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

I love this time of year. I think it’s good because people think about giving receiving. Sometimes you have to be on the receiving end. There are some people who never like to receive anything that I like to do the giving. But if nobody accepted anything, there would be nobody giving anything. Somebody has to receive. Sometimes there’s a pre-job that had people do special things for me. All I can say is just thank you. My wife and I I do thank you for cards and kind words and phone calls and special gifts at times that people give to us and we’re thankful and we don’t take it for granted.

And we’re thankful for the ministry that God has given to us here at Calvary Community Church. But anyway, if you have your notes now, what makes it so great? I love to tell the story of the greatest story ever told. of these things I’d share with you before, but I wanted you to have a copy of it. Because me, one of the greatest verses in the Bible is John 3 16. This says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, who so ever believe within Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Proverbs chapter 30, Proverbs and chapter 30. There’s a verse here that asks a bunch of questions. Everybody likes to ask questions. We always want to know why, but the Lord puts some in his word here says, who? Who? So you notice in Proverbs chapter 30 and let there in verse 4. Verse 4. And verse 4 says, who hath ascended up into heaven or descended? Good question, isn’t it?

I know someone who did. He asked another question. Who hath gathered the wind in his fist? I know who can calm the storms. He asked another question, who had bound the waters in a garment? I know who established the ends of the earth and then he says, what is his name? And what is his son’s name if thou canst tell? So even here in the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament is a question about God, his name, and what is his son’s name.

Well, I think he just, he was a chip off the block. He has a name just like his daddy. Some people get him all mixed up. You look at this little baby down here and looks just like his daddy. He has the same hair, do everything. But then whenever you think about Jesus Christ, he has a name just like his father. So I know who he is. And I know his son’s name. But didn’t that a good question to ask back here before he was ever born?

Now, I want you to take your Bible and turn to your right to the book of Isaiah, chapter seven, the book of Isaiah, and chapter seven. Now, Proverbs was about a thousand years, thousand years before Christ ever came. But in the book of Isaiah, oh about 700 years before Christ came, it makes another statement here in verse 14. Verse 14 says Work for the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.

Some people say, well, that just means a young woman. That’s not a sign most young women do have a child. But a sign is a woman who has never been touched by man. They have a child. That’s mentioned over here in the Old Testament before he ever came. And he says, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son shall call his name Emmanuel. So God, see, he had a son before he was ever born in this world because he says, what is his son’s name?

Well he had to have one in order to know his name. And then look there in Isaiah chapter nine and look at verse six where he says in verse 6, for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given. The child is born into this world, but he was already a son of God before he came into the world. And this was written 700 years in advance. And the government get this, this is prophecy. The child will be born, The Son will be given, he’ll die on the cross.

The government shall be upon his shoulders, he’ll rule and reign. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. What a name! If the Son has a name just like his daddy. You know when Christ came into the world, he even talked like his daddy and lived like his daddy, walked like his daddy. He was a spitting image of his dad. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, the express image of his father.

He could even go as far as to say, when you’ve seen me, you’ve seen my dad. How can he be called the everlasting father without an everlasting son? So Jesus Christ existed before He came into this world. Mary was used by God to bring the child into the world. This is the most awesome story in the world. When you stop and think, the greatest story ever told, look there in the little box that I have there. And look, whenever you tell the story about what Jesus Christ on the cross.

The Bible tells the greatest stories ever heard, but it takes all of these stories together to tell the story of what Christ did on the cross. Heaven tells of the greatest splendor ever imagined. Hell tells of the greatest horror that ever produced fear in a man. This story involves the greatest number of people. The whole world. It was 4,000 years in the making. It is still being told. It is the greatest love story ever told. The putting of Christ to death was the greatest display of wickedness ever recorded in human history.

Because look what the world did to a perfect man that never did any wrong. No fault was ever found in him. This is truly an awesome story and one that we ought to be thankful that we know that someone told us about it. I want you to look there in Romans in chapter 1 and verse 16. Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. This is one of the statement of faith that we read every Sunday where it says in verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For therein, that means in this message, in this gospel, there’s something that you need to see. The righteousness of God revealed. From faith to faith. I believe like the Apostle Paul says, I am ready to preach the gospel to those that are at Rome also. That’s in verse 15. So he was given the gospel and he believed it and so by faith he was saved. So you tell that message, that wonderful story to someone else and they hear it and they believe.

So from faith of one to the face of another to the face of another to the face of another and right on down the line, not only from faith to be saved but faith to grow, faith to tell to believe what God’s Word says about it. In this message is the righteousness of God revealed. Look there in chapter 3. Chapter 3 makes the statement in verse 21. But now, now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest or revealed.

Being witnessed by the law and the prophets. In other words, they told about this righteousness that would come. That would be made available to any person who would accept it and they would be given the righteousness of God. What if God walked into this room and was willing to offer you his righteousness and that would be good enough to go to heaven on? God said, I’ll let you go to heaven on my righteousness because your righteousness is not good enough.

If you had to earn your way to heaven, you’ll never be good enough. That’s why most people do not know where they’re going to go when they die because they think that they’re going to heaven is a result of how good they’ve lived. And if they don’t measure up, they won’t make it. So they have this emotional roller coaster of, yes, I am. No, I’m not. Yes, I am. No, I’m not. Yes, I am. No, I’m not. They don’t never know.

for sure. For 50 years I can be able to say absolutely, dogmatically. I know I have eternal life. I know I’m going to heaven whenever I die because God gave me His righteousness. His righteousness is Christ. Christ is my righteousness. Look what he says here in verse 22, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, which is unto all. And upon all them that believe, look up here, his righteousness, his perfection is unto all, but it’s only upon those that believe.

Now God says in his word in chapter three, in verse 36, that he that believeth on me hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God is upon them. So would you rather have the wrath of God or the righteousness of God? It’s your choice. You see, His righteousness is what makes this such good news. Christ came into the world, yes, born, to die for our sins so that God could give to us His righteousness.

So it’s in reality, it’s like God stands up here and offers you His Son. And if you accept his son, you will have a payment for your sins. He was the payment. When you accept Christ, you have the righteousness of God put to your account. So his righteousness is unto all, but it’s only upon those that believe. Now look again there in chapter one. And you’ll notice there in verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.

You know those two things are mentioned right here, following the declaration of the gospel. I am not ashamed of this message because this gospel message, this good news of why Christ came, it shows you the wrath of God against sin. And so when Christ took upon himself, all the sin of the world, it showed the wrath of God against sin, but it shows the righteousness of God. Christ came back again from the dead and it offers to you and me his righteousness.

And that’s good enough for you and I to go to heaven on. So yeah, it’s the greatest story in all the world. Look at number eight there on your notes. The greatest promise ever given. God promised that the heathen, that’s the lost people. You say, you’re here this morning, you say, Am I a heathen? If you’re lost, you are. Don’t you realize who I am? Yeah, you’re a heathen. If you have not accepted Christ as your Savior, if you are not saved, if you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, you’re not a Christian, you are a heathen.

Now, I know we often think about the heathen. Well, that’s those people that’s, you know, on some dark continent and they don’t know and they’re running around at a loincloth and they’re totally ignorant and everything else. No, a heathen can be the most intellectual person in the world. But if he’s without God, he’s a heathen. That’s how God sees you. So God says that if you don’t know that you’re going to heaven when you die, God says you’re not.

You don’t know the way. So to be justified by faith, we have to believe in the death. in the barrel and the resurrection of Christ. It does not say that we had to believe in the birth, but I believe in the birth. I believe in the virgin birth. I believe that Jesus Christ was who he claimed to be, and that I have eternal life because of what he’s done for me. But in the past, God made a promise to Abraham that he would save by faith, that a man could not save himself by his works.

And this was 430 years before God ever gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. So God did not give the law to be saved. He already promised that he would save by faith alone. And that’s the only way a man could be saved. So that was the greatest promise that’s ever been made, that God would justify a heathen. And I was a heathen. I was lost by faith alone. All I had to do was believe that when Christ died, he died for me and I trusted him as my savior.

Look at number nine during your nose. Number nine is the greatest law ever given. See, that’s what makes this the greatest story because everything about it was so great. What makes it so great? Well, The greatest promise that God ever gave was that he was saved a man by faith And he made it to Abraham and Yet he had to have his son Make it possible for him to keep his promise. You see if Christ had never come into the world God could not have kept his word.

He could not have kept his promise to save a man by faith if Christ had not died and paid for his sins. Because he God made a law, a righteous law. And in that law, it says the soul that sineth shall die. Now why you’re in Romans, look there in chapter 3. Romans chapter 3, Luke now in verse 19. Now we know that what things, so ever the law say it, it’s safe to them that are under the law and get this, that every mouth may be stopped and you’re to underline all the world become guilty before God.

God made a law that condemned the whole world. What a law. That’s the greatest law that’s ever been given was God’s law. Oh, every nation makes laws, every state legislature, county, city, but he made a law that governed everybody in the whole world. Never been a law like that law. That’s the greatest law that’s ever all the laws in America are cause of the laws that God gave, by the way, they’re still in effect. They were never given to save anybody.

Christ did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law. The law is still wrong. The steel, it’s still wrong to lie. It’s still wrong to commit adultery. It’s still wrong. I didn’t say it’s not wrong anymore. Like the law’s been done. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It’s still wrong. It’s still a sin.

And it says, thou shalt make unto thee no other graven images. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy hard mind, body, soul, and strength. That’s still a command. It’s just a man can’t keep it. Man can’t fulfill the law. But that doesn’t make the law bad. Romans 7 says that the law was perfect, the law is spiritual, the law is good, nothing wrong with the law. What’s the problem? I love them. I love them. You and me, we couldn’t keep it.

And because the law condemned everybody, well did God give the law for a man to be saved? No. He already promised all he had to do is trust Christ to save you. But see, people won’t trust Christ if they think they can save themselves. So God gave the law to lead us to Christ. The law was never given to save a man. Can’t save a man. Look at number 10. Number 10. The greatest son ever born was given. I’ve got two sons.

One’s here and one’s in heaven. Love both of my sons. My sons I think were pretty good, but not a one of them was perfect. Oh, they were close. I think my grandson is. It doesn’t matter how much we love them, they’re not perfect. Just beautiful little baby down here is not perfect. They’re going to find out in very soon that little baby has a sinful nature. Got it from the mother, just joking. Believe it or not, I believe it’s passed on by the daddy who hated to admit that.

but the greatest law brought the greatest condemnation that the whole world becomes guilty. So that’s what helps make this the greatest story. Everybody in the world needs a Savior. Isn’t this wonderful? Everybody needs a Savior. We’re all in the same boat. And God’s in his Son and he’s the only one that can save. He was the only one that was innocent. He was the only one that didn’t sin. So he’s the only one that didn’t have to die. But he chose to die because he loved his father and he made this statement in John 14, verse 31.

He said that the world may know that I love my Father even so I do. The word Christ says, I’m doing what I’m doing because I want the world to know how much I love my Father. Now He loves us, but it was God love for us that sent His Son, and because the Son loved the Dad so much He’d do anything His Father asked. So He was willing to die for us because He loved His Father, and He died on the cross.

back from the dead. And God says that all those who come to Him, He will give to the Son. It says, Anala, no wise, ever cast them out, and now never lives them. You have eternal life and you get to go to heaven whenever you die. Pretty good news, pretty good news. Take your Bible and turn there to the book of 1 John and chapter 4. 1 John, chapter 1 John chapter 4 looked there in verse 9. God is love.

God in order to prove love must have an object of love. He needed to have something that he can show that he loves. Anna, he created a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, put him in a garden and all the world. And the beautiful garden was made just for them, just for mankind, because he loves us. But Adam and Eve, if they had never sinned, would never have known the love of God like you and I know. It was because of sin, and God permitted sin, and all the wickedness it comes because of sin, because it gave the Lord an opportunity to prove to us that He loves us by doing something for us, we could not do for ourselves.

So there has to be something so bad that he had to save us from. Something so bad would want to be saved from. We could just say, I wish that I could just be annihilated and there’s nothing else and I don’t know why exist anymore. In other words, think of how many years went and I wasn’t around. I didn’t exist. I didn’t miss anything because I wasn’t here. Wouldn’t be neat if you could just say, okay, I’ve had enough.

Stop the earth. I want off and I don’t exist anymore. If it could all go through that, then death may be within it all. And that’s it. But we know according to the Bible. Death doesn’t end at all. There is an eternity and God tells us about a place called hell and tells us how terrible it is. How wicked it is how hot it is how long it is the suffering The smoke of their torment of send it up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night They’re like wondering stars in the mr.

Blackness forever There has to be the most wicked thing in all the world in order for us to appreciate the love of God Because he’s got to save us from something we couldn’t save ourselves from And God allowed all of this wickedness and so forth to prove that He loves us. You say, well, I may have proved just the opposite. Then you’re not looking correctly. You say, you and I don’t have to spend eternity in hell. You can accept the love of God, or you can reject the love of God.

He that believeth on Him, God gives His righteousnesses upon Him. him. He that believeth not the wrath of God’s all in him. It’s a choice. This made sense to me 50 years ago. So I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I know that I have eternal life and I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. No. Hearing your notes, there’s a few of the things that’s mentioned here. The greatest event in human history was the cross. And mainly that time of the death and the barrel and the resurrection of Christ is all tied in together here.

There’s nothing like those few short years that Jesus came into the world. Now you stop and think there’s a lot of people who who tried to rule the world. And you can name it, no Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and all the rest of them, all the way down through time, Napoleon and Alexander, they all wanted a rule world.

And they all ruled by force to conquer, to kill, to threaten, terrorize. We have people today who want to take and terrorize the world. Willing to kill anybody and everybody as long as they can dominate and win, conquer the world. And yet the Bible talks about come desire of nations come. This desire of peace and joy and happiness.

This is the Lord. The desire is Christ. The desire that you and I have to live forever. Eternal peace and joy, all this that we want, That’s Christ. That’s what you’re really desiring. And how many people live their whole lives? Chasing soap bubble, the dream. And they don’t want anything to do with Jesus. And here’s what you’re looking for. Are you ready to learn how to live your life as a strong Christian, lead others to Christ or excel as a church worker or ministry leader?

Then look no further, then Florida Bible College of Tampa With traditional and online classes taught by instructors with years of experience, Florida Bible College of Tampa can help you grow in your Christian life. Whether taking individual classes or working toward a one-year degree, Florida Bible College of Tampa is here for you. To learn more, visit online at floridabiblecollege.us or call the Registrar Bob Gilbert at 8502275325. That’s 8502275325.

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 in looking up.