This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us at 813-884-4328, or you can donate on the homepage at BibleLineMinistries.org. 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.

When I first came down here, I went out with Dan and somebody else, Jan Velasquez, and we were playing a little game of golf. And I went back and I thought, oh, that hurts. Oh, that hurts. I had a shirt on, but it was kind of light. But it was rubbing again. And I thought, why am I so sore? And I opened the thing up and they saw, and they looked and it says, you blistered. I had blisters all over me.

What in the world was that? I said, well, golf is too important a game to go check that out. So we had to finish playing. But I was in torture. And so I decided to go to the doctor. And he says, you got shingles. I said, shingles, what’s that? He says that. But I don’t want them. I says, take them away. He says, in about a month and a half, they’ll go away. And I even remember coming up here to preach, and I had on my coat and tie, and all of a sudden, because that went around, and it went up the back of my head, and up to, and I would have sharp pain shoot up to my head, and I thought I was gonna die.

One Sunday morning right here, I had, I took five pain pills, just so, because if I did not, I had to go home. But I should have went on home anyway, because five pain pills, you know, and I said, oh, oh. I don’t think anybody knew that I wasn’t drunk. They just probably thought I was. Huh? Oh man, that was, I don’t want that on anybody, but that was a terrible experience. But I hadn’t done anything. I didn’t catch it someplace.

They just said to because you had chicken pox when you were young. I said, I don’t know if I had a chicken pox or a turkey pox. I don’t know. They said I had something. And man, these bodies are so, do you realize you’re living only by the grace of God, that old ticket can just stop like that and you’re gone. One last breath. I’m used to practice, you know, because I thought if I ever, you know, God never cut off my breath, I wanted to give God a chance to change his mind.

So I would get into the water and not practice holding my breath so long I could hold it. So if that ever happens, I can hold it long enough to God to see if he wants to renegotiate. You say, that’s kind of a stupid guy. I know, but when you don’t want to die and you had so much pain, and I tell you, a lot of things can happen to you. And I was down at Florida Bible College, and I was about 22, 23 years old.

And I had just lost my job. Both kids got sick. And here I am. I’m laying on this little table. I had to go to the emergency room. I said, honey, I don’t know what it is, but I got a pain in my side. And I thought he was going to take another rear and make me another woman. But anyway, I had this pain. And I said, I can’t stand it. So I went there and I’m laying there. And the doctor walked in and he says, what’s wrong?

I said, that’s why I’m here. Tell me. I hate it when they want me to tell them everything that’s going on. I thought, you’re a doctor, you’re supposed to find out what’s wrong with me. But they don’t do it that way. In other words, I said, I got a pain right here. or even he mashed. He says, I heard, I said, no. He let off real quickly. Ah! I like to come off that table. He says, you’re kidding me.

You gotta take your kidneys out. Okay, well, didn’t do it. I thought I’m gonna die. If you know, hurry up, I’m gonna die. Anyway, he went and he never come back. And after a while, some nurses came in there and they checked me and I said, what’s wrong? I said, well, the same thing that I told that other doctor, he said, I got a pain right here. They said, does that hurt? I said, no. I knew what they were going to do.

And I braced for it. And they’d come, don’t look quick. And I’d like to come off that table. And if I could have got within reach of them, I’d hit them. Well, anyway, it was a shift change. So they was going off duty. I’m still laying there. So the other ones that were coming on duty, what’s wrong? Three times. If you ever know you go to your emergency room and you’re dying and they’ve got all the time in the world and they’re filing their nails and doing something, talking to somebody, blah blah blah blah.

I’m always dying. You know when a guy goes to the emergency room he’s dying. And so anyway they operated on it. I thought I came into this world with that kidney and I want to go out with that kidney but then I changed my mind. I said you can have that kidney. I don’t want to, but you’d be surprised as you go through life, we’re fortunate to be alive or to live as long as we have. Now we don’t know how much time we’ve gotten the future, but we know that as long as we live, we’re going to suffer, and this is what Paul is talking about.

He’s in prison when he’s writing this. You’re going to suffer. Hold your place right there and just look at what he says here. Look in verse 29 of chapter one. We’ll start in verse 28 in Philippians chapter one, verse 20. and in nothing terrified by your adversary, which is to them an evident token of perdition but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ. Get this, not only to believe but also to suffer for his say.

Nowillery, that first part I didn\”> this last part, but to suffer for his say, well, and as long as you live, when you’re separated it from that place called glory in the holy city and all that, and perfection and pleasure for evermore, as long as you’re here and you could be there, this is a time of suffering. And he says, for the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be forever.

So this is all temporary. But the glory that you will have, the enjoyment and the pleasure forever and more will all override everything that you suffered on here. But it will, as God says, it will be worth it. So we are going to have to face this. And he says, in verse 30, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me. In other words, what I’m going through, the suffering that I have, he says, welcome to the club, you’re going to have it too.

And if you’re going to live, you’re going to have trouble. And pretty much everybody has the same troubles. It’s just a little bit different. You know, it’s in the body because we live in this body. And the body is going to fall apart. Now go to chapter 4, Philippians chapter 4. I notice in verse 1, I love it whenever He says, finally brethren. See, the first words in chapter three, finally, brethren, finally. Have you ever wrote somebody a letter and said, finally, when you write the word finally, you mean you’re at the end of it, right?

Here he writes two more chapters, finally. So whenever a preacher is preaching and you hear him say, then finally brethren, don’t start putting your Bible away. You say, well, what does it mean? Nothing. You say, what does it mean when the preacher takes off his watch and lays it up on the, say, what does that mean? Nothing. Doesn’t mean a thing. Like the little boy visits this one church. And so the preacher was kind of showing him around and looking there on in the four year and he says, he said, Pastor, what’s all that?

He says, those are the lists of the people that died in the service. He says, morning or evening. So, I don’t know if we need to put a board back here. Who died in the morning service and who are those that died in the evening service. But look in verse one, this is a great thing about how everybody is needed, so important. Therefore my brethren, dearly beloved and long for, my joy and crown. Now, I want you to hold your place because I want you to see that phrase where he says my joy and crown, and he’s talking about people.

Look there in 1 Thessalonians chapter two. Just turn to your right a couple of pages. 1 Thessalonians chapter two, and look in verse 19, verse 19. when He makes His statement for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing. What is it? Our not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming. For ye are our glory and our joy. Now, we talk about getting to heaven and people having crowns and glory or glory.

It could be the people that have been reached because of your sacrifice. You may not be able to talk to everybody, but you gave funds or you helped and you sung, you did whatever you did it, you did it for the Lord so that God could use it and you wanted to be a blessing. Those people, when you get to heaven, I had somebody just the other day, you know, I put out a newsletter and I put a couple pictures in there.

Some people in Colorado saw it and they liked it, so they posted it on Facebook, then they they put it into the Florida Baba College of Orlando, the alumni, and then somebody else put it. A Bob Wright was up there in Alabama, and he put it into another one. I think he’s in Texas now. And then somebody else was in Arizona, and so they put it into another place. And so that one letter that I sent out has gone everywhere.

And it was just a little small thing that I wrote, but they liked what I wrote. And it’s some of it, a little bit of it, not a lot, but a little bit is on the notes that I’ll pass out today. But it was on my letter to that son. And you never know where it’s going to all go. But some of them have wrote in there and says, I’m so thankful. Yankee led me to the Lord back in the 70s.

And now that girl that wrote that, she’s up in Alaska. She’s up in Alaska. one from Arizona, she wrote in there, Yankie led me to the Lord back in, I think with the late 70s, another one. And so all these years later, if people are making statements about people that I have led, they are your joy, they are your crown of rejoicing, people that you have reached for the Lord. I saw a newsletter that somebody had put out and it was going to put it on Facebook and it was by a man named Tom Adams.

And Tom Adams and people were making comments about how clear he was on the gospel. And I looked at that and I thought, that is awesome. I led Tom Adams to the Lord in Reamer, Minnesota in 1969. I remember certain people and I can remember certain dates. And some things like that in my mind is as clear as a bell but I can’t tell you what I had for breakfast yesterday because it doesn’t matter. See, well, I only got a one gigabyte and the only way I can take and remember new stuff is I got to delete something but some of the things I don’t want to delete so I don’t have room for it.

So I just find out, remember. Does that make sense? I like that. Anyway, the people that we reach will be our joy and our crown. Now back here in Philippians he says, in verse two, I be seated, you be seated, and be seated, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. See, whoever it is, and whatever it is, there could be a problem with a couple of these ladies. I mean, another individual. But he always wants you to be of the same mind.

Think the same way. Love the same way. Serve the same way. Now you’re different, yes, but you do it because the Lord wants you to. And then he makes a statement about what the people have meant to him. And I entreat the also true yoke fellow. He says, help those women which labored with me in the gospel. Help those women because he’s in prison now. Help those women who work and labored with me. If we didn’t have the women to do the work that they do, you know, this ministry wouldn’t be very much.

You take all the women out of the ministry and you ain’t got much. Because I mean they are the backbone of the church. And where would ourCEO player be? What were some of those great voices in the choir be? I mean everybody is important but we wouldn’t have much. And think of all the meals that are fixed around here. And some of the specials that we have and all the things that goes on. And women will come to church when the husbands won’t.

We got a few that husbands come into women won’t, but thank the Lord for all of them. He says in verse 4, and you ought to unwind the line this verse in your Bible if you don’t have it done, in spite of all the sufferings. Rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice because you’ve got enough to complain about a lot of murmuring, but you’ve got to be careful of doing too much complaining and too much murmuring. There’s a reason why.

But hold your place right here. Look there in the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 10. All right, 1 Corinthians chapter 10. See what God does when he saves you. He’s one person, well, he saves all of us the same way. We’re all saved by grace. And when you’re saved, well, he places all of us into the same body.

And God wants to use all of us the same. But it’s based upon whether or not we will. So he makes a statement in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse one, more over brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the receive, talking about the children of Israel, they all came out. All baptized in the Moses, in the cloud, in the sea, did all eat the same spiritual meat, all had the same manner, and all drank the same spiritual drink they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them which was Christ.

And yet, even though God treated them all the same, he provided He decidedffects for all of them equally, but, but in verse 5, but with many of them, God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness. How did they get overthrown? My God did the same for all of them, but not everybody responds the same way. See, God paid for all the sins of all of us equally. And he saves all of us the same way by faith alone.

of us. by the Holy Spirit, all equally. 1 1 2 And he gave all of it, he got one Bible. 3 3 3 And we have a reason for living, but now notice. 3 3 3 He says in verse six, 3 3 now these things were our examples to the intent. 3 3CEO 1 3 We should not lust after evil things as they also do. 3 3 3 3 So he telling you don’t be like those that were overthrown.

3 3 3 3 Because if you take your eyes off the Lord, 3 you’re gonna have troubles. 3 But one of the problems that they had, What caused all of this is it says in verse seven, neither be you idolaters, verse eight, neither be fornicators as some of them, some, not all of them fell the same way, but they fell. So you see, it doesn’t matter why you stop serving the Lord as long as the devil got you to stop serving the Lord.

It won’t matter. The reason it won’t matter. It’s that Satan won, you quit. Satan wants to get you away from the study of the world of God. So he gets you to stop going to church. Make sure you get hurt or offended by something the preacher says or does or somebody else in the church. Nobody spoke to me. Okay, how many did you speak to?

Well, that’s not important. It is. And so is that the reason you go to church? So somebody will speak to me. If nobody speaks to me, I got my feelings hurt. Now I’ll never go back. God bless you. Boy, you’re a strong Christian. If that ain’t a whiner, a complainer, Well, I don’t want to go to that church. They got hypocrites there. They got hypocrites where she works, or where he works. They got hypocrites at the grocery store, gas station.

So they stopped going there too. Hypocrite. It’s usually a hypocrite that finds all the hypocrites. But I know what else he says in verse nine, neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpent. You look at verse 10, this is the key verse. Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. There’s somebody, just get you dissatisfied. See the reason these people did all these other things, they were discouraged, dissatisfied.

They didn’t like the food they had to eat. They wanted some meat and they didn’t have that. They wanted water, they didn’t have that. Some people just complained about everything. They always find fault. I don’t care what you do, there’s something wrong with it. Or you can be positive and look at an opportunity to serve the Lord and do what’s right and help. Or you can always find a reason not to if you don’t want to, or depend on what you wanna do.

So he made this statement here. He says, neither murmur ye, and I’ll go back there to the book of Philippians in chapter four, Philippians chapter four. And when he says, rejoice in the Lord always, I wonder what he means by that. Means to rejoice in the Lord always, because you’re going to have disappointments and discouragements. That’s going to happen. Now look what he says in verse five, verse five. These three verses are really awesome verses. They can really help you in your Christian life.

So here, Philippians chapter four verse five, let your moderation. That means your gentleness, your kindness, your graciousness. Be known unto all men. In other words, the way you’re going to be. you are, you should be a nice kind person. In other words, don’t go through life as a rattlesnake that everyone wants to avoid. Go through life as like a dove. I mean somebody that’s you know, that’s gentle, a kind person. The Bible says about Jesus Christ. He said, everywhere he went, he went about doing good.

Just good, just good. It has nothing wrong, you know, the old, whole adore for somebody that, you You know, you don’t even have to know them. Sometimes I’ve gone out and some woman opened the door for me. Can you believe that? And I said, man, you’re the first lady to hold the door for me today. Thank you so much. And sometimes I go up there and I get to the door first. And a lady just said, go ahead, I’ll hold the door for you.

Do I look that old? Did I look that decrepit? And I says, no, man. I’ll hold the door for you, go ahead. Just be nice. If I don’t even get a chance to give a track, I don’t get a chance to preach to them, you can still be nice and kind to people. Where you sit in all of your gentleness, let your needs be known. And see that phrase, the Lord is at hand, wherever you are and whatever you do, the Lord’s right there with you, and you’re doing it for Him.

So you are that, well, you’re manifesting the way God wants to be manifested. They want to see the Lord through you and God is loving. God is kind, God is all of that. And so the when you’re like that, that helps to deliver a message. Remember, you are the best Bible some people will ever see. Looking for six, be careful for nothing. That means don’t be anxious. Don’t be a worry wort. I had a person tell me one time says, don’t tell me worry and doesn’t help.

90% of what I worry about doesn’t happen. So it was a good thing I worried. You know, it’s just somebody’s perspective. Just like a person, they walk into church here and they got this great big old bag on their shoulders. All of their problems, all their cares, all their worries, and they walk down to the front of the church and they pull them down at the altar. Lord, I’m committing all of these to you. In Jesus’ name, amen. They can get up and pick up the bag and then walk back out.

Something’s wrong. I had a man tell me one time, he says, I prayed that God would do something, he says, I’ve asked God a thousand times. I said, well, once would have been sufficient if you really are talking to the Lord. But he says in verse 6, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. So while you’re offering all these things, you know, the things that you need, You’re also at the same time giving him thanks for what you do have.

Always be thanking the Lord for what he has done before you keep asking him for more. You ever had kids come to give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. And they forget about saying thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Or just come to you and say, I just want to thank you, Mom. Or give you a big o’ hug. I want to give you a big o’ hug. And then he says, let your request be made known unto God.

God. There is a heavenly Father up there and he says, stop worrying by cast all your cares upon the Lord for he care for you and learn to take everything that you have this modern you and in this life we’re going to suffer. And so we commit that to the Lord and then he says in verse seven and the God of peace, the God of peace. You see, why are we falling apart if we have a God that can give you peace?

And he says, and the God of peace which passes all, this is human understanding. Shall keep our guard your mind so that you don’t fall apart, so that you don’t have to panic, so that you don’t have to worry. It’ll guard, it’ll protect your mind, and so cast your cares upon the Lord, learn how to trust the Lord and walk with the Lord, and you’ll be surprised how God is going to bless your little peep-picking heart, and we’ll quit right there.

Look up here. Letting this hand represent you and me and the wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God says that He loves us. He hates our sin. And for us to pay for it is eternal separation from God. But God loves us. He wants us to go to heaven. But to go to heaven, we have to be perfect. His righteousness is God. And none of us are perfect. We’ve all sinned. We’ve all come short of God’s perfection.

So God says you cannot earn eternal life. You can’t work your way to heaven. rency boast. So God says, I want to do something for you and I’ll make it free. That sounds pretty good. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He was the Lord. See, He came into the world lived 32 and a half years didn’t sin. So He didn’t have to die. But because He loved us, He took our place. He took our sins. He paid 14 back from the dead.

Said that if you and I, if we would believe He did it for us, He would give us as a free gift everlasting life. His death for my sins will become my payment. I don’t have to make. So now I have eternal life and I’m going to heaven whenever I die. But I’m not there yet. So the Lord in order to live here gave me His power, the power of His mind, the Holy Spirit to indwell us. yield yourself to Him, He will teach you how to live.

The Lord can teach you how to live. How to handle every trial, every tribulation, every temptation, He can teach you everything you knew. But you got to let Him. He will take you through His Word and He will highlight things as you read and study. And a lot of it, you won’t even get it, it won’t make any sense. You won’t understand it, but all of a sudden there’ll be a verse that says, this is for you. This is for you.

This is all you need right now. And then next time you’ll read it, ah, I didn’t see this before and they’ll teach you something else. It is the living Word of God. Let’s pray show you. Every head bowed and every eye closed and no one looking around. If you hear tonight and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior. You can do that right where you are. You don’t have to stand up. You don’t have to come forward. You don’t even have to raise your hand.

All you need to know is, I’m talking to the Lord and God sees and He understands. He knows those who will believe it. Will you believe it? If you will believe that when Christ died, He died for you. He’ll give you as a free gift ever lasting life and you get to go to heaven on what Christ did for you. Would you trust Him? And if he will, God said he would save you. You can know you’re going to heaven.

If you’re watching by internet on the screen, there’s a little button up there and says, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior. Would you do that? Would you trust the Lord? Would like to know. It just sends us a message that says, yes, I trust Christ as my Savior. And that’s such a blessing. So it has about nine clothes. And anyone all before we close said, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior tonight and pray to life, be to pray for me, any one at all.

If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, how are you doing in your spiritual life? Are you growing spiritually? Are you getting stronger and stronger? Did you know that you have within you the Holy Spirit to teach you, to lead you, to guide you? And helping you to do everything he wants you to do. He can walk with you through all of these trials that you have, and we have them. We have a lot of lust on the flesh.

He can give you the strength to desire the right things. Father, we thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. Thank you for your word. We ask you to strengthen us as we need to be. Each one of us are different. But same always, very. In Christ’s name we pray, amen. Men, reserve the last Saturday of the month for the Iron Sharpen’s Iron, Men’s Bible Study in Breakfast at Calvary Community Church. Join us at 730 for a home-cooked breakfast.

Then, at 8am, the featured speaker of the month will present a one-hour classroom style men’s Bible study in a relaxed atmosphere where questions and dialogue are welcomed. The scripture tells us that Iron Sharpens Iron, and this men’s Bible study is open to those of all levels, whether new believers or mature Christians. The Iron Sharpens Iron men’s Bible study in breakfast. Don’t miss this monthly opportunity for fellowship and the study of God’s Word.

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. leaving that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.