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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 year. 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.

I’ve lived long enough to realize that I don’t know if you really can have too much bad news or good news, it’s just, it’s news. The key is how do you accept news? Because you know that all things work together for good to them that level or if it’s good news, right? Only if it’s good news. But if it’s bad news, that can’t help you at all or can’t it? So you see, it does make a difference. So in this birth, what glory is it?

If when you are buffeted for your faults and you take it patiently, But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. It means not everything is going to be pleasing to you. You’re going to hurt at times. People are going to say things, do things. You’re going to lose jobs. You’re going to lose health. You’re going to get cancer. You’re going to lose a loved one. This whole life that we have is life of suffering.

Look at the bottom verse, the bottom of the page, for here unto where you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. Now, we’re not in heaven yet. So in this light that God’s given to us, we’re going to suffer. Did you know that Christ suffered a lot of things before He ever got to the cross? He suffered a lot of stuff. I think one of the things I heard of it was that none of His brothers believed on Him.

They didn’t believe Him. When He did miracles, and He says He did not many miracles here because of their unbelief. They didn’t believe him. And then when they said, we did not come from fornication, which was an accusation against him having a mom who had a child and they weren’t married, whatever he went through. I am the light of the world, you are not. My father’s gonna tell you who he I am and no he ain’t. They didn’t believe him.

How off would I have gathered you together and you would not. You will not come into me that you may have life. Do you think he ever got rejected? What about Peter? Not him three times, but also all of them did. It wasn’t just Peter that every one of them did it, and they all forsook him. And how long did he live upon this planet Earth? Thirty-three years. And he suffered. Now, he says, we are supposed to suffer because if he was our example and if we suffer because he suffered then we’re suffering because there’s somebody else that’s going to learn something from our suffering.

You read that in 2 Corinthians in chapter 1, tremendous person of Scripture. All right look there on page 2, top of the page. Now why do we have to suffer? Not a one of these reasons may suit you but you do know you’re going to suffer and this may be some of the reasons on why we do. And part of your maturing in the Lord is, can I handle that? Does God have to always explain to me why I’m suffering?

You’re going to find out, God may not tell you any reason. Lord why? God says, I’m not telling. Trust me. But anyway, the Lord will not lie to you and He will not deceive you. But a lot of things that God does not explain, do you think He wants you to trust Him anyway, even though you don’t know why. See, truth faith to the Lord and serve the Lord is when it appears that God has failed you or God has let you down and then you still remain faithful.

When it appears that God has failed you, because every time in your Christian life, you just know God has let me down. God did not come through him, but God has the reason why he does what he does, but he doesn’t always have to tell you. But now look there, it could be that I need a lesson in humility. God was not only pleased with how far Job had come, but showed him how much farther he needed to go.

Now I’ve given you all that statement many times, but I wanted to put it down. See, Job, he was considered, and God said he was a good man, a godly man, a just man, made sacrifices for himself and for his family, his kids, lest they had done something wrong. You know, there’s a good possibility they might have. They might have been rebellious, but we don’t know all the details, and that is a reason why. They could be reasons why God did all of the stuff here, and it was time for God to lay down some judgment.

It might have been time for Job’s wife to learn a few lessons. What did she say to her husband, you know, this help meat that comes alongside to encourage him in his moment of despair? Well, why don’t you curse God and die? Isn’t that a wonderful thing? Thank you, honey. I appreciate that. That really cheered me up. Well, you know how God got even with her? They were 10 more kids. No, that’s a genealogy there. That’s not in the Bible.

I’m just, let’s do that in there. All right, look at the next statement. Anyway, therefore he says, I have whored myself and repented dust and ashes. In other words, it taught him humility because he could boast about how great and faithful and righteous he was in the eyes of these friends that he had to come see him, but he said, if I could just get a word with God, if I could just have a counseling session with God, I’ll tell God something.

And God says, hello. And so in chapter 38, he started asking him some questions and Job said, I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know, a lot of things Job didn’t know. But God gave everything back to him and he learned some great lessons. And how encouraging is that example that we have of a man who was patient, the patience of Job. And then when you read the book of James in chapter five, it talks about the patience of Job, right?

The patience of Job. Look at number six, it could be that God desires to prove His all-sufficient grace. In other words, God may He wants to teach you something. You know, we just read a verse that says, my grace is sufficient, right? Did we read that? How do you know? How do you know that God’s grace is sufficient? Because it says so. Have you lived it? Whatever you have faced, or maybe going to face, is His grace sufficient for you to maintain a good godly attitude, spirit and maturity and trust in the Lord and a good example.

Can you do it? Is God’s grace sufficient? Look what we wrote here. My suffering is one of God’s ways to prove. His grace is sufficient. He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. In other words, when you realize there are some things in life you can’t change, you can’t alter, and you can’t do anything about it, you can’t get yourself out of it.

Some things you just have to go right through it. And so you’ve got to trust the Lord that he’s gonna bring you through it. You always see me doing this? What does that mean? What am I doing? The Lord is walking me through it. The Lord is walking with me. So is God grace efficient? Well, as long as I keep walking with the Lord, His grace is sufficient. It’s when I’ve had people say, well, I’m gonna have a nervous breakdown.

I just can’t hang anymore. I can’t take it anymore. Why? Why? Because God’s weak. Because I can’t trust the Lord. Because God’s gonna fail me. Oh, what a pity party we have when we take our eyes off the Lord. Look at the next verse, the very next verse we have here. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities. Something might not happen good tomorrow. You might get some news tomorrow. Whatever it is. Don’t try to figure out how to say good or bad.

Don’t you hate sometimes when the phone rings, oh boy, who could that be? Who is on the phone? It’s Peter Armato. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. No. I’m just joking, honey. It was Jesse. Oh, no, no. I know it’s bad news. Grab my wallet. No, you’d be surprised how doesn’t have to be true. It’s just that we’re thinking imagine things and we always try to imagine the worst. I used to tell people I said, now, what’s the worst thing that can happen?

What’s the worst thing that can happen? And they give me somehow that it can happen. I said, the worst thing that happens, you could die. Right? Now, go ahead and accept the worst. anything better than that’s gravy, right? If you’ve already accepted the worst thing that can happen to anything and anybody and me and the Lord is a majority and we can handle that or everything else is better than that. If you can accept whatever the worst. But if you can’t, you’re going to be one, whoop, a little puppy.

Look at the next statement. In the continuation of that verse, therefore I take pleasure and infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecution and distress for Christ’s sake. See, it doesn’t leave you hanging like that. It says, for His sake. And if you’re living your life for His sake, what’s the problem? I mean, the real problem. because we know the God of solution, right? And He’s not going to put up on me anything greater than what I can bear. Me and the Lord, we’re a majority men, the Lord, we can do anything.

And I may be weak, but He is strong, and me and the Lord, we can handle any problem that comes up. I don’t get what it is. Me and the Lord can handle it. Now I can’t handle it without Him, but me and the Lord can handle it. Between me and God, we know everything there is to know. Between me and God, we can work miracles. You’ve got to figure that out one of these days and it’ll come around.

Look at the next statement. Number seven, number seven. It could be that I need to learn to develop patience. How do you know you don’t have enough patience? How do you know? Well, patience, we kind of get it to where you wait on the Lord. Don’t jump to conclusions. to a hundred before you say something. Why? It’s because it slow you down so that you’re not short fused. The word is long suffering. In other words, you are long fused.

In other words, if somebody likes your fuse, it’s the long fuse, and you’re not going to explode right away. You’re going to think about things. You’re going to take it to the Lord. You’re going to discuss it with Him. And you’re going to realize that, you know, I don’t have to explode on this. And you, by your patience that fuse burns out and you don’t have to worry about it. But some people see are so short-fuse explosion. Have you ever been around somebody that it doesn’t matter what you say they’re going to take it the wrong way?

It don’t matter what you’re going to. It’s the wrong way. It’s always the wrong way. You say, but if I could just figure out how to say it the right way. If people’s attitude on who is receiving it is not bent to receive something in the right way, you have no right way. You’re going to have trouble. I don’t care what you do. And can you accept that? Can you still do right? Say truth, even though it’s going to explode.

But what produces patience? Where do you get a day? When do you mean that you can just go out to the store and buy some? It comes on this pack. I opened up the day I did something I have never done. I don’t think I’ve ever done it. I’m going to tell you what I did. I’ll probably shouldn’t tell you, but I’m going to confess. Confessions good for the soul, right? And that’s what they say. I went down here to village in and I just wanted something small, something simple.

And I thought, I just want three little chicken tenders, three little chicken fingers. I didn’t know chicken had fingers, but they got them. And I said, just three of them. Now with some honey, I just want to put it in there, and that’s all I want. So they brought the chicken fingers out there, and I dipped it in there, and I ate it.

She came by and she says, you want something to drink? I said, well, I don’t want any coffee. She says, well, tell me what you do want. So I said, well, I don’t want any water. She says, you don’t have to tell me what you don’t want. just tell me what you want. Well, I don’t, I says I want tea. Cold or hot, hot. What kind? I don’t know. I don’t know the kinds of teas. She says you want one or two.

I don’t know. I should just bring me hot tea. She came back and she had that little tea cup, know how water in and a cup and two little tea bags. I says do I put both of them in now she says sir you can do any way you want. I was trying to figure it out. Is it meaner having patience or her not having patience but one of us we’re gonna have a blowout any minute now. So I took one of those little tea bags and I put it in my hot water and Put it in the cup.

So I didn’t, that tastes about right. And so she went to the next table and I said, ma’am, I said, do I take it out now? She says, if you want to. I said, can I put it in this other big thing here? And can I put it in there? She says, yes. And you can do that. I said, sure, go ahead and get the other one, and should I put both of them in? She says, if you want it stronger, you can do that.

I didn’t know if I wanted it stronger. So I got it. I put it in there close at that. I drank my tea. Then he got cold. I want me some more, so I pour me some more. It was so strong. Now, I’m learning patience and something that I don’t usually see. Every time I go, Betty always does it. He always fixes the teeth and I just drink half a her teeth. I don’t want to have to fix teeth.

You say, everybody knows how to do that. No, they don’t know how to do that. Not everybody knows how to do everything. Some people, they’re smooth. They don’t worry about it. And I thought, what am I going to do? That’s not much honey mustard and there’s no ketchup. So I’ve got to make this honey mustard last. Anyway, what produces patience? And do you have patience? See, everybody has patience in certain areas. And everybody is motivated in certain areas. We’re all motivated to do what we wanna do.

It’s like, I know John back there, he likes to go fishing. At least that’s what I’m, that’s my understanding, is that right? He likes to fish. I can take it or leave it, I don’t really care. But if you say, Yankee, tomorrow morning, three o’clock in the morning, we’re going to go fishing. And John’s all excited. He’ll be going all by himself because I’m not motivated to get up at three o’clock in the morning and go fishing with John.

He can go by himself. Now, if I was to say, John, we’re going to go golf in the morning, one o’clock. And John would say, I may have to go by myself, but everybody’s motivated to do what they really want to do. And so here’s the Lord who wants all of us to do what he wants us to do. So we have all these people with different wills, desires and God is saying, this is what I want you to do.

So he is working in our lives to teach us to do what he wants us to do. And where’s that verse found tribulation work of patience? Where’s it found? This is strange. I’ve got it right during your notes and you don’t even have a clue where it is found. Romans what? Well, why am I out? There it is right there. See, yep, but it’s right here. Tribulation, what did you say? It’s on the point that I’m on. I’m running out of patience with y’all.

It could be that I learned to develop patience. So God does allow us to suffer sometimes so that we don’t get what we want when we want it. And so God closes the door, holds back and you can’t make some things happen and you’ve got to wait on the Lord to open up the door to supply or to provide whatever it might be. You don’t get all that you want when you want it and you have to learn to be patient with the Lord.

I love Psalms 34. We got just enough time to look at that. Look in Psalms 37, Psalms 37, and now look at this great verse, the book of Psalms and 37. Look in verse one, we’ll start to in verse one very quickly. Verse one says, fret not by self because of evildoers. Now why should I fret because of evildoers? What because? Well they might do something to me. They may get something that I want. They may live better than me.

Some people just can’t wait to go into debt to keep up with the people who are already there. And he says there in verse three, trust in the Lord and do good. So shout out dwell in the land and barely thou shalt be fed. No, put God first. Then verse four, this is the verse that I really love. The light thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. And then you’ll notice in verse five, commit thy way unto the Lord.

And trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. You’ll learn, and so tribulation, work with patience, and can you learn to wait on God? Some of our tribulations, because do you ever get a physical ailment and you can’t get it It’s solved right away and you just got to endure it. Because you can’t make it go away or you get a financial situation and it could take several years before you get out of a financial crisis.

And you’ve got to learn how to be patient. We’ll see God is teaching us patience, but He’ll do it for our advantage because there’s things for us to learn. I wrote a little line under there. We are strengthened by pushing against greater opposition. That’s what makes faith grow. If you want your faith to grow, you’ve got to have a greater opposition. Something that keeps you from getting what you want, where you can only look to the Lord to get you over that.

And then when you finally get over that hump, guess what? This camel has two humps. There’s another hump. And when you get over that hump, When you get seven, you don’t have any more humps. Okay, make that 80. And when I’m 79, you might want to make it 90. But there’s humps. Bumps in the road. Look at number eight. Number eight, it could be, could be, that the trial of my faith is to help purify me for rewards for the judgments to the Christ.

Do you think when we get to the judgments to the Christ, Christ wants to reward us? Do you think He wants to reward me? Do you like to give good gifts to your children or your grandkids? I want to give them to my grandkids more than I do to my kids. Not really, I’m just, well maybe, I have to get it. Being much more precious, get the trial of your faith. And this trial is what causes us to suffer.

You’re on trial. Your faith is on trial. How much do you love God? I love God this much. We have to say, how much does God love me? He loved me this much. And he stressed out his arm and died on the cross for me. So how much do I love God? I love God this much. But God wants your love to grow and grow, abounding in love, spreading abroad, the love that we’re supposed to have. So as you mature in the Lord, your love gets greater and greater and greater for the Lord.

And perfect love casts out fear. So you learn to live because you have joy and hope and peace and all that stuff and it will eliminate the fear. Fear produces torment and Christians torment themselves because they don’t love the Lord enough to think He’s going to come through. And so there is a consequence to all of this. So look there is this statement. The control of your faith in much more precious than of gold it perishes don’t be tried with fire might be found unto get to praise Honor and glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ So God wants to give you praise and God wants to give you honor and God wants to give you glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ And so when we stand at the judgments of the Christ God wants to give us something He wants to reward us he wants to bless us there.

He wants us to serve him He wants us more than our desire for anything in this world. Whatever you could desire in this world, his love for you and his desire for your well-being is much stronger than anything you could ever have. Now look at the next statement. Number nine, it could be God’s way of helping you to lay up treasures in heaven. He says, lay not up for yourselves, treasures of honor, where it mustn’t rough to corrupt and worth these breakthrough and steal.

But how are you going to have treasures in heaven if there’s no battles to face? You see, those are the rewards, the metals that you get because you have fought a good fight, you kept the faith. So you have to have a way to earn them. You have to have a way of proven faithfulness. You have to have something that shows that you love the Lord. So God allows life in such a way that all your sufferings are nothing more than opportunities for you to gain rewards when you get to heaven.

Now going to heaven, it’s free. What you have when you get there, you have to lay up before you get there. Because once you get there, you can’t lay up anything more. The day comes when no man can work, but lay up for yourselves, treasure, so forth. All right, look up here. This hand represents you and me and this wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. Now God loves us. He hates our sin, but He loves us.

But for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from the Lord. So God says the wages of sin is death. And so since we’ve all sinned, we’re all condemned. Now to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God. None of us are perfect. We’re not righteous. So that’s why we can’t go to heaven by our goodness or righteousness. and we can’t earn our way to heaven. The wages of sin is death and since we are all guilty, we’re all condemned.

So man cannot save himself. We need a Savior. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord. God in the flesh came into this world because, well, He loves us and He hates our sin because our sin separates us from Him. So Jesus Christ who had no sin didn’t have to die. So He took all of our sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead and said the only thing we have to do to go to heaven is believe He did that for us.

So when I believe it, He gives me the free gift of everlasting life. And I can know that I’m going to heaven whenever I die. And there’s no tricks to that. There’s no gimmicks. The best news in the world. But now that I have trusted Christ in my Savior, you know, fifty-some years ago, all of these years since then, He could have took me on to heaven. But He left me here for my advantage, for my benefit. He could have took me on to heaven.

But also I get the privilege, this side of the grave, of showing God that I love Him more than the world in which I live. And that I do believe He wants me to do right and that He wants to bless my life and He wants to reward me when I get to heaven. So I don’t want to displease the Lord. And I believe all of God’s children, we should live Godly. should live according to his plan that he has ordained for us in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10.

But understand this, the Bible says, for by grace are you saved. You’re not saved by your works, saved by grace, by faith alone in what Christ did and God gives you eternal life. And when you go to heaven, I’ll know what he did for you. That’s the best news in the world. Let’s pray show him. With his bow nice clothes and no one looking around. If you’re here tonight and you never trusted Christ as your Savior, why not trust him right now?

You can’t earn eternal life. You can’t work your way to heaven. So just trust the Lord. Believe that he died on the cross, paid for you. And God loves you. And he wants you to trust Christ as your Savior. Not the church, not me. Don’t trust your good work. So not good enough. Never will be. But if you want to know your heavy time life and know that you’re going to heaven, then you need to trust Christ as your Savior.

And if you’ve never done so and you’ll do it tonight, I’d like to know and I’d like to have prayer for you. So here’s about nine clothes, no one looking around. Would you just slip your hand very quickly, put a rub back down? By that you mean, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior. And what at all? If you’re watching by internet, right on the screen says yes, I’ll trust Christ as my Savior. If you’re trusting Christ right now as your Savior, never done before, but you’ll do it right now, would you let us know?

Father, we thank you again for your blessings. Thank you for all you do for us. We thank you for your word that you’ve given us, and we pray that we’ve been able to say in some things that relate to them that could be a blessing to each one here. Everybody’s having a rough time. A lot of people are hurting, a lot of suffering. Bless us in Christ and we pray. 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 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.

Hada can meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believe it that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.