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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 hear a lot of talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We sing songs about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But to truly understand the passion of Christ is to understand the gospel of Christ. Because see, if the resurrection is true, everything he said is true. If the resurrection didn’t happen, then nothing matters. We’re all wasting our time. But if you listen to the passion, and some people they see these movies on the passion, or you can see movies about Jesus Christ and the resurrection.

But after you’ve done so, if you didn’t hear how to go to heaven, didn’t know that salvation was by grace through faith alone that you could positively know for certain, you have eternal life, then it didn’t serve its purpose. That’s not what it’s about. If you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ but do not know for certain, you’re going to heaven. What did it do for you? It amounts to nothing. It’s labor in vain. It’s believe in in vain.

1 Corinthians chapter 15 talks about believing in vain if Jesus Christ did not come back from the dead. But He did. Therefore my preaching is not in vain. Your faith is not in vain because He came back from the dead just like He said. Why did He go to of the cross. Why did He die? Well He died for you. But many people don’t really understand that. Because isn’t it true that you’ve heard almost all your life that Christ died on the cross and paid for all the sins of the world?

You’ve heard that. Well why did He do that? Because He didn’t want you to pay for your sins. He paid for your sins and for my sins so that we wouldn’t have to pay for our sins. You don’t have to pay for something twice. already paid for it. The reason I can’t go to hell today, the reason I can’t go to hell tomorrow because I don’t have any sins to pay for Christ, pay for all my sins. You may think, boy, you sound pretty cocky this morning.

I sure do because I know I have eternal life. I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. And you see, I don’t have any sins to pay for. That’s why I know I’m going to heaven. Christ died for you so that you could go to heaven. Now let me explain it to you. But why should we believe that Christ’s death actually paid for our sins? Why would you believe that? How do you know? You weren’t there. I wasn’t there.

So there must be a way of understanding some of this. Oh, there is. The correct question to ask is why the cross? What’s it all about? There is the story of the cross. And when Christ says, going to all the world and priests the gospel, the gospel is about the cross. So we talk about the cross, we sing about the cross, it ought to be about that message. What’s the message of the cross? Why was Christ crucified? Why was it happening?

Listen, this is the scripture. Variety delivered unto you, first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And that He was buried, and that He rose again. The third day according to the Scriptures. See, this was recorded in the Old Testament. And so the fulfillment of these proved that the Scriptures written in the Old Testament that were true and Christ fulfilled those Scriptures. You see, His death proved the Old Testament scriptures that the Bible can be trusted because it happened just like God said it was.

And yet it was written some places over a thousand years in advance, 700 years in advance. But it happened just like God prophesied it would. His burial, why is that important? Proved he was dead. He was dead. His resurrection proves he is alive again. Plus that the Old Testament is true. Because the Old Testament talked about the Messiah in chapter 53. How that he would die for the sins of the world. And yet he shall see his seed. He’s going to be resurrected.

He’ll prolong his life. All these things mentioned in the New Testament so that we can know that the Word of God is true. I love the song that Bob just sung just a minute ago because you see there’s a scripture that says he is the beautiful rose of Sharon. He was the rose that was perfect. He was crushed, crushed, And the fragrance from this, we also use the same word, Smirna, in the church that Smirna. It was crushed. And the fragrance that pleased the Lord.

So it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. And this is why you’ll also hear the songs about the, he’s the Lily of the Valley from Song of Solomon. This is why generally there’s a lot of, lilies that people put out because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ because he is the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley. And Jesus says to his disciples he says, greater love hath no man than this, that a man laid down his life for his friends.

And John 15 and verse 13. So Christ was doing one of the greatest things anyone could ever do for somebody else. Die in their place. You have a substitution. You see, you don’t have to pay for your sins because someone already paid for all of your sins. You see, those sins is what keeps you out of going to heaven, but if you paid your debt, there’s no sins to pay for it. Somebody else paid for my sins. The Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith.

That not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Not a works list, and you man should boast. See, I was under the impression for most of my all my teenage years. I heard that if you were good, you’d go to heaven, and if you were bad, you’d go to hell. Probably most of y’all have heard that. But I didn’t know how good it had to be to go to heaven. And I didn’t know how bad it had to be to go to hell.

Well, heaven is perfect and sin, well, we’re all sinners. You cannot commit one sin. this is why it’s so important to understand what Christ did on the cross for us. When Christ was here, he was taken and he had a mockery of a trial. The Bible says that he was led as a lamb to the slaughter. You see, he was taken first of all to Antis which he was not supposed to do or Antipas and he went and he was the father of the Caiaphas who was the real high priest.

He was no longer a high priest when he was taken to him. And it was illegal. And then you have no witnesses that they could prove anything against him that was literally true. And then there was no actual charge. What had he done wrong? See, he was a perfect lamb of God who had committed no sin, no sin because he was perfect. He was the Son of God. So there was violence but without guilt. He hadn’t done anything wrong.

You see, they took Jesus and he put a thing over his head and then they would feed him in the face with their face and says, prophesy, who smite us now? And then all the things they did in spit, here’s the created spitting on the creation. He was God himself. He could have stopped everything, but he had a purpose in coming. Even by Caiaphas, the chief priest, the elders and all the councils sought false witnesses. Somebody that could substantiate say something that they could try to prove and convince the crowd because they wanted to find a way to put him to death.

Jesus declared he was the Messiah and they said he’s guilty of blasphemy because when they asked him, says, are you the Son of God? He says, I’ll say it that. He says, and one day you’re going to see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. And so they said, see there? He’s guilty of blasphemy and the order be killed.

There was no defense attorney for him. The verdict was already determined. They were just looking for a reason for the verdict. They had already determined this man does not deserve to live. So everything they did about Christ was illegal. It wasn’t justified. The Roman trials, Jesus should have been tried only according to Jewish law. And if he was found guilty, he was to be stoned to death. So everything was not according to that. But the Bible did not say that Jesus would be be stoned to death in the Old Testament.

The Bible says in the Old Testament that he’d be crucified by his hands in his feet. What the Bible says? What isn’t it? A thousand years in advanced Psalms 22 when David wrote, told how the Messiah would die before he was ever born? It’s an amazing thing. but there’s the mockeries of a trial. The charge was, well, Christ claimed to be King. And if he’s King, well, what about Caesar? Caesar’s King. Caesar is Lord. Or Herod won under the King.

So there was a problem. See, Pontius piled up the governor. And then you have, that’s not who Jesus is supposed to go to. And then you have Herod called Antipas the son of Herod the Great. Remember the one that when Jesus was born was trying to kill all the little babies and so forth. And then you have Pilate the second time and he pretended to wash his hands and says, I wash my hands of this man. And the Jew said, let his blood be upon us and upon our children.

And so for the last 2000 years, it’s been upon them and their children. The world has paid a price because of their treatment of Christians around the world, and it ain’t over yet. I could get into a little bit more. So they wrote this thing and Paulus says, right, that he’s the king of the Jews, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews, and they came says, don’t put on there that he is the king of the Jews, but that he said he was king of the Jews.

And Paul says, what I have written, I have written. And there is a skull, let’s call it Golgotha, which is outside the city wall, north of Jerusalem. I’ve been there six times and it sure does. At the foot of this is a bus station. And to the left was Gordon’s chap, a Calvary, where we have where Jesus was buried. The crucifixion of Christ with the fulfillment of Old Testament Scriptures. The Bible says that his clothes would be divided. Well, in Psalms 22 says they part my garments among them and catch lots.

They rolled dice for his clothes, the things that he had, the term in the sandals of the out of government, the girl. Five things to divide. And the Bible says this a thousand years in advance. Now Jesus didn’t make them do these things, but the Bible prophesied. So even Jesus Christ was the Son of God, not just a normal man or as the biggest hoax that’s ever been perpetrated upon mankind. He’s either God or he’s a liar, but he cannot be a good man.

He cannot be just a good teacher. He was the son of God. God in the flesh. He says, I first Psalms 22, 15 says, my strength is dried up like a potchard. My tongue cleave to my jaws. They’ll have brought me into the dust of death. This is what he said when he was on the cross. The very first words in Psalms 22 says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me. That’s what Christ said when He was on the cross.

But it says that in Psalms from a thousand years in advance. He also says in Psalm 6 to 9, He says, they gave me also golf on my meat. And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. We just covered that in Sunday School class this morning in the Book of Matthew chapter 27. Also that His side would be pierced. Now there’s about 300s in the crucifixion of Christ. and what we call the top passion of Christ. All that He went through.

The Christ coming into this world, the birth, everything, what nation, what tribe, what family, that He would be the king of Israel. All these things prophesied on how it would be treated, how it would be rejected, a man of sorrows and a queen who would grieve. Now He said, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” That’s in the book of Zachariah.

That’s right before Malachi, right before the book of Matthew beginning over 400 years in between those. And yet we have the Scriptures telling us that when he comes, he’ll be pierced. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. If Jesus Christ is not the Messiah, whenever the Messiah is supposed to come in the future, he’ll have to do everything Jesus has already done. He’ll have to be born in Bethlehem, Africa, Because that’s where he’s supposed to be born.

It says in the book of Micah 5 2 He says though I’ll be little among the thousands of Judea. Oh my Bethlehem, Africa He said out of these shall he come forth that is to be ruler in Israel who’s going forth and been a bold everlasting No words. He never had a beginning never had an ending the one that’s going to be born and a version shall conceive and bear son and His name shall be called wonderful counsel the mighty God the everlasting father the Prince of peace That’s what his name.

That’s who he is He would be called Emmanuel, which is God with us. Jesus Christ is not the first and last name like you and I have. Jesus means Jehovah, God, took up on flesh and became the Messiah. The one that was going to make the payment for the sins of the world. So Jesus Christ, yes, he came into the world, but why did he do it? You watched the movie called Passion and some of the other things like I said earlier, but never tell you why.

And it doesn’t give a person any more hope than what they had. Just because they came back from the dead, what now? You see, if you don’t know where you’re going, when you die, he died in vain. He died so that you can know that you have, he turned like, know that you’re going to heaven because there was no other way. If you could earn your salvation by being a good little boy and a little girl, then why did Christ have to die?

He wouldn’t have had to die. You see, why, why, why? Well, the Bible says over and over again, Christ died for our sins. Five words. That’s why he was born. That’s why he lived a perfect life. So that he could be a spotless lamb with no fault, No defects, without blemish. And he would down the cross and pay for our sins. You see, you and I, the Bible says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Short of God’s perfection, we all have sinned. And because we have all sinned, we’re all guilty. Because we’re all guilty, the wages of sin is death. So to pay for sin is not going to church. Paying for sin is not giving money. Paying for sin is not trying to live a good life. Paying for sin means the wages of sin is death. That’s why Jesus Christ had to die. The heavy debt of sin upon the whole world, all of us have sinned.

We owe a debt. Suppose you only sin three times a day. A word, an action or a thought. That’s only a thousand sins a year. And that’d be a good year, wouldn’t you say? How many thousands of your sins separate you from God? Only one sin. Whosoever shall keep the whole law and offend in one point is guilty of how many. All of them, you are in debt and God is going to collect.

You owe God a death payment. We earn the right to die. We earn the right to be spend our eternity in hell. We earn that. We deserve that because we’re, see, there’s a place called heaven, but it’s perfect. No sin allowed there, but we’re sinners by nature and we’re sinners by choice. Even though you know what to do that’s right, you still fail. You don’t always do what you should do. You sin against a holy God, and we are accountable to God.

Now, if I don’t want the guilt, then I just deny the sin. And so that’s why people wanna have laws that justify their sin. Homosexuality is a sin. But if you make it right, It’s not wrong, no guilt, no guilt, no shame. Aborting little babies, a sin. But if it make it right, there’s no guilt, no guilt, no shame. But we cannot override the laws of God. God’s Word is still true. And all of us have sinned against God.

Jesus’ death paid for our sin. And the only way he can do that is he couldn’t have any sin. That’s why he says, and the Bible talks about this in Christ, that He made a payment for our sins, that we could have the righteousness of God put to our account. In Him is no sin. And because there’s no sin in Him, Christ became sin for us. He calls He new no sin, that we, you and I, might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

So He was perfect, and we’re not. But what if God would give you His perfection and take your sin? He died in your place, gives you his righteousness and you go to heaven. So he paid for the sins of the world but his righteousness you must receive. And that’s why when you accepted the payment he made, God gives you his righteousness and if he gives you his righteousness that makes you as righteous as God and you go to heaven, oh what he did for you?

That’s why he died so that you could go to heaven and know it. Look at me. I couldn’t go to hell if I tried. There’s no way possible for me to go to hell. You see, how do you know that? Christ died for my sins. Keep this in mind. The Passover lambs were unblemished. That means it without a defect. The innocent must die for the guilty in order for the guilty to go free. And see even when God gave the law to Israel, they sinned.

And because they sinned instead of killing all the people, because they wouldn’t live very long if God killed you every time you sinned. You could only commit one then that’s it. So He made a way an innocent lamb or an innocent bull or an innocent little dove could take the place and something innocent dies that had nothing to do with your sin. That’s just not right. Then you choose the other. You get to go to hell if you want.

God will not make you believe this. So He had His own Lamb come into the world, Jesus Christ. And He says, a body has not prepared me. And so Jesus Christ who lived a sinless life was able to die in our place. If He had sin, He’d have to pay for his own. He had no sin. He didn’t have to die. You see, God says that he made Jesus a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death because angels don’t die.

God doesn’t die. So he came into the world and lived in a body. And Mary was used by God to produce a body so that the Son of God could live in this body and he would grow up and live without sin, fulfill the demands of the law and take our place. Natural man could never have dreamed up a plan of salvation. The whole thing is truly of God. You see, the past of the lands were roasted whole without any legs broken.

In the book of Exodus in chapter 12, he says, in one house shall it be eaten, thou shall not carry forth out of the flesh. And he says, abroad, out of the house, neither shall ye break a bone thereof. No bones were to be broken. So when Jesus Christ went to the cross, none of his bones were broken before or after. Christ must have died for our sins, since it was so prophetic and certain that the reason given must be the truth.

If Jesus Christ came into this world today, day. And he fulfilled all those Old Testament prophecies. And he was alive today. Well, if he did all of that, and he says, now I’m going to die and pay for the sins of the world. But when I do, I’m going to come back from the dead. If he had just died and was buried into the story, then he’s no different than any other man. The only thing that makes him different from somebody who died, other people died on a cross.

Other people were buried. But one thing no other man has ever done is come back from the dead. So him coming back from the dead tells you that the reason he did it must be the truth. And he said he did it for you to pay for your sins. That’s why you don’t have to go to church to go to heaven. You do not have to give any money to go to heaven. You don’t have to pray through and hang on and let go and let…

No, no, no. There is only one thing you must do. And that is to believe he did it for you. When you believe he did it for you, then you trust in nothing else to get you to heaven. Because all of your sins are paid, you have a debt that’s been settled and you are going to heaven because of what Christ did for you. So I don’t go to church so I can go to heaven when I die. I don’t try to live a good life so that I can go to heaven when I die.

I’m already going to heaven. I’ve known that for 56 and a half years. The true Lamb of God. When John saw Jesus, after he baptized him, he says, the dove came upon to behold the the Lamb of God that take of the way of the way of the way of the way of the way. Sin of the world. That’s what he said. The Romans soldiers of why break his legs, he keep with all his bones. Not one of them is broken.

Jesus didn’t determine that. That’s a fulfillment of prophecy. You can’t make yourself be born at a certain time, did you? Did you make yourself male or female? That’s the only two kinds of people there are. There are no such thing as transvestite. They don’t exist. You’re either male or female. And if you don’t know which one you are, come see me. The reason they did not break his legs is because he was what? Already dead. Christ was already dead.

You can’t have a resurrection unless you first have a dead man. So Christ was alive and then he was dead. Then he was alive again. So the Bible says he was raised again. Doesn’t mean he was raised twice. Raised again means he was alive and then he was dead and now he is alive again. Raised again means he’s alive again and called Christ is alive. The burial of Christ proved he was truly dead. There was a tomb burial. The rapid in burial in about a hundred pounds of spices through that he was truly dead.

He died for you. But how do you know that Christ’s death actually paid for our sins? The resurrection. He told you what he was going to do. Why was doing it? And then he did it. So when we talk about salvation, we’re talking about we must believe that he is who he came to be. He said he was God in the flesh. Remember in the book of John chapter 1, he says, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And the resurrection is the proof of what He said and what He did. And why did it? You see, Jesus Christ wants you to know these things.

Who He is? And what He said was He that believed it on behalf of our lasting life. And the only reason that’s possible because you need to believe what he did. He paid for your sins. He died, paid for your sins, came back from the dead. He said, Now, if you believe I did that for you, then I’ll put that payment I made to your account. See, the payment for the sins of the world has already been made, but the payment is not put to your account until you believe he did it for you.

This is your invitation to join us for our third Sunday dinner held in the Florida Bible College of Tampa building on the Calvary Community Church Campus. The dinner is a family-style, covered-dish dinner and a great way to showcase your favorite dish and pick up new recipes. Each month you have the opportunity to invite your family and friends to join us for our Sunday morning service at 1030 and then stay for our third Sunday dinner immediately following noon. Third Sundays at Calvary Community Church, where you’ll be fed spiritually and physically.

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. Enough.