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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. The regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the Bibleline Ministries dot O-R-G 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. I see in some of the things that Jesus says that people’s decisions affect other people’s decisions. Can you see that? Your decision affect others’ decisions. I’ve often thought, what if I had never gone to Bible College? It wouldn’t affect anybody. It wouldn’t change anything. I mean, I’m just one little old individual, just a little old Georgia boy.

But what if I hadn’t have went? What if I hadn’t have gone to Colorado? What if I hadn’t have gone to, what is it called? Athens, Georgia. What if it affected anything? And you think when you get to heaven and see the results of the decisions that you made, wish you had given more and done more because of the impact that you could have had on how many more people. You see, these people weren’t going and by their message and what they were doing was blind and in keeping other people blinded so they couldn’t go.

So then he says this in verse 14, whoa, unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrite, for ye devour widows, houses, And for a pretense, make long prayers, therefore ye shall receive the greater damn nation, greater judgment upon them.” It even makes the statement in the book of James in chapter 3. Be careful about just teaching because somebody is not going to believe what you say. You ever think of that? Be careful of the advice you give to somebody because they might take it.

And what if it’s wrong? What if it’s wrong advice? But you didn’t care, you’re just David Vice. Way, words carefully. Way, your attitude, your advice. Know the truth and make a difference. They believe probably that what they knew and what they believed and how they stood, it was right. It even makes a statement that they did what they did because they believed they were doing God a service. They believed they were doing God a service. And yet they were killing the Christians and persecuting them.

But they thought they were doing God a service. Look at how many people today that are in the religion of Islam that believe they are doing God a service and sometimes when I think about what they say and what they’re doing, how in the world can they really believe that this is serious? How can you really believe to cut it off somebody’s head just because they don’t believe like I believe? And this is okay, God wants me to do this.

Or as some man just recently raped a 12-year-old girl the will of Allah, claiming that this was the will of Allah. To me, that is a shame and a disgrace to believe that this is what my God wants me to do to a 12 year old girl. But anyway, these things are happening. Look there in verse 15. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you compass, sea and land. So there’s motivation here. They do have a vision. do want to accomplish something, they are after converts to make one proselyte.

Look what they’re willing to spend, the time and effort that they put in just to get one person. And when he is made, you made him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. And that’s why he says, you’re blind guides. You’re blind leading the blind. You see, we studied the Word of God so that we can have light. He says, you are the children of light. We want to help people to see the truth. If we don’t do it, who’s supposed to do it?

I used to sit by the hours and I would think, why should I do it? Why me? I’m not even more responsible than anybody else, so why should I do it? I mean, I got dreams of my own. I got plans, I got something I want to do. What’s wrong with that? If everybody believed like that, everybody would be preaching. If everybody believed that, everybody would be going in all the world and preaching the gospel. I love it, duh.

Maybe that’s what he meant. But we always, well, if I don’t do it, God will get somebody else. God will get somebody, if God, if I don’t do it, God will get somebody. You know, there isn’t always somebody else. You remember reading over there in the book of Ezekiel when he says in God said, I look for a man to make up the hedge. And I found what? I found none. So God’s some none. He does look and can’t find a man.

Can’t find a man. A man who is willing to forget everything and do what God wants him to do. You mean give up my life or what? Look what he says in verse 16. Whoa, unto you, he blind. He blind guides which say, whosoever shall swear by the temple. It is nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, it is a debtor. You fold and blind, for whether it’s greater, the gold or the temple, let sanctify the gold.

And whatsoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing but who’s whoever swear by the gift that is upon it. He is guilty. See what does all this here mean? Well, just hold your place right here. Look there in the book of Matthew chapter 5. The book of Matthew and chapter 5, as Jesus is explaining some things about the kingdom that he sets up upon the earth, he kind of gives them a little bit of his constitution and he’s laying it out in chapter 5 and saying, under the law it says this, but I say unto you and he tiked it a little bit more.

Under the law thou shalt not commit adultery. But I send you lust in your own heart. And he says, did you know this calling a man a fool you to be in danger of hell fire. Look what he says here in verse 21, ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, whosoever is angry with his brother, without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

And whosoever shall say unto his brother, Rukha shall be in danger of the counsel. But whosoever shall say thou full shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar and dare rememberst that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother and then coming off of thy gift.” I mean, he’s strong. You talking about required perfection. You see what he says up here in verse 20?

He says this, but I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. You shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. They were the law keepers. So now he tells them the law and their has to exceed the law. And so now he’s tightening it even more and talking about not just the things that you do, but how you think and how you feel in the motive behind it. It tightens it even more.

In other words, he’s requiring and it’s not like you almost got to be perfect. That’s why they all needed a Savior. So he uses the law to show them they’re not as righteous as they think. These lawyers and these Pharisees and describes and all they were not as righteous as they think they are. And so there’s a lot of these things that are mentioned in here. But look why we’re just looking at a couple of things. Look there in the book of Luke chapter 20, the book of Luke in chapter 20.

Luke chapter 20, and notice what he says here in verse 45, then in the audience of all the people he said into his disciples, beware of the scribes which desire to walk in long roads and love greetings in the markets and the highest seats in the synagogue and the chief rooms at the feast which devour widows houses and for us. make long prayers, the same shall receive greater damnation. So the Bible says there are certain things that will bring greater judgment and that will take place.

Now go back here to Matthew in chapter 23. See there’s a other scripture that talks about what you swear. Don’t swear by this or swear by that and I’ll I’ll show you that on the next page. We’ll look down there in verse 19. He folds and blind, for whether is great of the gift or the altar that sanctified the gift. Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, swear by it, and by all things they’re on. And whoso shall swear by the temple, swear by it, and by him that dwelt therein.

He’s trying to teach him something. He had said earlier, don’t swear by anything. But because these Pharisees, they were square by the temple. And I swear by the altar. And I swear by this, and I swear by that. He said, let your yay be what? Yay and your nay say what you mean and mean what you say. I swear a stack of Bibles. That’s what I’m saying is true. shouldn’t make what you say any more true than I say it and it’s the truth.

I swear on my mother’s grave. Well which is more important? The temple or the gold in the temple which is more important the altar or that which is laid on the altar. The temple or the thing that is the temple stands for. See there’s something greater and something lesser, greater and lesser, greater and lesser. And most people never learn discernment for their life. You’re always making decisions between something that’s better than something else, in some cases worse than other things.

Now look there in chapter 23 and verse 22, and he that shall swear by heaven, swear by the throne of God, and by him that said that they’re on. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you paid tithes of men and angels and human and have omitted the weightier matters of the law.” In other words, the purpose of the law is also, as it says here, the law is law but then they never showed judgment. They showed no mercy.

They showed no compassion. They showed nothing but your people. And these are people and they were laying up on them law, law and law and no man can live under all of that. The legalism for salvation, the law can’t do anything for you. And when you talk about the Christian line, some people want to place themselves under the regulations of the law. I would rather serve the Lord because I love him than not. So you got to. No, I don’t have to.

But it sure is more peaceful and wonderful and joyful when you serve the Lord because you want to. You know, when you love the Lord, there’s no problem in what you have to sacrifice for him. But if you don’t love him, every little thing becomes an issue, becomes a problem because it just goes against the grind. Look what he says here, and you have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done.

Not to leave the other undone. They were to use the law to get people to the Lord. They weren’t using the law to get anybody to the Lord. They weren’t going and they weren’t helping anybody else to see it. He says in verse 20, he blind guy would strain at a net or you strain out a net. He calls us what a strain is for. He’s straying out a net but you swallow a camel. You’ll spit that net out, but then you’ll eat the whole camel and swallow it.

They can’t discern the difference between a net and a camel. You see all of your life, you’re learning how to put values upon that which God puts a value on and how to discern the things that are not right. You always make up your mind, what is my purpose in my goal in life. And then I make all my little decisions that relates to that one purpose. I’ve got to have one main purpose, one main goal in life. And then I know how to make all these other decisions as it helped me or hinder me from reaching my goal.

So without the goal, you don’t know where you’re going. You’re just a drifter, just floating along, going in circles. And so he says down through here in verse 25, Woah and you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter and within. They are full of extortion and excess. Isn’t there a lot of people, going to a lot of churches, and they’re trying their best to clean up the outside.

Clean up the outside. Live better, live better, but they can do nothing for the inside. You see, See the inside has to be done by the Lord. And they’re not using the Lord. I didn’t have to worry about cleaning up my life till after I got saved. When I got saved, nobody had to make me do that. I started making sure and watching things and growing spiritually because I wanted to. You get the inside right and the outside will take care of itself.

If you’re struggling with all the things on the outside, things that you do that’s not right? It’s because you got an inside problem, right? All problems are spiritual problems. You get right and stay right between you and the Lord and then anything He wants you to do, no problem. But if you’re not right with the Lord, everything becomes a problem. And this and eat at you, that can eat at you and all these things just nibble away at you and irritate you and just make you one sour individual or you can have peace and joy.

But look what else he says in verse 26 Thou blind Pharisee cleansed first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also and this is why you’ll read in the book of Mark and chapter 8 and so on and he talks about this very same thing and also parts of it is in chapter 12 of the book of Matthew when he talks about the the all sinful nature that we have, and how that all these evil things comes out of the heart of man.

He says, you’ve got a fruit problem because you’ve got a root problem, and you’ve got to get that taken care of. But he hits them pretty hard. See in verse 27, he makes this statement, whoa, unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for ye are like under white atseprechos. Now what’s a seprech? Do you mind what a seprech is? Dinner table? What’s a seprech? It’s a graveyard casket. I mean something you bury you in. It’s a seprechot. Over in Israel on the Mount of Olives on one part of it, man, they are everywhere.

I turn you open. You can see them. And they’re, why did it set because? Really are. So he says, that’s what you look like, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. He’s describing these false teachers. Now, this applied to those false teachers today. This applies to false teachers today, just like it did back then. What’s the difference? You have men who are making up their own rules and regulations, and they’re not talking about salvation by grace and grace alone.

I mentioned this before, but in a week ago, I got three letters of people in different places wanting a preacher. They You want a church? They said, we want one like yours. And I had another guy call me up on the phone, first part of the week. And he says, I need a youth director. So I’ll even pay him some money if he’ll just, I need a youth director. He said, I’ve got some kid, but I need a youth director.

No, you’re not going. And he’d pay him. $1,000 a week. Can you believe that? I’m lying, that was a lie. I just wanted to see what they would do if they raised their hands as I’m ready to go. But there’s a need out there for somebody that will stand for the truth and to believe it and not be afraid, not to be a coward. You realize that he’s saying this to them? Do you see why he never read the book on Del Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People?

Jesus just didn’t know how to work with people. He made people mad. He did. He made truth is offensive. Now, nobody else, he says here. Verse 20, Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the septricas of the righteous, but you’re the one that killed them. He says, Your fathers have already done this.

God’s prophets that He sent, you kill them, and you make nice beautiful graveyards. The graveyard did. So He says in this verse 29, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the seppricas of the righteous and say if we had been in the days of our Father, We would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. He says, you’re saying, if we’d have been there, we wouldn’t have taken part in nothing like that.

There are the same ones that are on the verge of crucifying Christ, the Messiah. They are the ones that’s going to call out crucifying them. These are the same ones, because they don’t believe that He is the Messiah. They don’t believe He is who He claimed to be, but was He who He claimed to be? Oh He was. Therefore He makes the same verse 31, wherefore be you witnesses unto yourselves that you are the children of them which killed the prophets.

Fill you up then the measure of your Father, ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how shall ye escape the damn nation of hell. Wherefore behold I send unto you prophets and wise men, inscribed, some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogue and persecute them from city to city.” Then he says that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous able unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barakiah.

He said, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. I believe that’s referring back to Zechariah chapter 1 and verse 1. And some say Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, but I don’t believe that. I believe it goes back to him. But notice what Jesus said, Verily I said to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Look what happened that didn’t have to happen. Well, you know that song, the worst day always, son, whatever will be will be.

The future is not ours to see, la la la la. Whatever will be will be, la la la la. Whatever is the will of Allah. No, we make decisions that can alter things. I don’t believe God has planned my every little step and so forth. I’m making decisions as I go and I need to be careful and make wise decisions. I don’t believe God’s already made my decision. As I live my life, I want Him to. I want to think about what God says and then make my God’s gonna hold who responsible for my life.

The Holy Spirit of me. Who’s going to get the rewards in heaven? The Holy Spirit of me. You do the work and Paul says over and over again, I labored, I did this, I did this, and I had some spiritual lady come up me one day, she said, you are not that I did it. It was the Lord. I said, I said, why don’t you shut up? I mean, she just put on a little holy air and I thought nothing but these Pharisees, but it was a woman.

You see, you shouldn’t talk to a woman like that. Yes, I should have. And I did it. And I have no grief over it, no apologies. I just wish she hadn’t done it. But anyway, as we move right along. Look what he says in verse 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killst the prophets and stoned of them, which are sent unto them. How often would I have gathered thy children together?” In other words, it didn’t have to be the way it was.

How often I would have, but he says here, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings and you are done like you would not. You brought this upon yourselves. He made a legitimate offer to Jerusalem, to all the leaders. And that’s why chapter 21 and so forth up to this point here, they are tremendous chapters, giving you a picture that leads up to a legitimate offer that was refused and the consequences. And it says, you’ll not see me again until you say, blessed is he that cometh in the name with the Lord.

Where does it say that? I want to say that in the Bible somewhere. Verse 39, Looking for a 30 night. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me. Till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Now this is not the rapture. This is the revelation when he comes back at the end of the tribulation, and every eye will see him. And they will look upon him whom they have pierced, and Israel will be saved in a day, and they’ll set up the kingdom upon the earth.

Look up here. You’re watching by the internet. Don’t touch that thing. This hand represents you and me. The wall of represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God says that He loves us. But He hates our sin. But He loves us. But to pay for sin is eternal separation from God. And since everybody sins, everybody is condemned. We’re all guilty. But the Bible says to go to heaven, we have to be perfect as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect.

None of us are righteous. And so God says that our sins all let us in. We got to pay a debt. We have a debt that we owe. And this debt cannot be paid off just by anything. Praying will not pay the debt. Money will not pay the debt. Good works will not pay the debt. This church can’t pay your debt. That’s for sure. This hen represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God and the flesh came into the world.

So He came to pay our debt. He didn’t go to church to pay our debt. debt. And he didn’t give money to pay our debt because the wages of sin is debt. He came to die. That while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Paid for our sins came back from the dead and said that if we would believe he did it for us he would book this payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us.

Best news I’ve ever heard. Let’s pray, shall we? But heads bow nice, close, and no one looking around. Would you right now, here and you never trust the Lord, would say, Lord, I don’t understand at all, but I believe Christ died and paint from my sin that I’m going to trust Him right now to take me to heaven whenever I die. And if you will trust Him, God will save you. Is there anyone at all? You that are watching by internet, right there on the screen, says, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior.

Would you click it on if you will right now and trust Christ as your Savior? If you’ve already done it, you don’t need to do it again. Father, we thank you so much for loving us and giving us your word. Help us Lord to be strong. But Father also to show the things that we need to, the judgment and the mercy, compassion Father teach what your word has to say about how to have eternal life. For there’s a lot of people that are blind in so many help us to see the importance of what we do that our life will be worth the place.

We thank you for what you’ve done for us. That’s your blessings up on each one. Christ never prayed. Are you a new listener to Bible Life? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well, if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel Driven Man. Every day we receive many emails from folks who have questions about repentance and salvation, about faith in works, and about how to share the gospel with friends and loved ones.

This book, The Gospel Driven Man, covers all those topics, and we want all new listeners of Bibleline to receive a free copy. There’s no obligation, no donation necessary, simply call us at 1-800-576-3771 or write to us and request your free copy of the Gospel-Driven Man. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address, and God bless you and thank you for listening to Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. And we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.