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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 the today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

So let me ask you this, what was the greatest problem you have ever had in your whole life? The greatest problem, your greatest need, and take all the way to the end of your life. And when you died, where was you going? You were on your way to hell. Now, regardless of what happened in the period of time that you lived, Well there’s 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, what doesn’t matter how long you lived, your greatest problem was where were you going when you died.

Now if God can take care of your biggest need, your greatest problem that you’ve ever faced so far in your whole life, can He take care of all the little stuff in between? If God can give me eternal life, can I trust him to give me a hamburger from day to day? For God, he’s bankrupt. He has no means to take care of me. I’ve got a heavenly Father who has forsaken me. Do you believe that God knows everything that’s going to happen to his children?

What you’re going to do? You know, I thought it was really bad that day that I went in and had that surge and I thought, God didn’t know about this. God didn’t know I was gonna have to go through this, because if you really loved me, if you really loved me, he wouldn’t let this happen to me. I mean, he knows that I like to sing and now I can’t sing. He knows that I like to do the wall of illustration, but he lifted my hand all the way up, and now I can only go here.

Boy, I wish God knew that ahead of time. But you see, God doesn’t know everything. He can’t do anything. And you’d be surprised at how you’ll feed your mind with questions and doubts. I try to tell the college kids, feed your faith and your doubts will start to death. But if you don’t, you’re gonna feed your doubts and your faith will start to death. So how you doing? Learn this. Now, you’ll notice in verse 14, this is the confidence.

See, 513 is to give us confidence to believe what else he has said in the book of 1 John. He said that if we ask anything according to Israel, he hear it the, now that’s mentioned also in the book of John in chapter 14. What’s whoever you ask my father in my name, I will give it to you. But the confidence of you doing that is based upon do you really believe that you have eternal life? Because you took God in his word.

And now you know that you’re saved, you’re going to heaven when you die. Well then believe this, God hasn’t stopped loving you just because you trust in Christ’s Savior. God hasn’t taken a vacation. God is intricately involved in your life whether you see Him or not and He’s bringing things into your life and taking things out of your life because He’s building your character because He wants you to be like Him. He wants you to love him more than the love of the world and that’s why in chapter 2 he talks about the love of the Father and if you love the world then that means you don’t love him and he’s going to reveal these things to you and so that’s why he lets you have all the problems because he’s trying to get you to get closer to him.

He hasn’t forsaken you, he knows who you are, he knows how you hurt, he knows what you go through and God will do what he promised. You see when he talks about there. Notice what he says in 1 John chapter 3. Look in verse 19. First John chapter 3 verse 19, hereby we what? We know. You see, we know. How do we know that because God keeps His word? God promised. Well, what if I don’t believe what God says?

And I begin to question and doubt. Well, that’s why He says up there in 1 John chapter 5 and verse 10. Look what He says in verse 10. Because throughout this 1 John, He talks about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that is within you, the Holy Spirit that is to lead you, the one that to give you the spiritual joy that you’re supposed to have. He says in verse 10, he that believeth on the Son of God, have the witness in himself.

What is this witness that he has inside me? See, I am in dwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. And the Holy Spirit is to teach us truth. The Holy Spirit is holy. The Holy Spirit never teaches you a lie. The Holy Spirit doesn’t lead you astray. The Holy Spirit doesn’t desert you and leave you. We’re sealed into the day of redemption till we get our new body. That’s how secure we are. And we ought to believe what God’s word has to say.

And then he says in verse 10, he that believeth not God hath made him what? Made him a liar. You know, that’s also found in 1 John in chapter one. Look what he says there. In 1 John chapter one in verse 10. If we say we have not sinned, we make him what? This is to the believer. The believer calling God a liar. Because when you begin to question and doubt God, you’re saying, God, I don’t believe you. You can’t take care of me.

See God may want to give you the peace, the love, the joy. He may not send you finances. You see, between you and him, that’s more important that you don’t start questioning and doubting your heavenly Father because you didn’t get what you wanted. You’re not as healthy as you would like to be. You don’t have the friend maybe you’d like to have. You’d be surprised in this life how many things can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong.

But God’s never done you wrong. God has never failed you. God doesn’t lie to you. God doesn’t deceive you. God doesn’t tempt you. How do you know all of that? Because he said so. He said so. And you’d be surprised how you’re like and be filled with questions and doubts. And as a child of God, you’ll never get to know God personally. He is more real to me than the clothes I’ve got on my back. And he ought to be real to you, that you know regardless of what comes, what happens.

Instead of griping and grumbling and murmuring and complaining, put a smile on your face, isn’t it great to be alive and have a father like I’ve got. I got a father that’ll never leave me and he wants the best for me. So evidently at this point in my life, this must be very good for me and I can learn something from this. I can get closer to the Lord than I was before. Maybe I’ll understand that these old bodies are not really gonna last forever.

And I need to be more careful. You can be right, you can learn something from everything that you’d run through. Look what else he says here. Here in the book of 1 John in chapter three, I want you to look back there in verse 19. Hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him, because you see, assure your heart’s talking about your conscience. Because you believe what God says, it affects what you do and what you say.

That’s mentioned in the prayer in verse 18, my little children. He said, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but indeed and in truth. Because you know the truth and you believe the truth. And that’s why that’s important. So then he makes the statement here in verse 20, for if our heart condemn us because we ourselves know I’m not walking with God like I should. I’m walking in the flesh and I’m deceiving myself. But your conscience bothers you.

When you do that what you know you shouldn’t do. When you begin to question in doubt God and it bothers you. That’s your conscience. But if you can bring this guilt upon yourself. What do you think God knows? Should the last part of that verse? Or it says, if our heart can dim us, God is greater than our heart and He knows everything. We only know a little bit. But I do want you to know this. Let’s look at this one verse here before I close to chapter 2.

And here in verse 21, beloved, if our heart can dim us not, then have we, and here’s that word we’re wanting. Confidence before God. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the great comforter, but He’s also a great discomforter when you don’t believe what He said. When you begin to question and doubt the Word of God, This book will not let you down. Trust the Lord. Maybe you SetFontSize walking with the Lord longer than I have, but I’m telling you, in all these years He’s never failed me.

He’s never always given me everything that I want, but of what I’m talking about, He’s given me the confidence, the courage, the boldness that I need to continue looking to Him and trusting Him, because I know what His Word says, and I want God’s blessings upon my life. And I believe every child of God should want and desire that. Now look there in chapter two. And look in verse 20.

See confidence comes from knowing and trusting in the truth. In John 17 where we were in verse 17, thy word is truth, sanctify them through thy truth. If there’s anything you should learn in the days that you live is learn truth, the word of God. And you’d be surprised how that yes, your conscience can be your guide if your conscience knows the truth and you can discern. But look what he says in verse 20, but you have an option from the Holy One and you know all things.

It means the Holy Spirit that lives within you is to teach you all things, everything you need to know about truth. That’s why the world cannot teach you truth. It teaches you the wisdom of the world. But there’s the wisdom of God that comes from above. There’s the wisdom of man that comes from below. And many people search for the wisdom of this world. And you and I, as God’s children, are to seek the wisdom that comes from God.

And so I want you to take your Bible turned to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians and chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 is an interesting portion of Scripture that kind of helps us to understand the purpose of the Holy Spirit in our life. And the Holy Spirit doesn’t magnify the Holy Spirit. It magnifies Christ, magnifies God in himself. So there’s things that we’re supposed to learn. And 1 Corinthians in chapter 2, look in verse 9. And verse 9.

But as it is written, I have not seen, ear have not heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them. Do you see the next couple words? Then that what? That love it. You see, there’s things you can know if you love him. And God says, those who love me, I will make myself known unto Him. John chapter 14, also 16. God will reveal things to you. Teach you things because you love Him.

Now nobody can make you love God. And a lot of Christians go through life, and they’re always like you’ve been baptized in pickled juice. Never happy, never satisfied, always complaining about some. But don’t forget about Jonah. He was down in the mouth, he came out of the way. Now, we’re looking here at this verse. And verse 10, but God hath revealed him unto us, those who love the Lord. God has revealed things to us. Not out of everybody, always knows exactly the same thing.

People are at different points in their Christian life. Some of you have learned some great lessons that other people haven’t learned yet. But then they’ve learned some lessons you probably haven’t learned. This is why loving each other and sharing with each other, we learn from each other because everybody is sooner or later going to face the same things in life. Here in verse 10, God had to reveal them unto us by what? Mad magazine, CNN, Hellywood reveal them to us by his spirit for the spirit.

Spirit. Now we’re talking about the Holy Spirit. We’re talking about the Holy Spirit of God. Searcheth all things. He can discern all things, knows all things, and he’s the one who wants to teach us discernment so that we can make better decisions in our life, understanding how to judge ourselves in my living in the spirit or my living in the flesh. Am I walking in light according to truth? Or am I walking in the flesh according to darkness? Can I discern the difference in my life?

you just do whatever you want to do and call it the will of God. You see a lot of people, they commit a lot of sin by praying. Well, I prayed about it. I prayed about it. And then they do whatever they want to do, so well I prayed about it. That doesn’t mean that God gave us approval upon it, you to do something that’s totally contrary to the word of God. So, notice what he says now in verse 11.

When he says in verse 10, the spirit search of theology, the deep things of God, things of God. This is after you’re saved. There’s things that God wants to teach all of His children deeper truths that make your life more precious to you and God more precious to you and the experiences of life where you get more out of life and you can put more into life. But people who walk in darkness can’t see, they don’t understand, they stumble and they fall and they go astray.

Well, I waste your whole life. You only got one time to do it right. You don’t get another chance. It’s one trip through life, no replays, no just one trip. Don’t you want to get it right? Don’t you want to serve a little with all your heart? Why you can’t? Because one of these days, some of you all that are younger, you’re going to get all like me. Take that. if you live as long as I have. And I’m not that old.

I just look old. I just feel old. And the longer I live, the older I feel. But anyway, look at this next verse. In verse 11, for what man doeth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him, even so the things of God know of no man, but the spirit of God. Now, now, we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us that we might know.

There’s so much more that God wants you to know. Why do you think we want young people to go to Bible college so they can know the truth, so they know what God said, so they can make better decisions for their life, so they got good discernment. Most of the time, church on Sunday morning, people that’s haphazard sometimes don’t come on Sunday night, Wednesday night, and just whenever you want to do it. And so you’re not going to learn the things that you could have learned.

So you’re not going to do and accomplish what you could have accomplished. It’s impossible because you cannot live above the truth of the Word of God without knowing the truth of the Word of God. You’ve got to know it. most people have never learned the word of God. Because you’re not gonna get enough on an hour on a Sunday morning to keep you going all week long. It won’t happen. Your life’s gonna be pretty much just the way it’s always been.

Don’t you sense that nothing’s happening in your life, that you’re just totally bored with all of it because you are not really close to the Lord and doesn’t really make any difference whether I go or if I’m not, if I’m involved or if I’m not, It’s a, you know, happenstance. Or is there a burning in your heart? I wanna know God more. I want him to be rich to me, precious to me. I wanna do something with my life that God wants me to accomplish because time is short.

We have no guarantee in life. The longer I live, the more I realize that. And I know what he says. In verse 12, now we have received not the spirit of the world, But he said to know the things that are freely given to us of God. And then in verse 13, which things, which things, also we speak not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth. Are there words that man’s wisdom teaches? Yes, sir, and the Bible says to be aware of the philosophy of man.

Stay away from it. God has given us what we need to guide our lives. But you see, most people don’t believe that as long as I got my little pinkies inside the pearly gates, that’s all I need to know. It’s not all you need to know. Just think what knowing that you have eternal life did for you. What if you knew the rest? What if you could discern other things that God has for you? Totally change your life. And you have a different reason why you’re living.

What is your real purpose in living? To get, and everything you get, you’re going to lose. Or is it because you want to do what God wants you to do and have fruit that’ll last for all eternity? It does make a difference. So we in verse 13, which things also we speak not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches can get comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Spiritual things by spiritual means. You see, you’ll learn how to discern things when the Holy Spirit that God gave to every one of his children to discern the truth that’s found in the Word of God.

So it can make a difference in your life. If the Word of God isn’t changing your life, you’re not in the Word of God. If your life is the same as it’s always been, you’re not walking with God. You’re not walking in the light. As a thing called hypocrisy. Another word is you don’t have the discernment and it’s called deception. If your life is unholy. You ought to be a godly individual. He says, be ye holy for I am.

What? Holy. Be ye holy. Well I don’t want nobody to call me, no holy, Joe. I wouldn’t mind it. call me anything that you want. As long as it’s pleasing to God, he’s the one that concerns me, and that’s the one that concerns you. Because the Bible says in Romans 14, every man shall give account of himself to God that day will come. Now, notice what he says also down in verse 14, the natural man, the lost man, receive if not the things of the Spirit, he cannot know them, the lost God, he doesn’t have the Holy Spirit.

But what’s the value of a Christian who does have the Holy Spirit but does not allow the Holy Spirit to teach him the deep things of God. And that’s why so many Christians are so shallow. They’re so shallow because they don’t know the deep truths of the Word of God. They can keep them solid, keep you strong and mature all your Christian life. Do you want to stumble, you want to fall, or do you want to walk with God?

And that’s why he says in the last part of verse 14, because they are spiritually discerned. See, there’s things of God are spiritually discerned. And then you find in verse 15, but he that is spiritual, judges all things, which is exactly what it says back there in chapter 2, of 1 John, verse 20, because you have an unto, you have the power of the Holy Spirit living within you to teach you so you can discern all these things God wants you to know and these things that you know are what’s going to help you in your walk with God.

And if you don’t know them, you don’t have that element of truth that can make a difference in the course of your whole life. I hope that some of this will make a little sense to you. I’m going to try something I haven’t done for a little while standing this is truth, this is truth, this hand representing you and me, and we have all sinned. And the truth is that we have sinned. And the wages of sin is death, that may be eternal separation from God and hell.

And that’s the truth. But God says that He loves us, wants us to go to heaven, and that’s the truth. But God says you cannot earn eternal life. You can’t work your way to heaven and that’s the truth. So we needed a Savior and that’s true. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord, God in the flesh. He came into this world because God loved us and the Son loved the Father. So the Son came into this world because he loves us and that’s so true.

He loved us so much. He took our sins and he paid for them on the cross and that’s true. He came back from the dead. That’s true. He ascended into heaven. One day he’s going to come back and that’s true. But you see he says, I go to my Father to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also because he God loves us and wants us to be in heaven with him. So the Bible says if I would believe that He did that for me.

He would put this payment He made to my account, and I get to go to heaven, all what Jesus Christ did for me. No tricks to it. That is so simple. And yet it is so simple that the majority of people that’s ever read the Bible don’t get it. You see why? Because it’s so deep. It is so deep, and that’s why you and I need to remember. If you want to be deep in the Word, be a soul winner, like this one guy says.

I don’t know if I want to do this certain job and go to college and learn because there’s so many people that can, you know, in that same field. Well, there’s always room at the top. This is the greatest thing you can ever do. There’s room at the top, because most people won’t do it. You want to be different. You want to be unique. Love the Lord enough, and love people enough that you want them to go to heaven, and you’re willing to tell them how.

Wasn’t that letter I read this morning Isn’t that awesome? After two years, I didn’t even know they existed. But think about the thousands that are here in the same thing, and I never hear from them. But one day we’re going to get to heaven, and they’re going to know that’s the congregation that paid for all those things on YouTube that we heard the gospel. And they come come up to you and say, was you one of them? Was you one of them?

Was you one of them? Was you one of them? you went to Calvary Community Church. And college is going to have a special section in heaven just for Calvary Community Church. You didn’t know that. Now that may be a little yank-yology, but I like to believe you realize that if it wasn’t for the people in this ministry that give sacrificial like they do, there wouldn’t be know you to them because all these things that we have, everything cost, everything cost.

Nothing’s free, nothing’s cheap except eternal life. It’s like the water’s free, it just costs to pipe it in. Let’s pray, shall we? With every head bowed and every eye closed, no one looking around. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you write down the quietness of this moment and just say, Lord, I don’t understand at all, but I know I’m a sinner. And I believe that when Christ died, I believe He died for me, and I’m going to trust Him as my Savior this morning.

Friend, I’m not going to embarrass you, but I do want to have prayer for you. And I’m going to ask if you’re just sleeping in it very quickly and put it right back down. And by raising your hand, it just means I’m trusting Christ as my Savior this morning. If you’ve already done it, you’d never have to do it again. Is there any one of the law? Just raise your hand very quickly. But right back down, say, preach or pray for me.

And what at all? If you’re watching on the internet, there’s a little tab on the screen that says, yes, I’ll trust Christ, it might save you, I pray that you would. But let me ask you something else. Are you struggling? Are you hurting? You’re heavenly Father, hasn’t forgotten you. Take all your cares, because He cares for you and cast them on Him. Walk with the Lord. It will be worth it all. Father, we thank You again for Your blessings for all that You do for us.

We ask Your blessings upon each person here and those that are watching by Internet, nor we want to hear from people whose lives have been changed because of the message of the gospel that they’ve trusted You as Savior. And follow for those who wanted to wait at it a little bit deeper, learn a little bit more. and we ask your blessings upon each one. Christ name we pray, amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were 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 813-884-4328. That’s 813-884-4328. 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’re 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 broadcasts of our services may be seen by clicking the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.org. 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. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.