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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 concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

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 four, 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 its ministry. And his ministry was from, we believe, three to three and a half years long. In other words, he says to her, I will handle this. there’s something that she wanted done but Jesus says I’ll handle this and it would 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 a situation. Now I want to just digress just a little bit. You and I, the Bible talks about us as vessels and 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 empty 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 how 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 water. So he says, fill them full of water. Now I believe just like she told the disciples in the servants, she says, 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 am such an argumented type of person. Now I’m glad y’all aren’t like that. I get, hmm, somebody tells me what I can’t he 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’t he 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 five, when He says, His mother said unto Him under the servants. 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 did 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 do you know that Jesus did not ask them to do any miracles? He didn’t ask them 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 to 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 posed the lead in God 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 Do 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 got to get somebody else and I can’t do this. Never forget when I first read back there in the scriptures when he talks about it and exes Moses, gave the Lord five good reasons why he needed to get somebody else instead of him. He gave all kind of excuse. 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 didn’t commandments? Moses. He came down and they saw what was done and he broke the canteen. 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 an earthen vessel that the glory may be of God and not of us. 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 be neat and the Holy Spirit gets up here 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 there, I just want you to feel 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 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 role 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, going up there in 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 going to fall on good ground, thorny ground, thorny ground, hard ground. We don’t know, we 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 whether you go back over there to Thailand, pray to the Lord, they’ll learn how to speak Thai and be able to sow seed. We don’t know what’s going to grow. can’t make it grow.

We can’t make people believe. We trust the book and God’s gonna 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. And notice what says here in verse seven, what did he tell them to do?

Jesus said to them, feel the water pots with water. Well, I thought I would get to do something great. I mean, do you know who I am? I mean, I’m important. And the last thing I need to do is, you know, carry water. You know, like Jesus needed somebody to go get the donkey. Remember the sermon I preached to on somebody has to get the donkey. Somebody had to go get the donkey. Remember, he came me on the what?

He came in on a donkey. Somebody has to go get the donkey. Well did you know who I am? That’s not my job. I don’t do things like that. One of the most revealing things to my humility, or I should say my pride, is after I had left Florida Bible College and went to serve the Lord and turned the world upside down. Now I’ve got out there in Colorado and lo and behold, my two kids are growing up and then we had another one.

And I didn’t have a full-time job. And I had to wind up throwing newspapers seven days a week, 3.30 in the morning. And as I would throw those newspaper, I got so good, well that winded down and that paper rolled up, I could take that thing and whoa, whoa, whoa, a car and ring a doorbell. I took pride in how I threw the paper. Well, but not I can go over that tree or not and land it on the porch.

And man, I would try it. And sometimes the rubber band come loose and paper a fly all over. Then I got to stop and go clean up the mess, roll the paper. Sometimes you know you just get carried away with things. But I got good at it. But sometimes I think, is this what you went four years to Bible college to do? I mean, then I needed a little bit more money. So Jim Bollinger, who wind up when I flew to the Bible college, was an older man than the son did too.

And he used to be the manager of King Super’s warehouse. So he gave me a job. And all I had to do was go at nighttime and repair pallets. So they would get all torn up. Solid oak. And I had to bust off the bulken pieces with crowbars and then get those little wiry nails. And I I had to drive them through the oak, beeping, going the other side of the building. And you didn’t hit it right, buddy, that thing was flying.

And then you have to hit it hard if you miss, oh, oh. And I thought four years of Bible college just for this honor. But I was able to spend the daytime trying to build a church and running ranch, trying to get buses. And I was willing to pay the price and buddy pay I did. It was costly. But I am not just a person who trusted Christ of Savior. I’m a disciple. I am a disciple. I had decided I’m going to pay the cost.

I’m going to serve the Lord. I don’t fear what God has to do. What He has to bring me through. through. There’s a price to pay and I’m willing to pay it. So God can put me in the hospital if He wants to. He can take away my son, which He did. And He can take this away and He can take my health away. He can take everything. Whatever. I’m just His. I’m not here to argue with God. If He wants to give me something, praise the Lord.

He wants to take it away. Praise the Lord. And I’ve had that kind of an attitude. I’ve had two motor homes paid for left and both. I had a house in Colorado and a couple hundred thousand dollars. That was mine. Gave it up and walk away from it. I don’t have to have it. I can start from scratch, whatever I’ve got. Let God use me anywhere, for whatever the price. It doesn’t matter. Just whatever he says do. Whatever he says do.

Isn’t that such a simple little thing? Whatever he says. If Jesus walked in this room right now and he told you to do something, Are you sure? I mean, I think you ought to use John John John doesn’t be better. Would you argue with God? Debate it with him. Or just yes or just do whatever he says to you. Yeah, but you don’t understand. I’m you know, I’m a cut above. I deserve better. You know what pride is? I don’t know, but everybody has it.

What is humility? I was told humility is not a position of the body, it’s a position of the mind. Humility is a person in submission to the will of God. This is not humility. I may look humble, but that’s because I want you to think I’m humble. So I’m not really humble, I’m really proud. Like is when he goes, I am so proud that I’m humble. Look what else he says here. He told them what to do and they filled it up to the brim.

If you want the will of God for your life, you want to fill it halfway or you want it all away. You want as much as you can get out of life for just a little bit. Do what he says to the brim. And some people don’t want to do everything God says. They want to kind of cheat a little bit, just enough to get by, just so that he won’t whip him. And then he says here in verse eight, and he said of them, draw out, now you see, you can’t draw out till you put in.

What I tried to tell the college kids, you can’t draw out till you put in and Ray Stanford used to put it this way. Be careful what you put in the grocery bag because when you get home, that’s what you’re gonna take out. So that’s a little simple. Be careful what you put in, because that’s what you have come out. They call it GI-GEO. What does that stand for? Garbage in, garbage out. You put garbage in, garbage is gonna come out.

And so you learned that you are right now, I’d look at some of the college students and I look at the people in the church that you’re a big well, you’re a well, but no water. So when you come to church, I’m trying to take a little water here and a cup of water here and a little bit more water here. I go, hold on. I’m just gonna, I’m not gonna give you that one. And I’m trying to put water in your well.

And some of y’all get a little water and it’s, boy, I got enough to run on now for the rest of my life. No, no, no, no, no, no. I want to fill it to the brim. I want every person to be filled to the brim. So that you have enough knowledge, truth. that when you go out and you face whatever you’re going to face in life you’ve got enough water to draw out of your well. You see the reason it causes most people to fall apart spiritually, the herders break down the lap because they don’t have enough water in the well.

When the troubles come, the trials and tribulations they don’t have enough to draw out. If you have enough put in you can draw on it. It’s like having enough money in the bank that when you have a financial need, you got to draw it out. But you can’t draw it out if you never put it in. So as you studied the word of God, you… You’re putting water in the well. You’re putting treasure in here to buy things down the road and see this, this is money in the bank, money in the bank.

So that as you go through life you can buy things that are valuable, that will last forever, you can lay up treasures in heaven because you’ll make wise decisions. And so you’ll notice as he goes through down here, and you’ll notice when he says here in verse nine, when the rulers of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not when she was, but the servants which drew the water, they knew, the servant they knew, and not only are they just servants.

Remember there in the book of John chapter 15 when he says to his disciples, he said, I have not called you to servants, I’ve called you my friends. He said, I’ve made known to you my will. You’re my friends. I don’t want to just be a servant of the Lord. What I do, thanks for God. I just obey God. Do you realize he ought to be the closest friend you’ve ever had? He’s a friend. You can walk with him, talk to him, and he’s precious to you.

That’s also mentioned in the Gospel of John. But notice what else he says here. He says, but the servants knew and then looking verse 10, and said unto him, every man at the beginning that said forth good wine, when men have dwell drunk, then that which is worse. But thou has kept the good wine unto now. I’d like to look at it this way. You can also get the two births out of this. You know the old nature, new nature, you can get this out of this.

And you’ll find out that now that you’ve known Christ as your Savior, this ought to be the best part of your life, the good things that you can have. And if you put the Lord first in your life, you’d be surprised how God can take little things that don’t seem big and important and He can turn it into a miracle. As I look back over my life, I just see one big miracle because I’m not smart enough. But I was wise enough to just do what He says.

And I enjoyed watching to see what he’s done. And I didn’t make some things happen, but I let it happen. I let God use me. I figured out a long time ago, life is too short to argue the battle against God. Did you know that if you go against God, you lose? You lose. So why even do it? And so anyways, you go down through here, you’ll see that the Lord knew what was in man. I just Jesus right quick.

You see, the hour is not yet come, but He goes immediately to that very hour. Look there in verse 19. Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple and in three days I’ll raise it up. You see, that’s what’s going to happen when the hour is come. When the hour is come, this is the beginning. And look what He went through. But the reason that He came was to down that cross and pay for our sins. And And that’s why he says that you destroyed this temple in three days, I raised up, now they thought he was talking about that big old temple out there, but you know he had a spiritual meaning.

You just read this whole story about the marriage and came, but you know there might be more to it than just a story. There could be all kinds of other things that you can see and learn. You can apply many things, but there is a primary application that is true. But now notice what he says in verse 22. When therefore he was risen from the dead. So he’s gone all the way over there. That the hour that’s coming. And now as John writes this in retrospect, he’s telling.

They remembered that he said this. When he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them. They believed the Scriptures and the Word which Jesus had said. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men. And he did not that any man should testify for he knew what was in man.

God knows what’s going on in our thoughts. And may have done the miracle that he did, though it was a miracle, but not everybody had to know that it was a miracle. Because he had not yet wanted to reveal himself in all ways. That time was going to come when they learned this complete story. Look up here. The hour finally came, the moment of why He was born. He was born to this world so that He could be a sacrifice, a payment for our sins.

This hand represents you and me, the wall of represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us, but He hates our sin. And because we’ve all sinned, we’re all condemned. And the Bible says to go to heaven, we have to be perfect. It’s right. This is God and none of us are perfect. We’re all sinners. And the Bible says you cannot save yourself. So this is why we needed a Savior. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh.

He came into this world because He loves us, hates our sin, because it 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 them across and came back from the dead. Instead, if we would believe He did it for us, He would put this payment to our account and we get to go to heaven. Oh, what Jesus Christ did for us. Isn’t that good news?

That’s the best news in the world. And see it doesn’t matter how hard some people’s minds are. Doesn’t matter if they’re already strangled with all these trials and tribulations and the thorns and briars of life. The gospel is the power of God that can break the hardest concrete. All you have to do is trust the word, trust this message, tell people and you’d be surprised at some of the results and just be a vessel that God can use and just do whatever He says.

Let’s pray, shall we? Every headbound, every eye-cowed. No one looking around. If you’re watching by internet or if you’re in the service tonight, why not right now in the quietness of this moment? Just talk to the Lord and say something like this, Lord, I know I’m a sinner. I believe it when Christ died. I believe He died for me. And tonight I will accept Him as my Savior. I want to trust Him as my only hope will go into heaven.

If you’ll do that, God said He would save you. And on the screen, if you’re watching by computer, it says, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior. I pray that you will. And if you will, if you’ve never done so before, do it right now. And let us know by just clicking that on the screen and letting us know. You that are here in the auditorium, You’ve already trusted Christ as your Savior. Are you struggling? Are you arguing with God, fighting against Him in some way?

Or are you at the place where you say, Lord, just whatever you want me to do, whatever you want me to do? Don’t thank God. Don’t argue with Him. Just whatever He wants you to do. Father, we thank you so much for your blessings to us. Thank you for the school, the college that we have, and for those that work would ranch and all the other ministries. And Father, we ask for the wisdom that we need in all the things that are coming up with the kids having their need met to go up there to Pennsylvania and to keep them safe and meet all the needs.

And we know that it’s getting close to the end of the semester. A lot of problems that some of the kids will have and difficulties and exams coming up work scheduled just so many things. Father, they probably have some problems we don’t even know about. But you do, and you love them, and you care for them. And we pray that you’ll bless each one of them. And help us Father as we plan for the graduation that we’ll be honoring to you.

We want people to come. We want them to see what’s being done. And we thank you for all that you’ve done because Lord, we just put water in a pot. We’re just trusting you to work the miracles, to do what we cannot do. We’re just plain ordinary people. We’re sinners saved by grace. We ask your blessings upon us. Thank you for this church. Christ and 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 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 4081 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.