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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 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 BibleInmenistries.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.

You know, one of these days it’s going to be over for all of us. It’s going to be over. What the rapture will mean to me. And then what the rapture does for me. Two main things. What the rapture means to me. What the rapture does for me. But anyway, it’s good to have you all here. And I want to talk to you a little bit about something that’s important. And that is the Lord’s coming. A Christmas time we all say, hey, Sunday, Christmas, come and I got a news for you.

know he ain’t, but Jesus is coming and one of these days he’s gonna split the sky and we’re gonna be out of here. But when the rapture, when it takes place, our redemption will be complete. Now you know he’s already bought and paid for us, we’ve been paid for in full. And he saved our soul and but he didn’t do anything for our body yet. So he says the adoption is when he’s going to take these bodies of ours and change these bodies and it’s going to be glorified.

It means while you’re still sitting here, looking at me, if the Lord came back right now, you’d be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye and your body would be totally changed. You wouldn’t have to die. You wouldn’t leave your body, but your body would be changed and be made like unto his glorious body. So the rapture could happen at any time. We’re always looking and thinking, planning and hoping. And that’s why we take out a lot of mortgages and things like that, hoping that the order come back so we don’t have to pay it off.

I know that nobody here would do that. Or you get in such a pitiful condition, you hope the Lord come back just to get you out of it. Now the Bible does say about God bless all of those who love his appearing. And sometimes you want him to come back, not because you love his appearing, but because he can get you out of this mess. And so we often talk about, you know, we’re looking for the upper taker, not the undertaker.

And so we hope that the Lord comes back one of these days and we don’t have to physically die. You know, I’m not afraid to die. I’ve never done it before. I just don’t want to hurt. You know what I mean? You ever try to imagine what to be like to die? I’m always pictured myself dying by drowning. That’s a terrible thing. Because I’ve had so many incidences where I’ve been in water and I’ve been underwater and I’ve almost not got my breath.

I almost didn’t make it. I’m talking about for real. So now it scares me so bad I won’t even take a bath. I haven’t had a bath in ten years. I’m joking. I’m joking. But you know one of these days have you ever tried just to 10 like okay I’m dying. Not now. And when these days you know you’re just gonna happen. You’re not gonna get that next breath. David says one step between me and death and we’re gonna die one of these days.

Anyway here in your notes number one redemption will be completed. Since we’re waiting for the redemption of our bodies 1 Corinthians 15, 51 to 53 makes it clear, we shall be changed at the coming of the Lord. 1 John 3, 2 says we will have a body like His glorious body. A redeemed soul and a redeemed body will be as perfect as God. That day could be today. But we know one day it will happen. And now we got a lot of things to do, but while we’re busy, always keep an eye open.

One of these days, I just don’t know how much we’re going to get to see, or how much we’re going to hear, or how many blasts on a trumpet will we hear before we’re actually changing the moment the twinkling of the life. But I wouldn’t mind, you know, a little expanded time so I can have a chance to hear the trumpet. Why tell me there’s going to be a trumpet if I’m going to be here long enough to hear it?

And also I hope that when we go up, that we go up slow enough so that I can look down and look at everybody else and say, I told you so. I told you, you wouldn’t listen to me, but I told you, And there I am going up into the air, and I’ve been to the sky. No rocket ship, nothing to sustain me and hold me. But one of these days it’s going to happen. We’re going to have a brand new body.

And we’re going to be with the Lord. Now, I’ve done a lot of funerals. I’ve done a lot of memorial services. And I’ve had people at times who asked me the question, well, will we know each other when we get to Heaven? Well, if we did, would that be Heaven? No, that’s just okay. So, will we know each other? In other words, here’s John John, I know John John. But when we get to heaven, well, I still know who John John is.

I’m afraid yes. Yes, I will know John John, John John will know me. I will know you and I believe that. But look there in Genesis chapter 25. This is in your notes, but that’s okay. Genesis chapter 25. And I know he was about, You know, he was an old man. And Abraham, the Bible says, was past the time when he could have children and same thing with his wife. And lo and behold, I don’t know what God did to that boy.

Must have gave him a shot of Viagra that lasted 100 years. Because he lived to be 175 years old. He lived another 100 years. And then after he buried his wife, Sarah, he remarried again and had some more kids. So the old boy, he lived a long time. But you know, all good things come to an end. He died. So you look there in Genesis chapter 25 and look what he says in verse 5. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

Then he says there in verse six, but under the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, how many did he have? I don’t know, but we know he only had one, hey guy at one time, and then Sarah died, and then he got married to Katora, and then I know the boy was busy, and how many kids he had? I don’t know, but there was a bunch. And then anyway, he says there in verse seven, and these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, which he lived.

A hundred, three score and fifteen years, a hundred and seventy-five years. Now that’s a long time. I’m only, I’m not half that. Now Al is. Al is. He’s half that. He’s got eighty-eight coming up or eighty-nine? Eighty-eight coming up on Al. But anyway, He makes a statement here in verse 8, then Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age. Now Lord, I just want to live to a good old age.

How long would that be? Well 175 was for him. I’ll take that. You know, I wouldn’t mind living till I’m 150. I’ll settle for 150. You know, that’d be quite a while yet to live. Just think of how many things have happened the time that I’ve been born, how this world has changed, how many more things that we’re doing now that who’ve ever dreamed that. What I wanted you to see here in this verse before y’all get me sidetracked.

In verse 8 he says, he died an old man. He sure was, and full of years, and was gathered to his people, gathered to his people. So when you go to heaven, if it’s not my people, then, you know, how can you have this great family reunion if you don’t even know who they are? So yes, I believe that the people that you know here and when they trust Christ is Savior they get to go to heaven and so you’ll get to go to heaven and be with the Lord and you will know them.

You’ll see them and you’ll know them and You’re going to be gathered to your people so you know who they are and I believe that one day I’m gonna see all my relatives that have trusted the Lord and a lot of people I went to Florida Bible College with. I think when I get to have it, I will see Hank Lindstrom and Hank will be Hank. He’ll be the same one that was here. If he’s somebody else, it ain’t gonna be the same.

I mean, how you have a great reunion. I don’t know nobody here. But I think that’s what I’m gonna do. think I’m going to know a lot of people. I might even know people there that I never knew at all. And one of the biggest surprises of all is when we get to heaven and find out what are you doing here? I didn’t know you was going to be here. Well, slap my mouth. There’s Bob Gilbert. Nobody expected him to show up.

But there’s Bob Gilbert. And then there’s going to be some people that, hey, have you all seen Peter Amato? You know, he He never did get out of that Lordship Salvation. He sounded good, but he never did get out of that there. He’s not here. Well, where is he? Well, we don’t want to talk about it. I’m going to take a Bible and look at the book of Matthew. Matthew and chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22. There’s always somebody that was trying to trap the Lord.

So they asked him a couple of questions. to see if they could trick him, you know. But the Sadducees who did not believe in miracles, the resurrection, you know, angel, they didn’t believe in the supernatural. That’s why they were Sadducee. Look at verse 23. The same day came to him, the Sadducees would say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, said, Master, Moses says, if a man die in having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raised up seed unto his brother.

Now there were with us seven brethren, and the first, when he had married, a wife deceased, having no issue, didn’t have any kids, left his wife unto his brother. Likewise, the second also, and the third, until the seventh. Last of all, the woman finally died. Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? They all had her. So when you get to heaven, she was married all seven brothers. So when you get to heaven, which one’s going to be her husband?

That sounds like a pretty good question, doesn’t it? Betty told me that whenever I die, when she gets to heaven, I’m still her husband. I said, honey, may not be like that. It will be. Have you ever pictured somebody that dies here and goes to heaven when I was younger and I didn’t know any better? I always thought the angels were women. I thought angels were girls. And so these people would be up there chasing these angels all over the place.

But I didn’t know, I didn’t know the Bible, I didn’t know whether there were or not. And I thought whenever we died, you know, even little kids know you get wings, when you get to heaven, you get wings, so you can fly around. I didn’t know that that wasn’t true. And that there are no angels that are girls. All the angels are men in case you didn’t know that. But notice what he says here. In verse 29, Jesus answered, said unto them, ye do heir not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but as the angels of God in heaven. In other words, there’s no sex distinction. There’s not male and female. So when we get to heaven, I just hope you don’t make me the female. That would be devastating to my ego. So there’s no male, female, rich, sure, born, bond, Jew, Gentile, but we’ll be there and we’ll recognize each other. And so I thought, well, I’ll recognize Betty because she got long hair.

And I got short hair. But when we get to heaven, what are we going to look like? I don’t know. But we know that we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. I don’t know what I’m going to look like in heaven. We just believe that we’re going to look better than we do now. And maybe we won’t have to worry about whether or not, you know, that we have dimples. You know, if you had a, I don’t have any dimples.

we have temples when we get to heaven. Or if you had a crooked nose down here, you know ever since I broke my nose, it runs with a limp. So when I get to heaven, am I going to have a broken nose in heaven? Oh, we’re going to have a brand new body, brand new body. That’ll be a wonderful thing. So then he says in verse 31, but is touching the resurrection. Of the dead. Have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

God is not the God of the dead but of the living. So what’s he saying Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they’re still alive. That means they’re still alive and Jacob is Jacob and Isaac is Isaac and all these people, they’re the same ones. But when we get to heaven, you’re going to be you in heaven. And I’m going to be me in heaven because I don’t want to be nobody else. I want to be me. And so God says, He is the God of the living, not the God of the dead.

Because you see, they thought there was no resurrection of the dead. So Jesus really put them down. He says, ye do air, not know in the Scriptures. So when you want to know beyond this life, then the best thing to do is just take God it is word because we’ve never seen heaven, we’ve never seen hell, but we know somebody that’s been to heaven and came from there and lived life and told us what’s like on the other side.

And so I’m just looking for one of these days it’s going to all be over and we’re going to be with the Lord. So number two there, the one word together in 1st Thessalonians 4 17 should comfort our hearts because it will be a reunion and recognition it would be mockery to tell us not to sorrow as others who have no hope. In other words here we are with believers. We lose our loved ones. I’ve lost a mom, a step dad, two sisters, my son, and a host of relatives and so forth.

And so we sorrow but not like those who have no hope. In other words we know we’re gonna see them again. And there’s going to be a great family reunion. Why should God tell us this if it wasn’t true? So there’s a hope that’s built inside of us where we look and long to be with the Lord and to see our loved ones again. I’ve often wondered the man who led me to Christ, Mr. Raymond Jackson, I lived about, I guess, seven, eight, nine, ten years until he died.

And I was, you know, eighteen when I trust the Lord, so by the time I’m twenty-eight years old, twenty-nine, my father-in-law passed away. And I often wondered, I wish he’d stayed around a little bit longer because I learned so much from him, but he died of a massive heart attack. And one day from work he was driving his car and he had a heart attack and passed out of the wheel. And he’s going about 70 miles an hour down the expressway going toward Atlanta.

And he came to and his car had already pulled up underneath an 18-wheeler. And when he looked, there was about that much difference between the windshield and the back of the 18 wheeler, he was underneath it going 70 miles an hour. He didn’t die then, but he slowly backed off next day and said, no, he’s in the hospital. Me and Betty go down there to see him and he joked a lot and he wants some of those nurses to the Lord because his wife was a nurse.

So they would come and to see him and he would witness to everybody. And so we got ready to go back home because, you know, we thought he was He was going to die, he didn’t die. But he says, on your way back to Kansas, he said, if you see this bucket coming down out of the sky, he says, you know I kicked the bucket. Well, we didn’t see that bucket, but anyway, right after that, he did pass away.

And I came back, did the funeral. And I remember this one nurse. He’s in the house there, and a bunch of them around. They were getting food ready and all that stuff, you know. And she looked around the corner. She looked over at me, and she smiled. She says, are you an evangelist? I said, well, I could be. I wasn’t at the time I was pastor at church out in Colorado. And she says, can I talk to you? Yeah, yes ma’am.

So she came in and said, and I talked to her. And she trusted the Lord. I thought it was so neat. And then when I gave an invitation at the funeral service, about eight of those nurses trusted the Lord that came from the hospital. And it was neat. But often wondered, I wonder what he’s doing. Have you ever tried to figure out in your mind, I wonder what Hank’s doing right now. Well, I wonder what Hank’s doing. Here I am, I gotta get up at six o’clock in the morning.

He had to sleep in. What if he’s up or sleeping? What is he doing? Look what he did to me. And so, there is a curiosity, but we know that whatever heaven is, it’s gonna be wonderful. It talks about pleasure forevermore. It’s supposed to be a wonderful, wonderful place, and I’m so glad that I’m going to heaven whenever I die. Now in 2 Corinthians 5, 10, take your Bible and look at this. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10. And if you look up here on the chart, this is where we are.

Right now we’re right here on this chart. All that is past, this is yet future, and in the process of time, time has been processed. We’re right here. The next thing that happened on God’s timetable is for the rapture to take place. That means Christ is coming in the air, and we that are on the earth who have trusted Christ as Savior are going to be changed in a moment the twinkling of an eye and caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

And the Bible says, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Then he says, comfort one another with these words. So we know that we are going to be with the Lord and that we’re not going to stay down here forever. This earth down here is going to be renovated by fire and everything here is going to be gone. But we’re going to have a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. But when we get to heaven, the Bible says we will stand at what is called the judgment seat of Christ.

It is a rewarding stand. It’s not to see who gets to go to heaven. You’re already in heaven. The Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So the very moment you leave your body, you’re present with the Lord. Now, if you know Christ is your Savior, I know Christ is my Savior. If I was a die right now, kill over here with a heart attack. Where is the preacher? Where is the preacher?

You say, well, he’s right there. He’s sleeping in his body. I will be more alive than I’ve ever been in my life. I am not going to be in that body. This whole house is just a house of clay. And it’s getting older and older and getting worse and worse, but one day we’ll leave these bodies, absent from the body, present with the Lord. And we’ll stand at the jubbins of the Christ and God is going to reward you for what you have done for Him.

So that’s why this little short period of time upon the earth that God given to us to live, it’s not long and it’s fleeting and it’s gonna go by very quickly. And that’s why he makes the statement here in verse 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he have done whether good or bad. So God is gonna reward you and I when we get to heaven, the only reason we got to heaven is because of what Christ did for us.

Now what we get when we get to heaven is because of what we did for him. So going to heaven is free. That’s the gift of God. Eternal life is the gift of God. Nobody earns it, nobody works for that. Going to heaven is free because Christ paid the price. He redeemed us, bought us. We belong to Him. Now rewards, there’s not something you have to have. If all I got with my salvation that gets my little pinkies inside the pearly gates.

But rewards are something God wants to give to you because you loved him and you served him. Now, God will not make you be obedient. He will not make you serve him. But if you choose to, I think it’s a wise thing to do. God said, I’m going to reward you when you get to heaven. And when we get to heaven, we’re going to get whatever crowns and rewards. And then when we come back to this thousand year, it rained upon the year, whatever the position we have is determined by this little short period of time we got to live here.

So God’s going to reward you when you get there and then you get the rule and reign with Christ, not only for this thousand years, but then there’ll be a new heavens and a new earth and the increase of his kingdom, there will be no end. It’ll be forever. So that’s why we look forward to it. and we are going to be rewarded. Look at the next statement. Rest from our labors. Let me ask you. Down here we sometimes talk about we get weary and well doing.

We don’t want to get weary of the work, but we may get weary in the work. Sometimes you may not like getting up early in the morning these college kids to pour things. Don’t you feel sorry for them having to get up early and coming to college at 8.30 in the morning, suffering like they do. But one day they won’t have to get up early in the morning and go to class. And God bless those teachers won’t have to get up early in the morning that are three times their age and show up to teach all these little darlings.

You know, I never knew how blessed I was to have three, four, five kids in a class. You realize how easy it is to grade four or five papers. The last night I had 21 in my class and they all took tests. I got a grade 20, something papers. I’m not looking for that. So I decided I’m not going to give them any tests. I’ll just say everybody got 100. You just show up and I’ll give you a good grade.

Well, maybe not. You got to require them to do something, don’t you? You got to know if they’re learning anything at all. So in Hebrews 4 and 9, it says, there remain a rest for the people of God. Now this can be taken two ways. One is whenever you get to the place where you really understand that Christ paid for my way to go to heaven. And I don’t have to work, I can rest in the fact Jesus paid it all.

And so for the last 55 years, since I trust the Lord, I’ve never had to sweat it. I never had to do one work, not one deed. And I rest upon what he did, and I get to go to heaven. Isn’t that wonderful? There’s no stress there. There’s no pressure because he, my salvation’s already done. But now there is to the Christian, in the Christian life, there is still a rest for the people of God who learn how to mature in the Lord.

and you learn the word of God in such a way that it becomes a blessing to you. See, little faith takes the soul to heaven, but great faith brings heaven to the soul. And here you and I are, we’ve got to live life down here. And there’s a lot of pressure. When you want to do what’s right, there’s a lot of stress trying to make the right decision, sometimes trying to understand what is the right decision. Then have the strength and the grace to do the right thing when you know the right thing.

And so here we are, but there’s a rest to the people of God. And as you get older and mature in the Lord, there is a rest for the mature saints of God who learn how to just trust the Lord, and you don’t worry about it. It’s amazing how many Christians worry about everything. And the God that sent his son to down the cross to pay for your sins did all that work so that you can have it freely.

And just think. The one that can give you the free gift of eternal life. Can he give you a hamburger from day to day? Can he meet your needs? And we’re supposed to live our life, you know, trusting the Lord because we believe that’s exactly what he’s gonna do. 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. 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.