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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. and 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.

Look at the next statement. Age three, as Paul Harvey would say. Psalm 77 verse 50 says, Thou hath with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Because he’s talking about when he went and brought them out of Egypt. And across the rich, it caused that thing to spread open. Verse 16, the water saw the O God, the water saw the, they were afraid, the debts also were troubled. The clouds poured out water, the skies sent out of sound, thine arrows also went abroad.

The voice of thy thunder was in the heavens, the light needs lightness, the world, the earth trembled and shook. You see, God said, all these things shows His magic, His power, His wonder. And then He says in verse 19, there’s a three or four things that I just kind of highlighted here, because I want you to see this. Thy way is in the sea. In other words, God can use the sea to accomplish His purpose. The great waters, He says, and thy path is in the great waters.

And I foot steps are not known. In other words, when you and I, we say, I wanna walk with the Lord, I wanna follow the Lord. Well, if He walks in the sea, remember you cannot trace the steps in the sea. There’s no tracks left. And though other people have walked before us, and they have lived with the Lord, and walked with the Lord, and as it says in the scriptures, and they walk with God, they walk with God, they walk with God.

But when you get ready to walk with God, you gotta walk with God. It’s not everybody else. It’s a personal thing between you and God. And you can’t always follow somebody else’s footsteps. You’re gonna have to buy faith and walk on water. In other words, buy faith, trusting God that he’s gonna lead and guide you and bless you and protect you. And as we often say, give you praise and honor and glory one of these days. But for now, you gotta trust in his watch, care, love and provision.

Look at the next statement, the storms declare the mighty strength of God’s power. Now God controls the wind. There’s a story where God uses this. He explains it in Mark chapter 4 verse 37 and there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship and that it was now for. Now he had told them to get into boat and go on the other side and they did. Did Jesus know about the storm coming? He not only made the storm, He sent the storm.

He sent the storm right where they were. Did God know that? And He says here in verse 38, and He was in the hinder part of the ship asleep on a pillow. They awake Him and said to Him, mastered and here’s the point. Carest not that we parry, do you not care whether we live or die? Don’t you care about us? When you see a storm of life, maybe you’ll question whether God, do you really love me? You could have stopped this.

Think about all the people who lost their homes, and yet you may be here and you didn’t lose your home. And all the people that lost the power, and yet you didn’t lose your power. You have electricity. You’re enjoying the air condition. This church didn’t lose anything. It didn’t get one drop of water inside, and God was good to us. God was bad to them. God has a reason though, you may not understand it, though I may not understand it.

But aren’t you glad that no physical life of our people was lost? A lot of things may be lost. A lot of things you don’t have to understand. But you’re to believe that there is a God and you’re supposed to always thank the Lord and praise the Lord. And what if you only had today what you thankful to the Lord for yesterday. And God knows how to work in our lives. He knows what every individual needs. And I believe God gives every individual care and attention.

But look what he says here. In verse 39, and he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the seed, peace be still. He can cause it to start and to stop. He says he can. Now, do you know he can or he can’t? But what does the Bible say? And then in verse four, he said unto them, why are you so here on the line that? Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?

No faith in what? He had already told them to go to the other side. Evidently, they already knew God had promised them he’d meet him on the other side. And they were supposed to be on the other side. They questioned, we’re gonna, we’re not gonna make it. But they’re already given his word. You’d be surprised how God can allow things to happen in your life to see whether, do you really trust him with your life? Do you really love him more than you do your house?

You see, yes, I do. Or if he took your house, you still love God, right? You’re not bitter at God. You’re not mad at God. You’re not mad if he takes your home. What if he took your health? What if he took your wife? What if he took your kids? Do you love the Lord more than anything else in this world? It’s always going to be in everything you have in life, a test of your love. The trial of your faith, trial of your faith.

What do you love? And do you really want God to see how strong you are? Look down at number four, God upholds and sustains the universe. Hebrews chapter one verse three, who’ve been the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power. Everything is under God’s power. Even the devil can only do what God permits him to do. God doesn’t make him do anything. God does not make you serve him, but God will allow you to serve him.

If you don’t, there may be consequences. God will not make you trust him as your Savior. God will allow you to reject Christ, reject God, reject everything that you want. God will allow you to die. God will allow you to go to hell, but it ain’t what he wants. He wants you to go to heaven. And he says, who so ever be leave it. So it’s who so ever will believe it. God will not make you believe. God will not make you serve you.

God will not make you honor him. But there’s consequences to your decisions. And your decisions in many cases affects the decision that God makes. Notice that the bottom God has power over the clouds out of the South comeeth the whirlwind and the cold out of the North. By the breath of God frost is given. Verse 11, also by water and he wearyeth the thick cloud he scattered his bright cloud. He is turned around about by his councils. It is that they may do get this whatsoever.

He commanded them upon the face of the world in the earth. Now if this is true then none of these things are accidents or or they ask of God, or God doing things because of people. I hope insurance company never figure out what I’m talking about here. Look at the next statement. He causes it to come. Well, therefore, and get this. This is right there in your Bible. He causes it to come, whether for correction or for his land or for mercy.

But God has a reason. You may not always discern it. You may not discern why God will let one house and everybody dies. And another house right beside him and everybody lives. I called up the other day to see how Jim Scudder was doing because I know he has a place down there in the Keys. And he has a little place, not a big place, a little place right on the canal there. And he got a boat there in the water and it’s just a beautiful little place.

And I’ve been there, we’ve been there, stayed with him. So we, I couldn’t get a hold of him because his cellphone wasn’t working or something. So I called up there and talked to his son And he says, mom and dad, they flew up there on a Thursday and they got there safely. And so they checked with their house down there and they said, nothing. No water, nothing else. And a half a mile from them, everything was totally wiped out, 95%.

Everything was totally wiped out. And here says Jim Scudder and his place, not touched when I owed him. Right there on the water and nothing happened to him. Now, let’s just stop and think for a minute. Is it possible that here we had, and all the experts were saying, Irma is coming right to Tampa. And you watched that thing and you were all watching and it came right up and lo and behold. The water was been taken out of the bay.

If I were to see this, it was on the news. The water was going away. And they say, it’s going to come in 10, 15 foot, storm surge. And that means it’s going to be about seven, eight feet high in this auditorium. Our home was going to be totally wiped out. And how many other places? So people had a little fear, just defiable fear. But that storm came up, that water went out. out. And then when it goes out, then that wind comes back around and the back part catches it and going to pull it in here and here it comes a big old wall.

But the thing is, though, when the water went out, the thing came this way and by the time the wind came around there was no water in there. And there was no storm surge. Now do you believe that it’s possible for God because of people praying? I had people who contacted me on Facebook and texting me all over this country. I don’t, people I don’t even know, but they hear about the radio program. They know we’re on YouTube and people would contain me.

We’re praying for you. We’re praying for you, praying for you. Now, I will chalk it up to this. Not perhaps because we’re so holier than somebody else, but there could be a lot of people who were praying for us. And I would venture to say, y’all were praying also. And you You were thrilled enough that you were spared. And so because of that, you can be thankful to the Lord. Because I think that East wind throwing it out. Well, that’s just like they’re in the Bible.

There were people out there walking in the bay. They showed it. So we have a lot to be thankful. Is God in charge? I do believe so. Look down here at the bottom of the page. What can we learn from fires, earthquakes, and hurricanes, and tornadoes, and floods? Number one, if the Bible is true, we should accept as a fact. God is not only in charge, but in control. Can you check that off? Did you believe that? You believe that?

Number two, God being perfect can only have a justifiable reason, or which you may not reveal to us, do you believe that that’s a possibility of being true? God can, because He’s perfect. God can only have a justifiable reason, though He may not tell us why. Number three, many things lie beyond the control of man. Have you found out that some things lie beyond your control, that you can’t control everything? Wouldn’t you like to? That’s why some people, they don’t trust anybody.

I’m a self-made man. I do it all myself and they had all the trust themselves. Number four, very important one. The first word is fear. Fear of the unknown. Unknown consequences. When you may not know what’s going to happen, how bad is it gonna be? And if you listen to all the experts, telling us how bad it was gonna be, there’s gonna be a number four or five hurricane and by the time it got here, what was it? or two, something like that.

But if it had been that bad, if they had been right, do you realize how devastated this county would be? This place called Tampa. And from what I heard, this is the worst place in all of America for flooding because we’re so close to sea level. This church is not even four feet above sea level in the bays right down here. How bad would it have been? Did you know just in case we try to make as much preparation that we could, we couldn’t find enough sandbags because everybody was getting them.

Where’s he gonna stack him in front of the door and stack him in front of that door and back there because you know if water got in on that floor what he would do that at tile in that floor and all the stuff and all the walls what we’re done to the carpet it had been above these pews. Do you realize how much damage would be done? Do you realize because of the cost of wind damage and then the floods, all that would have cost so much money that we didn’t even carry the insurance on that?

I told the deacons if I think it’s going to blow down, burn it. We had fire insurance just in case. But we did what we could in order to prepare the best we could. Now, did you make any preparations at your home if any kind? If you did raise your hand, let me see your hand. That’s just about everybody in. Somehow or other, you made some preparation. You might have went and got some sandbags. You might have nailed up some windows and you might have got some extra batteries or a few things and a food and whatever, but you tried to get whatever you could because you were trying to play it safe, just in case you want to prepare.

You wanted to have, that’s insurance. The best you could achieve. Did you know that in spite of all of our preparation, some things lies beyond our power to control? We could have done everything we could have and still lost everything. A storm could have come in here and wiped out everything we have and took our lives also.

You have car insurance, you’ll get home insurance, you’ll get health insurance. Did you know there’s another kind of insurance that you need to be aware of? You got to clue what that is? Eternal life insurance. This is where the premiums have already been paid. And all you got to do is accept it. There are no monthly payments to make. And it’s guaranteed for life. Guaranteed won’t cost you a dime to get it. Wouldn’t you like to have an insurance policy like that?

And you’ll be guaranteed a home that will never be destroyed. A body that will never have to worry about food. never have to worry about the dark. You’ll never have to worry about any of those things because seeing the best insurance in all the world is to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. That’s why I trusted Christ as my Savior years ago. I needed fire insurance. I did not want to go to hell and I had never heard how to go to heaven.

Nobody ever told me. They just told me I was going to hell. But nobody tell me how to go to heaven. Finally one day a man sit down with me and explained it to me it was the best news I ever heard. Now remember I wasn’t raised in church. My daddy was a bootlayer spent most of the life in the chain gang running from the lawn. My daddy as I know of, didn’t have a Bible. We never had a Bible in our own.

And we didn’t have prayer and we didn’t go to church. So my parents never taught me about the things of God. I was 18 years on the other side, wondering, wanting to know, but nobody ever took the time to tell me. Let me show you something. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God, He loves us. Now even though He loves us, He hates our sin, but He loves us. He wants us to go to heaven.

But because we’ve all sinned, God can’t let us go to heaven and sin in heaven, because we go to heaven, we’ll sin in heaven. God doesn’t want that. He has a perfect place. So because we’ve all sinned, the wages sin is death. That’s eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us, wants us to go to heaven. And we have to be perfect, no sin. And God says, you cannot earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven.

You see, that is an impossible storm that we have to face. And the consequences are eternal consequences to be separated from God forever. One desire I have had all my life, 75 years. By one main desire is I want to meet God. I want to see Him. I want to literally see Him and to realize that hell is to be eternally separate from God. I want to talk with Him and walk with him. I mean, they’re literally seeing. I want to be where he is.

But hell is to be eternally separate from God in a place of eternal fire. This hand representing Jesus Christ, he’s God in the face. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin, because he separates us from him. He separates me from him and separates me this way. Jesus Christ, who had no sin, he didn’t have to die. So he took all of our sins. We said, we have to pay for it. He took it. He paid for it.

And he says, my God, my God, why has not forsaken me? He paid for our sins, came back from the dead. And God said, if we’ll believe that he did it for us, he would put this payment to our account and we go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for me. I believed it. I took out this insurance 57 years ago. I’ve never had to make one payment. I don’t have to, oh, I don’t owe God anything because it was free.

All of the premiums all paid at one time. And this payment he made, he put it in escrow account and anybody who wants to draw on it can have it. In other words, if you want to go to heaven, all you got to do is believe that when he died, he died for you. And if you believe he died for you, he puts this payment to your account, you go to heaven or what he did. Your sins are paid.

Descented or paid? He already did it. But isn’t it foolish for a person to reject something God’s already done for him and he can have his turn life and know that he’s going to heaven when he dies? Look at the next statement down here. You see in verse five, we covered it just a little bit while I go. Looking verse six. In Jonah, one storm for one man produced great results in bringing many to the Lord. Do you realize because of one man who will not obey the Lord?

God brought a storm? And here’s some men in our boat and they were fixing to die. God did all of that because here’s one man that was rebellious. Now can God bring a whole storm and a lot of people be in danger because God’s trying to get the attention of one person? God’s God. I just know that God can do whatever God wants to do. Now he’s limited himself on certain things, but he says this, and acts. God uses a storm to blow a ship off course so that polka reached some barbarians on an island.

If that storm hadn’t come, Paul wouldn’t have been on that island and Paul would not have won those people. Can God bring a storm in your life to get you scattered to someplace else that witnessed somebody that you would have never had a chance to if you hadn’t done it? I believe that because I believe like Paul says, all these things have happened in me for the furtherance of the gospel, for the furtherance of the gospel and caused you to maybe learn some things and also I wrote on a couple things here I want you to see look at number eight number eight storms may cause the loss of things security and even life that we may learn to pursue eternal things instead of temporary things do you know some people their whole lives is based around the things that they possess a man’s life does not consist of the things that he

possesses there’s more things more important than that that’s eternal things and so sometimes God may use the storms, fires, the floods, to wipe away everything that you have. Because that’s not what life’s about anyway. It’s what eternal values do you have. What treasures are you, land of heaven, where you cannot lose them? You cannot lose them. Things on the earth you can lose. When you came into this world you came naked as a J bird and when you leave you’re gonna leave just as empty just as naked, except for the robe of white.

Look at the next statement. Number nine, storms may reveal our true value and priorities, while at the same time alerting us to the weaknesses in our own character. What happens to your attitude when the lines were long and you couldn’t get gas and people were ready to start fisticuffs? Some of that happened, didn’t. And I I bet some of it was some really strong Christian people too. Can Christian people who know the Lord and love the Lord lose it?

I’m not going to ask for a raise of hand, did you? But it’s possible. And when you went to the grocery stores and all the food was gone, I didn’t think it would feel. You’re mad at all those people who got there before you? Or did you get mad at anybody because, you know, your power went out and you didn’t electricity and did they tell you to leave and you didn’t leave because of the possibility maybe you won’t have electricity or if you try to come back too soon they may not be any gas but you run the risk and you do what you do is it possible can you get upset it happens even when the relievers don’t it but it’s also can reveal weaknesses in your own character are you strong in the Lord and sometimes we don’t want to find out how weak we are we don’t want

people know how fearful we really are, but sometimes we are afraid. We don’t have all the answers. We have that fear of the unknown consequences. Number 10, number 10, storms may uproot us. Not just our home, not just the trees, uproot us to spread good seeds due to the winds of adversity. God can allow a lot of things to happen in your life. It can build your character and cause you to see how strong you are, or weak areas in your life, where you’re afraid, or maybe you were not prepared.

And next time they say, hey, there’s another one coming, and it’s bigger and worse than the last one, this time you might even make better decisions. And maybe God gave you a warning this time, and he’ll spare those people in the keys, but really gonna take us to the cleaners. Is that possible. Some people live and never learn. Look at the last point. The Lord may use storms to put some to sleep. What do you think I mean by that?

And I don’t mean taking the snooze. God can use storms to take a person’s life. He can take a person’s life through a A car wreck. A plane. Bad health. No, cancer. Leukemia. You name it. Leukemia, your name it. You’re all going to die sometime, one day, it’s a large area. So God can use a storm to take people out of this world, and He also can use a storm to cause people to wake up and realize how quickly life can be snuffed out.

And how important, what are your priorities in life? What are you living for? It might cause a person to examine themselves to see what God has for the… And what are they doing? Because if I was to meet the Lord today, what would He have to say to me? Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Or I’m sorry I had to bring you up here. I’m messing up, now. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little message. I don’t know if it’ll help you at all, but I don’t have all the answers.

But I do believe that God is in charge and God is in control and God can use the weather. the brain people to Him, or the chasing people. That teaches all kinds of lessons. Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bowed and every act closed, no one looking around. If you hear this morning, maybe you have never trusted Christ as your Savior. God may be working in your life. A lot of things to get people to stop and listen, maybe to search.

And if you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you trust him right now? The only thing you have to do is when Christ died, believe He died for you, that He came back from the dead. And so I just want you to know that I did that because I love you. I did that because I paid for your sin. And I don’t want you to go to hell. And I just want you to believe I did it for you.

And if you’ll believe that, God said He would give you as a free gift everlasting life. He’d never cast you out and never lose you. I pray that you’ll trust the Lord. God is powerful. God is real. He hasn’t gone to sleep, he hasn’t gone to bed, he hasn’t gone on vacation, he’s watching, and he cares about you. You are important to him. If you’ve never trusted Lord, would you do it right now? And I’m gonna ask in just a moment to raise your hand, raising your hand doesn’t save you.

It just lets me know that what I said made sense to you, say preach that made sense to me, and I will trust Christ as my savior, and I’d like for you to pray for me. Would you just slip it up very quickly, put a wrap back down, say, what at all? Yes God bless you sir, and what else? to slip it up and rub it down. We’re not gonna pin you against a wall and not gonna embarrass you, but right where you’re sitting.

A man would be a fool to turn down a free gift. And once you trust Christ in saving your God’s child, God’s child forever, and God can use many things to teach you, to bring you closer to Him. Our Father, we thank You so much for all that You’ve done for us. Thank You for this individual who by lifted hand indicated He’s trusting you a savior. that once He trusts you, He never has to do it again, because you give Me eternal life.

And Father, we also praise You, and thank You for, goodness that you’ve shown to us, that we’ve seen through storms, fires and earthquakes, the mighty power, the wonderful works of God, and how that you can use these things for your honor and for your glory. Follow, we may not understand it all, but in no way do we want to diminish the fact that you care about us and that you love us and that you want the best for us, and that you You have a justifiable reason for everything you allow.

And we thank you for the Christ name. 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. book The Gospel Driven Man covers all those topics and we want all new listeners of Bible line 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 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 3366 6.

Closing Thought Friend, one day it will be changed. and we will be changed. God 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.