This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

2 Timothy and 3. 2 Timothy and 3. The Bible tells us here, and though it was written 2,000 years ago, says this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves. Cauvatus, boasters, prowl, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. And goes on down and says a bunch of other things, but look there in verse five. Even a reference to religious people having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

From such turn away. There’s many things in God’s word that weren’t just about the human nature. It says in the book of Jeremiah that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, and who can know it. I believe that if you got a chance to see some of the news and some of the things you heard about, you also can see just how low people can get very fast. It wasn’t long ago that I had preached to sermon, dealing with if we had a major catastrophe in America.

America. Whether it was a nuclear, chemical, biological warfare, earthquake, it doesn’t matter. Something that is beyond your power to control. What would people do if there was no food in the grocery stores and no trucks were able to run, no gas, people can’t go to work? And I know it seems like it’s a far-fetched, you know, scenario. That’ll never happen, how quickly things can change. And I was talking a little bit about the days of knowing the flood where the Lord had told us as He looked down upon the sons of men and He saw the wickedness and He says, and it was great, that there was nothing that they would not try to do anything they imagined to do they did.

They have no restraints. Nothing holds them back. We have people like that today that have absolutely no morals whatsoever. There’s nothing to guide them. They are truly like sheep without shepherds. And Christ in a pre-menifestation of Christ in the Old Testament, when you see the words the angel of the Lord Lord is always Christ. And the Lord says that He looked down upon the children of men and decided that He was just going to wipe them out. So He brought in the flood.

He saved Noah, misses Noah, three sons, their wives. And think of how many people may have been upon the earth, especially when they can live for a thousand years before the flood, a thousand your home and had children, how many people must have died? How can a God that creates the heavens and the earth not care what happens to people and the misery they have or the way that they die? Especially when we believe that there is an all-powerful God that can do whatever he wants to do.

Why does God and why did God allow all those people to die in a flood? And whenever you see the scenes that they’ve shown from New Orleans, all those people that were dying, bodies in the streets, in the Colosseum, old folks, women wonder where their babies are. There was one woman was 105 years old in a wheelchair, and we went down high ten.lopp And I was told that in one place in the hospital that they got all the patients out, but some of the doctors didn’t make it.

The doctors literally died doing what they were doing. There are some horror stories. And if there’s a God in heaven, how can God justify himself? Because I know in the minds of people we often become bitter at God, angry at God. And people were bitter and angry because they thought that whoever was in charge could have done something or cause a swifter response that more life could have been saved. But I do believe that could be a forerunner of something that’s really going to take place in our country.

And it could be that the Lord gave us a taste of what’s down the road and how that we might need to prepare in a better way. What if something really did happen that was really bad? The Bible says in the last days that there shall be earthquakes around the world, more severe. what if there was more earthquakes that sin in not just 30-foot waves, not just a high level of water? Well, what if it came in 100 feet high?

Well, one day when it happens and those people are destroyed, will it be because, well, somebody should have done something about that. Who in the world in their right mind would have built a city below sea level, No one the possibilities but not expecting it to happen. And to have a lake that’s above you, that would be scary for me alone. I really didn’t know the seriousness of the situation until you start listening to what had taken place. And it didn’t matter how many levies were closed and secure.

All you need is just one break, one break. And I said, it didn’t matter how many areas in your life that you guard if you had a fence and a hundred cattle in there and you had ten gates, but you left one gate open, well you still lose the whole herd to that one gate you left open.

And it only takes one levy to break in order to do all the damage. And to think how quickly something can change, how quickly things can happen. But see, it doesn’t always have to happen the way that you think or expect or when. Anything can happen at any time. And it could be major earthquakes or some nut get a hold of a bomb. The key thing, regardless of any catastrophe, I believe that there is a God in heaven who is never taken by surprise.

The question that many people ask, did God know that this was going to happen? Did God already know that this was going to happen? Every bit of it. Did he know every person was going to do every person? All the misery God knew it all. And why didn’t God stop it? He didn’t. And when it comes to people here in America, we want to know about God. God, when did you know about this? How much did you know? Well, why did you let it happen?

Can you and I have more compassion for those people and what they’re going through than God. What about the God that has the power to do something about it, to have all this compassion? Am I to have more than God? Interesting questions. Why didn’t God, if he has more loving compassion than what I do, why didn’t God stop it? Why did God let it happen? See, some people have questions, but they don’t like to really ask them they don’t have an answer and it scares them.

Because see, if we can’t find an answer to that, we won’t have the answer to anything that happens to us. Have you ever read the book of Job? It wasn’t so much that it had to do with Job as it did with those people who were always trying to figure out why did it happen. And God used Job to be a catalyst in their life that teach them. They thought they had the answer to everything and they didn’t have the answer.

They were Job’s good friends and they were wrong in their conclusions every one of them. They really didn’t know what was behind the scenes. They didn’t know what had taken place between God and Satan and how that Job’s integrity was being challenged. All they knew is, Joe must have done something wrong. Does the righteous sometimes pay with destruction, just like the lost man? When a lost man goes outside and a Christian goes outside and it rains, does it rain on both of them or just the lost man?

When we live and they live, do they suffer problems and we don’t suffer problems? Or does the righteous suffer also? Is it possible that even doing the flood that there were righteous people that didn’t die because of the flood, but could have died right before the flood, which I believe was the case with Matusla? His name means when his dead judgment will come. And judgment came the year he died, even though he lived 969 years. God does allow at times righteous people to die to suffer the same horrible deaths that the wicked.

Whenever God sent Jonah to Nineveh, what was the ultimatum? God said that he was going to destroy the city, the whole city, around forty-some thousand people. wipe them all out if they did not do what was right. And so he said, Jonah and Jonah says, God’s going to destroy this place unless they got right and they all went down to the altar. They all got right and God spared the city. Jonah was still mad because he knew God was going to do that.

He knew that God would have compassion upon him. Jonah didn’t want God to have compassion. God was going to have compassion and Jonah didn’t want God to. He wanted God to zap him. He was a Jew. They were Gentiles and they treated Gentiles like dogs. And God says, you’ve got more compassion over that worm that killed that goer that keeps that heat off of you than you do those people down there. And it ends the story with Jonah been a bitter man, a bitter man in spite of all the people that was going to be destroyed weren’t.

What about Sodom Gomorrah? Remember when in Sodom and Gomorrah Abraham says, Lord, if there’s 50 people there you won’t destroy it. If there’s 50 righteous, God says I won’t do it for 50. Oh, what about 40? What about 30? What about 20? What about 10? God says I won’t destroyed for that many. That means that he was going to destroy Saudi anymore with those people there if they were there before Abraham prayed. But he got a lot and his wife out of there.

God brought judgment. Is this what’s going on? I don’t know, I’m not God. I don’t have all the answers. But I do believe that God, if it’s in charge, knows what he’s doing. We You may not understand why God picks and chooses like He does. I had two great friends. They both got cancer. One lived, one died. Explained it. I don’t. Okay. God has reasons that He hasn’t revealed to us. But I want you to take your Bible and turn there to the book of Matthew, the book of Matthew in chapter two.

I want you to look at something here to try to get some kind of a perspective. Sometimes God will let his righteous die, but when they die, they go to be with him. So death concerning his saints is a precious thing. The death of his saints is a precious thing in the the eyes of the Lord. Think about it. Death to a believer is a precious thing in God’s eyes. Because the only way you get there is you’ve got to leave here.

So death is not something that you and I are supposed to fear. But we do, don’t we? Because we’ve never done it before. Here in Matthew chapter 2, all the scripture has prophesied for 1500 years to almost 2000 someplace about Jesus Christ, the Messiah coming into the world and going to be born. And God even telling us where He would be born, how He would be born, the very year He would be born. So God knew all of this so nothing was a shock.

Did God know that Herod was going to try to destroy his son? Was God able to miraculously provide for his son yet? Why didn’t he just kill Herod? If that’s what Herod wanted to do, why didn’t God, you’re the mat? There. But God didn’t. There’s some kind of rules in the game of life and death that we don’t really understand. And I understand totally yet. And like there’s in football, we know the rules. We play basketball, there’s rules. Every sport, there’s rules.

There’s rules concerning marriage, raising children. There’s guidelines. There are guidelines to life. I believe God is laid down and Satan has to play by them. God has to play by them. made the rules. And there’s things God will do and think God will not do. There’s prayers that God will answer, there’s prayers God won’t. There’s things that God has a four time agreed upon of what the rules are. And I believe if there’s anybody who plays by the rules, it’s God.

And he’s a righteous God. So there’s some things that God is able to do and some things he’s not because of rules. I don’t know them all. He He hasn’t revealed them all. God doesn’t have to. That’s part of the rules. He said the secret things belong unto the Lord, something God hasn’t revealed. There are some things God has revealed. And it says here in verse 12, being warned of God in a dream. Get that, being warned of God.

Isn’t it amazing that we have the technology today to have satellite systems that can warn us about, you know, hurricanes? And we can even track the hurricane and watch it on our TVs and see where it’s going to go. Isn’t it amazing of what man has been able to accomplish. And we have warning systems that will help us. I believe there’s things in God’s Word that God has warned us about. But He makes the statement, they’ve been warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod.

They departed into their own country another way,…why?Integer because God knew the future. knew what was going to happen if they faced Herod. They knew Herod’s motive and that Herod wanted to kill that child. So here’s this one child. Why was God willing to spare this one child and warn his mom and dad so they could take him to refuge a place of safety and God let all these other children and all the coast and all of Bethlehem, God let all of them die.

What if you were the parent of that child? That was your child that here at Kiel trying to find that one child. If you knew this, how would that make you feel about God? He took yourThumbnailImage and left another one. And all God had to do to stopfw all of that was kill that one guy that wanted to do it. God says that it is he that is able to shape the course of a river and the ways of a king.

God raises up and God puts down. You see, there’s a lot more behind the scenes than what you and I will ever understand. But look what he says in verse 13, when they were departed, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, rise, take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt. But what if Joseph had no bait, God? What if he hadn’t done it? Well it might be a different story altogether.

We don’t know. He said, flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring the word. You go down here and stay there until I tell you to move. He says, for Herod will seek. What are you going to do? All he wants to worship him. Now that’s what Herod said. But God knew the real modu of Herod, and God’s not taken by surprise. Here He makes the statement, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. Did God know that in advance?

Yeah. What did he want him to do? Wanted him to leave. And yet God could have done something else. And in verse 40, and when He arose, He took the young child and his mother by night departed into Egypt. Why did he have to believe by the… Couldn’t God protect this child? And there’s some places where the Bible says God did things a different way. God will work different ways in your life. God knows what’s coming tomorrow. Let me ask you a question.

What do you think we are told to trust the Lord? Without all the explanations. See, we say, well, I don’t mind trusting God if you just tell me what’s going on. Tell me what’s going on. God doesn’t tell us all the things that are going on. And the same catastrophe that is death to the righteous, which is a precious thing in the eyes of the Lord, can be judgment upon the wicked. The Bible tells us in the last days, perilous time shall come, and that God is going to send worse things upon the earth.

And He says, there’s going to be famine and pestilence. Just like He knew this about His Son and what one man wanted to do, God already told us what’s coming. And He describes the tribulation period as the worst time the world has ever known. There’s never been a time like it. Because what’s coming, he says, there’s nothing like it has ever happened. And there’s things that you intimidat face in life that you’re not going to have all the answers.

But should you charge God foolishly? Just because you don’t understand why God allowed some things to happen. In this world, God is going to allow a lot of bad things to happen. And some of those bad things that will wipe out some wicked people is going to take out some good people right along with them. But for us, it will be a blessing we get to go to be with the Lord. But for the wicked, they’ll wake up in hell.

Good what he says here in looking verse 15. He’s the end, was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of by the Lord of the Lord by the prophets saying, out of Egypt, have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath and what I sent forth and slew, get to all the children that were in Bethlehem. And in all the coast thereof, from two years old and under, why would God let that happen when he could have just killed one man?

God could have killed one man, but God let that man live and wipe out all the children two years old and under. All I know is it also eliminated anybody else from claiming the throne of Israel, saying they had a right at that age. God Christ was the only one. Everybody else, they were dead. But I don’t know the reason. And then he makes his statement in verse 17, then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet.

Saying in Ramadah there was a voice heard in lamentation and weeping in great morning. Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they are not. In other words all these women god prophesied in the book of Jeremiah about all these women crying and weeping and mourning because their children are dead. Did God know it was going to happen? And God allowed them to be slaughtered. Because you see Herod was stabbing at one baby. He was trying to kill one baby.

But we believe that babies until they reach the age of a kind of a with the Lord. So they’re in heaven. And the one baby that was kept alive lived to die. Because that’s why he came. But not to have a premature death when he’s two years old. God appeared to him and warned him. Look down in verse 22. But when he heard that Arcelias did rain in Judea and the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go hither.

Notwithstanding been warned of God in a dream warned again. Do you think God miraculously sometimes intervenes? Causes one person to think this and somebody else to think that and they make different decisions and they wind up in in this place, that one in that place, this one is spared and that one is dead. You and I will never understand this side of eternity. All the things that God has done and why God has spared you or spared me from some little accident or rector we could have been dead by now.

Why am I still alive? I haven’t got the clue. I live only by the grace of God and so do you. But I do believe that there’s a God in heaven that has more love and more compassion than you and I will ever have. But I believe that it’s a test for us to do what we can do with what we have. But anyway, we live in a very scary time, really. Let’s just pretend if there is no trucks that can run and if there is no electricity, and all of a sudden there’s no food and there’s no water, if you have no food, no water, how How fast would it take our country to be thrown into a real serious national crisis?

And what would you do? How wicked would you get? The next North Day neighbors got food and water and you don’t. What would you do? You talk about watching people, the ugly side of individuals. Why do you think in the nation of Israel when God told them about they’re going to come and they’re going to put a siege around this city? And you’re going to eat your own children and your boil your own sons. Good people do an evil things.

It’s amazing what we’ll do just to live. We have a lot of reason to be thankful, but we need to be cautious. and we’re not going to have all the answers. And I believe it’d be premature to judge too quickly. Where’s all the fault? There’s things in my life that I thought, well, if I’d have known that, if I’d have known that, well, I’d have known that. Of course, you’d do something different, but you don’t know that. And there’s always somebody who says, well, you should have done.

Well, maybe you should have, but you didn’t know to do it. I believe that majority of people try to make the best decision they can at the moment. And it just don’t sometimes it’s not the right one that somebody has would have made or it’s the wrong one. It doesn’t make a person wicked just because they lacked a little knowledge, not knowing sometimes exactly what to do. Now you stop and think to see the misery that you have in this life and then look further and deeper than that and see there’s something that’s even worse than all of this.

Is where are they going to go spiritually? Do they have eternal life? do they know the Lord? Were they prepared to die? See, that’s still the most important thing. But I know that Christians are supposed to care, and opposed to have compassion, and try to help people. But also at the same time, what a wonderful time. I’d love to get a bunch of tracks, thousands of tracks. And just go there and just pass out tracks everywhere I can. Sometimes when people like this, they really listen.

But they also need the other help. Let’s pray, Shallelujah. Our Father once again, we thank you for your love to us. That Jesus Christ came into this world wrong. No one and yet suffered cruelly at the hands of wicked people, religious people. And Father was mocked and shamed. And Father no doubt there’s a multitude of people that have been the astrodome and all these areas and followed the shame that so many of them no doubt had to go through with no facilities, not taking baths, not being able to eat or to sleep properly and then watching loved ones die.

How horrible that is for so many people. And I would just pray that you’ll help those that are seeking to help others there to help bring some comfort to ease some other pain. We ask all the blessings upon us help us to do right, to do what we can. And we thank you for this time together. 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.

A 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.

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