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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 1.00. 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 message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I think we’ve got some things to share with you because you need to understand that there’s always something going on. If your days are boring, You’re not serving the Lord. Serve the Lord. Donzona be bored. And you’ll find out that you’ve got so many things going on that you know a train doesn’t stop for every barking dog. You just got to figure out what you’re doing and what tracks you’re on and the course that God has for you and you just keep bullying.

But I want you to take your Bible because there’s a couple of thoughts there I want to share with you before I get into this. and turn to the book of Mark, chapter five, the book of Mark and chapter five. You and I are loaded, as the Bible says, in the book of Psalms, with benefits. But you and I, if you live long enough, know that you’re also loaded with a lot of sorrow and grief, heartaches. Lot of things go wrong in our eyes.

Some things you can’t make happen. And so there’s things that come in out of our lives. If you ever have troubles and troubles you will have. If you had only one chapter in the whole Bible that you could give to a person that’s got troubles, only one chapter, this is the chapter that I would tell them to read over and over and over again. This is one chapter, especially for problems. So that ought to include just about how many people, just about everybody.

Because everybody’s got troubles. I got troubles. You got troubles. All God’s children got troubles. And if you don’t have any today, it’s coming tomorrow. You’re either going into it in the midst of it or you’re coming out of it. But always remember when it’s springtime, summer’s right around the corner. And when it’s summertime, one is coming. Because you know that’s fall and then there’s, it always just keeps going in cycles and your life goes in cycles. As you read this, I want you to understand also that there is the physical thing that happens, but you’re going to look at it from a spiritual point of view.

You’re going to see something that’s totally impossible for a man to solve. So God has to do it. Here in verse 1 of chapter 5, and they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gatorines. When he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him, out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwellings among the tombs, and no man could bind him, no, not with chains, because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains and the chains had been plucked asunder by him and the fetters broken in pieces neither could any man tame him.

He had to be one strong dude. He must have been a man you didn’t want to mess with. You remember imagine how strong he must have been to break chains? Now you can read this and you see the physical the Lord sees a man and he comes out of a cemetery. Now I want you to picture just for a moment, the whole earth, the whole earth. God had made it with life. God intended it for life. The first man and woman, if they hadn’t sinned, it still be here, but because of sin, the whole earth is like one big gigantic cemetery.

And the Bible even talks about us, even though we’re alive and walking around, you’re dead in trespasses and sins. And we’re all under the shadow of death. We’re all going to die. So. As I look at this, I can also picture that there’s not a man upon the earth living in this cemetery that can change his situation. There’s nothing he can do about it. He’s not strong enough to break the chains. Satan has so entangled man and gripped man that man can’t get free.

It’s totally impossible. Man can’t do it. So we have here an impossible situation. I preached this sermon not long ago. The four impossibilities of man, well here’s a few other impossibilities. You see a man can’t deliver himself. He is totally at the mercy. But look what he says here in verse 5, and always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying and cutting himself with stone Evidently, if he was here day and night, he wasn’t at home.

He wasn’t home. So there might have been a wife at home wondering where her husband was. She might have been hoping that he wouldn’t come home, especially when he is this kind of a man. But it says here in verse 5, and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones. You see, when a person doesn’t know the truth, when a man can’t get free. There’s all kinds of things that people do as far as religion goes. There are even teenagers that will cut their body.

There’s old people that afflict themselves. There’s even people in Catholicism that will bloody their knees going up some steps, thinking they’re doing penance, trying to satisfy God. and all the things that mankind does, just to try to deliver himself. And it’s totally impossible. So in verse six, but when he saw Jesus so far off he ran and worshiped him, cried with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God, I adjur thee by God, that thou torment me not, for he said unto him, come out of the man thou unclean spirit.

So this is a man with an unclean spirit, and Jesus says for the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Now, evidently nobody could do this. This is impossible. But Jesus does something for an individual that nobody could do. You see, we all are unclean. We cannot deliver ourselves. So whenever we trust Christ as our Savior, He gives us as a free gift everlasting life. And that’s some of the best news all the world. We have been set free.

Now God wants us to serve Him. And you never know where it is that God wants us to serve. What does He want me to do? But what He says here in verse 9, He asked Him, what is thy name? And He answered Him, He said, My name is legion for we are many. He besought Him much that He would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountain, a great herd of swine feeding.

And all the devils besought him, saying, send us into the swine that we may enter into them. This is where you get devils ham. Therefore said Jesus unto them, He gave them leave, and the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and they were about 2,000, and choked in the sea. That’s a lot of mula. Now there were some people that were probably paid to watch the swine.

Can you tell what they would have told the owners what happened? Now you won’t believe this what happened. All 2000 run over this cliff and they would probably say why? Well you’re not going to believe this. I’d love to have heard their story. But in verse 14 it says, and they, that fed the swine fled, told it in the city and in the country, and they went out to see what it was that was done. How did you like to look over the cliff and there’s 2000 hogs landowner?

You see, what does this mean? It means that people are willing to live with the devil, but the swine aren’t. And in verse 15, and they came to Jesus and see Him that was possessed with a devil and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. I would have been afraid of him the way he was. They’re afraid of the way he is now. Doesn’t make sense, does it? That’s people for you.

You can’t always trust the judgment of individuals. Something else says here. And anyway, he says there in verse 17, and they begin to pray him to depart out of their coast. They didn’t want Jesus there. And when he was come into the ship, He that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. How be it Jesus suffered him not or did not permit him, but said unto him, go home to thy friends, tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee.

God wanted him to tell others what God had done for him. To me, I believe that all of us, and if you read the script, especially Isaiah 61, when it talks about that God has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to set it liberty, those that are taken captive. We’re all taken captive. We’re slaves to an old sinful nature. We’re slaves to this world because we love the things of the world. We walk like the world. And then you trust Christ as your Savior and God gives you something better to live for.

gives us a heaven to look forward to. And therefore we get a chance to love the Lord instead of just loving the world. Now we’ve got a good choice, a better way to live. Some people crave for something better. I’m so glad that I trusted the Lord. Yes, even when I was 18, I loved it and known the the Lord earlier than that. But I’m thankful that I came to know the Lord. But I’m also thankful that my Father-in-law explained to me the value of serving the Lord.

And for fifty-two years God has been good to me and I thank Him for that. But now I want you to see this. Now in verse twenty-one, there is another impossible story, an impossibility. You see, the one was a man. The next one is a woman. The next one is a little girl that’s only 12 years old. So whether it’s a man or a woman or a little child, everybody has problems. And some of our problems are impossible problems, impossible for us.

Because we don’t see how God is going to do something, but we’re to look to Him and trust Him. Verse 21, and when Jesus was passed over again by shipment to the other side, much people gathered unto him and was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there comeeth one of the rulers of the synagogue, jereus by name, and when he saw him he fell at his feet. And he sawed him greatly, saying, My little daughter, lyeth at the point of death, I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed, and she shall live.

Here’s a man that’s got a problem. This touches his life. This is his little girl. He has a little girl that’s at the point of death. And he knows that he can’t do anything about it. But he believes that the Lord can. So he’s going to the only source that he believes that can solve this problem. So you see, it doesn’t matter what sins have got you or what addictions. There is a possibility that God can deliver. You and I are supposed to always live believing that God can do the impossible.

Even though you don’t see how, you don’t see the way, but you believe that He will. So He says here in verse 24, and Jesus went with Him, and much people followed Him and thronged Him. And a certain woman, so now we talk about a woman that’s, well, she’s got a problem too. which had an issue of blood for 12 years and had suffered many things and many physicians and had spent all that she had. So here’s a woman that’s in poverty, spent all that she had.

When you don’t have anything, you’re in poverty. She spent it on doctors. She spent it on Medicaid and Medicare and Obamacare and she didn’t And they couldn’t do anything for it. It even got worse. Now you stop them thinking. Can you relate to something like this even today? And the older you get, isn’t it possible that you can spend all of your money that you saved? Trying to stay well. All that money trying to stay well so that we can live longer.

And then you’re still gonna die. Kind of seem like a rat race. Did you realize how much you could have that we didn’t have to buy insurance on anything? You realize a hundred years ago nobody had insurance? Think of how much every month we spend just on insurance in case something happens. Because we know that everybody is so happy and they’re gonna take all of them. So you have to protect yourself. What a world we live in. But look what he says.

He says they’re in verse 26. And had suffered many things of many physicians, had spent all that she had was nothing better, but rather grew worse. When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she said, if I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. That’s what she believed. If I could just touch his clothes, I know that we often have a song that we sing, you know, he touched me.

Oh, he touched me. It’s not he touched me. You see, it’s about can you touch him? We touch him. Wouldn’t it be neat if Jesus was staying right here and I could touch him? I can touch him and I can touch you. I can touch you. But you can’t see God. How can I touch God? God says you can touch him by faith. When you really believe, see, there was a whole crowd around Jesus as he walked. People were against him, depressed.

I mean, they were pushing up against him. Everybody was touching him. They said, he says, somebody touched me. somebody touched me. And what had happened was this woman says, if I could just touch the hem of His garment, I shall be whole. You see, she had an impossible situation. All of her money was gone. But she had some faith that Jesus can do something about it. So in our lives, it doesn’t matter what our problem may be. It may be that you’ve got some particular sin, sin, there’s something bound and there’s something that’s got you and you can’t stop some bad habit, God can break that thing for you.

The Lord can do things for you that you can’t do. You’re supposed to believe that. And it doesn’t matter how much you have or you don’t have. The richest thing any man can have is his confidence in the Lord. That’s why he says in book of Hebrews in chapter 10 verse 30. Cast not away, therefore your confidence, because your confidence is why you do what you do. He says, talking about your reward. You’re going to be rewarded in heaven because of the confidence that you have in Christ.

What touches God is your faith. God says when He comes back, will He find faith upon the earth? find anybody trusting Him, believing Him, living for Him because you believe. One day He’s coming back and it’s going to be worth it all. That’s what we’re supposed to believe. But now look what else He says here. It makes the statement in verse 30, and Jesus immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had come out of Him, turned Him about in the press and says, who touched my clothes?

In his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude throng in thee, and sayest thou who touched me? And he looked around about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. And he said unto her daughter, Thy faith hath made thee whole. What doctors could not do, what money could not buy, faith could get. Faith is one of the strongest things you’ll ever have.

Faith in the Lord. So if faith is so important and every Christian needs some, well where do you get it? Well you go to Walmart, you go to Target, you’re just going picking up all the shelves. life is a commodity, everybody can have some, everybody demonstrates faith. You see, you demonstrate faith every day of your life. It’s the ability to trust, the ability to depend upon something or someone. So he says, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

So when you hear the Word of God, can you believe what God says? There are some people that will read the Bible and never believe it. Somebody is going to come along and they’re going to pick up this book and they’re going to read it and study it and they’re going to believe it and it’s going to change your life. It’ll change the way they live. It’ll change their attitude because they believe. God meant what He said. Faith touches God and most people don’t touch God.

Think of all these people there and nobody touched them except some woman. She touched Him. And so He says there verse 35, while he yet spoke there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, certain which said, thy daughter is dead, why trouble if thou the master any further. You remember he was supposed to go see this little girl? Well lo and behold he got sidetracked. Jesus didn’t know what he was doing. He got his priorities wrong. You see, he did the wrong one first.

He should have went to see the little girl, then he could have took care of that woman. Or do you think Jesus was too busy, occupied, forgot? Have you ever thought that of all the seriousness of your situation, that God forgot who you are, forgot where you are, forgot what you’re going through? He doesn’t seem to care about little you, poor little you. You’re gonna have a pity party. So you’re gonna go out in the garden, eat worms. You know, your pet rock died.

Things are really bad. God fell off the throne. He’s not God anymore. Now I talked to him a little ago, he’s still alive. He’s still doing good. Still waiting to hear from you. By the way, he told me to tell you, he hadn’t heard from me for a while. No, it’s joking. So he makes a statement here, why trouble style the master any further? It’s too late. You ever think that something is just too late? I mean, after all, you could do something for that little girl, but now she’s dead.

And because she’s dead, it’s too late. Well, time for another miracle, but isn’t this the way it is? It causes some people grief. Some people, because of things they’ve done in their life and they can’t go home. And they just live their life like they’re in a graveyard. Have no hope. And then you have a woman that’s spent all of her money. She’s got illness. She has a legitimate reason to cry out to God. Here’s a man that’s got a 12-year-old daughter, loves his daughter, and she was dying.

Now she’s dead. Can’t you sense the grief that they have and they go through? So as people go through life, don’t you hurt? Don’t you grieve? Don’t you see other people hurting and grieving? Don’t you wish you had a little magic wand and you could just solve everybody’s problems. Wouldn’t that be so neat? But it says here in verse 36, as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said unto the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, and you ought to on the line this, only believe.

Be not afraid, only believe. Now, you try to tell me, Is there anything in that verse that could help you? Whatever your problem is, is it this bad? Whatever it is, be not afraid. Only believe. Can you touch God with faith because you believe? Look what else he says in verse 37. And he suffered no man to follow him, say, James and John the brother of James. And he come up to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and see if the tumult and then that wept and wailed greatly.

I mean there, they’re having a wake. There’s weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. What, the 12 year old girl is dead. They’re just doing their thing because there’s nothing they can do. And then Jesus comes by. He says in verse 39, and when he was come in, he sat unto them, why make ye this adieu? And weep! The damsel is not dead, she’s just sleeping, and they laughed. They laughed. Now, do you think they laughed because they believed him or they laughed because they didn’t believe him?

See, whatever you do, There’s always going to be some people for it and some people against it. It won’t matter what you do Always tell people there’s always these three things Some people are always behind it Some people are against it and usually there’s a third that haven’t got a clue what side to get on That’s just the way it is so in verse 40 he says and They laughed him to scorn But when he had put them all out he takeeth the father and the mother of the damsel, and then that were with him and entered in where the damsel was lying.

And he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, T’Litha kumai, which has been interpreted damsel, I say unto thee arise. And straight way immediately the damsel arose, walked, for she was of the age of 12 years, and they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straightly that no man should know it and commanded that they, something should be given her to eat. Do you think Jesus is concerned about the problems that people have.

It didn’t matter what their problem was. Jesus was a problem-solver. I try to look at it this way. Our ministry is like an automobile and we want it to run as smooth as possible. So we try to have people that are good shock absorbers. You know they kind of help the smooth out to ride. What happens when you have shock absorbers that are shot. It’s kind of a bumpy ride like a wagon. So good shock absorbers are important. That’s why you need good leaders in a ministry.

I think the Lord for what God has given to us right here. But anyway, I wanted to share this with you because I believe it’s so important. Now in view of that, learn how to walk with the Lord. It takes time. And God sometimes have to put you through the fire to get you to see how to touch God by faith. God wants it to seem like to you impossible. There’s no way. That’s what leads us to sometimes really an earnest prayer, the fervent prayer of the righteous man of the Belive much.

So praise the Lord for that. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing tool free. 1-800-576-36 771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bibleline programs, just go to our homepage at BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Radio Broadcast link.

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. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by clicking on the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline 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. live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.