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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.

You got a Bible? Good. Open up your Bible anywhere you want. No. I want you to turn to the book of John, the book of John. The last three or four messages that I’ve done on Sundays has been on the issue of discipleship. The first one that I did on it has to deal with how that you can be a disciple and not be saved. And you can be saved and not be disciple. But the ideal is to be saved and be a disciple.

So there’s many who came to Christ and as far as been a learner, a follower. They saw some of the miracles. They were impressed and so they followed the sea where they’re going to get their next fish sandwich or something from. And they wanted to see some miracles, not because they really believed because they liked the free meal. And the Bible says that. But here in the book of John, it makes a statement that the miracles that Christ did was to convince the people that He was who He claimed to be.

Because He says, these things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that by believing you may have life through His name. They might know where that versus found. John chapter what? John chapter 20. And it’s written so that you can know the truth and to believe it. Throughout the gospel of John it’s a lot about faith, faith, faith. But he had some people that were following them around. And not everybody believed on him.

You read six chapter and many that were disciples or followers, learners, walk with them no more. So then he turned to his disciples that he had, the apostles there, and he says, will you also go away? And Peter says, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of everlasting life, eternal life. To whom shall we go? Y’all hast the words. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of a living God. And then the Lord had to correct him.

Well, not all of you. He says, I know you. And one of you is not a believer. Because he knew who believed and who did not believe. I want you to just take a quick look at that and then we’ll move on. Now notice what he says here in John chapter 6. And notice what he says in verse 64. There are 64. for him. Where he says, but there are some of you that believe not. How would he know?

How would he know unless he was God? How do you know what somebody else believes and don’t believe unless you know their mind? Do you believe he was able to read minds? He says, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him. So he already knew this. He knew it from the very beginning. So he was not surprised. He knew this. And so he knew that one of them that was a follower, a learner, walked with him even a apostle sent by Christ himself.

But he wasn’t a believer. And he was speaking about someone that was going to betray him, look at in verse 71. He spake of Judas iskarian, the son of Simon, for he it was, that should betray him. But he was one of the twelve. So he was a disciple but he wasn’t saved. Then you go back up there to verse 65 and he said, therefore said, I unto you that no man can come into me except that we’re given him of my father.

From that time, many of his disciples went back, walked no more with him. So you can walk with the Lord if he was here in person and be a learner, a follower like many people go to church and they learn a lot of things. live by Christian principles and somehow believe in that that’s going to get him into heaven but it will not get him into heaven. Now I’m going to go back to the book of John and look there in chapter 2, chapter 2.

Now Jesus has just been baptized and then the next day there were some individuals that saw him and came walking up to him and he asked him and said, what are you seeking? And then he says, well come and say you. And they believe that he was the master. He was the Messiah. And then there’s a story here about Nathaniel. Jesus says, I saw you when you was under the fig tree. And he thought, hey, I don’t like this.

And so they said, come and see is this, this is not Jesus. Now you may not be able to win everybody to the Lord, but you can point them to somebody that might be able to do it. Ray, you should always tell us you get them to ranch. We’ll give them the gospel. But he also taught you personal soul-winning to do everything you publicly and to win people to Christ. I’ve had time when people ask me, especially when I was in Colorado, how many people do y’all have trusted the Lord on a week?

And I remember one time I was with Dr. Hudson and he would tell me how he’d go down to FBC and he would speak in chapel and so forth. And Ray told me a story one day, and then Bob Gilbert over here verified it and told me that the same thing. That he asked Ray one time when he was down there, he says, well how many people do y’all have trust the Lord here because he was feeling pretty good because he had the fastest growing church in America that one year.

And so he was burning the tires off the buses. He was getting the kids in, a lot of people trust in Lord. And so he was feeling his oats. And so he didn’t want to brag on himself, but he wanted to let Ray know. How many of y’all trust to have trust in Lord here? And I remember Ray saying, he says, well, we’ve got over 1,000 students. And each one just one a week, that’d be 1,000. He says, and we have one or two or three sometimes trust in Lord in all the Bible clubs.

I think we got about maybe a hundred of those. And then we always have 10 or 15 trusts Lord in the main service on Sunday morning. And he mentioned something out to some other club they had and they had televangelism going on. And then the youth ranches and Dr. Hudson just dropped his jaws. He couldn’t believe it. When you come here and how many people do you think from the people, people are witnessing and telling people about the Lord.

You see, we’re not limited to just what goes on inside this room. You see, we could have it to where don’t y’all ever witness to anybody. You just get them here and I’ll give the gospel and I’ll get them all the trust of the Lord. And then I get credit for it, see. You don’t like that idea, John? You don’t like that idea? But how many trusts the Lord last Friday night? 30-7. Now, I just got a report from Louis.

Louis says, and you know us authoritative when Louis says it, he says that since the college began, we’ve had about how many trusts the Lord Louis on Friday night so in him, over four thousand. So and you take the people that we have here and I know that there’s other individuals that are witnessing and leading people to the Lord because they’ll tell me I witnessed this person, they trust the Lord and they witnessed somebody and they had trust the Lord.

Jim Blevins, he’s got a ministry that reaches all around the world. You would think, all he knows how to play is that guitar. Ah, not Jim Blevins, Jim Blevins, he has emailed me, people that he’s led to the Lord in Jordan, Israel, Pakistan, and where people, he’s getting a job done. And he takes some of my messages and he puts them all over the place. But there’s results. It can be done. And Gary Steffen, Gary Steffen, a lot of time he’ll get up at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning and go on his little chat room that he has.

And he has all these people from all over come to his chat room and he talks to him about eternal security. And he’s one of a lot of people to the Lord. He even had somebody king all the way down here and came to the church service because of his chat room that he has and he does. But a lot of people, they don’t know what he’s doing and there’s probably some of y’all, you’re individually. So how many people do we have Trust Christ to Savior every week just from this ministry?

How many from the radio? How many from the YouTube? That’s not in that number. I had Jesse”:”give me the report on the last two years and we had 830.” Isn’t that what he gave us, Bob? Something like that. 830 people that told us that they trust the Lord. That’s in two years. Now you divided up a how many per day? So we’re not limited to just these four walls. And I get emails from people who trust the Christ of Savior because you know that one little four-minute video that I made and put on our church website.

Little four minutes, it’s had over 10,000 in one year. It’s only been up there a year. Over 10,000 hits on that one, the people have watched that one message. 10,000. And I had a report just the other day. Somebody else’s trust the Lord from watching that one message. That little four-minute message that we took the time and we had to get it done. Yep, you know, he took me in that room in there and they doctored me up and they put them make up on me and they tried to make me look good, you know, and after that I said, we can’t do this anymore.

I don’t feel like me as me. I don’t want all that stuff. Just what to see is what you’re going to get. But it’s worth it. But it’s all about this, you know, reaching more and more people. Jesus said that He did the miracles that He did so that people would believe that He was who He claimed to be. But you have to have a beginning, a place to start. And so the first miracle that He did was in Canaan of Galilee.

Look in chapter 2. Now as you read down through here there seems like there’s something missing. So let’s just read just a little bit down to verse 12. I’ll read this to you. And the third day there was a marriage in Canaan of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and His disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine the mother of Jesus said unto him they have no wine. Jesus said unto her woman what have I to do with thee?

My hour has not yet come. His mother said unto the servants whatsoever he saith unto you do it. And there were six water pots of stone after the man of the purifying of the Jews, contained in two or three firkins of peace. Jesus said unto them, fill the water pots with water and they fill them up to the brim. He said unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast and they bear it. When the rule of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was but the servants which drew the water knew.

The governor of the feast called the bright room. Set unto him every man at the beginning, death set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good until now. This beginning of miracles, didn’t Jesus in Canaan of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him. And this he went down, after this he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples, and they continued there not many days.

Now it’s a short little story, but it’s about Jesus beginning his ministry. He had just been baptized in the two days before by John the Baptist, and then he meets a couple people and they wanted to follow him. And so then he goes to the Canaan Galilee and between where he was and where he was this you’re talking about between 20 and 30 miles total. And so you have Jesus is taking a two-day trip and he gets there because Don this is on the third day.

Since the day that he began his ministry and so the first thing is going to be he’s gonna do a miracle. But there’s a few things in here that if you look at it it’s seeming a little bit on the odd side. Not sure you can always understand because we’re not there, we don’t see it. But the thing about the message that I preached a couple weeks ago that can you be a disciple and not be a believer? Just quickly I want you to see this.

Look there in verse 11, this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Canaan of Galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples did what? So what does that mean? They were disciples before they believed, right? When you see that? So they were disciples and then they believed. See, many people say that if you’re not serving or following, you can’t be saved. But now people can be a follower, a learner, and never really trust the Lord. But now you go up there to verse 1, it talks about Jesus’ mother was there.

And when she was there, they called for Jesus and His disciples that come to the marriage. Now, evidently, she must have some part in this because why is she telling Jesus to do something because they had no wine? They didn’t have no wine to drink. And did she say that because they have already drunk all the wine. And because they didn’t drunk at all and then here come Jesus in his disciples and when she says, like you said right here, looking verse two, both Jesus was called and his disciples to the Mary.

When they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, they have no wine. Is it because, well Jesus and disciples got there, but they didn’t already drink at all. There isn’t no more. say anything don’t cause a problem because that would be embarrassing. They don’t have anymore. What you gonna do? But we don’t know if that’s the real case or what is she doing? And Jesus doesn’t call her mother. He says woman. You remember when he was about 12 years old and they had kind of like lost him and he was in the temple when they finally found him and he says, notice I’m not that I must be about my father’s business.

Don’t you know who I am? And his father was a carpenter or his dad they thought. He’s talking about God. And as you go through the gospel, John, you’ll see something that’s kind of familiar. My hour is not yet come. My hour is not yet come.” Well, does he ever say, my hour is come? Finally one day he said, my hour is come. My hour is come. In other words, the hour that he came for. Now, does he want them to know at this point who he is and do some great miracle or something?

And she says, they have none. And so he says to her in verse 4, he says, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come, but it is beginning. My hour is not yet come, but it is beginning because this is the beginning of his ministry. And his ministry was from, we believe three to three and a half years long. In other words, he says to And that’s what it says to her. I will handle this.

Maybe there’s something that she wanted done, but Jesus says, I’ll handle this. And it’ll… And it’ll probably be the way that he wants to do it. He knows what she wants, somebody’s got to do something. You’re the only one that can change the situation. Now I want to just digress just a little bit. You and I, the Bible talks about us as vessels. And do we know that sometimes we have these vessels filled with all kinds of things in this world?

. . It’s like a vessel that yes, we didn’t put a lot of things in it, the things of this world. . And so there’s not much that God can put into us until we let some things get rid of. . . And God does talk about us being clean vessels, vessels that are fit for the Master to use. .

. So it’s like being imping of yourself so that God can fill you. . Now we know we talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit. It means to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. So as an individual, we are just a vessel. Now he had six water pots. These six water pots that they had, they estimate, oh, maybe 20 gallons of water each, and there were six of them, so maybe 120, 130 gallons of water that they would hold and they would have these at feast and so on so that because of the purification of the Jews they always were washing their hands and washing their feet.

They would do this before their meals and they would do it after their meals and so they had these water pots there and they had nothing in them but but water. So he says fill them full of water. Now I believe just like She told the disciples in the servant, she said, what so ever he said unto you, just do it. One of the things that I have found out, I don’t know why, but I’m such an argumentative type of person.

Now I’m glad y’all aren’t like that. I get, hmm, somebody tells it, tell me what I can’t, it cannot do or get, because, well, that’s just our old sinful nature. We are naturally rebellious. We just don’t like people telling us what we can and cannot do. But when you get down to it, what is serving the Lord? Is it something that we try to talk God into? Do we argue with God? Or do we just whatsoever He says, just do it.

See that commercial with Nike? Just do it. Do you argue with God? Do you fight with God? So he says here, we’re not supposed to do that, we’re just to do what he says do. So look there in verse 5 when he says, his mother said unto him under the servants. You see, unless she’s close to what’s going on and maybe it’s relative or whatever, I don’t know, we can always conjecture, you know. But where does she get the authority to speak up and say and tell the servants anything to do?

unless she’s part of something that’s there and she was in charge of something, I don’t know, but she just simply says, whatsoever he tells you to do, just do it. And did you know that Jesus did not ask him to do any miracles? He didn’t ask him to do anything they could not do. Serving the Lord is not you trying to work a miracle. I am not a miracle worker. I don’t have to try work these miracles. All I’ve got to do is just do whatever he says do.

And they probably didn’t know that they were being used to help perform something that would be wonderful and great. Did they know that he was going to turn the water into wine? They had no clue. Whenever you just do what God wants you to do, you don’t have any idea how God is going to take your little so-called feeble efforts and how he can multiply them and get something accomplished. As I look back over the years, I am totally amazed that God has ever done anything with anything I’ve ever done.

But what I had to learn over the years, I ain’t sure I’ve learned it all yet, I still think I have got to do a work for God that if, you know, it’s in my hands and I’ve got to make it happen and I’ve got to, and I forget sometimes. I’m in his work and this is his and he’s supposed to lead and guide and meet and all. I’m just to do whatever he tells me to do. My job is really easy.

Just do what I’m told. Here’s his book, just learn it and obey it. But don’t get where you argue and fight with God. You realize how many more people would be in full-time Christian work if they didn’t argue with God? and they justify why they can’t do the job, and it’s not me, and you’ve got to get somebody else, and I can’t do this. Nurse, forget, when I first read back there in the scriptures, when he talks about it, and Exodus, Moses gave the Lord five good reasons why he needed to get somebody else, and said to him, he gave all kind of excuses, he’d not me, get somebody else.

But the problem is God wanted to use him. And he told the Lord, he says, I can’t speak well. I guess he stuttered, he doesn’t say what it was. He said, I’m just not, and so he said, get Aaron, get my brother and God was angry with him. Because later on his brother became a big problem, true. He’s the one that helped make the golden calf, remember? Who’s the first one to break all the dead commandments? Moses. He came down and they saw what was done and he broke the continue.

What did he have to do? Go back and get another set. He had a coffee machine up there. Went back up there and got another set. So whenever you read this and you just look at it, you realize all I am is just an empty vessel. And I want the Lord, maybe it just, everything looks just so natural to us. Because we’re just doing the natural things. I mean, we don’t fly. We don’t have supernatural abilities. I mean, we can’t see through walls.

We can’t read people’s minds. He’s using a man in the flesh, in the body. We have this treasure in a northern vessel that the glory may be of God and out of us. Because if anything gets done, God has to do it because we’re just like natural men, but we have the Holy Spirit living within us. And as we yield to the Lord, you’d be surprised what God can do in our life. And he can take the natural things like plain old water, but because they did what they were told to do, God was able to work America.

And you’d be surprised how many people will come to know Christ as Savior, not because we’re doing super things, we’re just doing some natural things, things that we can do, but we do it for Him. Trusting that God is going to work all these miracles. I could very easily when I was in Colorado. Lord, the bus drivers didn’t show up today and I’d appreciate it if you would drive it today. Wouldn’t it be neat and the Holy Spirit gets up there and drives the bus, but the Holy Spirit didn’t drive the bus.

Lord, I just don’t have anything ready today. So whenever I walk up here, I just want you to fill my mouth and let me speak and you just take over and you do it and I don’t have to study and prepare because, You know, almost hard last night. I stayed up all night to two o’clock in the morning, you know, watching the boot tube, and I just didn’t get prepared. So if you’ll just do this for me, I’d appreciate it.

No, I don’t think God would be too pleased with that. Because we’re supposed to study. We’re supposed to prepare. God uses natural people. Say people, yes, but you are His children living in a physical body. You’re limited, but you’re not limited totally to the body. You can pray. You can seek God’s will in His book. And you can give a message that the gospel is powerful. I told the college kids this morning. I saw this picture and it was a picture of a sidewalk and it had a curb, all concrete.

And in the crack was a flower. told concrete and a little flower had grown up and it had a beautiful flower and it was only about this tall, just a little bitty twig, goin’ up there and a pretty little flower, concrete. You realize that when we’re serving the Lord, we have sometimes we sow seed and we don’t know if it’s gonna fall on good ground, thorny ground, thorny ground, hard ground. We don’t know, we just just sow the seed.

You don’t know what’s going to grow. And you’ll be surprised that sometimes in people’s mind that we say that’s like concrete. And the greatest thing that we have going for us is trusting the book. keep sowing the seed. This is our supernatural power. It’s the message that we have. So we keep sowing the seed and when they go back over there to Thailand, pray the Lord they’ll learn how to speak Thai and be able to sow seed. We don’t know what’s going to grow.

We can’t make it grow. We can’t make people believe. We trust the book and God’s going to reward us according to our faithfulness. Not the result of our faithfulness, we can’t make things happen. We can’t make people believe. That’s their choice. But God has given to us. And so it’s a wonderful little lesson about how that you and I are supposed to be just do what he says. Just do what he says do.

Don’t miss out on all the fun. Join Pastor Jesse and Kyla Martinez on Thursday nights from 7 7-9 p.m. 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 ride, 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 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.