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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.

I have titled my message today is my three fathers. Didn’t they have a program one time on TV, my three sons? Never watched it, but I remember the name. But I thought my three fathers is a lot better than my three sons. The reason is that I didn’t have three sons. I had two, but I wanted to read this to you. It kind of made my day. My daughter sent this to me last night. So I told her, I said, can I read that at church?

She said, okay. Dearest dad, I thought she wants something. With Father’s Day approaching, I like to take a minute to express my never ending gratitude for all that you do. Being a Father is not an easy task. You are the first man to really show me what love is. Your love for God and family has made a huge impact in my life. To be honest, I can’t remember a time when you weren’t there for me. And you did those things because you loved me.

You’re also the one that led me to Christ. You are the one that showed me the love that God has for me and to trust the Lord always. You’re the one that showed me the importance of witnessing and winning souls. Speaking from my own experience, I am sorry for every gray hair I caused you in the past, the present, and then she put in the future. Is that a warning? Means it ain’t over yet. Now I understand he just wanted the best for me.

So my daughter trained him. and I love my daughter, train them. I know if you’ve got kids, you love your kids. But anyway, I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of First Corinthians in chapter four. First Corinthians and chapter four. And it was interesting this week when I went to see the doctor and all they always asked him, when were you born? When were you born? Oh, I’ve always been born. No, they wouldn’t believe that, would they?

You asked some people, well, when did you become a Christian? Oh, I’ve always been a Christian. No, you had to be born. There had to be a day you were born. Just like we automatically assumed you have a birthday. Now, you may not remember the day you were born because you were just a baby. But somebody wrote it down. Somebody remembers that you were born. And you were born in a certain place. It happened in a certain, you did.

Well, I was just born all over the place. No, it was a certain place. certain time. And I’m thankful for my heritage. You know, some people they get to where they they don’t like what they came from. I’m thankful because I’ve been able to use my personal testimony for so many years, but use it in a great way. When the Bible says, Analai Father and I Mother, unless they’re heathen, no, it doesn’t say that, honor thy father and thy mother.

I’ve always wanted to honor my mom and honor my father even though my father isn’t here. But I pray that my dad is in heaven. You see, a man by the name of Jack Fields was a barber. And one day I went to get a haircut at Jack’s Fields barber shop. And I’m sitting there and he says, you’re that Yankee fell, aren’t you? He said, yeah. He said, I knew your dad. I said, you did. His name was Shine.

I said, yeah, I know. He says, I did his funeral. I didn’t know that. I had never met the man that did my dad’s funeral. He says, that was quite a funeral. He says, I talked to your dad before he died. He was 47. Donna Cancer. I was 13 years old, I was in Pennsylvania, I never got down for the funeral. And he says, I gave him the gospel. And he says, I believe he trusts the Lord. So I’m listening to him and I’m thinking, that’s great.

I hope it’s all true. He says, you won’t believe how many people came to his funeral. He says, the sheriff and all the deputies were there. He says, IRS agents were there. agents were there. State patrol were there. He says, and a lot of other people came. I don’t know if someone just wanted to verify, yep, he’s dead. Or if they really honored and respected my dad. Now, my dad was a very likable guy when he was sober. But he wasn’t sober much.

He was 31 years Oh, when he married my mom, she was 14. She wanted to get out of the house, get her in her own, have some freedom. She had six kids by the time she was 23. I don’t know if she ever did get her freedom. I was the third child and she was 17 when I was born. But my daddy, he liked the church hymns. I remember hearing my dad sing church hymns. And I remember my dad singing country songs.

I didn’t know they were country songs and I didn’t know that all the women’s were church hymns. They were just songs that my daddy song. I found out a lot later. Now I never saw my dad in a church or my mother. I never saw them read a scripture or have a Bible in our home. Never heard them have prayer. Never heard the words. I love you. But my daddy would go to this little Methodist church. They call it a Thursday.

But it was way out in the country, a little white church, on a dirt road. And he would get drunk, but he’d come by the church, and they’d want him to come in and sing. So my daddy had a good singing voice. At least that’s what they told me. And a lot of people had. So he’d get in there and he would sing, and they’d want him to get up in the choir with them. Now my dad’d be drinking.

But the more he drank, the more sociable he got. And the more he could let her rip, and he loved to sing. But I don’t remember ever being taught Christian principles from my dad. For you that don’t know he was a bootlegger. You see, what’s that mean? He made, he saw corn in jugs and spent time in the chain game. It’s all true. But he even wrote a song one day called, she was only a bootlegger’s daughter, but I loved her still.

But one of the songs that he used to sing, and I remember him singing of us, oh I don’t forget the song now, but I’ll never forget it. You know, I ring, good night I ring. Anybody ever heard that song? Good night I ring, something like that. But he’d sing that song and he’d sing a few other ones you know. And I remember him singing it. But I’ve often wanted to write a few songs. I’ve written quite a few.

And I thought you’d like to hear some of the titles of some of the songs that I wrote. These are country songs that reach into your heart and make you real sentimental. You know, kind of gets you tugging right there. How can I miss you when you won’t go away? If the phone doesn’t ring, then you’ll know it’s me. Another good title is if you won’t leave me alone, I’ll find someone who will. You know, these kind of songs, kind of grips you, you know, that has absolutely at times you think no meaning whatsoever.

I’m so miserable without you, it’s almost like having you here. I’m sorry I made you cry, but your face is cleaner now. The oil is all in Texas, but the dipsticks are in DC. But I’m thankful for my heritage. I’m thankful for my mom, even though she didn’t know the Lord back then, and neither did my dad. But that was my mom and that was my dad. Sometimes as a child, you want your parents to be proud of you, but my dad was never there.

I’m on the left and when I was seven years old, and moved to Pennsylvania, we left him in Georgia. And I only saw him a couple times after that. But a lot of times you know when you’re living your life and doing things, you always want to wish your mother or your dad was there to give a good compliment or say something nice about you. You don’t mind getting it from everybody else, but especially you want family to stick together.

Family to love each other, it just means so much. There really does. If you will, look there in 1 Corinthians 4 and look in verse 15, where he says, for though ye have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel. In other words, what he said is, I led some of you to the Lord through the gospel. You’re like my children in the faith, my sons in the faith.

Now over the years I’ve had a lot of people that I’ve led to the Lord and I’ve had some of those people that are very thankful that I gave the gospel and they trusted Christ with their Savior. Well, Mr. Jackson was my father-in-law. After we had, Min Betty had run away and got married, he was waiting for us when we got back to Athens. And he had a gun in the car, but he had mercy and got instead of parking my soul in the eternity, he would get me ready for eternity.

So he led me to the Lord. And I’ll never forget the day, though there was many days, many months and several years that we stayed together, I remember this night, because that’s the night I trust the Lord. And he shared with me how that God loved me and that Christ I don’t know that cross and paid for my sins. And that if I would trust him, he would give me as a free gift everlasting life. And that was in 1960.

So I’ve got me a spiritual dad and I’ve got me a real dad and I’ve had two stepfathers and I’ve, well I guess I could say the devil, the Bible says, your father the devil, and I guess I had an old sinful nature like the devil. I guess I wasn’t doing too good. And then I trusted Christ as my savior and that changed everything. It just changed everything. So you’re here and it’s Father’s Day and maybe your daddy isn’t all that you wanted him to be but he’s your dad and you still ought to love him and show appreciation and honor him because God says to do it.

but not just because God says to do it. I think you should honor them because that’s your dad. And that’s your mom, honor your father and your mother. And seek to live in such a way that they may not even approve of the way you live, but it honors them because you did right. And they should be thankful for that. Not all parents are as appreciative as they ought to be of their children. I love my kids to death.

I love my grandkids. Are they perfect? No, they’re just like me. they’re not. But I love them. And so you try to challenge them to trust Christ’s Savior and to serve the Lord. Now the greatest Father of all, and you know who that is, because I can’t find any fault in Him. He had never done anything wrong. And He also, He loved me. And He wanted me and His family. And so He’s the one I want to talk to you about a little bit.

So take your Bible and turn with me to the book of John chapter 3. Now this This is a simple message, very simple message. Not hard, complicated. It’s not heavy. On you, this is a light meal. We’re going to eat something else later. But this is just like a, you know, a little appetizer. And yet at the same time, it’s so deep. Most preachers can’t follow it. You’d be surprised what most people say about these simple little things we’re going to look at.

In John chapter 3 and look in verse 1, there was a man of Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can do these miracles that thou doeth except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, very, very, very, say unto you, accept a man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God.

You must be born again. Now going to church doesn’t make you. Born again. Giving money is not how you get to be born again. Dedicating your life to the Lord is not how you get to be born again. So there’s no amount of good works you can ever do that can help you to be born again. But if Jesus says you must be born again, you must be. When you assume that, you must be. And if you’re not, you can’t see the kingdom of God.

And then in verse five, he says, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. You can’t see it and you can’t enter it. It’s a world you’ll never be a part of unless you’re born again. Now the Bible tells us in a very simple way what that means. Look there in verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, the whosoever, believe it in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. You will get everlasting life.

It means you are going to be born again. You’re going to not only see the kingdom of God, you’re going to enter into the kingdom of God because you have believed on Jesus Christ. And that was the only requirement that was given. And you, that believe it, shall not perish. It means that it’s impossible for you to go to hell. I got a letter this week, kind of a heartbreaker, of a man who stated two or three times in his letter, I just wonder about those people that are Christians that are going to go to hell.

A Christian, one who has trusted Christ as Savior, cannot go to hell. None of God’s children can go to hell. I am one of God’s children. I cannot go to hell until I trusted Christ as my Savior. Those years that I was lost, I could have died and gone to hell. Boy, am I thankful for the mercy of God that I did not die of. And yet I had so many close calls. I’m alive by the grace of God.

And I’m so thankful for But that one man who came into my life, my father-in-law, who shared with me the best thing he could have ever shared with me, because he knew that the only hope for his daughter was to get Yankee right with the Lord. And so he did. He led me to Christ. He had plans. He didn’t set his traps. He was going fishing. I didn’t know anything about it. He outsmarted me. He knew exactly what bait to use.

to say and how He put it all together was awesome. I relived that in my mind many, many times. But I want you to take your Bible look in John chapter 1 and verse 11. John chapter 1 and verse 11. You’ll notice that God, Tana, gives us an idea what He’s going to talk about, how it’s going to be accomplished, what you must do, but he’s telling us even in the beginning chapter, you must be born again. See there in verse 11, he came unto his own and his own received him not, but as many as received him, receiving Christ, believing on Christ, trusting Christ, it’s all the same thing.

That all means the same thing, just a different word. So when you receive Christ as as your Savior. When you trust Him as your Savior. When you believe on Him, it’s all the same thing when He says here, but as many as received Him. To them gave He power or the authority to become, look at that, the sons of God. Evidently you were not His son before. You’ll hear people talk about the brotherhood of men and the fatherhood of God.

You know, God’s the father of all of us. No, he’s not. He’s God. He’s Creator, but he’s not my Father until I’m born into his family. He’s not my Father until he fathered me. And so the Bible says that God has sent forth the Word, which is in person Christ, and the Word, these are seeds. And These seeds are planted into the minds of man. And when you believe on this, you’re born by the seed of the Word of God itself.

It germinates, causes a birth. You’re born into God’s family. When you believe what he said about his son. So he says here in verse 12, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, the children of God. Get this even to them that believe on his name. To receive him, to believe on him, is how you become a child of God. As you go through the scriptures, specially in John, you’ll find the word believe over and over and over again.

To receive him is to believe on him. When we say believe on Christ, we’re saying, would you receive him as you’re saying, will you trust him? Because believing on Christ. is how you’re born into God’s family. If you do not believe on Christ or trust Christ as your Savior, there can be no birth. If you’re trusting in your works there can be no birth. If you’re trusting in the church, there can be no birth. If you’re trusting in anything you can do, there can be no birth.

The birth takes place only by accepting Jesus Christ and Him alone as your only hope of going to heaven. Nothing else will work. You can’t help Him. You can’t add to it. Now, get what He says in verse 13, which were born not of blood. In other words, my family, my children, as precious as they are, are not saved because I’m saved. My wife doesn’t get to go to heaven because I trust the Lord. Now Betty’s mother one day was listening to the radio.

She heard about Jesse Henley in the tent revival who was having there in Athens, Georgia. So she decided to go down there and lo and behold she trusts the Lord, she got saved. But she heard the verse, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and by in house. So she She came back and told everybody they were saved. She got saved for them. And thy house, if they believe. Everyone is an individual thing. You are not going to heaven because Aunt Susie trusts the Lord.

Or your grandpa used to be a preacher. I’ve asked people, I said, where are you going today? Oh, my grandfather was a preacher. What’s that got to do with anything? Or my dad, he serves in the church. He’s a deacon. Oh, that’s wonderful, that’s great. But that’s not the answer. So He makes a statement here in verse 13, which were born not a blood, nor of the will of the flesh. You can’t make it happen. It’s not because of your desire, all the will that you have, all that you can muster up, your determination, your commitment to live a good life, to turn from sin and make Christ a Lord and a mess.

It’s not possible. It’s not that away. But notice the last three words which were born how? Of God. God can do it. Man cannot. You’re not a Christian because your parents were Christians. You’re not going to heaven because somebody you know and love are going to heaven. You individually, you must be born again. And you’re not born again just because you heard that you had to be born again. Just because you know how you’re supposed to go to heaven doesn’t mean you’re going to heaven if you don’t do what that knowledge tells you to do if you don’t trust Him.

I believe there’s a lot of churches with a lot of people who have heard it over and over and over again and still refuse to trust Christ as their only hope. Well, I’m going to be good just in case. You’re unnulinate. The works of the flesh cannot save a man. Therefore, no man is justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Christ alone. It’s only that away. Take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Peter chapter 1.

1 Peter and chapter one. Many of these things, no doubt, are very repetitious to you. But understand, there’s a lot of times some people have never heard what you have heard all your life. And you may go to church and you hear it and maybe you take it for granted. Well, everybody’s heard that. And sometimes they’ve never heard the most simplest of things. I was 18 years old and never heard John 3 16. Here in 1 Peter chapter 1, notice what it says in verse 23, being born again, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God.

So that means you’re being born into God’s family because you believe what the Word of God said and whatever the Word of God is, you can become. If I take a seed of a watermelon and I plant it, what can come from that seed? I’ll watermelon. And if I plant some cotton, I can get cotton. Whatever seed I plant, I can get that from that seed. This is incorruptible seed, and we preach the Word of God, and we sow the seeds, and your mind is the ground upon which the seed falls.

And some of it, the birds come. come and gets the seed before you get a chance to think about it. That’s why while the preacher is preaching, sometimes there’s a sermon I was preaching years ago called the sin of the black birds that while you’re sitting in church, your mind begins to drift and the seed is sown but a little black bird, another thought came in and stole that seed away and it proffed you nothing. There’s people who go to church all their life and they sit and they dream, think about other things instead of what’s actually being said.

And the word profits them zero and then they get up and leave and say, you know, I’m just not getting anything out of the sermon. I’m tired of all this milk. I want some meat. You ever hear people say things like that? The preacher hears it all the time. The Bible says, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever. So that’s what is a description of the Word of God. It’s incorruptible. It liveth and it abides forever.

That means when you trust Christ as your Savior, you become a child of God, born into God’s family. And because you’re born into God’s family, you will abide forever. is no end to you being a child of God. So once you’re born into God’s family, you are always God’s child. He will always be your father. None of God’s children have anything to worry about going to hell. That’s impossible. If there’s a heaven, if there’s a hell, God’s the one that says how to go to heaven, how to avoid hell.

He said, if I trust Christ, this might save you, it gives me eternal life and you shall never perish, never in the future, never perish. There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ. You cannot be condemned in the future because there has to be sins laid against your charge that would keep you from going to heaven and that’s impossible. All my sins were laid upon Christ. And therefore I have the free gift of everlasting life. 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.