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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.

You hear about the drunk? He was walking down a country road and he was drunk. He came up to this horse and looked at the horse and says, why the long face? Thank you. I appreciate that, Bob. You’re the only one in here that got that. See that? He got that. See, that was such wisdom in that. Why such the long face? And so you got to figure out now why are you so down and so discouraged? You just don’t know all the problems I have.

Well I know a God who can solve problems. in the business of doing that. So whatever our problems are is our God bigger than our problems. What causes our problems if we think our problems are too big for God to do anything about it? So you don’t want to embarrass God by thinking that, you know, I’ve got a problem too big and he can’t solve it so I don’t even want to ask him because I know this is over his head.

Or to think that your problems are so small, well, I don’t want to bother them with that either. So what do you do? You go through life, trying to handle everything all on your own. And so God got to teach us some lessons that you cannot handle it on your own. That’s why He says, cast all your cares upon the Lord for He, careth for you. And the older we live, isn’t it wonderful to finally get older without the world?

We don’t have any problems anymore? Because we had them when we was in our 20s, we had problems in our 30s, we had them in our 40s, we had them in our 50s, but when you get 60 and over you don’t have them anymore. Because you’re so wise now and so smart you know how to solve everything. Is that true? No, it isn’t true. Well, I finally got some response from out there. It isn’t true. You have problems as long as you’re in this physical body.

So you’re going to have those. So anyway, what did he do? Look there in verse 40. He took up the challenge, he was going to meet the giant, and he says in verse 40, and he took his staff in his hand and chose him five smooth stones. Out of the brook, put them in a shepherd’s bag, which he had, even in his script, and his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. Now, why do you think he picked up five smooth stones?

Five smooth stones? Why did he picked up five? Because he had four others that were brothers. And he was gonna take care of them too if he had to. I think that’s why. But that’s mentioned, you know, in another portion of the scripture, Second Samuel, I think it is. But now, notice, I want you to see this. He chose five smooth stones, because what? He’s going to battle. So he needs these stones, but notice something else here. And he put them in a shepherd’s bag.

Now, wouldn’t it be a shame for him to put these valuable stones that he needs? He really only needed one, but he put them in a shepherd’s bag, and it had holes in it. No. He had one, look what he says. In a shepherd’s bag, which he had, see, he was prepared. He had stones, he had the bag, and then he says, and his sling was in his, he had a sling too. He was prepared. How simple, and if people won’t understand, God can use what you already have.

Well, if I knew this and I had that, I could be successful too. Sometimes God wants just to take you with what you have, and God wants to work a miracle. If I was a smart and blah blah blah, or if I could do like he does or like she does, God knows who you are. And you had your own set of circumstances. You got your own problems in life. God is a personal God. And though you may see what God has done in the lives of a lot of people, don’t you want to see what God can do with you?

I’ve always wondered, what can God do with me? I’m still wondering if he can do anything with me. But I want to know what can God do with me. I don’t care if God uses other great people, Curtis Hudson or Dr. Lee Robertson or great people like Bob Gilbert or Peter Amato. What about Yankee Arnold? I want God to use me. I want to do something. But you see, you’ve got to have an opportunity. And opportunities are on wheels.

And when they roll your way, if you’re not prepared, you can’t take advantage of it. One day watching sheep, the next day killing a giant. Today everything may be so wonderful, so peaceful, so wonderful, loving, and then tomorrow, your whole world can fall apart because of a problem. Now are you solid in the Lord? Can you trust the Lord to walk you through it? And if you will, now we ought to find out something. Did David win this battle?

He says, you come to me with a sword, But I come to you in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. He saw Himself standing and representing the Lord. He had great victory. And God, this guy’s gonna be the king of Israel. God intervened. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Haggai. The book of Haggai. And chapter one, Hegai chapter 1, and on page 962 it’s the book right before it, Hegai, so turn to Hegai in chapter 1.

Now there was a problem in things being done as a priority in Israel, and so he’s got a message that he has to deliver to the people. they were all for taking care of themselves, but God said, I want you to build my temple. I want you to get my place ready. Well, they wanted to get their place ready and do their things first. Didn’t they have anything left over, any time left over? Then we’ll do something. It’s just like I’ve seen people with promises yanking.

When I get my life straightened out, you can count on me coming to church and doing right. OK, how long is that going to take? You see, it’ll take the rest of their life because they can’t straighten out their life. I told a person the other day when he called me up on the phone from out of state. I says, so what you’re doing is you’re trying to push a rope. He said, what? I said, you’re trying to push a rope.

I said, your life is getting all balled up because you’re trying to push a rope. I said, you can’t push the rope and have any success. I said, now if you’ve got one end of the rope and start walking, it’ll straighten itself out. I said, if you’ll start walking with the Lord, I says, your life will straighten itself out. I said, but without the Lord, you’ve went in the wrong direction and you’re trying to push a rope and your life gets all confusing.

And it’s all messed up. So you need to find out what does God want me to do and walk with the Lord and He’ll straighten everything else out. Because if you put Him first and God says, He’ll take care of these other things. Put the Lord first and everything that you do. Look there in verse three. Haggai chapter one and verse three. He says, then came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet saying, is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your sealed houses, and this house of his, lie-waste?

Now therefore, thus saith the Lord of host, consider your ways. Now this is something that most people don’t do, and so he tells them several times you’re consider your ways. You look down here very quickly in verse 7 where he says, does saith the Lord of hope, your your ways. In other words, most people don’t believe that the way they respond in life, whether to the Lord or against the Lord, makes any difference. And God says it does. So he makes the statement here in verse six.

Look in verse six, this is very, very important. He says, ye have so much and bring in little. Ye eat, but ye have not enough. You drink, but you’re not filled with drink. You clothe you, but there’s none worn. Now you ought to underline this part of the verse if you haven’t done so. And he that urneth wages, urneth wages to put it into a bag with what? With holes. And this is what a lot of Christians are doing.

They work themselves to death. Saving up for this world, and a lot of time you’d be surprised how that everything just eats it up and you never can get him in. I just can’t seem to get ahead. I just can’t get ahead. Well, there might be several reasons. You might need to check it out. How are you doing spiritually? Do you love the Lord thy God with all thy hard mind, body, soul, and strength? Are you seeking the Lord first and whatever he wants you to do and his righteousness and your trust in the door to take care of all these other things?

Are you wearing yourself sick? And you find out, God says put me first, consider your ways. Now, it may not always be that you’re doing something wrong. Sometimes God knows that you’ll stay more faithful and more humble if He keeps you poor. God already knows you might not be able to handle too much success. Maybe you can’t handle too much money. You might get a big head and think you don’t need the Lord. Did you know that successful in life, success in life, can be a bigger problem than being poor in this world?

Because when you don’t have much, you struggle. You struggle to stay alive. And you’re always, Lord help me, Lord help me, help me, Lord. You watch, you get to where you don’t have that struggle anymore? Well, I can get a bigger this and a bigger that and this and that and the other. you don’t need the Lord as much as you did before. And so people go astray. And so you have to be careful. But he that earnest wages, earnest wages to put it into a bag with holes.

He considered this, he said. Then verse eight, go up to the mountain, bring wood, build the house and I will get this. I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified, sayeth the Lord. me first, put me first. Then he says in verse 9, you look for much and lo it came to little. And when you brought it home, I did blow up on it. Why? Sayeth the Lord of hosts, because of mine house that is waste.

And you run every man into his own house. In other words, you’re trying to take your, don’t you realize that the God of heaven can open up the windows of heaven and bless you in a way that you couldn’t believe and meet your needs in the most strangest of ways. But you try to handle it on your own and do it your own way and you’d be surprised how God can just dry everything up and you can’t stop it.

It’s like a snowball going down here. You can’t stop it. It’s just like Job when And God didn’t punish him. God was one in Job to see not how far he’s come, but how far he needed to go. He needed to be a lot stronger than what he was. And yet God was going to use all this, you know, taken away from him. Remember as he says there, the Lord giveth and the Lord take it away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

The Lord giveth, the Lord take it away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Well, a lot of times that’s what you might have to say. Does the Lord mean more to you than anything else in the world? When I was at FBC, we used to learn this song. Christ is all I need. Everybody heard that? Christ is all I need. Christ is all I need. Really? Is the all you want? Sometimes we have to find out he’s not really all you want them.

You want so many other things that you consider to be needs and those needs are greater than needing Him. He’s all I need. Because if you got Him, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Want for what if He’s your shepherd? If you’re following the Lord, learn to put your confidence in your trust in the Lord. Because you got to go against God and God’s that I can blow up on it and make it all go away.

I can take all that money you saved up and next thing you know, you’ve got a problem with your health and all of a sudden all of your health money can be taken away and eaten up just just like that. Your car is doing fine all of a sudden it blows up a motor and now you’ve got a couple thousand dollars in debt. Taking away all that God collects. God collects. Just understand but if you’re serving the Lord and He takes it you just know God is going to bless me.

I don’t know how and I don’t know why but I’m going to see that this is going to draw me closer to the Lord. problems in life are not bad. It just depends on whether or not you let it push you closer to the Lord and you become stronger or it becomes a wedge and pushes you away from the Lord. So how you’re walking with the Lord or not walking with the Lord is going to reveal whether or not this makes you stronger or weaker.

Some people live and learn and some people live and never learn. Now take your Bible turn to the book of Luke, the Gospel of Luke. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Luke chapter 12. Luke, and chapter 12. This is similar to the book of Matthew in chapter 6. But what I want you to look at here is something to realize how great God is and what He considers to be of great value. Look in verse 27. Remember we were studying the book of Haggai about, consider your ways.

Consider. Think about it. Think about it. Here in verse 27. Consider. Think about it. Look at this. Think about this. Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spend not. You ever seen flowers word to death? I mean, they go in the panic veil. They toil not, they spend not, and yet I send to you that Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Get this, verse 28, if then God so clothed the grass, which today is in the field.

Tomorrow, cast them to the heaven. How much more will He clothe you? What’s that next line? O ye of what? Little faith. Little faith. If God can take care of the fowls of the year, and God can take care of the lilies that grow, is it possible that the God who created the heavens and the earth made you, can God take care of you? Now you know sooner or later God’s going to let us die. Why? Because he’s got something better for us.

Death isn’t that bad. You watch, we’re going to get to heaven and say, man, I could have been here ten years ago, but no, my wife gave me all these vitamin pills and kept me here for ten years. I could have been there ten years ago. But anyway, get this. He makes a statement in verse 28, If then God so clothed grass which today is in the field. Tomorrow it’s casting to the heavens. How much more will He clothe you all ye of little faith?

And seek not ye what ye shall eat or what ye shall drain. Neither be ye of and you ought to align those two earth. Doubtful mind. Because see when you study the book of James, this is a double-minded man is unstable and all his ways, double-minded. I’m trusting the Lord today and tomorrow you won’t. You’re up and down like a yo-yo. You’re supposed to run like a Mazda. Remember? Don’t you remember that commercial years ago? So he says here in verse 30, for all these things do the nations of the world seek after and your father knoweth that you have need of all these things.

Do you think your heavenly Father in heaven knows what you need? He already knows. But he says in the book James you have not because you ask not or you ask that you may consume it upon your own lust and not for his honor and for his glory. Do you realize that if you’ll serve God God is responsible to take care of you and give you what you need to serve him? But you see it’s not the things that God wants you to do that will weigh you down.

It’s not anything that God wants you to do that burdens you. It’s all the baggage you want to add to it. So as you go through life, remember in Hebrews in chapter 12, lay aside every weight and send that does so weigh you down because if you’re going to run a race, you don’t need all that baggage. But most Christians weigh themselves down with the baggage of the world because they want what God has, but they also want what the world has and sometimes they compete against each other and it burdens you and weighs you down and worries you because I don’t know how money get this.

Oh this is fine but I want this too and God may not let you have it. And so sometimes you make sacrifices. Now look at what else he says. He makes a statement in verse 31 but rather seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. I believe that if you and I, if we put the Lord first and seek the certain God, it’s God’s responsibility to take care of His soldiers. It’s God’s responsibility.

Donald Trump became the president of the United States. Did you realize it’s not the soldier’s responsibility to figure out how to pay for their gun or their uniforms or where they’re going to to stay are what they’re going to eat. That’s Donald Trump’s burden. He just accepted that responsibility, right? It’s not the guy that they’re going to go to the war. Its government put the take care of them and meet all their needs because they’re in his army. Once you trusted Christ, you’re saving the made up your mind, I’m gonna serve the Lord.

You are now in His army. You volunteered. Remember? I’m going to dedicate myself to the Lord. All right. And God says he’s going to bless you. He’s going to pay you wages. He told us about the armor to put on how to fight the war. And he talks about how that we ought to endure hardness as a good. Good what? Soldier of Jesus Christ. So he says here. In verse 32, fear not little flock. For it is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Nice course. We know he’s talking to Israel. We know that he’s talking to Jewish people, but is there things that we can learn by what God’s word says? It comes as like a refresher course. There’s things we can learn from it and we can apply because we know that our heavenly father does know us and he does love us and he does care about us. And he wants me to trust him in the layup treasures in heaven. So look what he says there in verse 33.

Sell what you have and give alms. Now look at this, you ought to underline this in your Bible. Provide yourselves and your online is bags which wax not old. A treasure in the heavens that fail if not. Where no thief approaches neither corruptive for where your treasure is, there will your hearts be also. So God wants us to prepare for eternity and to have preparation for security. If I work only for the things of this world, I’m going to lose it all.

But if I work for eternal things, I’m going to keep it all and you’re not going to lose. So you can put your life into bags that have got holes in it and lose it all and waste your life. Or you can take the things of God and you can serve Him and lay up treasure in heaven, which He says is like a bag without holes and you don’t lose it. Anyway, I wanted to run it by because where your treasure there will your heart be also.

See, it’s got to the place the longer I live. I really, at the beginning of my Christian life, I didn’t know anybody that I knew had trusted Christ’s Savior and died. Heaven was just a place that one of these days I might go to. No, I’m going to go to. But little by little, you know, different people that I knew began to die. his brother died, and I didn’t know him that well, but I didn’t know him. Bet his mother died, and Bet his dad died, and I knew more of her family than I even knew about my family because I, not that many had trust the Lord.

And then my side of the family, people begin to die, my son died, and all kinds of things have happened. And over the years I’ve had close people and a lot of people that I went to Florida Bible college, they’ve already passed and gone into glory. Do you realize that I’ve got a lot of people on the other side and the longer I live the more precious heaven becomes to me because not just the people that I lead to the Lord.

It’s the people that I’ve met while I’ve been here and the friendships that I have, they have made heaven more precious to me because I know I’m gonna see them again. It’s like going home for the holidays or something and you see your kids and your grandkids, there’s a joy there. And as Paul made the statement, he says, concerning the people, he says, ye are my crown of rejoicing at the appearing of Jesus Christ. That when I get to heaven, you will be my crown of joy.

So I don’t know if we can, the Bible talks proport, we’re going to get a The crown is the people that we won the Christ that will be so precious to us. Maybe? Maybe not. But anyway, here’s a bag without holds. It means that if you serve the Lord here and you lay up treasure in heaven, you can’t lose what you’ve laid up. You can only lose what you could have laid up and didn’t do. Now God wants us to receive a full reward.

mean, serve the Lord with all your heart, all the time. But be thankful for whatever you’re going to get. Serve the Lord. He says concerning the Lord in our works, every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. And lay up treasure in heaven where you cannot lose it. Now, going to heaven and getting those rewards, whatever they may be, is only for those who have trusted Christ as Savior. A lost man… Can’t get rewarded in heaven.

A lost man has to become a saved man. And you can’t do that by the works of the flesh. Look up here. This hand represents you and me and the wall of represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us, but He hates our sin. And for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in a literal fire burning hell. So we need to be saved from that. We don’t want to go to hell. We want to save your.

So many people try to save themselves. And God says, you can’t save yourself. The wages in his death and you have to die. So to go to heaven, we have to be without sin. And nobody’s without sin. We’ve all sinned. So God says, you cannot save yourself. This end represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loves us. He hates our sin because our sin separates us from him. So Jesus Christ who had no sin did not have to die.

He took all the sin of all the world, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. And God said, if we would believe that He did it for us, it put this payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. You don’t earn it, you don’t work for it, you can’t buy it, it is the gift of God. You don’t work and earn it, and all those things, it is the gift.

Going to heaven is free. Now what you have when you get to heaven depending on what you did for Him. But getting there is what He did for you. And that’s the best news in the world. Let’s pray, shall we? With His bow and eyes closed, no one looking around. If you’re watching by internet tonight, and if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, right on the screen says, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior. Friend, I pray that you would.

There’s no tricks to it, no gimmicks. The only thing you have to do is the only thing you can do is to trust the Lord. Don’t trust yourself. Don’t trust this preacher. Don’t trust your good work. Don’t trust the church. Don’t trust anything or anybody. Just trust the Lord. You can’t go wrong by trusting the only true and living God there is. And he said that he loves you, paid for your sins. And if you’ll trust him, he’ll give you eternal life.

And he’ll never cast you out and never lose you. And that’s how you can know that you’re going to heaven whenever you die. If you’re hearing the service tonight and you’ve never trusted Christ as your savior, would you trust him right now? I’m gonna ask you in just a moment to raise your hand. Raised your hand does not save you. He just lets me know that what I said made sense to you. And I like to have prayer for you.

Is there anywhere at all? Just very quickly, slip you in, very quickly, put it right back down and say, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior and I’d like for you to pray for Him. Is there anywhere at all? There, where at all? Our Father, we are thankful for all that you’ve done for us. It happens to be wise with the time that you’ve given us. And Lord, that each one of us would think about the things that we’ve heard tonight.

They help us to be Lord, more conscious of. decisions that we make and putting our life into bags with holes and then wasting our life or to put our life into bags with no holes that we can have rewards for all eternity, a fruitful life. And we ask your blessings upon each one here. Thank you for all you do for us in Christ’s name. Amen. Don’t miss out on all the fun. Join Pastor Jesse and Kyla Martinez on Thursday nights from 7-9 PM for Tampa Youth Ranch and Calvary Community Church.

Tampa Youth Ranch is a great mix of live music, games, Bible study, food and fun, where teens 13-18 get to know God and the Bible with their friends. Check it out online at tampayouthranch.org and see the cool pictures from past activities and all the fun you’ve been missing. No right, no problem. Call 813-334-4655 today for information on getting a ride to Tampa Youth Ranch. 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 4011 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 believe in that the Lord is coming soon just keep looking up