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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 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.

Now look down in verse 11, Paul’s in hot water is going to be giving it a defense of why he’s doing what he’s doing. And because he’s a Roman, he could appeal to Caesar, which is what he did. So the Lord had promised him, I’m going to send you to Rome. So he already knew he was going to Rome. But there was some people who would determine that take his life. So trouble is brewing. Notice in verse 11, and the night following the Lord stood by him and said, be of good cheer.

Yeah, right. Be of good cheer, Paul. Got some good news for you. For as thou have testified of me in Jerusalem, but listen, when Paul testified, it wasn’t always would everybody given him a standing ovation, no one had applause. And I was glad to hear him. He suffered. But he was still doing what God wanted to him. Just because the results weren’t like he wanted or what we would desire, because everybody doesn’t always agree, he had to face the music.

There’s consequences. And he says, as thou has testified here in Jerusalem, guess what? So must thou bear witness also at Rome. Even though you’re going under house arrest, you’re on your way to Rome. Yay! God promised. Now if God told him you’re going to Rome, do you think that if Paul does what he’s supposed to do and God said what he wanted him to do? Do you think that there’s a possibility it might just happen? Good possibility. ever think about maybe you are invincible in the hands of God until God’s through with you?

Can God keep you alive? Can God allow somebody to take your life? Well yes. Since we don’t know which one is going to be, we’re supposed to rejoice. Always. Regardless. Now look what he says in verse 12. Now when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they wouldn’t either eat nor drink till they had done what? Till they killed Paul. Now look how many people did this and they were more than 40 which had made this conspiracy.

So there’s 40 men had gotten together, sworn oath they will not sleep or eat. eat, what was that dare? Oh, so they’re not going to eat, nor drink. I guess they could sleep. Eat nor drink until they kill Paul. Now, so far in your Christian life, how many people do you know has taken a no-ficad for you? You have anything to complain about? If you really want to take and serve such a heart, wait a minute, look what some of these guys went through.

You really want to be like Paul, you want God to use you like Paul, well, you’ve got to pay the price of a man like Paul too. Look what else he says. In verse 14, N, they came to the chief priests and elders and says, we have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will neither eat nothing until we have slain Paul. And so the chief priests and says, don’t do that. No, they didn’t say that. therefore in verse 15, therefore ye would they counsel signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow as though ye would inquire something more perfectly concerning him, and we or even ever he come near are ready to kill him.”

Now it just so happens by a coincidence. You see Paul had a sister and Paul had a sister who had a son who just happened to hear what was said So you look what he said in verse 8, and when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their line and weight, he went and entered into the castle and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, said, bring this young man unto the chief captain, for he hath a certain thing to tell him.

And he took him and brought him to the chief captain and says, Paul the prisoner, call me into him and ask me or prayed me to bring this young man unto him. unto him, unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. Then the chief, chief captain, took him by the hand and went with him aside privately and asked him, what is that thou hast to tell me? And he says the Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou would have bring down Paul tomorrow into the council as though they would inquire somewhat of him more perfectly.

But do not thou yield unto them? For there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men which have bound themselves with an oath that they will neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. And now are they ready looking for a promise from thee. So the chief captain then let the young man depart and charged him see thou tell no man that thou have shown these things to me. Just a coincidence that somebody accidentally me overheard just happens to be Paul’s nephew just coincident time at the right time the right ears heard the right thing did the right thing and yet here’s Paul totally at the mercy he has to trust the Lord to get him through it so look what he says in verse 23 he called unto him two centurions saying make ready two 200 soldiers to go to

Caesarea, and horsemen, three score and ten, and spearmint 200 at the third hour of the night. 470 Roman legionnaires are ready to move at night to take this one man safely through. Now, you believe God was watching over this? Didn’t God say, hey, I’m gonna bring you all the way to Rome. And there was a time when Paul was a little on the scares. He didn’t hurt so much. Beat up so bad. And the Lord says, it’s going to be okay.

You’re going to make it. When you read the last part of Acts, and he gets in this great big old ship, and then there’s a shipwreck, and all the things that happen. And because of Paul, he saved everybody’s life. They would call the shipites. None, but they were used of the Lord. But God can watch over you and bless and move in strange and mysterious ways. You just be found faithful and serve in the Lord. You don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.

All kinds of things can happen. It’s just like, for example, I had some news that Jesse was driving his car and somebody else decided to drive his car for him and hid him from the side. But you realize how quickly something could have happened? Very bad. But it just happened to the car. No big deal, just a car. Jesse’s more important than the car, so we’re thankful that the Lord watched over him, protected. But you don’t know how serious Satan takes your dedication.

He may take your dedication more seriously than you do, because he’s going to do everything he possibly can to stop you, and he doesn’t care how he has to do it. your Bible and look in the book of 1 Timothy chapter 1, 1 Timothy chapter 1. There’s an interesting scripture here that lets you get an idea of the way Paul was. And maybe a little bit of an idea why God chose to use him in the way that he did.

Now of course God couldn’t make Paul trust him. God didn’t make Paul serve him. Paul agreed with the Lord. He did believe on the Lord and he did decide to serve the Lord and he says I pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high column. You see there’s more than just salvation. Salvation is a great thing. That’s what gets you into the kingdom of God. But you were not there yet and as far as we’re not in heaven we’re still here and there’s so much that God wants us to do.

But looking first Timothy chapter 1 he tells us about all these bad things and the law is not for the righteous men but the law is for the the ungodly and the unfaithful and all that kind of stuff. Then he says there in verse 11 according to the glorious gospel the glorious gospel is the gospel of perfection. You see if the gospel cannot make you perfect. The gospel isn’t any good. If the gospel cannot prepare a man for eternity, it can’t prepare you at all.

Because your works can’t do it, but grace can. And so this is why when we talk about when you trust Christ as your Savior, you’ve got to be perfect to go to heaven. Well, evidently trusting Christ as your Savior makes you perfect in Christ. So he says, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was, and here’s those words, committed to my trust. Paul says, I have been entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak. Not as pleasing men, but God which tried our heart.

Now where’s that verse found? You’ve heard that verse before? Verse thessalonians 2-4, very, very good. Alright, now notice what he says. In verse 12, and I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. See, you be found faithful, God will put you in the ministry. You just do what God wants you to do. Be found faithful. And now notice what verse 13 says. Here is his resume. Now does he have the resume that’s fit for a mission area?

I bet if the Apostle Paul was here today and went around and tried to raise the mission or support, they wouldn’t even let him in the church. I mean, he wouldn’t qualify you. I mean, you got what kind of a… you did what? who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and juryist, but obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly as an unbeliever. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptations or mean worthy for everybody to accept that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.” Look what he has done. Look how he has lived. And he can save the chief, he can save all the Indians, right? Now notice he even refers to that as an example. How be it for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

If God can save a man like Paul, God can save anybody. That’s the point of this. That’s why he says up there also came into the world to save sinners. Okay now if he came to save sinners and everybody’s a sinner and then he really came to save the whole world wouldn’t you think? And everybody here qualifies. Now one little statement that I want to give to you in verse 19 because some people’s testimony is after they trust the Lord is not maintained.

And therefore he says here in verse 19, holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. Now you can’t have shipwreck unless you’re in the ship. You have to be in the ship to have shipwreck. People have to be in the faith in order to shipwreck themselves. So So there’s some of God’s children that never launch out from the deep because of being afraid. They keep their feet on the land and they don’t trust getting away from the shore.

So there’s times whenever you get too close to this world and you’re going to have shipwreck. And this is what happens and so this is why it’s so important to keep these in mind. Now there’s a scripture that I think is very important to say. Look there in the book of Philippians. in chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. Now all this is about the apostle Paul and what he was like before he ever trusted the Lord. Remember whatever you have done in your past it’s not good.

Now you don’t glorify your sin but I do believe that you can use your life, your whole life, things about your life in such a way that can bring glory to the Lord. Remember, this morning, whenever I was speaking about how I know that God loves me, when I made the statement, I’ve never heard my mother or my father ever say the words, I love you. That’s the truth. I heard my mother say one time, well, you know that I love all my kids.

That’s the closest that I’ve ever heard of get. Now I believe my mama did love me. dad I really don’t know but I do believe my mama did but wouldn’t you like to hear it once in a while you’d like to hear it and it’s like this guy he got married told his wife he loved her 30 years later she says hun you don’t come you love me anymore well if it ever changes I’ll tell you You read the scriptures and you’ll be surprised how many times they talk about the love of God, the love of God.

But there’s parts of your life that can help people to get a sense of what you’re talking about, where you’re coming from. Here in Philippians in chapter three, look what he says in verse four, those who want to put confidence in who they are and what they’ve done, he says, let me kind of give you a little background story here. He says, let me give you a little background story here. He said, though I might have confidence in the flesh, if any other man think of that he hath where he might trust in the flesh, I’m more.

Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, the righteousness which is in the law? Blameless. But what things were gained to me in this life, those I counted the laws for Christ. I’d rather give all that up and have Christ than to keep all of that and not have Christ. He says, as you make this statement in verse 9, he says, and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Because at one time, he trusted all of that. And then he found out that’s nothing more than like he says here in verse eight. He said, I count it, but dumb fertilizer that I may win Christ. So Paul had quite a resume, I mean quite a story, but God used him in a great way. And there’s things in in your life that you probably have done, that you may not be proud of, you don’t have to glorify it, but it is sometimes good to be able to use even sometimes your failures in life.

Lessons that you’ve learned. What has God taught you? I ask a man one time, I says, so what has God been teaching you lately? And he looked like he went into a state of shock, like God ain’t teaching me anything lately. Don’t you think God should be teaching you something all the way through life. You’re learning something, learning some lessons. This Christ is supposed to be more precious to us now than he was before. I think so. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Galatians.

Just turn to your left in the book of Galatians in chapter 1. Galatians in chapter 1, see after Paul had his experience with the bright light on road to Damascus. He says, I didn’t confer with flesh and blood. It wasn’t a man that taught me what I’m teaching today. He says, but I certify you in verse 11, brethren, that the gospel which was preached to me is not after man. He didn’t learn his message from the other apostles. Now later on he did go to Jerusalem and he did meet the other apostles, but he says they added nothing to him.

It’s just that they agreed that one would go to the Jews and one goes to the Gentiles, but that was Lord’s decision. And so they understood that and there was no problem. Paul didn’t actually look up too highly for the other apostles. He says, it didn’t matter to me. But see, they’re in verse 6 of chapter 2, but of these who seemed to be somewhat whatever they were, it may have no matter to me. God, except if no man’s persons, for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference, added nothing to me.

But contrary wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision, the Gentiles, was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was committed unto Paul. So yeah, they got together and so forth and they understood. There’s more to that, but we don’t have time for that right now, but look there in verse 12 of chapter 1. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. He knew that his message was true.

He got it straight from Jesus Christ himself. Now, there is a possibility that if he was a Pharisee and part of the Sanhedrin there in Jerusalem, even when Jesus was there, they may have had times when they met, I don’t know, that doesn’t really say. But he knew about Christ and he knew about the disciples and that’s why he was trying to kill this movement, those that were of the way. And so he says there in verse 13, for ye have heard of my conversation or my manner of life, my behavior, in time past, in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews religion above many my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother’s womb, Call me by his grace to reveal his son in me. You ought to underline that, to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. So Paul was an unusual man. And all those experiences that he had, and the way that he was, when he trusted the Lord, he was just as on fire and fervent as he was before he ever trusted the Lord.

You see, his character or temperament didn’t change. He went after with the same zeal now with the truth that he was going after with before with a lie. When you read the book of Romans in chapter 10, when he says that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, he ought to know. Well, they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. He says, I bear them record. He says, I know this. He said, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves into the righteousness of God.

He says, I know. He said, I was there. So you have something that’s really good in God using someone that had a lot of baggage. But baggage that when you open them up, there’s all kinds of stories and illustrations that can be used for the Lord’s work. Now there’s things that has happened in your life that God has done for you and delivering you or teaching you some lessons that you can use as an advantage. There for a reason every one of us have got stories that we can tell.

And some people say, well, nothing ever happens to me. Yes, it does. You just don’t know how to tell the story. Search your own life, examine yourself, find out what has God done for me. And you can be able to make wonderful stories and illustrations for those things that God can be able to use. Now, I want you to look in 1 Corinthians in chapter 15. 1 Corinthians in chapter 15. The Apostle Paul made this statement. If there’s anyone who felt unworthy, Paul did.

So he says, for in verse 9, he says, for I am the least of the apostles am not fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Now from reading all those other scriptures, we know just what he meant by that. He put them to death. They were put in prison. They were separated from their families. Women also, he was a bad man. And this is why Ananias did not really, well, he wasn’t too hip.

I’m going to see this man. He says, Lord, don’t you know what He’s done? Look how bad He is and what He’s done to God’s disciples. You think the Lord didn’t know that? Lord knew. Don’t look down your nose at anybody because you be surprised who God can use. God can use anybody. I don’t get how bad they’ve been. How many sins they’ve done? God can use anybody. And so keep that in mind. But look what He says in in verse 10.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am. Now we knew what He was, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. Regardless of my testimony, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And you can say the same thing in spite of my testimony. Regardless of how bad I’ve been I’ve been a sinner I’ve heard many years I am what I am think about this you take Al back there he didn’t trust the Lord into about 10 years ago right something like that Al about 10 years ago well maybe 12 just think how many years he lived think of how many sins he committed think of how many sins you can commit in 75 years he probably started when he was a year old, too.

And all those sins. Well, there’s no way possible God can use a man at 76 years old and been that bad. And yet God gave him a wonderful wife, saved his soul, and gave him a great ministry. This whole ministry. It’s very thankful for that man. And y’all, there’s things that I know that I can’t tell you and I won’t tell you. No, they won’t let me tell you everything. But this man has been a blessing to this ministry.

Every ministry here. But can God use anybody? It’s right, I ain’t got no money. I ain’t got nothing. I’m a nobody. Yeah. Keep on a while until we get to heaven. But God can use anybody. God can use everybody. God can use you. In your own mind, just say these words, God can use me. God can use me. Even all my failures that brought you shame or something like that, you should never happen. You’d be surprised down the road, a story here and a story there could help somebody else tremendously that God can use you.

This end represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us. I hate our sin, but He loves us. And the Bible says that since we’ve all sinned, we’re all condemned. We’re all bad. None of us righteous. None good. No, not one. No difference. And the Bible says to go to heaven, we have to be without sin. We can’t change the situation. The wages and the death, we’re condemned. This hand represents Jesus He’s the Lord God in the flesh.

He 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 didn’t have to die. So He took all the sin of all the world, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead, and said that if we would believe He did it for us, He would put this payment to our account, and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us.

That’s such good news, best news in all the world. Let’s pray, shall we? We’ll head about nice clothes, no one looking around. If you’re here tonight or if you’re watching by internet, understand this. God loves you. And so do I. God wants you to go to heaven. So do I. So He tells you simply believe that when Christ died, He paid for your sins. And if you’ll believe it, He said He’d put that payment to your account. And then you have a payment for all of your sins.

And if you’ve got a payment for all of your sins, And that means all you’re centipede. That means you don’t have any to pay for it. You go to heaven because of what Christ did, not because of anything that you do. You cannot earn it, you can’t work for it. For my grace are you saved. That not of yourself is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And I pray that you’ll trust the Lord.

Put your head down nice and close, and no one looking around. If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you do it right now? Or if you’re watching my internet, would you trust the Lord? I pray that you will. And if you’re making that decision right now, never done it before. You say, pray for me, I will trust Christ right now as my Savior, and I’d like you to remember me in prayer and closing. Would you slip you up?

You hand up very quickly, put a right back down and do it all. If you’re watching by the internet, right on the screen says, yes I’ll trust Christ as my Savior, I pray that you will. Father, thank you again for your blessings. Thank you for using somebody like the Apostle Paul, a great example of not only you can save, but you can use. Thank you for using him. It’s an encouragement each and every one of us in Christ’s 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. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t 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.