into the wilderness. Now in the wilderness, they had no bread, they had no water, and God put a cloud over him to take care of him from the heat, and also the light at night, the fire to keep them warm, and the light, all these things, and He guided His people through the wilderness.

40 years, but God knew where He was going to take them. They didn’t know where He was going, but God knew. So God allowed all these things to happen because God had a plan, and you’re going to take them into the promised land and taking them into that promised land, he says, now listen to me. When you get into the land, this is what I want you to do. And if you’ll do it, this is what I’m going to do.

If you don’t do it, this is what I’m going to do. And God keeps his word. And so we covered this at one time, but I want to just because of what’s going on in the land of Israel today, you need to understand where we’re headed. And I believe And I believe there’s things that we need to see from the Scriptures here. So in the book of Deuteronomy, look there in chapter 28 verse 1. And it shall come to pass if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments, which I command thee this day.

Now get this, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above. Now look at that. nation. the earth. So Israel, God said, I’ll put you above every nation on the earth. There was all of these other nations. And God, out of there, clear blue sky starts off with one little miracle boy born from age parents that took the grace of God. And by faith, a child was And God is going to build this great nation. And he says, now, if you’re listening, you’ll be the great of all the things that you’ve been doing.

And God has a plan. And God has a plan. And God has a plan. And all these blessings shall come on and overtake them. How would you like to be blessed by blessings? God’s got so many blessings they’re going to overtake you. Picture this big old lion after you. Now you don’t want a lion, do you? But would you be all right if God was a sense of blessings your way more than what you can handle? Or God opened the windows of heaven and bestowed upon you goods.

You can’t, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Lord, stop. I can’t take anymore. Has he overblessed you yet? I was sitting in church one day and the preacher was up there preaching. I don’t remember what he was saying. But he was hot and heavy. He didn’t already pull his tie to the side, pull his coat back, and he started a pound in the pool pit. And man, he wasn’t long before he’d start a hollering, and another day men and my father-in-law was sitting on her.

And it didn’t take long before the next thing he know he reaches in his pocket. He got his hanky out, and he was scared half the people in there to death. Anyway, whoa, glory! And it didn’t take long before, you know, that’s like saying, sick them to a bulldog. Next thing you know, there was a few other ones in there and you talk about people getting happy and they’re shouting and I’m talking about these calm saints. You know, they just come in there and sit and they don’t get excited about anything.

It didn’t take long before they got excited. All had to do was one person get it started. And buddy, it’s just like, you know, it’s contagious, excitement, thinking about the Lord and what are you going to do? You’re going to come back and you’re going to, and they got all excited about that. And I’m just a new Christian in the Lord and I’m sitting there. I still have my first day to shout in church. I want to shout and I do it from the pulpit.

But I do get excited about it. I do think it’s a wonderful thing. . But he says, these blessings are going to overtake you. And he goes down through here and says some wonderful things. And so you look there from that verse down to verse seven, and I’m going to bless. I’m going to bless. I’m going to bless. But this is God said, if you do what I say, I am going to bless you. So he verse 80 says, the Lord shall command the blessing upon thee and thy store of housing, and in all the thou saidest thine hand unto him, and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, good night, you can’t get any better than that.

He says, I’m going to do all of this for you. And then look what he says down in verse 12. He says, the Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season to bless all the work of thy hand, and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.” Is American debt? How can America to get in debt. You’re supposed to have a balanced budget. You’re not supposed to spend anything unless you got the money for it.

Something went wrong somewhere, huh? Trillions of dollars in debt. Somebody messed up somewhere. You know why we’re in debt? Because the politicians wanted that way. They could have stopped it. They didn’t have to do it. That’s all a choice. You know those elected officials, we put a fair in the White House and all within the Senate and in the House, we put them there. And this is what they’ve done. But because we do it to ourselves, we don’t mind if we put people in the office that’ll do the same thing.

So we reap the consequences of what’s going on. So you look down here and look what he says there in verse 13, and the Lord said, he shall make thee the head and not the tail. You know the dog is supposed to wag a tail? Is the tail supposed to wag the dog? I don’t think so. Usually the dog wags the tail. He said, I’m going to make you the head, not the tail. You’re supposed to be able to alone but not borrow.

So he says here in verse 13, and the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail, and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath it, thou harken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day to observe and to do them.” So he gots it, if you will do what I say, this is what I’m going to do. Now you can’t beat that.

It’s awesome. But notice whenever there’s something that he says, this, he always has something else. There’s going to be a comparison, a contrast. If you do this, this is what I’ll do. But when you had decisions, there got to be consequences to both decisions, which way you go. So then he makes his statement, in verse 15, but it shall come to pass if, see that word if you ought to circle it in your Bible, is contingent, is contingent. He says, if thou will not he’s not harking unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments, and his statutes which I command thee this day.

Now look what he says now, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. That means you cannot escape. You cannot escape the consequences. They’re going to overtake you. And so then he goes through there and he tells you, curse, curse, curse, curse all the way down through there. And what’s going to take place? Now look what he says in verse 22, the Lord shall smite thee with a consumption and with a fever and with all inflammation and with an extreme burning and with the sword and with blasting and with mildew and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

In other words, it doesn’t look too good. So which way would you do the habit? Would you do the habit of blessings or would you rather have his cursing? Now can you get a picture that there’s something here we can learn. Remember that the scriptures were written for our, our what? Our learning. So, if we read this, we could learn something from this maybe so that we’ll be wiser, that we’ll have hope and confidence and trust in the Lord.

We know that if we serve the Lord, God will do what to us. He’ll bless us. But if we don’t serve the Lord, we know that He’s going to put a curse on it. In other words, you’re going to suffer the consequences of rebellion. And in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 12, it talks about the chastening of the Lord. So we’re going to reap what we sow. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. You cannot mock God. You can’t rebel against the Lord and expect His blessings.

And there’s a lot of Christians that don’t think, well, I’m not doing that bad. Not that you don’t know what it’s cost you. You’re not in heaven yet to see what it costs you to be rebellious to the Lord. You may suffer a few things down here, but you haven’t stood yet at the Jefferson City of Christ and see what it’s costing you for all eternity. But anyway, if you go down through here and you look at that, then he says there in verse 23, I remember that there were times in my life it seems like, why pray?

It’s just like the ceiling was brass. I didn’t know that was in the Bible. I raised my right hand. I didn’t know it was in the Bible. I just thought that was something special and unique to me. I used to think it seems like the walls are all closing in on me and the lights were out and the doors were locked and I couldn’t get out and four walls moving in on me and I felt like I got a…

Now you say I’ve never been there. You will. You know, I do this a lot sometimes, you know. A guy sent me an email the other day, and he had clipped out of one of my videos where I am like this. And he has it in there and he showed it, and somebody sent me the link of a message that he preached, showing a preacher who was so proud and egotistical, and he had me doing this. It was a live picture.

I mean, it was cut out and he copied it and put it in an email and sent it out and people saw that. This egotistical, proud fella, I do this all the time. I do it when I’m sending over there listening. I’m doing this. So that means something to some I guess, well maybe I am, I don’t care. Anyway, if I’m gonna get criticized, go for it. But he says it, look what in verse 23, and thy heavens, that is over thy head shall be brass, the earth that is under thee shall be ironed.

How would you like to plant crop with a sheet of iron? You can’t even plant, let alone get something to grow. But God says, I can open up the windows of heaven. Or He says, I can close them all up and let them be dry. And everything turned to dust and dirt. See what He says here in verse 24. The Lord shall make the reign of thy land powdered and dust from heaven shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed.

Now remember, none of this has to happen. This is choices that God gave to the nation of Israel. and we have lived long enough because this was written about 1500 years before Christ, been about 2000 years since then. So you’re talking about 3500 years ago, God says what he’s going to do if Israel obeyed or disobeyed. And so we’re supposed to read these stories and learn from them why so that we don’t do what they did. Didn’t know if it’s wrong.

If they did something Right, we can learn from 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. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, Just keep looking up.