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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.

I want to talk to you about a few things that I believe is in the Bible to help us in whatever we’re going through. So in the book of Hebrews in chapter 2, so if you have a Bible and would like to follow along, I’d appreciate it. In Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 9. It says, this is on page 1293 in an old Schofield reference Bible. And it says here in verse 9, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, And here’s the reason why Jesus came into the world for the suffering of death.

Because if there’s anything that scares people of death, it’s the fear of dying. Nobody wants to die. You see, it’s not that we’re afraid of a virus, but what the virus may produce is death. and people are afraid of death. This is why sometimes that’s the last thing we wanna talk about because we don’t wanna talk about that. They always say it’s two things are sure, it’s death in taxes. Well, I’ve got me a home in heaven where I don’t have to pay taxes when I get there.

And I’m gonna leave this whole body here and I’ll never have to die again. So yes, in this whole world, we’re gonna have to go through these terrible things. Then he also says this, “‘For the suffering of death crowned to a glory and honor, “‘that he by the grace of God should taste death “‘for every man, so Christ died for every person.'” Then he explains what it’s supposed to help us to understand. You see, then he makes a statement there in verse 14, “‘For as much then as the children “‘our partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through death He might destroy Him, that had the power of death, that is the devil.

And then in verse 15, and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime, subject to bondage. In other words, we were a slave of sin, and the wages of sin is death. So we’re in bondage like prisoners that can’t escape. We’re going to die. And even in the book of Hebrews in chapter nine, verse 27, it’s appointed unto every man once to die and after this, the judgment. So that’s going to happen. But let me just mention this to you, do that know the Lord.

We often talk about the importance of the four talks. And this is something that you can do, even though you’re not together as a body of believers. Number one, prayer, that’s talking to God. And then read the word that’s allowing the Lord to talk to you. Then talk to believers. Now, though we’re not here together as a congregation, you can still talk to the people in church. By using your phone, you can talk to people and about two different things.

You can have the opportunity to share with somebody some truth to believe. You know some truth that you have learned that’s helped you in your Christian life. Share it with somebody else it’s very encouraging. and also… Some need to share. You might need to share our prayer request so Christians can pray for one another. And then also continue to support your church as much as possible so that we can keep on the air and on the internet and YouTube and the radio and those ministries whereby we can continue reaching the loss.

There’s a couple verses I want to mention to you because I shared these recently. And I believe they have such great importance. And this is Isaiah 35, verses three to six. And if you want to just listen to me as I read these, I’d appreciate it. He says, strengthen ye the weak hands. Weak hands is called, you don’t know what to do. We become weak sometimes in our faith. We don’t have all the strength we’d like to have. And we have the fears, the problems.

We can see these seemingly giants facing us, and many will face giants all at one time. The loss of a job, the loss of that income, the loss of being able to get out and go and to do whatever we were doing, it can change our lives. And then he says, and confirm the weak knees. It means what is causing your fear? You’re top and think for a moment. When you say, I am fear and I’m afraid, all right, stop for a moment.

What are you afraid of really? What’s really the problem? You say with this virus, another one, what are you afraid because of the virus? Are you afraid of what it might do to your home, your job, your, what is it? Now, aren’t we as God’s children supposed to put our confidence and trust in the Lord? Even though we have fear, to give you several verses that does deal with this matter. He says in verse 4, Say to them that are of a fearful heart.

Be strong, fear not, and then he tells us focus upon these next three words. Behold, you’re God. You see, God does not always eliminate the things that produce the fear. He wants to give us the strength and the courage that we need to go through whatever it might be. And he says, he will come and save you. Now, there are people who are, the Bible says, the eyes of the blind shall be open. Now Christ, when he came, that’s what he did.

The ears of the death will be unstopped, and that’s what he did. Then shall the lame man leap, the tongue of the dumb, sing. These are things that God says when the Messiah comes, he’s going to be able to do all of this. But did you know that there are some people that are blind? There are people that are death? There are people that can’t walk and there are people that can’t talk. Did you know that Christ can solve all of those things all at one time?

And yet He’s allowed so many of us to suffer various times and various ways. I want to read you a little story. In the book of John in chapter nine verses one through five if you want to open the scriptures and look at those verses with me. And it says this, as Jesus passed by him, he saw a man that was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents that he was born blind?

See, whenever we face a crisis in our life, sometimes the first thing was, what did I do wrong? Somebody did something wrong. Who can we blame? Well, let’s all blame China. Well, we could. We could blame the president. We could blame the governors. We could blame our county leaders because they could have made some decisions. See, we can blame everybody for everything it goes on in life. But sometimes we just have to take it as it comes. Why was this man born blind?

And the scripture does give us a clue. And verse three, Jesus answered, neither hath this man sent nor his parents. In other words, it’s not their fault. But he does say this, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. That the works of God might be. You see, if God is going to show you that he can cause a blind man to see, there has to be a blind man, for him to get the honor and the glory that’s do Him so that people could believe He is who He claims to be.

How would you like to have been that person that God used? No. Be that blind person. What about if God needed to show somebody He has power over a person being deaf or dumb? Well, there has to be enough person that has that problem. You see, God may allow us to have many problems that people might see the glory of God. God can use all things to bring glory to Himself, even a virus. Because, see, there’s opportunities that people now have that can praise the Lord when they don’t understand.

They can walk with God even though they don’t see a way out. Another scripture. In Luke chapter 4, verses 23 through 27, if you have your Bible want to look at it, you can go ahead and do so. Or follow along with me as I read these scriptures. You see, Jesus, he was able to stand up in the synagogue as his custom was and read Scripture. And he read from the Old Testament. When he got through, he says, this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Well, they didn’t like that. They got a little upset with Jesus. Now did Jesus know before he read those Scriptures, he was going to upset some people? He’s the Lord. Does God already know that whatever happens in this world is going to upset some people, he already knew that. But does God have answers and solutions? Can God use this virus for His honor and for His glory? Yes or no? Can God use a death man for His honor and a blind man for His honor?

And remember, there are also some people that had a problem in Elijah’s day, and he lies this day. But now notice, he says in verse 23, he said to them, you will surely say unto me this proverb, physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum do also hear in thy country. Means if you did it there, why can’t you do it here? And if you did it then why can’t you do it now. Aren’t those challenging things for the Lord?

Because God did something at one time. It’s kind of like the person who jumps off the Empire State Building. Well if God doesn’t want me to get hurt, He’ll protect me. A little dumb but you can go ahead. But He also says, temp not the Lord thy God. And so you may say, I’m going to jump out in front of this Mack truck and if God doesn’t want me to get hurt, he’ll intervene. You can go ahead if you want to and tempt not the Lord thy God.

Well, I’m a child of God and I love the Lord, and if God doesn’t want me to get this kind of a virus, then it won’t happen. If God doesn’t want me to get it, I won’t get it. And so you can be careless and foolish and come down with the virus. Do not tempt the Lord thy God. Should you heed the instructions that people are trying to give us to keep us safe? Or you can tempt the Lord and say, well, if God doesn’t want me to get it, I won’t get it.

That is not true. That is not scriptural. Another thing he mentions and gives two wonderful illustrations, one in verse 24. He said, barely I say unto you, no prophet is accepted his own country, but I tell you a truth. Now, will I become your enemy if I tell you the truth? Because I’ve got a few things I want to say that might be a little difficult, a little hard to either accept or understand. He said, but I tell you the truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months when great famine was throughout the land.

But none of them was Elijah’s cent, except one woman. There was a widow, so not everyone was spared. He, Jesus, knew there were many people, and famine was great, but He went to one woman. You see, God doesn’t necessarily have to heal everybody and keep everybody safe. We may pray to the Lord, Lord, keep all the Christians safe. Lord, remove the varsal that nobody has hurt. Now, that is a good general statement that we would like to see, and that’s our desire.

But remember this, it’s not so much that God is going to automatically take it away because we ask Him to. Some people, even good people, some of God’s people, Can get a virus and die. And does God know who is and who is? Of course He does. God does not let everybody get sick and die and God doesn’t let everybody stay well. You see, there’s some things that happens in the world because we live in a sinful world in a sinful body and there’s natural causes in this life.

Some people are gonna die because they fell out of the bathtub. Some are going to die because they ate their wife’s cooking. I could have probably left that one go. Some people are gonna die because they’re gonna be in an accident or a wreck. There’s something else happening. You see, you can die of many things. A lot of people are gonna die of this, the plain old flu. But you see, God tells us in His word, in the very next verse, many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet.

None of them was cleansed, except one. And why? Because God got glory out of it. God can get glory. There’s a purpose, a reason. God can allow a man to get sick, and God wants to get glory because he healed him. God may get glory out of some people’s lives because he does not heal them. Some people may die and they’re a funeral. Did you know as long as I’ve been doing this I’ve seen more people trust Christ as Savior at funerals than I have at weddings?

Instead of that happy moment, a very sad moment. And sometimes God gets people to stop and to think about where they’re going to spend eternity. Nothing does that better than him taking a loved one. So God can get honor and glory out of your life or out of your death. Let me just mention this also. Because I believe that all believers, all things that happens to us is for the honor and glory of God. Regulves of what you’re going through and how you think and feel.

Remember, you’re to praise the Lord in all things. Be thankful in all things. Glorify God in all things. And what’s the river thy hand findeth to do with all thy might? Glorify the Lord. Because he is still who he claims to be. He is still God. In the book of John in chapter 14, it says this in verse 1 through 3. Now he’s talking to his disciples. Remember, he’s right there with them. He says, let not your heart be troubled.

Be troubled, that’s now, present. That’s not, let your heart not be troubled. Why did he have to say something like that? Because probably they were troubled. And he was also going to give him some news about him leaving. And so he says, you believe in God, believe also in me. And understand this is a pretty good little statement. Our present peace is not because everything is peaceable.

Our present peace is not because everything right now is peaceable. You see, there can be all kinds of turmoil going on in this world. But the Christian can have the peace of God and peace with God. Peace with God is when you trust the Lord. The peace of God is in the midst of tribulation. in the mist of trials, in the mist of temptations, and all that God can give you peace. So he says in verse two, “‘In my father’s house are many mansions, “‘so even though right now you may be troubled, “‘right now you might need to stop being afraid.

“‘But what does Jesus do? “‘He gets them to focus upon the future.'” He said, “‘In my father’s house are many mansions, “‘but you’re not going yet. You may be afraid now, but that’s not where we live. We don’t just always live here in the presence. We live in the future based upon the Word of God. We can see things that other people can’t see. We have hope that they do not have. There ought to be a difference in a believer’s life.

And look what he says, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. So in other words, the things that’s causing you the fear is still here. He doesn’t remove all these things in this life. We’re living in a sinful, wicked world. Let me just mention something to you. I wrote this down because one of my favorite Psalms is the 23rd Psalm. And in the 23rd Psalm that makes this statement in verse 1, the Lord is my shepherd, is means now.

The Lord is now my shepherd. That means he is leading and guiding me. All I’m supposed to do is follow him. And it’s a wonderful Psalm, so you get a chance. You read the whole 23rd Psalm. And in this Psalm, he says, Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, though I walk, that’s now. You see, he is my shepherd. And though I walk, I’m following the shepherd. He says, I will fear, know, what does it say?

Evil. I will fear, know evil. Why? Because thou art with me. There’s a reason. Now if the Lord is not with you, you have all the reasons of the world. Be scared to death. But those who know Christ is Savior know the Holy Spirit and dwells us. And we do not need to be afraid. Another verse that he gives us here. He says in verse three of John 14, and if I go and prepare a place for you, what does he say?

I will come again, because he’s gonna come and take us out of this world where there’s nothing but heartache and sorrow. And he’s gonna take us out of this world. So the peace that you can have here and now is because you know how it’s going to be. and you don’t have to worry and be afraid. God says He came into the world and paid for our sins on the cross that He might deliver us from the fear of death.

Yet though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, see in this world, in these bodies that we have, we’re always having that element of fear of death. But you see, you don’t have to fear death. So if you don’t fear death, you don’t have to fear any virus. Though we don’t want to hasten that moment, we want to be wise and not tempt the Lord thy God, we want to be as safe as we possibly can be.

Just because I know I’m going to heaven doesn’t mean that I have a desire to run in front of a Mack truck. I do have a great burning desire to want to live to a ripe old age, and 78 is not a ripe old age in my mind. I feel like I need about another 15, 20 years, and then I’ll be ready to go. And I told the people in our church this, I don’t want to live forever. I just want to live long enough to bury everybody else and then I’ll be ready to go.

So that might be today, maybe tomorrow, I don’t know when it’s gonna be. But I am looking for the Lord because He said, He’s coming back to get me. And I don’t have to be afraid because anything in this world, remember, everybody has to die of something. You can’t get out of here alive unless the Lord comes back in the rapture. And we are all looking for that moment. So the Bible says, praise the Lord. Now I can’t see you right now, but you can see me.

Smile, be happy, don’t worry. You got it? Trust the Lord. Fear not, be not afraid. That’s what the word of God says. Let me give you another scripture here. Because he says this in chapter 14, he says, I am here, I am with you. He says, I’m going to be leaving. And when I leave, he says, I’m going to send somebody else. So he says in verse 25, these things, have I spoken unto you being yet present with you?

I’m present with, he’s right here with his disciples. Then in verse 26, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance. What’s the reward I’ve said unto you? The Holy Spirit was gonna come to every believer. And is it amazing that the Holy Spirit is called the comforter? You see, he is a great comforter for those who trust what he says.

And the Holy Spirit is the author of the Word of God and teaches us the Word of God. And so through the scriptures that we read, the Holy Spirit wants to comfort you with these verses. God does not remove the problems of life. He gives us the strength and grace that we need to go through them. And remember another thing. When he talks about the love of God being shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit. And he talks about in the book of Galatians, chapter five, verse 22 and 23, about the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

I love joy, peace, and so on, you know. Did you know that when you trusted Christ as your Savior, when He gave you the Holy Spirit? He says, He gave us His peace. My peace I give unto you. My peace I leave with you. Well, this peace is the Holy Spirit. See, the Holy Spirit is God’s love. And the Holy Spirit is God’s peace. And all these wonderful nine things that He mentions in the book of Galatians, that’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

God gave us these things. So he says in verse 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world give it. Give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Why does he have to tell us this? Because we are troubled and we are afraid. So he said, I’m going to give you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is my peace. It’s my love. It’s my joy. God says, I want to give you.

And it wouldn’t it be a shame for us to say, Lord, I don’t want your peace. I don’t want your love. I don’t want. I just don’t care, Lord, and you worry just like the world does. We don’t have the same look on life as the people of the world. We have a divine perspective, and we see things the way that God wants to see them. Another scripture is important because the times that we’re living in are opportunities that could further the gospel.

Let me give you a couple examples. You see, in the book of 2 Timothy and chapter 2 and verse 9 it makes a statement. The apostle Paul and right into young Timothy says, wherein I suffer trouble. So I asked God to take away all my sufferings and no, take away all my troubles. No. He says, I suffer trouble as an evil door and if there’s anybody who knew the Lord and loved the Lord and had all the Christian character, that was the apostle Paul.

But notice what he says. Even under bonds, that means he was in chains, but the word of God is not chained. You see, we may not be able to meet together as a congregation. So is the word of God bound? Is it, you know, isolated and we can’t get the gospel out? No, we still have opportunities and seed that has been sown is still sown. And it can bring forth the fruit and accomplish that which God has purposed it.

So Paul says, the word of God is not bound. Even though he was in chains in prison, but he says they chain me, but not the gospel. And Philippians 1 and verse 12 and 13, he says, but I would, you should understand brethren. So he’s right into believers. He wants them to understand, because they’ve heard what they’ve done to him. He said, now let me help you to understand something. That the things which happened to me, and Paul had a lot of things happening to him.

You see, they had famines in those days. He had 40 people take out a decree. They were all gonna kill the Apostle Paul. He had all these things that happened. You ought to read the 11th chapter of the book of 2 Corinthians. And you’ll see some of the things that Paul went through in his life. God did not stop all those things from happening to Paul. God is not gonna stop the problems of this life from happening to his children whom he loves.

and don’t mistake and question the love of God. Because these are things that happens to us. Because we live in a sinful world, we’re in sinful bodies, people have sinful minds, and like he told Israel when they brought him out of Egypt. He says, if you all love me and honor me and serve me, I’ll put none of these diseases upon you. There’s health insurance you could have ever had. 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 Main.

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.

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.