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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.

And the tailor wasn’t, well, he was trying to make a profit. How to get something because of his ability, I guess, to cast a spell, make a prophecy, put a curse. And this king was willing to pay him to do it, put a curse upon Israel so that they’ll leave me alone and get out of here, because he knew why they were coming, they were coming to take the land. So he says there in verse six, come now therefore I pray thee, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me.

Per venture I shall prevail that we may smite them and that I may drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom thou blessed is blessed and he whom thou cursed is cursed. So this is what I want you to do. So he asked the Lord and the Lord says no. Oh, in verse 12, and God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curse the people for their blessed. Then, Elami rose up in the morning and said unto the princes of Belam, Get you into your land, for the Lord refuses to give me lead to go with you.

I can’t go. I can’t go. And that not can’t put a curse upon God’s people. Can’t do it. So they let him alone, right? No, they didn’t let him alone. They come back again. I always remember this. When it comes to temptation, opportunities may knock at the door one time. Temptations knock and keep knocking. And so he was tempted. So he didn’t want to just let it go. So he said, I’ll ask God again. And God already then told him, no, but that wasn’t good enough.

He says, but I’ll promote you and I’ll give you so much in verse 17. Verse 18 and Balaam answered and said unto the servant of Balaam, if Balaam would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more. Isn’t that wonderful? He’s such a dedicated godly man. Well, it’s not over yet. So he said, I can’t do more nor less. In other words, God’s word is final.

That’s it. But he says here in verse 20, and, oh, excuse me, verse 19, now therefore I pray you, tear ye here also this night, they shouldn’t have, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more. In other words, let’s give God another chance. Maybe God will change his mind. Did you know what God did? God changed his mind. says, okay, go with them. But remember, you cannot curse the people. So he says down here in verse 22, and God’s anger was kindled because he went.

In other words, it’s what he wanted to do, and God gave him permission to. And did you know that you can harp on something and want something so bad, and then God let you have it, and you wish you hadn’t done it? You’d be surprised, is like God has a directive will, and God has a permissive will. He’ll permit you to do whatever you want to do. He will allow you to live a wicked life, but that’s not what he wants.

He wanted the people in Israel when they were in the wilderness. Be satisfied with this manner from heaven. It gives you everything that you need, but no, they wanted some meat to eat. So he gave them all the meat they could eat Della made him sick. And it made a man. So sometimes God will give you what you’re asking for. And then you’ll wish you had never done it and never asked for it. Did you know sometimes you have to be careful the more money you make, the deeper in debt you can go.

Do you know that? You didn’t know that? Some people just want to make more money. More money. Finally I’ve got all my bills paid them out of debt. And then they say, oh, I got to have that. And then they can go further in the debt and then further in the debt. And after a while, somewhere along the line, you could get trapped. You can park the car, but you can’t park the payments. I always remember. Now look what else he says down through here.

He made it to him that he was angry with him. So now he’s honest donkey and he’s riding. And this jackass had to say a few words to him. And there was an angel that appeared in the way in verse 24 and verse 25. And when the asshole, the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself into the wall, crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall and he smote her again. So he hit him. He’s hurt his foot. Now he’s, he wanted to go.

Okay, he’s going, but everything isn’t cool. You see, God puts a hedge of thorn around about you. And when you are rebellious to the Lord, then God knows your heart. See, He was saying all the right words, and God can put a hedge of thorns about you, that everything you say and do pricks you and hurts you. God doesn’t have to do everything. He can just allow it to happen because your own decisions will get you into a lot of trouble.

you trust your own way and go your own way, there is a price to pay. So he says down here that the donkey had to say a few words, looking verse 28, and the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and she said unto Balaam, what have I done unto thee that thou hast smitten me these three times? Now, when’s the last time you had a jackass talk to you? Now I should said that. Some of you are going to be thinking about somebody.

You say it was this morning? So you’ve got to be careful. And so he says in verse 29, Balaam said unto the s because thou hast mocked me. I would there were I sordid my am. I would kill If I had a sword in my hand, you’d be one dead mule, or one dead jackass. And he says, well, what did I do? Now, when you wanna teach a lesson on somebody that is stubborn, hard-headed, rebellious, you could think of an animal.

Now, what kind of an animal would be, you know, hardened, rebellious? What, you’d use a donkey. So that’s what they are. You see, when God wanted to show love and compassion, He used a dove. When He wants to show somebody that’s hard and rebellious and stubborn, He uses a jackass, God seems to use the perfect animal for the perfect thing. And in your life, you’d be surprised, God can allow the perfect person to come across your path to rebuke you.

Sometimes we need to be rebuked. We all said, we want the will of God for our life, and then we go our own way. Say, God bless me as I go and do what we want to do. So there is a price to pay. And so I want you to see this down here in verse 31. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way. Now the jackass saw it, but Balaam didn’t see it.

See, there’s things in your life. When you run from the Lord, you become blind because you’re turning away from light and you can’t see. And you become like this talks about it in Peter when he talks about, and you become blind, you cannot see a far off. And so he says, and he saw the angel of the Lord. His sword was drawn. Now he was fixing to take, if he had one, a sword to the jackass, but now he stands an angel and he got a sword.

And verse 32, and the angel of the Lord said unto him, wherefore hast thou smitten thine asked these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand the because. And you ought to unline this in your Bible. Thy way is perverse before me. You’re going the wrong way. And sometimes as a child of God, we have to rebuke people and tell them, look, you’re making the wrong decision for your life. I hate it when I see people making the wrong decisions for their life, because I know they’re gonna maybe put scars upon themselves that down the road, they may change your mind and get right with the Lord, but they so damaged their testimony.

Or put scars on themselves that it will hinder them. They won’t be as great as they could have been. And you always are concerned about that. Look at number four. Number four, this rooster was a reminder to wake up. And this is good. Look at Matthew chapter 26. Matthew and chapter 26. You know what it’s about, don’t you? You know what it’s about? There was somebody who had denied the Lord. How many times? Three times. Who was that man?

That was Peter. So here in the book of Matthew in chapter 26, looking verse 74, verse 74, he says, then began, he to curse and to swear. This is Peter. You know, the great apostle? I know not the man. Remember when they were going to deny the Lord and he says, But I will never deny you.” And Jesus says before the cockroach, you go to nine me three times. So he started and he did. I know not the man and immediately the cockroach.

Now, that rooster had a message. He caused Peter to remember. Do you think Peter remembered? Oh, look at the next verse. Then Peter says in verse 75, and Peter remembered the words of Jesus. Isn’t it something God can use a rooster to help a man to remember something that he said? So these are things that the Bible talks about. We have gone to sleep, wake up. And it says that in the book of Ephesians and I give you some of the references there to look at.

And also in the book of Romans in chapter 13 about how that our day is far spent and salvation is near than when we first believe and it’s time to wake up out of sleep. You see what what does a rooster do almost every morning? The wake you out of sleep. Remind you time to get up. So God uses the perfect illustration, the perfect animal, to take the right message. See God knows what he’s doing. But now see these are various things that God has used in scripture But remember, there’s a time in the Bible in space like in Jonah’s life.

Didn’t the Bible say that God prepared a great fish for John? Prepared ABE a great fish. Prepared a great wind. Prepared a gourd. Prepare a worm to eat the gourd? Prepare the hot sun. All that he did God prepared. all these things. Now if God can use antidepressant, and God can use a worm, and God can use a fish, and God can use a jackass, and he can use a dove, and he can use a raven, and he can use a rooster, is it possible that God could use you or me?

It’s a possibility, huh? And did you know that sometimes in your life, though you may not even be aware of it, God may be speaking to you? Some people say, well, God just never speaks to me. Maybe you’re not listening. Maybe you’re not discerning what’s really going on. Because God can use circumstances. He can use with the holding of funds. He can use health problems. He can use a lot of things to talk to you. Sometimes to slow you down.

Sometimes maybe to change the course of your whole life. So understand that because it is true. In the book of Luke number five here, this dog preached comfort, compassion, and mercy. You see, this is the story. Oh, we’re looking at Luke 16. Luke 16, the rich man and the poor man. In verse 19 of Luke chapter 16, it says, there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen fared sumptuously every day. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores.

Now here’s two individuals, one rich, one poor, one fair sumptuously every day, the other one’s a beggar. And all he wanted and he desired was the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. And he laid at his gate full of sores and moreover of the dog. Moreover is the name of the dog. But moreover the dog, look what he says here, in verse 21, and desire to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.

Moreover the dogs came in lictus sores. Now, there’s a God in heaven. Did God see what was going on down here on the earth? God saw what the rich man was doing, how he lived, and he saw this beggar and knew what was going on in his life. Jesus is the one that tells us. He knew who was rich, he knew who was poor. He knew what one had, what the other one didn’t have. He knew how healthy one was and how unhealthy the other one was.

He knew this other one. He was a gate, a bag, and that was his child. That was his child. That rich man with all that money, that wasn’t his child. He said, boy, they should have met Obama because, you know, got to have equality. Should have took everything that rich man had and give it to him, poor old Lazarus over there. No. God knows what’s going on, and God is going to make things right. Have you ever heard God keeps the books?

This is the books God keeps the books. He knows both of them. He knows one is going to be in hell and One is going to be in paradise just like that But he says here in this verse 21 the dogs came and licked his source now. This is compassion Comfort if you ever had now some of y’all have never had I had dogs. I was raised with dogs. I got stories about dogs I could go for a long time.

And I’ve had sores and I’ve had dogs like the sores. I got a big old sore scar on the side of my leg about like this. You can pinch it and put needles in it. I don’t feel nothing. Because I was playing tires in one time over this dump and I cut the end of that monkey vine and that thing was way out there. and I got way back and I, oh, that buddy I was out through the jungle.

And I went flying out through there and came down out of them trees. It wasn’t very tight. And I fell over the broken pieces of glass and tin cans and all kind of stuff. And it’s when I didn’t get killed. But when I got climbed up back to the top, my pant leg was all soggy. and looked at it, it was blood running all the way down the pant leg. And I had got me some mud spit on it and packed it on that thing.

You say, that’s not very healthy. I don’t know. Jesus put it on man’s eye. I can put it in my leg. But anyway, you get some sores and some scabs and some a dog. Now why? I don’t know. But God knew about this. And this brought little comfort. Just think about a little comfort that he had. And here’s a rich man who’s got everything. And as his poor man, all hePOSE got is some dogs that came up and brought him a little comfort.

So God can use different things to bring a different message. This man, believe it or not, he got to be with the Lord for all eternity. And the other one he says, no. But it was because of something they were supposed to hear. He said, I’ve got five brothers that I wanted him to know the Lord. He says, if you’ll go send lives that they can talk to them, it can’t be done. In the word nobody from hell, every gets out to come back and preach to everybody.

What happened? But you can still get a message. God can allow things to happen in your life to bring your little comfort here and little comfort there. And sometimes it’s just little things, not big things, something simple. Look at the next thing, number six, these worms preach the judgment of God. Now in Acts chapter 12 and verse 23, there was a man by the name of Herod. It was a king too, but this is not the one that when Jesus was born, they tried to kill him, another one has come on the scene.

And so Herod was, oh, this is good, you gotta see this. Look there in Acts chapter 12. Everybody’s together, big shenanigans. So he says here in Acts chapter 12, just look there first of all in verse 20. And he says, and Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord to him and having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain, their friend desired peace because their country was nourished about the king’s country. And upon a set date, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, made an oration unto them, and the people gave a shout saying, it is the voice of a God, and not of a man And whoop.

Well, that’s something that’s important. He’s the voice of a God. Now, did God know what this man was doing? Did God hear what those people said about him? Do you think Herod heard what they said about him? And what did Herod do? It doesn’t say he did anything except take the glory for it. Because you see there in verse 23? Lord, smote Him because in your underlying statement, it’s so important. Did you realize there’s things that can happen to you and to me if you don’t give God the glory?

If we’re here to glorify the Lord and God does something for you and you fail to give God the glory, could there be consequences? I’m just saying. Man, put it this way one day. I haven’t mentioned to y’all before him. What if we only had tomorrow? What we told the Lord we were thankful for today. How much would we have tomorrow? But you’d be surprised. We probably complain about more that we don’t have than we think the Lord for what we do have, possible.

But now notice, because he gave not God the glory. And he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. These worms is a sign of judgment, God judging. You know in the 22nd Psalm that talks about where Jesus makes the statement when he’s on the cross, I am a worm. You ever hear that statement before? I am a worm. How much lower can you get? How pitiful. Because he took the sins of the world upon himself. He says, I am a worm.

He didn’t brag about, he took all the sins of the world. Just think how bad you are for one person. But what if you took everybody’s sin, everything that everybody’s done wrong and heaped all that up on one person and one person make a payment for everybody’s sin. In the book of Mark, three times this phrase is used, where there were and die if not and the fire is not quenched. And so I wrote this little statement in here and it’s in bold, but look at it, forever feeding an unquenchable fire, forever dying without death.

You see, when a person is separated from God for all eternity, they are forever dying. But can’t die. Forever dying and no death, for the worm dieeth not. There’s no end to it. It’s forever and ever. Number seven is one that I hope knocks you right between the eyes. The strangest messenger of all, with the greatest message of all is you and me. think, God who can use anything or anybody chose to give you an eye the greatest honor anyone can ever have.

And that’s to take the message of God the gospel throughout the world. What can be a greater honor than that? Now, God depended upon the dove to do what He wanted. God depended upon that raven to do what he wanted done. God depended upon that donkey, and God depended upon that rooster. He depended upon the dog, the worms. Is there a verse in the Bible that says God has entrusted us with the gospel even so we speak? Not as pleasing man but God which try their hearts.

Is God dependent upon you and me? Now, everything can seem to bow to the Lord’s will except people. We fight against doing the will of God. But understand, there are consequences if we disobey. So we are the strangest ones of all with the greatest message of all, that we would sacrifice our whole lives, that opportunity to live and do and be whatever we want to be. We chose just whatever God wants. Whatever God wants me to do whatever God wants me to say and be content with whatever God has for us.

And so by doing that, you’re allowing God to use you and put you wherever he wants to bring into your life whatever is necessary because he’s the only one that knows what he’s training and preparing you for. I want to close with this one verse that we have here in our notes. And that’s the one that’s in Ephesians chapter 3. Look in Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians chapter 3 kind of gives you a good picture of the apostle Paul and the purpose of his life. You’ll notice there in Ephesians chapter 3, look in verse 8, unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given. get this, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Now, if I don’t do it, they will never know the riches of His grace. For by grace are you saved, and that one day we are the trophies of God’s grace, and that we have been privileged by God to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to people that may never hear it.

So without you and I, they’ll never hear it. So that’s why this is so important. And it’s such a marvelous thing that God would give us this opportunity, this side of eternity to serve Him. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us, but He hates our sin. And for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from the Lord in a literal fire burning hell. But God says to go to heaven, we have to be perfect as righteous as God.

No sin in heaven. But because of sin, we can’t go. And we cannot save ourselves from this condemnation. Every man’s sin, every man condemned, no man can deliver himself from this condemnation. No way. This then represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin because our sin separates us from him. So Jesus Christ who had no sin did not have to die. So he took all the sins of the world, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead and says, the only thing we have to do is the only thing we can do is where you believe that he did it for you.

And when you believe he did this for you, he gives you eternal life as a free gift and you get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for you. Let’s pray, shall we? With heads bowed, nice clothes and no one looking around. If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you trust Him right now? If you’re watching by the internet, we often have people that watch our live broadcast and trust Christ as their Savior. There’s no tricks to it.

I won’t know you. I will never have any way of contacting you. But on the screen, it simply says, Yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior. Clicking it just lets us know that somebody did, but we can’t tell who it is or where you are. But it means an awful lot to us because the only thing you have to do to go to heaven is to trust Jesus Christ and Him alone as your only hope of going to heaven.

He loved you so much, He died for you to pay for your sins so that you wouldn’t have to pay for them. And if you’ll believe He did it for you, He would give you eternal life. I pray that you will. Father, we thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. For this time together, the study of your word and these truths and help us apply what we need to. We just pray that all these things will be honoring to you, help us to truly give you the glory.

Lord, it scares us to death when we think of what could be done because we fail to give proper recognition to the one to whom we owe it all. We ask now your blessings upon those that are here, the college kids that are gone back home, just to watch over and keep them safe and bring them back safely. In Christ name we pray, amen. 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 Man.

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. Cotta can meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believe in that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.