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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 first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

If there’s anything that you’re going to do do in your Christian life is you’re going to doubt at times in your Christian life that God really loves you. So let me ask you this, does God love you? How many of you would say yes God loves me? Let me see him. Do you remember when you were a little child that you used sing that song called Jesus Loves Me. I mean, we know that song. Good. You’re going to sing it.

So here we go. Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Give yourself a big hand. You need it. enough to go on a road now. In your Christian life, you’re going to have things that will happen that will bring you down to the point of despair. Now, when you get sick, does God still love you when you get sick?

Whenever your husband disappoints you, says bad things against your about you. Does God still love you though? If your wife fails you in some way, don’t love you anymore. Does God still love you? When your children don’t obey you and become rebellious to you, does God still love you? If your parents say, you know, things against you in any way or don’t let you do what you want to do. Does God still love you though? If you’ve got hurt in an automobile accident on the way home today, does God still love you?

If you lost your job tomorrow, does God still love you? Some of you’re not even sure anymore. If you lose all of your money. If you lose all of it, you ain’t got to sit left to your name. Does God still love you? This means yes. This means no. Does God still love you? When you lose your loved one, does God still love you? If you lost your child, does God still love you? Now, we’re not talking this morning about you loving God.

We just want to establish one main thing. Do you know and do you really believe that God loves you? You know that the devil will do everything possible to convince you that if God really loves you, he wouldn’t let certain things happen to you. And so because some of these bad things happen to you and God is sovereign, has all power, and He let it happen. Therefore God must not love you. As a child of God, and you are rebellious to Him, and you turn your back against the things of God, you walk away from the things of God.

become disobedient to God. Does God still love you? He loves you with an everlasting love. Now, as children, we can very easily believe this without question that God loves us. The answer is simple. We just sung it in a song, or the Bible tells me so. John 3 16, quote it with me. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, He said, son, that whosoever believe it in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God so loved the world. Do you believe that? You believe God really does. Now when we grow up we begin to start changing a lot of things, questioning a a lot of things. So God is love. The Bible tells us that. And he not only needed an object to love, but God desires to be loved. Think about that. God, the Creator, the heavens and the earth wants us to love him. You see, our love is because we know that he first loved us.

So you’ve got to be sold on that. Or later down the road, you’d be surprised how many Christians turn on their Heavenly Father and stop loving him. And you’d be surprised how many of God’s children fall in love with the world and not God. this is what I want to explain to you. But I want you to see this verse in the Bible. Look in 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2, and you’ll notice that there is an interesting verse that’s mentioned here in chapter 2.

And look in verse 15. This is not to the lost man, this is to the Christian. In verse 15, love not the world. Evidently you’ve got a choice. Neither the things that are in the world. Evidently you have a choice. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I didn’t write this. I’m just trying to make you aware of it. You love the world, the things in the world, the love of the Father is not in Him.

Now our love for Him is going to be based upon your really good understanding of His love for you and for me. Forget what you want for a moment, the things you want in life. I want you to think about this. What does God want? God want for me more than anything else in the world. He wants me to love Him. Do you believe that? Do you believe God loves you? Now, do you love God? But we want to take and look at these other points first of all.

Since love must be by choice, can you force your wife to love you? you. You can’t make them, can you? It was supposed to have been voluntarily, right? Can you make your husband love you? Can you make your children love you? Like to try, huh? You’ve tried. Because don’t you realize all the things I’ve done to you? I’ve slaved and worked my fingers to the bone for you and you’re appreciating me. You don’t love me? And they could care less.

And one of the worst things in the world has been rejected, that feeling of rejection. How do you think God feels? But remember this, since love must be by choice, the Lord created man with the ability to make decisions that may be in opposition to his own will. God will allow you and me to make decisions, contrary to His. If He didn’t, then He made us robots, and we really don’t have anything to choose. But God gave us an ability to make decisions.

So in the sovereignty of God, He chose to give man a free will and allows you to make decisions and to suffer consequences of those decisions or to enjoy the blessings of those decisions. Your choice, my choice. We are created with an intense desire to love and to be loved. If that wasn’t true, most of us would have never got married. But there’s something about love. We have an intense desire to love, an intense desire to be loved. But that’s what God has.

Now, God made a man and God made a woman. They were the objects of his love. Someone that he could walk with, talk to, fellowship with, and all the rest of it. But although Eve was deceived when she ate the fruit, now we know it was a banana because it had a peel. Okay, we’ll move right along. She ate the fruit in rebellion to God. We know that Adam did make a deliberate decision to die rather than live without Eve.

Now think about that. Adam loved her so much, he would rather die than live without her. Now I want you to see this in your Bible because you may not believe that this is in the book, but it is in here. Look there in the book of 1 Timothy chapter two, 1 Timothy in chapter two. And you’ll notice there in verse 14.

Verse 14, and Adam was not deceived. What did it say? Adam was not deceived. But the woman being deceived means she was deceived. Now you and I know I could go a long way right here. I could part here for the rest of the service. But I’m not. I’m not going to do that. I will not yield to temptation, though I am greatly tempted. But what I want you to know is Adam was not deceived. Eve was deceived. Now take your by looking Romans in chapter 5 Romans and chapter 5.

You’ll notice that in talking about the sins of mankind and how that death has rained from Adam unto Moses before the law was ever given. You’ll notice what he says here in verse 12, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world. You notice it didn’t say by one woman, doesn’t that bother you just a little bit? I know it did. And death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Everybody has sinned because we got an old sinful nature.

And then he makes this statement in verse 14, nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. You see, he was not deceived, but he has a beautiful woman, and he said, how do you know? She was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was really the only woman that could say, you know, that she was an angel.

They’re always up in the air, nothing to wear and harp on something. But here’s this woman. Now, I don’t know how long this love affair went on, but lo and behold, she’s going to die. I believe he loved her so much he would rather die than live without her, because he didn’t have to do it. He didn’t have to eat the fruit. He was not deceived, but he made a deliberate choice. And other people are not making a deliberate choice to become a sinner, so they can die.

We’re sinners by nature. He was by choice. He chose to sin. Christ chose to be sin, but He never sinned. But you and I are sinners by choice and sinners by nature. You can know what’s right and know what’s wrong and still choose to do wrong, right? Your husband anyway, right? Yeah, I know. So the Bible tells us that there was a deliberate choice, and we make choices today. Yes, man was driven from the garden. Yes, he died physically, and he was also to be eternally separated from God in a literal fire burning hell.

Now, how many sins did that of a knee you have to commit in the garden to get out of the garden. One. How bad was that one sin? Well look at the punishment, eternal separation from God in a literal fire burning hell. If the punishment must fit the crime, then hell must be telling us how bad sin really must be. Now you and I live in the day. We are so easily deceived. We don’t think that the bad things we do are that bad.

Oh, it may be bad, but it’s not that bad. The least little mini white sin you’ve ever committed. Would have been enough to send you to hell for eternity. That’s how bad it is. Now, when we talk about the love of God and the price he was willing to pay for our sins, let us know also the magnitude of the love of God. Now, if we don’t take this seriously, then we’re not going to take anything seriously. This is why we witness and why we are found out.

faithful in serving God. So we don’t want people to go to hell. God had already planned before the foundations of the world to send His Son Jesus Christ to provide a way for man to have eternal life with him forever. Now I want you to look at that verse in your Bible. Look there in 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter one. And you’ll notice that God from the very beginning knows what man is going to do without making them do it.

See God may know what you’re going to do today. That doesn’t mean he made you do it. God didn’t make anybody sin. God is not the author of sin. Says so in his word. God cannot do anything wrong. God cannot lie. God cannot sin, impossible, but yet they’re sin in the world. But that’s because we made wrong choices. God gave us the ability to choose we made wrong decisions. But now notice there in chapter 1 in verse 20 where it says in verse 20 who barely was ordained before ordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you.

The Bible says you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold. In other words, you didn’t pay for your sins by the offering of money or any good works. But God, before the foundations of the world, had already planned on His Son coming into the world and making a payment for the sins of the whole world. Now why did he do that? Because God loves us. And there has to be a way to manifest, demonstrate, display His love for us.

So God had planned this to provide a way for man to have eternal life and to live with him forever and ever. Yes, God loves man, but he does not and cannot force a man to love him. You may love a particular woman, but you can’t make them love you. You may love your children, but you cannot make your children love you. The children can love their parents, but that doesn’t mean that the parents love their children. I never in all my life ever heard my mom or my dad ever say the words, I love you.

When I heard that God sent his son to die for me and my father-in-law said there that night 56 years ago in a little old living room and told me that God loved me. I Busted I couldn’t stand it anymore. I broke into tears and I cried. I whipped like a baby. I sobbed. I Never knew that nobody ever told me that You will everybody’s heard that? No, they haven’t heard that. It broke my heart. I did not trust Christ as my Savior because I love God, but when I heard He loved me and didn’t want me to go to hell, I needed this fire insurance.

There’s only reason I trusted the Lord. And if it was free, I’m for it. That was the best news I ever heard in my life. life. And God could not force me to love him. Only after the fall was God, free to demonstrate to all of mankind just how much he really loved him. So you have to have a way to show somebody you love him. Otherwise, here’s two people in a perfect garden, nothing’s wrong, environment, EPA would have a problem.

They was nothing to correct. Everything was right. So how does God say, I want you to know how much I love you. And they say, what is that? What is love? So God had a way. In Romans chapter 5 verse 8, God commended His love or displayed His love toward us and while we were yet saints, sinners, Christ died for us. That was to show us how much God loved us. Now, some people, they use these words, total depravity.

Man is so depraved that he can’t respond and he can’t do anything. No, it’s not the correct words. I believe totally incapable. You see, man is totally incapable of changing his sinful nature. He can’t change it. So, notice. Man is incapable of doing away with death because he can’t do away with sin. Sin has separated us from God, and man is incapable of getting back to God. But Godipeg of getting to man. So man was so totally incapable of delivering himself from us, devastating dilemma, God steps forth out of glory into this world.

Without sin in this world, mankind would never have known. A lot of things about the character of God. They wouldn’t have known about God’s justice. They wouldn’t have known about his compassion. They wouldn’t have known about forgiveness. They wouldn’t have known about mercy or righteousness. And yes, even the love of God. They would have never have known. So yes, God had a plan, the plan of salvation, How wonderful it is. The plan of salvation is God’s way of showing His great love by doing something for you and me.

We could not do for ourselves. What can’t we do? We cannot save ourselves. We’re already separated. The whole human race separated from God because we have all send. None righteous, no not one. None good, not one. We needed a Savior. This was God’s great opportunity to show us how much He loved us. By doing something for us, we could not do for ourselves. That’s why man cannot save himself. God’s way of proving that he really loved us was to send his Son.

Jesus Christ into the world to pay for all the sin of all people. Now, this is a verse that you need to see in the Word of God. You need to see this verse. So look here in 1 John chapter two and verse two. 1 John chapter two and verse two. You will see that there are many people in this world that do not believe that Jesus Christ died for everybody, that God really loves everybody. There’s people that teach that.

Their date with God is coming. In first John chapter two, look what he says here in verse two, and he referring to Christ in the previous verse, is the propitiation for our sins. The propitiation means the satisfaction, the payment that Christ made. God was satisfied with that payment. In other words, that’ll be good enough for God to accept. Now God will not accept any of our good works, but He will accept the good work that Christ did. And He says here, and not for hours only, but also for the sins of the, what’s the next two words?

Whole world. Remember that verses in the Bible when you hear somebody like John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul and Piper, when you hear some of those guys and they quote you to Hebrew and to Greek and all that. Just think for a moment, they don’t know the Bible. They don’t know the simplest things in the Bible. They don’t know how to get to heaven. It’s by grace and grace alone that God gives us eternal life and will never cast you out and your works have nothing to do with earning it, keeping it or proving it.

And if you ever talk to them and you tell them and they don’t agree with you, come see me. You tell him, I know your name Yankee and he don’t believe this. And it’s also taught in the Bible. That is the authority right there. God chose to save strictly by grace alone. No one has ever lived good enough to earn eternal life. Do you know of anybody? If they’ve ever committed one sin, no man has ever lived long enough or good enough to the papers own sins.

To earn his way to heaven, it’s impossible. The Bible says for, by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works. Lest any man should boast. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, not according to our works. No man has ever been saved. And yet, look how many people are being told they have to earn their way to heaven.

I got a few words to say about that in just a minute. God chose to say, by grace alone, no one’s ever been good enough to save himself. If God was not going to save man by grace alone, there was no reason to pay for his sins. If a man could earn his way to heaven, then a man should earn his way to heaven. But God hath concluded, all under sin, the whole world guilty. And that’s why he says, therefore, A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

We are justified freely by his grace. Get these three points. I believe they’re important. If God loves some, but not all, how do we know we are the ones that he loves? Think. There’s people who teach this. Bible doesn’t teach this. If God loves some but not all, how do we know we are the ones that He loves? How would you know? If Christ only died for the sins of some but not all, how would you know you were included?

Christ died on the cross, He paid for somebody’s sins. Whose? Well, it must have been mine. Well, how do I prove that if He only paid for somebody’s not everybody’s well how do you know you paid for yours could have been mine I could have been included you excluded it’s a can of worms if God chooses to save certain individuals and not others how do you prove you were the one that he chose I’m one of the elect I’m one of the chosen okay how do you know well because I trust the Christ my Savior well everybody else did too well those people that trust your Christ, everybody saved that trusted Lord and then they’ll tell you that no you have to prove it by your works and if you don’t have the evidence in your life then that’s a sign you really weren’t chosen

and you really weren’t saved and you’re doing all that work and labor in vain because God never chose you because if he had you would. So anyone in here if you’re not living the way you’re supposed to live that’s a sign you’re not one of the elect. How do you feel now? And then if you think you are, what about it tomorrow? You don’t. Well then you’re not. Well what about the next day? Well you are. Next day. Well maybe you’re not.

So you have to wait till you die to find out if you are. That means you can’t know today you’re going to heaven because you haven’t finished living yet. junk. That is trash. And that mutilates the love of God. That’s lying about what God says. This is why this is so important. This is your invitation to join us for our third Sunday dinner held in the Florida Bible College of Tampa building on the Calvary Community Church campus. The dinner is a family-style Calvary dish dinner and a great way to showcase your favorite dish and pick up new recipes.

Each month you have the opportunity to invite your family and friends to join us for our Sunday morning service at 1030 and then stay for our third Sunday dinner immediately following noon. Third Sundays at Calvary Community Church where you’ll be fed spiritually and physically. 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.