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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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 message will be a blessing to you and your family.

If I was to ask you, how many of you in here want to serve the Lord? You trust that Christ is your Savior, but do you want to serve the Lord? Not without a fight. Not without a fight. If you really want to serve the Lord, not without a fight. If you want to do right, it’s going to be a fight. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Genesis and chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. time you cover something like this, you’ve got to start at the beginning.

You would think that if I wanted to serve the Lord, the devil would be afraid to bother me and God would make everything easy for me and because I want to do right, everything ought to be a piece of cake. But it’s not that way. The devil ain’t going to leave you alone. You have a problem sometimes in your discernment. You don’t always know what’s right. You and I get deceived so easily, so quickly. Here in the book of Genesis, everything was going along fine.

And he was a perfect couple that had a perfect environment and something went wrong. But anyway, they were told not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. Well, lo and behold, they did. Adam blamed it on his wife. The wife blamed it up on the serpent. And so the Lord had to whip all three put a curse on all of them. So you and I have been battling ever since the whole human race because of what happened back then.

And they knew to do right and they didn’t do it. Now you and I had been there in the garden we wouldn’t have done that, right? We wouldn’t have done that. But isn’t it true that you still know what’s right and what’s wrong and you still do wrong on purpose? You ever get mad on purpose, angry, envious, filled with jealousy. Every one of us have a battle. There’s a fight. I want you to look at verse 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field, and upon thy bellish thou thou go, and doth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

And I will put immity, that means war. I’m going to put war between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, thou shalt bruise his heel.” In other words, there are several things that you could look at. Many believe this is the first prophetic verse in the Bible, a reference to the time that Christ will be on the cross, and that the battle comes down between Satan and Jesus Christ. And so therefore, even though Jesus Christ was on the cross, Christ took His heel, crushed the head of the serpent, but He bruised His heel, but He destroyed the serpent.

So it is true that when Christ was on the cross, He destroyed the power of the devil. He had victory over sin because they didn’t get him. He had victory over the world. They didn’t get him. And He had victory over the devil because He came back from the dead. Satan was defeated. So there’s a lot of truth to this prophetic scripture. But there’s also something else I believe that needs to be looked at. Not only was there to be a woman that was to be born in time, the woman had a son.

And that was Jesus Christ. But it says between thy seed and her seed. It did not wait until that time. There’s also a battle that goes on between the seed of a woman and the seed of the devil. And they have been warned against each other. It’s called the Battle of the Ages. No battle has ever lasted this long. It started in the garden and the battle is still going on. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 John, 1 John, all the way over there in the New Testament.

1 John in chapter 3. The Lord tells us, you and I, to love one another. Okay, that’s the talking part’s done, but not without a fight. You know you cannot love somebody without a fight. You fight on everything that you do. There’s a battle. There’s something inside of you that tries to keep you from demonstrating love. It should be the easiest thing in the world, just to love everybody. But something somebody says or does could cause you not to want to love them.

Instead of loving them, you can hate them so quickly. You have to fight. It’s always a battle. Wouldn’t it be neat if every man loved his wife all the time, the way he should? But especially in the beginning of marriage, there’s always this rocky part of the road where they learn how to to give and take a little bit, call the adjustment period, always learning how to adjust. Like I said, sometimes people when they get married is kind of hooking up a racehorse to a jackass.

Somebody’s got to speed up or somebody’s got to slow down. There’s got to be some kind of an adjustment made. Well, here in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 11, look at what it says, For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain. Cain was the son of Adam and Eve from the very beginning. Look at this. It goes all the way back to the very beginning, first child ever born.

I don’t want you to love like he did. Not as Cain who was of that wicked one. Well, who’s the wicked one? Well, if you read through here, we find out that the devil is the wicked one. in verse 10. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. So you’re talking about those children that are the children of the devil. Well who in the world are the children of the devil? Have you ever seen one?

When Christ was here in the book of John chapter 8 verse 44, he says ye are of your Father the devil. He was a murderer from the beginning. Well who did Satan murder? He murdered Abel. He just did it through Cain. He got Cain to do his dirty work. There’s always been this battle. Somebody is using you. You’re being used. When you get angry and bitter and envious, fill of jealousy and that hateful speech. Somebody’s using you. You need to understand that.

The Bible says that when you’re born into this world, you have the seed of the serpent within you and you are a child of the devil. God is God and he is the Creator, but he’s not your father and you’re not born into his family until the day you accepted Christ as your Savior and you were born into God’s family. And then you had the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman was Christ. Christ came from Mary and through Christ who has no sinful nature, but when you’re born of Him, you have His nature placed within you.

So you have a human nature, you’ve got a sinful nature. Christ had a human nature, but He didn’t have a sinful nature. But Christ had a human nature and a divine nature. You and I have a human nature and a sinful nature. And then when we trust Christ as our Savior, God gives to us divine nature. When he makes the statement, not as Cain, looking for a call of again, who was of that wicked one, that means that Cain was of the devil from the very beginning.

Yes or no, yes he was. And he murdered his brother and he slew his brother and where for slew he him because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous. You say, well now what made the difference. God says, I want you to bring a blood sacrifice. And Abel did. He believed God. Cain did not believe God. He brought the works of his hands. So he was trying to save himself by his works and able through a sacrifice because he believed what God said.

So it’s looking at the works of an individual. One believed God and one did not believe God. your first fundamentalist and your first modernist in the Bible. And in verse 13, Marvel not my brethren, if the world hate you. Now we know that according to the scriptures here, he was a murderer from the very beginning. And the Bible says that he had the seed of the devil within him. You also read in the book of Ephesians in chapter 2 where it says we are rebellious by nature, the children of the devil and that’s why we war the way we do.

We have a nature that is identical to Satan’s. You and I have a nature within us that’s identical to Satan. You said, I don’t believe in the devil. You have a nature identical to Satan. And that’s why it’s so hard and difficult for you to believe what God says, what the Bible says to believe truth. Because the devil doesn’t want you to believe the truth. So you are going to have to fight all the way with this other sinful nature that’s within you.

So lo and behold, you trusted God. your Savior, God did not take away that old sinful nature that you have. I want you to take and go to the book of Galatians and chapter 5 Galatians and chapter 5. And look there in verse 16, verse 16. This is what the Lord tells us to do. This I say then walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The reason is because you still have the lust of the flesh because you still have an old sinful nature, it’s in your body.

You trusted Christ as your Savior, you are born of God. But this new birth that was born of God does not sin. It is righteous, it is perfect. There’s nothing wrong with it. So you have within you these two contrary natures and they fight all the time. There is nothing that you’re going to do for God without a fight, without a battle. In verse 17, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh. Flesh, first birth, spirit, second birth.

They are contrary to each other because one is sinful and the other one is perfect. And therefore they fight all the time. Two natures contrary to each other, they can never work together. So inside of you, you have these two contrary natures, they’re always going to be fighting against each other. There can never be peace inside of you. There will never be peace between these two natures. You’ll have to fight all the days of your life. Now you can surrender and just give in and let the old sinful nature totally control your life.

If that’s what you want, go ahead. But even you can’t surrender without a fight because the new birth will fight against the flesh the flesh against the new one. So when you want to do that which is wrong, there’s going to be a battle. When you want to do right, there’s going to be a battle. You see, you’re going to have a fight either way. Some of you sit in here and you know Christ is your Savior. You may want to leave your wife or your husband and go to another and you don’t because you’re fighting.

It’s a fight. Are you capable of committing every sin in the book? Yes. How come you haven’t done it yet? Because there’s another part of you that says, no, that’s wrong. And yet, don’t you want to serve the Lord with all your heart and be enricious, obedient to God? You say, yes, I do. But why don’t you? Because there’s a part of you that doesn’t want you to and will fight against you doing it. It’s the battle. Look, there in verse 17, in the end, where it says, and these are contrary, the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would.

In other words, you cannot do the things that you would, can’t mean, well, walk in the Spirit, but then He turned around and said, well, you can’t, because He won’t let you do it. You can’t do it. Well, I want to walk in the flesh. Well, you can’t do it because it says right there so that you cannot do the things that you would. You would walk in the. Well, you can’tCatal. You would walk inHEAD.Against Rohingvantage.UGClaus. Stop what He’s talking about.

context. It means so that you cannot not do the things that you would without a fight. You ought to take right beside that word would and write out those words without a fight. You can’t walk in the spirit without a fight and you can’t walk in the flesh without a fight. If you’re God’s child there’s going to be a struggle on the inside of you. Now sooner or later you may give in but not without a fight. It’s always going to be a battle.

And if you have walked away from God and you’re not right with the Lord, there’s still something on the inside of you that keeps battling with you because you know what’s right and you’re not doing it. And the Holy Spirit living within you is going to prick your conscience. And if you don’t respond sooner or later, you’ll harden yourself, become stiff-neck As the Bible says, sear your conscience as with a hot iron. In other words, so scar your conscience that it has no feeling, no sensitivity, where it doesn’t bother you anymore.

Now, he goes down to here and says, so that you cannot do the things that you would without a fight. And then it names these various things. Look in verse 19. The works of the flesh are made known. Look in verse 22. 22. The fruit of the Spirit is made known. So if you was to read The works of the flesh, and then you read the fruit of the Spirit, which one would you like to have for your life?

You say, well, I like to have love not without a fight. You won’t get it. Well, I want joy not without a fight. I want peace not without a fight because the flesh is going to try to keep you from having love or showing love and all those wonderful things. Look there in chapter 6 and verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, flesh, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of maintenance.

So whenever it’s talking about here you are and you want to serve the Lord, you serving God means you serving God in the spirit of verse 22, love, you serving God in the spirit of joy, you serving God in the spirit of peace, in the spirit of long-suffering, in the spirit of gentleness, in the spirit of goodness, in the spirit of faith, in the spirit of temperance. You serve God that way. See there in verse one, it says, in the spirit of meekness, in other words, having this kind of attitude so that whenever you are trying to restore someone who is fell in the flesh, You want to restore someone in this kind of a spirit, the spirit of meekness.

It’s a choice, but you can’t do that without a fight. You say, I just want love. Okay. How do you get it? Not without a fight. You’re not going to have it. Because you see, you have a part of you that old flesh nature is going to war against you. The flesh does not want you to show love. Does it want you to have joy? it want you to have peace. Why? Because there’s no peace to the wicked. Sayeth the Lord.

And the old sinful nature that you have, that old man, doesn’t have peace. Doesn’t want you to have peace. Doesn’t have joy. Doesn’t have love. Doesn’t have all these wonderful things. And doesn’t want you to have them. And if you want that, you’re going to have a battle in your life. It’s going to be a war. And so the only place you can become spiritually strong is from a spiritual book. So the Holy Spirit in dwells you in order to teach you God’s Word.

So as you learn the Word of God, you can become spiritually stronger. And the flesh says, I don’t want you to read the Bible because if you read the Bible, you’ll get spiritually strong. The flesh says, I don’t want you to go to church because if you want to church you hear the word of God and you become spiritually stronger. The flesh doesn’t want you to pray because if you did you become spiritually stronger and the flesh doesn’t want you strong.

He can’t whip you if he lets you get strong. So he fights you and some of you give in to the devil and you have no victory in your life and you don’t have the fruit of the spirit that you’d like to have. It’s always going to be something that you heard about, and some people claim to have it, but it escapes you. It’s not real. It’s just a figment of the imagination, just a pie in the sky, but it’s not real.

It is real, but it’s a choice. A choice on which side do you want to win, but it’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be a battle. But these are some meanings of the words that are listed in Galatians in chapter 5, verses 19 to 23. But when he talks about the works of the flesh, this is what you will produce if you let the flesh that lives within sight of you, that all sinful nature control your life.

He says, walk in the spirit, you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. You may still have these desires, but you don’t have to fulfill them. Sin is the fulfillment of these desires. You see what I have? I have wrong thoughts sometimes. Just don’t fulfill them and learn how to control the thought because if you don’t control thoughts sooner or later they’ll become an act. That’s what you have to guard against. Letter A, adultery, y’all probably say, what in the world is that?

Adultery, violation of the marriage bed, a crime or a civil injury which produces or may introduce into a family aspirius offspring. Is it the word of God that says adultery is wrong? The flesh will tell you there’s nothing wrong with it. Everybody does it. That’s the flesh. The flesh says everybody does it. If it feels good, do it. Whatever you want to do, nobody has a right to tell you how to live your life. What about God? I am not a judge.

I’m not trying to judge anybody. I’m just telling you what the judge said. The judge said it’s wrong, but the flesh will lie to you. Always to see it’s so battle that you go through. Look down at letter E, idolatry, the worship of idols, images or anything made by hands or witches, not of God. One day I was still a student at Fort Bobble College. But this young man, Richard Hordmel, had trusted Christ’s Savior. He was the little old 150 pound quarterback for Miami.

Miami High. And I was given devotions for them and teaching them the Bible. And lo and behold, they were winning all their football games. But I didn’t play much attention to football, but they became the national champs. I mean, the high school football championship for the nation. And one day he says, can I have you talk to my mom? I says, I like to talk to my mom. He says, my mom’s Catholic. He says, and, you know, we’re Cuban.

And I says, well, I’ll talk to him. I went up to his house. After I got off the work, they picked me up. I didn’t have a car at the time. And so he picked me up and took me to their house. Went to the house and she, trust the Lord, just right off the bat. Just, but she could speak some English. And the grandma mom was sitting there, but she didn’t understand the English. And Richard looked at me and he says, can you explain this to my grandma?

I says, in Spanish? He says, no, you just tell me what to say and I’ll tell her. So I said, all right. I went through the whole hand gesture, let this hand represent you and me. I went through every bit of it. And he would translate it into the Spanish and he talked to his 84 year old grandma. And she was a staunch Roman Catholic. And I said, Esther, she knows where she’s going. She died. He asked her. She took her head.

No. I explained the gospel. He explained the gospel. She trusted Christ as her savior. She got up, walked out of the room. She went into another room and she came back and she put some things down on the, the end table, coffee table. Went back in the room, came back with some more. She put some more things out there. And she looked at me and she says, what about all of these things? She had little statues, all kinds of statues.

And I says, the Bible says, they have eyes, but they see not. They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have ears, they cannot hear. And I says, and God says in Psalms, they that put their trust in them are like them. I says, you don’t need those things anymore. because you can talk directly to your heavenly Father. She took everyone of those things and walked in there and threw them in the trash. And she had just heard the gospel for the first time.

Stunt, that’s the power of the gospel. People who never heard the gospel before. It didn’t take 10 times talking to her. I didn’t have to talk to her twice. One time she heard it, she understood, she trusted Christ, she was her savior, and she could see the error and so much. Idolatry, you can worship money, you can worship your wife, you can worship your kids. anything that comes between you and God is an idol. It can be sports, it can be a job, it can be a land, it can be a car, it can be anything that keeps you from God.

There’s nothing wrong in having things, but when those things come between you and faithfulness to God, it’s an idol. You’re worshiping something other than God because God doesn’t have a priority in your life. You wanna use God as a backup if something happens in your life. then you’ll cry out to God and say, God, deliver me because I’m in trouble. But as soon as you get out of trouble, you don’t need him no more. You put him back on the shelf and live your life the way you want to live.

That’s spiritual adultery. It’s idolatry. It’s wicked. And the flesh won’t tell you that. But you come to church and you listen to the Bible, and lo and behold, the Bible will tell you those things. The next thing is witchcraft. The practice of witches, sorcery, enchantments, or enhancements. I enter course with the devil powers more than natural. I’ve had somebody ask me, well what about all this Harry Potter stuff? I’ve never read one of the books, don’t care too. Anything of the supernatural that leads toward the idea of magnifying witchcraft and those things, I got wicked, period, don’t care for it.

Don’t like it, because the flesh loves it. A lot of times you can find out if something’s good or bad, just find out what does the world think about it. If the world loves it, it might not be good. Check it out, find out. Don’t just, well, there’s nothing wrong with it. Says you or says God. God says in his word, you don’t even talk about some of those witchcraft things. He says, stay away from it. And yet we magnify it and plant it into the minds of little kids.

It’s all harmless. No, it’s not harmless. There are witches. It is a wicked thing. The Bible says this is an abomination And then he wanted nothing like that in the nation of Israel. I don’t have a hobby horse, they’ll have an axe to grind. I just made a promise to God years ago, I’ll try to teach truth as I understand it. I care not about anything else. I don’t care how people accept it or if they reject it. That’s between them and Lord.

I’m going to try to do my dead level best, teach the book and explain it. Look at letter N, envying, mortification experienced at the supposed prosperity and happiness of another. Ill will let others on account of supposed superiority. In the words you begin to envy somebody, I always say this, don’t try to keep up with the Joneses, just wait and catch them on their way back. Drunkenness, intoxication, a state in which a person is overwhelmed or overpowered with spiritless liquors, so that his reason is disordered and he staggers and walking.

I have never experienced drunkenness. You said you deprived all your life. Yes, I have. I haven’t had the first hangover. I haven’t woke up bombing at all over the place. I haven’t been in the intoxication unit trying to dry out. I’ve missed all of that. Yes, I have. I’ve had a clear, cut thinking mind all these years. I’ve had better health all these years. You run a risk. You play a silly little game. If you believe in just a little social drink and never hurt anybody, yeah.

I saw a lot of these here, social drinkers. And the more they drink, the more social they get. You should never do anything that would do anything to your mind where you can’t think and be responsible for your actions. You’re running a risk. Now the flesh will tell you the opposite. You’re gonna fight. If you want a little godly life, a righteous life, it’s a battle. Fight it, fight it, fight it, fight it all the days of your life.

When you look at the fruit of the spirit, oh my goodness, look at this thing. Love, love, joy, peace, look at the word peace. In a general sense, a state of quiet or tranquility, freedom from disturbance or agitation, applicable to society, to individuals or to the temper of the mind, heavenly rest, the happiness of heaven. In other words, a little faith will take a soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to the soul. In serving the Lord, we are supposed to do things in the spirit of long suffered, in the spirit of joy, in the spirit of love and the spirit of peace, the spirit of goodness.

Because you see, these are things you demonstrate to other people. You say, well, I just thought these were things that I’m supposed to have. If you had it, then you’d not be a problem showing it, right? So then living for the Lord, walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit means you allow the Holy Spirit to demonstrate these qualities through you. These are things that God wants us to have in our life. 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 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, 1-800-576-3771. 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 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, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. You know the Lord tells us to be faithful in season out of season when it seems like everything’s going great or when it’s going bad Oh God has required of you and I to be found what? Faithful just faithfully do what you can with what you have where you are and there some days it seems like man It’s guys that limit then sometime.

It looks like you’re below of the surface of the ground and a grave is nothing but a a ditch that’s open on both sides and you just walk in slowly. So anyway we have the responsibility to look in verse 6. The husband meant that labor must be first part-takers of the fruit. In other words, now this is a person who does, you know, sowing and reaping. Somebody that takes care of the vines, somebody who has some fruit that they’re concerned about.

You and I ought to understand that there’s a great responsibility that we have to sow the seed, which is the word of God. And if we sow the seed, you and I, we should expect to reap. We should expect results. But the results are not what we’re judged by. God is going to reward us for the sowing. We’re not responsible whether or not people come in. We can’t make a person trust the Lord. When you and I get to heaven is did you sow the seed.

Did you sow the seed? You see, one sows, one waters. God’s the one that gives the increase. God’s the one that saves the soul. I’ve never saved a soul. You’ve never saved a soul. The teenagers go, I don’t Friday night sow and they’ve never saved anybody. The Lord saved them, but they sowed the seed. You and I are supposed to sow the seed. So yes, there is a responsibility that God’s given to each and every one of us to be a husbandman, to take and not only produce the fruit but be concerned about the fruit that we have.

I should be concerned about the people in the church. He should be concerned about the teenagers and the Reformers’ unanimous. I want everybody responsible for somebody. The question is, who are you responsible for? Is there anybody that you watch in guard and try to protect and help and encourage, or you don’t really have anybody? Who’s the individual that’s serving the Lord today because of you? Can you find an individual who is serving the Lord because of you? Do you think you should have anybody?

How much time do you need? It would be wonderful, but it’s something we strive for. But the numbers is not in our control. But we are to be found faithful, and God says to go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, and you shall doubtless come again rejoicing. I believe when He talked about go forth weeping, it means all the heartache and the problems that you may have to go through to reach a person. because every time I witness to somebody, I’m not crying.

Why would you tell me to cry? I don’t. So why are you crying? Well, that’s the only way I can do it. No, I got to cry. No. It’s some of the hardaches and the problems you go through to be found faithful to keep doing what you’re supposed to be doing. And God says sooner or later, you’ll reap. And the fruit that you have is so enjoyable. And God says must be first partakers of the fruit. See this in verse six.

He says be first partakers of the fruit. You see the fruit when you have fruit, it becomes something that you enjoy. Something you enjoy. I enjoy, given the gospel, I enjoy when I see people trust the Lord. The Bible talks about I have no greater joy than to see that my people or my children walk in truth. First John 2, I have no greater joy than my people walk in truth. So you have a joy. joy and it’s the people that you reach, the ones that you train, lives that have been affected because of you.

This is why we, when so this is why we teach the word of God, this is why you’re to be an example on your job at home with anybody you can. You are to use and allow the Lord to use the power of influence of your life in other people. Now look what he says, He makes a statement in verse seven, consider what I say. Think about it, think about it. And the Lord give the understanding in all things.

And then He tells them, there’s something I want you to remember. And then I got something I want you to endure down in verse 10. Because there’s all kinds of things that you have to go through. And you may not enjoy all of these. Down in verse 12, there’s something you may have to suffer. Well, but always understanding that he abideth faithful, he cannot and will not deny himself. You see, what if I don’t do all of this? Am I still saved?

Yeah? I’m still saved. And if I even get to where I deny the Lord, the right to use me for his honor and glory. He can’t deny himself. He still knows me even when I don’t want to claim him. And that’s the foundation that we have, see there in verse 21 or verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God’s standards sure having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.

Does God know you? Do you know the Lord? Now, the knowledge that you have about God is supposed to do something to us in our life. Now, the next thing is that you and I are supposed to be students, students of the Word of God. Because see, you’re not gonna be a good son and grow correctly without knowing the will of the Father. And you’re not going to be a very good soldier if you don’t know the rules, man.

You don’t know what you’re supposed to do or not do. You don’t know how to fight the battle. So you’ve got to study the Word of God in order to know all of these things. And you have to know the Word of God to know how to wrestle against the devil and the things of this life, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. There’s all kinds of things you and I have to have to fight against.

And then to be a good vine man, somebody knows how to produce the fruit, learning how to win souls, how to protect yourself so that you’re not caught by every wind of doctrine that comes along. So all these things are important. And as he says up here in verse 15, looking verse 15, he says, study. So that means you’re to be a student. Every one of God’s children should study, study the word of God. Now in the book of Ecclesiastes it says that Studying is a weariness of the flesh.

If you don’t, if you have a problem going to sleep at night, read the word, you’ll get real sleepy. Because the devil don’t want you to, you know, study the word. So he’ll let you go to sleep. But learn the word of God study to show thyself a workman. So you and I know that we’re supposed to be a workman working for the Lord. So you study what the word of God says, and he says here in verse 15, study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that need if not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word, rightly dividing the word of truth.

And there’s some things that you and I are not supposed to do. You’ll see if you’re trying to build yourself up strong, there’s some thing that you should not do. In other words, if you want to improve your health, there’s certain foods that you ought to eat, and there’s probably some foods that you ought not eat. Now this is a dangerous territory to get into. If you really wanna make people mad, talk about what you eat and don’t eat.

But anyway, you and I know that if you wanna, for example, lose some weight, there’s certain things that you have to do. And, like as one person, we’re pretty large and they went to the doctor and he says, if I get this little suction, he says, how much is that going to set me back? He says about three feet. But there’s a price to pay. Everybody has to determine for themselves just what you want for yourself. When it comes to spirituality, you can’t feed yourself the food from the Word of God and then feast upon the flesh.

It won’t work that way. In other words, you cannot feed upon the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life and expect to be spiritually strong. You can’t go to church on Sunday and get spiritually fed and then eat junk food from the world the rest of the week and expect to be strong. You need to feed upon the Word of God all the time, all the time. Every day you should be running scripture through your mind.

Because if you’re a child of the king, you should use the language of the court. You should know how to use the Word of God, a workman, rightly dividing the Word of God. You should know how to use the Bible. You can have a knowledge of the Bible, but not a working knowledge of the Bible. You can know every salvation verse, and not know how to use them. You can know all kinds of verses in the Bible about serving the Lord, but know how to put it together to help somebody.

Because see, there’s the difference between having, it’s like having some tools, you know, to build a house. You got the toll, but you don’t know how to use them. It’s one thing to have knowledge, but not a working knowledge. The knowledge doesn’t work for you. Wisdom is knowing how to take knowledge and apply it to experience. And so you’re not wise just because you know the word of God. You’re wise when you apply the word of God. And rightly dividing it.

So this is what God wants. But there’s other things that you have to watch that you don’t destroy what you’re trying to build. Hold your place right there. Look there in the book of Galatians. Just turn over there to the book of Galatians real quick. And notice in Galatians in chapter two, because if you don’t get it, you’ll end up repeating it and not knowing that you’re doing it. See there in verse 17? Verse 16 tells us that yes, you are saved by faith and faith, alone Christ alone, and that you’re justified by the Lord and not by the works of the flesh.

So in verse 17, but if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin, God forbid. For if I, and hear those two words, build again, The things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God. If I am seeking to be saved by my works, but I say I’m trusting in the Lord, well, why am I trying to save myself or keep myself saved by my works?

Because by trusting Christ, I just destroyed the purpose of the law on me in the sense that I have fulfilled the law the law can’t touch me because I’m dead to the law. If I’m dead to the law, why am I placing myself back under the law if I’m dead to the law? Because the law can’t touch a dead man. So to live under the law, trying to be justified by the law is to build something again that was destroyed.

So here in 2 Timothy, in chapter 2, he says in verse 16, Sean profane and feigned babbles, they will increase under more ungodliness. That works concert what you’re supposed to do. See all these other things we mentioned, this is what you’re to do. Well then, there’s some things that will hinder you from doing that. So I don’t like to always tell people, you know, what kind of music to listen to. I just try to use a simple little gaze for myself.

It should be to the Lord, for the Lord, and to the bough the Lord. And so it shouldn’t be unclean, it should not be immoral and so forth. So there’s certain things that will help you to think right so that you can be stronger. You can listen to other kind of things that makes you think wrong. So music can determine how a man thinks. So if you want to make somebody mad, start telling them what music they can and cannot listen to.

Because people often think, well, it’s my business. I’ll do whatever I want to do. You mind your, now mine mine. And yet there’s certain music that will destroy you spiritually because it feeds the flesh. So can you discern for yourself the kind you should that will build you spiritually and the kind that will destroy you? When we had a college, I used to tell the teenagers, this is the way it is. And there’s things you will listen to and there’s things you will not listen to.

as long as I’m the president of the college. Because I don’t wanna build you up here and then you destroy yourself over here. Why should I waste my time? I have discerned over a few years what bills and what destroys. But people need to learn their own discernment. If you come long enough, you should be able to take the word of God and say, you know, this is what I’m listening to and this isn’t right. This is not gonna build me stronger in the Lord.

It doesn’t matter if you enjoy it. It doesn’t matter, well, it’s what I like. How does it help you spiritually? What does it cause you to think? So there’s other issues involved that you may not wanna think about, because, well, I’ve been doing it all my life and I’m not gonna change, whatever you want. But there’s a God in heaven that knows you could have been a lot spiritually stronger than you have been. And then maybe some of the problems that you have in your life is because you’re not thinking spiritually because of what you feed your mind.

Same thing can happen on television, movies, all these things. There is no limit to it. But you know as a wrestler, there’s something trying to pin you down and you wanna be wiser. So he says here in verse 18, who concerning the truth have aired, so they knew the truth, but they’ve aired from the truth And they’re saying things that is not true. How would you know if it’s not true if you don’t know the word of God? So it’s the will of God that you studied the word of God so that you can make wise decisions.

So you can discern. And that’s why he makes the statement during the last part of verse 19. Let everyone that name of the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Turn from sin. Every child of God should because sin that will keep you from being the kind of a son you ought to be. Sin will keep you from being the kind of a soldier you ought to be, the kind of a raster you ought to be, the kind of a husband when you ought to be, all these things, the student, everything is affected because of sin.

Betty’s dad had in his flyleaf of his Bible. This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book. sin will keep you from this book or this book will keep you from sin. So you got to make up your mind. Do you want to be a stronger Christian? Then you shouldn’t always be saying, well, I don’t see anything wrong with this. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Yeah, but what does God see? You see, the issue is not what you see.

It’s what God says. And you try to make decisions. Now, is this going to help me spiritually? Or is this helping me to be stronger in the flesh? Which is feeding what? And you need to be surprised how it affects the attitude that you have. And so he says there’s certain things that we ought to be. One of the other things that you and I are supposed to be, we’re supposed to be a vessel, a vessel that’s fit for God to use.

So he says there in verse 20, in a great house they’re not only vessels of gold and of silver, but vessels of wood and of earth. Some to honor, some to dishonor. Now do you want to be a vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor? You wanna be a good soldier or a bad soldier. You wanna be a good son or a bad son. A good wrestler, bad wrestler. A good husband and bad one. You wanna be a good student of the word of God or a poor one.

You see, there’s choices that we make. And then he says, in verse 21, if a man therefore purge himself, so that’s a personal responsibility, is something that you and I have to decide. It’s not something God decides. It’s what we decide. Just like winning people to the Lord of witnessing. That’s the decision you and I can make. You see, we don’t have to wait for the Holy Spirit to lead me to witness. I’m just waiting on the Holy Spirit to lead me to witness.

So if, because I don’t want to witness in the flesh, huh. Don’t that sound spiritual? I don’t want to witness in the flesh. I’m gonna wait until the Holy Spirit leads me. No, we already have a command to witness to every person. You depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead you as you go and as you talk, but to go, to talk. That is a command. So you and I are supposed to depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead us as we go.

But if you wait until the Holy Spirit tells you, okay, now I want you to go over there and witness to this one. Or if somebody asks me, I’ll tell them. How long has it been since somebody come up to you and says, would you please tell me how to go to heaven? Would you please tell me? Now you may have a few. But how many? So far, I maybe have had one or two. But that’s only after they’ve heard me speak someplace.

And so he makes a statement here in verse 21, if a man therefore purge himself from that, he shall be a vessel unto honor, a vessel unto honor. So there’s honorable vessels and there’s dishonorable vessels. If you want to be a vessel of honor, he says, do this. And then he says, you shall be sanctified and meet or fit for the master to use. You know why God doesn’t use some of his children? They’re not fit to be used.

They’re not fit. And then he says here in verse 22, flee also youthful lust, follow righteousness, faith and charity and peace. With them, see those two words you ought to underline it, with them that are doing the same thing. And then he says in verse 24, And here’s another word, the word servant. You see, all these things tells you what kind of a servant you want to be, but you ought to be a servant. You are to serve the Lord.

And in serving the Lord, you have to serve people. I used to think, you know, serving God isn’t bad as people. I can’t stand. If you try to figure out how to serve the Lord without serving people, try to figure it out. It’s not that you can just go on the backside of some mountain, in some place and it’s just me and the Lord. Yeah, God doesn’t want it to be just you and him. He said, I want you to go talk to him.

I want you to talk to him. I want you to witness going to all the world preaching God to every creature. God wants us to be with people. Come together. And so that’s what the will of God says. And you see, if you don’t learn how to do all of these things, remember the devil is gonna try to pin you, trap you and you’re taken captive by him at his will. He can just manipulate you and trick you and deceive you and you ain’t got a chance.”

That’s why he says down here in verse 25. He says, “…in meekness instructing those that opposed themselves.” No other word to fight against themselves. Get this. If God per-eventual will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth so that those people who don’t know the truth don’t believe the truth. We’re talking about mainly God’s people. You’re able to get them to see and understand and get God’s people to serve a Lord. And then he says, and that they get this may recover, may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.

In other words, the devil’s got him penned. And you want to learn the word of God that you can help people to get out of that hold. You see, there’s hold that people have when you wrestle and they try to get you where you can’t move. And the devil does that with God’s children. Now, I don’t know if he’s got you in some hold or not, but you know, there’s things that you can’t do. You can’t do why? The devil has told you you can’t do it and you believe the devil or do you believe God when he says, I can do all things to Christ which strengtheneth me.

So it’s a choice that we make but be wise and understand. And the last part of it says, who are taken captive by him at his will. If you do not study the Word of God and you do not clean up your life and become a vessel fit for the master to use, you will be an unclean vessel fit for the devil to use. And so instead of God using you, the devil will use you. Look up here. This hand represents you and me.

The wallet represents sin. It’s all the bad things that we do. God says that he loves us, he hates our sin. Because we committed the sin we have to pay for it, and that is eternal separation from God. So since everybody sins, everybody’s in the same boat. We’re all condemned. We’re all guilty. So there’s nothing that a man can do to make himself pure, to make himself perfect. It’s impossible. But heaven, see heaven is perfect. God is perfect. To live forever with the Lord, you’ve got to be perfect.

Well, where you aren’t? So how are we going to get there? God says, your sins won’t let you in. I can’t let you in because of that. Plus, you’ve got a payment to make, and that’s eternal separation from God in hell. So it don’t look very good for us. God says it’s impossible for a man to save himself. This hand represents Christ. God in the flesh came into the world because he loves us. Now he hates what we do wrong because it separates us from him.

So Jesus Christ took all the sin of all the world, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. And God said that if we would believe that he did it for us, he would put the payment he made to our account, and we get to go to heaven on what he did. See, there’s no tricks to that. There’s no gimmicks to it. It’s a gift. It’s totally free. I trust that Christ is my Savior, God gave me eternal life.

When I explained this the other day at the funeral, even with the joke, there was about 10 or 12 at Trustee Christ’s Savior. Because you see, there’s power in this message, and when they hear it, and you don’t know where you’re going to die, and you hear it for the first time, you mean I can go heaven when I die? Being that I don’t have to promise anything, stop anything. Just like I am, I can accept Christ as my Savior, and He’ll give me eternal life, and I get to go to heaven, that’s true.

You say, well, what if I do something wrong tomorrow? You will. It’s paid. What if I do something really bad? It’s paid. It’s what if I do something right before I die? It’s paid. How many of your sins did he pay for? All of them. They’re all paid. There won’t be one sin for you to pay for. You see, you say you don’t deserve it. I know, nobody deserves it. That’s why it says by grace, are you saved through faith that not of yourself.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Best news in all the world. Let’s pray, shall we? Friends, if you’re here this morning and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you just talk to the Lord? See, you don’t make a mistake this way. Only the true and living God can know what you’re thinking. I don’t know what you’re thinking. I can’t read your mind, but I do want you to trust the Lord.

I want you to go to heaven when you die. So right now, if what I said made sense, you say, I want to go to heaven and I believe Christ died on that cross and paid for my sins and I’m going to trust him right now as my only hope of going to heaven. Pray, God said, if you would believe that he did it for you, he would save you and give you eternal life and you get to go to heaven on what Christ did for you.

So it heads by nice to anyone at all. So yes, preacher, that made sense to me. And I’ll trust Christ as my Savior this morning, and I’d like for you to pray for me. Would you just slip your hand very quickly and put a wrap back down? The end was all. Just slip it up very quickly and put a wrap back down. Remember, there’s no gimmick to it, no tricks. Over and done with when you make that decision. Anyone at all?

Let’s pray, shall we? Our Father, we thank you so much for all you’ve done for us for the study of you, we’re in. Bless each one in Christ’s name. 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 toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible line 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. 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. Friends, 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, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 come to you. Continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleInemistries.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.

Good to see you all here this morning. Take your Bible, turn with me to The book of 2 Timothy 2 Timothy and we just want to go over some verses that kind of describes you Tells you what you are See if you know who what you are then you’ll know what you’re supposed to do and all of us know and understand that we’re supposed to Explain the gospel to people. I did not know that you know I was gonna have a memorial service Until about Monday of last week of this week, I guess last week Last Monday and I did not know the people but they asked me if I would do a memorial service.

So on Friday I Was here and the guys in the office they always deliver me and One did one thing and somebody else was nice and friendly and invited the men and so they running around getting everything done But anyway, it was a, I guess you could say a profitable fishing time because we had probably 10 or 12 that indicated they would trust the Lord. And it was one little girl in a wheelchair and right at the end, you know, she just kind of, she hardly moved her arm.

They didn’t know she was going to pass away before her mom did, but she said she would trust the Lord. But we had a Jewish man here, some Catholics, but anybody can come and we’d love to share the gospel with them. That’s the thing that’s so powerful about the gospel. The second Timothy in chapter two, chapter two is a chapter we usually try to convince individuals that know the Lord to be faithful to the Lord. And what we mean by serving the Lord, there’s certain things mentioned down through here that kind of gives us some types.

And there’s seven of them down through here that if you see them, you’ll know a little bit more about what God expects from you and I on how we’re supposed to live. So look there in chapter 2 and verse 1, chapter 2 verse 1, Thou therefore my son. Now once you have trusted Christ as your Savior, yeah, you might be the spiritual son of somebody who, because somebody led you to the Lord and they’re your father and the Lord spiritually speaking.

But you are a son of God. So if you are a son of God, you’re his child. He is your father. So you automatically know that as a responsibility as the child, a year to obey your heavenly father. But look what he says, thou therefore my son. And of all the things he says to be strong in, He says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the word grace, I guess you could say, it refers to that message that we have.

Be strong in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because you can’t be strong in grace if you’re not strong in the gospel. Because the gospel story is the epitome of grace. race. It’s how we understand the will of God. And there’s a verse I’m going to show you a little bit later in church service, but I love it now. I can hardly wait to teach church service because I love preaching. I love teaching the Bible. I really do. And I can just talk on and on and on and on and on.

But there’s just some things that kind of means more to you. And that is the gospel of grace that we have, because we know we have in our hands the most powerful message in all the world. And we see people trust Christ as their savior, and it’s a wonderful thing. But look what he says in verse two. And the things that thou hath heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

One thing I found out is you cannot always determine who becomes your disciple. You can pick certain people to follow you, but that doesn’t mean they will follow you. So I decided I’ll just teach those who follow. And if you follow, I will teach you, and if you don’t follow, then I can’t teach you. I don’t try to beg for discipleships. I usually never even mention the word disciple or discipleship at all. though it’s been a tremendous part of my whole ministry, because it’s either winning and training.

If you’re training, you’re training disciples. So you’re training people to follow the teachings of the Lord. Now remember, you can be a disciple of Christ and not a child of God. You can study the principles in the Word of God and follow the Christian character and never trust the Lord. So you can be a disciple and many people are, but he’s not their savior. So you can be saved and not be a disciple, and you can be a disciple and not be saved.

Being saved doesn’t cost you anything. A being a disciple can cost you everything. So they’re two different things. I accepted Christ as my savior, so I became a child of God. Now, he says, the things that thou hath heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men. So as a child of God, we should learn from others who are doing what we’re supposed to be doing. So we need examples. And whether you want to admit it or not, you are an example of the Christian life.

You may not be a good example, but you are an example. And you’re supposed to live in such a way that others can follow your example. If you can’t tell other people to follow your example, why not? What’s wrong with it? Something bad with it? So as the praise is using the scriptures, Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ. And we ought to be able to tell others, follow me as I follow Christ. So you are to be an example.

And he says in verse three, Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier. So you and I know that we are soldiers. Now the question is, What kind of a soldier are you? Are you a good soldier? Do you know how to use the equipment God’s given you to fight with? Do you dress correctly? Is your mind straight? Do you know how to use the ammunition that God’s given to you? See, a lot of God’s children, God says, we’re to serve Him as a good soldier.

And so everybody should know and understand the responsibilities as a soldier. I remember when I went to boot camp for the first time, I had just turned 17. I was a little, I guess, put off, I didn’t want people telling me what to do. So I ran away from home and joined the Navy. Now I’m not saying I was the smartest or the brightest kid in all the world, but I found that very quickly that somehow I must have lost all of my constitutional rights.

They told me everything to do. They would get in my face and holler and yell and scream at me. Even my mama didn’t do that. And they told me what to do and what not to do and how to dress and How to shave and, I mean, everything. And they would come by and they’d feel if it’s in your roughness, they’re all. And all I had back then was peach fuzz, you know, a little bit. I might have had three hairs here, I don’t know.

But you learn very quickly. You don’t give orders, you just report for duty. So I reported for duty, and I had to learn how to do a lot of things that I had never done before. I remember we had to make our blankets on our beds so tight that he could flip a quarter on it and it would bounce. And if it didn’t bounce, you had to do it again. They’d look for a little wrinkle on the pillowcase, anything.

I mean, but everything had to be in, in, in, in its place. You see, whenever you’re going to serve the Lord as a good soldier, you and I have a lot of things that we’re supposed to be disciplined in. And sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. But in the service, you don’t, you don’t let down. There’s always somebody on you watching you. But anyway, you know that as a good soldier, this is what you’re to do. But then also have you ever been to a wrestling match?

I remember you should do the college style wrestling. We’d get down here on our knees and our hands and the other guy come up put his arm around you and put his arm on your hair and then he would hit the mat and you knew you had to try to get out of it and the other guys trying to pin you. That’s fun. I was pretty good at wrestling. I didn’t win all the time, but I won a couple times and until she beat me.

But just joking, just joking. Some of y’all believe everything I say. But I love wrestling. And the point is trying to depend someone, depend them, to get them down. Now you know and I know that there is a devil that likes to fight and he’s always after us and his goal is to try to pen us where we can’t move and the more you serve the Lord the more he’s going to try to pen you it means it gets you where you can’t move where you can’t well you’ve ever heard Christians say every time you ask them to do I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t and they build a wall around themselves of I can’t I can’t and they become a prisoner They’ve lost all their freedoms.

They’re not free to serve the Lord explan. They don’t have time. They don’t have the means. They don’t have what it takes. But look there in verse 4. Verse 4, no man that wort in taintless have with affairs of this light that he may please him, we have chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned except he strive lawfully and we believe at verse 5 deals more with the wrestling techniques because you see there’s rules that you have to play by and there’s rules that the devil has to play by and he is going to use every trick in the book to try to lure you and I to pin us to trap us to deceive us to cause us to become weak so that he can destroy the effectiveness of our life.

So yes, we’re supposed to be good wrestlers. So if you know that, then you know that you’re supposed to train. And I always realize this. Even when I was in Colorado and sometimes church would be way up. And then it’d be a way down. So one year we tried to have the highest attendance that we had ever had. So we had worked for about, I guess, 12, 13 weeks on a promotion. And we were competing against Florida Bible College and Mel’s Carbonyl and Bruce Porter down in the Keys and a beautiful Adams up in Atlanta, Georgia.

And so each Sunday we would check with each other to see what we did and who was in first place, second place. And so it was a strong competition. And I wanted to win. I hate losing to anybody. But we didn’t have all the college students like toward the Bible college. You know, you always start making excuses. And some, well, they’ve been gone longer than we have. So we worked anyway on our bus route. And the competition ended in October, the last Sunday in October.

That’s the time change. That’s the worst time you’d do it. But anyway, we did it. And living in Colorado, we always have the problem of snowstorms, blizzards. Well, no place else has to worry about that. But we did. But we worked hard. We really worked hard. And lo and behold, on that Sunday morning with a snowstorm that hit, we had about 10 buses that we had to run. And half the batteries were dead. The guy had to get out there early in the morning and get the buses cranked up.

And then the drivers have to show up and then the bus captains show up. And then they have to go out on their routes and you’re talking about, and they had about a foot of snow. But we run our buses anyway. And that Sunday morning we had over 900 in church that Sunday morning. And we had a lot of people trust the Lord and it’s just such a wonderful thing. And then the next Sunday will be the fastest decline in church in America.

Sometimes people really come out when you have a good competition going and this program and so forth and then they come out for all that or free food and all. And then whenever you don’t have none of that there, then you find out what you really got. Sometimes it can be so discouraged, it’s so disheartening. Sometimes I would have ranch and we’d have five, six, 700 kids in ranch. And then sometimes I’m sitting there looking and looking at the park and a lot and wondering, there’s only five cars out there.

Where’s the kids? Where’s the kids? And sometimes the buses will come in and half loaded. And it’s like things would go in a wave. And there’s times of the year when it seemed like everything’s going and then everything is down. You know, the Lord tells us to be faithful in season, out of season. When it seemed like everything’s going great or when it’s going bad. God has required of you and I to be found, what? Faithful. faithfully do what you can with what you have where you are.

And there’s some days it seems like men’s sky’s the limit. Then sometime it looks like you’re below the surface of the ground and a grave is nothing but a ditch that’s open on both sides and you just walk in slowly. So anyway we have the responsibility to look in verse 6. The husband men that labored must be first partakers of the fruit in other words. Now this is a person who does, you know, sowing and reaping. Somebody that takes care of the vines.

Somebody who has some fruit that they’re concerned about. You and I ought to understand that there’s a great responsibility that we have to sow the seed, which is the word of God. And if we We sow the seed, you and I, we should expect to reap. We should expect results. But the results are not what we’re judged by. God is going to reward us for the sowing. We’re not responsible whether or not people come in. We can’t make a person trust the Lord.

When you and I get to heaven is did you sow the seed? Did you sow the seed? You see one sows, one waters. God’s the one that gives the increase. God’s the one that saves the soul. I’ve never saved a soul. You’ve never saved a soul. The teenagers go, I don’t Friday night soul when they’ve never saved anybody. The Lord saved them, but they sowed the seed. You and I are supposed to sow the seed. So yes, there is a responsibility that God’s given to each and every one of us to be a husband to take and not only produce the fruit, but be concerned about the fruit that we have.

I should be concerned about the people in the church. He should be concerned about the teenagers and the Reform is unanimous. I want everybody responsible for somebody. The question is, who are you responsible for? Is there anybody that you you watch in guard and try to protect and help and encourage are you don’t really have anybody. Who’s the individual that’s serving the Lord today because of you? Can you find an individual who is serving the Lord because of you?

Do you think you should have anybody? How much time do you need? See, it would be wonderful, but it’s something we strive for. But the numbers is not in our control. But we are to be found faithful, and God says to go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, and you shall doubtless come again rejoicing. I believe when we talk about go forth weeping, it means all the heartache and the problems that you may have to go through to reach a person.

Because every time I witness to somebody, I’m not crying. Why would you try to describe? I’m not crying. So why are you crying? Well, that’s the only way I can do it. I got to cry. No. It’s some of the hard things and the problems you go through to be found faithful to keep doing what you’re supposed to be doing. And God says sooner or later, you’ll reap. And the fruit that you have is so enjoyable. And God says must be first partakers of the fruit.

See this in verse six. He says, the first partakers of the fruit. You see, the fruit, when you have fruit, it becomes something that you enjoy. Something you enjoy. I enjoy giving the gospel. I enjoy when I see people trust the Lord. The Bible talks about I have no greater joy than to see that my people or my children walk in truth.

First John two. I have no greater joy than no my people walk in truth. So you have a joy and it’s the people that you reach, the ones that you train, lives that have been affected because of you. This is why we win, so this is why we teach the word of God. This is why you’re to be an example on your job at home with anybody you can. You are to use and allow the Lord to use the power influence of your life in other people.

Now look what he says. He makes a statement in verse 7, consider what I say. Think about it. Think about it. And the Lord give the understanding in all things. And then he tells them there’s something I want you to remember. And then I got something I want you to endure down in verse 10. Because there’s all kinds of things that you have to go through and you may not enjoy all of these. Down in verse 12 there’s something you may have to suffer.

Well, but always understanding that he abideth faithful. He cannot and will not deny himself. You see, what if I don’t do all of this. Am I still saved? Yeah, I’m still saved. And if I even get to where I deny the Lord, the right to use me for His honor and glory. Now He can’t deny Himself. He still knows me even when I don’t want to claim Him. And that’s the foundation that we have. See there in verse 21 or verse 19, Nevertheless, the foundation of God’s standards sure having this seal.

The Lord knoweth them that are His. Does God know you? Do you know the Lord? Now, the knowledge that you have about God is supposed to do something to us in our life. Now, the next thing is that you and I are supposed to be students, students of the Word of God. word of God. You’re not going to be a good son and grow correctly without knowing the will of the Father. And you’re not going to be a very good soldier if you don’t know the rules, man.

You don’t know what you’re supposed to do or not do. You don’t know how to fight the battle. So you’ve got to study the word of God in order to know all of these things. And you have to know the Word of God to know how to wrestle against the devil and the things of this life, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. There’s all kind of things you and I have to have to fight against.

And then to be a good lineman, somebody knows how to produce the fruit, learning how to win souls, how to protect yourself so that you’re not caught caught by every wind of doctrine that comes along. So all these things are important. And as he says up here in verse 15, looking verse 15, he says, study, so that means you’re to be a student. Every one of God’s children should study, study the word of God. Now in the book of Ecclesiastes, it says that, studying is a weariness of the flesh.

If you don’t, I should say, if you have a problem going to sleep at night, read the word. You’ll get real sleepy. Because the devil doesn’t want you to study the word, so he’ll let you go to sleep. But learn the Word of God study to show thyself a workman. So you and I know that we’re supposed to be a workman. Working for the Lord. So you study what the Word of God says. And he says here in verse 15, study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that need if not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word.

rightly dividing the word of truth. And there’s some things that you and I are not supposed to do. You’ll see if you’re trying to build yourself up strong, there’s some thing that you should not do. In other words, if you want to improve your health, there’s certain foods that you ought to eat, and there’s probably some foods that you ought not eat. Now this is a dangerous territory to get into. If you really want to make people mad, talk about what you eat and don’t eat.

But anyway, you and I know that if you want to, for example, lose some weight, there’s certain things that you have to do. And like as one person, we’re pretty large and they went to the doctor and he says, if I get this little suction, he says, how much is that going to set me back? He said about three feet, but there’s a price to pay. Everybody has to determine for themselves just what you want for yourself. When it comes to spirituality, you can’t feed yourself the food from the Word of God and then feast upon the flesh.

It won’t work that way. In other words, you cannot feed upon the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life and expect to be spiritually strong. You can’t go to church on Sunday and get spiritually fed and then eat junk food from the world the rest of the week and expect to be strong. You need to feed upon the Word of God all the time, all the time. Every day you should be running scripture through your mind.

Because if you’re a child of the king, you should use the language of the court. You should know how to use the word of God, a workman, rightly dividing the word of God. You should know how to use the Bible. You can have a knowledge of the Bible, but not a working knowledge of the Bible. You can know every salvation verse and not know how to use them. You can know all kinds of verses in the Bible about serving the Lord.

But no, I don’t know how to put it together to help somebody. Because see, there’s the difference between having, it’s like having some tools, you know, the build a house. You got the tools, but you don’t know how to use them. It’s one thing to have knowledge, but not a working knowledge. The knowledge doesn’t work for you. is knowing how to take knowledge and apply it to experience. And so you’re not wise just because you know the Word of God.

You’re wise when you apply the Word of God. And rightly dividing it. So this is what God wants. But there’s other things that you have to watch that you don’t destroy what you’re trying to build. 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. Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible and 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. 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. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for a Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. The FBC way was the Bible way. It’s what did the Bible teach. It’s just what we learned at the thought of the Bible college. And then he says, decided to attend Grace College in Indiana. Here I began to take seminary courses as an undergraduate student. By this time I was quite sure the FBC was just one way among many other good ways.

So then he says he launched into the Bethany Fellowship, a church still offered, and going strong, I converted others to Calvinism and to the Plymouth Brethren style of church fellowship. Spinhires and so forth in the seminaries and so forth. So I don’t know how much you accomplished, but he just went from one cemetery to another cemetery, and cemeteries can kill you. Then he says in point number seven, move to Pennsylvania, became more interested in leaving my and joined a reformed Baptist church.

So, he’s moving right along. Then he moved from a Baptist church to join a mega Presbyterian church in America. Spent nine years there. And then he became an anti-baptist and discovered biblical scholarship. Spent another nine years there. Then he left the Presbyterians to worship with the Mennonites. All of that to say this, there were countless conversions along the way. I was blessed by them all, but these Christians all explained the gospel in various ways. Among the Anabaptists, for example, the emphasis is not on justification, but upon discipleship and the way of peace.

Among my emergent friends, the emphasis is upon following Christ. Among my FBC friends, Ephesians 2 8 9, among my Catholic friend baptism and sacraments, among my Presbyterian and Reformed friends, total depravity and election by God’s free grace. But among all of them, it has been Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now he don’t know what he believes or how long he’s going to believe it. Do you think that you’re going to stay the same unless you stay in the good, strong, sound, Bible teaching?

You can drift without ever knowing you’re going to drift. You don’t have to plan it. If I was the devil, all I have to do, if I want to destroy your life, is get you away from good, sound, theological teaching of the Word of God. Why do you think we want to teach people what the Word of God says? You get into it and you read it and you study it and you believe it. There is a difference between salvation and discipleship.

You see salvation is simply you come to Christ for salvation. The discipleship is you come after Christ, you follow Christ. So coming to Christ to be saved and then you follow Christ in discipleship and you can be saved and never be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. But should I be a disciple? Should I as a child of God, should I discipline my life to be what God wants me to be? So take your Bible and turn to the book of Philippians in chapter 3.

Philippians chapter 3 and look 2nd verse 4. I want to give you just a few things on how to discern discipleship. Because you see, salvation is simple. It is clear. It’s by faith alone. And what Christ did on the cross for us, salvation is us accepting what He did. Believe in He did it for us. He paid for my sins. If He paid for all of my sins, then all of my sins are paid. I do not have to pay for any of my sins, not even one.

I deserved to pay for my sins, but Christ paid it for me. That’s substitution. I didn’t deserve that. But He loved me. And that shows me how much He loved me because of what He did for me. As a child of God, it is the will of God that I follow the Lord. And I believe that steps toward discipleship begins with dissatisfaction. There was a time in my life when I was so dissatisfied with who I was, where I was, what I was doing, and I had no dream or vision about what to do with my life.

So in most cases, with most individuals, there is no desire to grow and to do and to be unless there’s some sort of dissatisfaction where you are with what you have and what you’re doing or not doing. And so I enjoy watching as Christians begin to talk about how so this satisfied they are on their job. Well things are not really totally just wonderful at home all the time. You see, problems make people struggle. Struggle means it makes you stronger and you find something better than what you had than where you are.

I would have never gone to Bible school if there had not been inside of me this desire that I wanted something better. I was so dissatisfied with who I was. I was dissatisfied with my whole life. And I didn’t see anything getting any better. You’re talking about faith is born in desperation. When there’s no other physical hope, no strength left. When you don’t know what you’re going to do or how you’re going to accomplish anything, and you realize if God doesn’t do it, it can’t get done.

It won’t get done. So here in Philippians chapter three and verse four, the apostle Paul lays out his dissatisfaction. He could say, look who I am. But he says, though I might have confidence in the flesh. If any other men think that he hath wear off, he might trust in the flesh, I’m more. circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, the Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law of blameless.

But what things were gained to me those I counted the loss for Christ? You see, there has to be something better than what I have. When you realize and you come to the end of all of your talent, your abilities, your wisdom, and you realize, I still come up so short, how can I in this world ever be satisfied? You can’t. It’s impossible. You just go for one thing to the neck. There’s no end to it. But when I made up my mind to serve the Lord, I’ve been satisfied as I’ve watched God work in my life over the years.

You know, one of the last points I have, but I just can’t stand waiting that long, is the discipleship produces durability. Discipleship produces durability. It makes you endure. It gives you a toughness, a strength to do what you thought you could have never done. there was no discipleship. And all I had was just my salvation, but no purpose for living. We would still be of all men most miserable. It’s because Christ came back from the dead that my life is not useless.

My faith is not useless. It’s not in vain. There’s a reason. There’s a purpose. There’s something to be accomplished. I wrote a little statement down. Your life is only as important as the thing you really live for. Your life is as valuable as the thing that you live for. What do you live for? Look what he says here in Philippians in chapter 1 and verse 19. Where Paul made this statement for me to live is what? Is Christ. For me to live is Christ.

And the reason that is so important is because Christ is of such value. Put anything else in that place, that word, and that equals your life. What keeps a man’s life from being in vain is not to live for that which is in vain. Living for Christ is not in vain. It’s the most valuable thing you can ever do. And that value is what gives value to your own life. Do you have a rest here? People talk about it.

You know, we need to have men voted into office that have values. You hear them talk about family values. And then therefore, abortion, something’s wrong here. You see, if people had personal values, then you don’t take guns and shoot down little kids in a school. If you had personal strength in your values, most men wouldn’t be walking off and leaving their wives and divorces in each other. It’s because of a breakdown of values. But you know, true, real values comes from God, comes from this book.

But we don’t need this book. See, I’ve decided that we don’t need the Bible. We don’t need God. So without that, how can you have value? There is none. There is none. Outside of the Lord, there is nothing worth living for. Number two, right down, if you’re writing down anything, what does God want me to become? Did you know that being a disciple of Christ, a learner, a follower of Christ, reveals to me what God wants me to become.

I follow a learner of Christ. Take that away. There’s nothing left. There’s nothing left. He’s everything you need to be. He’s everything that you want. should be everything that you desire. When you begin asking that little question, there, there begins value and vision. There begins value and vision. Turning your Bible to the book of Romans in chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, and notice what he says, because you’ll You’ll notice that there has to be a dissatisfaction here. There also has to be vision here.

There has to be purpose. If I told you, I got a clock in my office, it’s worth a million dollars. And I decided to sell it. And Peter Amato will only give me ten dollars for it. I was always told it’s only worth what you can sell it for, what somebody will end the buy it. That’s your value of it. I haven’t figured out yet why all these people on the television are always talking about it. Buy gold, buy gold, buy gold.

Well, why are they selling it? Why would you sell your gold to somebody out there? If it’s so valuable, you’re I’m only gonna go up, up, up, up, up. Why would you sell yours? And get that paper money so they can have that gold coin. But that’s another message from place out. That’s one. I am valued at the price someone was not only willing to pay, but did pay. You realize as you look at your life, what is your value?

Well, it’s valued at the price somebody’s willing to pay. Did you know that God sent His Son into the world and paid the ultimate price? There was no greater price that could ever be paid just for you. Did you realize that in the eyes of God that you are of more value than all the wealth in the world?

God said so. He even says if a man gains the whole world and loses life, he’s lost. What does he gain? He gained the whole world and loses life. What does he gain? So his life. you, you are more important to God than you realize. Do you realize the value? Don’t cheapen your life by living for something so cheap. I want my life to be a valuable life, to mount to something.

And that’s going to be revealed by the decisions that I make, the one that I choose to serve. He plays great value on me. I should place great value on Him.” Now, he says here in this verse, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. be not conformed to this world. God would not be satisfied if you become conformed to this world.

As you look at your life, are you becoming conformed to the world or is the Lord transforming your life into something better? That’s, I believe is what it’s about. What does God want me to know? What does He want me to know? In discipleship, new desires must replace the old. Look there in Philippians in chapter 3. Philippians and chapter 3. Philippians and chapter 3, I want you to know from verse 8 to verse 11. Look in verse 8, ye doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done, that I may win Christ.

And to be found in Him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, faith, and in verse 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. To know the power of his life must mean the death of your life. You see, they’re in conflict. You have to decide, do I want his life or do I want my life?

Am I willing as a child of God to say, I want Him to live His life freely as He wants through me. Or do I demand that God leave me alone and let me do what I want to do? It’s my life. And therefore you become the judge and God, and jury everything in your own life. And that’s why I believe that to know the power of another life you must like go the one that you have. True discipleship is the dynamics of the Christian life.

You see it is where you get the power to change your life. But if you don’t become a disciple of Christ, you’ll never have the dynamic, the power, the dynamite. That explodes in your life and gives you all the power that you need to do what God wants to do and to transform you. It’ll never happen. You’ll just be a child of God that you go through your daily life and nothing ever happens. Nothing ever changes. Be the same way 20 years from now as you were 20 years ago, or you can see God changing things in your life because, See, he keeps on changing you.

He keeps on transforming you. He keeps on teaching. He keeps on guiding. We won’t take time to look at this first because of the time. Trying to be aware of where we are. What does God want me to do? Deciporship. Deciporship. Gives the Christian direction. You see, when I say, I want to follow the Lord, I’ve got direction that quick in my life. I know where I’m going. I’m following somebody. Or take that away. Take Christ out of the picture.

All right, now where you going? Who you following? Who’s your God? Who’s your guide? Who’s leading you? discipleship for the child of God is everything. Yes, salvation is free. It gets you into the family of God. It gets you into heaven. You become his child. You’re going to heaven when you die, all because of what Christ did for you. And you can stop right there if you want. many Christians do. But you’ll never know a dynamic life. You’ll never understand.

Because serving the Lord and making up your mind, this is what I want to do. It gives you direction. It has given me direction for 52 years. Because I’ve made up my mind. I don’t care where he leads me. I don’t care what He brings into my life. I don’t care what He takes out of my life. I just want to be satisfied that I’m doing the will of God for my life. It’s a lot easier way to live, so much simpler.

I don’t have to try to manipulate God or manipulate people. I don’t have to try to misuse people or use them for a stepping stone to walk over people. I don’t have to be no dictator to nobody. I want to lead as I am being led. And I want you to follow as I follow. I want you to learn as I learn, because I want to teach you everything that I possibly can that he has taught me. I want to teach you to be as durable in your walk the Lord, as I’ve been in my walk with the Lord.

If that sounds prideful and all the rest of it, that’s your choice. You can believe that. I know God knows my heart. And I don’t know another way or a better way to say it. It sounds prideful. And so be it. Humility is not a position of the body, It’s a position of the mind. It’s a man who submits himself to the will of God. Pride is when you want to do your own thing and go your own way, and God can’t tell you anything.

That’s pride, and God hates pride. But it’s so easy to point fingers at somebody else and accuse him of the very thing that you’re guilty of. Give me a think of that. The last thing I wrote down is, what does God want me to enjoy if it satisfies it last? And when the days are good and when the days are bad, joy is not affected by circumstances. See, He says, my joy I give unto you, the world can’t give it, and the world can’t take it away.

Not real joy. They always say, Joy is Jesus in you with nothing between. Sounds pretty good to me. Good way to look at it. Look up here quickly. This hand represents you and me. The wall of represents sin. This is you and me, and this is sin. We all have sin on us, but God loves us. He loves you, loves me. And He says that for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God and hell. But He doesn’t want us to go to hell.

He wants us to go to heaven because he loves us. But heaven is a perfect place. There’s no sin there. And God says, we’ve all sinned and come short of his perfection. So God says, you can’t earn your way to heaven. It’s not by going to church and giving money. There’s only one way to go to heaven. Our sins have to be paid. This hand represents Jesus Christ. God in the flesh came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin because of the separation.

from Him. So Jesus Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. So if we would believe He did it for us, He would put this payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what He did for us. That’s salvation. That’s free. That’s where God gives to you and I the free gift of eternal life. And He says, these things have I written under you that believe. You believe. It’s all you have to do.

That you, that believe it, may know you have eternal life. Know that you’re going to heaven when you die. It’s the best news in all the world. Let’s pray, shall we? With heads bowed nice and closed and no one looking around. If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, why not right now in the quietness of this moment? Just talk to the the Lord and say something simple like this. Preacher, I know I’m a sinner. Don’t understand that I’ve got questions in doubt, but I believe it when Christ and I had He died for me.

And that I’m going to trust Him right now as my only hope of going to heaven. And if you will do that, just that much. I’d like to know it, and I’d like to have prayer for you. I’m not going to have you forward, I’m not going to embarrass you, but right where you’re sitting. If what I’ve said made sense to you, you say, yes, it does make sense to me, and I will trust Christ right now my only hope of going to heaven and I’d like you to pray for me.

Would you just slip you in a very quickly and put it right back down? If you didn’t want to talk, you didn’t want to talk. Our Father, we thank You so much for all that You’ve done for us. We’re thankful for the free gift of eternal life. We ask now follow Your blessings upon this time together as Your people, those that are saved, that have eternal life, that already know they’re going to heaven. We pray, Lord, that each person here would examine their life.

In relationship to their discipleship, what kind of a disciple have they been? With your head still bowed, your eyes closed. You trust that Christ is Savior, yes, you’re going to heaven. But are you that kind of disciple that God is pleased with? These are things in your life that you need to talk to the Lord about. God says, as a child of God, yes, we can confess that. I’m not to it because God knows it anyway. See, serving the Lord has to be done in purity, honesty.

You can’t do it no other way. So why not right now? There’s a reason why you need to talk to Him. Say, Lord, yes, I’ve sinned against you. Name it. Tell them what it is. And Father, I know as your child you said, if I would confess, you would forgive. Father, we just pray that you would watch your reach one here, help them to be wise. And Father, as we examine ourselves, help each one of us to do what’s right in Christ’s name and reprieve.

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 are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Watch Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing tool free, 1-800-576-3771. 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.

You are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 40-8-11 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. So live today and every day. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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.

Turn in your Bible in where you want. Try Philippians if you want to. I mean, that’s where I’m going to read if you want to stay with me, I’d appreciate it. Let me read to you my greatest Christmas gift that I had this year. It wasn’t in a card, it wasn’t money, it wasn’t a gift certificate. It wasn’t a phone call. It was this letter. And I want to share it with you. They said I could. Because you know the most important thing you can ever do is invest in people’s time in the people’s lives.

Sometimes you wonder if anything you say sticks. Sometimes you have to leave to find out if somebody really got what you said. Like having teenagers. You like to believe that you are the best parents in the world and And know that day comes when you’re scared to death, that they’ve got to turn them loose and see if what you taught will stand. That’s scary. And it’s the same thing with God’s people. Be great if we could protect everybody all the time.

Put you in a nice house, you know, a hot house environment where nothing from outside can get to you, protect these precious little plants. And yet sometimes you have to let them hit it, see whether or not what you taught is going to suffice. Anyway, he wrote this to me. This is a young man that has a wife and two little children. He says, Janki, I have been meaning to write this for quite some time. I have had you on my mind for a while, and I should have done this before now.

I want to tell you how much you mean to me. I know you are humble and that you probably think nothing of it, but you have done so much for me and my family. Let me start by saying I have never known anyone with such a burden for lost people. desire to lead people to the Lord is so great because of that you led Shannon to the Lord and who then led me. I truly miss being at Northside and getting to hear you preach.

I have never heard anyone teach the way you do and such a simple and easy to understand manner. I know this is not easy and I remember hearing you say, being simple to understand isn’t easy. I have learned so much from you that has helped me in my daily life that I thank you for because of the gospel being presented in a clear way, both me and Chrissy were able to trust Christ as our Savior. Now Now in turn we led Abby to the Lord and will start on J.

Swin. He is old enough to understand. Having to be at another church and under another pastor has showed me that I took things for granted. I was blessed with you as my pastor and should have thanked you then. I never realized how much I was learning and being showed. In this day and age, I miss all the things we had at Northside back then, especially how everyone has such a desire for the lost. I just take for granted that you would always be there and that I would get to hear such good teaching and instruction.

I know the Lord has led you to a new ministry and things have been going well there. I knew that the Lord would put you where you will be best used for His honor and glory, and this is how it should be and is right. But know that you are truly missed by us here. I think about you a lot and miss you deeply. All this being said, I just wanted to express how much you are missed and loved by me and my family and how much you meant to us.

I pray that the Lord blesses you and that you are fruitful with the new school. I pray that the Lord leads many new opportunities your way. I did not mean to dwell in the past or to be downhearted in any way because I know the one thing will never change is that there will always be change. The Lord has put you where you can serve Him best and I am so happy for you. Anytime you are up this way, please come by and see us as you are always welcome at my house.

May God bless you and all you strive to do for Him. Thank you so much for all you have done for me and my family. That was from Michael C. Graves and Chrissy. They trusted the Lord through our ministry up there. And sometimes you wonder what’s going on in the lives of other people and you don’t see them for a while. That might be just a letter for you, but that’s a powerhouse letter to me. It makes certain the Lord so much worth it.

When you begin to have questions and doubts, remember the greatest power in your life is the influence that you have in the lives of somebody else. That as you live your life, are you impacting other people’s lives. You like to think that everybody stays the same, that people don’t change. In a sense, change their doctrine. But you know that happens too. You see, what you believe today, you didn’t always believe. And there may become a time down the road where you won’t believe what you now believe.

Do you actually believe that it’s possible for everything you now believe, for you not to believe? it’s possible. I want to read just a simple thing to you because this affects home, it affects us. But you know, before I get there, I always like a little humor. I don’t know if you’ve heard about the Afghan quarterback or not. The coach had put together the perfect team for the Chicago Bears. The only thing that was His missing was a good quarterback.

He had scouted the colleges, Canadian, European leagues, couldn’t find a ringer that he thought could ensure a Super Bowl win. We’re coming up to some of that there pretty soon. One night while he was watching CNN, he saw a war zone, seen there in Afghanistan. In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Afghan Muslim soldier with a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand grenade straight into the 15-story window, a hundred yards away.

He threw another hand grenade, 75 yards away, right down a chimney. Then he threw another one at a passing car going 90 miles an hour, bullseye. He said, I got to get this guy. He has the perfect arm. So he brings him to the stage, teaches him the great game of football, and the bears go on to win the Super Bowl. You didn’t probably hear about all of this. The young Afghan is hailed as the great hero of football and when the coach asked him what he wanted, all the young man wanted was to call his mom.

He said, mom, I just won the Super Bowl. I don’t want to talk to you. He said, the Muslim woman, you’re not my son. I don’t think you understand mom. I just won the greatest prize in all of sports. And I’ve got thousands of adoring fans. No, let me tell you, the mother said. At this very moment, there’s gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is in a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their life last week.

And your sister has to stay inside unless she gets raped. And then she tearfully said, I’ll never forgive you. Never forgive you for making us move to Chicago. Don’t you feel better already? Making us move to Chicago. And buddy, Chicago is the gun law capital of the world, and is one of the worst places to live. So anyway, I want to share this with you. There’s a man. I don’t know if I’ve met him or not. I may have.

Name is Rance Darity. He posted online on the discussion group of the Florida Bible College Alumni Association. He submitted what he called his biblical salvation. He mentioned several things, but one of the points that he made was the announcement of the gospel. Now he had gone to Florida Bible college years ago. The announcement of the gospel, repent, come unto me, believe, confess, turn, follow me, submit, give allegiance, receive him, forsake all else, become a disciple. Now you and I might listen to that and say, now is that what you have to do for salvation?

And you would say, no, that is not the gospel. Now he didn’t always believe this, but he now believed this. You say, well,627 why would a person believe something like this? Well, he says, the disagreements we have on this list seems to be mostly in the area I have entitled the announcement of the gospel. Some seem to think that because Christians use different words to announce the gospel. They are putting the gospel at risk unless it is stated in terms of faith only.

Text like Ephesians 2, 8, 9 and Romans 11, 6 are presented as proof that any presentation that is not clear on the concept of grace and our faith violate the truth of the gospel. Others of us see no contradiction at all. In other words, we say that you’re saved by faith alone, and Christ alone for eternal life. And that’s all that you have to do, and you can know that you have eternal life. When you add anything other than just by faith alone, it becomes a works salvation without any securities, without any guarantee.

It means that now you have to hope that you’re going to heaven because it depends upon your performance. But if it’s by faith alone, in Christ alone, then you know that it can be a sure thing, because it’s based upon what he said and what he did. He makes a statement. The reason in my views lies in confusing the grace of the gospel with the message of the gospel. That’s confusing in and of itself. He makes the statement, when a person turns and seeks to follow Christ, grace is in action.

When a person repents, grace is in action. When a person believes, grace is in action. All these various responses, he says, is just different ways to preach the gospel. I have a problem. He says, in fact, there are many ways to preach Christ and salvation as there are people to preach them. Some of us lean hard upon the book of John. Others on the synoptic gospel. Others upon Acts. Others upon Paul’s writing, yet in all God works. Sometimes we sound the note of forsaken sin.

At other times we sound the note of counting the cost. At other time the note of the Freeness of the Gospel, but all the elements share in the one true Gospel founded upon the work of Christ. In this, let us all unite. We’re not on the same page. Now, understand at Calvary Community Church, when we say by grace, it means that you’re not saved_> by the people. We’re not saved by a combination of grace and work, a little faith and a little work.

Just in case we believe that our only hope is in common. Christ and Christ alone, that there is no other hope, there is no other gospel, there is no other salvation. What causes a person to get so far off base? You say, well, everybody stays the same, not in their theology. This is why you may come here and you’ve heard Dr. Hank Lindstrom for years. I’m here pretty much the same thing. teach the same. But did you know that you can go to a lot of churches?

Now, it usually starts off like this. They’re not as clear as we are, but, but, then they butt, but, but, if it’s not as clear, why would you go there? But let me share this with you. He He writes and he says, my early religious life was in the context of the Southern Baptist denomination. Here often heard about heaven and hell andhler and death and resurrection of Christ and the need to come to him. So I was converted as a 16 year old kid.

Off to university. Here he fellowshiped with Christians of all different backgrounds, active in the student, Union, campus crusade for Christ, we reached out to non-Christians and shared the four spiritual flaws, laws. In other words, God has a wonderful plan for your life. That is not how I start off with lost people. God has a wonderful plan for your life. The only plan God has for anybody is life. You get saved. After you get saved. Now, as a child of God, God has a wonderful plan for your life.

But you see, to get saved has nothing to do with your life. Just temporary little time here. We’re talking about where you’re going to spend eternity and that is important. Then he says, ah, to Florida Bible College, through a friend who was preparing to go to Vietnam. I heard about FBC, sounded good to me. I transferred, eventually bringing along with me. sudden, Kenny somebody, Jim Scudder, Bill Adams. Remember he mentioned Bill Adams the other last week? Jim Scudder that was here.

So there’s other people that went to the same university and wanted to transfer down to Florida Bible college. Anyway, he says, here I learned the FBC way of witnessing. I sounded like a recording of A. Ray Stanford. I was quite good at holding my own, but once a young seminary student wouldn’t crack. So he says, a cousin, from Grace Theological Seminary, hell-firm, that repentance did not mean merely changing one’s mind. I was frustrated because I knew he was a genuine brother in Christ, and therefore his view on repentance changed.

the Pennsylvania. And then he says in verse number five, I became a five point Calvinist. Red author Pink and Puritans like crazy began to realize the FBC way might not be the right way. The FBC way was just simply the Bible way. FBC way was the Bible way. It’s what did the Bible teach. It’s just what we learned at Florida Biblenil College. And then he says, decided to attend Grace College in Indiana. Here I began to take seminary courses as an undergraduate student.

By this time I was quite sure the FBC was just one way among many other good ways. So then he says he lunched into the Bethany Fellowship, a church still upward, and going strong. converted others to Calvinism and to the Plymouth Brethren Style of Church Fellowship. Spinhires and so forth in the seminaries and so forth. So I don’t know how much you accomplished, but he just went from one cemetery to another cemetery. And cemeteries can kill you. Then he says in point number seven, move to Pennsylvania became more interested in leaving my primit brethren, fellowship and joined a reformed Baptist Church.

So he’s moving right along. Then he moved from a Baptist church to join a mega Presbyterian church in America. Spent nine years there. And then he became an Anabaptist and discovered biblical scholarship. Spent another nine years there. Then he left the Presbyterians to worship with the Mennonites. All of that to say this, there were countless conversions along the way. I was blessed by them all, but these Christians all explained the gospel in various ways. Among the Anabaptists, for example, the emphasis is not on justification but upon discipleship and the way of peace.

Among my emergent friends, the emphasis is upon following Christ. Among my FBC friends, Ephesians 2 8 and 9. Among my Catholic friends, baptism and sacraments. my Presbyterian and Reformed friends, total depravity and election by God’s free grace. But among all of them, it has been Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, He don’t know what He believes or how long He’s going to believe it. Do you think that you’re going to stay the same unless you stay in the good, strong, sound Bible teaching.

You can drift without ever knowing you’re going to drift. You don’t have to plan it. If I was the devil, all I have to do, if I want to destroy your life, is get you away from good sound theological teaching of the Word of God. Why do you think we want to teach people what the Word of God says? You get into it and you read it and you study it and you believe it. There is a difference between salvation and discipleship.

You see, salvation is simply you come to Christ for salvation. Discipleship is you come after Christ. You follow Christ. So coming to Christ to be saved and then you follow Christ in discipleship and you can be saved and never be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. But should I be a disciple? Should I as a child of God? Should I discipline my life to be what God wants me to be? So take your Bible and turn to the book of Philippians in chapter 3.

Philippians chapter 3 and look in verse for. I want to give you just a few things on how to discern discipleship. Because you see, salvation is simple. It is clear. It’s by faith alone in what Christ did on the cross for us. Salvation is us accepting what He did. Believe in He did it for us. He paid for my sins. If He paid for all of my sins, then all of my sins are paid. I do not have to pay for any of my sins.

not even one. I deserve to pay for my sins, but Christ paid it for me. That’s substitution. I didn’t deserve that. But He loved me, and that shows me how much He loved me because of what He did for me. As a child of God, it is the will of God that I follow the Lord. And I believe that steps towards discipleship begins with dissatisfaction. There was a time in my life. When I was so dissatisfied with who I was, where I was, what I was doing, and I had no dream or vision about what to do with my life.

So in most cases with most individuals, There is no desire to grow and to do and to be unless there’s some sort of dissatisfaction where you are with what you have and what you’re doing or not doing. And so I enjoy watching as Christians begin to talk about how so dissatisfied they are on their job. Or things are not really totally just wonderful at home all the time. You see, problems make people struggle. Struggle means it makes you stronger and you find something better than what you had than where you are.

I would have never gone to Bible school if there had not been inside of me this desire that I wanted something better. I was so dissatisfied with who I was. I was dissatisfied with my whole life. And I didn’t see anything getting any better. You’re talking about faith is born in desperation. when there’s no other physical hope, no strength left. When you don’t know what you’re going to do or how you’re going to accomplish anything, and you realize if God doesn’t do it, it can’t get done.

It won’t get done. So here in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 4, the apostle Paul lays out his dissatisfaction. He could say, look who I am. But he says, though I might have confidence in the flesh, if any other men think that he hath, whereof he might trust in the flesh, I’m more. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of his rail of the tribe of Benjamin, the Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee concerning zeal persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law of blameless.

But what things were gained to me in those I counted the loss for Christ? You see, there has to be something better than what I have. When you realize and you come to the end of all of your talent, your abilities, your wisdom, and you realize I still come up so short, how can I in this world ever be satisfied? You can’t. It’s impossible. You just go for one thing to the neck. There’s no end to it. But when I made up my mind to serve the Lord, I’ve been satisfied as I’ve watched God work in my life over the years.

You know, one of the last points I have, but I just can’t stand waiting that long, is the discipleship produces durability. discipleship produces durability. It makes you endure. It gives you a toughness, a strength to do what you thought you could have never done. If there was no discipleship and all I had was just my salvation but no purpose for living, we would still be of all men most miserable. It’s because Christ came back from the dead, that my life is not useless.

My faith is not useless. It’s not in vain. There’s a reason, there’s a purpose. There’s something to be accomplished. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tapp of Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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 toll-free, 1-800-576-3771.

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. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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 message will be a blessing to you and your family.

God is still on the throne. He is still ruling today. He is as powerful as he’s ever been. He has not changed. The devil is not winning. The Lord knows what’s going on. People are not getting away with murder. You need to understand what God is doing. Some people’s judgment doesn’t always seem to line up with what truth really is. Within the book of Psalms in chapter 9, it talks about a personal dedication to God, believing that God is on the throne.

See if you don’t think God’s in charge, it’s hard to trust the man if you don’t believe he is. God is the ruler of the universe. He’s the creator of heaven and earth. He made this world and he knows what’s going on. He talks about the kingdom of life, the kingdom of darkness, one where he rules, the other one where Satan rules, but God overrules even in the kingdom of darkness. And so the Bible says here in verse one, if several words are used over and over again, I will, I will, I will.

Well, this is talking about David pouring out his heart and he’s saying, what I’m going to do, and there’s a reason why I’m going to do this. I will praise the O Lord with my whole heart. I will show forth all by marvelous works. And when he says I will praise the with my whole heart, this is not halfway dedication. See the shame of God’s people today is that they’re not truly dedicated to the Lord. Majority of people are not faithful to God.

They’re not dependable to the Lord. And God wants us to be faithful. over it is required in a store that a man be found faithful. That means dependable. And when he says here, my whole heart means I have made it by mine. This is what I’m going to do. And my life is going to be one gigantic praise to the Lord. Would you say that your life is a testimony to the praise of God that you live because you praise in the Lord for what he has done, what he is doing, and what he’s going to do.

You see, many times we can easily accept from God all the things we want and never really thank the Lord for what he’s done for us or is doing for us. But look what he says, I will show forth all my marvelous works. Lord, I’m going to tell people what you’ve done. It’s a shame that so many of God’s people never witness, never testify of how good God has been to them. If God’s been good to you, say so.

Also another Psalmy says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Good well, she says in verse 2, I will be glad and rejoice in thee. I will sing praise to thy name, O thy most high. So I’m going want to be glad, I’m going to be joyful, I’m going to praise. Now, does this sound like the typical Christian or the majority of Christians are always discouraged, depressed, down in the dumps, filled with despair? Or do they have hope and joy?

Can they see what God is doing? That God is really working in their life. And the reason sometimes is because we We don’t think that God is in charge because you and I know that if God was in charge, we wouldn’t have such a mess in this world. Well the Bible says that God is still on the throne. Remember this, when he says that if you serve him, he will bless you and if you don’t, he will chase in you.

In order for God to do that, He must be in charge. That means that God must be watching your life. The things you say, the things you do, the things you think. Because God, if he’s on the throne, is going to act accordingly. You see, God is not following some pre-described plan that existed millions of years ago. You’re now living your life. You’re now making decisions. And you’re now getting the consequences of some of your decisions. Some of those will come down the road.

Some of them when we get to heaven. But to understand that God is still on the throne. Look what He says there now in verse three. When my enemies are turned back, does that mean you’re going to have some? Yeah. They shall fall and perish at thy present. Maybe not now, but in time, but always believe in that. You have to live your life believing that serving God is worth it. worth it and that anybody that’s against you, you’ll let God take care of it.

That keeps you from being mean and better and filled with revenge. But look what he says on verse 4, and you ought to unline this, for a vile hat maintained my right and my cause. God hath maintained God knows the cause for which you live. Why do you do what you do? Well, because God knows the cause, God knows the reason, God knows the motive. For that hath maintained my right, my cause. One of the biggest problems we have in America is everybody wants to fight for their rights, but nobody wants to fight for their responsibilities.

The only reason we have rights is because they’re a responsibility that has to be fulfilled. So I want the right to fulfill my God-given responsibility. They don’t come from government, they come from God. And it says, Thou hath maintained my right and my cause, and get this, Thou said it in the throne, judging right. He is now on the throne, making decisions, doing things. God is working in this world. Did not God say what was going to happen in the world when people rebelled against Him?

Yet didn’t He say what was going to happen, doing Noah’s time? Yes. What about in lots of time? Yes. Well, what about even doing the time when Christ was born? Did God already know everything that was going to be done to his son? Yes. Even when he died on the cross, yes. God’s still in charge. God is still ruling. God’s still on the throne. He’s still the Lord. He allows people to have limits of what they can and they cannot do.

In the book of 1 John it talks about the sin unto death. In other words, God will allow you to commit sin. But there is a limit to what you can do before God will step in. And it’s different perhaps with different people because God is given every individual personalized attention. So you can’t just do whatever you want and think that there’s no consequences to it. There’s always consequences. Something is being done. There’s a God in heaven that’s working behind the sages.

Even with the kings of the world, the God says the kings of the earth are in his hand. And even though there’s the water that flow, he says, I’m the one that curves the bank. I’m the one that determines the flow of the water. God’s the one that can bring the floods and the hurricanes. God can bring the fire. God can bring the earthquakes. God can do a lot of things. He says, I’m the one that can do all of this.

I can open up the windows of heaven. I can close the windows of heaven. I can bring people into your life. I can take people out of your life. I can give you a job, take it away. I can give you help. I can take it away. I can give you money. I can take it away. God, I can do anything. God plays by the rules, but He makes the rules. But he always does right. The Bible talks about God judges righteously.

And the last part of this, thou said it in the throne judging right. Means it’s being done at the time David was going through his problems. David, as he wrote the right, most of the Psalms is always talking about some of the things he’s going through. And the hurt, the damage that people were trying to do to him. Many trying to kill him. Yet the Bible says, I know that God’s on the throne and the judge is right and he’s taken up my cause.

Do you really believe Romans 828 for all things work together for good to those that love the Lord? If you love the Lord then things will work together for good. want to have to do that. If you rebel against the Lord, it must be God that knows when and how to chase in every individual. If God is still on the throne, God is on the throne. But we see what’s happening with individuals where majority of God’s people don’t love him like they should.

Families that are falling apart breaking down because there’s no faithfulness to God. Because they don’t believe, evidently, that God is on the throne. And if the home falls apart, we often hear about the nation, because the nation is made up of family, made up of individuals. Would you say that America is on the right course, that we’re getting better and stronger and stronger and more godly, or we’re becoming a wicked, wicked nation? We are in trouble. God is going to chasten our country.

the Bible says that God is still on the throne and he knows what’s being done. Look what he says there in verse 17. The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. Is it possible for a child of God to forget how good God has been to him and get to live in your life and you stop being faithful like you should because you forget about the goodness of God in the land of the living.

So when you as an individual, if it can happen to a Christian and you forget God, the Bible gives us illustrations of what he does with people that forget God. Whether it’s an individual, a family, or even a nation. All we have to do is study about the nation of Israel. And over the years, the centuries, no nation has ever existed for long as a great power who become immoral, because immorality follows idolatry. When people no longer love the Lord, they no longer care about their morality.

And so when you become steep in idolatry where you either worship yourself or man or life or jobs or money or pleasure, anything you put before God is idolatry. And so many people the day, they worship pleasure, church, if it’s convenient and they’ve lost so much they have forgotten the responsibility. And so God says, because you have forgotten God, that God has not forgotten what to do. He is still ruling. And He says the nations will be turned into hell.

That’s the individuals that live within a nation. Nations will rise, nations will fall, but nations cannot do whatever they want to do. There is a price to pay. Look in verse 20. them in fear or Lord that the nations may know themselves to be but men and regardless of what a man may accomplish in his life he’s still just a man you cannot make yourself into something that you are not you are a man you’re only a man only God is to be worship and I am not God I am not to be worshiped you are not to be worship were not the bow of the feet of any man.

There’s only one true and living God. Look up there and see what he says in verse 7. But the Lord get this. The Lord shall endure forever. He had prepared his throne for judgment and he shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. So God is on the throne, and God will hold court when God is ready to hold court. But I guarantee you everybody is going to court. Every Christian is going to be rewarded for what he’s done, suffer a loss of what he could have had.

And I’m glad that Christ took our payment for our sins, so sins will never be brought up for us. But what we could have done for the Lord is going to be ashamed to find out how little we did, because we forget why we’re here. We forget about what church is about. We forget about what the word is about. People are drifting. All we like sheep have gone what? A stray. They go to stray. They don’t care no more.

And yet the Bible says, as you see the day approaching when Christ could come back at any time for Satan not the assembling of yourselves together, but most people do. Only if it’s convenient, if they’re not doing something else, they deem more important. Maybe say this, if I was to miss church today and I’m supposed to give a tent of whatever God has blessed me with. Well, the next Sunday when I come back, should I still give for the Sunday I missed?

Yes. You know, a lot of people won’t do that. That’s one of the best ways that majority of Christians, they rob God. If I don’t go, I don’t have to give. We don’t give because we go. We go because we’re supposed to go and we give because we’re supposed to go. People don’t believe the Bible anymore. They won’t practice it anymore. It is the will of God for people to do right. But nobody can make another Christian do right, but I want you to understand there’s a God who’s still on the throne and God is still judging and God is seeing what we’re doing and what we’re not doing.

And you cannot win going against God. Look what he says here in verse nine. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Are you going to have troubles? Yes, but he’s a refuge. He doesn’t eliminate the troubles. As you and I go through life, we think our lives are being blessed, is I don’t have trouble. God says to be blessed is to have the strength and the grace to find that place of refuge.

Rest in the time of storm, a person that we can go to that gets us through all the difficulties of life and keep the cause because the Lord knows the cause, the reason, the why, the motive of why we do what we do and we should always be found faithful. Look what he says in verse 10, they that know thy name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord hath not forsaken them that seat thee. See God’s not interested in forsaking us.

Why would a child of God forsake the Lord? Why would you forsake the word? Why would you forsake the church that you need so bad? Why would you forsake the ways of God? He says don’t do away with the ancient landmarks. Keep the old paths. Keep doing what’s right because it’s a right thing to do. Look in verse 13, have mercy upon me, O Lord, consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me. You are going to live, you’re going to have the troubles that the Bible talks about, but there’s a place of refuge.

And he also says that there’s those that will hate you, but you need to understand that Lord consider my trouble. Understand I’m a child of flesh and I’m weak and I don’t have all the strength that I need and trust the Lord to give you that which you need, the bear what you need to bear. And he says that thou lift me up from the gates of death. Let me tell you this. When you accepted Christ as your Savior.

You were delivered from the gates of death, or I should say the gates of hell. But majority of God’s people have never gone to the gates of Zion. The gates of Zion is what we often talk about the joy of the Lord. The blessings of God, enjoying the good things of God. They have that saved from the jaws of death and hell, but they never go to the gates of Zion. And you’ll hear a lot of songs sung about the Mount Zion, the place of joy and happiness, doing the will of God, enjoying the things of God.

A majority of Christians have never understood. Take your Bible now and turn to the book of 2 Thessalonians. But the other night we were talking about 2 Thessalonians in chapter 2. Because there is going to be a one-world government, one-world religion, we often think that if that’s going to happen, then that means that God is not in charge. But understand, the God in heaven that knows everything that’s going to happen, he knew what man was going to do way before man ever did it.

He says, by word is forever settled in heaven. God knows the end from the beginning. And even though God has given to man a free will, God did not isolate himself from his own foreknowledge. He knows what man is going to choose. He knows every person that’s going to heaven. He knows every person that’s going to help, but he didn’t determine it. He gave man a choice. And because God is still in charge, God is letting people suffer the consequences of their decisions.

In this life, we suffer many things because of decisions of other people. But if we understand that God in heaven knows our cause, he knows who the enemy is and who hates us and who does things to us. God says, I am still on the throne. I know what’s going on. I know what’s being done. I just want you to trust me. And I will be your place of refuge in the times of the storm, the oppression. Because of all of that, God says, I want you to know, I know what’s gonna happen in the future.

So here we are right here. We’re right before the rapture. Jesus Christ is going to come from heaven for his saints. Seven years later, he’s gonna come with his saints to the earth. And there is going to be the seven years of tribulation upon the earth where the antichrist is going to roll. God knows what he’s going to do. And God says that he cannot manifest himself because he has been hindered by the church, the Holy Spirit that lives in this world.

When Christ comes and takes us out of this world, there is not going to be any restraint and God is going to let the Antichrist have all the authority he needs to deceive the whole world. God does not deceive people. God does not tempt man to sin. But God will allow the anti-Christ to deceive the whole world and that’s in the very near future. But just because God allows people to do things doesn’t mean God’s not in charge. It doesn’t mean God isn’t ruling.

God has never relinquished his authority. He’s never relinquished his throne. He’s still sovereign God, the right, the power to do whatever God wants to do. But he says, this is what he’s going to do. When it’s all over, who wins God? Who’s in charge? God. Does God know that he’s going to renovate this earth by fire? He’s the one that’s going to do it. When he lets Satan go into the bottomless pit, it is God that put him there.

A little man in our form of government is comes to the top God says promotion come up not from the east or the west or from the south comes from God. God can raise up a man, God can raise up a nation and God can cause them both to fall. And we would do well to remember it and not forget it. How you and I live our Christian life is a reflection of what we believe about God still being on the throne.

He hasn’t quit. And there in verse 8 I want you to look there in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 8. Then shall that wicked be revealed, that’s the antichrist in that tribulation period. When the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. This is when he comes at the end of the tribulation, parodent power and great glory. This is when he comes with his saints to the earth, even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan after the tribulation with all power and signs and lion wonders.

The Bible says that God will give him and allow him to have the permission to do all this wickedness upon the earth. Why? So that he will be able to convince those people who would not believe the truth, that they will believe a lie. It’s not that they have to believe the life, it’s that they chose not to believe the truth. So he makes the statement and here in verse 10. And with all the sea of goodness and unrighteousness.

Keep it in mind. Unrighteousness is deceptive. All sin is deceptive. People think, I don’t think it’s that bad. That bad depends on whose perspective. If God says something is wrong and sinful, is wrong, it is sinful. He didn’t ask us for a vote. It’s not done according to majority opinion. But He makes this statement and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. Because, here’s the cause, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved.

The Rapture takes place. People won’t believe the truth. And because they refuse to believe the truth, God’s going to let the anti-Christ, who is the line, so deceived the world. And they’ll believe it. They’ll believe the lie, but they wouldn’t believe the truth. Look at the world today. The reason that many Christians are not in church today is because they believe a lie. The mystery of iniquity does already work. Not that it’s going to in that one little seven year period of time.

It’s all. already being done. People are forgetting God. Nations forgetting God. Families forgetting God. Individuals forgetting God. Is there a price to pay for all that? You read the Old Testament and see what God did to a nation. Get what he says here in verse 10. He says, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this caused, God, who is still on the throne, shall send him strong delusions that they should believe a lie.

God’s doing this. God is allowing the Antichrist to come to a head into the nations to vote upon having a one-world leader. Our world is getting set up. The world is going to want it. They’re going to want peace, and there’s going to be an individual that can promise them. I’ll give you peace. He says, P.C., he meets a piece of this country, piece of this country, piece of this country, piece of this country, until he gets all of it.

Get verse 12, that they all might be damned who be lead, not the truth. And then you’re going to unline these last few words. Pleasure and unrighteousness. Is there pleasure in sin? Yes. There is pleasure in unrighteousness and God says, I’m still on the throne. I haven’t forgotten. I gave my word. You can do whatever you want to do. But I remember, I promised some consequences and some retribution. There’s going to be judgment coming. Payday’s coming. And I believe most Christians don’t think that it’s that serious of a deal.

It’s a serious thing to me. God’s work is a serious thing to me. Preaching is serious to me. I realize I’ve got to count to God for everything that I teach from this book. That scares me to death. I also realize I’m supposed to be an example of a believer. So are you. We’re the one that has to decide, but we can serve the Lord or not serve the Lord. Be faithful, unfaithful. It’s your choice. The mystery of iniquity is at work.

like Christ was the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh. The mystery of iniquity is the antichrist, the seed of Satan manifested in the flesh. Somebody’s going to be just like Satan and yet so powerful, so good that he can deceive the world. He says it’s already work. Think of how many people are deceived week We get to week because they refuse to obey the truth. Put God first, love him with all your heart and serve. Let’s pray, shall we?

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. 800-576-3771. 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.

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caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. I played a little football, a little basketball, and a little softball, and baseball, and Chinese checkers. But anyway, I’ve played a few sports. I don’t have to be good at any of them. Just enjoy them. But in everything that you do, there’s always rules and regulations. Now, on myself, when I get ready to bat, I really don’t like for there to be an umpire.

And I don’t like it when the pitcher is trying to be the umpire. I want to call the balls in strike because the only reason I didn’t swing at those that are high and low and outside and inside is because they were all balls. I didn’t want to swing at those. I’d rather be the umpire. But you know, it doesn’t work very good if everybody becomes their own umpire. When I’m running the first base and I get there, if he gets there an inch before I get there, They call me out.

I would rather be the umpires, I’m safe. Now would I be prejudiced if I was the umpire? Of course not, you know I’d be fair. You’re always out. Me, I’m always safe. And when I get up there to bat, I don’t like the bunt. I want to hit a home run. So every time I hit, I’m trying to hit it as hard as I can, as far as I can, because that’s the way I am. I do everything like that.

But on a team, there comes a time when you have to listen to the, you know, if you got a ref, you got a coach, you got to listen to what somebody tells you for the team’s sake, what, you know, the way you win or you lose. And the last thing I’d want to say somebody say, just run it down to third-day baseline. No. Sometimes you need a coach, somebody that can see what you’re doing and give you some good advice.

You see, on our team, the Lord, yet He’s the coach. He’s calling the play. He’s doing this, you know, He’s the umpire. And He tells us what to do and what not to do. And make sure that you understand that everybody on His team Every one of his children will have an opportunity. It may not be that you get to go first. You just sit and be patient. God will use every one of his on his team. But now if you can’t listen to the coach, you know what the coach might do or the ref might do or the, he might just tell you to go sit on the bench.

When it comes to serving the Lord, the apostle Paul says, serving the Lord. The Apostle Paul says, I play by the rules. Less when I have preached to others, I myself am disqualified and I have to go sit on the bench. That’s what he says there in verse 27. He said, but I bring my body under subjection. I want to rule my body, not my body rule me. Now, when I preach to others, I myself, if not a castaway or set aside, because it’s talking about What sin can do to you?

Sin can take you out of the game. The game is so important. What we live for, our cause, is so important. And you don’t want to have to be set aside or set on the shelf. You want God to use you. It’s so important. Take your Bible looking Psalms 51, the 51st Psalm. All the way back in the Old Testament, The 51st Psalm. There was a guy by the name of David. Everybody remember David? You know that young boy that went out there and he took a bear and ripped him apart with his bare hands?

Did the same thing with a lion? It took off the head of Goliath. Wouldn’t that have been something to head that on video? Man, I’d show that every day. How the little boy took down the big giant. And when he slung that thing around, the Holy Spirit took that little rock and guided that little rock and he planted it right in the middle of his forehead. It sunken in there and the man was dead. because he yielded to the Lord and God raised him up and says, you’re going to be the king of Israel.

A lot of things happen in young David’s life and finally he got to be the king and when he got to be the king, well the time came when kings go out to battle. That’s what kings do. But the came of time when this king didn’t want to go out to battle. You see he had been up in And his palace and he overlooked and lo and behold he saw this beautiful woman. And I don’t know how far away it was or whatever it was, but whatever it was caught his eye.

And next thing you know she was in the palace. And next thing you know she was in his bed. Next thing you know she’s having a kid. Not a cover of that sin. He had Uriah. He had taken and put into the heat of the bottle so that he would die. So he was guilty of adultery and he was guilty of murder. So God’s going to have to whoop him. Here’s a man after God’s own heart, wouldn’t it? God had greatly used.

And David’s last days of his life, he had misery upon misery upon misery of all the things that happened in his family. Did he get away with it? Didn’t get away with it. And so God took something away from David that David loved. Not only taken the child, but he took the joy of his salvation away. He didn’t have any joy. So he says here in Psalms 51, he says in verse one, he said, Lord have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me.

And then he says down there in verse six, behold thou desire truth in the inward part. In the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom, purge me with histop, and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be wider than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones, which thou hath broken may rejoice. God done beat the Torah out of him. And his joy was gone, he was in misery, he says. And a third-something, he said he just, he cried day and night, he was dried up like a potter, he was just, everything was going wrong in David’s life.

Because he was carrying sin that he was hiding. and he hadn’t come clean between him and God. God had to deal with him. So he says in verse 10, create in me a new heart and renew a right spirit within me. Verse 11, cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. See in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was used by God to come upon people to do certain works and then would leave.

The promise in the New Testament in John chapter 14 in verse 16, it says, and I will give you a comforter that may abide with you forever in the comforter. In verse 26 of John chapter 14 is the Holy Spirit. So when you and I trust Christ to save you, the Holy Spirit indwells us and will never leave us and never forsake us. The Old Testament before Christ died, yes. But that doesn’t mean that David lost his salvation. David did not lose his salvation, but he did lose the joy.

That’s why he says in verse 12, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. And uphold me with thy free spirit. Then, cause whenever you give me my joy back, he’s outteached transgressors, thy ways. Sinners shall be converted unto thee. So he was talking about how that God didn’t want to sacrifice from him. He wanted to broken in the contrite heart. You see, God doesn’t want your sacrifice in the sense that that’s supposed to make up for God wants you when you rebel against the Lord, when you sin against the Lord, He wants you to come broken before Him.

He wants you to humble and submit yourself to Him and call it what it is that I send against you. And God says He’s faithful and just to forgive. If you don’t, then you carry around the guilt because you know it’s not right yet. You try to hide it from God. But you can’t hide anything from God. God knows everything. And it just kind of weighs upon you. And you don’t have that freedom, that lifting off of it, that you get that heavy cloud that just follows you everywhere you go.

And you want the bright sunlight. You want the weight lifted off your shoulders. And God can do all of that for you. But if you try to hide your sin from God, it’s going to cost you dearly. You come straight to the Lord, you humble yourself, and you confess the sin and forsake the sin. As a believer. And God will bless you and restore a lot of things to you. But it’s the joy that he was talking about. See that in verse 17?

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. Oh God, that will not despise. God won’t despise that. That’s what God is after. God knows that we all fail, we all sin. Just make sure that when you do, you own up to it. And God will take care of everything else. Look there in 1 Corinthians 3. 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 3. Remember that whenever you were born in this world, you were born with sinful nature, you naturally do things wrong.

Everybody’s in the same bone. Nobody’s better than you, nobody’s worse than you. I’m not up here because I’m better than everybody else. I am a sinner. And I ought to go to hell and I know it. But I’m not going to go to hell. Not because I’m good, but because he’s good. Christ died for my sins. Now if He paid for all of my sins, Why should I have to pay for them? If Christ paid for your sins, why should you have to pay for them?

You don’t. All you have to do is believe He did it for you. And if you believe He did it for you, He gives you eternal life. Now, after you trust Christ to save you, you’re His child. God wants His children to grow in the Lord. So when you’re born into God’s family, you are a babe in Christ. But look in verse one, sin will keep you from growing spiritually. So there’s a spiritual price to pay. Verse one, and I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, mature.

But as unto carnal, that means fleshly minded, a child of God who is a babe in Christ, but fleshly minded. It means you mind the flesh, and you don’t mind the spirit of God. He says in verse two, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you are not able to bear it, neither yet nor are you able. In other words, you should be able, but you’re not able to take meat. So I gotta give you milk.

You know, it’s like a little baby. How would you like me 30 years old and still on a bottle? And that’s why some Christians are, they’re still on the bottle. But you know that it’s going to cost you and hinder your spiritual growth. Just like it can hinder your prayer life because of sin. So that you know that if you don’t guard this and you’re like, remember this, nobody else can guard this area of your life. Nobody can guard sin in your life.

Because it’s an inside job. If your life is wrecked, it’s not from the outside, it’s on the inside. And nobody can control that. You are the only one. And that’s why it’s so important. So take your Bible look in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews in chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12 talks about something that you and I should remember that as we live our Christian life, you know that your rebellion to God will grieve the Holy Spirit, but also in verse three it says, consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest you be weird and faint in your mind.

In other words, the reason that you get faint and want to quit and not want to serve the Lord without your heart is because you take your eyes off the Lord. He just finished talking to us in verse one about the sin that does so easily beset us. You’re a person running a race looking unto Jesus. All right, when you look unto Jesus, you’re considering what He did and the race that He run and the victory that He had.

So you’re supposed to give us confidence and courage, but you take your eyes off the Lord and you look at the world and next thing you know, you can fall in love with the Lord. And then you do whatever you want to do. You see, that looking unto Jesus kind of helps you to constrain yourself or restrain, I should say. So we make the statement here in verse 5, and ye have forgotten, forgotten what? You forgot what you’re supposed to look at, and you forgot to consider what Christ did.

He said, but anyway, in verse 5, you have forgotten the exhortations which speaketh unto you, it’s unto children. My son despised not the other chastening of the Lord, nor faint one thou art rebuked of him. You see, my daddy had six kids, And with six kids, the older ones, well not all of them, I can say, he got most of the weapons. The younger ones, I don’t remember them ever getting any weapons. He just took it out on us.

And mainly me, I was always the victim for me. Don’t you feel sorry for me? You knew that I didn’t do anything wrong. I was always innocent. I never deserved one weapon in my whole life. Well, maybe I didn’t see things exactly the way my dad saw things, and it could have been a disagreement there. But my dad chastened me. He whooped me. He didn’t make me want to toe the mark. He did scare the devil out of me, or he tried to beat the devil out of me.

But I know this verse because it relates down there in verse 9 where it says in verse 9, Furthermore, we have had fathers who had corrected us. But it says here for something else. And we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live? For they, barely for a few days, chasin’ us after their own pleasure. According to this verse, they enjoyed it. I’m not saying that’s a total truth with all parents, but I think my daddy really got a kick out of it.

He didn’t just how much he could make me holler and how high I could jump. Well anyway, that’s it, moving right along here. But in verse six he says, for home the Lord loveth, he chasteeth and scourgeth every son home he receiveth. Now that’s what the Lord does to every one of his children. So if you have trusted Christ as your Savior and your God’s child, can you live as your pleasing, get away with it? No, can you live as your pleasing?

Oh, you can try it, but you can’t get away with it. There’s a God in heaven that works things in life and it’s going to cost you. You don’t see God coming down here out of the sky and he’s got a great big old paddle in his hand and he holds up like a hero. You just experience things in life you can’t control. And how many bad things that happens to you? See that’s what God was doing to the nation of Israel.

He says because of this, this, this, this is what’s going to happen to you. They never really saw a physical God. They didn’t see his hand coming down out of the sky and blissing their little bottoms. They know there comes this nation with a bad king and they put a siege around them and people were dying of starvation and then they took their own little children and boiled their kids and ate them because of the famine. So God, a lot of all these things that happened and they lost their land, they lost their joy, they lost so much.

But they never did. Wake up and spread the coffee. They just, it was more rebellious. And no matter what God did, they rebelled against Him. And so that’s the way it is with some time, I think, with God’s children. It doesn’t matter how many times God hooks you, you just don’t seem to learn. They don’t seem to wake up. And you always try to put it off on the sum of all that, just a coincidence. Just a coincidence. Just a coincidence.

There’s no coincidence, there’s no accidents with God. And you better wake up. I believe every time I talk, I’m warning somebody in particular. I don’t never know who. I don’t believe that I waste my time and I’m beating my gums for no effect. I believe that I am sending warning signals and if people don’t listen there’s going to be some great consequences to it. Or I totally missed a mark, but I don’t think I’m missing a mark too much.

But I do believe that God’s Word is true and we need to heed it and there’s consequences foroultry. Look in 2 Timothy chapter 2. Timothy and chapter 2. And look there in verse 19. You see once you have trusted Christ as your Savior, your God’s child, you’re going to heaven when you die, but you’re not there yet. God may leave you down here for 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years. Never know how long. And there’s various teachings in this world and you might even question your salvation after a while, which a lot of people do.

But But in verse 19 it says, Nevertheless, the foundation of God stand to sure having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are His. Now it’s good to know the Lord, but it’s also good that the Lord knows me. And then he makes this statement in verse 20, but in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but of wood and of earth. Some to honor, some to dishonor. He said, if a man therefore purge himself these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet or fit for the master’s use, prepared unto every good word.

So this is the vessel that can be used by God. And then there’s a vessel that might not be used by God because his sum are to honor, sum to dishonor. And if in verse 21, a man therefore purge himself. So this is something God does, it’s something that you can do, but God does want to purge your life. And if you will yield to the Lord and do what God wants you to do and correct the thing that he says to correct, you’d be surprised what God will do for you and through you.

And you’ll be a vessel that’s fit for God to use. Now, see going to heaven, that’s free, that’s a gift. You don’t earn it, you don’t work for that. That’s because he loves you that much. But God says, if you’ll serve me, he says, when you get to heaven, I got all the stuff I want to give you.

So can you rebalion down here, affect that up there? Yes, it does. And your future is been determined by your obedience to God today. And so it’s so very, very important. First Corinthians in chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And look at verse 21. Sin can also affect your fellowship with the Lord because of the companions that you keep. For example, you should make sure that your closest friends are those who know the Lord and love the Lord. If they don’t love the Lord, they’re not going to do right by you.

It just won’t happen. So he talked about fellowship in these verses from verse 16 down. But look at verse 21, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. In other words, you can’t have communion with both. And he talks about being separated. And a lot of people don’t understand this, but the Lord says, if we would take and separate ourselves from those that will bring us down. In other words, people have viruses and they are going to try to do everything they can to transfer that virus into you so it contaminates and ruins your life.

That’s why you have to have a firewall, something to protect yourself. And if you don’t protect yourself, it’s going to bring you down. You’re going to crash. And this is why you hear about people who are just, I just think I’m going to have a nervous breakdown. Well, I don’t know if nerves break down or not, but I believe it’s because of sin. Sin calls guilt. Because, wait, wait breaks you down. And that’s why God says if you will not serve me because of his, his yoke, which is easy, he says, and you rebel against that one of doing what God wants to do.

God said, I’ll put a yoke of iron up on your neck until it destroys you, because it will weigh you down. So you don’t want that to happen. Now, let’s close with this year. Look over there in chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, just to your right a little bit. This is what God wants you to do, because nobody else can do it as effectively as you can. God’s Word says, be it unto you according to your faith. What do you believe?

In verse 28, but let a man examine himself, examine himself. Then look down in verse 30. For this cause, many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. Many people will die because of their rebellion. There’s also in the book of 1 John 5, talk about the sin unto death. So can sin in your life let go, not check, bring you physical harm and physical death? Yes. God’s word teaches it. So here in 1 Corinthians 11, he says there in verse 31.

Now look what happens if you will judge for yourself. If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. In other words, if you’ll examine yourself and see what you’re doing that’s not right, and you will correct that problem, then God doesn’t have to entertain. Now, wouldn’t that be nice? That’s a sign of maturity, where you could do right without being told. This is one thing we notice about teenagers sometime. They wanna do whatever they wanna do. It doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong, they just wanna do it.

And you say, no, you can’t do that. Now watch the attitude. When they’re told they can’t do what they want to do, their attitude reveals their maturity. Verse 32, but when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. So if you will examine yourself, judge yourself, correct the problem, God doesn’t have to. But you should know that if I don’t, God will. And if He has to, it’s going to be severe.

It could be very hard. And then you’ll wish you had done right to start with. But when you want God’s blessings upon you, know what it’s going to cost you. You can play the fool if you want. I think it won’t matter, but it will matter. And there’s consequences. Look up here. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents all the bad things that we do. God calls it sin. This is what we’ve been talking about tonight. But now everybody sins.

God loves us though, but he hates what we do wrong. And for us to pay for the sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us and he wants us to go to heaven and to go to heaven, you have to be perfect as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect, none of us are righteous. We’ve all come short of God perfection. So you’ve got to be perfect to go there and we’ve all come short of perfect.

No matter how good we are, we’re not perfect. So God says that you cannot save yourself. You can’t work your way to heaven. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He is the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loves us. Now he hates our sin because he separates us from him. So Jesus Christ, who had no sin, didn’t have to die. So he took all the sin of all the world, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead.

The Sends… Of all the world was paid for it. And all that we have to do, because it’s the only thing we can do is to believe he did it for us. So God says, you can’t earn your way to heaven. It’s not going to church. You don’t have to go to church to go to heaven. You don’t have to get money to go to heaven. You don’t have to stop anything joining. You have to admit you are a sinner.

That’s what you are. And to believe it, Christ paid for all your sins. And if you’ll believe he did it for you, he would put that payment he made to your account and you get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did. That’s a gift. That’s free. No gimme. Nothing. God gives it to you. You have it, and he’ll never cast you out and never lose you. Let’s pray, shall we? If you’re here tonight and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, friend, I hope that you will.

Listen to me very closely. The Bible says, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. The hosts who ever believe it but then him should not perish, but have everlasting life. It means that Christ died for you. God gave his only begotten Son for you. And if you’ll believe that, you will not perish, you will not go to hell, but you will have everlasting life. You will go to heaven when you die. So in the quietness of this moment, just between you and the Lord, why not just talk to him and say something simple like this?

I know I’m a sinner and I believe Christ died for me, from my sense. And I believe He came back from the dead. And I’m trusting Him to take me to heaven whenever I die. And then if you’re making that decision just that much, you’re not promising to stop something or join something. You’re not becoming a religious hypocrite. But I’d like to know what I’ve said that made sense. And I’d like to have prayer for you in closing. I’m not going to embarrass you.

But right where you’re sitting, if you are trusting Christ as your Savior tonight, you never did before, but you will tonight. Would you just slip you in it very quickly and better write back down? Is anyone at all? Anyone at all? If you’ve never trusted the Lord before, would you do it right now? Oh wait just a moment. Right where you are, all that you have to do, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth on me, half, present tense, half, ever lasting life.

Is anyone before we close? Our father, we thank you so much for this opportunity to come together and to study your word and help us to realize the importance of this message because of how much damage it can cause in our life. The price that we would pay. We ask your blessings upon each one here, help us to do right, help us examine ourselves on a daily basis and to confess things to you that we need to and to do right.

Help us to encourage one another. In Christ, then 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 are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Each Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing tool free, 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible line 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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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.

A couple weeks ago I preached a sermon on how to be a failure. Anybody remember that? How to be a failure? Then I preached one last Sunday. How to be a success. How to be faithful. Tonight, we’re going to throw a cog in the wheel. And you need to know how to get it out. But you need to understand what can go wrong. I mean, if you don’t want to be a failure and you’ll want to be successful, what can go wrong?

Absolutely nothing, huh? Well Murphy’s law is that if it can go wrong, it will. And if something can happen to you, they keep you from enjoying life, it will. But I want to explain a few things to you so that you know the consequences of your bad decisions. I have a computer and they have designed these computers to where they can get viruses so they can sell you a program on how to keep the virus out. And then you got to keep paying them so that it can keep it out continually for the rest of your natural born life.

I thought if you could do it, why didn’t you just put it in there so they can’t get in there? They call it a firewall, got to build a firewall that gets a virus. could just eat up everything in there, ruin your whole hard drive. I’ve never lost my hard drive yet. And as I know, I don’t know if I’ve had a virus, but I’ve been told I haven’t had some viruses. I know I’ve had a few viruses in my body too.

And if you get a virus, you can get sick. And so you try to figure out a way to keep yourself well. So you take all these vitamins and all of Let’s not tell us that in the other. Well, there’s one virus that you have. It’s called a sinful nature. You have a sin virus, and you can’t get it out of your body. And drugs won’t help. I might numb you where you can’t think. But you have within you a terrible virus that can ruin your hard drive.

Where you can’t think and you can’t reason. Can’t relate, can’t record, can’t absorb. This old sinful nature that you and I have, we got it from the day we were born. And so, yeah, you need to know, if I want to be faithful, what can go wrong? Well, this is what can go wrong, and you need to know what’s it gonna cost you? Cause it’s going to cost you something if you let that virus run free through your computer.

Now I don’t have to worry too much about up here. All I got is a one gigabyte. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Jeremiah, book of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. And he had enough to weep about the people he was in charge of were prosthetic. If they could do something wrong, they did it. And it didn’t make any difference what God told them to do. They were not going to do it. They were a bunch of hard-headed, stiff-necked individuals.

Boy, I’m glad we don’t have anybody like that here. But understand that God had told Israel what He wanted them to do, how He would bless them, how much He loved them, how He would protect them and provide for them. And they just so much as just nubbed their nose at God and says, I’m going to do whatever I want to do and live how I want to live. So God says, if you want to have those gods from all the other countries, good.

I’ll just send you to the other country where those gods are.” Well, look what he says here. Jeremiah chapter 5 and look in verse 21. Verse 21, he said in verse 21, here now this, oh, foolish people. And without understanding which have eyes and see not, which have ears? And here not. Fear you not me, sayeth the Lord, don’t you fear me? I mean here’s God, the true and living God made heavens on the earth. Did all these wonderful things for Israel?

He says, don’t you fear who I am? Don’t you know who I am? And they said, no, we don’t know who you are. God had done so much for them. And so he says here in verse 22, fear you not me, sayeth the Lord, will you not tremble at my presence? Which have placed the Holy Spirit. the sand for the bounds of the sea for a perpetual degree. He said that it cannot pass it, and though the waves, they’re up-possed themselves, yet can they not prevail, though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.

But this people have a revolting and a rebellious heart. That looks like a description of the people in America. Everybody’s in revolt. Nobody wants anybody to tell them what they can and cannot do. And everybody’s trying to lay down the law, make everybody else do whatever they want. Wives don’t want to obey their husband, husband don’t want to obey. God, kids don’t want to obey parents. And citizens don’t want to obey the government. And the government doesn’t want to obey God.

Everybody’s in revolt. You just saw this in Congress this last few weeks. Well, the last few years, this pathetic. If we only had men of character. We got a bunch of characters, but I’m talking about men with characters. And it says here in verse 24, neither say they in their heart let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth reign. Both the former and the latter in his season he reservists unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

To know that the God who made the heavens and the earth determined the boundaries of the sees, can he control the air, the rain? And it says he’s the one that’s promised us the former in the latter rain upon our crop and all this and the abundance and everything that you need. He says you would think that people would have a little bit more respect for God but they didn’t. So he says here in verse 25 and you ought to underline verse 25.

Your in every iniquities have turned away these things from your sins and your sins have withholding good things from you. Now think what that verses says, that your sins is keeping good things from you. So if you only knew what good things you have given up because of sin. Now we won’t know until we get to heaven to see what is cost us, but you can not, against God and win. Nobody ever has, nobody ever will. But to understand that there is a virus on the inside of us and if it gets control of you, he’ll ruin your life.

It’s that old sinful nature that you have, the desire to do your own thing, go your own way, it’s rebellion to God. A few people ever really want to do whatever God wants them to do. But it says in verse 26, for among my people are wicked men. They lay wait as he that said it snares. They said a trap. They catch men. Wicked people catch people. Now the Bible says, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

We’re supposed to catch men also, but we’re supposed to catch them with truth. They’re catching them with lies. So you’re either submitting yourself to a life of truth or a life of lies whichever where you want to go. And the thing is is the people look up there in the middle part of verse 31, look at verse 31 where it says the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and get this and you’re on the line to say but my people love to have it so and the people like it.

You would think that people would be wise enough after a while. Israel was one blessed people. God blessed them with so much, and yet they still did not see and understand it. But anyway, here we are. We’re two thousand years since the time of Christ, and God has given us His Word, blessed us in a wonderful country. We got freedoms that most people around the world never enjoy, and we abuse it. We don’t take advantage of it to use our lives for the Lord the way we should take your Bible and turn to Ephesians chapter four, the book of Ephesians and chapter four.

Now we’re just going to look at a few verses that you already know them. No, this is new to you, but I want you to be sold and convinced that though you may know what will cause you to fail because of attitudes and stuff and you may know that I want to be faithful, you need to know that there’s the devil and he will to use that sinful nature of yours to put a cog in the wheel so it won’t roll so that you can achieve what you want.

So here in Ephesians in chapter 4, look in verse 30. The verse 30 says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you’re sealed until the day of redemption. Now the day you trusted Christ as your Savior. When you heard that Jesus Christ died on the cross, paid for all of your sins, you believe He did it for you. God saves you, saves you from hell. That means you don’t get to go to hell. He gives you eternal life.

You’re now His child, and as His child you’re going to heaven. And the Bible says that you were sealed that very moment with the Holy Spirit of God. promise. And it says here, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Now the Holy Spirit has power. The Holy Spirit has influence. The Holy Spirit is not power and influence. The Holy Spirit is a person that has power and influence. The Holy Spirit is what we call in the Word of God.

He is the unknown God that most people never know anything about. But the Holy Spirit is God living inside of you when you trust that Christ is your Savior. And God says that we grieve the Holy Spirit. So you need to know and understand that when I choose to sin, I choose to grieve God. Think about it and think it through. When I choose to sin, to rebel against God, to do something that’s wrong, then I know it’s wrong.

I chose to cause God grief. If there’s anyone that we should love, anyone we should fear, anyone we should Respect it ought to be the Lord. He’s the last one that you should ever want to cause grief to And yet God says that we grieve the Holy Spirit of God We’re by your shield until the day of redemption So we know that we’re blessed by God in the heavenlies and There’s things yet that God wants to give us here upon the earth So God has been good to it Well, the Bible says here in Ephesians in chapter 5 in verse 1 where it makes a statement, be followers of God.

It means to be imitators of God. And I thought, wouldn’t it be something that if every time we got ready to do something, we would say, um, something along this line, I’m going to pretend I’m Jesus. Now, what would Jesus do? I said, trying to be like Jesus, pretend nerv Jesus. Will that make you think twice? Before I say, when you talk into somebody, whether it’s the wife or the kids or the husband or boss, anybody, I’m going to pretend I’m Jesus.

Now what would Jesus say? What would Jesus do? How am I supposed to respond? How am I supposed to react or respond to whatever is going on? on. I thought that would make a good sermon, but I haven’t got it done so I can’t preach it yet. But I want you to get this. Look in 1 Corinthians in chapter 6, 1 Corinthians and chapter 6.

I want you to know that yes, you have the Holy Spirit of God living within you, and when you are rebellious you grieve God. When the woman rebels against her husband, it grieves God. When the husband is not a loving husband or a good father, it grieves God. It causes him grief. And I can tell you right now, you’re not going to grieve God and win. I don’t think that’s a wise thing to do. But here in 1 Corinthians in chapter 6 verse 19 says, what?

Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God and you’re not your own. So whenever you trust in Christ as your Savior, you know you have been bought and paid for. You belong to whoever bought you. Well, Christ died on the cross and paid for my sins. He owns me. I trusted him as my Savior. His death put to my account and the payment he made. I’ve been bought.

I’ve been redeemed, paid for. So I belong to the one who bought me. And the Lord says, what know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which you have of God? And then he says in verse 20, for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods. So it’s like God, he’s got my my body, then my spirit, and me, which is the soul. So he bought my body, soul, and spirit.

I belong totally to the Lord. So if I belong to him, should I want to call him grief? You see, the Lord should be the most important thing in your life. And if he’s not, sin is going to take its toll upon you. You’re not gonna be doing like you should. Turn into Bible 1 Peter chapter three. First Peter and chapter 3, this is the scripture that I usually use with marriage, you know, husband and wife, talking to them about problems.

And everybody has a few problems here and there, but some people maybe have less than others, but it’s a wonderful thing to know that God has given to us an example. And it makes a statement here, and I want you to see this in verse 7. See, he talks about in the first six verses about the way the woman is supposed to be. How godly she’s supposed to be, sweet and wonderful and all that kind of stuff. Then it talks about the man, and it says in verse 7, likewise, ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life and you ought to underline this part of the So you need to know what will my sin cost me.

What’s it going to cost me? It’s going to cost you and hinder your prayer life. Because see, when you’re not right with the Lord, you’re not going to be praying like you ought to. When you’re not right with other people, you’re not going to be praying like you ought to. Because it becomes a virus and it contaminates you. And it makes you, where you can’t think clearly. clearly and you get in a fitter raid sometimes and you’re ruled by emotions and you don’t think rationally like you should think.

And that’s why God says I want you to know what it’s going to cost you. I didn’t put these verses in the Bible. God put them in there. I’m just trying to bring them to your attention even though you may already know them and it may not be that you need it today but you might need it tomorrow or the next day because you don’t know what’s going to happen down the road and we don’t know what going to transpire in our life as far as what people are going to say or do or what you’re going to say or do.

I’m glad that there is a verse in the Bible that says whenever we sin against the Lord, though we have a verse that says 1 John 1 9 that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and the cleansers from all in righteousness. That’s to the believer on fellowship between him and God. So anyway, these are some good verses that you need to keep in mind. Now take your Bible look in the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 9.

1 Corinthians and chapter 9. The Apostle Paul talks about wanting to win, to gain, and he lays it out pretty strong. talks about us all running a race, he says, and we run because we want to win. He says, but they in the world run to obtain a corruptible crown and we an incorruptible crown. It means that our time running this race is not a waste of time. It means that after you trust Christ as your Savior, the time that God gives us to live that God wants us, as His children, to serve Him, to run the race.

And if we run the race according to the rules, then God is going to reward us when we get to heaven. I play a little football, a little basketball, and a little softball, and baseball, and Chinese checkers. But anyway, I’ve played a few sports. I don’t have to be good at any of them, just enjoy them. But in everything that you do, there’s always rules and regulations. Now, on myself, when I get ready to bat, I really don’t like for there to be an umpire.

And I don’t like it when the pitcher is trying to be the umpire. I wanna call the balls in strike, because the only reason I didn’t swing at those that are high and low and outside, the inside is because they were all balls. I didn’t wanna swing at those. I’d rather be the umpire. But you know, it doesn’t work very good if everybody becomes their own umpire. When I’m running the first base and I get there, if he gets there an inch before I get there, they call me out.

I would rather be the umpires, I’m safe. Now, would I be prejudiced if I was the umpire? Of course not, you know I’d be fair. You’re always out. Me, I’m always safe. And when I get up there to bat, I don’t like the bunt. I want to hit a home run. So every time I hit, I’m trying to hit it as hard as I can, as far as I can, because that’s the way I am. I do everything like that.

But on a team, there comes a time when you have to listen to the… You know, if you’ve got a ref, you’ve got a coach, you’ve got to listen to what somebody tells you for the team’s sake, what you win or you lose. And the last thing I’d want is somebody to say, just run it down to third-day baseline. No. Sometimes you need a coach, somebody that can see what you’re doing and give you some good advice. You see, on our team, the Lord, he’s the coach.

He’s calling the play. He’s doing this, you know, he’s the umpire. And he tells us what to do and what not to do. And make sure that you understand that everybody on his team gets to bat. Everybody on his team gets to bat. Every one of his children will have an opportunity. It may not be that you get to go first. You just sit and be patient. God will use every one of his on his team. But now if you can’t listen to the coach, you know what the coach might do or the ref might do or the, he might just tell you to go sit on the bench.

When it comes to serving the Lord, the apostle Paul says, I play by the rules. Less when I have preached to others, I myself am disqualified and I have to go sit on the bench. That’s what he says there in verse 27. He said, but I bring my body under subjection. I want to rule my body, not my body rule me. Now when I preach to others, I myself, if not a castaway or set aside because it’s talking about what sin can do to you.

Sin can take you out of the game. The game is so important. What we live for, our cause is so important. And you don’t want to have to be set aside or settle in this. You want God to use you. It’s so important. Take your Bible looking Psalms 51, the 51st Psalm, all the way back in the Old Testament, the 51st Psalm. There was a guy by the name of David. Everybody remember David? You know that young boy that went out there and he took a bear and ripped him apart with his bare hands?

Did the same thing with a lion? And took off the head of Goliath? Wouldn’t that have been something that had that on video? Man, I’d show that every day. How the little boy took down the big giant. And when he slung that thing around, the Holy Spirit took that little rock and guided that little rock and he planted it right in the middle of his forehead. It sunken in there and the man was dead. Because he yielded to the Lord.

And God raised him up and says, you’re going to be the king of Israel. A lot of things happen in young David’s life and finally he got to be the king and when he got to be the king well the time came when kings go out to battle that’s what kings do but the came of time when this king didn’t want to go out to battle you see he had been up in his palace and he overlooked and lo and behold he saw this beautiful woman and I I don’t know how far away it was or whatever it was, caught his eye.

And next thing you know she was in the palace, and next thing you know she was in his bed. Next thing you know she’s having a kid, not a cover of that sin. He had Uriah, he had taken and put into the heat of the bottle so that he would die. So he was guilty of adultery, and he was guilty of murder. So God’s going to have to whoop him. Here’s a man after God’s own heart, wouldn’t it? God had greatly used.

And David’s last days of his life, he had misery upon, misery upon misery of all the things that happened in his family. Did he get away with it, didn’t get away with it? And so God took something away from David that David loved. not only taken the child, but he took the joy of his salvation away. He didn’t have any joy. So he says here in Psalms 51, he says in verse 1, he said, Lord, have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me.

And then he says down there in verse 6, Behold thou desire truth in the inward part. In the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom, purge me with histop and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be wider than snow. Made me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hath broken may rejoice. God done beat the Torah out of him.” And his joy was gone. He was in misery. He says, in a third-something-something.

He said he’d just-he cried day and night. He was dried up like a putcher. He was just-everything was going wrong in David’s life. He was carrying sand that he was hiding. And he hadn’t come clean between him and God. God had to deal with him. So he says in verse 10, create in me a new heart and renew a right spirit within me. Verse 11, cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

See in the old test with the Holy Spirit was used by God to come upon people to do certain works and then would leave. The promise invu the New Testament in John chapter 14 in verse 16, it says, and I will be I will give you a comforter that may abide with you forever in the comforter. In verse 26 of John chapter 14 is the Holy Spirit. So when you and I trust Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells us and will never leave us and never forsake us.

The Old Testament before Christ died, yes. But that doesn’t mean that David lost his salvation. David did not lose his salvation, but he did lose the joy. That’s why he says in verse 12, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then, cause whenever you give me my joy back, he’s the outteached transgressors, thy ways. Sinners shall be converted unto thee. So he was talking about how that God didn’t want to sacrifice from him.

He wanted a broken and a contrite heart. You see, God doesn’t want your sacrifice in the sense that that’s supposed to make up for God wants you when you rebel against the Lord, when you sin against the Lord, He wants you to come broken before Him. He wants you to humble and submit yourself to Him and call it what it is that I send against you. And God says He’s faithful and just to forgive. If you don’t, then you carry around the guilt because you know it’s not right yet.

You try to hide it from God, but you can’t hide anything from God. God knows everything. And it just kind of weighs upon you. And you don’t have that freedom, that lifting off of it, that you’ve got that heavy cloud that just follows you everywhere you go. And you want the bright sunlight. You want the weight lifted off your shoulders. And God can do all of that for you. But if you try to hide your sin from God, it’s going to cost you dearly.

You come straight to the Lord, you humble yourself, and you confess the sin and forsake the sin as a believer. And God will bless you and restore a lot of things to you. But it’s the joy that he was talking about. See that in verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. Oh God, that will not despise. God won’t despise that. That’s what God is after. God knows that we all fail, we all sin.

Just make sure that when you do, you own up to it. And God will take care of everything else. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tapp of Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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 toll free, 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again, or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible and 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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. Now look there in chapter four in verse one chapter four verse one and Adam new Eve So a hello, Eve well hello Adam No This is talking about an a married relationship The intimacy between a man and a woman She conceived and bear Cain and said I have gotten a man from the Lord She probably and I can’t swear to it.

She probably believe this was the man. That’s gonna be the one from God. I don’t know how much she knew or understood, but whatever it wasn’t him. Cain was not the deliverer and he was a keeper of the ground and his brother in verse 2 was a keeper of sheep. So you have somebody who raised vegetables and you had someone that raised sheep. Somewhere along the line they had to understand. Somebody had to tell them what the sacrifice meant.

And that was a payment for their sin. And that it showed the mercy of God and the grace of God, the forgiveness of God, because God didn’t take it out on you. That’s substitution. But it was a picture of one day the seed of the woman that was going to come is going to be the payment for the sin of the whole world. And these sacrifices they made were only a type, a type, a picture of something that was coming down the road.

Now, here’s what he says here. It says here in verse 4, and Abel, he brought of the first lean of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel into his offering. But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect. And Cain got very rough, and his countenance fell. So he got mad, he got upset. But in verse six, and the Lord said and became, why are thou wroth? Well, why you mad?

Why you so upset about? He says, why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well? Well, if you bring the right sacrifice, no problem. But if you don’t understand him, there’s an offering at the door. In other words, there probably was a little lamb laying there at the door, and all he had to do was offer the little lamb like God had said, but he wouldn’t do it. And he says, if you do, he says, you, you, been ahead of the home, been the firstborn.

Your brother will wind up serving you. Let’s see, he blew it off. But the truth is still taught to the very first family. This is the first family. She was the first lady. And these kids, one of them was a liberal and one was a fundamentalist. The liberal didn’t want to listen and do what God says, do they’re going to do it their way? And of course you have able, he did it God’s way. And God had respect to that one and not the other one.

And understand this from the very beginning. God does not have respect for all the religions of the world. He has none. You see, don’t you have respect for other people’s belief? No, no, why? Because God does it. You see, God has given his son as the payment for the sins of the whole world. And only people who believe that and trust Christ and Him alone have eternal life. You cannot earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven.

Salvation from hell is only through Christ. It’s not through the church, it’s not through the preacher, not through the priest, not through anybody, only through Christ and Him and Him alone. So you can offer your good works. Well, I go to church and I pray and I do my beads or I do this, I do that. Whatever it is you do and give my money and I try to help people and that will not help you. That will not say that’s a fig leaf.

It won’t work. That’s bringing vegetables. God wants the blood sacrifice, a death for your sins. The wages of sin is death. And he says concerning the body of Christ, the blood of Christ, he says, and the blood of Christ, he says, is an offering for your soul. And that’s why we understand that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. There is none. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Genesis in chapter four. Well, I want you to see this up there in that verse seven, where it says, if thou doest well, shall thou not be accepted?

For if thou doest not well, sin, lie at the door. And under thee shall be his able’s desire, and thou shalt rule over him. But see, he blew it. And it says nine, verse eight, nine and 10, well, he killed his brother. Because see, when you don’t do things God’s way, it leads to one sin that leads to another sin that leads to another sin. You see, there’s people today, they’re having abortions. I believe abortion is murder. I believe abortion is sin.

Why? Because it’s to cover another sin. You see, when the Roman had the right to choose, she’d have made the choice before you had the baby. Before you had sex. It is wicked for people outside of marriage to live together, to have sex together, to have children out of wedlock. It’s wrong. You can’t make it right. And all the, well, we just love each other. No, you don’t. True love does right by each other. True love doesn’t want to hurt, to shame, to pain, anyone that you really love.

So you go by what God’s Word has to say. And I know that sometimes that makes people upset. He said, well, that makes me feel guilty. Well, you are. If I was to preach on the holiness of God and how perfect God is, and you sit there thinking, well, I’m not holy. Of course you’re not. Well, I feel guilty. You should. We’re all sinners. We ought to feel guilty. So when Christ died, He died to pay for our sins to remove the guilt.

So I don’t have to live my life feeling guilty. Did you know that I don’t care what sin you’ve ever committed? God can forgive it. I like that, but you’ve got to play by the rules. You have to admit this is what I am. I am a sinner. Christ died for me, paid for my sins. Now look in chapter eight. Genesis in chapter eight. Genesis chapter eight and look there in verse 20. Now you know there’s been a big flood.

There was a lot of water and a lot of mud. They finally got off the boat. Did you know that whenever he got on that boat, God told them to take extra animals on the boat because he wanted them to offer them as a sacrifice. So when they got off the ark, he had a sacrifice. See, they’re in verse 20, and Noah built an altar unto the Lord and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Now you don’t offer those except for sin. It’s because of sin. Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives, they were sinners and they made sacrifices. There was nobody else. It was for their sins. It wasn’t for God’s sin. He didn’t have any. They were the only people on the earth that had to be for them. Something innocent had to die for their sin. That’s substitution. You see, that’s what we still teach today, but we all point to Christ.

Christ was my substitution. He was the one that paid for my sins. And I don’t have to offer Him up as a sacrifice. He offered Himself without spot or blemish. He had no cause to die. He was a perfect Lamb of God. And so when He died on the cross, He paid for all the sins of all the world. you and I get to go to heaven because of what he did for us. Now turn to Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis chapter 22. There’s a wonderful, wonderful story here, and I hope I can bring it out as well as it’s written here. But there’s a story about Abraham, and God had promised that he was going to have a son, And through his son, he would have a great nation. And the families of the earth would be blessed through this son. And the son’s name was Isaac. And so God had told him to leave the Earl of the Counties about, oh, when he was 75 years old.

His wife now was 90 years old and he was 99 years old, so they had this physical problem. They were past the age of childbearing. So unless God weren’t American, they wouldn’t have a child. And Abraham knew that. So he says, Lord, one that is born from my loins must be my seed. And I don’t have a child. And I just happen to be 99 years old. So God told him, says that you’re going to have a child. And lo and behold, it wasn’t long before Isaac was born.

Now there was another one, Ishmael, from a previous relationship with Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid. But now looking verse 1, and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and sudden Abraham, and he said, Behold, here am I. And he said, take now thy son, thy only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah. Now remember, we’re reading in the book of Genesis. I mean, this is a long time ago. This is before the law was given.

This is before David come along. This is before Christ came here. But notice what it’s teaching. And he said, I want you to take your son, thy only son. And I want you to take him to Mount Moriah. Now believe it or not, God the Father had a son, his only son. And he offered his son on Mount Moriah, same place. But it’s worded pretty much like God the Father and what he has to go through, what he went through.

But look what he says. He says, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering. A burnt offering. That means he would be offering him for sins. He was going to offer his own son as a burnt offering. That means he was going to burn him. Now he was going to slay his son and then set him on fire. So that’s what they did with the sacrifices. But see in the temple whenever they was going to do this and they brought them to the place where the burnt offerings to be made, they would lay that little lamb down there and they would tie them to the horns of the altar.

There was four horns around the brazen altar and they would put their hand upon the head of the animal and then they would slit the throat and drain the blood. And it was like this animal is dying for my sin, substitution. And if this was a picture of God showing me mercy, God showing me grace, God showing me His forgiveness. God not imputing my sins to me but to this animal. The animal was innocent. The animal hadn’t done anything wrong.

And so, but that animal that died was a picture of the Lamb of God, which is Christ. And God laid his own son up on the altar. And that means when he was put on the cross. And he bore the sins of the whole world and died for us. But look what he says in verse 3. He says, and Abraham rose up early in the morning and settled his ass and took two of the young men with him. Isaac his son and claved the wood for the burn offering.

Rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day, isn’t it amazing? Third day. I don’t know what that means. Okay. lifted of his eyes and he saw the place afar off. An Abraham said unto his sons, his young men, a by G here, a by G here, with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. So he said, look, as he told him, me, my son, we’re gonna go there and we’re gonna worship and we are gonna come back.

So Abraham knew, and Abraham believed that if he did offer his only son, that God had promised would be the seat of the earth and produce the great nation of Israel. And through him, all families of the earth would be blessed. He believed that God would raise his son from the dead. Now, when you read the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, it says that, and it says that Abraham received him as a type. Ava, the Father offering his Son as a sacrifice, and believe that God would raise him from the dead.

Abraham believed that. So he knew what he was doing. He understood. He didn’t know how God was gonna deliver all of this, only that his faith was in God. Because he knew God had miraculously worked to give him the Son. And that if it hadn’t have been for God, giving him the Son, there would be no Son. So when God says, I want you to offer this Son upon the altar. And you’re to take his life. Abraham obeyed and he went.

And he says in verse six, and Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son. Do you know in the New Testament it talks about Jesus Christ had to bear his own cross? And he was bearing his cross upon which he was going to be sacrificed. This is doing the same thing. Now is this a picture or not? I didn’t write this. But look what else he says. And he laid it upon Isaac his son and he took the fire in his hand and a knife and they went both of them together.

And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and he said, my father and he says, here am I my son. And he says, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Now if you were a young child, wouldn’t that make you curious? Dad, I know we’re going to offer a burnt sacrifice and I see the wood and I see the fire, but there’s something missing here. Where’s the lamb? Where’s the lamb? And look in verse 8, and Abraham said, my son, God will provide Himself.

God will provide Himself. Did you know that when Christ went to the cross, Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and God provided the lamb. It was his only son. As he says in John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe it in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So can you know you have eternal life? Yes, you can. You can know it and be certain of going to heaven whenever you die because of the sacrifice that was made.

what else he says here. In verse 9, and they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there, laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son. I think he’s probably got the idea now, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Now I wonder if he was rebellious in any way. I wonder if he went kicking and scratching and fighting and cursing his dad, or if he was just plain obedient.

I actually believe that he just laid himself down, and I don’t believe he resisted his dad in any way. But I don’t know, that’s just a little yank-yology, because he was a type of a lamb that was led to the slaughter, and he opened not his mouth. But anyway, look at this. He says in verse 10, “…And Abraham stretched forth his hand, took the knife to slay his son.” I think it’s getting close, don’t you? I mean, this is getting close.

And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of the heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, here am I. And he says, lay not thine hand upon the lad, need to do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fear is God, see and thou hath not withheld thy son, thine only son from him. There’s something else I want you to see. I didn’t see this until just recently. In verse 13, Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by the horns.

Do you know whenever he was going to slay his son? The ram was caught in a thicket behind him. He didn’t see it. He didn’t see it until God stopped him. So he was going to act in faith and believing that this was the will of God and if God was God, then God would raise his son because God had promised that he was going to be the father of a great nation. This son because God had promised to him in chapter 18, he says, your son Isaac, I see you shall be called.

And also in chapter 22, these things are awesome when you stop and think about them. So there is a substitution here. He was going to die, but he was a pitcher. Down the road of Jesus Christ, going to Mount Moriah, the only begotten of the Father, and making a payment for the sins of the whole world. Look what he says. In verse 13, an Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, and Abraham went and took the ram, offered him up for a burnt offer in the stead of his son.

And you ought to underline those were in the stead of his son in place of his son. That is substitution. That’s substitution. When Christ died, he did not die for his sin. He was offered up in our place so that you and I don’t have to go to hell. Now, you may not totally understand everythingachel I’m saying, but I want to explain it one more time. You saw me do this just while youabase watch one more time.{” This hand represents you and me.

And the wallet represents everything we’ve ever done wrong. Now God says that He loves us. Now He hates what we do wrong. He hates our sin. But since we committed the sin, we are guilty. Now either we can admit it and accept God’s forgiveness and so forth, and we don’t have to worry about it anymore, or we can run and hide and try to sew our fig leaves together and bring some of the works of our hands and what we do and go to church.

And I offer God money when the plate comes by, put money in because you think that’s going to help in the day and the future. You know, it won’t help one I older. You mean I just put money in the plate and it won’t help me none at all? Well, what you’ve already given, we got. So you ain’t getting that bad. But anyway, you’ll be wise for the next time, but it will not save you. It won’t even help.

But God loves you. He hates what you do wrong. He loves me, but he don’t like what I do wrong. But God says the whole world is guilty. So he proved that in the very beginning with just two people. They both had sinned and they represented the whole world at that time. And then in chapter nine, when he talks about with Noah and his family, that there were sacrifices made for the whole family. God says all have sinned. So here we are today, and God has judged that the whole world is guilty before God, and nobody is good enough to save themselves.

So God says, I love you. I hate your sin. And for you to pay for sin is eternal separation from God, inhale. So is everybody a sinner? Everybody’s condemned. Now, God says to go to heaven, you have to be perfect, as righteous is God, and no one’s perfect, no one’s righteous. We’ve all failed. We’ve come short of God’s perfection. I was playing golf with a guy one day and I said, I missed a putt. And I said, you know what that is?

I said, that’s harmatano. And he just looked at me. I said, it means I missed the mark. I missed the mark. I put it again and it was a double harmatano. But we have committed a lot of sin, a lot of harmatano. We’ve missed the mark all our life. We’re sinners. And God says, you cannot save yourself. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord, God in the flesh. And these Old Testament stories are illustrated in this great truth.

And they understood about the sacrifice because the sacrifice that was even done under the law and all those sacrifices they made was to show God’s mercy. God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, imputation in place of, instead of substitution. God taught them that all the way through the Old Testament so that they would understand because it was a picture of the day when Jesus Christ would come to the earth and die on the cross and pay for all the sins of all the world.

So Jesus Christ had no sin. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from God. That’s why they had to leave the presence of God in the garden. Because, see, in heaven, God is perfect. You and I, we’re not. We’ve come short of perfection. We cannot enter into the presence of God because of sin. And all of your good works, so in your fig leaves together, trying to impress God. Offering Him, the works of your hand will not save you.

God required a blood sacrifice from the the very first man and first woman, the first kids, all the way down. And still today, if you reject what Christ did for you, you will not have salvation, you will not go to heaven. And it won’t matter about your religion. Your religion cannot save you. Your religion can’t get you to heaven. It’s either Christ and Christ alone or you don’t have eternal life. You can’t have it. So God says, if you and I will simply believe that when Christ died, He died for our sins.

Came back from the dead and said, if you and I would believe He did it for us, He would put this payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. That’s good news. That’s the best news in all the world. So if you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, I think that day would be a good day. He says, behold, today is the day of salvation, because see, you don’t have a guarantee of tomorrow.

Wouldn’t it be a shame for you to wait till tomorrow? And it’s too late. But see, there’s no tricks to it. There’s no gimmicks to it. You don’t become a religious hypocrite because you’re not promising to stop anything or join anything. All you’re doing is being honest. I’m a sinner. I can’t save myself. Christ died for me, and I’m going to trust what He did, that it was for me. He was my substitute. He died for my sins. So if He died for my sins, means I don’t have to pay for my sins.

That’s the mercy of God. That shows the grace of God, the forgiveness of God. I think it’s a wonderful idea of myself. I’m kind of kind of like fell in love with this whole plan of salvation because there is no other. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, why not trust Christ as your Savior this morning? Let’s pray, shall we? With every head bowed and every eye closed and no one looking around, if you’ve never trusted the Lord, would you just talk to the Lord right now and say, Lord, I don’t understand at all, but I know that I’m a sinner.

And I believe Christ died on that cross and pay for my sins and I’m going to trust him to take me to heaven whenever I die. And friend God said that if you would trust him, he would save you. I can’t save you. The church can’t save you. No church can save you. Will you trust the Lord? Would you believe he died for you? God in heaven knows right now he sees you. Everybody’s naked before God. And he knows whether or not you’ve been clothed with the righteousness of Christ or not.

And if you haven’t, would you trust him right now? If you’re making that decision, I’d like to have prayer for you. So I’m going to ask you with headbound, nice clothes, if you were to trust the Lord. And I’d like to know by your uplifted hand. But raising your hand doesn’t save you. It just lets me know that what I said made sense. And I’d like to have prayer for you in closing. Is it in with all before we close?

Yes, I’ll trust Christ as my Savior and I’d like for you to pray for me. Just slip it up real quick. Yes, God bless you. God bless you, ma’am. You can put your hands down. Anyone else just very quickly. Yes, God bless you back there. Yes, I see your hand. Anyone else. Yes, God bless you. Other others. There’s no tricks with no gimmicks. I’m not going to have you forward. Not going to embarrass you. But right where you’re sitting, sitting, I just want to know.

I’d just like to have prayer for you. It’s a sign of good judgment. Only a fool would turn down a free gift. It’s free. And if you trust Christ right now, He saves you right now, saves you from hell, gives you eternal life, and you can know that you’re going to heaven whenever you die. He did it for you. Anyone else before we close? Our Father, we thank You so much for all that You’ve done for us. We’re thankful for the opportunity to present the gospel.

And for those who hear and understood, we ask Your blessings upon each one of them. We thank You for them. We pray they’ll get a Bible and read and study it and meet with good Christians and father just getting to a Bible believe in teaching church. We ask your blessings upon them. We pray that you bless the fellowship in Christ and 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 are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Watch Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing tool free, 1-800-576-3771. 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 1030 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.

So live today and every day. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the Bibleline Ministries dot O-R-G 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. Now, I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Genesis and chapter 2. Last week I spoke a sermon on the clarity of the gospel in the Old Testament. So today is part 2, the clarity of the gospel in the Old Testament. Now a lot of times people say, well, it’s clear in the New Testament, but it’s not clear in the Old Testament.

Well, I beg the differ with you. I want you to see what God had told them all the way back there in the garden. So if you look there in Genesis chapter 2, look in verse 23. Genesis chapter 2, verse 23, boy, you can’t get much further back than the first man in the first woman, can you? My son will start at the beginning and you’ll notice something here in verse 23, and Adam said, this is now boned of my bones, flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Now whenever you read that little statement there, they were both naked and they were not ashamed. Might make you blush a little bit to read that in the Bible. But I don’t believe it was because Adam and Eve were ashamed of each other. But they were not ashamed before God that they were naked.

And then I want to show you something else. They had been told, you know, free enjoy everything that I provided for you. In other words, God gave them a utopia upon the earth. In other words, it never got any better than that since the day of creation. They had it made. You realize they didn’t really have to work. Just enjoy themselves. And they couldn’t handle it. They were only told one thing not to do and they couldn’t handle that.

And did it. And so it says in chapter 3 and verse 6, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desired to make one wise. Well, what woman wouldn’t go for that? She took the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were open and they They knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apron.

Now they know they were naked. So being naked costs them a little bit of fellowship with God. If you will, I want you to hold your place here because I’m going to come back here, but I’ve got a verse I want you to look at with me. Turn all the way over there to the book of Hebrews in chapter 4. Hebrews and chapter 4. You’ll lose your place now in the Old Testament there, but in Hebrews and chapter 4.

Hebrews chapter 4, and you’ll notice there in verse 12, verse 12, where he says, for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the divide in the sonder of soul and spirit and then of the joints and the tomorrow. That’s body, soul, and spirit. And is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. The Word of God is all of those things. That’s why when you read the Bible, it kind of convicts you.

It makes you feel guilty sometimes. It pricks your heart. The Word of God is sharp and powerful than any two-edged sword. That’s why the most powerful thing on the earth is the Word of God. And notice what He says in verse 13. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. So there was no place to hide, no place for any man to run because everybody is naked before God.

God sees everything and everywhere. So there’s nothing you can say or do that God doesn’t see. Now let’s go back to the book of Genesis. So when it says, and their eyes were open and they knew they were naked, they knew they were naked before God because they had sinned against God. They knew they now were guilty and they had a reason to be afraid. They had a reason to want to hide from who? God. They did not hide from each other.

They didn’t run from each other. They hid from God because they knew now God knows their sin and they hid. They were afraid. They were naked before God. Now go back here to book of Genesis in chapter 3. And you’ll notice they’re in verse seven and the eyes of them both were open and they knew that they were naked. They knew they were naked. Now I want you to look down in verse eight. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

And Adam and his wife and Yorah on the line, these two were. This is what they did. Why? Because they knew they were naked. They knew that they had wronged themselves. They had wronged God. And he says, and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Isn’t it true that whenever we do this little thing with the wallet, one of the first things we try to teach anybody that we’re all sinners?

Or what is the problem here? Is that they were all sinners. There’s only two of them, but they were sinners. And because they had sinned, they had to lead the presence of God. What? present no sin. You have to be perfect. You’ll find the gospel presentation in the Bible, in the Old Testament. They’ve all were sinners and there was a payment for sin. But you’ll also know that there’s always going to be religion that enters in to just about everything.

They say there’s two things you never argue about and that’s religion and politics. It’s the only thing there is. Everything has to deal with what you believe or what you do. So because of what you believe that you want to go for a mental force that takes care of that and allows you to do what you believe is right for you to do. So we try to change people’s mind and educate them on how to think so they know how to live.

So we try to teach even little children how to read and write so they can be beneficial to in society. But now here’s what he says, in verse eight. And they hid themselves and you ought to underline this word from the presence of the Lord, the presence of the Lord. That’s why we say, see, in God’s present, you have to be perfect. No sin. Well, that’s taught right here. So the gospel and the reason for the good news is right here in the Scriptures, and I’ll show it in just a second.

In verse 9, and the Lord God called on the Adam and said unto him, where are thou? What did you think God knew where he was? God knew where he was. He just maybe didn’t know where he was. See, when When you get lost, you don’t know where you are. You’re lost. Where are you going when you died? Well, I don’t know. Then you’re lost. You see, if you ask me that question, pastor, where are you going when you die?

I’m going to heaven. I know where I’m going. So I’m not lost. I know how to get there. And if you don’t know where you’re going when you die, this is because you don’t know how to get there. Are you lost? But let me show you it away. He says, where are you? In verse 10, and he said, I heard thy voice in the garden. I was afraid. Why was he afraid? Remember, God had just told him the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die.

Now spiritual death done, but now they’re still physically alive. How far is God going to take this thing? Do they deserve to die? Die like die, die dead? I believe so. Why didn’t he just kill him right then on the spot? Let me get this. So he says in verse 10, and because I was naked, and I hid myself, see that’s what sin does. Sin makes you afraid of God. That’s why the people today and even in America, they don’t want the Bible in the schools.

What, because the Bible makes people feel guilty. He said, why? Because they’re guilty. You sure I have an inferiority complex, but you ought to, you inferior. That’s why you feel that way. You have a guilty complex because you’re guilty. The word of God is designed in such a way to make a man feel guilty, works on his conscience, because you know what’s right and wrong, and you know you’re wrong, so God deals with us. But look what else he says, I hid myself.

So some people try to hide from God. But now, there’s also something else that he did in order to hide from God. You see up there in verse seven, looking verse seven. And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked before God. And they sowed fig leaves together. Well, who told them to do that? And what were fig leaves for? Well, they, God can’t see them now. They could see each other, but they don’t want God.

They’re hiding from God. But God was not satisfied with their fig leaves. You see, fig leaves is man’s good works to hide himself from God. You see, there’s people who think, you know, God is good, God is righteous, God is holy. So to keep God from being mad at me and sending me to hell, I’ll go to church. And I’ll even put money in the offering plate. Because that kind of keeps God from seeing my sin because he sees all these good little things that I’m doing.

And so I do these good deeds and God won’t see my bad deeds. So I’m hiding in religion. Do you believe that there’s people that actually go to church thinking that that’s going to help get them to heaven? They think God can’t really see them because look how good I have been. Is it going to work? It’s not going to work. Because see, the fig leaves was man’s righteousness. It was man’s way of hiding his sin. It was man’s way of trying to earn favor back with God.

So God can’t see they’re wrong. And I want you to notice that when sin enters in, it causes a whole bunch of problems. Look there in verse 11. And the Lord, who told thee that thou was naked? Who told you you were? Has thou eaten of the tree? Where have I commanded thee that thou should earth not eat? Were they confronted? They were confronted. And look what else he said. And the man said, the woman, now get this. He did not blame the woman.

He blamed God. Look at it. The woman whom thou gave us me. Lord, you know that woman you brought to me? It’s not my fault. It was that woman you made. It’s the blame game. Don’t people say, well, if God didn’t want me to sin, He shouldn’t have made me like this. I can’t help I’m a sinner. If God created me and I’m a sinner, well God made me so there you go. Why get mad at me for something He did?

It sounds like pretty good reasoning to me. Well, that was His reason way back then. Did God accept his reasoning? No. And he says, the woman whom thou gave us to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I didn’t eat, but she did it, but it’s the one you gave to me. And then number 13, the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman says, the serpent begualled me, and I didn’t eat, it was the serpent’s fault.

It wasn’t Adam and these faults, it was God, it was the serpent, it was the devil. they they it’s their fault of why we’re like this. So whenever we as sinners get caught, it’s so easy to lie. God says let God be true in every man a liar. Now I didn’t say that God says that. His word teaches that. So sin separates us from God’s present and sin causes fear. It produces religion and it produces blame. Now look in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21.

Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21. You’ll notice in verse 21 what God did. He says, the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die. So did they deserve to die? Well, yes. Well, did they die that day? Well, physically, no, because he lived to be 950 years old. Now, that’s a perted day of grace. But look in verse 21, unto Adam, also and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them. Now, you stop and think just for a moment.

Did they at that moment deserve to physically die? Yes, because that’s what God said. So on that day as a substitute for their sin. If they had a coat of skin, then there must have been an animal that died. Huh? Yeah. So something died that was innocent, that didn’t have to die. What does a sacrifice mean? It means instead of God killing them, on that very day, there was something else that died in their place. a substitute, a covering, and they took off the fig leaves and put on the coat of skin.

The reason for that is because the God wanted not salvation by your works of what they sowed together but by a blood sacrifice, a substitute. Now listen, this is with the first man and woman that you’re not saved because of your but by a substitute, something dying in your place. So when there’s a sacrifice made, what does the sacrifice really mean? It teaches the mercy of God. It means instead of you dying and getting what you deserve, this animal died in your place.

And it taught the grace of God. You got to live because of a sacrifice. It taught forgiveness. You see, that sacrifice teaches something. It’s not just, okay, let’s just kill this animal. Why? Because God wanted a blood sacrifice something had to die. The day that you eat there, I’ll surely die. Death was required because of sin. and there was a substitute made because of sin. And who provided it? God did for the first man and the first woman. But look there in Genesis in chapter 3 and looking verse 15.

Looking verse 15. One of the things that’s mentioned here, and we ought to consider this to be the first promise in the Bible, where the Bible says here in verse 15, and I will put in the between the and the woman. He’s talking about the devil here. And he’s saying, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. So down the road, the woman doesn’t have a seed, but remember that the Holy Spirit of God moved over Mary and placed the seed in the woman.

And it says, that holy thing shall be called the son of the highest, the son of God. And that seed that came from that woman was going to crush the head of the serpent. But in doing so it will bruise his heel. Now if I saw a little rattlesnake calling up here to get me and I lifted up my leg and I crushed it’s head, I might kill the snake, but I’ll bruise my heel. When Christ went to the cross, yes, he was bruised for our iniquities.

The Bible says this, but in doing so, he defeated the devil and came back from the dead. So this is taught in the Old Testament in the very first promise given in the Word of God about a substitution. Now look there in chapter 4 and verse 1, chapter 4 verse 1. And Adam knew Eve. So hello Eve. Well hello Adam. No, this is talking about an a married relationship, the intimacy between a man and a woman. She conceived and barricade and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.

She probably, and I can’t swear to it, she probably, this was the man. That’s going to be the one from God. I don’t know how much you knew or understood, but whatever it wasn’t him. Cain was not the deliverer and he was a keeper of the ground. And his brother in verse 2 was a keeper of sheep. So you have somebody who raised vegetables and you had someone that raised sheep. Somewhere along the line they had to understand. Somebody had to tell them what the sacrifice meant.

And that was a payment for their sin. And that it showed the mercy of God and the grace of God, the forgiveness of God, because God didn’t take it out on you. That’s substitution. But it was a picture of one day the seed of the woman that was going to come is going to be the payment for the sin of the whole world and these sacrifices they made were only a type. A type, a picture of something that was coming down the road.

Now, get what he says here. It says here in verse 4, and Abel he brought of the first lean of his flock and of the fat thereof and the Lord had respect and to Abel into his offering. But under Cain and to his offering he had not respect and Cain got very He brought and his countenance felt. So he got mad, he got upset. But in verse six, and the Lord said in the cane, why are thou wroth? Well, why you mad?

Why you so upset about? He says, why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well? Well, if you bring the right sacrifice, no problem. But if you don’t understand him, there’s an offering at the door. In other words, there probably was a little lamb laying there at the door, and all he had to do was offer the little lamb like God had said, but he wouldn’t do it. And he says, if you do, he says, you, you’ve been ahead of the home, been the first born.

Your brother will wind up serving you. Let’s see, he blew it all. But the truth is still taught to the very first family. This is the first family. She was the first lady. And these kids, one of them was a liberal and one was a fundamentalist. The liberal didn’t want to listen and do what God says to do. They’re going to do it their way. And of course you have Abel. He did it God’s way. And God had respect to that one and not the other one.

And understand this from the very beginning. God does not have respect for all the religions of the world. He has none. He said, don’t you have respect for other people’s belief? No. No. Why? Because God doesn’t. You see, God has given his Son as the payment for the sins of the whole world. And only people who believe that and trust Christ and Him alone have eternal life. You cannot earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven. Salvation from hell is only through Christ.

It’s not through the church. It’s not through the preacher. Not through the priest. Not through anybody. Only through Christ and Him and Him alone. So you can offer your good works. Well, I go to church and I pray and I do my beads or I do this, I do that. Whatever it is you do and give my money and I try to help people and that will not help you. That will not say, that’s a fig leaf. It won’t work.

That’s bringing vegetables. God wants the blood sacrifice, a death for your sins. The wages of sin is death. And he says concerning the body of Christ, the blood of Christ, he says, and the blood of Christ, he says, is it an offering for your soul? And that’s why we understand that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. There is none. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Genesis in chapter 4. Well, I want you to see this up there in that verse 7, where it says, if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?

For if thou doest not well, sin, lie at that the door. And under thee shall be his able’s desire, and thou shalt rule over him. But see, he blew it. And it says nine in verse eight, nine in 10, where he killed his brother. Because see, when you don’t do things God’s way, it leads to one sin that leads to another sin that leads to another sin. You see, there’s people today, they’re having abortions. I believe abortion is murder.

I believe abortion is sin. Why? Because it’s to cover another sin. You see, when the Roma had the right to choose, she’d made the choice before you had the baby. Before you had sex. It is wicked for people outside of marriage to live together, to have sex together, to have children out of wedlock. It’s wrong. You can’t make it right. And all the, well, we just love each other. No, you don’t. True love does right by each other. True love doesn’t want to hurt, to shame, to pain anyone that you really love.

So you go by what God’s word has to say. And I know that sometimes that makes people upset. And you say, well, that makes me feel guilty. Well, you are. If I was to preach on the holiness of God and how perfect God is, and you’re sitting there thinking, well, I’m not holy. Of course you’re not. Well, I feel guilty. Well, you should. We’re all sinners. We ought to feel guilty. So when Christ died, He died to pay for our sins to remove the guilt.

So I don’t have to live my life feeling guilty. Did you know that I don’t care what sin you’ve ever committed? God can forgive it. I like that, but you gotta pay by the rules. You have to admit, this is what I am. I am a sinner. Christ died for me, paid for my sins. Now look in chapter 8. Genesis in chapter 8, Genesis chapter 8 and look there in verse 20. Now you know there’s been a big flood.

There was a lot of water and a lot of mud. They finally got off the boat. Did you know that whenever he got on that boat, God told him to take excellent on the boat because he wanted them to offer them as a sacrifice. So when they got off the yard, he had a sacrifice. See there in verse 20? And Noah, build up the boat.

and altered unto the Lord and took of every clean beast and of every clean foul and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Now you don’t offer those except for sin. It’s because of sin. Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives, they were sinners and they made sacrifices. There was nobody else. It was for their sins. It wasn’t for God’s sin, he didn’t have any. They were the only people on the earth that had to be for them.

Something innocent had to die for their sin. That’s substitution. You see, that’s what we still teach today, but we all point to Christ. Christ was my substitution. He was the one that paid for my sins, and I don’t have to offer him up as a sacrifice. He offered himself without spot or blemish. He had no cause to die. He was a perfect lamb of God. And so when he died on the cross, he paid for all the sins of all the world.

And you and I get to go to heaven because of what he did for us. Now, turn to Genesis chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22. There’s a wonderful, wonderful story here, and I hope I can bring it out as well as it’s written here. But there’s a story about Abraham, and God had promised that he was going to have a son, and through his son he would have a great nation. And that the families of the earth would be blessed through this son.

the son’s name was Isaac. And so God had told him to leave the early cal days about, oh, when he was 75 years old. His wife now was 90 years old and he was 99 years old. So they had this physical problem. They were past the age of chalbearing. So unless God weren’t American, they wouldn’t have a child. Abraham knew that. So he says, Lord, a one that is born from my loins must be my seed. And I don’t have a child.

And I just happen to be 99 years old. So God told him, says, you’re going to have a child. And lo and behold, it wasn’t long before Isaac was born. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tappa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

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 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. 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. Friends, 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, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 be a home. continue on the air. 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 message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Everybody wants to succeed in whatever they attempt to do. And so of course the key is finding the will of God for your life because not to do the will of God for your life is to be a failure. And so I’m looking at this not in so much respect as the other areas of life as I am spiritually. I’m concerned about a person being successful spiritually. The goal that you trust Christ as your Savior is to mature in the Lord, to grow strong so God can use you.

to find out the talents that you have and the treasures that God has blessed you with and the abilities that you have and how can you use whatever God has given to you for his honor. And you know that at the end of life we’re going to stand before the Lord at the Judgement of Christ, God’s going to reward us. And so you want to be successful. You want the Lord to say to you well done, thou good and faithful servant.

So you want to be obedient, but there’s things to learn. There’s so much you need to understand of what to do and what not to do. There is a philosophy of life, an understanding that every child of God needs. So the first thing I gave you last Sunday night was the attitude determines your altitude. The attitude is so important about how you see things. It determines your perspective on life. Number two was have goal will travel. In other words, you have to have a purpose in your life, a reason for living.

Why do you live? Why do you just go to work? Why do you just come home? Why do you do what you do? There’s got to be an underlying reason. And it should be that in everything that you do, it can be done to honor the Lord. Even a housewife should do what she does because she loves the Lord and wants to do whatever her hands find it to do to do it as unto God. Even your obedience to your husband and the husband’s obedience to God, the children’s obedience to the parents because they want God’s blessings upon them.

There has to be an underlying reason, a foundation upon which you build that is to sustain all the other decisions that you make and therefore you have to have something in order to relate it to. And the plan for profit, in other words, every day should be something that helps you toward the goal that you have set. And we know that God has given to us a course to run, a race to run. And God wants us to finish our course, finish our race with joy and fulfill the ministry that he is given to each and every one of us.

We have a ministry where we serve God, but we are ministering to each other. You may minister to your husband or your wife or your children to the people that you work with. Everybody has problems. Everybody needs encouragement. And so you need to plan to have a profitable day. The other thing was to think big, big, big because God is big. In the lives of a lot of God’s children, they have a small God, a small God that can’t do very much.

They don’t expect God to do anything for them, don’t expect God to work through them, because you see they put God in a little box and they put him aside and put him on a shelf and he’s there whenever you want him or whenever you need him, but you don’t think he can do too much because he’s not going to change anything. You don’t pray because he’s not going to answer your prayers anyway and you already believe whatever will be will be.

You think the devil is stronger than God. You think the flesh nature that you’ve got you can’t win anyway. You’ve got habits in your life that you won’t break because you don’t think he’s going to give you the victory anyway. So you just live a defeated life because you think small. You don’t think big. I believe that God is big enough to do everything he promised to do. I believe that God can take any dedicated nobody and use him for his honor and for is Gloria.

The other thing was fear not control will destroy because the Bible tells us when you’re not trusting the Lord, then fear will rule your heart. And when fear rules your heart, then the Bible says fear produces torment. And on many of God’s children live in fear because they’re afraid of the future, afraid of failure, afraid of health, afraid of money, afraid of everything, afraid of the bills, afraid of afraid, afraid of, and they don’t take thanks to God. And they bear these things and God says that they will destroy it.

There’s a philosophy and understanding that you have to have inside of you that you use in order to guide yourself It’s like having a set of glasses. They help you put things in the focus It’s an understanding basic truth from the Word of God that you understand the law of sowing and reaping and If you want to reap something you have to sow what you want to reap And if you so love you can reap blood you sow peace you can reap peace you sow anger you reap anger you sow malice you reap that and you sow gossip, you reap that.

And so you want the best for your life. You want peace and love and joy and happiness. You want these things. Those are the fruit of the Spirit. And God says, be not deceived. God is not whatsoever man soweth. That shall he also reap. So you and I are going to reap what we sow. And we know that the day will come when God says that every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. So there is a law of compensation that God says that will be in play and every man will receive what he has done.

Enthusiasm is the interest or the excitement that you put into your purpose in life. In other words, your whole life should be an exciting life to you. You should be interested in every day. You should be interested in the people that come into your life. You should be interested in the problems that come into your life. All those things are stepping stones or stumbling blocks. all depends on the attitude that you have toward those things. If people don’t understand how God uses problems, you’ll curse the problems.

But like we said before, you don’t curse the darkness, you strike a match. Let the Word of God be the light that shines in the midst of a dark situation. The other thing, what the environment will be your greatest influence is to help us to have wisdom concerning the company that we keep, the friends that we have. And all these things are important about the places that you go, the reputation that you have, because this is what will influence you and people, peer pressure, this is one of the strongest things that happens to the teenagers when they go to school.

They want to be like all the other kids, like all the other kids. If they were a certain kind of baggy pants, they all want to wear those same baggy pants. And if they wear certain tennis used by certain makers, they all have to have this and they’ve got to look the same and dress the same and talk the same and be the same because they don’t want to stand out like a sore thumb. They’ve got to be cool.

Well, there’s adults that also get 40 years old and 50 years old and 60 years old and they want to look cool too. They want to be like everybody else. I always say don’t try to keep up with the Joneses. Just wait and catch them on their way back. And so we are to share and to bear one another’s burdens because everybody’s got something. And the Bible says those who are taking an a fault and everybody gets taken in a fault center later.

Everybody falls, not everybody stays walking 100% all the time. We all sin as a Christian. And God says those who are strong at that time help that person because you see, if you don’t, who’s gonna help you when you fall? And that’s why he says in the book of Ecclesiastes, that’s good when a friend has a friend because if one falls, then one can help them up. We need one another. That’s the purpose of church. Churches and for all the most dedicated and godliest of saints who has no problems, it’s for the people who have problems.

All of us have them. We’re all weak. We have a flesh nature and we need to pray for one another, encourage one another, so that we stay strong, keep doing the things that we’re supposed to do because one day we’re going to stand before God. Well, that’s why the Bible is so important. A preacher is important. A preacher can tell you things that your wife can’t tell you. The preacher can tell you things that your husband tries to tell you and you’ll get mad at him.

That way when you get mad you just get mad at the preacher but you didn’t get mad at your husband and you still got your wife. You still got your husband. And you can take and listen and learn and be able to correct some of the things in your life. But it’s hard sometimes taking correction from the wolves that are closest to you. That’s why I don’t get too close to you because I want to be able to chew you out.

I got to be able to come down hard on the things that you do that are not wise for you to do. Now, I want you to look in the book of Ephesians in chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5 and look there in verse 15. Verse 15 says, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Redeem in the time because the days are evil. Now a wise man will redeem the time. Redeem in the time means to buy up every opportunity you can while you can.

the older you get, the more you realize you’re running out of time. So when you’re running out of time, you’re running out of opportunities. Because life is what is all about. And so when you no longer live, that means you’re dead and you’re gone to heaven. And so you know God’s only giving you so much time to live. And it is so important to keep these things in mind. So number 10, if you’ll look there in your notes, don’t procrastinate.

Do it now. The Lord says, serve the Lord in the days of thy youth in the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter 12. So we are not supposed to wait until we’re 90 years old and finally I think now I’m really gonna serve the Lord It’s kind of like getting a car and you got you know good nice rubber on the tires and on your car and And you’ll burn them out while you’re young and then whenever the thread starts showing Well, I think I’ll Start serving the Lord now No, serve the Lord when you’ve got a lot of rubber on the tires When you’ve got more time left serve the Lord in the days of your youth because a time will come when you can’t do all the things that you’d like to do.

You can’t go the speed you used to go. You can’t remember like you used to remember. You don’t have the physical stamina that you used to have. But while you’re young do all that you can and then when you get older you may not do as much that you should be able to do things in a wiser way. Completion more Only because you’re wiser and you’ll make less mistakes because you’ve learned you’ve had 30 40 50 60 years to live To correct things and know how to make wiser decisions at least that’s the way it’s supposed to work Now I want you to look there in your notes because underneath these points Every line every line is packed with some knowledge.

They’re like little proverbs Proverbs is a two words that come pro and vervam means to more than meets the eye You can see it, but then there’s something else behind it. But not on everyone, but these are some things that I think would be good for you. Number one, some fools are quick to rush headlong where angels fear to tread. I remember Mr. Jackson, the one that led me to the Lord. He told me, he says, Yankee, why don’t you slow down?

Slow down. He says, you’re always in such a hurry. And I said, well, when I want to do something, I want to do it now. And when I want something I want it now, I was not a very patient individual. And that’s why men, Betty, after we got married, lived in five states in a year and a half. Think about it. In a year and one half, we didn’t move to five states. Now, I will venture to say that most of y’all have not done that.

Most of y’all haven’t been moved and lived in five states in your life. But we did. Because I was so unsettled, my desires changed so quickly. And it was hard for me to get on the right road, because I jumped on every road that came along. And I was always going down to see what’s down that street, what’s down that street, what’s down that street, what’s down that street, but I didn’t have a main highway. I didn’t know where to go until I got things straight between me and the Lord.

And I thought, I need to let the Lord start guiding me. And some people are going so fast, they don’t stop, slow down. So, crassinate means that you don’t do anything. You don’t move at all. You’re always putting it off. And I want you to look at this. Even too much gas into the carburetor can cause the motor to stall. You try to go too fast, too much, too quickly. And after a while, it’s called burnout. You don’t want to do anything.

You’ll get to where you don’t want to go to church. You don’t want to sing in the choir. You don’t want to do anything for God. I don’t get what it is. You just get tired of it. Burnout. You’ve had enough up to here and you’ll start slowly, you’ll start quitting because you get burned out of the entrance is gone. You forget why you’re doing it and then becomes nothing but a burden, a drudgery, a job. Instead of seeing things as an opportunity, praise the Lord.

Man, look what God’s given me, an open door. Look what I can do for God. And if you don’t keep the attitude right, it will destroy you. Patience, patience, patience, everybody wants it. Everybody knows they need it, but you and I know what brings it. What brings patience, tribulation, work of patience. In other words, the result, the end result of tribulation problems is to produce patience in your life. Because it causes you not to have the answers to the problem.

That’s what made it a problem. You didn’t know how to solve it, or you couldn’t solve it. And God knows that. And so God forces you to wait and let him open up a door or to teach you something that you didn’t know before. There’s reasons. Look at the next statement. To claim patience when action is demanded is disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Do not squandered time, for that is what life is made from. When you waste time, you waste life.

When you waste life. You waste yourself. The Bible says, and I want you to look this in Proverbs chapter 13. Look there in Proverbs and chapter 13. And look in verse four. In verse four, the Bible says that a wise son hereth his father’s instruction, but a snorner hereth not rebuke. But in verse four he says the soul of the slugger, the lazy man, the man that’s always going to but never does. The Bible says half nothing. He desires nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

Not wouldn’t everybody in this room like to be made fat. Now we’re not talking about physically fat. The word fat means to be made liberal, to be made satisfied, to have more than you really need or want. But it’s something that you have more because you’re diligent. But see a lot of people, a lot of you probably in this room, Do not diligently work, faithfully, consistently, at the thing you really want to accomplish. Now the same principles can be applied into business, can be applied on your job, be applied to your home or anything that you’re doing.

You see, a lot of people progressing, they’re always putting it off, like one guy says, I never do today what I can do tomorrow. Well, I think it’s supposed to be word of the other way. Always do today what you can and let tomorrow take care of itself, but always try to get as much accomplished. Use every day, every moment, and accomplish something with your life. Let it be something that you’re working toward the purpose, your reason for living.

Some of you like to have more, but you waste what you have. Some of you might go to work and you make good money, but you never have anything. Why? Because you waste it all. You spend half your money maybe on things you really don’t need. That’s not helping you accomplish what you want. You’d be surprised how much God has given to you and I over the years that if we would discipline ourselves how much more we could have, even the quality of life that we have, maybe even the better home that you have or the car that you have, all these things can all go together.

But there’s things that we could do and give more to the Lord and give to missions. You realize that every child of God, every child of God should give toward missions, every child of God. Now we try to do what we can here, even as a church bought it together, but individually to still give toward missions. There’s people that need help. Now the next thing I want you to look at, shunning away from what has to be done is the biggest thief of time.

Success will never knock at the home where procrastination lives. The successful person must faithfully do what needs to be done, whether he likes to do it or not. There’s many things in the Lord’s work. I really don’t like to do and I’ll be honest with you. I don’t like doing editing. Whether for the TV or for the radio, I really don’t care to do it because it gets most time, it’s a big headache. It’s just a lot of work.

And even when we did the TV broadcast, sometimes I would work on the equipment and it would take me sometimes eight, 10 hours doing a half hour broadcast just to do one little half hour broadcast and sometimes the audio wouldn’t be right and then sometimes the machines won’t even work and I will be back in I thought if I have a stick of dynamite right now I just blow it all sky high and I could become very impatient I got irritated a lot of times and I had to dedicate every Monday knowing that it was gonna take that to do everything I had to get done.

But a person doesn’t always do what he wants to do. He does what needs to be done. As a husband, sometimes you will do the things. You don’t maybe want to do them, but you have to do them. So you go ahead and do it. And if you’re going to do it, do a good job. Whatever you want to do, the best you post to him. We can just try to get by. But you know why I want to have a thing tonight?

I want to do better. I want to do it better. Why? Because it represents the Lord’s Word. It represents every person in this ministry. Every song that we have that we put on a radio or we put on the TV, it represents God. We do what we do is for the Lord. And the Lord says, What’s over my hands find to do it with all I might try to do the best you can do on your job. I don’t give what kind of job you have.

You ought to try to do the best you possibly can. When you cut your grass in your yard. I think you ought to try to cut it as best you possibly can when you paint your house or when you sweep the floor when you watch the dishes. You ought to try to do it the best you possibly can. Make sure those dishes are clean. Have any of you ever gone to a restaurant and they give you a knife or a fork and it ain’t clean?

At home maybe it’s just you and your husband. Make sure it’s clean. Clean the house. I don’t think that you yard all the look ugly white because you’re to be a good steward. God has loaned you whatever you have. Be a good steward of what you’ve got. Take care of what you’ve got. Do right. That’s all part of serving the Lord, whether you understand it or not. And so serving the Lord sometimes is not always doing what you want to do.

It’s doing what needs to be done. It has to be done. And if it’s got to be done, do the best you can possibly do it. Your future’s been determined by your obedience to God today. Look at the next statement. Let me read it to you. The road to misery and failure are paved with good intentions. There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree. You can climb it or set it on an acorn. Wishing for something will not bring it to you.

But the act of doing the right thing, the right way will bring you to it. Do not hope for a brighter tomorrow. Do something today that will make it brighter. In other words, don’t just let everything go. Like it doesn’t really matter what I do. If I want to bright tomorrow, then I need to do today what will make tomorrow brighter because I sow the seeds today that will grow tomorrow. And if you sow the wrong seeds today, the seeds of discord, then tomorrow you’re going to reap that.

If you want good things down the road, you better start sowing good things today because you see your future is being determined by your obedience to God today. I don’t worry about am I going to be in the will of God five years from now. I’m in God’s will today and then tomorrow comes and I’m in the will of God tomorrow and then I’m in the will of God the next year and the next year and the next year well five years from then I’ll be in the will of God.

It’s so easy for a person to dedicate their life to God that they don’t have and withhold this moment, this day that you do have. That’s why he says sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. In other words, whatever you need for this day, this moment God said, I’ll give you all the strength, all the grace that you need to bear whatever is going to come up on you, this moment. But you cannot borrow into the future and bring grace from the future for this moment.

Because when you get there, you won’t have enough for that day and it will overwhelm you. God will give you the strength and the grace that you need as you live. Each day, number 11, adversities are God stepping stone to success. It all depends on your attitude. In the book of Romans in chapter 5 and verse three it talks about tribulation and work with patients. The book of James chapter 1 and verse 12 says that if you as a child of God will endure testings endure the testings.

God says there is a reward that God’s going to give you a crown that He’s going to give to you. So you can’t get that crown unless God allows you to have these testings that you go through and the testings are to be looked upon as the opportunities you’ve been dying for. Wouldn’t it be a shame to have a million dollars in no place to spend it? Women, how would you like that? What if you had a million dollars and you haven’t said you can spend anywhere you want as much as you want and there were no stores?

Stores are opportunities for you to spend your money. And so God says, I want to use you and I’m going to send you problems and these problems are designed with you in mind, different ones for different people at different times, but all of you are going to have some. And they’re designed to reveal to you what you don’t know, so that you’ll come to me and ask me. And I will grant you the wisdom that you need. Now isn’t that wonderful?

And I’m going to allow you to be tested to have these temptations. But if you’ll be faithful, I’m going to reward you when you get to heaven. You’ll win. You’ll win and the goal of life is to win not to lose and Sometimes we prejudge people’s motives too quickly. We think we got the answers to everything We don’t know all that goes on behind the scenes in every person’s life. Look very quickly there 11 11 Problems are unsolved opportunities remember every problem has a solution and a problem once solved is no longer a problem What happens to you is not as important as your response?

problems become stepping stones or something blocks depending on your attitude toward them. You are measured in the eyes of your fellow man by your ability to stand up to an adversity. No man is given more temptations than he has the ability or strength to overcome. If he looks for the way out that God has made 1 Corinthians 10th 13th says so to be knocked down is not defeat but to stay down is defeat adversities, obstacles, and problems are opportunities given by the Lord to help you grow.

You’re underlined that statement in your notes. It’s a tremendous statement. You need to understand. Most people get bitter, sour, because things go wrong. God didn’t say that we ought to be faithful if everything works our way. If we get everything that we want, it doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t work that way. And nothing concerning life. Your husband’s not perfect. Your wife isn’t perfect. Your children are not perfect. Your neighbors are not perfect. Everybody’s got thoughts. Everybody’s got a problem.

And the thing is is learning how to deal with those problems and keep moving ahead. Let me give you this last thing here. Runaway emotions is a life jumping out of gear. I had a car when time kept jumping out of gear. It happened to be that old Volvo that I had and jumped out of gear and I couldn’t hold it in gear and they would jump out of gear and I’d have to pull it out. back in gear and you know if he doesn’t keep it in gear you can’t go to the speed you like to go.

A lot of people in their lives they like to do things but they have this problem with runaway emotions. They get runaway with fear and they see problems and they run off at the mouth and say things that they shouldn’t say and so they have no way sometimes of a control in all these emotions that they have. Well, emotions that will run without control is a dead giveaway to an undisciplined mind. And many of God’s people, maybe some of you, are not disciplined to the point where you will control those things.

And you let them get the best of you. Let me read these to you very quickly. The greater number of dissatisfied, insecure and fruitless lives stem from a lack of self-discipline and God-discipline. Uncontrolled emotions result only from a mind not submitted to the power of the Holy Spirit. Because in Romans chapter 12 and verse one and two, it makes the statement, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable servant, and be not conformed to this verb, but be it transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove or discover, but is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So it has to deal with the mind of an individual. And many people are guilty of runaway emotions, and they won’t control their tongue, they won’t control their actions, and they’re good for about every once in a while, they’ll run along fine and they get knocked out of gear. They’re not going on that and then they get knocked out of gear. When you get knocked out of gear, see you’re not, you don’t have any power. You’re not going anywhere.

Last statement, it is poor reasoning to lose your head when you are in most need of it. When you throw mud, you lose ground. Have you ever heard somebody say, well, I love this. Give a person a piece of my mind. When you give them a piece of your mind and you have less of it. And so you need to be careful. If you want to be successful as a Christian, there’s things you need to know what to do, what not to do.

And all of it is designed to help you to be a strong Christian. So you think about these things, and you do right between you and God. Serve the Lord with all your heart, why you can. Redeem in the time because the days are evil and time is for you. 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 1-800-576-3771.

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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 to be able to help you. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

So God is going to have, through Abraham, through Abraham, a seed down the road that would make a payment for the sins of the whole world through Christ. And the blessing is that a man would be justified by faith. This is what this is teaching, that a man is justified by faith and faith alone to be blessed of God. And nobody can get salvation by his works. No man. Now take your Bible and turn to Genesis in chapter 15.

in chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15 it says there in verse 2, Abraham has a problem. You see, he was 75 years old when the Lord told him to come out of the early counties and you know years are passing away and he said, I’ve got a problem. How do I know you’re going to keep your word? He said, I have to have a child. I have to father a child and I don’t have any. How is this going to work?

Abraham knew there’s a problem here because his body was already past the age of being able to have children. So what am I going to do? How is it going to happen? So he says there in verse 2, and Abraham said, Lord God, what will thou give me? See, I go chalice and the steward of my house is this eliaesar of Damascus. And Abraham and said, Behold, to me that is, that has given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is my near.

And behold, that word of the Lord came at him saying, this shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad and said, look now towards heavens and tell the stars count them, if thou be able, to number them. He said unto him, so shall thy seed be. That’s a promise from God. And so in verse six, he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness.

So his righteousness was put to his account and Abraham was justified by faith because he believed what God said about the seed and the seed is not seeds as of many but of the one which is Christ. So Abraham believed what God said about Jesus Christ coming into the world. So I believe that He understood just like you and I have to understand. And it’s mentioned here and explained very simply and very clearly. Now in Genesis I want you to look in chapter 17, chapter 17 and look there in verse 1.

And when Abram was 99 years old, 99 years old. He still does not have a child yet. He’s 99 years old. And God had promised him that he was going to have a son. So in verse 1, it says, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. before me and be thou perfect of mature. And I will make my covenant between me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly. Neighbor, I’m fell on his face and God talk with him sin.

I’m going to change your name, made a covenant with him and blah blah blah blah. Then he says in verse seven, and I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after the in their generation for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And he says, and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou artest strange. All the land of Canaan, for an everlasting position, and I will be their God.

So God had made a promise to Abraham that he’s going to justify the heathen by faith alone. Because he says, and through thee all families of the earth will be blessed, to be justified by faith alone. So he then he makes this statement in verse 1. 9. Now get what he said because otherwise you won’t understand it. You’ll hear the phrase and the terminology, but you won’t get the purpose of it because you have to remember in the New Testament the book of Romans in chapter 4 when he pays the statement in verse 11 that the circumcision is a key to understanding the gospel in the Old Testament and what it was a sign of.

So he says in verse 9, And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their generation, this is my covenant which shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee. Every man child among you shall be circumcised, and ye shall circumside the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. It was between you, Abraham, and God. It was a sign of something.

You see, when Abraham believed God, his righteousness, God’s righteousness was put to Abraham’s account. And he was to be circumcised as a cutting away of the flesh, which was a sign of no confidence in the flesh. It means that Abraham put no confidence in the flesh, in him, in a man’s works for salvation. that he was justified by faith and faith alone is how he was justified and circumcision was a sign of the seal of the righteousness he already had before he got circumcised.

So being circumcised was not what saved him. There was no confidence in the circumcision. It was only a picture of something. that was only a sign of something. So every Jewish man who circumcises Jewish little son was because of the faith of Abraham. Abraham was justified by faith alone and they were to circumcise of their sons because of the seal. It was to teach a whole nation that you’re justified by faith without your works. That is simply by trusting Christ and Him alone as your only hope and to have no confidence in the flesh because that is what circumcision was a sign of.

Abraham had no son for all those years that God promised him he was going to have one. From the the time he was 75. Until the time he was 99, no kids. Oh, he had one by Ishmael, I mean Ishmael, who was by Hagar, an Egyptian bond slave, but not his son. That was the promised son. And now he’s 99 years old. And now because he’s 99 years old, he got circumcised within a year Isaac was born. So God made the promise to Abraham when he was not circumcised and yet it wasn’t fulfilled until later.

So Isaac was born after Abraham was circumcised. So that’s why you find when did God make this promise to Abraham when he was circumcised or before? It was before. Why? So that Jews and Gentiles all understand that everybody said exactly the same way and that Abraham can be the father of all of those that believe whether you’re a Gentile and never been or you’re a Jew and you have been but it was a sign that you understood Abraham was justified by faith.

Now wouldn’t it have been neat and great and maybe they did. Every father explained to their children as they grew up what circumcision was about. That Abraham our father did not put any confidence in the flesh and he simply believed on the Lord about Jesus Christ and he was justified by faith and it was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. Say you’re making all that up. No, no, I’m not. No, it’s all here. And he says in verse 11, and you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, so shall it be a token of the covenant between mix and you.

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you every man shall in your generation. That is to be born in your house and blah, blah, blah, all the way down through here. Now look over there in verse 20. He said, and as for Ishmael I have heard thee, behold I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. 12 princes shall he beget, and now we’ll make of him a great nation. Now this is talking about Ishmael, and there’s where the opposition came.

Every one of us have within us. If you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, you have like a little Arab Terrace lives inside you. I can put your whole sermon on that. But when you trusted Christ as your Savior, it’s like having a little Jew inside of you. Now what’s they’ve two going to do? They’ve been fighting for 4,000 years. And if you’ll watch the news, you’ll find out that it won’t be long. Something has got to explode in the Middle East.

And you can see it coming. The United Nations are even sympathetic toward the Palestinian statehood. And you watch. Isn’t it something that God said this will happen in the last days? They started off fighting and they’ve been fighting ever since. And it ain’t over yet. I could get sidetracked till you know that. But I’m not. I’m fighting the urge. So he says here in verse 23, And Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day as God had said unto him.

And Abraham was 90 years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Isaac was born after this, not before this. So that Isaac was like a miracle child born by faith in what God said because he had no confidence in the flesh. And this was a sign of the seal of righteousness that God had given to Abraham before he was ever circumcised. But that was the teaching and the lesson of why it was done, so that everybody in the whole nation would know how Father Abraham got to be Father Abraham, and how he got to have eternal life and know that he was gonna be in heaven someday.

All this is mentioned. So in verse 25, Ishmael, his son was 13Advertisement when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, and then you find out, yes, Isaac was born. Now, go back to the book of Romans in chapter 4. Romans chapter 4, and look at verse 9. So we know that Abraham found something, and we’re talking here in the New Testament about what he found. Well, if he found it back then that a man was saved by grace, But don’t you think he ever told anybody?

What do you think all this is about? That’s the purpose of it. So he says in the book of Romans in chapter four, and verse nine, come of this blessing, this blessedness, then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision, also what blessing are they talking about? about. Look up there in verse 5. In verse 5 says, but do him that work if not, but believe it on him that justify if the ungodly his faith is kind of for righteousness.

That’s a pretty good blessing isn’t it? When I found out that I could not save myself I trusted Christ as my Savior and God gave me eternal life. I became a child of God. I’m going to heaven whenever I die. That’s a pretty good blessing. I have been blessed. That is the blessing of Abraham. And so because of that, come of this blessedness of been justified by faith and have an eternal life and know that you can go to heaven.

Is that just for the Jew or is it also for the Gentile? Well, that’s why he mentions it here. verse six, even as David also described the blessedness of the man and get this, unto whom God, and this is in the Old Testament. This is in the book of Psalm. He said, imputed righteousness without what? Works. That’s salvation by grace. Is it taught in your Old Testament? Salvation’s by grace. Without works. David said that. Abraham knew that. Moses knew that.

There was never any other way. But the Bible says it was like there was a veil over their eyes and they could not see. Their unbelief blinds them and they can’t see the Scriptures. But when you trust Christ as your Savior’s like a little light comes on. Mm. Did you see that little light bulb up above my head there? See? And all of a sudden, I… I see it, I see it. And all of a sudden, this isn’t two books, this is one book.

And he makes a statement in verse seven, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. I do something wrong. People say, well, you ought to go to hell for it. Yeah, but I’m not gonna go. Why? Because it’s not put to my account. It was put to his account. Christ died for me. He died to pay for all of my sins. So whenever I sin, it’s not put to my God, put to his account.

You said, that’s not fair. I know it. That’s by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourself. It is the gift of God. Have no confidence in your ability to save yourself. Because going to heaven is not something God gives to you because you earned the right to go there. It’s not because you were good and you went to church and you gave money and you did all that. Don’t you dare trust those things. it will not save you.

Old Testament teaches it, New Testament teaches it. And then he makes this statement in verse nine. Come at this blessing, it’s then upon the circumcision, only or upon this uncircumcision also. For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. Says it again. In verse 10, how was it then reckoned when he was in circumcision or an uncircumcision, not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. He was justified by faith and given his righteousness from God to him before he was ever circumcised.

So circumcision didn’t save him. And this is why Paul says, I’ve been circumcised the eighth day. But he put no confidence in him. And then book of Galatians in chapter 5, he says, to you that are circumcised, Christ become no prophet unto you. If you’re trusting in your circumcision, they get you to heaven. That means you’re trusting in flesh to get you to heaven, something that you have done or has done to you. You’re trusting in something other than Christ and he’s no prophet to you.

So the scriptures are teaching, don’t you be caught trusting in your works of righteousness. What else? He says, in verse 11, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet been uncircumcised. So it means that he was justified before he was circumcised and was still righteous. He was justified. And get this, that he might be the father of all them that keep the Ten Commandments and obey the Golden Room.

All of them And then what was it saved? Believe. Jew, Gentile, it doesn’t matter. Everybody is saved the same way. You’re not going to get to heaven any differently than what I will. I’m going to go to heaven the same way everybody goes to heaven. Nobody goes to heaven two or three different ways. There’s only one way to heaven. It’s Christ alone. So when you trust Christ as your only hope of going to heaven, God says He saves you and He gives you eternal life and you get to go over to heaven on what He did for you.

You don’t earn it, you don’t work for it. It’s a gift, it’s free. Look what else He says. That believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them, what’s the word also? So whether you circumcised or not, Jew or Gentile, everybody saved the same way. But it was taught through the Old Testament circumcision. It was a sign that salvation is by grace and grace alone and not of the flesh. That’s good. Looking for quote. And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision, circumcision, Jews, second gen down, but who also walk in the steps of that faith.

In other words, that faith, what Abraham had, what Abraham believed is how everybody is saved. And that’s why he made the statement here in verse 13. For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law. Why? Because the law wasn’t given for 430 years. It was given to Moses. Abraham’s been long dead before that. But he makes a statement. But through the righteousness of faith, the promise.

And God made the promise to Abraham and the promise was given before the law was given. I showed that in Sunday school on my chart, but anyway. Verse 14, for if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void. The promise made of none effect. In other words, if you can earn your way to heaven, then you don’t need grace. Then you can’t be by faith. You can’t be that you’re trusting Christ to take it to heaven if you’re trusting your works to get you to heaven.

You can’t trust both of them. It’s either Christ or you. Are you able to take yourself to heaven without Him? No, you can’t. Can’t even come close. Don’t even qualify. But look what else he says in verse 15, because the law worketh wrath. Where no law is no transgression. So the law was added to let us know that we cannot save ourselves by our works because the Bible says you have to be perfect to go to heaven and the law shows you that you’re a sinner.

You’re a transgressor. You’ve overstepped the boundary. You’re not perfect. You’re not holy like God is. Now look in verse 16. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace. And all this is talking about the Old Testament. This is how they were saved. See, it’s not a new gospel now, a new way of getting to heaven. This is how they were saved. This is how Abraham was saved. This is how David was saved. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end.

The promise might be sure to all the seed. It’s the only way to guarantee eternal life is that it’s free. If it’s by works, it can’t be secure. It can’t be sure. See, that’s why once you trust Christ as Savior, God gives you eternal life. You are either eternally secure or you’re not secure. And if you’re not secure, you’re not saved. Well, see, eternal security is the good news. That’s what makes it the gospel. It’s good news to be justified by faith.

Best news in all the world. Look up here, letting this hand represent you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. Now God says that He loves us. Now He hates our sin, but He loves us. And God says that the wages of sin is death, since we’ve all sinned, well, we’re all condemned and we’re all going to die. So God says that to go to heaven, we have to be perfect as righteous as God, and none of us are perfect.

None of us are righteous. We’ve all sinned and come short of God’s perfection. See, God is perfect. You and I, we’ve come short of God’s perfection. None of us are good enough. So the Bible says you cannot save yourself. It’s not by your works. Have no confidence in the flesh. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin because it separates us from Him.

So Jesus Christ who had no sin didn’t have to die. But because He loves us and He hates our sin because it separates us, He took the sin so that I don’t have to pay for them. He’ll pay for them, come back from the dead, and say, if I would believe He did it for me, He would put this death payment He made to my account. By my faith in what He did for me, I would be given His righteousness.

I will be justified just as if I had never sinned. Why? He paid for them all. I don’t have any sin to pay for them. I don’t have to go to hell and pay for any sin. Why? Because He died for me. substitution and you don’t deserve it. That’s why it’s called grace, for by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. I’m going to heaven not because of any good work that I’ve done.

But only because Jesus Christ, He died for my sins. Came back from the dead and I believe that He did it for me. And if you will believe He did it for you, God will save you and give you the free gift of everlasting life. And you’ve heard John 3, 16, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him. should not perish. It means you won’t go to hell. But have everlasting life.

We go to heaven on what Christ did for. For God hath made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Can’t beat that. Why in the world would I want to try to earn my way to heaven when he did all of that for me? You say you have to set his grace aside and put your works in its place. Now which one do you think you’re gonna win with?

Will you rather have salvation by works or salvation by grace? There’s only one. Your works won’t do. Have no confidence in the flesh. Let’s pray, shall we? With every head bobbing, every eye closing, no one looking around, I’m not going to have you forward or embarrass you, but right where you’re sitting. If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, today would be a good day to do that. I’m not going to have you forward, not going to embarrass you.

But right where you’re sitting, if it makes sense to you, just talk to the Lord so you don’t make a mistake this way. Only the Lord knows what you’re saying. And say, Lord, I know I’m a sinner. And I don’t understand it all because, friend, everybody got questions and doubts. But Lord, the best I know how. I know I’m a sinner. I believe you died and paid for my sins. And I’m going to trust you right now as my only hope of going to heaven.

Friend, God said, if you would believe it, you would have it. Would you believe it? Would you believe he paid for your sins and will you trust him to take you to heaven when you die? Friend, that’s all that you can do. It’s the only thing you can do. There is no other way. And if you will trust Christ as your Savior, I’d like to know it. I’d like to have prayer for you. So I do it with heads by nice clothes.

And so in just a moment, I’m going to ask for raise your hand. Raising your hand doesn’t save you. Just lets me know that what I said made sense. And that I’d like to have prayer for you in closing. So is there anyone that will say, yes, that made sense to me this morning? And right now I will trust Christ as my Savior. And preach how I want you to pray for me. And just slip you in it very quickly and put it right back down.

Yes, God bless you. Anyone else? Just slip it up real quick and put it right back down. Are there others? Our Father, we thank You so much for the individual that indicated by an uplift at hand that they would trust You as Savior. By doing so they become Your child born into Your family. You said You’d never cast Him out, never lose Him. We’re thankful Father for the opportunity we have to preach Your Word. We know there’s people that watch by internet and we pray Lord that if there’s any that have never trust you, save you that they would, we’re thankful for the ministry you’ve given us.

Thank you for each family that’s represented here in this church, for the good people that works so hard and give to make it possible. We know that one day it’ll all be over and we’ll have to give an account to you what we did. We thank you for your blessings in Christ name, 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 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 toll-free 1-800-576-3771. 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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 Mulcair 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 1-800-576-3771. 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 have mixed emotions on what I want to speak on today, only because it’s supposed to be special day remembrance. But I really wanted to change the tone of all of it and speak on something that I believe is perhaps maybe a little bit more important because see everyone dies. some die of natural causes, some from accidents or declarations of war. And where a person spends eternity is the most important thing in all the world. And I believe that telling another individual how to have eternal life is the greatest act of freedom that we can do for another individual.

You know, a lot of people never learn how to talk to somebody because they’re scared to death. It is. It’s a scary thing to talk to somebody about the Lord. Well I had somebody ask me a question, Pastor, why does it seem like in the Old Testament it seems so hard to see the gospel in the Old Testament. It seems like it’s so complicated or it’s not there. You don’t find Ephesians 2, 8, 9 in the Old Testament. You don’t find 1 John 5, 13 in the Old Testament like that.

And John 3, 16, so clear in the Old Testament like that. And I said, you know, that is a very good question. That’s a very good question. Deserves a good answer, I wish to had one. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Philippians in chapter 3, Philippians in chapter 3. I want to show you a key that opens up the Old Testament. Believe it or not, there are a couple keys. Today I just want to show you one of those keys that if you see this key and it goes into the Old Testament and it will unlock some scriptures and you’ll see some things and I believe it’ll be a blessing to you.

The Apostle Paul had talked about something in his life that he had done, not by himself, it was done when he was really young and it looks like it’s a problem. So in chapter 3, look in verse 1, finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it’s safe. Beware of dogs, Gentiles, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision for we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.

Now I want you to underline that in the Bible if you don’t have it on the line. no confidence in the flesh. No confidence in the flesh. That means that you do not have any confidence in yourself that you can buy anything that you do save yourself. So this is Paul, a Jewish man saying this, and he says they’re in verse four. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. In other words, if anybody has a reason to have confidence in the flesh, he says, I do.

If any other man thinketh that he had to wear off, he might trust in the flesh, I’m more. He said, look who I am. Look who I am. In verse 5, circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin and Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee, Concerning zeal persecuting the church touching the righteousness switches into law blame Boy, I am somebody if anybody He said, look who I am. And I have no confidence in the flesh because of what I’ve done because of who I am.

No confidence whatsoever. But he says, I will circumcise the eighth day. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Galatians. Just a few pages to the left. Now remember, you must follow me all the way to the left. Now remember, you must follow me all the way through or you’re going to get lost. You can’t leave me for a couple minutes and then come back and think you’re going to catch up. You will lose something in the sequence and it’s so important.

So in the book of Galatians, look in chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5 and now look in verse 1, stand fast therefore in the liberty where with Christ has made us free, be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. So what’s the yoke of bondage? Well, the law, trying to keep the law, trying to earn your way to heaven, that’s slavery. See, if you have to earn your way to heaven, it’s like being a slave. You have to do all these things, and then God’s already said it won’t work.

But you’re a slave to something that won’t help. And that’s people who go to church and try to live a good life and try to be all these things and God says it’s not going to help. So he makes a statement here in verse 2. Be hold, I Paul say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Well wait man didn’t he just say in Philippians I will circumcise the eighth day. Well if he’d been circumcised and here he says if you’ve been circumcised, Christ won’t profit you anything.

So Paul can’t go to heaven, thought he had been circumcised. He said so. Is there a contradiction in the Bible? No. Because Paul realizes he got into the ram of the Lord and realized that salvation was not by his works and simply by grace. He understood that his circumcision had nothing to do with saving him. So he said, don’t trust in the flesh. Don’t trust in the flesh. And then in verse 3 he says, before I testify again to every man that is circumcised, He is a debtor to do the whole law.

So if you’re going to be circumcised to be saved, you also have to do the whole law to be saved perfectly in every area. And Paul says, you won’t work. No flesh shall be justified by his works, by his deeds. So I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Romans in chapter 4. Romans and chapter 4. decision was a sign. And you will find that mentioned end throughout the Old Testament. And that the whole nation of Israel was commanded to be circumcised.

And I have to admit, most people have no clue what it’s talking about or what does that mean and what does it reference to and what’s it in the Bible for? A big deal. Who cares? But it’s in here for a reason. So So in Romans 4, I want you to see there in verse 11, and he received the sign of the circumcision, the sign of circumcision. So circumcision was a sign of something. So the key is to find what was it a sign of?

What was it a sign of? He says, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet been uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believed, though they be not circumcised, that righteous not be imputed unto them. Isn’t that all clear? You know, you can read that sometime, he said, what? And yet, when you slow down and you look at exactly what he’s saying, it’s clear as a bell.

So there’s something that God told Abraham that is very, very important. So take your Bible and look in Romans chapter four and verse one now, because if it was a sign, what was it a sign of? So verse one tells us something that Abraham found out. And verse one, what shall we say then that Abraham, our Father, as pertaining to the flesh hath found? Paul found out later, well Abraham had alreadyutilsSourceFile]). NOTICEHoustonourningProduction:{href You’re talking almost 2,000 years before, and the message hasn’t changed.

And it’s true today, and it was true back then, and everybody saved the same way. But it doesn’t look like it’s clear in the Old Testament, but it’s because we haven’t studied the Old Testament like we do the New Testament. But look what he said, for if Abraham were justified by works, if he were justified by works that means that a man could earn his way to heaven, right? But he says he hath wear of the glory but not before God.

For what say if the scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness? So all that Abraham had to do not by his works, all he had to do was believe and he would be made righteous. Believe and he would be justified. He believed and it was counted under him for righteousness. God would give Abraham his righteousness if only Abraham would believe. Now there’s a course what did he have to believe? But we’ll explain that in just a second.

So it’s all in here and it’s all very clear. Take your Bible turn to Galatians chapter In Galatians in chapter 3, Galatians in chapter 3, I want you to look there in verse 6. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 6 says, even as Abraham believed God. there in verse 6. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 6 says, even as Abraham believed God. Well, evidently God must have said something and Abraham had to know what it was and he believed it. And because of his faith in what God said, he was justified.

He lived to be 175 years old. But none of his works for 175 years got him to heaven. Only one thing. He believed what God said. Look what he says in verse 7, no ye therefore that they which are a faith the same or the children of Abraham. In other words, you get to be a child of God, just like Abraham became a child of God. Same thing, same way by faith. And verse 8, and the scripture, the Old Testament, foreseen that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In these shall all families of the earth be blessed.

So here’s a verse saying that it’s found in the Old Testament. So we talk about how clear it is in the New Testament, but God is using the Old Testament to help us understand it. So evidently it must be clear also in the Old Testament. Look at that statement again. When he says, in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. You need to understand what it means to be blessed. You see, God cursed everything. And man, and everybody dies, everything dies.

But to be blessed is to live forever. To be blessed is to have eternal life with the Lord. You say, you made that up. No, I didn’t make that up. When you go to the Old Testament and you’ll read and talk about the blessing and the cursing, here He’s talking about the blessing. What word is the cursing? Well, I’m glad you asked. Look at verse 10. as many as are of the works of the law or under the what?

Curse. Why? It is written. Curse it is everyone that continue, if not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them, for the just shall live by faith. So there’s blessing and there’s cursing, and that refers to salvation or no salvation. So he makes the statement in verse 13, Christ had redeemed us from the what curse of the law, being made a curse for us, curse it as everyone that hangeth on a tree.

What? That the blessing of Abraham might come. So the reason Christ died as a curse under the law was to pay for our sins. He was cursed in our place. And we are blessed in the sense that God has given to you and I salvation eternal life. Because of what Christ did on the cross for us, see there in verse 14, for the blessing of Abraham. Might come on the Gentiles through somebody. Anybody? Through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the seed that came from Abraham.

And that’s why he says that in verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made, he say if not and the seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ. So when you go back and you see that you’ll understand he’s talking about Jesus Christ. That’s talking about the gospel. That’s talking about how to be saved, justified before God. Now, take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of Genesis in chapter 12.

Genesis in chapter 12. Here you find some of the statements that are made in the Old Testament that God uses in the New Testament to explain the gospel. how that God preached the gospel before unto Abraham. And he says here in verse two, and I will make of thee, talking about Abraham, a great nation, and I will bless thee, make thy name great, and thou shall be a blessing. And I will bless them that blessed thee, and curse him that curses thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

So God is going to have, through Abraham, a seed down the road that would make a payment for the sins of the whole world, through Christ. And the blessing is that a man would be justified by faith. This is what this is teaching, that a man is justified by faith and faith alone to be blessed of God. And nobody can get salvation by his works. No man. Now take your Bible and turn to Genesis in chapter 15. Genesis in chapter 15.

Genesis chapter 15, it says there in verse two. Abraham has a problem. You see, he was 75 years old when the Lord told him to come out of the early the counties and years are passing away and he says, hey, I got a problem. Hey, how do I know you’re gonna keep your words? He said, I have to have a child. I have to father a child and I don’t have any. How is this going to work? Abraham knew there’s a problem here because his body was already past the age of being able to have children.

So what am I going to do? How is it going to happen? So he says there in verse 2, and Abraham said, Lord God, what will thou give me? I go cholice and the steward of my house is this eliaesar of Damascus.” And Abraham said, Behold, to me that is, that has given no seed and lo, one born in my house is by an heir. And behold, that word of the Lord came at him saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now towards heavens and tell the stars count them, if they’ll be able to number them. He said unto him, so shall thy seed be. That’s a promise from God. And so in verse 6, he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness. So his righteousness was put to his account and Abraham was justified by faith because he believed what God said about the seed and the seed is not seeds as of many, but of the one which is Christ.

So Abraham believed what God said about Jesus Christ coming into the world. So I believe that he understood just like you and I have to understand. And it’s mentioned here and explained very simply and very clearly. Now Genesis, I want you to look in chapter 17, chapter 17 and look there in verse 1. And when Abram was 99 years old, 99 years old, he still does not have a child yet. He’s 99 years old. And God had promised him that he was going to have a son.

So in verse 1, it says, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect of mature. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. Neighbor, I’m fell on his face and God talk with him sin. I’m going to change your name. Made a covenant with him and blah, blah, blah. Then he says in verse seven, and I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after the end their generation for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after.

after thee. And he says, and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting position, and I will be their God. So God had made a promise to Abraham that he’s going to justify the heathen by faith alone. Because he says, and through thee all families of the earth will be blessed to be justified by faith alone. So he then he makes this statement in verse nine.

Now get what he said, because otherwise you won’t understand it, you’ll hear the phrase of the terminology, but you won’t get the purpose of it. Because you have to remember in the New Testament, the book of Romans in chapter four, when he pays the statement in verse 11, that the circumcision is a key to understanding the gospel in the Old Testament and what it was a sign of. So he says in verse 9, and God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their generation.

This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee. Every man child among you shall be circumcised, and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. It was between you, Abraham, and God. It was a sign of something. You see, when Abraham believed God, his righteousness, God’s righteousness was put to Abraham’s account. And he was to be circumcised as a cutting away of the flesh, which was a sign of no confidence in the flesh.

It means that Abraham put no confidence in the flesh, in him, in a man’s works for his salvation, that he was justified by faith and faith alone is how he was justified. And circumcision was a sign of the seal of the righteousness he already had before he got circumcised. So being circumcised was not what saved him. There was no confidence in the circumcision. It was only a picture of something. It was only a sign of something. So every Jewish man who circumcises Jewish little son was because of the faith of Abraham.

Abraham was justified by faith alone and they were to circumcise their sons because of the seal, it was to teach a whole nation that you’re justified by faith without your works, that is simply by trusting Christ and Him alone as your only hope, and to have no confidence in the flesh, because that is what circumcision was a sign of. Abraham had no son for all those years that God promise him he was going to have one. From the time he was 75, until the time he was 99.

No kids. Oh, he had one by Ishmael. I mean Ishmael, who was by Hagar, an Egyptian bond slave, but not his son. That was the promised son. And now he’s 99 years old. And now because he’s 99 years old, he got circumcised within a year. Isaac was born. So God made the promise to Abraham when he was not circumcised, and yet it wasn’t fulfilled until later. So Isaac was born after Abraham was circumcised. So that’s why you find when did God make this promise to Abraham?

When he was circumcised, or before, it was before. Why? So that Jews and Gentiles all understand that everybody say it exactly the same way, and that Abraham can be the father of all of those that believe. Whether you’re a Gentile and never been, or you’re a Jew and you have been, but it was a sign that you understood Abraham was justified by faith. Now, wouldn’t it have been neat and great? And maybe they did. Every father explained to their children as they grew up what circumcision was about.

that Abraham, our Father, did not put any confidence in the flesh, and he simply believed on the Lord about Jesus Christ, and he was justified by faith, and it was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. Say, you’re making all that up. No, no, I’m not. No, it’s all here. And he says in verse 11, and you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and so shall it be a token of the covenant between mix and you.

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you every man child in your generation that is to be born in your house and blah blah blah all the way down through here. Now look over there in verse 20. He said and as for Ishmael I have heard thee behold I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget and I will make of him a great nation. Now this is talking about Ishmael and there’s where the opposition came.

Every one of us have within us. If you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, you have like a little Arab terrorist lives inside you. I can put your whole sermon on that. But when you trusted Christ as your Savior, it’s like having a little Jew inside of you. Now what’s they two going to do? They’ve been fighting for 4,000 years. And if you’ll watch the news, you’ll find out that it won’t be long, something has got to explode in the Middle East.

And you can see it coming. The United Nations are even sympathetic toward the Palestinian statehood. And you watch. Isn’t it something that God said this will happen in the last days? They started all fighting and they’ve They’ve been fighting never since. And it ain’t over yet. I could get sidetracked till you know that. But I’m not. I’m fighting the urge. So he says here in verse 23, And Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day as God had said unto him.

And Abram was 90 years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Isaac was born after this, not before this. So that Isaac was like a miracle child, born by faith in what God said because he had no confidence in the flesh. And this was a sign of the seal of righteousness that God had given to Abraham before he was ever circumcised. But that was the teaching and the lesson of why it was done so that everybody in the whole nation would know how Father Abraham got to be Father Abraham and how he got to have eternal life and know that he was going to be in heaven someday.

All this is mentioned. So in verse 25, Ishmael, his son was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, and then you find out, yes, Isaac was born. 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. Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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 1-800-576-3771.

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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for a Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. You got one day! And you and I ought to try to squeeze everything out of it that we can. There was this strong man one time, built like James Hayslip, you know. And he was up there on the stage and he had a lemon in his hand and he would squeeze that lemon.

He says, I’m going to squeeze all the juice out of this lemon. He said, now give a hundred dollars to any person that can come up here and squeeze one more drop out of this limit. So he squeezed it. And he says, any takers, and there were some big guys around there, you know, some of those rednecks and mussels and tattoos and all that kind of built like myself, you know, they’re all over there. And nobody would step forward, finally this one little old scrawny woman, she came up there and he laughed.

thought this was so funny. So he gave her that old lemon and she took that lemon and she held it up and she started squeezing. One drop, two drops, three drops, five drops. He says, ma’am, what do you do for a living? She says, I’m the secretary of the treasure the first Baptist church. Now you and I need to squeeze all the life out of every day, every day. And you say, well, I just can’t get you much. Have you ever heard people say that my plate is full?

I heard that one time and I thought, I’m gonna start using that. That’s the best way to tell somebody no. I’m sorry, my plate’s full. I had something I wanted some people to do in the church and it’s a preach I’d love to, but my plate is full. I I say, you got a bunch of scraps on your plates what you’ve got. Because I knew they had time, it’s just, you know, if you want to get something done, find a busy person.

A busy person always has time to get something done. A lazy person just doesn’t have the time. Because he just can’t find the time. But a busy person can always find time to get a little bit more, just a little bit more. There’s some people looking for opportunities because they want to get something done. And then there’s other people that run from everything, but you should want to try to see just how much can I get out of this life.

God gave me this day, and it’s a precious day. And I want to live it to the fullest and get everything I can out of every moment of my life. I believe God will bless you for doing so. I want to give you number three. This day is a precious day. What makes it so precious is that God made it. Think about it. God made this day. You and I didn’t have anything to do with it. God made this day.

And if he made this day, then we should rejoice and be glad in it. The art of being successful is learning how to spend time wisely. Killing time is a slow form of suicide. If I was to ask most people, do you believe in suicide? Most people said, no, I don’t believe it’s right. I think it’s wrong. I think it’s a sin. Isn’t it a sin to slowly kill yourself? To slowly kill it all that time that God gave to you, and you waste it and waste it and you don’t get any more of it?

You don’t get any more of it. You see, yesterday is a cash check. You can’t, you can’t use that. Yesterday, well, tomorrow, that’s a promissory note. All you have is the cash right now. You got this moment that you got to spend. And some people, they’re trying to draw from the pass or you know, there’s a danger of trying to borrow into the future. We got people in Washington, they haven’t figured that out yet. why we’re in such a mess right now because they put off and keep pushing it off into the future.

And then when we’re dead, our kids will have to pay all that off. So you’ve got to cure for all the I sure do, but you don’t want to hear it because it would make somebody mad and you know how I hate that. I’m not one of those kind of guys that makes people upset. Spend each day with the Lord. And try to learn how to use your time wisely. You know the Bible says, redeeming the time. Be in wise, redeeming the time.

Using your time wisely, using your days wisely. Composing something for the Lord to be stronger in the Lord. To teach something, to read something. Always trying to use every day to make yourself stronger in the word of God. to be spiritually strong. You see a lot of people, they make provisions for the flesh. Opportunities to get in trouble. And then when they get in trouble, I don’t know what happened. Why don’t you know what happened? Most people never learn.

There is enough time in every day to graciously do what God wants you to do. Think of that. There is enough time in every day to graciously do everything God wants you to do. To utilize a 24-hour period is the same for all of us. And every one of us has exactly the same amount of time on this day. And some will waste that time and some will utilize that time. To learn things the day that when tomorrow comes, I’ll be wiser and can do better with tomorrow.

and to buy more things with my wisdom, to lay up treasure in heaven. So every day should be spent like money buying something, a value that will last for eternity. Learning to lay up treasures in heaven. This day is a passing day. This day will pass. It’s not gonna be here forever. Now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Because this day will come and go, and what will you do with it? What will you do with Jesus Christ?

Have you trusted Christ as your Savior? You see, well, I intend to. Well, you mean tomorrow. But tomorrow for you may never come. It may come for some, but it may not come for you. You don’t have a guarantee on how long you and I are going to live in this life. And that’s why it’s so important for you and I to know what the word of God says. And to trust Jesus Christ now, this day will go into the tomb of time.

I was mentioned into y’all not long ago about some pups that we had and the sorrow that I had in my life because of those stupid little pups. Because my son had a couple of rot-wilers and he was going to raise some pups and then sell them. And he begged me for the rot-wilers. So I got those two rot-wilers. All they were friendly and nice and kind. And I have pictures of my son rasling with them all over the floor, all over the bed.

I mean these dogs, they were supposed to be outside dogs. But he went up with them getting them in the house. And they were all over everything. And they weren’t real old. They were nice, size little wrongwilers. And I told them, I said, I don’t like these kinds of dogs. But dad, there’s nothing wrong with the dogs. what people do to these dogs and they make them mad and somebody else said they’re up there fine I said yeah but I don’t like the idea of those dogs I could just go to sleep and wake up and see one of those right-wing.

Anyway the boy decides to join the Navy so he joins the Navy and now I’m stuck with his two dogs but anyway he said they’re gonna they’ll breed and they’ll have pups you can sell the pups We’ll make money. Ah. Huh? Did you know it wasn’t long before my daughter who was living in Colorado. She decides to come down and see Daddy for Father’s Day. So she had this little daughter of hers named Melanie. So before they came down, Melanie calls me on the phone.

Well, Mommy did. And says, Melanie has something she wants to do. to tell you. I said, okay. She said, pop, guess what? And I said, what’s that? She says, ask me where I’m going when I die. I said, okay, where are you going to go when you die? She said, go on to heaven. She asked me another question. I said, well, how do you know you’re going to heaven? She says, cause I trust Jesus as my Savior. Ask me another question.

I says, well, what did he do for you? She said, he paid for all my sins. Ask me another question. And this went on. My daughter already He set her up so she knew what God answered on the questions. So I was excited, she was excited, and Mama was all excited too. So we’re happy that our little granddaughter, trusted Lord, can’t get any better than that? Well, it wasn’t long. You know, some things makes a certain day a special day.

It’s the day that the Lord had made. that Lord knew all about that and let us be blessed this way. So they came down to Georgia where we were at, and they came to the house and I says, hi and all that kind of stuff and we hugged and all that. I said, I’ve got to go to the church, which was right across the parking lot there, with that Parsonage there. So I went over to the Parsonage. And when I went over to the Parsonage, I sit down in my office and got a study.

It wasn’t long before I heard my wife Betty. She come running across the parking lot and she’s screaming bloody murder. And it scared me because I had never heard my wife scream like this. So I jumped up and I ran out and she says, Yankee, hurry, Melanie’s is the dog’s got Melanie. The dog’s got Melanie. So, I ran over through the fence and my daughter was coming out of the fenced area and she had little Melanie, a little four-year-old Melanie, and she was limp in my daughter’s arms.

And I looked and there was blood all over her. Her right shoulder was just barely hanging on. And they were scared. I was scared and we threw her in the car and took it down to the emergency room. And she was always swelling her arms and so forth. And she had over a hundred places on her where the dogs had scratched them with those big old nails of theirs. And she’s laying there on the table and I looked at her and I said, how are you doing Melanie?

She says, I’m freaking out. I never heard a kid say that before. She said, I’m freaking out. And now that was not a happy moment. That was not a joyful moment. See, this year, surprise God. See, God didn’t know this was going to happen. This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. You know, she could have died, but she didn’t. They had to do a lot of stitching, saved her arm.

But see what little Melanie was gonna do was, she was gonna surprise Papa. She went into the Finston area, and she went all the way back in the one corner where she knew that we had some blackberries. And she was gonna pick some blackberries and get them for Papa. When she got the blackberries on the far end, she started back and the dogs came and just knocked her over and pushed her. They didn’t bite her, but those sharp nails that she couldn’t get up and every time they did it, and they were just ripping her.

Had over 100 places on her body. And she still has a few of those scars today, but now today she’s 25 years old, I think 25. God provided enough compassion for that day, and he also provided enough mercy for that day. And in every day there’s always some grace, some strength. But say you don’t need a God of provision unless you become a child of need. I never forget that day when my brother called me up on the phone and he says Yankee, he says, your son’s dead.

David’s been killed. And he told me that a guy had taken a hammer and killed my son, he was 28 years old. And we flew to Colorado and we never saw my son again, never saw his body, always saw with the pictures. This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I can rejoice that he knew the Lord, he knew he was going to heaven when he dies. A lot of things I don’t understand.

But see, God didn’t say I have to understand. God didn’t even say I have to agree with him. But God does say that I should trust him. and to look to Him, and that He will never fail me. And it will give me the strength and the grace that I need. Now either God’s telling the truth, or God’s lying, I just happen to believe Him. And that doesn’t matter what has happened in my life. You say, well, you’re the preacher, you probably get exempt from all those things.

Yeah, yeah, I get exempt. Nobody’s exempt. Everybody will have their moments. And every day is designed by God, and every day there’s something that can happen, that God will test you in certain ways, and God’s gonna try you. See, God wants you to love Him more than the day that He gives to you. More than the mercy He stows upon you, and more the compassion that you have. He wants you to love Him more, that if He took everything away from you, You can still praise the Lord.

He’s God. He makes no mistakes. He does no wrong. He doesn’t make any errors. No slip ups. You can’t find one fault with God. So God has done all these things, but this day is a passing day. And those days that I do recall that sometime brought some sorrow with it. They came to pass. In the Word of God, one of the greatest promises, as you’ll find as you read it, it came to pass. And I don’t care how dark the moment, it will pass.

It will pass. But do you believe that? Can you walk with the Lord when it seems like everything is falling apart? I told you one day about my daughter when I walked into the trailer that we lived in at that time. And she had made a surprise cake for daddy. It was an upside down cake. It wasn’t supposed to be. It had fell off the table and it was upside down on the floor. And she was sitting there and she was just a boo-hoo and just a ball.

I said, Serena, what’s wrong, honey? Oh, I said, I’m losing it. And she wanted to surprise me. I said, honey, I’m surprised. But the cake was upside down and it was, I said, honey, I said, you don’t have to fall apart just because a cake falls apart. I said, I hope we’ve helped put you together a little bit better than the cake. But did you know that when you take certain parts of a cake, if you take them individually, that it doesn’t do you too good?

How would you like a mouthful of lard? a mouthful of bacon soda, mouthful of salt, or a mouthful of flour. Individually, see those things are terrible, but you know, if you take the right amount of each one of those ingredients and put it together with a little time and you realize you can make something like a cake, do you realize that there’s some bad things that might happen in your life, but God said, now you need a little pinch of this and a little pinch of that?

You see, God’s the only one that knows what he’s trying to make out of your life, and he knows exactly how much to put in and what to take out. God is God. And he loves you enough that he’s going to give you personalized attention. Can you live with that? I had a radio broadcast up in Georgia every Sunday morning I’d go on live from eight o’clock to nine o’clock before I went to church. So I had this hour calling program called Get a Life.

That was a title of my radio broadcast. Get a Life. and often I would say in there. I said, how you doing this morning? You down discouraged? Get a life. Stop whining and pining and moaning and groaning. Get out of bed. Look to the Lord. This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Maybe that’s why nobody called me. Oh, they did it times. The last thing I wanted to give you was this. This is a praising day. Do you know what it says? I will. Rejoice and be glad in it. So it doesn’t matter what happens in this day. I’ve already determined I’m going to praise the Lord for this day. And I’m going to rejoice in this day. So this is a praising day because this is the day that the Lord had made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it. So God has been good for us. Did you know the words? It says, we will. In 118th Psalms. we will rejoice. But you need to personalize it also and say, I will rejoice. Me. I will rejoice. Right now in your own mind, you don’t have to do it out loud, in your own mind say these words, this is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.

I will. because it’s my choice. I got a choice. And some people will not rejoice in this day. They will not be glad for this day. And yet, well, out this day, you wouldn’t be here. Do you understand that? God gave you this day, this time to live. It’s a wonderful thing to know the Lord and to know that God has provided something so wonderful and special for us. Because you see, time is what life is made out of, and time is what life is made out of.

So without one, you don’t have the other. You can’t have one without the other, not in this life. Because see, that’s what time does. Time is valuable. Time is your life. When you run out of time, we often say you run out of life. You’re no longer here. You’re going to die someday. This day is a passing day. But it’s also supposed to be a a day that we’re thankful for. You see, we have troubles just like people in the world that don’t know the Lord.

But we’re supposed to be able to accept things because we have the Lord. We got God’s grace. We have got His mercy. We got His compassion. They’re new every morning. His compassion failed not. And that’s what the book says. But you know, you can’t believe this, can you? you. Cursed is the man who put his confidence in man. But you and I are supposed to trust the Lord and look to the Lord. Let me show you something. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re talking about the guilt of the past or the glory of the past or the grudges of the past.

Has somebody ever wronged you and you carry a grudge and you will never forgive them puppets? That will keep you from enjoying this day. Worrying about tomorrow? That will keep you from enjoying this day. You see, if everything has to be right for you to enjoy a day, you’re not going to have many days to rejoice, are you? There’s always seemed like a little sorrow that comes with almost every day. But there’s also some happiness that God allows to have coming to your life, and these things are important.

So don’t worry about tomorrow. husband and wives, stop fighting, love each other, time short. Love the kids. Look up here. This hand represents you and me. And this wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. Now God says that He loves us. Now He hates our sin, but He loves us. And the Lord says for For us to pay for this sin is eternal separation from God in hell. And God says He wants us to go to heaven.

And to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous is God. And none of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. We’ve all done things wrong. We’re all in the same boat. But that doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us. God still loves us even though we’ve got an owe sinful nature. And God still loves us even though we do all these bad things. God loves us so much that He wants us to go to heaven. But He says, you can’t earn it.

You can’t work for it. You can’t buy your way into heaven. You see, going to heaven is not because of how much money you give, or if you go to this church or that church. You see, you have to be perfect to go to heaven. You say, do I have to turn from my sin? No, you don’t have to turn from your sin. You have to die for your sins. You have to die for them. The way the sin is death.

That’s why you got to die. That’s why everybody dies. So the Bible says, God loves us, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin because our sin separates us from the Lord. So Jesus Christ who had no sin didn’t have to die. He came into the world and He took all of our sins because the wages of sin is not turning from them but paying for them. Christ paid for my sins for me.

See, that’s the wages I got to pay for it. He took them, He paid for it. Came back from the dead. And He said that if I would believe that He did it for me, He would put this payment to my account and I get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did. That’s a gift, that’s free. And God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe it in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I have trusted Christ as my Savior. I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. And I’m glad that I know that this is the day that the Lord hath made, and I will be glad and rejoicing it. before I quit. See if you can follow me again. I want you to sing it with me. This is the day. This is the day that the Lord hath made. I have made. I will rejoice. I will Rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it.

This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day. This is the day that the Lord hath made. Let’s pray, shall we? With every head bowed and every eye closed, no one looking around. If you hear this morning and you’re, you’ve never trust the Lord, maybe you’ve heard about it, but just never understood. Friend, I’m not going to have you stand up. I’m not going to have you come forward.

I’m not having you sign anything. I just want you right where you are. See, God knows who you are. God loves you. And he says that if you would be lead that he died on that cross and paid for your sins, that he would give you as a free gift ever lasting life. Would you do that? Would you trust him? If you will trust Christ as your Savior this morning, I’d like to know it. I’d like to have prayer for you.

So I’m gonna ask you in just a moment to raise your hand. Raising your hand doesn’t save you. It just lets me know that what I said made sense to you. And I’d like to have prayer for you in closing. Inward at all. Just say yes, I understand it. I know I’m a sinner and I wanna go to heaven. And I believe Christ died for me. And I’m gonna trust him right now as my savior. Is there anyone at all?

Just slip it up very quickly. Just slip it up very quickly. I just wanna recognize. You know what it all. Hi Father, we do thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. We thank you Lord for this time together and help us to appreciate the time that you give us to live. For every day, how precious it is. We don’t know how many of them we got, you left. If any. We ask your blessings also Father, for every person here in Christ and 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 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 The Bible is presented by the Bibleline radio by Dialing Tool 3, 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s 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 broadcasts 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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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.

Don’t you turn in your Bible to the book of Psalms, a book of Psalms? Try the 118th Psalm. Let me see how well y’all can follow the leader. This is the day that the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day, this is the day that the Lord had made. We’re going to talk about this is the day that the Lord had made.

You know that’s a verse in the Bible. You know it talks about this is the day that the Lord had made and he says when he was referring to the Son and the resurrection of Christ from the dead. And it says, this is the day that God hath begotten His Son from the dead. And that was a special day when Jesus Christ came into the world for this particular time, this day. And He came and He died on the cross, was buried rose again from the dead.

And we are to pose a preach about that day when all these happen. Such a great thing, great story. But I want you to look there in 118th Psalm and you’ll notice there in verse 20, the gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee, For thou hath heard me and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is a reference to Jesus Christ.

This is a reference to the nation of Israel rejecting the Messiah. And Christ becoming the head of the church. So what he was rejected by one was accepted by the other and so you and I are part of the church. Even though this is recorded in the Old Testament, it’s a reference to that and mentioned in the book of Peter in chapter 2.

This is the day that the Lord hath made. Look what he says in verse 23, this is the Lord’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. When you stop and think about the plan of salvation, that you and I were not called into the secret chambers of the Lord and and he asked us our counseling. What do y’all think about this? This is something that the God had did. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all met together came out with this super plan and each one had a role.

Each one had something to do. I think it’s the great plan. I kind of like it myself. The plan of salvation. Now if you and I were going to design this plan of salvation, well we would have had it to where the good people go to heaven and the bad people don’t. We would have decided that there’s got to be certain rules and regulations and those who met the qualifications, well they get to go and the other ones don’t.

I mean that’s the way man that when man makes up a religion, that’s what he did. Think about it. All the man-made religions adds works to the gospel. There’s only one true gospel and there’s no works required. Because see, this is marvelous in the sight of God. God’s the one that designed this and He said that going to heaven would be a free gift that nobody could earn it. No one could work for it. This is the day that the Lord hath made.

This is a plan that the Lord hath planned. And as he says here in verse 24, This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Every day is important. You and I know that. The Bible says that our time on Earth is but a vapor, a puric for a little while, and then vanishes away. We don’t have much control over this little period of time that we have. None of us know exactly how long this period of time is that we’re going to have.

But it is a gift from God every day. It’s got 1,440 minutes in a day. 86,000 seconds. You know how many seconds are in a year? I asked a guy that one time. He says 12. January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd. Well, I guess it’s all perspective. Ah, you look at some things. Now, remember when you dedicate your life to the Lord, You expect God to interrupt your schedule. So I want to bring your attention to this fact that this day is a provided day.

Let’s don’t talk about yesterday and let’s don’t talk about tomorrow. Just this day, this day, this day is a provided day. It was especially prepared just for us. You see, the sun came up and lo and behold, we’re alive. And God has already planned a lot of things that’s going to happen on this day, Baba will of God, that you and I have absolutely no control over, but God does. So God has prepared a day for us. So it is a provided day that God provided for each and every one of us.

But this day comes with trials and tribulations, troubles. But it’s okay because God knew this day in advance. So there’s nothing that’s going to happen on this day that takes God by surprise. is not going to be shocked by anything that anybody can say or do on this day. Because this is the day that the Lord hath made and we will rejoice and be glad in it, right? Regardless. So it is a provided day. And I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book of Lamitation.

The book of Lamitation. It’s a little bitty book. It kind of hides itself in there between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. But just look at this book, Lamentation in chapter 3. If you feel like it had a bad day, read the book of Lamentation. It’ll pick you up a little bit. Or read the story of Job. That’ll really exalt you a little bit. Because nothing that you face today will probably as bad as what they had to go through. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet, and he’s still lamenting all the things that have happened.

So it’s a very sad story. But in the midst of all of this sadness, there is these words of encouragement. So he says here in the book of Lamentation, chapter 3, look here in verse 21, This I recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. Now let me tell you, some of the things that you perhaps will learn today, you may not need it today, but tomorrow or the next day, you will recall some of those things that you have heard.

And they’ll give you hope. Or maybe you are going through something now and it might give you just a little bit of hope, a little bit of confidence in the Lord to help you to be bold in the Lord. Sometimes it’s hard to wear that smiley face when everything seems like it’s falling apart. But now I want you to get this in verse 22. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed. Now, this day has a lot of things coming in this day.

And in spite of all the things that will go wrong in our viewpoint, or have gone wrong, would consume us if it wasn’t for the mercies of the Lord. So in God, given us this provided day, provided this day for us, it comes with a lot of things that you and I didn’t plan on. But along with this day comes the mercies of God. I was talking to someone just recently and they told me how close they came to maybe being killed.

And this was just somebody who was happened to walk in the fellowship hall. And there was some water on the floor and he hit that thing and he went down and he says in his face, stop that close to the concrete to that floor and he says it just scared him to death. Tell us how close he came. One day at a church up there in Georgia, God bless my deacons. They were supposed to get the tub ready for a baptismal service.

So that morning on Saturday morning I wanted to check and make sure that the water was nice and warm. You know I hate cold water when I’m gonna baptize. I did that one time and the water was down almost zero. Well it would have been ice but it was cold it was cold and I remember when I walked and into the water. I didn’t even think about it being cold. I just thought it was gonna be nice and warm.

And when I walked into the water I got down to about my knees and realized this is ice cold water. And I was, it kind of takes your breath. But I could see the people out there and I didn’t want them to see me losing it. So I walked on into the water like nothing was wrong. And that first person I had the girls on one side and the guys on the other side, I made a mistake and took the girl first.

The girl came down and she had on her little robe and her foot touched that cold icy water and she went, and everybody was watching but they couldn’t see her yet. She hadn’t got down into the tank. It’s okay, it’s okay. And it’s so cold. Well anyway, I had about 15 to baptize that day. I was numb. I thought I was gonna die. I was ready to kill every deacon. They forgot to turn the heat on. And so I didn’t want this to happen again.

So, Saturday, I’m going to check and I went to check the water and the water was cold. So I wanted to see if it was on, maybe something’s wrong. So I stuck my hand underneath some of the pipes and some of the wires and stuff. I had my hand all under there. And nothing. I couldn’t feel it. Nothing was warm and nothing. So I called up one of the deacons and he says, Pastor, he says, there’s a switch on the wall.

Just flip that switch. He says, I don’t know who turned it off. That switch is always on. So I flipped the thing on and it got the water warm. And then I realized, if that switch had been up, I would have been dead. They told me later, says, pastor, whatever you do, don’t ever put your hand underneath there. I says, why? He says, that’s where all the wires are. It goes to that heating element. He said, it electrocutes you just like that.

Boom. This is the day that the Lord hath made. Every day there’s something that could take you out of this day if it wasn’t for the mercies of God. And you and I are supposed to believe that God has provided for us this day. Only what he says, and his compassion, get to your underlying these two words, fail not his compassion fails not. He says in verse 23, they are new, win. Every morning, every morning God’s going to have enough mercy, enough compassion to get you through this day.

Now it doesn’t matter what comes this day. God has already provided this day with all kinds of things and there’s nothing’s going to happen to you that God didn’t know about and God’s already given you all the strength and the grace you need. All you have to do is accept it. Appropriate to believe it. You You just don’t know what I’m going to. I don’t have to know what you’re going through. God does. I just can’t take no more.

Yes, you can. Yes, you can. God’s grace is, it says, is sufficient. Not might be sufficient, it is sufficient. You don’t have to fall apart. You don’t have to have a nervous breakdown. All you have to do is learn how to trust the Lord. Believe it and walk with him and trust him. and God will take care of you. I also want you to know this. This is a present day. Now it’s good to talk about the past. Sometimes it’s good to have views for the future, but realize on this day, this is a present day.

You have it now. You see, some people, they always living in the past or they’re trying to live in the future and never enjoy the present. The moment that you have. Be happy for this day. Don’t worry about, happen is coming down tomorrow or the next day. Be happy today. Happen is not a destination. It’s a way of travel. It’s learning how to enjoy what you go through. Realizing that I’m God’s child. God has provided for me a day.

And this is a present day I’m alive today. I may not be alive tomorrow. tomorrow and all this that I have, I have it now. So therefore I will rejoice and be glad in it in this day that the Lord hath provided for me, that the Lord has given me this present moment. It’s not was or shall be, it’s is right now. Two things that destroys this day is living yesterday that is past. And living tomorrow that may never come.

You can live in the past guilt, and you can live in the past glory. You see, there’s always things that we have done, and they may be glorious things, you know, in the days of our youth, or we could do this, and this, and this, and this. But there are also things that we’ve done that we don’t want to remember. And there’s guilt. And those things can destroy this day because you’re living in the past. And if you live in the glory of the past, you can ruin this day.

And if you’re living in the guilt of the past, you can ruin this day. And many people are living miserable lives because they have not learned. This is a new day, a new morning. And what happened yesterday was yesterday. And I don’t know about tomorrow, but I have this moment. I have this day, this time. This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Philippians in chapter three, the book of Philippians chapter three.

Like this woman, she’s bragging on her husband. My husband’s been a deacon, choir member. My husband has been a preacher. My husband’s been a banker. He’s been a lawyer. My husband is the greatest has been that there ever has been. But you know, it doesn’t matter what you have been. It’s what are you now? What are you doing now? And so you need to have confidence in your own mind that you’re doing with this provided day what God wants you to do with it and many people never seem to wake up and realize it in time you are always going to have grief in life but see it’s something that you need to know that God knows all in advance about the grief that you’re going to have.

You can have a loved one pass away and it produces some grief. But am I supposed to still rejoice in that day about this thing? You see, it doesn’t matter how sorrowful the events may be. There is still to be a certain amount of joy between you and the Lord that you know everything’s all right. Everything’s fine. God is still on the throne. He didn’t quit. He didn’t resign. He’s not sick. I talked to him this morning. He’s well.

and you and I don’t have to worry. Can you take everything in your life and put it into God’s hands? If you do, it won’t be long before you’ll see God’s hand in everything that you do. Some people can’t see the Lord working in their life, but I believe He’s working in my life, and I can see the hand of God moving and working in my life, and that’s been going on for about 50 years now. God is good to us.

Here in the book of Philippians in chapter 3, I want you to look there in verse 13. He says, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus every day to be pressing toward that which God has for you. You see, I don’t have to worry about tomorrow.

God will give me the strength and grace that I need to bear the burdens of today. When tomorrow comes, God will give me the strength and grace that I need for that day. Now, can I believe that or not? If I can believe that, then I don’t need to worry about it. I don’t need to worry about it. You see, you don’t have to have all these, you know, uppers and downers, all kind of medicine to pick you up, put you down.

You got the word of God. You’ve got the greatest counselor in all the world. He is the great physician. He knows what you’re going through. He knows how you think. He knows how you feel. You see, this is a special day. It’s a provided day that he provided for you and I. It’s a present day. We have it right now. And this day, one day we’ll pass. But right now we have this day in this moment. I wrote something down that I’d like to share with you a long time ago.

Worry does not take the sorrow out of tomorrow. It just takes the strength out of today. Worry doesn’t take the sorrow out of tomorrow. It just takes the strength out of today. But people need to think about that. There was the story about this one man. He worried all the time. Always stooped over sad countenance for years. And then one day somebody saw him on the street and he was singing and smiling, standing up straight, cheerful, excited. And they said, what happened to you?

He says, I found a worrying company. He says, this worrying company does all my worrying for me. So now I don’t have to worry about anything. He said, what does that cost you? He says $1,000 a month. He says, where are you going to get $1,000 a month? He says, that’s their first worry. You’ve got one day, and you and I ought to try to squeeze everything out of it that we can. There was this strong man one time built like James Hayslip.

And he was up there on the stage and he had a lemon in his hand and he would squeeze that lemon. He says, I’m going to squeeze all the juice out of this lemon. He said, now I’ll give a hundred dollars to any person that can come up here and squeeze one more drop out of this lemon. So he squeezed it and it says, any takers. And there were some big guys around there, you know, some of those red necks and muscle and tattoos and all that kind of bit like myself, you know.

They’re all over there. And nobody would step forward, finally this one little old scrawny woman, she came up there and he laughed. Thought this was so funny. So he gave her that old lemon and she took that lemon and she held it up and she started squeezing. One drop. Two drops, three drops, five drops. He says, ma’am, what do you do for a living? She says, I’m the secretary of the treasure to first Baptist Church. Now you and I need to squeeze all the life out of every day, every day.

And you say, well, I just can’t get any more. Have you ever heard people say that my plate is full? I heard that one time and I thought, I’m gonna start using that. That’s the best way to tell somebody no. I’m sorry, it was my place for. I had something I wanted some people to do in the church and it’s a preach I’d love to but my plate is full. I said, you got a bunch of scraps on your plates what you got.

Cause I knew they had time, it’s just, you know if you wanna get something done, find a busy person. A busy person always has time to get something done. lazy person just doesn’t have the time. Because he just can’t find the time. But a busy person can always find time to get a little bit more, just a little bit more. There’s some people looking for opportunities because they want to get something done. And then there’s other people that run from everything.

But you should want to try to see just how much can I get out of this life. God gave me this day. And it’s a precious day. And I want to live it to the fullest and get everything I can out of every moment of my life. I believe God will bless you for doing so. I want to give you number three. This day is a precious day. What makes it so precious is that God made it. Think about it.

God made this day. You and I didn’t have anything to do with it. God made this day. And if He made this day, then we should rejoice and be glad in it. The art of being successful is learning how to spend time wisely. Killing time is a slow form of suicide. If I was asked most people, do you believe in suicide? Most people said, no, I don’t believe it’s right. I think it’s wrong. I think it’s a sin. Isn’t it a sin to slowly kill yourself?

To slowly kill it all that time that God gave to you? And you waste it and waste it and you don’t get any more of it. You don’t get any more of it. You see, yesterday is a cash check. You can’t use that. Yesterday, well, tomorrow that’s a promissory note. All you have is the cash right now. You got this moment that you got to spend. And some people, they’re trying to draw from the past or, you know, there’s a danger of trying to borrow into the future.

We got people in Washington who haven’t figured that out yet. And you know why we’re in such a mess right now? Because they put off and keep pushing it off into the future. And then when we’re dead, our kids will have to pay all that off. So you’ve got to cure for all the eyeshooter, too. But you don’t want to hear it, because it would make somebody mad. And you know how I hate that. I’m not one of those kind of guys that makes people upset.

Spend each day with the Lord. 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. Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free, 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771.

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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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible to be a part of the Bible. Bibleline to continue on the air. 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 message will be a blessing to you and your family. You can see what has happened in the last 40 years in our country since the Bible was kicked out of the schools and prayer out of the schools and abortion made legal and all these things. It is really taking our country downhill. And mainly because we rejected God, we reject the Bible, we reject the Ten Commandments or anything it has to do with law.

And so the Bible says the law is good if it’s used lawfully. But to use the law as a means by which to get to heaven, then that’s an unlawful thing. The Bible says the law is not made for a good man. The law is not made for righteous man. The law is made for those who break the law. What the penalty is for breaking the law. They understand what the requirements are for righteousness. believe in our country, they should know what is right and what is wrong.

But why some opposed the 10 commandments? And you’ll see this has been done all over, but I want you to know really what it says. Christ did not come to destroy the law. He came to fulfill the law. So keep that in mind. The 10 commandments contains the God’s moral law, which is embedded in man’s conscience to give him a sense of justice and realization that he is not perfect and falls short of what he ought to be. So this is one of the reasons that a lot of people do not want the hanging of the law around because many kids, many teachers in school, many living in moral life and want to want to want to hang out laws upon a wall, they don’t because it’s a rebuke to those.

It’s just like if you want to live in sin, you don’t want to go to church because you want to live a righteous life, you want to learn what is right and be around people that are seeking to do that which is right so you can get strength and encouragement from them. So it’s a good thing. But there’s nothing wrong with the law. If we say that you cannot legislate morality. Well, the 10th Amendment says God’s moral law, that is morality.

It’s what’s right. So what are people going to legislate in morality? Well, this is where we’re slowly getting to in our country is they’re legislating in morality, making immoral acts legal, making it lawful, making it moral, and then making a law for those that don’t agree with it, they’re the one that commits the crime because if you don’t agree with their lifestyle and say anything against it, you’re the one that’s wrong. This is where it’s coming to. About 3,jriwal years ago at Mount Sinai, God gave to Israel through Moses the Ten Commandments.

Many people today do not know that the Ten Commandments are a very important part of Scripture, Exodus 20, and the Christian faith believe it or not though the law was given to control the flesh passions of man once a man trust Christ is Savior he’s no longer as seen by God in the flesh so he’s no longer under the law the law was to control the first birth the flesh the lost man and once a man trust Christ is saved the Bible says we’re no longer under the law but we’re under the law of love therefore if we love God, then we will fulfill everything the law says.

So the greatest power is the law of love because love has its own set of laws. But you can try to keep the 10 commandments and have no love whatsoever and therefore you cannot keep it because of the imperfections of man. Commandments one through four deal with man’s relationship to God. These are basic and affect all other relationships. In other So where’s the first thing in a person’s life is to make sure things are right between you and God.

And then this will take care of itself. But you see, things are not right between you and God, then this won’t matter. This is where you have all your troubles. I swear, I believe that almost all of people’s problems is because they’re not right with God. The problem that a man and a wife have in their relationship because one of them is not right with God. Because if you’re right with God, you can solve everything. If in a church, if everybody’s right with God, all this takes care of itself between one another.

be, it’s because somebody’s not right with God. Same thing in our country. So these relationships are important, mainly our relationship to God and then our relationship to one another. Thou shalt have no other God before me. The Lord Jehovah is the only God. He never permits any rivalry for we are His creation. Along to Him there is no other God. He is the only God. And this is mentioned throughout the book of Isaiah very, very strongly over and over again.

There is no what the God beside me. He says he will not share his glory with another. There is no other God. There’s only one true in living God. The true God has a son. You should have your faith firmly planted in the Word of God. Number one, some imagine that there are other gods and worship cows or other animals or a particular river or tree or so forth. In the other, a lot of this has been done. They got thousands of gods.

Cows can walk the streets and they can’t kill this animal that man. You step on that bug that could be aunt Lucy, and so you just can’t do a lot of those things. They worship stuff that are not true. Some worship the earth. Others look to the stars or to the horoscope for guidance. It’s a shame for a Christian and the reader horoscope in the newspapers every day. You stop that trash. That’s junk. Don’t even start it. A few worship the mind, or man’s intelligent.

Many worship many other things, like cars, boats, clothes, bank account, positions, entertainment, popularity, accomplishments, all these things. If you put them between you and God, then God says that’s idolatry. Anything comes between you and God becomes your God. The second commandment thou shalt not make under the any graven image. God is the Spirit, therefore it is blasphemy to seek to confine him to objects or things. By bowing or praying to statutes, images, crucifixes and so forth. Their idol, now get this here, this is in the book of Psalms.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not eyes, have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Nose is have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk not. Neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them so as everyone that trusts us in them. Should you worship little statues and say these little statues represent something between you and God so that’s heresy.

Leave that junk alone. But I think you have to be very careful that you don’t find yourself thinking that some little statue that you can pray to or put them on the dash of your car. Is anybody got a religion that they can do that? And though this little thing is going to protect them, you’re right. It won’t. Third commandment, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. You remember I told you that I thought Jesus Christ was a cuss word.

I did not know that was God’s name. I didn’t know it was a reference to the holiest person that’s ever been born into this world. I did not know that. I thought Jesus Christ was a cuss word. And that’s because all I ever heard was Jesus Christ being used in slang or asking God to damn either people or items or objects or anything. There was always asking God to send something to hell. I don’t believe that it’s right. I believe that it’s wrong.

The Bible says, let not filthy communication proceed out of thy mouth. filthy communication proceed out of thy mouth. That’s why it’s not good to tell dirty jokes. To say things that you ought not say, always guard in your tongue. But God is holy, therefore reverence must caeterize all speech using his name. The words in vain means idle. Nothing meant by it or irreverent. Some vent their frustration or anger by using God’s name, then defend it by saying, oh, I didn’t mean anything by it.

That is the purpose of this command. Everything you say should something be meant by it. The things that you think something is meant by it. Everything means something. Be careful. God’s name should only be spoken or written in a meaningful, respectful manner. The Lord’s example prayer begins, our Father which art in heaven, and I call it the Lord’s example prayer, it’s not the Lord’s prayer. The Lord never prayed this prayer. It was an example given to us by which we could learn.

How our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Do hallowed God’s name means to reverence and to make his name special. Jesus Christ should be very, very special to you. I am very offended when people take his name and use it as profanity and curse. I’ve stopped quite a few people who are let them know that I did not appreciate that. And wondered whether or not I was going to get punched for it, but I have been known to let my views be known.

The Fourth Commandment, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The Sabbath day is a Saturday. It was a day that God rested from the work that He had done. He made the heavens and the earth six days rested on the seventh day. This is the only commandment that you do not find in the New Testament that tells us to keep. That was to Israel. He given to them as a command in the book of Exodus in chapter 20.

Everything else out of the other nine are in the New Testament given by Christ or in the Epistle telling us that we need to do those things and understand those things. But there is none about the Sabbath. It’s the only one. But he says to them, because God created all things, ancient people, no doubt, knew that the seventh day was to be holy. Israel also knew that manna did not appear the seventh day. At Sinai, God commanded Israel to keep the Sabbath day holy by resting from unnecessary work.

The only thing that was supposed to do that day was not supposed to work. It wasn’t a day of worship. You say, you’re not supposed to worship on the Sabbath. Well, I didn’t say worship, or you’re supposed to worship the Sabbath. No, it just you didn’t do no work on the Sabbath It’s the only thing you did not work, but I’m glad that we’re not under the Sabbath law anymore the fifth commandment honor thy father and thy mother that Thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee this means the honor thy father my mother as long as you Are at home You think it means for the rest of your life?

I Believe you should always honor your mother and father That means that you don’t always necessarily do what they want you to do, but you do what they would be honored By you doing right you honor your parents by doing right? under all circumstances and I believe even though my mother and I was dead my dad’s dead I Still should honor my parents by how I either think or remember them or use them in illustrations Whatever, but never for shame or to put down to low rate or anything like that about your parents Our first relationship is with our parents.

To honor means the child obeying his parents with a respectful attitude. When a child grows up and does not obey his parents, he usually has problems with others and especially those in authority. Adults are to continue to honor their parents by showing respect and concern for their welfare. See, there is a great movement on today in secular humanism to do away with all of these laws because they don’t want to do this. They want to be able to, if they want to, abort the children, murder the babies, or to have euthanasia to do away with their parents.

So laws will be passed. We can do away with them and we can do away with them. Just think if they would just eliminate all the people in all the nursing homes, just let them all die give them a shot. There’s people that want to do this. I believe it’s wrong, but that is what is coming. The other thing here, this command includes a promise that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God give us thee.

It is repeated in Ephesians chapter 6, honor thy father and mother. See that’s not done away with just because you know that was under the law. Well this is repeated in Ephesians. You’re still an honor thy father, but that it may be well So would they refer to exactly the same promise, the same scripture to the law, but this is not for salvation, and the law is good if you use it lawfully. This promise includes things going well for them in life.

Many things will happen better for you because of the way you treat your parents and your grandparents. Sixth commandment thou shalt not kill. This short command teaches the sanctity of human life. man was created in God’s image. Every human soul has word, has value. We talk about the value of human life. Human rights is because we’re actually taught from the Bible that every person has the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to pursue happiness. As long as it doesn’t violate the right to somebody else, a person should be free.

We’ll see there’s a multitude of countries around this world that do not believe that. And Their goal is to take away your right, and I believe we have a responsibility to defend those rights. Now we are not murdered because we defend ourselves against those who are trying to take our life. Israel’s law was he that smiteth a man so that he die shall be surely put to death. And the murder shall surely be put to death is repeated three times in Numbers 35.

Israel’s law commanded capital punishment and history proves it to be a strong deterrent to murder. If you take somebody’s life, premeditated murder, and then by government they take your life, life. You can’t tell me that’s not a deterrent to crime because you’ll never do it again. If you listen to the news and you hear about these people who are serial killers, multiple persons that have died because of somebody killing not just one person but a maulter to people. And then when we catch them we let them go to prison and we keep them bearing them in the room and board for the rest of their life and take care of their medical care and all that for the rest of their life.

We reward them. We don’t punish them. It’s better to do it God’s way. When someone accidentally or unintentionally kills another person, that is manslaughter. And to kill someone in self-defense or in defense of other people such as war is not murder. The Old Testament relates many wars that Israel fought to protect the nation from enemies. That’s different. Seventh commandment, thou shall not commit adultery. This commandment emphasizes the sanctity of marriage and the home. Adultery is always a terrible home breaker.

What a man and wife is married, adultery destroys the home more than any other single thing there is. Those are the money or power or whatever you want to call it, but adultery. Between And one or the other is what destroys the home. It is sinful, it is wicked, and people need to guard themselves. But who so committed adultery with a woman lacketh understanding? He that doeth it destroyed his own soul. Talking about you destroyed your life because you’ve lost the purpose of your life because of how the marriage is supposed to be the picture of a man’s salvation.

That a man and a woman together for the rest of their life is a picture of when you trust Christ is your Savior that you’re joined together with the Lord for eternity and is never to be severed. But lo and behold, because of a sinful nature, because people have a hard heart and they refuse to do things God’s way. Yes, there’s always the consequence. But then whenever there is, there are consequences on top of consequences and it plants within it the seed of destruction and it’s not wise.

But Jesus said, whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her have committed adultery with her already in his heart. By this Jesus said adultery can begin when the eye stimulates the desire. Proverbs 7 and 10 says, speaks of the attire, the apparel of a hearted. And let me just give you this one on this. Many young girls or innocent women do not realize that immodest attire such as suggestive, revealing, provocative, or vulgar clothing can tempt the opposite sects to adultery, sexual improprieties, or even rape.

Now I’m not saying they’re all totally ignorant, but a lot of them I think are. The Eighth Amendment, Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not steal, emphasize the sanctity of personal property. You see, if you don’t steal, that means that I’m not allowed to steal from you through government either. People’s property belongs to them. Much of what is going on in our country today is thievery. It’s called illegal plunder. It means the politicians by a stroke of the pen by voting can take your money from you and give it to somebody else.

That’s stealing. Nobody ever gave our government the authority to take our money from us and use it for unlawful means. And much of the things that are done in our country are just that. Most of the giveaway programs and so forth. It means the people who work take care of the people that don’t work, not wise. Our Constitution doesn’t state that, it’s not in there anywhere. I then read through the Constitution. I then studied the Constitution. I’ve taught the Constitution.

It’s not there. So what did I get all of this here from? Because of the ignorance of the common man. He doesn’t know. This is why they don’t want our kids today to be totally educated. Because you cannot enslave educated thinking, reasoning people. You can only do it to people who are not knowledgeable. That’s why people who do not know the truth of the gospel can be enslaved and a false gospel. That’s why the majority of churches are not clear on the gospel.

They don’t have the truth, the purity of the gospel. People become enslaved to religion and never really trust Christ if they’re Savior and they think that what they’re doing is going to get them to heaven and that won’t save them. The ninth commandment thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, emphasizes the sanctity of another person’s reputation. Do you believe that you have the right to destroy another person’s reputation without cause? That’s a shameful wicked thing to do because you’re trying to destroy somebody else’s character.

But a person’s character is what they are in the dark, their reputation is what they are in the light. God commands us to speak the truth in all manners. To bear false witness is what they are in the light. God commands us to speak the truth in all manners. is more inclusive than just lying. For Baron false witness includes various types of deception, whether or without words been spoken, because then you’re not just saying a lie. But whenever you say something deceptive about somebody else is not that you just told a lie, you’re trying to destroy somebody else in the process.

And then you’re planting seeds in somebody else that will spread that gossip to somebody else and somebody else says a lot of difference. So God says, put away the lion. Speak every man truth with his neighbor. Ananias and Sephara lied about money they gave to the church. When asked separately about the amount they each lied, that day Ananias dropped dead, later his wife. The church quickly learned that God judges those who lie. Does God know when we lie? And even though we lie, don’t correct it, there’s a God in heaven that’s still gonna judge you because you did not correct the lie.

We often think, well, it’s really bad if you wait here and kill somebody. Yeah, and if you rob a bank, but sometimes we don’t think twice before we spread dirt on somebody, or try to ruin somebody’s character, their testimony, or so in seeds of discord, and don’t even think of the fallout, the consequences of it, and it needs to be looked at very carefully. Be careful how you use your tongue, because God will judge you accordingly. The 10th commandment thou shalt not covet, emphasizes the sanctity of the human heart for God.

God wants our hearts to be contented and satisfied with Him. When we want anything so badly that it disturbs our inner peace, we violate the command thou shalt not covet. It’s in God’s hands, just forget it, and go on. And see if God will bless us because we seek to do what’s right and on down the road, maybe God will give us all back. But things are in God’s hands and learn how to trust Him. It doesn’t mean you get everything you want.

Sometimes you want things that are good. You can desire the right things for the right reasons. But you have to wait. Sometimes God leads us by the supply of something or the withholding of something. Some consider coveting to be merely wanting something or someone that belongs to a friend our neighbor, but it could be an item in a store, a catalog or on the internet. Jesus said, beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consists of not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.

The way to victory over coveting is to let God control what we want. It’s what you want, things that you believe that God would want you to have. And then if that is true, then trust the the Lord to give it to you in God’s time. The Ten Commandments reveal God’s perfect character and man’s faulty character. It shows you how sinful man is because we break the law. When he says, I shall love the Lord thy God with all thy hard mind, body, soul, and strength.

We don’t love God that much. We don’t love God only. But the Bible says that we should. Number one, they convince us that we are sinners, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law lets us know we’ve come short of God’s perfection. So we understand the purpose of the law. Should we do away with that? No. Whenever I talk to a lost man, I’m always using the law. The law requires us, we have to be perfect to go to heaven.

The Bible says so. And because we haven’t, we’ve broken God’s law and the wages of sin is death. Well, that’s the law. That’s the law. So I use the law with a lost man to show him what God said. And then I use Christ to show them that he’s the only way to be saved. So the law leads a man to Christ that he might be justified by faith. The law brings conviction to the soul and creates a need to be forgiven.

For that reason, some people oppose the The Ten Commandments been posted on walls or graven in public places. Why? Because the Ten Commandments makes a person painfully aware of his failure to be what he ought to be. And therefore, he senses in his heart a deep need that he cannot meet. Because if a person is realistic to himself… I’ll see you in the next one. He knows that there’s a requirement that he comes short of and he feels like totally frustration.

He can’t meet it. So why even try? And if they only knew that there’s a way, but they don’t know that. But just because of what it brings to the mind of a man, doesn’t mean that you do away with the law. No, you give them with a solution, the answer. What was our school master to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. No one is saved by keeping the law or by doing good work.

But does that make the law bad, evil? No, the law is good. There’s nothing wrong with the law. We don’t use the law in order to save ourselves, but the things that are mentioned in the law, the Bible says, if a man loves one another, you fulfill the law between you and your brother. If you love God, a love will take care of itself between you and God. The Ten Commandments have never rescued a perishing soul, nor started a person on the road to heaven, but they hold up a standard of perfection for us to measure ourselves by.

This is how we know we have come short of the perfection of God’s glory because of the righteousness of the law. And when the person sees himself guilty before a holy God, and hears that Christ paid for his sins at Calvary, he is often ready to accept Jesus Christ as a Savior for forgiveness and an eternal home in heaven. So I used the law to explain to a person their need. Jesus summarized the last five commandments as, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

The apostle Paul wrote New Testament believers, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this say and namely thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” That’s in Romans 13, not the Old Testament. And that’s those laws that we just talked about. So when Christ came to fulfill the law, the problem with the law was that with us is not the law, it was the weakness of man to keep it.

But when we love one another’s we should, we shouldn’t want to kill somebody. If we love the way we should, we won’t want to steal from them. If we really love them, we wouldn’t want them to commit a adultery because that would bring the chasing of God upon them and upon us. Why would you want God’s chasing upon somebody or upon yourself? So it’s better to do what God says. You have to guard your testimony at all times and put in the Lord first.

I hope that helps you to have a little bit better understanding of the law. It’s not a bad thing. And God not a big old bad bloodthirsty God appeared in the Old Testament, trying to get everybody. God got up this morning on the right side of the bed, and he’s looking over the banners of heaven, and he says, I got something good for you today. We always think he’s got it in for us. God ain’t got it in for us.

God is a good God. He’s a wonderful God. He’s a loving God. 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 tool free 1-800-576-3771. 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 rate that 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 broadcasts of our services may be seen by clicking on the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Eye, 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, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for a Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. So this was in what we call a transition period because it was finishing up of the dispensation of law which it ended, I believe, around the time of the fall of the temple in Jerusalem and the Jews were scattered. But the church began on the day of Pentecost. And so in this period of time here, you have a transition period where they’re going from law, to grace, Judaism, Christianity.

And so they were able to do signs and gifts and miracles and so forth during this period of time to confirm the word. You see, Philip couldn’t say, now I want all of you all to take your Bible to look in the book of Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. He couldn’t say take your Bible looking first John 5, 13. He used the Old Testament scriptures that knew hadn’t been written yet. And so, but they were able to take the Old Testament scriptures and preach the truth and preach the gospel whereby they could have eternal life.

And so this is what was going on. And the Holy Spirit had not yet been given. But remember this, when Jesus in chapter seven of the gospel of John, verse 39 says on that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried. Saying, if any man thirst led in coming to me and drinking as the scripture hath saith, out of his belly shall come stream to live in water. And it says, and this is the key of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.

For as yet Christ had not yet been glorified. And the Holy Spirit would come upon all those that believe. So as time goes on, there was no Holy Spirit given. It was given to them on day of Pentecost. And then after that, then they would lay hands on them. And then after all the miracles and signs and the transition periods of it, when you simply believe you received the Holy Spirit. And so you’ll find this several times in the book of Acts.

It’s a transitional book until everything is done. And then when we have the complete word of God, you don’t need all of that stuff anymore. And so that has been removed. It’s no longer sufficient. Now, here he makes a statement. In verse 18, when Simon saw that through land on of the apostles’ hands, the Holy Ghost was given, He offered them money. Now, I do not see this as Him trying to buy salvation. He was talking about something else.

He’s talking now about this power. Remember, He’s had power to do things. He wants this power. And it’s not talking about salvation. It didn’t say Simon did not ask for salvation. He says in verse 19, saying, give me also this power that on whom so So over I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. This is what he was asking. I think it’s a different issue than salvation. But if I doubt his salvation, then I have to doubt all the salvation of all the other people that believed also.

And his baptism meant nothing. Then the other people’s baptism didn’t mean anything either. And in verse 20 says, but Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee because thou has fought something they’s thinking. the gift of God may be purchased with money. But is this the gift of eternal life or the gift of God as you find in the book of Acts in chapter 2 where it makes a statement in verse 38 says, then Peter said unto him, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost.

So here he’s talking about receiving the Holy Ghost. So this gift. It’s not something you can buy. When you and I trust Christ’s Savior, the Holy Spirit is free. But there, because of the transition, it was to validate the word which they spoke and the miracles and things that they were able to do. And so, it made the statement in verse 21, they’ll have to neither partner a lot in this matter. For by heart is not right in the side of the God.

In other words, this isn’t something that you can buy, You can’t buy this, but I don’t believe he’s talking about being saved. It doesn’t say that. I can make it say that. I can twist it around a little bit and say that that’s what it means. No, I believe that just like this, for example, you may have trusted Christ as your Savior. You know you’re going to heaven when you die. But does that mean you automatically serve God? No.

Can you still, as a believer, be rebellious and be filled with bitterness and gall and hatred and jealousy and envy. Yes, you can. You can have all those things. And he’s talking about the way he was thinking. His thinking was wrong. And you can get to where you want what somebody else has. You want somebody else’s power. Everybody seems to think the other side of the fence is greener. Somebody always has the other job you wished you had. They had the money you wished you had.

They have the help you wished you had. They have the looks you wished you had. Or you have the husband I wished I had. Or you have the wife I wished I had. Or you have the kids I wished I had. And very few people are ever content with what they have. And so they’re always living this way, their whole lives. But he says here in verse 21, they’ll have neither part of it. This isn’t your decision. In verse 22, change your mind therefore of this wickedness.

Pray God if perhaps the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee. I don’t believe this is talking about one thing, one sin, a thought, a deed, concerning something that was wrong. Now we already know about An anisinsa far. They were in the church and they sold their property and they brought it, But they simply gave the impression they gave it all and they didn’t. And so they just dropped dead because of it.

Is it possible for children of God to make ungodly decisions, to say things wrong, to do things wrong, to covet things they should not? Yes they can. And I believe that’s the case here. For I perceive the tower in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Because he used to have all that praise and that honor and that glory. And he’s given all that power up and maybe trust Christ’s Savior and he wants to be able to do what they’re doing.

I don’t know. I do a lot of things I don’t know. I don’t have to know. But just by reading this, if I’m going to doubt his salvation, then I also have to doubt all the other ones up there in verse 12 where he says, but when they believe Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, Christ. They were baptized, both many women. Then Simon himself believed also. No, either he did or he didnjury didn’t.

And if that’s good enough for all these other places where it says just believe, well then why would he put it in here? Because if he didn’t really get saved, he shouldn’t have said he believed, but it says he did. So as you go down through here, in verse 24, then Simon said, pray ye the Lord for me that none of those things which you have spoken come upon me. And I think he’s talking about God chasing her judgment upon him because of the way he was thinking and what he was desired, even though it was inward thing.

And so he made the statement, when they had testified, preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel in many villages and the Samaritans. Now, here with Philip and the Ethiopian, this is an awesome story. Now, we know that in Ethiopia, I’ve been in Egypt and I’ve seen a lot of Ethiopians. I preached a whole bunch of them, several about four or 500 of them went at one meeting. And I had several hundred of them trust the Lord.

And Ray Stanford got so filled with jealousy, he said, I want to do it too. So they got him another three, 400, and he preached to them and I stood there and I watched. Ray Stanford, he was 85 years old, and he preached the importance hard out. And he only had just a little bit of money. He didn’t have much at all. But before the end of the meeting, He had given all of his money away, every bit of it.

And so we went to a restaurant to get something to eat and raise it. I’m not hungry. We went later and got something to eat and I’m not hungry. Said, right, why aren’t you eating? Yeah, I’m just not hungry. I said, Ray, I want to ask you a question. Do you have any money? Any kind of lord has had a little business? I said, what happened to you money? He’s a Yankee, he said, all these poor people, they had come across from the Sudan and Ethiopian, they just didn’t have anything and they were just so hungry.

And they started and I said, I just couldn’t do it. I can’t eat this food and know there’s starving. I gave him all my money. The man who took us over there, old was he burning, he was hot. He couldn’t believe it, he jumped all over Ray for doing that. He says, they’re unlimited. He says, you shouldn’t have done nothing like that. So anyway, we helped re-out for the rest of the trip. But that’s Ray Stanford. He just had a compassion and it didn’t matter to him.

That gave everything he had. I mean, we still had some time to go. He had died. He didn’t start the death. But he just, it didn’t matter. But anyway, this Ethiopian head come to Jerusalem to worship. And now he’s on his way back and it says that he was the treasure for the Queen there. And the angel of the Lord spake on the Philip and said, arise and go toward the south unto the way that goeth in from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

He arose and he went and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority. Under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians and had the charge of her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for the worship was returning and sitting in his chariot. He He read Isaiah the prophet. So here’s a man that’s reading the book of Isaiah, and he’s in a chariot. He’s returning. And in says, in verse 29, then the spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot.

This is almost a hundred miles away. He’s got there in Samaria. Great revival going on. God knows there’s one man down in the middle of a desert, in his chariot, going through the desert. Lord knows exactly where He is. And it says that Philip ran to him. Look what he says there. In verse 30 says, and Philip ran. Philip ran. God told him what to do and he did it. You know a lot of us we just won’t do what God says to do.

We’ve got to wait. You know delayed obedience is disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. But Philip it says here, join this man. Look what he says there in verse 29. The Spirit said unto Philip, go near, join thyself to this chariot. Philip ran to the to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and says, says, understand it what thou read it. Now, you know what we’re reading? We’re reading the greatest stories in all the world. There’s a lot of stories in the world, but these are stories of so winning.

It’s just people telling people how to have eternal life. You may not think that that’s the greatest thing in the world, but it is. There isn’t anything greater than telling people how to have the free gift of eternal life. We’re all going to die. And the question is where are you going when you die? Where are you gonna go when you die? I told you this last week, I got to repeat it one more time. A lady had called the church.

Mike answered the phone. And when Mike answered the phone, this lady says, oh, I’m sorry, I have the wrong number. He says, you don’t, maybe you don’t have the wrong number. He says, do you know where you’re going when you die? And she says, oh my God, it’s the funeral home. Well, it’s not the funeral home, But it is the question that we asked around here. So he says here, go near and who told me, I’ve failed to do this, the Holy Spirit.

You see, the Holy Spirit will lead you to witness and lead you as you witness. You see, we already know to go. It was easy for the Lord to guide Philip because Philip was already moving. When you’re already serving the Lord and you’re willing to go wherever God wants you to go, It’s easier for the Lord to guide you. Why steer a card that’s not, the motor’s not running. You’re not going anywhere. And you’re saying, Lord, lead and guide me.

Why, you’re not moving. You’re not going to wear. It’s easier to steer a card that’s moving. And so he says here in verse 31, and he said, how can I accept some man should guide me? This is what people need, somebody to guide them. All we’re trying to do is, So winning is leading a person to Christ. You’re gonna lead this person to the Lord. That’s so winning, leading somebody to the Lord. And God wants to use us to bring people to Him.

We can’t save anybody, but it is the will of God that we serve Him. So He says here in verse 31, He says, How can I accept some magic guide me? He desired Philip that he would come up and sit with Him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter. Like a lamb done before his ears, it’s so open he not his mouth. This is Isaiah 53. Isn’t that amazing that he would go all the way back?

that he would go all the way back and he’d be reading. I wonder why he wasn’t reading John chapter 3. It’s a lot easier to understand. There was no John chapter 3. All they have was the Old Testament. And so they used the Old Testament to preach the gospel. And he says here, who’s this talking about? See in verse 33, in his humiliation, his judgment was taken away and who shall declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth.

They can understand And that from the Old Testament reading, his life is taken away. And the unique answered Philip and said, I pray the of whom speak at the prophet this, of himself or some other man. Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And as they were on their way, they came unto certain water. The unique said, see, here is water. What did the hinder me to be baptized? Now being baptized does not save anybody.

Water baptism will not wash the dirt off your neck. If you don’t use soap with it. Water is a pitcher of the death-barreling resurrection of Jesus Christ for you. You see, whenever you stand in the water, it’s like a pitcher of Christ on the cross. When you go under the water, the pitcher of your burial. When you come up out of the water, the pitcher of your resurrection. When you believe that Christ died on that cross and that He was buried for you you and came back again from the dead.

That’s why your baptized in water is taking a picture. And that’s why the picture doesn’t save you. Water baptism doesn’t save. It’s a picture of your salvation. That’s why you only get baptized if you’re saved. And God forbid all those people and all those churches and the parents that think that their little baby is going to be safe and secure and go Go to heaven because they’ve been baptized. Baptism is always after you believe, never before you believe. Baptism is why they call it Believer’s baptism.

You get baptized in water because you believe that when Christ died on that cross, He did it for you. And if you don’t believe He did it for you, then you’re not to be baptized. So baptism is only for the believer. That’s why He says, What does the hinder me to be baptized?” And Philip says in verse 37, “‘If thou beleavest with all thine heart.” You may. Now tell me this little child, now a little child, would you like to be baptized?

Googoo. Do you believe with all your heart? Googoo. And you baptized that little baby. What did that little baby tell you that he believed that Christ died on the cross and paid for all of your sins? And that little baby grows up That’s what I’ve been baptized. I’ve been salminized, pasteurized, fortified. That has nothing to do with salvation. So being baptized is after you believe. You’re saved because you believe that when Christ died on that cross He paid for all of your sins.

And you’re going to go to heaven whenever you die. See, this man here, was he in the church when he got saved? No. He’s out in the middle of a desert, riding along in a chariot. You don’t have to be saved in a church. You may be saved anywhere. That’s why you can lead people to the Lord anywhere. You read the stories in here and you’ll find out most of these people were saved, not in a church. They were saved outside.

Why? Because the people were scattered everywhere and where everywhere they went, they told the story of how to have eternal life. And that’s why you’ll find out books written like the book of Romans. It says your faith is heard and spread throughout the world, because there’s people that have been reached all over the world from people from maybe even the Calvary community church. Would that be great? Because of the radio or because of the internet? But look what he says here.

He says in verse 37, if thou believe us with all thine heart, thou mayest, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went both down into the water. Now wouldn’t that be dumb? To get totally wet like that when all you had to do was take a little cut and throw it on the head. Why should I get wet? All I got to do is reach down there and get some water in the hand and throw it on top of his head.

The heart baptized. Is that how you bury people? I got a little dirt. That’s it. He’s buried. I don’t think so. And baptism is a picture of your burial. . . . . . . . . . Fair real. And so when you baptize, says they both went down into the water and they baptized them. Did the baptism save? No, they did that because it was already saved. Not to be saved. So no water baptism has ever saved anybody.

Never will. Have I been baptized? Yes, I have been baptized. I baptized one man one time. him under. For some reason or other he got scared and he grabbed a hold of the plexiglass that went across there so people could see, you know, and he was down like this. And as I went down there he grabbed a hold of that thing because it scared the death. Anyway, I pushed him on the air and I said, I got everything under but the hand.

Did you know that he got cancer in that right hand? And he knew it was because he didn’t baptize his hand. You say, is that true? That’s true. True story. But anyway, I can tell you some stories that are very funny that have had happened. Some I would like to forget. In verse 38, he commanded a chariot to stand still, he went down. But now notice this in verse 39, and when they were come up out of the water.

What does it say? And when they were come up out of the water. Now how would anybody have a problem with understanding? I don’t know if you just pose a sprinkle or not. Well what does it say? What did he do? Baptize him. They went down into the water, come out of the water. Can you understand that? Some people can understand it. And so he says in verse 39, the spirit of the Lord called away Philip and the eunuchs saw him no more and he went on his way complaining.

What’s the word? Rejoice scene because you know my sins are forgiven. I’m going to heaven. Look when God saved you and gave you eternal life weren’t you thankful? Well aren’t you still saved? Why shouldn’t you still be thankful? And yet there’s people going on, always whining about something down in the mouth. Always thinking Jonah, he came out of it. But Philip was found at Azotas and passing through. He preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. But isn’t this a good, so winning story of individuals?

Some people will do right. Some people won’t do right. You may have trusted Christ as your Savior, your God’s child. If you don’t serve the Lord, you still get to go to heaven when you die. That’s called grace. You don’t deserve it. Grace means you don’t deserve it. But if you do serve the Lord, He’ll reward you when you get to heaven. And you’ll enjoy life a lot better. God designed all this. But remember, as a child of God, you have a choice.

When you’re born into God’s family, you are His child. Now you have a choice. You can be an obedient child child or a disobedient child. If you’re an obedient child, God will bless you here. Reward you there. You still go to heaven. If you’re disobedient, God will beat the tar out of you here. Maybe take you home before your time and you’re not going to be happy and you’re not going to have a peace and a joy that you ought to have.

So you as a child of God, You better serve the Lord and you better do right because you’re heavenly Father though He’ll never cast you out and He’ll never lose you. You haven’t got an idea how bad and severe God can chase in you. You cannot live as you please after you get saved. Or you can live as you please but you can’t get away with it. Or you can live as you please but remember God is gonna chase in you.

Like I said before you can choose how you’re going to live and God can choose how he going to beat the Torah out of you. Isn’t that fair? Are you still saved? Yeah, you’re saved. You’re going to heaven because of what Christ did. And I hope you serve the Lord because of what He means to you. But I don’t serve the Lord to get to heaven. I serve the Lord because I’m going to heaven. Makes so much sense to me.

I hope it does to you. Look up here. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. Everybody is a sinner. all done things wrong. And the Bible says that you and I committed to sin we have to pay for it, and that’s eternal separation from God. But to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God and you and I know nobody’s perfect like God. Let’s see heaven is a perfect place.

God is perfect. You have to be perfect to go there. Well then who gets to go? Nobody. God does something for us. Nobody will be in heaven. So what did he do? You see, you and I, we can’t pay for our sins. It’s not the things that we do. It’s not by money. It’s not by good works. It’s not by joining the church. It’s only one way for you and I to get to heaven. Jesus Christ, this hand represents Jesus Christ.

He’s the Lord God in the flesh came into the world because he loves us. Hates our sin because it separates us from him. So Christ took all the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead, and says that if you and I, if we’ll believe that He did it for us, He would give us the righteousness we need to get to heaven on. You see, when Christ came into the world, He was perfect. He was righteous.

You and I are sinners. So Christ, He took all of our sins upon Him. When you and I believe that He did it for us, and we accept this payment He made, He gives us His righteousness. If God gives me His righteousness, that makes me as righteous as God. I’m going to heaven on His righteousness, so in God’s eyes, I’m perfect. He paid for all my sins. All of them, not most of them, all of them. I’m going to heaven because of what He did for me.

He died in my place. All my sins are paid. There’s not one sin that can condemn me to hell. I can’t go today. I can’t go tomorrow. I can never go to hell in artificer. That’s pretty good news. Let’s pray, shall we? If you’re here this morning, you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior. Would you trust Him? Would you simply just believe that when Christ died, He died for you? You’ve heard it. He loves you. It’s something you can do.

It’s not over your head. You’ve heard it. He loves you. It’s something that you can do. It’s not over your head. ITHIS IS SO SIMPLE, GOD JUST WANT YOU TO BELIEVE WHAT HE DID WAS FOR YOU, THAT HE PAD FOR YOUR SINS. IF YOU’LL BELIEVE THAT HE DID IT FOR YOU, GOD SAVE YOU AND GIVE YOU THE FREE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE. YOU CAN KNOW THAT YOU’RE GOING TO HAVEN WHEN YOU DIE. IF YOU WILL, TRUST CRISIS YOUR SAVEW THIS MORNING, I’D LIKE TO HAVE PREPHERE FOR YOU.

But you just slip your hand over it quickly and put it right back down. It’s in with it all. Just slip it up real quick and put it right back down. By that you mean, yes, pray for me, I will trust Christ as my Savior this morning. I want to be certain of going to heaven when I die. It won’t at all. If you have trust that Christ is your Savior, your God’s child. As God’s child, serve the Lord, do right.

There’s a lot of people that’s never heard the free gift of eternal life. Let God use you. How shall I accept some man guide me, somebody out there needs you? Father, we thank you so much for this time together. Thank you for your word you’ve given us. We’re thankful for these stories that you put in your word so that we can understand what they did and how it happened. Give us encouragement, give us boldness. We’re thankful for it. Bless each one.

Bless each one. Christ and 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 are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free. 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. ,,,,,,,, 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. 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. Friends, 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, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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.

Take a Bible, turn to the book of Acts, and chapter 8, Acts chapter 8. Monday morning, I went to the bank to get my little card corrected with a pin number. I’m sure y’all might have had to do that at a time. The little lady in there says, well have a seat, so I had a seat. And she smiled and she looked at me and she said, And what is your New Year’s resolution? I really hadn’t thought of a New Year’s resolution.

And so I said, I just want to tell more people how to have the free gift of eternal life by simply accepting Christ as their Savior. She looked at me. She says, well, go for it. There were still people in line, but we had a little time. So I proceeded to tell her how that you can have eternal life as a free gift. When I got through, I said, does that make sense to you? She said, yes, it does.

She had a big smile on her face. I said, well, right now, will you trust Jesus Christ as your only hope of going to heaven? She said, yes, I will. And then she laughed. I said, what are you laughing for? She says, if my priest could see me now. I thought it was so funny because you know, some things you can’t make happen. You just don’t plan it. And so I said, you made my day. She said, you made mine.

So it’s a good way to start the new year off, I guess. But here in the book of Acts, we have in chapter eight, a very interesting story. We have the story of a man named Philip who is on fire. I mean, he is newly elected Deacon and he’s just approaching away. Of course, you know, we’ve already lost even. He died in the previous chapter. So now we have a story about the introduction of somebody named Saul. Now this is not King Saul of the Old Testament, this is a new guy.

And he was a young man. And the Bible says that when Stephen was being stoned, they laid the clothes at a young man’s feet and he was consenting unto his death. In other words, it means with his approval. See there in verse 1, Saul was consenting unto his death, gave his approval. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem. we know. This was not called the First Baptist Church. It probably was not called the Catholic Church.

It wasn’t called the Pentecostal Church. It was the Church. There was only one Church, which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles. Now remember in the book of Acts in chapter verse eight where he says, and the Holy Spirit shall come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me, and you shall receive power that you may be witnessing in Jerusalem and Judea and Samarion are the most parts of the earth.

Well, this is what has happened in Jerusalem and now it’s going to spread. And now we’re going to be talking about in, you know, Samarion and so on, and then into the uttermost parts of the earth. But it was because the children of Israel did not listen to this last big plea where Peter had preached to them, and then Stephen had preached to them, and they just didn’t want anything to do with it. And they commanded that they not teach or preach in the name of Jesus Christ.

Well, they did it anyway. They were greatly persecuted. Peter put him prison. Stephen was stoned to death. And now we have another young man who was doing everything in his power to kind of put his clamps down on this new church that’s coming on the scene and all these people that believed this. And they actually believed they were doing God a favor. They thought that what they were doing. Paul tells it later. They thought they were doing the will of God.

But they weren’t. And as you read through here, you’ll find out that yes, there’s some people who think they’re doing what God wants them to do and they’re not doing it. But He makes a statement here in verse 2, and devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, cause chaos entered into every house and hailing men and women and committed them to prison. This is what Saul was doing.

You say, who is his Saul? Well, whoever he was, he was a bad guy. I mean, this is a guy you don’t want anything to do with. You don’t want to mess with this man. Because he had authorization to take men and women and put them into prison, kill them. I mean, he was a terrible man. You know and I know that there’s no way God could ever use a man like that, right? Now in verse four it says, therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.

So the apostles were still in Jerusalem. The people were scattered abroad. Sometimes God may scatter you abroad and send you someplace else and uproot your life and close down this job in order to force you to do something. God knows what he’s doing and he spreads us out sometime because sometimes we just get lacked a day’s ago taking things for granted. And you got your nice little nest egg and you feel comfortable. And sometimes God wants us to get out of our comfort zone.

And so he kind of put those sharp little sticks in the nest so that little iglets are no longer comfortable. So they’ll learn how to fly. And so the mama, Elo, put them on their back and take them way up high and then dump them off. And then they’ll, what’s the one? And they learn how to fly. But that’s how they learn. that’s how we learn. So sometimes you’re just too comfortable. Things are too easy on you. So God’s got to shake up your life a little bit.

Well, he knows what he’s doing. But it says in verse 5, then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, preached Christ unto them. Now here’s Jerusalem. You would say down to Jerusalem would be south of Jerusalem. But down from Jerusalem could be in any direction because Jerusalem was up on a high mountain and Samaria was north. So they had to go there and Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. So we know what he preached.

He preached the Lord. We’ll know later how much he understood. And the people with one accord and gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. So he was able to do all kinds of miracles. People were impressed. It was validation upon the message they were preaching. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them and many taken with palsies and that were lame, were healed, and there was great joy in that city.

already talked about in an earlier chapter where it talks about they had great grace and great power and great fear and now great joy. So whenever you do everything that God says to do the joy is because you’ve done what God says to do in spite of the fear because God’s given you power and God has saved you by grace. So we have all that we need to really enjoy life. Now if you’re going through life right now and you’re not enjoying life itself that God given to you, something’s wrong.

But it’s not God and it’s not the world. You say, well, we were just born at a bad time. This is a bad time to live. Well, I think you’ll find out that Jacob and all of his sons, that was a bad time to live. They had a good idea. Egypt. They all were born at a bad time. Moses? Well, he was born at a bad time. They were killing all the little boys, remember? Jesus, well, he was born at a bad time.

There’s always been bad times. It’s just we have the same God, same yesterday, today, forever. He doesn’t change. And so there’s things that God wants us to know, to do, to learn. And so He says, you and I, believe it or not, can have great joy in this life. If they had great joy because of what they heard Him preach, what they saw Him do, well stop and think. That was 2,000 years ago. Should our joy today be any less than if He became here yesterday?

And we saw everything that he did. And we heard the great gospel, how you could have eternal life and be sure of going to heaven when you die. Why should I be any more happier at that moment than they were at that moment? Can’t we enjoy serving the Lord today? You’d be surprised. I’m not going to ask. How many of you sitting right here right now are miserable because you’re not happy. And you don’t have that joy. And you can be down and discouraged, depressed, and everything’s going wrong in your life.

No, it’s not. Everything is not going wrong. You don’t understand life. You say, you just don’t know what I’m going through. I don’t have to know what you’re going through. I know that God knows what you’re going through. And you’re supposed to know that God knows what you’re going through. And you know that I know that you’re supposed to know that you’re trusting the Lord. and that you know that I know, that you know that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to those who are called according to His purpose.

You know that I know that you know that. So you’re supposed to have great joy in all things. In verse 9 there’s a nice little story here. Now as we read through this little story that deals with a guy named Simon, It seems like this man, well, he might be saved, well, he might not be saved. Well, if he was saved, he wouldn’t have said what he did. And if he was saved, what did this happen? So evidently he wasn’t saved.

Well, you can really get confused. I am so glad that I’m here to remove that confusion. If you have a clear conscience this morning, it’s because you have a fuzzy memory. I just heard that recently. Verse nine, first nine. But there was a certain man called Simon, which before time in the same city, used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, given out that himself with some great one, to whom they all gave heed. From the least to the greatest saying, this man is the great power of God, and to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, behold, in the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Sumerian had received the Word of God, they sinned unto them Peter and John, who when they were come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.

For as yet he was followed upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through land on of the apostles’ hands, the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money. So you give me this also, this power, that on whom soever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee, because thou hath thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

Thou hath neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God, if perhaps the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceived the thawart in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me that none of those things which you have spoken come upon me. And they when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.”

What a story. Now the question comes down is, was Simon saved or was Simon not saved? Because if he was saved, then why did the apostles say all these things? And there’s a lot of people that say that he was, and there’s people who think that he wasn’t. So which way is it? Well, you and I know and we’re supposed to believe that whenever you trust Christ as your Savior, your saved from hell. You’re saved forever. And that once you believe it, you have it, and you have the free gift of eternal life.

But look what he says there in verse 20, when Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. And in verse 22, repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God if for half the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee. Well, it don’t look like he was a saved man. There are many who have written a lot of books on Simon the Sorcerer, and there have been groups that have gone into other territories after this incident here, and Polycarp and a lot of others have, Church Fathers have written about this even up until the third century.

And so it appears that this man was a wicked man and he was able to levitate. Come on off the floor. And one of them says that there was an Ephesus and he was levitating and going all the way up in the air. And the Apostle Paul was there and the Apostle Paul broke the spell and he fell, broke all of his legs and so forth. Now that’s a story. But there’s a whole bunch of them. I mean, this guy was really well known for his sorcery.

But whether they were stories or whether or not it was because of this is the same guy or another guy or maybe it was his son. I I don’t know I wasn’t there. I really don’t care. And I very seldom like to use external sources as validity to believe in what the scripture says. Now, if I didn’t know anything about history, anything about the church fathers and what they said because some of them say things that are true and some things not so true.

So how do you know? Well, let’s just take a quick look at this. When it makes a statement in verse nine and 10, is talking about a certain man, his name was Simon. The one that they referred to Simon Marcus is the name that people refer to him and he was a very wicked man and even went into Rome and all kind of stuff. But anyway, which before time in the same city, he used sorcery, be which the people and the people thought he was somebody special and that he was a man of God.

See in verse 10? And in verse 11, and to him they had regard because that of long time he had bewitched in with source reason. And when they believed Philip, so here’s a man having somebody come and in and cutting into his prophets. You see, the apostles did what they did. You know, they never charged anything. But these kind of people, they always charged money. You had to pay them. And they could be witched things. And yet there has to be in whether we lack it or not.

There is another world being lived at the same time that we’re living ours. There is a spiritual world. There is a wicked spiritual world. The Bible talks about Christ casting out demons. We can’t do that if they don’t exist. They do exist and they are real and they are still here today. There is a force that you and I I cannot see the principalities and the powers and so forth that God talks about and while we need our armor in the book of Ephesians in chapter 6.

So the man was able to do these things, they seed the people, but the people when they heard the gospel, one of the things that I have done over the years, I have never tried to cast out demons out of anybody. Never have. I just try to win people to Christ. Because if I can get them to trust Christ as their Savior, the Holy Spirit involves them. And I don’t have to worry about it. Now it’s just a matter of getting that person that knows the Lord to serve the Lord, to live for the Lord.

You can be demon oppressed but not possessed. A lot of different. But let me mention this to you. In verse 12 where it says, and when they believe Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women. Now in this verse, if we take this literally as we found in other verses in the book of Acts, Peter preached Christ, they heard, they believed, and if they believed, then they were baptized.

Well, if that’s what happened to them, it also says in verse 13, then Simon himself believed also. Now, if we doubt Simon’s belief, we’ll have to doubt all the others that believe. Because either one is true, or both of them is true, or both of them are false. If they did believe, and the Scripture says, Simon himself believed, also just like the others. So if he did believe, and was baptized, Is it possible that he was saved just like the others?

Now, because of what happens later, there’s doubts cast upon whether or not he was really a safe man. And it’s because of what he said. But I think if you look at it real close, it may not be as bad as you think. Anyway, we’ll take a look at it and see. This is why we call it, you studied the Bible, you’ll look at it and see, now, what could this mean? What does this mean? Now, when he makes the statement of the verse 13, and Simon himself believed also, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholden, the miracles and signs which were done.

So he was doing those things before, but he was doing it by the devil. Now he’s walking with them, and he continued with them. He saw the miracles and things like that. Now, I’ll have to admit, let’s say we’re back in the Bible times, and Peter over here, this is now Philip. This is Philip. He has come down and he’s doing all these things. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I can see somebody doing all these miracles, I do too.

I want to do that. Wasn’t it true that when Jesus walked on the water, do you remember somebody says, let me walk on the water? Why? Because he wanted to walk on the water. Just because somebody didn’t want to walk on the water didn’t know that somebody did want to walk on the water. If I had been there and I was in the boat, I would have said, I was just going to do that. I could have done that.

I don’t know if I’d have got out of the boat, but I said that. But now, if he believed and he was baptized, and evidently by Philip, look what he says there in Acts in chapter 8, and look there in verse 35. is now talking to another man. Then Philip opened his mouth, began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus. And as they were on their way, they came to a certain water and the eunuch said, here, here is water.

What death hinder me to be baptized? What would hinder him from being baptized? Here, verse 37, Philip says, if thou believeth, with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So he commanded the chair to be still, and they backed up. So he said, what would he mean to be in baptized? You must believe on Jesus Christ. Well, now, he just preached the word down there in Samaria.

And the people believed it. And when they believed it, they were baptized. And in the scriptures, just simply says, Simon believed also. So whatever they did, he believed what they believed, just like they believed. So if you doubt his salvation, you’ll have to doubt all the other ones that said they believed. Because they were baptized because of what they believed. Simon was baptized because of what he said he believed. So why shouldn’t I think that he was saved? Well the thing that causes the problem is something that happens afterwards.

So let’s take a look at it. So we have here in verse 14, when the apostles which are at Jerusalem heard that Samaria, Yoda Andalandis, had received the Word of God. So we’re saying that they did believe it. They received it. And so we’re supposed to believe that he was preaching the gospel because it says he went everywhere preaching the word talking about the gospel and people believed the message. And so he says here in verse 15, who when they were come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.

For yet he was falling upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost. So this was in what we called a transition period because it was finishing up of the dispensation of law, which ended, I believe, around the time of the fall of the temple in Jerusalem and the Jews were scattered. But the church began on the day of Pentecost and so in this period of time here you have a transition period where they’re going from law to grace, Judaism, Christianity, and so they were able to do signs and gifts and miracles and so forth during this period of time to confirm the Word.

You You see, Philip couldn’t say, now I want all of you all to take your Bible, look in the book of Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. He couldn’t say take your Bible, look in 1 John 5, 13. He used the Old Testament scriptures that knew hadn’t been written yet. And so, but they were able to take the Old Testament scriptures and preach the truth and preach the gospel, whereby they could have eternal life. And so this is what was going on.

And the Holy Spirit had not yet been given. But remember this, when Jesus in chapter seven of the gospel of John, verse 39 says on that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried. Saying, if any man thirst led him coming to me and drinking as the scripture half saith, out of his belly shall come, stream to live in water. And it says, and this is the key of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive.

for as yet Christ had not yet been glorified. And the Holy Spirit would come upon all those that believe. So as time goes on, there was no Holy Spirit given. It was given to them on day of Pentecost, and then after that, then they would lay hands on them. And then after all the miracles and signs and the transition periods of it, when you simply believe you received the Holy Spirit. And so you’ll find this several times in the book of Acts.

It’s a transitional book until So everything is done, and then when we have the complete Word of God, you don’t need all of that stuff anymore. And so that has been removed. It’s no longer sufficient. Now here he makes a statement. In verse 18, when Simon saw that through land on of the apostles’ hands, the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money. Now I do not see this as him trying to buy salvation. He was talking about something else.

He’s talking now about this power. Remember, he’s had power to do things. He wants this power. And it’s not talking about salvation. It didn’t say Simon did not ask for salvation. He says in verse 19, saying, Give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. This is what he was asking. I don’t, I think it’s a different issue than salvation. But if I doubt his salvation, then I have to doubt all the salvation all the other people that believed also.

And his baptism meant nothing, then the other people’s baptism didn’t mean anything either. And in verse 20 says, but Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee because thou hast fought, something they’s thinking, that the gift of God may be purchased with money. But is this the gift of eternal life or the gift of God as you find in the book of Acts in chapter 2, where it makes a statement in in verse 38 says, then Peter said unto him, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost.

So here he’s talking about receiving the Holy Ghost. So this gift is not something you can buy. When you and I trust Christ is saved, the Holy Spirit is free. But there because of the transition, It was to validate the word which they spoke and the miracles and things that they were able to do. And so it made the statement in verse 21, they’ll have to neither partner a lot in this matter. For thy heart is not right in the side of the God.

In other words, this isn’t something that you can buy. You can’t buy this. But I don’t believe he’s talking about being saved. It doesn’t say that. I can make it say that. I can twist it around a little bit and say that that’s what he means. Now, I believe that just like this, for example, you may have trusted Christ as your Savior. You know you’re going to heaven when you die. But does that mean you automatically serve God? No.

You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tapp of Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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 1-800-576-3771. 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 Bible line, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, 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, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. Do you ever watch sometimes the United Nations and some of those that will be given some of those speeches? And most of it is a hate crime What if they get some of these guys for hate crimes? And can you imagine the stupidity of some of these guys that are on human rights councils?

They’re the last people that ought to be on a human rights They’re the one that’s going the damage. They’re the murders, the dictators, the killers. And they’re under, well, we’re going to make sure that everybody does right. Whoa, how did they get there? I see faults in all this. I think the United Nations ought to be kicked out of America. We ought not give them a dime. And I don’t see why in the world we’re supporting any money to any of these nations that don’t love us.

You’re not forced, then you’re against us. Now why support your enemy? Anyway, I’m not running for office. Just thought I thought that out there. No charge. But you might as well know a little bit about where Ifund coming from. But now look what he says there in verse 45, for as much as thou sought that the stone which is Christ was cut out of the mountain which is Israel and that it break in pieces, the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold.

It says, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass here after and the dream is certain the interpretation thereof is sure. This is what is going to take place. Now take your Bible and turn to Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7 and look at verse 13. Daniel chapter seven and verse 13. This is a little bit of a picture for you to see what is going to take place. And I saw in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him.

And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom and all people, nations and languages should serve him. So we know that the Bible talked about somewhere along the line, there’s somebody going to come on the same and all the nations are going to come together and they’re going to serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion. This is not the Antichrist. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. and his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

So there is one coming which all the nations of the earth are gonna eventually give all their power and support behind Jesus Christ when he comes there will be a judgment of the nation and Christ himself will rule over the nations of the earth and believe it not. Israel will be the greatest nation upon the face of the earth. Look at it right now at the impossibility of all the nations, 180 something or something like that, away up there, all these nations that are against Israel.

And you would say, well it would take a miracle for that to change. Well, it will. It will definitely be one. But they are going to change, and they are going to come around to God’s way of thinking. And the Bible even says this in 17th chapter of Revelation that God has put into the hearts to turn the hearts and so forth of the people to fulfill His will. So during the tribulation period, when all these nations come together, And God says, I am going to put a hook into the jaws of Russia and poor Russia down.

And her allies are going to come together. But that’ll take place toward the earlier part. And there is going to be a great war when I was in Israel. I had some of the guides that was sent around with talk, you know. And he says, do you know, we have more gold and silver in the Dead Sea. Not enough, this is true.

But it’s the lowest part in the earth. And that which is weight goes down. And he says, we have more gold and silver in the Dead Sea and other kinds of minerals. That’s more wealth than all the world put together anywhere else in the world. They got more of it right there that they have what they have. They have oil. Now remember it makes us say, as your shell dip is toe in oil, Israel has oil, but that’s in Genesis.

Nobody believed that anymore. But Israel has oil. Israel’s now found not only oil, but they’ve also found gas, natural gas. Russia is going to come down against Israel one of these days, I believe very soon. Israel is sitting ready to have to do some damage to somebody because here’s the reason. God made a holy covenant, a holy covenant, and they are not willing to honor that holy covenant that God gave to Israel. They don’t care about it, they don’t honor it.

One of the things you’ll hear from the Prime Minister of Israel is that they need to recognize Israel’s right to exist, the right to life, the right to be a nation. We see the Palestinians in the air, they want to destroy the nation of Israel. They don’t want peace with Israel. They want a peace of Israel. But that’s not what God’s talking about. And God said, I’ll bless them, that blessed the encursed and that cursed the, and you You say, well, look how the Arabs have been blessed.

It ain’t over. It ain’t over yet. Don’t judge too quickly. God knows what he’s doing. Now look in verse 21. Verse 21, it makes the statement in verse 21, “‘I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints, prevailed against them.” Now this is doing this period of time right here. the tribulation period. Because most of the scriptures as you study the Old Testament does not refer to between the Pentecost and the Rapture. This is church. So as you study Old Testament scripture prophecy most of it had nothing to do with this period of time where we are.

It deals with here and here because of what the Old Testament prophets saw. This is a mystery that they did not see and totally understand. There were hints toward it, but not full recognition. But look what he says here. In verse 22, until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. So when Christ comes back here, all of the saints, we that are gonna come back with the Lord, and the saved comes out of the tribulation, period, we are gonna possess the kingdom.

we are going to rule and reign with Christ. We are. So there might not be a lot that we’ll do between now and then, but I don’t like to use the rapture as an escape from responsibility while I’m here. I believe that we still ought to do all the right that we know to do because, did you know, we could be totally wrong on our timing? I would like to read the Bible and it says on September the 28th in the evening at six o’clock I will return in the year 2011.

Now that would have settled it, wouldn’t but he didn’t do that. So we have been guessing at the year for over 2000 years and he may come this year and he might not come this year. As you study the New Testament books you’ll find out that it doesn’t tell us to look for any other particular signs. It was always he could come back at any moment, any moment. Because see, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t care when he comes back.

Just do it soon. But I do enjoy living at this time because man, I can’t hardly wait to get to the newspaper, to hear the news at night, to see what’s going on. What else is happening that’s exciting? Now, if you don’t know any of this stuff, you could be scared to death. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. But if you do understand some of this stuff, man, it is exciting to you. How many of you are relating to me?

How many of you understand what I’m saying? Well, you raise your hand. Let me have you all ain’t got a clue. No, no, no, I can’t. But this is something that we’ve been teaching and we believe this could happen very, very soon. And yes, the rapture could take place this week. And the part that hurts about all of this is, is Steve Yank going into the hospital on Thursday. They give him a new heart. He’s back here waving his hand.

He might not even need it. But if Saturday shows up and we’re all here next Sunday, don’t you come in here weeping and wailing the national teeth? The Lord promised him he did not. He didn’t say when he was coming. I know the time of the year that I think it might be and I like to believe that that’s when it’s going to be But I can’t put it in concrete and say definite because I do not want to at any time Say God who can’t come back today Because you know this is not the piece of trumpet.

I mean this is not right. I mean I can’t come that out. Yes, he can And he’s God. And I don’t know exactly what he’s going to do, and whether or not this really will be the date because this starts this. But how do I know there’s not really maybe a little time in it? I don’t know. I just believe that when this comes out, that starts the 70th week of Daniel because of the timing and how God lays out everything.

But I might be wrong. Haint me be right that I might be wrong. I don’t know. Well, one of these days it’s going to happen. That’s the important thing. Now, what I want you to do is look there in verse 23. Thus he said, the fourth bee shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth. Babylon’s already off, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth shall tread it down and break it in pieces. Now, right now, see, we have where one thing hits in one country and it affects everything.

When it’s stock markets bottom out here, it affects the whole world. This whole world is so unified together that it’s pathetic. I don’t like it and I don’t like America losing its sovereignty. And I don’t like it whenever we’re so affected by whatever happens to happen someplace else that affects us to where we’re devastated. But that’s the way it is. Looking verse 24, and the tin horns out of this kingdom or 10 kings. Remember the the bees that had the 10 toes?

All right, everything has happened except the last one, the one that has the 10 toes. The 10 toes is during this period of time because Rome took it up there. And that was the legs of the after the the Grecian Empire. So that’s already been done. The next one, the last one is 10 toes, the 10 king, the 10 horn. That’s right here. Now, he makes the statement in verse 24 and the 10 horns out of this kingdom are 10 kings that shall arise and another shall rise after this, which we believe is the Antichrist, because they will give their power to this Antichrist.

So that is what is going to come. Take your Bible now and look in the book of Daniel chapter 9 verse 27. Daniel chapter 9 verse 27. Verse 24 talked about the 70th week of Daniel. Those 70 weeks are 70s. So that means there’s 490 years total. And there’s a time limit in this talking about going up to the time of Christ, which would be 69 weeks or 483 years. The temple was about 7 weeks in building. That was 49.

So that’s why it’s mentioned in there. Now, when he makes the statement up here that the Antichrist is going to come, and you’ll notice in verse 25, Messiah the Prince. So the Messiah, the true Messiah, the true Messiah is called the Prince. He’s coming, but then it says that he is going to be cut off, see there in verse 26, and after three score and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. That’s when he went to the cross and he was killed.

And then the people of the Prince, the people who are against Christ before the anti-Christ in the future, he is going to come and he is going to make war. He’s going to take over, but he’s going to do it in a different way than what you and I would think that a man would be able to get into power. I’m sure you that in a second here. So anyway, you’ll notice they’re in verse 26. After three scoring two weeks, I’m a sabbie cut off but not for himself and the people of the prince shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Now this happened whenever Rome came in and they destroyed the city and so forth and it’s been down ever since. We’re looking for the time when the temple will be rebuilt. So how in the world do you think Israel today would ever get any Arab country to agree to let them build a temple on Mount Moriah? And they don’t even have to tear the other one down. When I first went there 25 years ago, I walked up on that thing and I looked around and I looked at the Eastern Gate and I stood there and I looked at Mount Zion.

And I said there’s the Eastern Gate right on the other side I didn’t even been there before and I had clues and it’s sealed up which the Bible says in Ezekiel It would be and there it is it’s all sealed up and I said that thing has to be right to the north of it Because it has to line up. I believe the exit door and The sides of the north the sides of the north is that the side of it on The north side faces north, but east faces toward the mountain toward mountain right right toward the Eastern Gate and so that’s the way that Messiah is supposed to come in but anyway that’s another sermon but I am excited but I had questions about how are we ever going to get the nations of the world to accept the fact that we need to have a temple built upon that temple

mount because the Antichrist is going to go into the temple and claim himself that he’s God where’s the temple so it has to be built something has to have happened. Something drastic has to happen to make the Arab nations and the United Nations authorize a treaty where this can all take place. So therefore I believe there’s a good possibility something devastating is going to take place and Israel is going to take and deal very harshly with something very soon that’s going to drive them to the table and they’re going to willingly let Israel do what Israel wants to do in order for them to get their Palestinian state.

Just remember, you heard it right here. I don’t know when. I don’t know exactly how. I can’t put a date on it. But because I know the Bible, I know what has to happen and what has to take place. So it’s going to come. Now, in these scriptures, it says they’re in verse 27, and he, the prince of the people, the antichrist, the one that they will exalt that represents them is going to confirm the covenant with many for one week that seven years.

That’s the seven years right here. And it’s going to be the worst period of time the world has ever known. Isn’t it true that even right now Israel wants peace? I listened to Benjamin Netanyahu the other night on he would been interviewed and he says they want peace. They’ll do almost anything for peace except stop the building in the West Bank and all that side and outside of Jerusalem. But they want peace. But they want them to recognize their right to exist.

And so see how that plays out. Now take your Bible looking at chapter 11 very quickly, chapter 11. One of the things we know about this last world leader and remember they’re generally far prophecies and near prophecy, one that’s happened soon. And when that happens way in the future, history repeats itself. So God can give one prophecy and parts of it will happen soon and another part of it will happen later. Now look there in verse 20 of chapter 11, then shall stand up in his estate and Yoda on the line these words.

This is what he will be mostly about. A razor of what? But a razor of taxes in the glory of the kingdom, but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle. Verse 21, And in his estates shall stand up, a vile person to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in. And here’s that word, Yom to underlying it. Peaceably obtained the kingdom by Yom to underlying the word, flatteries, and with the arms of the flood shall there be overflown from before him and shall be broken and ye the in your underlined that phrase the Prince of the Covenant.

See there is the Holy Covenant that God gave to Israel concerning the people and the land. There is a peace treaty that must be made by this world council and given a sovereignty to Israel but it’s not the same covenant because this is one they make in this one they break. And so it says in verse 22 the last part of verse 22 the prince of the covenant. Turn the page if you got an old school for a reference Bible and you’ll notice what he says here in verse 28.

Then shall he return into his land with great riches and his heart shall be and you’re the underlying disphrase against the Holy Covenant. They are against Israel’s right to exist. They’re against Israel’s right to the temple site, against Israel’s right to the land. And so they are against the Holy Covenant, the Holy Covenant, the gun God gave. Now, look up there in verse 30. It says, for the ships of Chittim shall come against him, therefore he shall be agreed in return and have indignation against the Holy Covenant.

So how he do he shall even return and have intelligence. with them that forsake the Holy Covenant. And then down in verse 32, I believe this is their covenant where he says, and such as do wickedly against the covenant, shall he corrupt by flatteries. Now all these things are mentioned throughout the scriptures here, but trying to separate between the covenant God gave and the one that they make. And they will make a covenant, but they will break the covenant because of what they want to do.

they will, this will not eliminate the desire of the Arab nations to destroy Israel and to totally annihilate them. And if it was not, if it was not for the Lord coming back when he does, no flesh will be left alive. God says that it is possible for man to destroy man from the face of the earth. Well, where am I going to be while all this is going on? Well, the Lord is coming back just for me.

See, this is going to be the worst part of time in the whole world. And the Lord, He loves me so much. He don’t want me to go through that. So He’s going to come back and get me. And He says, if y’all want to go, He’ll take y’all too. But He’s coming back for me. I am his pet child. But if you want to go, then you’ll have to do what I did. And I trust the Christ is my Savior.

Do you see why you need to trust the Lord? You see, this is in the scriptures, and you’re talking about watching the evening news. This is like reading tomorrow’s newspaper. The Bible is true. Do you think it’s just a coincidence that all these things are going on, and yet the Bible told about this all these years in advance. It ought to cause a person to have a great respect for this book and a bite. You know, maybe God knows what he’s doing.

Maybe God still is in charge. And I believe that we’re living at a very, very exciting time. I wish I could just start on the Sunday morning and just teach the book of Daniel in a revelation without stop. This non-stop. But y’all couldn’t handle it song. I want you to know this. You need to know how to be sure. You’re going up here. You need to know for sure that you’re going to heaven whenever you die. A lot of people don’t know this.

They don’t understand it. But there’s only one way to get to heaven, not two, not three. And I don’t go your way. You don’t go my way. We go God’s way or we don’t go at all. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us. He hates what we do wrong. You can understand that. You got children. Don’t you love your children? Yeah. Do you love what they do wrong?

Well, no. Aren’t you married? Say, yeah. Well, look, don’t you love your husband? You just don’t like what he does wrong. Don’t you love your wife? He just don’t like what she does wrong. So, mine doesn’t do anything wrong. Okay? God says we have all sinned and come short of God’s perfection. And the Lord says to pay for the sin is eternal separation from God. So, God cannot allow us into heaven with sin because that would make heaven imperfect.

So, we can’t go. That’s why we need a savior. God says you cannot save yourself. Because all of the good works you could ever do will not make you perfect. It’ll not make you good enough to go to heaven. So the church, and I’m glad you came this morning, but I hate to tell you, you could join our church, but it won’t get you to heaven. And if you gave some money today, thank you, but it can’t get you to heaven.

None of your good works will get you to heaven. Won’t even help. There’s only one way to get to heaven. This ends with Jesus Christ. He is the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because He loves us. Now He hates what we do wrong because it separates us from Him. So Jesus Christ Who had no sinned and have to die. But because he loves us, he took our sins and died in our place. It means he paid for my sins.

See, if he paid for my sins, what it means is I don’t have to. It means that I don’t have to go to hell and pay for one sin because he paid for all of mine. So did Christ die for you? Yes. But the payment seat is not put to your account unless you believe he did it for you. So see how easy it is? All you have to do to go to heaven is to be lead that he did it for you.

He did it for you. You’ve heard it. He died on the cross. Just believe He died and paid for you. See, there’s a God in heaven that says, I will save all those that believe I did it for them. Can’t get any simpler than that. Has nothing to do with your language? Has nothing to do with your skin color? Has nothing to do with your language? It says, yes, it’s free. It’s for whosoever. So God says, whosoever, believe it.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe anybody. If you’ll believe it, you will not perish. You will not go to hell. It means I don’t have to pay for one sin. You mean, of all the bad things I’ve ever done? Yeah, I’ve done a bunch. I might even go a whole bunch before I’d get out of here, but they’re all paid. I had a man tell me this just yesterday. He says, you mean to tell me that if I still do things wrong, I still go to heaven?

Yeah. That’s a true way to put it, but yes, it’s true. So it’s up to you as an individual where you believe it. made sense to me. Let’s pray, shall we? Every head, bottom, every eye, close, and no one looking around. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you trust Him this morning? I’m not gonna have you forward, I’m not gonna embarrass you, but right where you’re sitting, you said, the preacher, that made sense to me, and I will accept the payment Christ made for me.

And preach, I’d like for you to pray for me in closing. If what I said made sense, would you do it right now? Not gonna embarrass you. But if you trust Christ right now, God saves you and I’d like to have prayer for you. And so I’m asking you, would you let me know? Would you just slip it up very quickly? Just slip your hand up very quickly and say, by that, I’ll trust Christ as my Savior. Yes, God bless you.

Okay. Anyone else before we close? Our Father, we thank you so much for this time together. Bless each one for being here, especially the one indicated that they would trust you as their Savior. trust you as your Savior. We ask your blessings upon us, upon our country, and what we do pray for that little nation of Israel and Jews around the world. And Father, I pray that you would put a hedge about them and protect them and help us as a nation here in America to do right by the nation of Israel.

Because Father, we believe that if we honor them, you’ll honor us. But if we cursed Him, you’ll curse us. That’s a covenant you made. And Father, we don’t do this because somebody deserves it, but because you promised it. So thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. Give us a good day and good service tonight. Christ and 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 Each Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing tool free, 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible line 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 so live today and every day believe in that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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 explain a few things to you because of the times in which we live, because of what’s going on in the world. And there’s something that I really enjoy, and that’s studying prophecies of the Scriptures. I can’t say I have it down perfectly. I think I’m close. When it comes to the gospel and how you get to heaven, I think I’m dead on the money. But there’s a lot of things that we may not totally fully understand.

And that comes with trying to decipher what the word of God says when it comes to things in the future. Now we know that one-fourth of the Bible is pre-written history where God tells us what’s going to take place before it happens. The reason God does that, Coronizia 48, is because we’re hard-headed and stiff-necked. So God says that if we see what He said is true, it’s because He told us first. He says, this is what’s going to happen.

So I enjoy studying. I believe there is a difference between the Holy Covenant that God gave and the covenant that’s being made by the Antichrist. They’re not the same one. And I believe that it helps when you distinguish between the two. I believe that is something that’s going on at this present time, even with the United Nations. If people only understood and believed what the Bible said, that it is true, where God made a promise to Abraham, I will bless them that blessed thee.

I will curse them that curse thee.” That’s a simple little thing. And yet look how many nations have turned against one little nation. Not just the air of nations. Almost all the nations of the world. And I believe America is this close to turning against Israel. I do not believe at this present time that Israel feels that America is truly standing with them. may be behind them, but we’re far behind them. They wanted somebody to stand with them. And I think they have let the world know that we don’t stand with Israel, not like we ought to stand with Israel.

And it’s going to cause a lot of trouble because God is going to lower the boom. I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Genesis chapter 12. Now We’ve covered some things about the last couple of Sundays about Genesis and some of those things, but this is just a little bit different. And I want you to see there in chapter 12 of the book of Genesis. Can’t go any further back than Genesis, but it’s the only book I’ve got in my body.

It’s the first one I’ve got. So there isn’t another book back there. Well, I do want you to look there in Genesis chapter 12 and verse 1. Now the Lord, L-O-R-D, Jehovah, He is the only God. There is no other God. And Allah of the religion of Islam is not God because the true and living God has a son. And Allah, their God, doesn’t have a son, so it’s not the same God. We’re not even close on what we believe with the religion of Islam.

You need to know that. Otherwise you can so easily be swept in by all the things that you hear, and people will attack that tiny little nation and those people. I think they need to be very careful. But he made the statement here, now the Lord God had said unto the Abram, from get thee out of the country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make thee a great nation and will bless thee and will make thy name great, thy shalt be a blessing and I will bless them that bless thee, curse him that curses thee, and indeed shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

So God made a promise. God made a covenant with the nation of Israel. Now look there in Genesis chapter 15. In Genesis chapter 15, And look there in verse 18, verse 18, In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham. Sin unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Now whether anybody likes it or not, who made this world? God did. and he can give it to whoever he wants to.

He made it. Now, he made it promise to Israel and the people, but he also made a covenant concerning the land. Hosea talks about how that they will part his land, that is not the will of God, where they will divide the land of Israel. That land, or that anybody likes that it don’t like it belongs to Israel because it belongs to God and God gave it to him. Now having said that, take your Bible and turn to Daniel chapter 2, the book of Daniel and chapter 2.

Now I believe these are some references to the Holy Covenant given by God. There’s another covenant that is going to be made. It is not the same covenant. Now here in Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzarid had a dream. Many of these things I’ve covered before, but there’s a little bit different angle that I want to hit it from. In verse 31, Daniel says to King Nebuchadnezzar, Thaloe king saws and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible.

This image’s head was a fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, belly and his thighs of brass, legs of iron, feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawst till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, were of iron and clay and break them in pieces. Then was the iron, one, clay, two, brass, three, silver, four, gold, five, broken the pieces together and become like the chap of the summer threshing floors.

And the wind carried them away, and that no place was found for them, and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Now, that is what Nebuchadnezzar saw. It calls him a nightmare because he didn’t understand what it meant. He was going to kill all the wise men. The soussays, the magicians of Babylon. What Daniel was considered to be one of those wise men. He wasn’t ready to die yet. He goes to the Lord, the revealer of secrets, and says, hey, what’s going on?

God told him. in the Hebrew. And he told him. And so he comes to see the king. He says, okay, he says, can’t your musicians and all your soussayers and your wise guys, can’t they tell you? He says, I know what the dream is and the interpretation. I know what it means. Now you and I have seen these verses before, talked about them. We know that it’s a reference to the various kingdoms upon the earth, the nations that will rule over Israel and the times in which they will do so.

And he tells Nebuchadnezzar, he says, Thou art the head of gold. See they’re in verse 37. Dao king are the king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power and strength and glory. God gave it to you. And were so ever the children of men dwell in the beast of the field, and the fouls of the heavens hath he given into thy hand and hath made thee ruler over them all, thou art this head of gold.

Now of course, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t know that God was working behind the scenes. He didn’t know that God had raised him. up. You see, God always finds just the right branch that He’s going to use to whoop His people. They were a rod in the hands of God. And then God, after He uses them, will get another rod and whoop them. And then another rod and whoop them. Because people don’t do what God says do. All nations on the face of the earth are under the all-watching eye of God.

God’s the one that raises up and God can put down. America did not come to be without the knowledge of God. Man didn’t produce all of this. There’s a God behind the scenes that raised up our nation and God raised up that little obitination of Israel and promised them that as long as you serve me and obey me I will bless thee and protect thee and will put none of the diseases of the Egyptians upon you and Israel would have had no worries whatsoever.

But if you rebel against me, he said, I’ll bring a nation from afar who speaks a language you don’t understand. And I’ll drive you into all the nations of the year. Isn’t it amazing that twenty-five hundred years they’ve been driven all over the place, but they’re still a people. They’re still a people, kind of a type of the eternal security. That once you trust Christ to save you, his child forever. And there will always be the nation of Israel, a remnant, and so they have existed.

And isn’t it amazing that in our lifetime, well I will say in 48, if you were around at that time, Israel becomes a nation. Coincidence, I don’t think so. Not if these verses are true and God is behind the scene and God’s in charge. Last time I heard he was. Then he talks about, yes, there is the head of gold. And then just picture, there’s a big old man standing up here. Like Peter, a big old man standing up here.

And there’s the head of gold, then there’s the, the major and the Persians. And then the belly of brass and then the east and the west and the divisions of the Roman Empire. And then you have these ten toes down on the foot. We often try to explain this according to a timetable. We always lay the body down. Because it kind of time, you know, so you can understand it a little bit better. But let’s just pretend the body is laying up here on this table.

All right, we have gone through Babylon. They have come on the scene and now they’re off the scene. Then the means and the Persians came in. Now they’re off the same. And then the Greek Empire, now they’re gone off the same. The Roman Empire, now they’ve gone off the same. And between the ankles, we just chop his feet off. And we move his feet way out there. How far? I don’t know for sure. Been 2000 years so far. Because you see, those 10 toes, the Bible says that when Christ comes back, He is going to hit those toes.

Now understand, the Bible says that when Jesus Christ comes back in power and great glory at the end of all of the Gentile nations that have ruled over Jerusalem from Babylon on down. Now there was two before that, the Assyrians and the Egyptians. Now Christ comes back here in power and great glory. When he comes back, those ten nations will be ruling during this period of time, a short period of time. These other ones have ruled for several hundred years.

This one, seven years. This is the 70th week of Daniel. And God says that when he comes back, he is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands and he is going to smite the ten toes and destroys all of these, but it says together. So as we lay the body down and go through the various steps. And then the process of time, Babylon came and gone. The Medes and the Persians came and gone. The Alexander and the Empire came and gone.

And the Roman Empire came and gone. And then we had 2,000 years since Christ, because when Christ was here, the Roman Empire was in rule at that time. So the Jews were taken out of the land at the fall of the temple in 70 AD. And so the Bible says that they have been out of the land and will be out of the land for about two days. According to the book of Hosea, two days they return. So now they have returned and become established again as a nation.

Now the Bible is not a bunch of guesswork. It does speak specifically about specific things. Sometimes we don’t get all the pieces together, but we get enough of it to get a good idea that in the times in which we live, and we are right here, this is where we are on the timetable that God has laid out in his word. So we know what has happened and we also know what is going to take place. The next thing is for the rapture.

That’s those who have trusted Christ as Savior, caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. And so there’s these kingdoms that have come, but the ten toes were separated from the body and they’re way out here in the future and they are going to have this seven-year period of time because they are the ones that will be ruling when Christ comes back but it says He destroys all these nations together.

Look there in verse 35, then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, the gold, broken to pieces and you ought to underline or circle that word together, together. So I believe there’s a good possibility even after 2,000 years, those very same nations in some form or another, there’s a good possibility they will be existing during this period of time. Not per se the same power but look there in the next scripture. Look at verse 44. Verse 44.

In verse 44 it says, and in the days of these kings, these ten kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. Arlica, appear. In the days of these ten kings will the God of heaven set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And and the increase of his kingdom, there will be no end to it. Now this is just a thousand years here, but there’s a new heavens and a new earth, and that kingdom will last forever.

So God has made a promise. Now you think, well that’s way out there in the future, way out there in the future. If Christ came today, this is only seven years away, this is just seven years away. If He came today, Now, this morning in Sunday’s school I talked a little bit about the seven feasts that are mentioned in the book of Leviticus chapter 23. The first four is the spring feast and the last three are the fall feast.

These are all feasts of Israel. None of these feasts were given to the church. Even though there are things that mentions about what they represented, taught great truth. Truth that we are able to enjoy because of what God’s done for the nation of Israel. Even though Christ dying on the cross was a, that’s the Passover. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. So when Christ went to the cross and shed his blood and became sin for us, well don’t we look to the cross for our salvation even though we’re doing this period of time, yes.

But the feast days were strictly Israel. We do not celebrate any of those feast days now because we are now looking at something very important. I believe that the Pentecost was the last of the spring feast and that this feast of trumpet is the first of the fall feast. You and I are in between these two Jewish feasts. This is the church age that had been put in here. Now you could take this all out of here and just take this and slide it right up against it.

And scripture would flow right into it. Then we go from the ring face right into the fall feast. But we have these three things that will come into the future. You’ve got the one here, you’ve got the one here and you’ve got the millennial rain coming upon the earth. The Feast of Tabernacles was whenever they were in the Old Testament, say they lived in the love tents. And Christ is going to come back and to reign. So you and I know that when Christ comes to the earth, He comes to rule, to reign, and all the kingdoms of the earth will be consumed under His leadership.

This is why the Bible talks about, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that He is the Lord to the glory of God the Father. All nations, big, small individuals, will all submit to His authority, and He will rule and reign. Now, go back here to the book of Daniel in chapter 2, verse 44, and in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which get shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom Then shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume, get this, all these kingdoms, as though all these kingdoms will be existing during this period of time.

Now, like the body is laying down, but now it’s standing up, and when the stone hits the toes, it destroys all Gentile ruling power over the nation of Israel. Think about the impossibility of this. Do you ever watch sometimes the United Nations and some of those that will be given some of those speeches? And most of it is the hate crime. What if they get some of these guys for hate crimes? And can you imagine the stupidity of some of these guys that are on human rights councils?

They’re the last people that ought to be on the human rights. They’re the one that’s going the damage. the murders, the dictators, the killers, and they’re on there, well we’re gonna make sure that everybody does right. How did they get there? I see faults in all this. I think the United Nations ought to be kicked out of America. We ought not give them a dime. And I don’t see why in the world we’re supporting any money to any of these nations that don’t love us.

not force, then you’re against us. Now why support your enemy? Anyway, I’m not running for office. Just thought I thought that out there. No charge. But you might as well know a little bit about where I’m coming from. But now look what he says there in verse 45, for as much as thou sought that the stone, which is Christ, was cut out of the mountain, which is Israel, and that it break in pieces, the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, the goal.

It says, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass here after and the dream is certain the interpretation thereof is sure. This is what is going to take place. Now take your Bible and turn to Daniel chapter 7 Daniel chapter 7 and look at verse 13 Daniel chapter 7 and verse 13. This is a a little bit of a picture for you to see what is going to take place. And I saw in the night visions and behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him.

And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom and all people, nations and languages should serve him. So we know that the Bible talked about somewhere along the line, there’s somebody going to come on the same and all the nations are going to come together and they’re going to serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion. This is not the Antichrist. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. And his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed.

So there is one coming, which all the nations of the earth are going to eventually give all their power and support behind Jesus Christ when he comes. There will be a judgment of the nation and Christ himself will rule over the nations of the earth and believe it or not. Israel will be the greatest nation upon the face of the earth. Look at it right now at the impossibility of all the nations 180 something or something like that. Away up there, all these nations that are against Israel.

And you would take a miracle for that to change. Well, it will. It will definitely be one. But they are going to change. And they are going to come around to God’s way of thinking. And the Bible even says this in 17th chapter of Revelation that God has put into the heart to turn the hearts and so forth of the people to fulfill His will. So during the tribulation period when all these nations come together and God says, I am going to put a hook into the jaws of Russia and pour Russia down and her allies are going to come together but that’ll take place toward the earlier part and there is going to be a great war when I was in Israel.

I had some of the guys with Senator I would talk you know and he says do you know we have more gold and silver in the Dead Sea. Not enough this is true but it’s the lowest part in the earth and that which is weight goes down and he says we have more gold and silver and the Dead Sea and other kinds of of minerals that’s more wealth than all the world put together. Anywhere else in the world, they got more of it right there, that they have oil.

Now remember, it makes us say, as your shell dip is tote in oil, Israel has oil, but that’s in Genesis. Nobody believed that anymore. But Israel has oil. Israel’s now found not only oil, but they’ve also found gas, natural gas. Russia is going to come down. against Israel, one of these days. I believe very soon. Israel is sitting ready to have to do some damage to somebody because here’s the reason. God made a holy covenant, a holy covenant, and they are not willing to honor that holy covenant that God gave to Israel.

They don’t care about it they don’t honor it. One of the things you’ll hear from the Prime Minister of Israel is that they need to recognize Israel’s right to exist, the right to life, the right to be a nation. We see the Palestinians and the Americans, they want to destroy the nation of Israel. They don’t want peace with Israel. They want a piece of Israel. But that’s not what God’s talking about. And God said, I’ll bless them, that blessed and cursed and that cursed.

And you say, well, look how the Arabs have been blessed. It ain’t over yet. Don’t judge too quickly. God knows what He’s doing. Now look in verse 21, verse 21, it makes the statement in verse 21, I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints prevailed against them. Now this is during this period of time right here, the tribulation period. Because he most of the scriptures as you study the Old Testament does not refer to between the Pentecost and the Rapture.

This is church. So as you study Old Testament, Scripture, prophecy, most of it has nothing to do with this period of time where we are. It deals with here and here because of what the Old Testament prophets saw. This is a mystery that they did not see and totally understand. There were hints toward it but not full recognition. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tepa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message.

Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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 toll free, 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. to listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible and programs just go to our homepage at Bibleline ministries dot o rg 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 40-8-11 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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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 message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms, you and I are very fortunate that there was a day when God looked down. And when He looked down, He came down. And when He came down, He laid down. When he laid down He reached down And then when he reached down Because he sat down and one day he’s gonna put down There’s a simple little outline about What God did? Hearing the book of Psalms the 14th Psalm it says in verse 1 the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.

Question, do you believe that God still sent his son to pay for the sins of this fool? He did? He sent him to pay for the sins of the fool, of a fool. A lot of fools in this world. There is no God. They are corrupt. They have all done Abandba works. There is none that doeth good. You know, some verses are similar here to the book of Romans in chapter 3. Look in verse 2, the Lord and you ought to underline these two words here.

They look down. The Lord in heaven looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. And what was the conclusion. Here’s God in heaven and he’s looking down upon the earth, sees all the people on the earth and he can see everybody in the whole world in a moment of time. If the devil can do that with Christ and show him the kingdoms of the earth of the whole world in a moment of time, don’t you think God can?

And as he surveys the whole earth, he says they’re all gone aside. They’re all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good. No, not One not one. I Am glad that we have a God that one day looked down and when he looked down and saw the conditions of this world You know what he said? He says I don’t want to get involved Is that what he said? No, he didn’t say that You know you and I are like that sometime we see a lot of people with a lot of personal problems of all kinds And we don’t want to get involved in one of the reason because we got enough of our own We can’t solve everybody’s problems But we know somebody who can help people and can solve people’s problems You see the biggest thing is you can just get people to the

Lord So maybe God wants to use us to get people to the Lord because God does want to get involved in people’s lives Can you believe that? That’s why he tells us to get involved in people’s lives. I think it’s a good thing. It’s a worthy thing. Look there in your Bible to the book of John, the gospel of John, and chapter 3, the gospel of John, chapter 3. John chapter 3, and look in verse 31. See, the Lord, he saw the the private of man and how bad we were.

He saw the death and the plague and everything that stops man as we go through this life. And he also can see the destiny of all the people that do not know him because he’s God. But here in John chapter 3 it says in verse 31, He that cometh from above is above all. So not only did He look down, see? He came down. He looked down and he came down. He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth, He that cometh from heaven is above all.

And what He hath seen and heard that he testified and no man receiveeth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony hath set that God is true, for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveeth not the Spirit by measure unto him, the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things unto his hand. He that believeth unto son hath everlasting life, and he that believe if not the Son shall not see life of the wrath of God, abideeth upon Him.

So God sent His Son. God came down. That’s what John 3 16 is really about. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. So yes, God looked down and God came down. And you and I know why he came down. He came for a reason. Not a lot of reasons, just one main reason. He was born that he might die. Take your Bible and turn there to the book of John chapter 10.

The book of John in chapter 10. And you’ll notice here, a simple little verse. Look there in verse 17, verse 17, where it says, Therefore it doth my father love me because I, and you ought to underline these two, lay down. I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man take it from me, but I lay it down of myself. So Jesus Christ, who is God, he looked down, and he saw the condition of man, and then it says he came down.

That’s why he was born into the world, that he might lay down his life for you and for me. So I want you to take and look at this in 1 John in chapter 3, 1 John in chapter 3, and look in verse 16. This is 1 John 3 16, not John 3 16, but in verse 16 it says, hereby perceive we the love of God because, and here’s those words again, he laid down his life. This is supposed to reveal to you and I how much God loved us Because from God’s viewpoint, as He looks at man, He says, all are corrupt.

All are corrupt. All have sinned. All have gone astray. No one seeks God. And so He came down into the world. And He died on the cross. And He laid down His life for all those people that He saw. Because God is able to see all the people in all the world at one time and He could send his son to die on the cross to pay for all the sins of all the world and hereby perceive We the love of God that he laid down his life For us, but now notice the other part of the verse This is kind of a little strange to me But the love that we have is revealed not by just the love we have for the lost man, but here he says in the last part of it, and we ought to lay down our lives.

But then he says for the lost man, he says for the brethren, maybe it’s to get more brethren or for the purpose of having more brethren. But evidently, you know, from God’s point of view, God knows how much could be accomplished if just God’s people loved each other and one of the best for each other. You know why I want to have a camp? It’s not so that I can find something to do because I’m bored. I know what camp does for the people.

For the brethren, did you know when you start getting involved in other people’s lives and you want the best for them, it straightens up your own life. Your life will not get straightened out until you get connected to other people trying to help them spiritually. That means you should want all the other adults in the church, all the teenagers that are God’s children, you want the best for them and the best thing they could ever do is learning how to work together.

Peter was talking about one little girl and the change in her because she trusted Christ as Savior and has such joy and she was intermingling with other people. And sometimes these kids, that’s how they make friendships. Getting out there, slapping each other with pain, getting dirty, knocking each other into the water. All the fun kind of things that they have, that builds relationships, it builds friendships and causes them to want to be around each other. You know what it’s like not to be liked, not to be involved, to think or to feel that nobody cares whether I live or I die.

It can’t give people a chance to show somebody you care about them because it takes time to give the people. When you do that, you’re laying down your life for somebody else. you’re giving them the most valuable thing you have time, because see, that’s what life is made out of. When you waste time, you waste life. So when you invest time, you’re saving your life. And that’s why Christ says, if you will lose your life, for my sake and the gospel, you will find your life.

And most people never find a real purpose in living. So as he looked down and came down and laid down, you and I are supposed to be looking through the eyes of the Lord. And as you and I look through his eyes, remember, we have been seated in the heavenly. We look down and we’re supposed to come down and we’re supposed to lay down our lives because, see, we have somebody that set an example for us, and there are a lot of God’s children who just don’t want to get involved in doing anything.

Everything takes time, and you know your life is so valuable to you, and you don’t have time to serve God, because he’s serving God, serving people, and a lot of people don’t have time to serve people. They live only for themselves, and they will not give up or sacrifice their time because they feel like I am worth so much more. They’d rather have people serve them instead of them serve others. Remember what Christ says, even the Son of Man did not come to be ministered unto but to minister to give His life a ransom for many.

So this is what God’s Word says and I believe it’s something that we ought to do. Take your Bible and look in the book of Hebrews in chapter 1. There’s a great verse here, I like this verse. Hebrews chapter 1, but look in verse 1 to verse 3. He laid down his life and then whenever he laid down his life, you know the Bible says that when he went back into heaven that he sat down. Do you know why he sat down?

It was finished. because the work was done. It is finished. Now you and I are trying to set down and rest and we haven’t finished our job yet. We’re not in heaven yet. We’re supposed to work while it is day because they come the day when no man shall be able to work. So we work while we can, as long as we can. So here in the book of Hebrews in chapter 1, looking verse 1, God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time pass unto the fathers by the prophets.

Happen these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed air of all things, by whom also he made the world. Who, being the brightness of his glory and express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself surpassed the deal. over in this done with. When he had by himself purged our sins and you ought to underline these two little words, he sat down. Set down on the right hand of the majesty on high because the work was done.

The work was done. And also, while you’re right here, look there in Hebrews in chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. And you’ll notice it says this once again. See, the reason that you and I can rest in the Lord is because the Lord did the work. And he sat down because there was no more that needed to be done. We’re supposed to accept the work that Christ did for us. Now that’s for salvation. So you and I are going to heaven because we accepted the payment that Christ made.

When He says it is finished, means the payment for the sins of the world was paid for. It was over and done with. And look what He says here in verse 12 of Hebrews chapter 10. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, well what did he do? down. He sat down on the right hand of God. Now there are scriptures that talks about God being on the right hand and then talks about the Son being on the right hand.

So Hannah, I can both of them be on the right hand. Is it possible that he is one in the same? Interesting. When we get to heaven will we see three of them on three thrones or is it just one? I believe there’s only one true and living God. And explain it, can’t do it. Try it for years. I can’t make people see it because sometimes I can’t see it. All of you is all kind of types in trying to explain it.

But it’s something we’re going to have to see when we get to heaven. Is there one or is there two or is there three? He said, well, I think it won’t matter what you think. You can’t prove anything. That’s why when we get to heaven, we’ll see it, and we’ll know, and we’ll all understand. You see, God says secret things belong to the Lord, and we can only know that which He hath revealed, and He has not revealed everything.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to Matthew in chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14, you got Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And you know there’s a story here about a storm that came up. The disciples were told to get in the boat and go across the sea of Galilee. And the one that started this thing was the Lord. See there in verse 22? And straight way Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship. Who did? Well Jesus did.

to do what? To go before Him onto the other side.” Well, He sent the molar to the way. So it was His idea. He told Him what to do. Well, did they do it? Yeah, they did it. In verse 23, and when He had sent the molar to the way, He went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening was come, He was there alone. But the ship was now in the mist of the sea, in its seven miles wide and 1400 miles long.

This is one wide sea. It’s a pretty good side sea up there. and see of Galilee. I preached on it many times. I really have. And so it’s in the evening and they’re out there in the middle of the storm because it says there in verse 21. But this ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. Oh, wait a minute. Who sent them in the midst of this storm? Jesus. Well, didn’t he know there was going to be a storm?

Well, if he’s God, he knew. He knew there’s going to be a storm. He knew exactly what was going to take place. And he sent his disciples right in the middle of it. And he knew who, what was going to happen? He knew what they were going to think. In verse 25, and in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea. They were in trouble saying, it’s a spirit.

They cried out for fear. But Jesus said unto them, it is, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou bid me come into the on the water, he said, come. When Peter was coming out, down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the winds boasters, He was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hands.

That means He reached down. He reached down and pulled Him up because He was already sinking. You know there’s a psalm in the Old Testament. But in the 40th Psalm, it makes the statement of that. The Lord reached down and lifted me up out of a horrible pit, set my feet upon a solid rock. And when He set him up on a solid rock, He establishes going and put a new song in His heart. And all that because it was God who reached down.

Now, it’s not because you and I have been able to do all these great and wonderful mighty things that cause Legislator to love us so much more than somebody else. God does love us. And if it wasn’t for the Lord who did the reaching, you and I would not be saved. It is his arm so short that he cannot reach. That he cannot save us, but he can. And the Bible says that he can reach down and he can save us.

Well, you know, there’s the Scripture in 1 Thessalonians, Chapter four verse 13 to 18. Now we know that he’s coming back again. He’s going to come. He’s going to raise the dead bodies of believers. And he’s going to rature out all of those who are still alive. And the Bible says he’s going to reward us when we get to heaven. That’s what we have to look forward to. And the Lord says that He’s going to put down all of His enemies.

Look there in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And just look there in verse headquartered. And He says, then come of the end. When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, Even the Father, when He shall have, and you are the land these two little words, put down, all rule and all authority and power. And you’re going to put all of His enemies under His feet. In other words, when it’s all over with, everyone is going to bow the knee and confess So the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ is the Lord.

It’s going to be too late for them, but for you and I, it’s still good if we would realize who He is, that He looked down, He came down, and He laid down, and then He sat down, and then he reached down, then he put down. But he’s coming down again, and he’s going to take us out of here. We’re supposed to live by faith believing that. And as a child of God, we should be doing exactly the same thing.

You see, because not only does God want us to be saved, and to go to heaven, and he wants us to have all the rewards. You see, whenever you really love the brethren, you want them when they get to heaven to have all the rewards they could have got. That’s why, as a child of God said, we should want every one of God’s children to serve the Lord. We want them to be involved. And the only way you can get some people involved is to be involved, to do something, to have a ministry, to get your hands dirty, to get involved in people’s lives.

And yet there’s a lot of people that will never do it. I wish I could get a hold of them and just shake them real good. But I realize that’s not going to give me anywhere. So I am thankful for the ones that do. So I spend all my time, most of my time with the ones that want to be faithful and try to disciple the ones who will follow. You see, you can’t disciple people who won’t follow you.

You can only disciple those who follow you. At one time, a lot of Christ’s disciples turned and went away. And so he turned to his own disciples and he says, will you also go away? And Peter made that statement, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus says, not all of you, not all of you. One of you is a heretic, an unbeliever.

One of you is because Peter didn’t know everything. We all, yeah, Peter is always doing it, always putting his foot in his mouth saying things that he shouldn’t say. I’m glad we don’t have anybody like that today. People just don’t do that anymore. But anyway, I hope that that won’t help with just a little bit. Look up here. This hand represents you and me. This book represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us. He hates our sin.

And because of all this sin, it has to be paid. And the wages of sin is death. That’s why we all have to die. But God loves us. He wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven, you can’t take your sin with you. You have to be perfect as righteous as God. And nobody’s perfect. Because of sin, we can’t get in. And God says, your good works will not pay for your… Bad deeds. Good works don’t pay for bad deeds.

This hand represents Jesus Christ, he’s the Lord. God in the flesh came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin, because our sin separates us from the Lord. So Christ took our sins, paid for them on the cross, and came back from the dead, sent it into heaven and sat down. The work was all done. It’s finished. Payment made in full. You see, the only thing you and I have to do is accept the payment he made for our sins.

He’s already made the payment. All we have to do is accept it. That’s free. That’s simple. That’s grace. It means you don’t earn it. You don’t deserve it. It’s free. Mercy and grace. What a wonderful thing. Let’s pray, shall we? If you’re here tonight or watching by internet, I pray that you would right now believe that God does love you. And yes, he looked down and he sees you. He sees all the rebellion that we have and the desires to go our own way.

God says there’s none righteous, no, that’s one. So because of what he saw, he came down and did something about it. He got involved, couldn’t get any more involved than what he did. He laid down his life. As he laid down his life, he did it for everybody. Came back from the dead, sent it into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father. And then he reached down his hand for you and for me. Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Will you trust Him to save you? If you will, God said He would give you the free gift of eternal life, and you’ll get to go to heaven on what Christ did for you. So his bow nice close, no one looking around. Is there anyone else say, yes, I will accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and preach I like you to pray for me. Would you slip your hand very quickly in the right back down? Is there anyone at all?

Yes, right where you are, you too. All you have to do is believe it. God loves you that much, and He’ll give you the free gift of eternal life. And you can know you’re going to heaven when you die. Our Father, we thank you so much for this time together. The opportunity just to study Your Word get some thoughts here and there. And follow the way I asked your blessings upon this ministry. We got good people. Help us to plan wisely and do all that we can.

While we can, to get involved in people’s lives in Christ’s 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 tool free, 1-800-576-3771. 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 six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcasts 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 surpr 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.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bible line to continue on the air. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. God made a promise to Abraham that he would save by faith, that a man could not save himself by his works. And this was 430 years before God ever gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. So God did not give the law to be saved. He already promised that he would save by faith alone.

And that’s the only way a man could be saved. So that was the greatest promise that’s ever been made, that God would justify a heathen and I was a heathen, I was lost by faith alone. All I had to do is believe that when Christ died he died for me and I trusted him as my Savior. Look at number nine there in your notes. Number nine is the greatest law ever given. See this is That’s what makes this the greatest story, because everything about it was so great.

What makes it so great? Well, the greatest promise that God ever gave was that He was saved a man by faith. And He made it to Abraham, and yet He had to have his son make it possible for him to keep his promise. You see, if Christ had never come into the world, God could not have kept His Word. He could not have kept His promise to save a man by faith if Christ had not died and paid for His sins.

Because you see, God made a law, a righteous law. And in that law, it says, the soul that sineth shall die. Now, why you’re in Romans, look there in chapter 3. chapter 3. Ruth now in verse 19. Now we know that what things, so ever the law, sayeth, it’s safe to them that are under the law and get this, that every mouth may be stopped and you’re to underline all the world become guilty before God. God made a law that condemned the whole world.

What a law. That’s the greatest law that’s ever been given. Was God’s law, all every nation makes laws, every state legislature, county, city. But he made a law that governed everybody in the whole world. Never been a law like that law. That’s the greatest law that’s ever, all the laws in America are cause of the laws that God gave. By the way, they’re still in effect. They were never given to save anybody. Christ did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law.

The law is still wrong. The steel. It’s still wrong to lie. It’s still wrong to commit adultery. It’s still wrong. wrong. God didn’t say it’s not wrong anymore. Like the law is going, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it’s still wrong. It’s still a sin. And it says, thou shalt make unto thee know other graven images, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy hard mind, body, soul, and strength. That’s still a command. It’s just a man can’t keep it.

Man can’t fulfill the law. But That doesn’t make the law bad. Romans 7 says that the law was perfect, the law was spiritual, the law is good, nothing wrong with the law. What’s the problem? You and me, we couldn’t keep it. And because the law condemned everybody, what did God give the law for a man to be saved? No, he already promised all he had to do is trust Christ to save you. But see, people won’t trust Christ if they think they can save themselves.

So God gave the law to lead us to Christ. The law was never given to save a man. Can’t save a man. Look at number 10. Number 10. The greatest son ever born was given. I’ve got two sons. One’s here and one’s in heaven. Love both of my sons. My sons, I think, were pretty good. But not a one of them was perfect. All they were close. I think my grandson is. It doesn’t matter how much we love them, they’re not perfect.

This beautiful little baby down here is not perfect. They’re gonna find out in very soon. That little baby has a sinful nature. Got it from the mother. Just joking. Believe it or not, I believe it’s passed on by the daddy. Ooh, I hate to admit that. But the greatest law brought the greatest condemnation that the whole world becomes guilty. So that’s what helps make this the greatest story. Everybody in the world needs a savior. Isn’t this wonderful? Everybody needs a savior.

We’re all in the same boat. And God’s in his son and he’s the only one that can save. He was the only one that was innocent. He was the only one that didn’t sin so he’s the only one that didn’t have to die But he chose to die because he loved his father and he made this statement in John chapter 14 verse 31 He said that the world of may know That I love my father Even so I do In the words Christ says I’m doing what I’m doing because I want the world to know how much I I love my father.

Now he loves us, but it was God love for us that sent his son. And because the son loved the dad so much, he’d do anything his father asked. So he was willing to die for us because he loved his father and he died on the cross, came back from the dead. And God says that all those who come to him He will give to the Sun It says an alan know why’s ever cast them out and I’ll never lose them You have eternal life and you get to go to heaven whenever you die pretty good news pretty good news Take your Bible and turn there to the book of 1 John and chapter 4 1 John 4, 1 John 4, look there in verse 9.

God is love. God in order to prove love must have an object of love. He needed to have something that he can show that he loves. And he created a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, put him in a garden and all the world. And the beautiful garden was made just for them, just for mankind, because He loves us. But Adam and Eve, if they had never sinned, would never have known the love of God like you and I know.

It was because of sin, and God permitted sin, and all the wickedness it comes because of sin, because it gave the Lord an opportunity to prove to us that He loves us by doing something for us we could not do for ourselves. So there has to be something so bad that He had to save us from. Something so bad would want to be saved from. We could just say, I wish that I could just be annihilated and there’s nothing else and I don’t know why exist anymore.

In other think of how many years went and I wasn’t around. I didn’t exist. I didn’t miss anything because I wasn’t here. Wouldn’t be neat if you could just say, okay, I’ve had enough. Stop the earth. I want off and I don’t exist anymore. If it could all go through that, then death maybe would end it all. And that’s it. But we know according to the Bible, death doesn’t end at all. There is an eternity and God tells us about a place called hell and tells us how terrible it is.

How wicked it is. How hot it is. How long it is. The suffering. The smoke of their torment. I’ve sinned it up forever and ever. And they have no rest day nor night. They’re like wondering stars in the Mr. Blackness forever. There has to be the most wicked thing in all the world in order for us to appreciate the love of God. Because he’s got to save us from something we we couldn’t save ourselves from. And God allowed all of this wickedness and so forth to prove that He loves us.

You say, well, I may have proved just the opposite, didn’t you not looking correctly? You say, you and I don’t have to spend eternity in hell. You can accept the love of God, or you can reject the love of God. He that believeth on Him, God gives us His righteousnesses upon Him. He that believeth not the wrath of God’s all in him. It’s a choice. This made sense to me 50 years ago, so I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

I know that I have eternal life and I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. Now, hearing your notes, there’s a few of the things that’s mentioned here. the greatest event in human history was the cross. And mainly that time of the death and the barrel and the resurrection of Christ is all tied in together here. There’s nothing alike, those few short years that Jesus came into the world. Now you stop and think there’s a lot of people who have tried to rule the world.

And you could name me, no Hitler, and Stalin, Mussolini, and all the rest of them, all the way down through time, the Polianel and Alexander. They all wanted a rural world. And they all ruled by force to conquer, to kill, to threaten, terrorize. We have people today who want to take and terrorize the world. Willing to kill anybody and everybody as long as they can dominate and win, conquer the world. And yet the Bible talks about come desire of nations come.

this desire of peace and joy and happiness. This is the Lord. The desire is Christ. The desire that you and I have to live forever. Eternal peace and joy. All this that we want, that’s Christ. That’s what you really desire and how many people live their whole lives. lives chasing soap bubble, the dream, and they don’t want anything to do with Jesus. And he’s what you’re looking for. He’s always been there. You need the Lord. God has so designed this world that there is nothing in this world that can bring the peace that joined the happiness like the person of Christ.

Christ. The Bible says that this desire of nations that he will come and one day as King of kings and Lord of Lords, he will rule the world. And he will rule for a while as the rod of iron. But see, he rules because he is a God of love. You and I are not supposed to serve the Lord because we’re afraid He’s going to beat us up, though He can, but because we know He loves us. And our lives are supposed to reflect our love for Him.

So as we study the Word of God and we see these things, and He makes a statement here in verse 9, and this was manifested, the love of God toward us because that God sent His only be gotten son into the world that we might live through him. And live through him means to have eternal life, not just the length of life, but the quality of life. And this life is in his son and he did have the son have life and he did not the son of God have not life.

These things have a written unto you that believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. So you and I can know that we’re going to heaven whenever we die. And him dying on the cross, when you stop and think about all the histories of the world, the kingdoms of the world, and they all give recognition to the date when Jesus Christ was born into this world. It’s either before Christ or after Christ.

Anyway, they want to cut it. It’s because of him. And yet he only lived maybe 33 and a half years. One little old fellow that was born. Let’s just pretend he wasn’t God. Why is all of this about a man? If he was just a plain, ordinary, normal man, look how many people are meeting today to sing about this man. To worship this man, look at the books that have been written about this man. Look at the nation of America that was founded on the principles of this man, if he was just a man, what a man!

But he was God. And you’re not going to go to heaven because you believe he was a good man, or a great man, or that he was a prophet. You must understand he is God in the flesh, God. And he that have seen the Son have seen the Father. He says, I and the Father are one, were the same one.

You and I in this life would probably never understand at all. But when Jesus Christ went to the cross, He had made the statement, I am the light of the world. And the Pharisees says, chapter eight, John, he said, you’re not the light of the world. Thou bearst record of thy and I record is not true.” He says, I’m the light of the world. He says, and when you put me on the cross, you’ll know who I am. My Father will tell you who I am when you put me on the cross.

And when Christ was put on the cross, the Bible says that the veil in the temple was rent from the top to the bottom. The Bible also says that when the light went out, darkness was upon the face of the earth, when He was on the cross. The Bible also says that the rocks were torn in two, and many of the saints would slip arose and came out of His grave after the resurrection. Because he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

And Christ says, when you put me on the cross, my Father will tell you who I am. I told you I am the resurrection. I told you I was the way. And that veil was ramped from top to bottom as the only way into the holy of holies and to the very presence of God. He says, I am the light of the world. And they didn’t believe that. and got through the main switch of heaven and all of the universe went dark.

I believe Jesus was who he claimed to be. I don’t believe a dying man on the cross could make those things happen. I believe. I believe. Look at the last statement I have there. The Father’s testimony bears witness that Jesus was truly the Son of God. I can’t make other people believe it. I just know that it made sense to me. And I didn’t understand a lot about the Bible. I really didn’t know the Bible. I had never heard of John 3 16 until that night when I was 18.

My father-in-law showed me John 3 16 and told me the story. The greatest story I’d ever heard in my life. I did not know that Jesus was the Lord. I did not know that He died for me. I did not know that I could have eternal life. I did not know I could be certain of going to Heaven when I died. I did not know I could become a child of God. I did not know that He could be my Father.

I didn’t know. I didn’t know that. But after that night, I knew it. He told me the greatest story ever told. Since you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, have you ever told the greatest story in the world? What about all the people that’s never heard? Do you talk to people about football, basketball, girlfriend, boyfriends, talk to them about Christmas and all kinds of things. Have you ever told the greatest story in all the world where they can understand it?

A lot of people have never heard. They’ve never heard. Look up here just a moment. This hand represents you and me and the walla represents sin. Now we are all born into this world and we’re all sinners. And because we are sinners with an old sinful nature, we bring forth sin. And everybody sins. So we’re all in the same boat, everybody in the world. Now God loves the whole world. Now He gave His law, the greatest law. and it condemned everybody.

So nobody could save themselves. Nobody was exempt from the law. It condemned the whole world. The whole world is guilty. So God says, you cannot save yourself. That’s why Christ came to show you how much He loves you. So Christ came into the world because God so loved the world. So He sent His Son, born of a virgin, had no sin, took upon flesh, tabernacle among us. And the Bible says that because He loved us, He took our sins and paid for them on the cross, came back from the dead.

And God said, if we would believe that He did it for us, He would put this payment to our account and His righteousness, though it’s under all, it’s only upon those that believe it. Now you say, well, I don’t believe that. Then His righteousness is not put to your account. You won’t have to worry about going to heaven. You won’t go. You don’t have to believe it. But you will go to hell. You will go to hell. If that’s what you want, that’s what you can have.

It’s not because anybody makes you do it. That’s your choice. You can laugh at it. You can mock it. You can do anything that you want. It’s not going to change the fact that God loved you and he offered it to you and you rejected it. You should allow it. I’ll think about that down the road. If you died today, that was a decision today. No decision is a decision to wait. That’s a decision. Well, I plan on getting right, you know, down the road right before I die.

I had a girl call me the other day. Well, she’s my cousin. She’s about my age. She says, Yankee, I was just thinking about you and thought I’d call you. I said, well, great, I appreciate that. I said, well, how are you doing? She says, well, I got one foot in the grave and the other one on the banana peel. She says, I said, it’s that bad, hon. She says, it’s that bad. She says, I’ve smoked all my life.

She said, you can’t quit. She said, I’ve tried. She says, I’ve already lost one lung and I’m losing the other one. The doctor says, I’m dying of cancer. She said, all because of smoking. I said, well, I lost my mom because of it. I lost my two sisters because of it. And I says, I buried probably 2530 of my relatives. It all died from it. My dad died from it. I says, a lot of people just get hooked on it and they can’t quit.

I says, but do you know where you go in your diocese? Oh, yes. I had led her to the Lord years ago. I said, release. I said, I’m going to be coming up to Georgia in a week. I said, maybe I’ll get a chance to come by there and see you. And it’s a joy to, yeah, you lead them to the Lord. But you want so much more for people, but you can’t make people. You can’t live their lives for them.

You can’t make them make decisions. people do what they really want to do. If you really want to quit, you will. If you don’t, you won’t. That’s how simple it is. Because if you just don’t know, I don’t need to know. You can decide. Are you trying to tell me that God of heaven, the Holy Spirit, and living and dwelling within you can’t give you the power that you need to stop something, do something? That’s a cop out of I have ever heard it.

You can do what you really want to do. and you will when you really make up your mind and you won’t until then. I’m not God, I don’t play God in people’s lives, but I don’t fall for the stuff. It doesn’t excuse us. That’s the flesh, that’s the flesh. God says you can control it. Yes, I can’t. Yes, you can. I can’t. Yes, you can.

Dr. tells you you’re dying of cancer unless you quit smoking and you’ve got to quit within a week. Dr. Quit! My sister right before she died, she’d gone to the hospital and the doctor told her. I don’t want you coming back into this hospital if you’re not going to listen to me. He says you’re dying of cancer. He says you won’t quit your smoking. She said if you don’t care about your life, he said there’s nothing I can do for you.

And she says, I don’t think I can wait for a doctor to UCHIJ. Anyway, the doctor told me that she’s not to come back into this hospital. It wasn’t long here’s my sister again. Says, I thought I told you not to come back. And let you quit your smoke. She said, I quit. He says, when did you quit now?

And then she’d she she’d get in the bathroom and sneeze. She goes out and sneeze. It weren’t when they were quit. When I owe the God bless my sister, my sister’s in heaven. I’d rather her smoke here than smoke later. Aren’t you glad God loves you in spite of with a problem? I don’t care about your sins. He did something about sin. One day whenever you leave this whole world, and that whole body of yours, he will have totally delivered you.

Your new body is not gonna have any of that problem. Right now it’s a battle and you go through it, and not sympathize with it because of it. And it’s rough in the heart, I know. But that doesn’t know the fact. God loves you. He paid for everything you’ve ever done, or ever will do. And he says that if you’ll believe he did it for you, he’d give you eternal life as a gift. You get to go to heaven on what Christ did for you.

Let’s pray, shall we? Never hit by on every enclose, no one looking around. If you hear this morning and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, God loves you. He sent His Son to prove it. He died and paid for your sins. All you have to do is the only thing you can do. We believe He did it for you. If you don’t, the wrath of God abides upon you. If you believe it, the righteousness of God is given to you.

It’s under all, but it’s only upon those that believe, where you believe it. With heads bowed nice and closed, if you say, yes, that made sense to me. And preacher this morning, I believe Christ died for me, and I’m going to trust Him as my Savior. Now, if you’ve never done it before, would you do it right now? If you’ve already trusted Christ, you’d say, you don’t have to do it again. But if you have never done so, and you say, that made sense to me, I can see it’s a gift.

It’s free. I can’t earn it, can’t work for it. I know I can’t deserve it. So by grace, I accept it. I believe he did it for me. And so friend, would you believe he did it for you? And God said, he’d give you the free gift of eternal life. Would you just slip your hand out very quickly and put a right back down? I’m not going to stand, have you stand up? I’m not going to embarrass you. It’s overdone with when you make a decision.

But if you hear this morning, you say, that makes sense to me. And I want to be certain of going to heaven when I die and pray to God once they pray for me. We’ll just slip your hand out very quickly. You don’t want it all. Just slip it up very quickly, but it’ll rip back down. Our Father, we thank You so much for this time together. We thank You for Your blessings to us. We thank You for the free gift of eternal life made available to us because of the death, the sacrifice, the substitution, and the repayment of Your Son, in whom we’re thankful.

In Christ’s 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 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, 1-800-576-3771. 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 six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcasts 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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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 love this time of year. I think it’s good because people think about giving and receiving. You know, sometimes you have to be on the receiving end. There are some people who never like to receive anything they like to do the giving. But you know if nobody accepted anything, there’d be nobody giving anything. Somebody has to receive. Sometimes there’s a pre-job that had people do special things for me and all I can say is just, you know, thank you.

My wife and I do thank you for, you know, cards and kind words and phone calls and special little gifts at times that people give to us and we’re thankful and we don’t take it for granted. And we’re thankful for the ministry that God has given to us here at the Calvary Community Church. But anyway, if you have your notes now, what makes it so great? I love to tell the story of the greatest story ever told. Some of these things I’d share with you before, but I wanted you to have a copy of it.

Because me, one of the greatest verses in the Bible is John 3 16. It says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs and chapter 30. There’s a verse here that asks a bunch of questions. Everybody likes to ask questions. We always want to know why, but the Lord puts some in his word here, says, who?

Who? So you notice in Proverbs chapter 30 and look there in verse 4. verse 4. And verse 4 says, Who hath ascended up into heaven or descended? Good question, isn’t it? I know someone who did. He asked another question, who hath gathered the wind in his fist? I know who who can calm the storms? He asked another question, who had bound the waters in a garment? I know who established the ends of the earth. And then he says, what is his name?

And what is his son’s name? If thou can’t tell. So even here in the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament There’s a question about God, his name, and what is his son’s name? Well, I think he just, he was a chip off the block. He has a name just like his daddy. Some people get him all mixed up. You look at this little baby down here and looks just like his daddy. Got same hair, do everything. But then whenever you think about Jesus Christ, he has a name just like his daddy.

his father. So I know who he is. And I know his son’s name. But didn’t it a good question to ask back here before he was ever born. Now, I want you to take your Bible and turn to your right to the book of Isaiah chapter seven, the book of Isaiah, and chapter seven. Now, Proverbs was about 1000 years, 1000 years before Christ ever came. But in the book of Isaiah, oh, about 700 years before Christ came. It makes another statement here in verse 14.

Verse 14 says, work for the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Some people say, well, that just means a young woman. That’s not a sign most young women do have a child. But a sign is a woman who has never been touched by man. They have a child. That’s mentioned over here in the Old Testament before he ever came. And he says, Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son shall call his name Emmanuel.

So God, see, he had a son before he was ever born in this world because he says, what is his son’s name? Well he had to have one in order to know his name. And then look there in Isaiah chapter nine and look in verse six where it says in verse six, for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given. The child is born into this world, but he was already a son of God before he came into the world.

And this was written 700 years in advance. And the government get this. This is prophecy. The chow will be born, the sun will be given, he’ll die on the cross. The government shall be upon his shoulders, he’ll rule and reign. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. What a name! Of the sun has a name just like his daddy. You know when Christ came into the world, he even talked like his daddy and lived like his daddy, walked like his daddy.

He was a spitting image of his dad. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, the express image of his father. He could even go as far as to say, when you’ve seen me, you’ve seen my dad. How can he be called the everlasting father without an everlasting son? So Jesus Christ existed before He came into this world. Mary was used by God to bring the child into the world. This is the most awesome story in the world.

When you stop and think, the greatest story ever told. Look there in the little box that I have there. And look whenever you tell the story about what Jesus Christ did on the cross. The Bible tells the greatest stories ever heard, but it takes all these stories together to tell the story of what Christ did on the cross. Heaven tells of the greatest splendor ever imagined. Hell tells of the greatest horror that ever produced fear in a man. This story involves the greatest number of people, the whole world.

It was 4,000 years in the making. It is still being told. It is the greatest love story ever told. The putting of Christ to death was the greatest display of wickedness ever recorded in human history. Because look what the world did to a perfect man that never did any wrong. No fault was ever found in him. This is truly an awesome story and one that we ought to be thankful that we know that someone told us about. I want you to look there in Romans in chapter 1 and verse 16.

Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. This is one of the statement of faith that we read every Sunday where it says in verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein, that means in this message, in this gospel, there’s something that you need to see. righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. I believe like the Apostle Paul says, I am ready to preach the gospel to those that are at Rome also.

That’s in verse 15. So he was given the gospel and he believed it. And so by faith, he was saved. So you tell that message, that wonderful story to someone else, and they hear it, and they believe. So from faith of one to the faith of another to the faith of another to the faith of another, and right on down the line, not only from faith to be saved, but faith to grow, faith to tell, to believe what God’s Word says about it.

In this message is the righteousness of God revealed. Look there in chapter 3. Chapter 3 makes the statement in verse 21. But now, now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest or revealed. Being witnessed by the law and the prophets. In other words, they told about this righteousness that would come. That would be made available to any person who would accept it and they would be given the righteousness of God. Oh, what if God walked into this room and was willing to offer you his righteousness and that would be good enough to go to heaven on?

God said, I’ll let you go to heaven on my righteousness because your righteousness is not good enough. If you had to earn your way to heaven, You’ll never be good enough. That’s why most people do not know where they’re going to go when they die because see they think that they’re going to heaven and if they don’t measure up they won’t make it so they have this emotional roller coaster of yes I am no I’m not yes I am no I’m not yes I am no I’m not they don’t never know for sure.

For 50 years I can be able to say absolutely, dogmatically. I know I have eternal life. I know I’m going to heaven whenever I die because God gave me His righteousness. His righteousness is Christ. Christ is my righteousness. Look what He says here in verse 22, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, which is unto all. And upon all them that believe, look up here, his righteousness, his perfection is unto all, but it’s only upon those that believe.

Now God says in his word in chapter three, in verse 36, that he that believeth on me hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God is upon them. So would you rather have the wrath of God or the righteousness of God? It’s your choice. You see, his righteousness is what makes this such good news. Christ came into the world. Yes, born to die for our sins so that God could give to us his righteousness.

So it’s in reality, it’s like God stands up here and offers you his son. And if you accept his son, you will have a payment for your sins. He was the payment. When you accept Christ, you have the righteousness of God put to your account. So his righteousness is unto all, but it’s only upon those that believe. Now look again there in chapter one. And you’ll notice there in verse 18 for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.

You know, those two things are mentioned right here following the declaration of the gospel. I am not ashamed of this message because this gospel message, this good news of why Christ came, it shows you the wrath of God against sin. And so when Christ took upon himself all the sin of the world, it showed the wrath of God against sin, but it shows the righteousness of God. came back again from the dead and offers to you and me his righteousness.

And that’s good enough for you and I to go to heaven on. So yeah, it’s the greatest story in all the world. Look at number eight there on your notes. The greatest promise ever given. God promised that they heal them. That’s the lost people. You say, you’re here this morning. You say, Am I a heathen? If you’re lost, you are. Don’t you realize who I am? Yeah, you’re a heathen. If you have not accepted Christ as your Savior. If you are not saved, if you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, you’re not a Christian, you are a heathen.

Now, I know we often think about the heathen. Well, that’s those people that’s, you know, on some dark continent and they don’t know and they’re running around in loin cloth and they’re totally ignorant and everything else. No, a heathen can be the most intellectual person in the world. But if he’s without God, he’s a heathen. That’s how God sees you. So God says that if you don’t know that you’re going to heaven when you die, God says you’re not.

You don’t know the way. So to be justified by faith, we have to believe in the death. in the barrel and the resurrection of Christ. It does not say that we had to believe in the birth, but I believe in the birth. I believe in the virgin birth. I believe that Jesus Christ was who he claimed to be and that I have eternal life because of what he’s done for him. But in the past, God made a promise to Abraham that he would save by faith, that a man could not save himself by his works.

And this was 430 years before God ever gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. So God did not give the law to be saved. He already promised that he would save by faith alone. And that’s only way a man could be saved. So that was the greatest promise that’s ever been made. That God would justify I was a heathen. I was a heathen. I was lost by faith alone. All I had to do is believe that when Christ died, he died for me and I trusted him as my savior.

Look at number nine during your nose. Number nine is the greatest law ever given. See, that’s what makes this the greatest story because everything about it was so great. What makes it so great? Well, greatest promise that God ever gave was that He was saved a man by faith. And He made it to Abraham and yet He had to have His Son make it possible for Him to keep His promise. You see, if Christ had never come into the world, God could not have kept His Word.

He could not have kept His promise to save a man by faith if Christ had not died and paid for his sins. Because he, God, made a law, a righteous law. And in that law, it says, the soul that sineth shall die. Now, why you’re in Romans, look there in chapter 3. Romans chapter 3, Luke now in verse 19. Now we know that what things, However the law saith, it’s safe to them that are under the law and get this, that every mouth may be stopped and you’re to underline all the world become guilty before God.

God made a law that condemned the whole world. What a law. That’s the greatest law that’s ever been given. God’s law, all every nation makes laws, every state legislature, county, city, but He made a law that governed everybody in the whole world. Never been a law like that law. That’s the greatest law that’s ever, all the laws in America are cause of the laws that God gave. By the way, they’re still in effect. They were never given to save anybody.

Christ did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law. The law is still wrong to steal. It’s still wrong to lie. It’s still wrong to commit adultery. It’s still wrong. God didn’t say it’s not wrong anymore. like the laws, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it’s still wrong. It’s still a sin. And it says, thou shalt make unto thee no other graven images. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy hard mind, body, soul, and strength.

That’s still a command. It’s just a man can’t keep it. Man can’t fulfill the law. But that doesn’t make the law bad. Romans 7 says that The law was perfect. The law is spiritual. The law is good. Nothing wrong with the law. What’s the problem? You and me, we couldn’t keep it. And because the law condemned everybody, what did God give the law for a man to be saved? No, he already promised all he had to do is trust Christ to save you.

But see, people won’t trust Christ if they think they can save themselves. So God gave the law to lead us to Christ. The law was never given to save a man. Can’t save a man. Look at number 10. Number 10. The greatest son ever born was given. I’ve got two sons. One’s here and one’s in heaven. Love both of my sons. My sons, I think, were pretty good. But not a one of them was perfect. All they were close.

I think my grandson is. It doesn’t matter how much we love them, they’re not perfect. Just beautiful little baby down here is not perfect. They’re gonna find out in very soon. That little baby has a sinful nature. Got it from the mother. Just joking. Believe it or not, I believe it’s passed on by the daddy. Who hated to admit that. but the greatest law brought the greatest condemnation that the whole world becomes guilty. So that’s what helps make this the greatest story.

Everybody in the world needs a Savior. This is this wonderful? Everybody needs a Savior. We’re all in the same boat and God’s in His Son and He’s the only one that can save. He was the only one that was innocent. He was the only one that didn’t sin. So he’s the only one that didn’t have to die. But he chose to die because he loved his father and he made this statement in John chapter 14 verse 31. He said that the world may know that I love my father even so I do.

In the The word Christ says, I’m doing what I’m doing because I want the world to know how much I love my father. Now he loves us, but it was God love for us that sent his son. And because his son loved the dad so much he’d do anything his father asked. So he was willing to die for us because he loved his father and he died on the cross. came back from the dead. And God says that all those who come to him, he will give to the Son.

It says, Analynn, know why he’s ever cast him out, and now he never lives them. You have eternal life, and you get to go to heaven whenever you die. Pretty good news. Pretty good news. Take your Bible and turn there to the book of 1 John and chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. First John chapter 4, look there in verse 9. God is love. God in order to prove love must have an object of love. He needed to have something that he can show that he loves.

And he created a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, put him in a garden and all the world and the beautiful garden was made just for them, just for mankind because he loves us. But Adam and Eve, if they had never sinned, would never have known the love of God like you and I know. It was because of sin and God permitted sin and all the wickedness it comes because of sin because it gave the Lord an opportunity to prove to us that He loves us by doing something for us we could not do for ourselves.

So there has to be something so bad that He had to save us from. Something so bad would want to be saved from. We could just say, I wish that I could just be annihilated and there’s nothing else and I don’t know why exist anymore. In other words, think of how many years went and I wasn’t around. I didn’t exist. I didn’t miss anything because I wasn’t here. Wouldn’t be neat if you could just say, okay I’ve had enough, stop the the earth, I want off and I don’t exist anymore.

If it all go through that, then death may be within it all. And that’s it. But we know according to the Bible, death doesn’t end it all. There is an eternity, and God tells us about a place called hell, and tells us how terrible it is, how wicked it is, how hot it is, how long it is. The suffering, the smoke of their torment, I’ve sinned it up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night. They’re like one three stars and they’re Mr.

Blackness forever. There has to be the most wicked thing in all the world in order for us to appreciate the love of God Because he’s got to save us from something we couldn’t save ourselves from and God allowed all of this wickedness and so forth to prove that he loves us You say well, I may approve just the opposite didn’t you not looking correctly? You see you and I don’t have to spend eternity in hell You can accept the love of God or you can reject the love of God.

He that believeth on him, God gives us His righteousnesses upon him. He that believeth not the wrath of God’s all in him. It’s a choice. This made sense to me 50 years ago. So I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I know that I have eternal life and I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. No. Hearing your notes, there’s a few of the things that’s mentioned here. The greatest event in human history was the cross. And mainly that time of the death and the barrel and the resurrection of Christ is all tied in together here.

There’s nothing like those few short years that Jesus came into the world. world. Now you stop and think there’s a lot of people who have tried to rule the world. And you can name it, know Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and all the rest of them all the way down through time, Napoleon and Alexander. They all wanted a rule world. And they all ruled by force to conquer, to kill, to threaten, terrorize. We have people today who want to take and terrorize the world.

Will it kill anybody and everybody as long as they can dominate and win, conquer the world. And yet the Bible talks about come desire of nations come. This desire of peace and joy and happiness. This is the Lord. The desire is Christ. The desire that you and I have to live forever. Eternal peace and joy. All that we want, that’s Christ. That’s what you’re really desiring and how many people live their whole lives. Chasing soap bubble, the dream, and they don’t want anything to do with Jesus.

And here’s what you’re looking for. 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. Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible line 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. 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. Friends, 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, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for a Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. When he died on the cross, he says it is finished. Now, there’s nothing anybody else had to do for the payment of sin. He paid for all the sins of the world so that everybody in the world should have eternal life and go to heaven. And all that you have to do, all that I have to do, is believe that when Christ did it, he did it for me.

And if I believe he did it for me, that payment is put to my account by faith alone in Christ alone. You have the free gift of eternal life. Now take your Bible and turn there to the book of 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians and chapter five. 2 Corinthians chapter five and verse 21. Verse 21 says on page 12, 33, He says, for He, God, hath made Him, Jesus Christ, who no no sin, get to be sin for us, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God.

All right, so Jesus Christ comes into the world and He’s perfect. I’m not. I have sin. So God will not allow sin in heaven, but He will allow righteousness in heaven, because that’s a perfect place. So Jesus Christ, this hand representing Christ, and this hand representing mania, I have sin, He has righteousness. So the Bible says that if I will believe that Christ paid for all of my sins on the cross came back from the dead, payments made. And I believe Christ did it for me.

God gives to me His righteousness. Now if I have His righteousness, that makes me as righteous as God. I go to heaven on what He did. He became sin for me. He didn’t sin. He became sin. He took every sin of every person in the whole work paid for sin on the cross. Once and for all. Never has to be done again. So whenever you and I believe that Christ did it for us, He gives us His righteousness. But here’s the thing to remember in Romans chapter 3.

Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God. So when He gives me His righteousness, what He’s really doing is giving me Himself. I’m going to heaven because I am in His Son. I’m going to heaven because I am in Him. He is my righteousness. I don’t have righteousness. Now, while we’re right here, take your Bible and look there in the book of Philippians in chapter three, the book of Philippians, real quick.

It’s such an important verse that you need to see it. Philippians chapter three and verse nine. Verse nine, you and I have sinned. God says, do not be found on the day of judgment, trusting in your righteousness to get you to heaven. Because God says, you don’t have any righteousness. There is none that doeth good, no not one, all have sinned and come short of God’s perfection. So no man can save himself.

So the Bible says, Jesus Christ came into the world. He is perfect. He is righteous. God says to go to heaven, you have to be as perfect as righteous as Christ in order to live for all eternity. So get what he says in verse nine and be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law that he’s trying to earn it. Work for it. But that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which is of God.

by faith. So there is a by works righteousness and a by faith righteousness. By works you’re trying to earn it. God says don’t be found trusting in your works to get you to heaven. He says but trust in his righteousness. He will give you his righteousness be found in him. Having his right to that’s why we get to go to heaven. That’s why Christ came into the world. Now look at number four. Number four, why he became the first fruits of them that slept.

Turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians in chapter 15. 1 Corinthians in chapter 15. This is the resurrection chapter in the Bible. Has an awful lot to say about the resurrection. And if you’ll notice here in 1 Corinthians, I want you to look there first of all, in verse two, because he’s talking about how he declared unto him the gospel, the good news. So Christ came into the world. Where’s the good news in that? Christ died on the cross.

Where’s the good news? He was buried. Well, where’s the good news? Well, he came back from the dead. Why is that good news for me? Did you know there’s a lot of people who believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and are not going to heaven. A lot of churches talk about it every week. They talk about the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and heaven got a clue where they’re going to go when they die.

That’s because they haven’t heard. Why did he do it? Most people think, but he did that to help me to live better so I can get good enough to go there. He’s a help give me the strength and the grace that I need to walk that straight and narrow way. And if I do it long enough, I’m going to make it someday. Praise Jesus. That is not why he can’t. He’s not a trailblazer. You know like Daniel Boom and David Crockett blazing a trail and now boy he’s going to pour me and I got a…

No, for example. You’re right in the middle of the ocean. Can’t swim. Help, help, help. I come by my little motorboat and I say, what’s the problem? I’m drowning. I can’t swim. I said look it’s only 1500 miles to the coast of America. You just do the best you can and try hard, but you’ll make it. Now, was I a savior? No, I wasn’t a savior. Well, what if I pull up alongside of them and I say, look, there’s a lesson on 10 easy lessons on how to swim.

Just read those lessons and follow those and you’ll learn how to swim. Now, see, what a good deed that was? But am I a savior? No. What if I come up alongside of him and I jump out of the boat and I say, now watch what I do. And you do exactly like me and I do the dog paddle, the breath stroke and the back stroke and everything. Oh man, I can give it all. And I give him his, you know, two minute lesson.

Now you do just like me. And head in that direction. And you’ll make it. Now I might be a good example. example. That might be a good way, sure, and you know, probably, but that’s not a Savior. Okay, well, what if I come up there in my little motorboat and I reach over there and I get him a pile of water, put him in the boat and take him 750 miles and kick him out and say, now you make the rest of the way by yourself.

Not a Savior? No. I need to take him out of the water, take him all the way to the land. When I trusted Christ as my Savior, I’m trusting Him to take me all the way to heaven. And He’s the only one that can get me there. I don’t help. I don’t do the dog paddle. I don’t do the breaststroke. I don’t retain any lesson on how to swim. I trusted Him as my Savior 50 years ago in a little old living room and it never has to be done again.

My going to heaven totally 100% depends on Him. I’ve had people say, well, I don’t. I don’t just pray for so-and-so. He’s almost saved. You’re either 100% saved or 100% lost. Nobody goes to hell. Well, I was only 10% more now automated. You’re either saved or you’re lost. You’re either trust them or you don’t. I’ve had people say, have you trusted Christ? I’ve been a Christian all my life. No, you have it. Nobody is better Christian all their life.

There has to be a day when you were saved. A day when you were born in the God’s family. You might not remember the exact same thing. and the hour and so forth like that. No, I can’t. You may not. But there has to be a day when you trust the Christ as your Savior. And if you don’t know of such a day, I would. You know, I just, I didn’t say it all my life. No, you know, there has to be a time when you trusted the Lord.

You may not remember all that, but you know, I recall there was a time when I put my trust in Him. I believe Christ died on that cross and He paid for my sins. You’re not raised a Christian. I mean, just because you were, you know, you walk into a garage and make you an automobile. I can go a long way with that tip, but I’m not going to. But it’s so important for a Christian to realize that foundation, as we’re talking about in San Diego, has to be rock solid.

I know I have believed in Christ and my salvation is secure and that I’m going to heaven whenever I die. But Christ came back from the dead. And when he came back from the dead, why is that so important? Because he can’t save anybody if he’s still dead. And he says he’s coming back someday. Well, he can’t come back if he didn’t get there. That’s why it’s also important because you see, it hinges upon the fulfillment of his promise, his word.

He says that he would die, and in three days he’d come back from the dead. And if he doesn’t, he’s a liar, and if he’s a liar, he’s not God, and our sins were never paid for. But he did come back from the dead. Now I want you to see this. Here in 1 Corinthians in chapter 15, look in verse 20, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.

The first man there in verse 21, for since by man came death that’s Adam. By man Christ also came the resurrection of the dead. For in verse 22 says, for as in Adam I’ll die even so in Christ shall all be made alive. So whenever anybody born into the world as a son of Adam, we all have a sinful nature. We all die. All those who trust Christ as Savior, well they made alive. So I’ve been born twice. Once from the line of Adam, to my mama and daddy and their mommy and daddy and all the way on down goes all the way back to Adam.

But 50 years ago in a little old 11 room in Athens, Georgia, I trust it, Christ is my Savior. So my new birth only goes back 50 years. The other one goes back a longer time. But Christ came back from the dead and He is the first fruits. It means that He’s the first one to come back from the dead, but He came back on His own power. You see, all the other ones had to be raised, but He said, I have the power to lay down my life and the power to take it up again.

And he says that he is the one that died, that little kernel of corn, and because of that, there’s going to be a harvest someday. And that’s where you and I come in. One of these days the graves are going to open and we’re all going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the year. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Look at number five. Why he became the author of eternal salvation, eternal salvation, not temporary salvation.

Look there in Hebrews chapter 5, Hebrews and chapter 5. These are some very, very good verses. You see, you need to understand this so that you can defend your faith. As you witness to people, there’s people going to challenge you and ask you to prove that in the Bible and you’ll be able to say, in the Bible it says in blah blah blah blah and you know your book. It is the will of God for God’s children to know the word of God.

You’re supposed to know this book and you’re going to answer to God on why you don’t know it. Knowledge is power and this is the power that you need for your Christian life. This is the power you need to witness. Knowledge. Knowledge is power. So he says here in Hebrews And chapter 5, look what he says here in verse 8. Verse 8, though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. Now we’re talking about Christ as a man.

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation. You see, for something to be eternal, it has to be perfect. So when he became the author of eternal salvation, he became the author of a perfect salvation. You see, the salvation that God has has to make you perfect, or it doesn’t help you. When I trusted Christ as my Savior, my new birth, I was just like that holy thing. I was born without a sinful nature, my new birth.

Not my first one. My first one has a sinful nature. That’s when you see. But I got another one that you can’t see. It’s a new birth born of God. It’s a holy thing. And because of that, I have a perfect salvation. I am a perfect child of God. It has no sinful nature. It cannot sin. And if it can’t sin, it cannot die. And that’s why when you’re perfect, you can go to heaven. Only perfect people get to go to heaven.

not good people, perfect people. So when you trust in Christ as your Savior, your new birth is perfect in the Lord. And now God wants you to grow, to become mature in the Lord. But He makes a statement. He says here in verse nine, being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation under all them that obey Him. He said, Oh, I knew there was a catch to this. The word obey here means to all those that believe him.

Take your Bible and just turn to the book of Romans in chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. So important to see this. Romans chapter 10. And notice there in verse 16. 4, they have not all obeyed the gospel to those that obey Him. How do you obey the gospel? believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So to obey the gospel is to do what the gospel says. Believe it. He that believeth hath everlasting life. And God will never cast you out and never lose you.

Look what else he said. For Isaiah said, Lord, who hath what’s that word? Believed our report. So obey and believe is what it’s talking about. So when Christ became the author of eternal salvation to all those that believe the gospel. So when you believe it, you’re saved forever because it’s perfect. There’s nothing that can stop it. God says, he’ll never cast you out. He said, I’ll never lose you. You have eternal life and if it lasts forever, then where are you going to go when you die?

And all your sins are paid. He says the sacrifices made in the Old Testament could never pay for sin. And they continually did it year after year. He says, but a body has not prepared me. So he came. He made one payment for sins forever and it’s all done. Take your Bible and look there in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews and chapter 10. You see why you need a Bible at this church? We use the Bible. We want people to know what God says, and that’s more important than anything else in the world.

There’s a lot of churches that they don’t even use a Bible. Well, you’re going to feel kind of naked around here. It’s like in the whole wild west days when you went out and didn’t have a pair of guns on your hips, you know. You just were ready to go out and face the world. You’ve got to have a sixth gun. Well, you need a Bible here in Hebrews in chapter 10. Look what he says there in verse 10.

And verse 10 makes a statement, by the which will we are sanctified, made pure and holy, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once from. So we celebrate Christmas. Christmas is when God took on flesh. A body was prepared and he never sinned and so for 30 years until he began his ministry, which is what the priests had to do in the age of 30. He began his ministry for three and a half years and nobody could find any fault in him.

Nobody. That’s why Christ made the statement, which one of you can ventist me of sin? If I sin, name it. Now, none of us can do that, can we? Would you say to your wife, I ain’t never done anything wrong? I am Mr. Perfection. I’m goody-goody two shoes. Could you say that? Could your wife say that? I don’t think so. You know, it’s amazing. The women can really, they can go shopping all day and all night long and never get tired.

Never wear out and a man he can go to a store and he got to find a bench to set on on or Something there let me go drink and coffee at our cafe while you finish up and when we get to weird Tires can be worn out. He got a bit of energy left and a woman’s just all wear on left And she’s ready to go and spend some of them. I Have no idea where that came from you know So there’s got to be a point there.

I have no clue what it is all Look in verse 12, verse 12, but this man, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice, four sins for how long? Forever. Sat down on the right hand of God. In other words, it’s done. Payments made, finished. There’s nothing for anybody to do. The payment has been made. Now look in verse 14, for by one offering he had perfected for how long? them that are sanctified. Those who have trusted Christ the Savior, you have been made pure and holy and set apart.

You belong to the Lord. I belong to the Lord. In God’s eyes, I know this is hard for you to accept. I’m perfect because I’m in Christ. Now you take Christ away and I’m just as bad as you. What do you think I was going to say? God says that we have all sinned and comes sort of God’s perfection but once you trust Christ the Savior in Christ you’re good to go. You’re good to go. I’m ready to go.

And that means from now on I’m good to go. I can’t go to hell. I can’t go to hell today. I can’t go to hell tomorrow. I can’t never go to hell. I can’t go to hell if I tried. I haven’t tried but I can’t go to hell because he gave me a perfect salvation. I am sanctified forever. He had perfected all those that believe this good news. Now, take your Bible and turn to these last two verses. I’m just going to have you look at these last two verses.

You’ve probably never seen them before Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 and 9, this is on page 1251 in an old school for a reference Bible. Now look at the verse, this is the reason for Christmas. If you’re going to celebrate Christmas, celebrate the gospel. That’s what it’s about. That’s the good news. The good news is not that he came and was born. The good news that he died and came back from the dead, paid for my sins.

So in verse 8, 4 by grace are you saved? See, God can’t save you by your works. No man’s good enough. You have to be perfect. That’s why the church can’t save you. Giving money is not going to make you any better than you already were. You have to be perfect to bring forth perfect works. A center, bring forth sins. We have to be good to bring forth good works. He says, there is done good. All have sinned to come short of the glory of God, of the perfection of God.

So he says here, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. All that we can do is brag upon what Christ did for us. But no man can take credit for his salvation, because he cannot and did not save himself and he did not even help. He by himself paid for our sins. By himself, I like that in Hebrews chapter one verse three, by himself.

That’s powerful. Anyway, look up here. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. While we all have sin on us, God loves us, but he hates our sin. For us to pay for the sin is eternal separation from God. And since we’ve all sinned, we’re all condensed. We’re all in the same boat. Nobody’s any better than anybody else. to go to heaven, you have to be perfect. It’s righteous as God. But nobody’s perfect, nobody’s righteous. Because of sin, we can’t get in.

So how am I gonna get there? A body has not prepared me. Jesus Christ came into the world with born of a woman. As the Bible says, in due time, in due time. Christ was born right on schedule and he lived for 33 and a half years without sin. And he chose to die for our sin because he loved us. Paid for it on the cross came back from the dead. One payment forever. Never have to be done again.

And he did it 2,000 years ago. When he was on the cross, you were on his mind and he paid for your sins. Now he says, will you believe he did it for you? If you believe he did it for you, he would give you as a freak yet everlasting life. You get to go to heaven, oh what he did. If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, if you never believed it, that he did it for you, you’re not saved.

You’re not a Christian, you will not go to heaven. It’s that simple. That’s why it’s so important for you. Will you trust Jesus Christ in him alone as your only hope of one to heaven? And once you trust them, you are saved. And you never have to do it again. If you trusted Christ of your Savior six months ago, you don’t have to do it again. If you trusted Him 20 years ago, you never have to do it again.

If you trusted Him as your Savior last week, you don’t have to do it again. You can only get saved one time. He can only give you turn like once. He can only save you from hell once because He paid for all of your sins when he came the first time. Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bound, every eye closed, no one looking around him. If you’re here this morning, and perhaps you never trust the Lord, why not just talk to the Lord and say something simple like this?

Lord, I know I’m a sinner, and I realize I cannot save myself. I want to go to heaven. And I believe you dattle that cross and pay for my sins. And this morning, right now, I believe you did it for me, and I’m trusting you as my Savior. And friend, God said, if you would believe just that much, He would give you as a free gift of everlasting life and you get to go to heaven on what Christ did for you.

So it hits by a nice close and no one looking around. I’m gonna ask in just a moment to raise your hand, raise your hand as not Savior. It just lets me know that what I said made sense to you. And you’re saying, preach that made sense to me and I will trust Christ right now and I’d like you to pray for me. We’ll just slip in it very quickly the right back down, then we’ll all just accomplish them.

Once you trust Christ as Savior, it’s eternal life, and you’ll never cast you out. Then when else before we close, just live it up real quick, but right back down. Our Father, we do thank You so much for all You’ve done for us. We’re thankful for this time of year when people’s hearts, and their minds are toward perhaps more spiritual things, hopefully because of Christ. Though they celebrate His birth, we pray that they’ll understand why it came. They realize the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

And so if we thank you so much for all you’ve done for us, for the one that indicated that they would trust to savor this morning. And followed by doing so, you guarantee eternal life that you’ll never cast them out and have a losing. Bless each one here. In 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 are blessed by today’s message.

If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free, 1-800-576-3771. 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. 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. So live today and every day.

every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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. Our regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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.

Today’s message called when God became a man, when God became a man. I think that’s a wonderful title of a good sermon. It’s that time of year when we talk about that very thing, when God became a man. Now we have people that want to become God. There was an angel that wanted to become God one day and he turned out to be the devil. I believe that we ought to just let God be God. And that’s it.

I know sometimes we wonder, you know, where is God? Where’s God? Can you find him anywhere? I’ve had people that says, I don’t believe there is a God. I don’t believe there’s a God. So well, if you don’t believe there’s a God, then you ought to be able to go everywhere all at the same time to prove that God isn’t there. So before you can intellectually really state for a fact that God is not God because you can’t find him.

He might be where you aren’t. So can you actually say you have been everywhere all at the same time because he might be there? So you can’t say that. Do you know everything? If there’s anything that you don’t know could be the knowledge of God. So until you can say you know everything, You can’t say there is no God. Duh? I hate it when somebody says that. Turn in the Bible to the Book Occupations of Luke. The Gospel of Luke and chapter one.

Luke chapter one. And look what the scripture says about this event. I’m just going to read one verse so they got a long way to go. You’ll know there in Luke chapter one in verse 35. And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. Now, he’s also titled the Son of Man.

Son of Man means that he came from man. Son of God he came from God. So he is called the son of man, he is a man, and he is God in the flesh. And he’s called that holy thing. Every one of us, when we’re born into this world, we are an unholy thing. We’re all sinners. We’ve all sinned. We’ve come short of perfection. He didn’t come up short of perfection. He is perfect. No sinful nature. He did everything right.

Take your Bible, look there in the book of Luke in chapter four. It would be great if all the people of the world could see that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But look what he says here in verse 34 of chapter four. These are unclean devils, angels, fall of angels, demons. Say and let us alone, what have we to do with thee? about Jesus of Nazareth, or thou come to destroy us? I knew thee who thou art, the holy one of God, the holy one of God.

He wasn’t just a man. Jesus was the holy one of God. Now turn in your Bible to the book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, and chapter 10, Hebrews and chapter 10. And look there in verse one. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1, make sure you read your Bible. This is a Bible church. We believe the Bible and believe everybody ought to read the Bible and you ought to check it and make sure that what the preacher said is in the Bible.

And verse 1 says, for the law, having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year, continually make the comers, they’re unto perfect. So you have here in this one verse some awesome statements that the sacrifices in the Old Testament that they made Never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year Continually make the comers there unto per it could make them perfect So the Bible says see to go to heaven you have to be perfect and none of the sacrifices ever made in the Old Testament ever made anybody perfect So that means that nobody has ever been saved by the law The sacrificial law the ceremonial laws of the moral law nobody has ever been saved made perfect by the law Get what he says now

because of that but in Those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year in other words every year They have to make these same sacrifice the high priest has to go into the holy of holies and offer a sacrifice for him and for the sins of the people, because it never paid for sin, never made anybody perfect. Well, look what he says now in verse 4. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins, not possible, not possible.

So that means that all those sacrifices, it was impossible to pay for sin. verse five, where for when he come into the world? Oh, we’re on another subject. Well, look what it’s talking about. He said, sacrifice and offerings thou would have not, but a body has not prepared me. A body has not prepared me. See, when Jesus came into the world, Mary was used of the Lord to prepare a body for God to live in. Jesus Christ is God upon the earth.

He is manifested in this body. And this body was a holy body, a perfect body. It had no sinful nature because it had no earthly father. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and placed the seed within the womb of Mary and that holy thing came from God and God prepared a body for a son to be born in. So we have now a man walking around in a perfect body with no sinful nature and he never did anything wrong.

There’s only been one person like that in all the world bool and it just happens to be Jesus Christ and he says a body has to stop preparing me but why did he prepare that body for him. Now take your Bible, look in John chapter 1 and verse 14. The gospel of John chapter 1 and look in verse 14. In verse 14 says, and the word was made flesh. This is on page 11, 14, oh, let’s go for a reference Bible.

Verse 14, and the word was made flesh, dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. God brought this son into existence. It’s flesh. Now Jesus already existed from the foundations of the world. He’s always been. In the book of Isaiah it says, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. But he’s talking there about unto us a child is born and a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor of the mighty God the everlasting father of the Prince of Peace.

How could he be called the everlasting father unless you have an everlasting son? Well the son is just as old as the dead. But that’s another story but look what he says in verse 1 of John chapter 1. And though in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And all things were made by Him that was made. And without Him was not anything made that was made.

He was in the beginning. And the Bible says that He came into the world with their inverse 10. He was in the world. And the world was made by Him. So this Jesus, we’re talking about this one that’s being born made the world. He created all things. And without him was not anything made that was made. He made it all. And he says here, and his own knew him not, on in verse 11. He came into his own and his own received him not, but to as many as received him to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on his name.

And he’s talking about the word that is God was made flesh. That means made flesh means he tabernacled among us. In the Old Testament the Chicana glory came into the tabernacle. Here it tabernacle in this flesh God in the flesh. That’s what we call the incarnation. He is in the flesh That’s when John the Baptist saw him and says behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world Why did he have to come? Well, this is why that he might die See God is a spirit and God cannot die so He came into the world and took upon him a body and in this body he He became like a man He became flesh God in spirit could not die be that he might be our near kinsman Possessed the right to redeem the human race through his payment.

In other words, he had to be a man to die for a man God would not accept the sacrifice of animals. It could never take away sin You see, the reason Jesus could pay for our sins is because He had none to pay for. We’re all indebted for our own. That’s why I can’t pay for your sins because I got to pay for mine. And you can’t pay for somebody else’s because you got to pay for yours. So with the needed somebody that was perfect and there was only one.

That was Jesus Christ. A body has stopped, prepared me. We call it the birth of Jesus Christ. But remember, he wasn’t born into the world just to be born so that we can worship the birthday of Jesus Christ. What’s more important that he came to die on the cross. And there’s a lot of people who worship a babe in a manger but reject a man on the cross. And it’s wrong to do so. And that he might claim the throne of Israel.

He is the king of Israel. He that is born king in Israel. Behold, there’s born unto you this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord. He is the Lord. He is Jehovah. He is God in the flesh. So when you think about Jesus Christ, what do you conjure up in your mind? Is He just a good man, good prophet, good teacher, trailblazer? What is He? He’s God in the flesh. I would not serve a man and worship a man that’s no better than I am.

But this man was God in the flesh. That changes everything. That changes everything. Look at number two and turning your Bible to second Corinthians in chapter eight. Second Corinthians in chapter eight. This is an awesome statement. When you stop and think about this, we have people in this world. that will kill in order to get money, to be famous and popular and all those things.

Think about this. Here’s Jesus Christ in heaven before the world began. He has all the honor, all the glory, all the wealth anybody could ever want. And look what the Bible says that he did. Look there in verse 9, for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was what? Now when he was born into this world, he didn’t have much, he didn’t run around in the Mercedes or Rolls Royce, I don’t even know if he He had a soup dub camel.

He didn’t spend the nights at Ramada Inn, and you know, he didn’t village in. He didn’t have none of those things. And yet he is God in the flesh. He had everything you would ever want. Live forever, perfect place. All the wealth in the world. He can make anything he wanted. God and what does he do? He comes into the world and is born as a baby and a manger and a manger. Now you would think we would be born in a palace.

I ought to be born in a palace. Look who he is, but in a stable. Doesn’t sound too healthy to me, sanitary. But look who he was. Jesus Christ came into the world and left everything, gave up everything. Look at the last part of this verse. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. That’s why he did it. He wants you to be rich. He wants me to be rich.

But we were poor. And just think, this one man is able to come into this world and make everybody rich. Say, boy, if I had a million dollars, I’d make everybody rich. No, you wouldn’t. You’d hoard it up, waste it, squandrate, unless you earned it. What would you do if you had a million dollars? But look at the notes here. He brought from heaven all that he needed to pay the debt. Well, we men, when he came and he came then to the world to pay for our sins, did he bring money?

No, because that wasn’t the payment for sin. Well, what did he bring? He just brought himself. Why? That’s all he needed was himself. He came into the world to do something that only he could do. It was a payment that only he could make. He came. He didn’t have to bring anything with him. I know there’s a store in the Old Testament about a guy that was a… called Naaman? The Syrian? Is that his name? And when did you see Elijah?

Because the little maid told me, you know, when he came from Syria, he brought all of the people and he brought camels and he brought jewelry, gold, silver, he had all these raimans, he had all kinds of stuff because he had to come. This is what is going to cost for him to cure me in my leprosy.

When Jesus came into the world, he didn’t bring anything. He was going to give himself. That was the payment that was needed. And that’s why by himself, he purged our sins. By himself no help from nobody. That’s why there’s nobody who can save you Jesus Christ He did it all Look at the letter B the wages of sin was dead all he needed with life That was not indebted Because the payment for sin is death all he had to do is bring his life here and be willing to give it to pay for that payment.

And that’s what He did. Look at number three. Why He became sin? Why He became sin? Now I want you to look at this first because it’s very good. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3. The Lord says that in the Old Testament times, many ways through many prophets, He said He had spoken in and times pass unto the fathers by the prophets. But it says in verse two, it happened these last days, spoken to us by his son.

And look what he says in verse two, I want you to see this verse, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. In other words, God the father, he made all these things through his son. It says the sons, the one that did it all. All things were made by him. And without him was not anything made, that was made. And verse three, get this, this is a powerful verse, who referring to Christ, being the brightness of his glory, his perfection, God’s perfection.

The express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had, and you are to underline these two little words, when he had with my help, when he had by the church, no, He had by himself, by himself, it just purged our sin, sat down because the job was done. The job was completed, finished. When he died on the cross, he says, it is finished. Now, there’s nothing anybody else had to do for the payment of sin.

He paid for all of the sins of the world so that everybody in the world should have eternal life and go to heaven. And all that you have to do, all that I have to do, is believe that when Christ did it, He did it for me. And if I believe He did it for me, that payment is put to my account. By faith alone in Christ alone, you have the free gift of eternal life. Now take your Bible and turn there to the book of 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians and chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. Verse 21 says on page 12, 33, he says, for he, God hath made him Jesus Christ, who knew no sin. get to be sin for us, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God. All right, so Jesus Christ comes into the world and he’s perfect. I’m not. I have sin.

So God will not allow sin in heaven, but he will allow righteousness in heaven, Because that’s a perfect place. So Jesus Christ, this hand representing Christ, and this hand representing Me. I have sin, he has righteousness. So the Bible says that if I will believe that Christ paid for all of my sins, on the cross came back from the dead. The pavement is made. When I believe Christ did it for me, God gives to me His righteousness. Now if I have His righteousness, that makes me as righteous as God.

I go to heaven on what He did. He became sin for me. Now He didn’t sin. He became sin. He took every sin of every person in the whole work paid for sin on the cross. Once and for all. Never has to be done again. So whenever you and I believe that Christ did it for us, He gives us His righteousness. here’s the thing to remember in Romans chapter 3. Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God. So when He gives me His righteousness, what He’s really doing is giving me Himself.

I’m going to heaven because I am in His Son. I’m going to heaven because I am in Him. He is my righteousness. I don’t have righteousness. Now, while we’re right here, take your Bible and look there in the book of Philippians in chapter 3. The book of Philippians, real quick, is such an important verse that you need to see it. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 9, verse 9, you and I have sinned. God says, do not be found on the day of judgment, trusting in your righteousness to get you to heaven because God says you don’t have any righteousness.

There is none that doeth good, no not one, all have sinned and come short of God’s perfection. So no man can save himself. So the Bible says, Jesus Christ came…? into the world. He is perfect. He is righteous. God says to go to heaven, you have to be as perfect as righteous as Christ in order to live for all eternity. So give what he says in verse 9. And be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law and he’s trying to earn it, work for it.

But that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. So there is a by works righteousness and a by faith righteousness. By works you’re trying to earn it. God says don’t be found trusting in your works to get you to heaven. He says but trust in his righteousness, he will give you his righteousness be found in Him. Having His righteousness, that’s why we get to go to heaven. That’s why Christ came into the world.

Now look at number four. Number four, why He became the first fruits of them that slept. Turn in your Bible the first Corinthians in chapter 15. First Corinthians in chapter 15. This is the resurrection chapter in the Bible has an awful lot to say about the resurrection. And if you’ll notice here in 1 Corinthians, I want you to look there first of all, in verse 2.

Because he’s talking about how he declared unto him the gospel, the good news. So Christ came into the world. Where’s the good news in that? Christ died on the cross. Where’s the good news? He was buried. Well, where’s the good news? Well, he came back from the dead. Why is that good news for me? Did you know there’s a lot of people who believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and are not going to heaven? A lot of churches talk about it every week.

They talk about the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and haven’t got a clue where they’re going to go when they die. That’s because they haven’t heard. Why did he do it? Most people think, but he did that to help me to live better so I can get good enough to go there. He said, help give me the strength and the grace that I need to walk that straight and narrow way. And if I do it long enough, I’m going to make it someday.

Praise Jesus. is not why he can’t. He’s not a trailblazer. And they’re like Daniel Boom and Davy Crockett blazing their trail and now boy he’s going before me and I got a stack. No, for example. You’re right in the middle of the ocean. Can’t swim. Hey, oh, oh, oh. I come by my little motorboat and I say, what’s the problem? I’m drowning. I can’t swim. I said, look, it’s only 1500 miles to the coast of America. You just do the best you can and try hard, but you’ll make it.

Now, was I a savior? No, I wasn’t a savior. Well, what if I pull up alongside of them and I said, look, there’s a lesson on 10 easy lessons on how to swim. Just read those lessons and follow those and you’ll learn how to swim. Now, see what a good deed that was? But am I a savior? No. What if I come up alongside of him and I jump out of the boat and I say, now watch what I do.

And you do exactly like me and I do the dog paddle, the breath stroke and the back stroke and everything. I mean, I can give it all. And I give him his, you know, two minute lesson. Now you do just like me and head in that direction and you’ll make it. Now I might be a good example. That might be a good way, sure, and you know, trailblades, but that’s not a savior. Okay, well, what if I come up there in my little motorboat and I reach over there and I get him a pile of water, put him in the boat and take him 750 miles and kick him out and say, now you make the risk of the way by yourself.

Not a savior? No. I need to take him out of the water, take him all the way to the land. When I trusted Christ as my savior, I’m trusting Him to take me all the way to heaven. And He’s the only one that can get me there. I don’t help. I don’t do the dog paddle. I don’t do the breaststroke. I don’t retain any lesson on how to swim. I trusted Him as my Savior 50 years ago in a little old living room and it never has to be done again.

My going to heaven, totally 100% depends on Him. I’ve had people say, why don’t you pray for someone, so he’s almost saved. You’re either 100% saved or 100% lost. 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. Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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, 1-800-576-3771.

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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

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 CalvaryShar 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 1-800-576-3771. 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.

The Bible tells us that God has already judged the world. For 1500 years he had given to the nation of Israel his law, but he had also given the light of understanding, of conscience to the Gentiles, also where they could know that there is a God because of His creation, because of conscience being able to reason that if there is a world, there has to be a God. That is assumed. Even when we read in the very first words of the Bible, God does not explain God.

He just simply starts off with the very first verse in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It is assumed that the nations of the world, the people of the world, know there is a God. But instead of seeking God and letting even their conscience, which has a little bit of light, guide them To God, they refused that. So whether it was because of the word that was revealed to Israel, or the world that is revealed to the common mind, everyone has found themselves to be guilty before God.

Because God has judged the whole world. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Romans in chapter 3. And he makes a statement there in verse 9. Now Now we know that what things so ever the law sayeth, it’s safe to them who are under the law, y’all get this, that every mouth may be stopped. Because whatever God does, it must be right. And God must be just justified in the eyes of everybody that whatever God did, it was right.

So God has to always vindicate Himself and prove to the world that what God did was justified and God’s going to do that. This is the only main reason for the Grey White Throne Judgment so that every lost man will get a day in court and present his cause. And when it’s all over with, there won’t be anything for them to say and the Bible says and they will be cast into the lake of burning fire. Now get what he says here.

In the last part of this verse he says that every mouth may be stopped all the world. The word all if you don’t have it on the line you should. All the world may become guilty before God. So if you are found to be guilty it means that courts already been held. It’s already been held. has already declared this to be true. And so therefore this is a judicial decision as a judge would make in a courtroom. Thou art found guilty.

And if you had a jury trial and how does the jury find the defendant guilty innocent, every man is a liar. Look in verse 4 of Romans in chapter 3. God forbid you let God be true. Every man a liar. Everybody’s a liar. I know we don’t like to admit that we ever told a lie, but we have. And God says every man is a liar in a thousand ways. But God says in this verse all the world may become guilty before God.

Now look in verse 20. Therefore… If the sentence has already been rendered, then there’s nothing that the defendant can do to justify himself, cause courts over. Courts over. It’s in the words, it’s like a judge saying that you are guilty and you’re just waiting for that. Nothing that you do now is going to change the judge’s mind. It’s final. Now the day we have the court of appeals and this appeal matter appeal and so forth and they said on death for over 20 years You think God’s like that?

God’s not like that God makes a decision and he has said the whole world is guilty and because the whole world is guilty Therefore there’s nothing that you can do to deliver yourself from that verdict Now, this is why God sent his son Look in verse 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight Because there’s nothing that you can do the verdict is over. It’s your guilty and you got to pay And he says for by the law is the knowledge of the sin that is how we know that we are a sin Now these are simple verses that we’ve covered many many times now take your Bible and turn it there to the book of John chapter 3 John and chapter 3 The Gospel of John is a book that’s very simple, very good, easy for anybody to understand.

It’s one that I guess more people of trusted Christ is Savior from than any other book in the Bible. I always recommend the Gospel of John to a person who has just trusted Christ. I say read it and then we get through, read it again, and then we get to read it again. If you don’t get to any other books in the Bible, just read the Gospel of John. because Gospel of John is so easy and simple for a person to understand.

So many great truths. Now look at John 3 16, a verse you’re very familiar with, but look at it. He says, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever it be, leave it then Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now you said, well everybody’s heard that verse. There are people who’ve never heard the verse. The first time I heard the verse, I was 18 years old. Now think about that. You think everybody’s heard that.

I was 18 for I ever heard that verse. Get what he says in verse 17. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world. Why? The world was already condemned. So Christ didn’t come down here to prove to everybody about all this bad wickedness that everybody’s doing. He came to save the world. I believe very strongly that as a person that is sent into the world, like it says God sent his son, well the Bible also says he sent us into the world.

Well if God didn’t send his son into the world to condemn the world, then why should I go into the world to condemn the world? The homosexual is going to hell not because he’s a homosexual. the man that drank, he’s going to help not because he drank him. All those are the results of him being a sinner. That’s not an issue to me. We’re supposed to love the person, not their sin, and they don’t have to stop their sin in order for us to love them more or even for God to love them more.

That’s a love the world. And he came saying it’s not to condemn the world because they’re already condemned. But we can let them know that they are condemned. Because they have not believed Not because of the things they’re doing because then whenever you point out all the sins that they’re now doing We’re giving the impression you got to stop before God will save you and I disagree with that Though I want people to live good and righteous and so forth, but that’s not the point when you’re talking about salvation Look there in verse 17 When he says for God sent out his son into the world to condemn the world But that the world through him might be what might be safe.

So he came to save. Not to condemn, but to save. It’s not good to always try to point out all the wickedness that people are doing. Most of the, all you got to do is put your center and everybody. I think most people, they know that. I’ve only met a couple of people in my whole life that thought they were perfect.

And this guy, he says, he says, if you ever met anybody that’s perfect or heard about anybody being perfect, he says, oh, yeah. He says, my wife’s ex-husband. Look at verse 18. Verse 18 says, he that believeth on him is what? Not condemned, but get this. But he that believeth not is condemned when? He is already condemned. So he’s not going to hell because of any particular sin that he’s doing. Those, all those things that he does is because he is a sinner.

That’s what he is. That’s just the fruit on the tree. We don’t have to get him to pick the fruit off the tree before God will save him. No. But get what he says. He is condemned already because he have not, what, he have not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. This is, this is why. a man’s condition because he hasn’t believed not because of all the bad things are doing Hitler didn’t go to hell because he killed six million Jews or however many millions he killed that’s not why what the hell if he went to hell because he didn’t believe on Christ didn’t trust Christ saw them who sang if he was the trust Christ’s savior where would he go they go to heaven and nothing else matters I mean for the world yes I mean that’s terrible what happened and

And those some have been lost. I mean, but if they trust Christ, they’re safe. They’ll go to heaven when they die Despite everything they’ve ever done. It’s hard sometimes for us to believe it, but that’s that’s grace That’s because God loves them Remember you and I don’t looking things exactly the way God does God loves the people we despise and we hate I Hope there’s nobody like that in your life But he makes a statement verse 19 and get it and this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world because men love God.

So God has given us the light so that people could see there’s a God that loves you. And I told the man I said I would rather let him know God loves you. And instead of trying to condemn everybody because of all the bad things that they do, maybe they have done a lot of bad things. And I went down one day to the ball game they were having down there and they had all these tailgate parties. And I had never been to one.

And I saw, I mean, but you know, for the most part, yeah, there were some people down there drinking. That was a little fan of mine. You know, but for the most part, people were just having a good time. Those are having fun. They were eating same food that I eat. And some of them were even drinking some of the same stuff that I drink. But to put a blanket, they’re all bad. No, they’re not. There’s a lot of good people doing a lot of good things.

And there’s a few people that will do some things that are not good. We, I believe, have a tremendous message that people could only hear it and understand and let them know about the love of God. And to me, this is what Christmas is about. Now, take your Bible and turn to John chapter five and verse 24. John chapter five and verse 24. See, you were condemned already. say judicial decree from the judge, God. After you trust Christ as your Savior of the same God that says once you are guilty, you’re condemned, but you trust Christ, you’re saved from the condemnation and then this same God has already decreed you can never be condemned again.

In other words you can’t be tried for the same crime twice. I was judged because I was a sinner. I can never be judged for that again. We even have laws in our country that says the very same thing. And this is why he says here in verse 24, verily, verily I say unto you, hear that, heareth my word, believeth on him, that sent me half right now, present, tenth, everlasting life, and shall not come into to condemnation. You can’t be condemned in the future because that would be double jeopardy.

You can’t do that. It is God that says it but is past from death in the life. God has already given you eternal life. He can’t condemn you. This is why it’s such a wonderful thing to know that you have eternal life and to know that you’re going to heaven when you die and understand why. I know sometimes people say well all you know is John 3 16. Well if that’s all that I new and the seven steps in the hand gesture.

That’s a tremendous message and that’s a lot to know and there’s like I don’t think I’d ever run out of people to talk to. But it’s understanding all these other things in the Bible that make you strong enough to keep doing that and keeping it simple and clear because you really believe it. But as you notice from this verse 24, shall not in the future ever be condemned again. You will never come into condemnation. That is And right along with you can know you have eternal life, half ever, you have this.

You can’t be condemned. You can’t go to hell in the future. Take your Bible, look at 2 Corinthians in chapter 5. 2 Corinthians in chapter 5. And this verse is a tremendous truth. Great truth. I never really understood this verse until I heard Dr. Stanford speak on it about a thousand times. I mean, he was always hitting this verse. I’ve read the verse, but I didn’t get out of it what he got out of it until I listened to him.

And then he had to say it over and over again for me. I see what he’s saying. Look at verse 21, where he had made him to be sin for us. He knew no sin. Christ, you know Sam, that we might be made the righteousness of God. Now let me ask you a question concerning Christ. Can Christ go to heaven? Why?

That’s why Christ is going to heaven. He’s perfect. What if you were in Christ? If He goes you go because you’re in Him. If Leon is driving his little red pickup truck down the highway going to Culver If Mrs. Campbell gets in the truck wherever Leon goes She’s going why she’s in the trunk When you are in Christ You get to go where he goes Because that’s where he is you’re in him now This is a simple illustration. I’ve given it before but I want to show you something This is me see there got Yankee on it.

That’s how you know it’s me and this This is Christ So whenever you trusted Christ as your Savior God Put you where in him and The Holy Spirit sealed you in in Christ. And then the Bible says that Christ is in God. So now, where am I? God the Father can see the Son. And whenever He looks for me and He finds me, He finds me in Christ. And Christ is in the Father. and I am sealed in Him.

This is a positional truth. This is what happens when you trusted Christ as your Savior. He says that you are in Him. Now get the last part of the verse. Be made the righteousness of God those two words. very important in him. So me going to heaven is me being in Christ. So Christ says salvation is Yankee needs to be into my life. We have people today that are saying that if you want to go to heaven you have to have Christ in your life.

You need Christ in your life, Christ in your life. And I’ve asked Christ to come into my life for salvation. No is is that Christ wants you in his life and Then you get to go and enjoy his life where he is That’s the different story that salvation Now whenever we’re talking about Serving the Lord God left us in this world in this world. I I live in this body. So Christ wants to be where? In me Christ in me.

In this life I am supposed to live. Christ wants to live his life through my life. That’s service. Salvation is that Christ wants me in his life. That’s a position of truth that cannot change. But Christ living his life through you down here in this world can change moment by moment. Because you see, it’s not that he is any less, it’s that I am not letting him live his life through me in this life. So as a Christian do I want Christ in my life?

Yes, but I want Christ to live his life through me. When I get to heaven, I will be in his life, not eternal life. When you trust in Christ your Savior, you are placed in Him. And He says He’ll never cast you out, never lose you. You are in the Son, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and the Son is in Christ. How can you ever get out of here? You can’t. You’re sealed. You’re ready to be delivered. you’re going to heaven when you die.

Now that’s the good news. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Philippians in chapter 3, the book of Philippians and chapter 3. I am in Christ to live there. Christ is in me to live here and some people get it mixed up and they think that I just got to get Christ in my life to go to heaven. No. Because here you’re talking about Christ helping you live your life or you’re living your life for certain things for Christ and that that’s not salvation.

So you have a lot of Christians, people I should say go in the church, live in good lives, doing things for Christ and so forth and never trust Christ to take them to heaven. Because salvation is Christ allowing you to enter and to him his life. And that’s how you get eternal life. Now here in Philippians in chapter three, look what he says in verse nine. And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which is of God, by faith.

And be found where? in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. How did you get there? By faith alone, believing that what Christ did was for you. You here can never be condemned. That’s your position in Christ. You’re safe and it can never be changed. Never be altered. can never undo this. Over here, Christ in your life may have control of you at one time and not another because it depends upon you yielding to the one who lives on the inside of you.

This is why we often say, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Satan in the world, Christ is in you, greater is He that is in you. So if you let the Lord, who lives within you, have the right to live through you because you yield to Him, you have the power to defeat the one that’s in the world that’s greater than you. And you can have power over the temptations of the flesh, the trials and tribulations, and anything the world has to throw at you because Christ is in your life in this world here, now you can have victory.

But many of God’s people have no victory in their Christian life, but they can. Now get what he says in verse 9, be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. So God will give you his righteousness. Jesus Christ can go to heaven because he’s perfect. All right. If you’re placed in Him, then you’re in Christ and He’ll never cast you out and never lose you.

And you get to go because of what Christ did for you. See, this is a message that none of them never heard this. That man and his family they left. And so this young black couple, they got up to leave. And when they got up I says, and she was laughing about something. And I said, I don’t know what you’re laughing about it but it must be good and she slowly is. I said I got something good for you too.

I said you know that little thing I gave you that little piece of paper? I said let me, I said you got two minutes don’t you? I said yeah. I said sit sit out. They came and they sit down at my table and so when they said down I said come on let me show you something. Let me show you how you can know that you’re going to heaven. I said can I ask you? I said do you know that you’re going I’m going to heaven.

I said, what about you? He said, yeah, me too. Oh, this is great. They’re all Christians. I said, is there anything that you could do that could keep you from going to heaven? She said, well, yeah, that’s why you got to go to church and do the best you can. Were they really trusting Christ? No. They had the right words to start with, but they weren’t trusting in the way they lived. And she said that this is why we have to go to church.

And she says, and that’s why she said, and I pray and I try to do right. I said, well, what if you don’t? Well, then you don’t get to go. I said, let me talk to you. So I pulled out my wallet and I went through the hand gesture and I explained the gospel how they can know they have eternal life by trusting Christ’s Savior. And I says do you understand what I’m saying? She said yes, I do Look at what she said and I told him all about Robert coming to our church.

I invited them to come I said he needs somebody to come in here Set with him and says I said I’d love to have you come and I said this guy is one of the biggest dudes You’ve ever seen your life. I said he lifts weight. He’s big and solid kind of bill like myself Anyway, I enjoyed talking to them and I I said, where are you right now? Will you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior? And I said, yes, I will.

Now I looked at the guy and I said, what about three? He says, I won’t do it. I said, if you trust Christ right now, what would you have eternal life? Now listen, it’s right of everything else you think about. And even with all the stores and you can buy all kind of stuff and people will, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But the greatest gift you can give to anybody is the explanation of how to have the gift of eternal life.

And one of his shame for year after year after year to go by, and there’s nobody that you’ve ever talked to, find a victim. I sat down deliberately and asked the Lord, though let me talk to somebody. Then I had to take advantage of an opportunity. And sometimes it works. Sometimes it don’t. But at least you try. I’m sure that if you really try, You can find one person just, they didn’t know I was a preacher. I didn’t tell him I was a preacher till afterwards, but you can do it because it’s just the good message.

It’s a good news. It’s the greatest story in all the world. Go for it. Try it. You’ll like it. And to see something that would be tremendous. But anyway, keep it in mind. Salvation is not me having Christ in my life, but Christ having me in his life. Service is me having Christ in my life here. So I am in Christ to live there and Christ is in me to live here. Doesn’t that make sense? I thought of that last night sitting downstairs.

All of us admit that makes sense to me and I wrote that down and I knew you’d like that. Didn’t you like that? Because it does, so it makes sense. I’m always trying to find out a simpler way to say something because anybody can be hard and complicated. I want people to understand what I’m saying, and I want to be cleared simple, and I hope that makes sense to you. With headbound eyes closed and no one looking around, ask the Lord that in the next couple weeks, you will take the time, somehow, some way, and find someone to talk to, not just give them a track, let it be a door that you open up, but talk to somebody.

Nobody even has to know it. Find one person, come by themselves, talk to a little kid, But anybody somewhere, and it’s the greatest thing that you’ll ever do. Father, we ask Your blessings upon us. We thank You for all You’ve done for us. We thank You for these people, our church, and Father, ask Your blessings upon each and everyone. In Christ’s 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 tool free 1-800-576-3771. 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. Friends, 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, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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. you on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

Here we are in 2000 years since Christ. Everybody’s got all the evidence they need, the verify that Jesus Christ lived upon this earth. And look at the effects of this one man after all these years. He was divine. And the devil has lied to so many people for all these years trying to get people not to believe him. And then for those that do trust Christ as Savior, look how many lives the devil is ruining because God’s children won’t trust their heavenly Father.

It’s enough to make you weep. But you know, here in verse 6, it’s like the devil says, look, you look to me and you trust me, I’ll feed you, I’ll satisfy that hunger desire. You look to me and I’ll take care and I’ll protect you. I’ll protect you. And so did you know that a lot of the problems that nation of Israel had is because they look to Egypt or to Syria? They look to other people for help instead of looking and trusting the Lord?

And that’s why the Lord says the eyes of the Lord, the Lord to infrow throughout the old or whole or looking for a person whose heart is right between Him so that God could be strong on His behalf. God’s just looking for somebody to trust Him. See, God wants to lead you. God wants to provide. God wants to feed. God wants to protect. God wants to do these things for us, and then we do everything but look to Him and trust Him.

You see, if the devil did that to Christ, that’s why the devil does that to us. Look what else he says here. You see there in verse 8. Again the devil taken him up into exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. You see Satan will do whatever he has to offer you the world if you only serve him. And God can make the other side of the, you know, the fence looks so green.

And you say, I’m on this side and I’m serving the Lord and things like I’ve never had so many problems in my life until I started serving the Lord. I know in the other side, look so green. But if I just did what the world wanted me to do, I could have this and that and the other boy. Look what I could have had. Look what I could have been. I could have been somebody. I could have been a contender.

And so people just wander from the Lord because there’s a devil and he he lures. He lures because he lies. He DC’s and we can look to the Lord and we can trust the Lord because God knows what He’s doing. Look in Matthew 8, Matthew and chapter 8. And look at verse 28, Matthew chapter 8 verse 28 real quick. And when He was come to the other side and to the country of the Gurgaon, he says they’re met him to possess with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce so that no man might pass by that way.

And behold, they cried out saying, What have we to do with the Jesus, thou son of God? See, even the demons knew who he was, or thou come hither to torment us before the time. So they knew they were going to be tormented, and they knew that there was the time and they know the time is not yet. You think the devil knows more than you give him credit for? I think the devil probably knows a lot about the Bible.

Remember he knew those versions, he could quote them to Christ. And some people are so impressed because some lost preacher out there, he can quote the Bible. The devil can quote it too. But you’ll notice as you go down through here. And it says in verse 30, and there was a good way off from them, a herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him saying, if thou cast us out, permit us, allow us to go away into the herd of swine.

And he said unto them, go. they were come out, they went into the herd of swine, and this is where devils came from. And behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea and perished in the water, and they that kept them fled, went their ways into the city, told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And behold, the whole city came out to to meet Jesus because they were so impressed.

Do you believe the devil is going to do whatever he can to keep people from hearing and believing that Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God? See the demons knew that. Jesus wanted the people to know that. But you see, the demons went into the swine. The swine went over the cliff and fell into the water and the old round. The people that owned them ran into the city and told them what happened. The whole city comes out there and they say, we don’t want you in our country.

We don’t want you. You’ll see somebody done told them some tales. They were more interested in those swine than their own souls. Then listen to what Jesus tries to say. You see, not everybody is going to love you. Christ had been rejected, lies told on Him, all kind of deception that goes on. There isn’t anything that you and I have faced that Jesus Christ, He doesn’t know about it. In all points, without sin, attempted as we are. So it’s all in the book.

Look in John 13, the gospel of John, and in chapter 13, this is the last Passover. As you read through the gospel of John, you’ll notice it says, his hour has not yet come. His hour has not yet come. His hour is not yet come. And then lo and behold, it says, hey, his hour has come. On verse one, now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world under the Father.

Having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. supper being ended the devil, having now put into the heart of Judas’ carrier, Simon’s son, to betray him. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, and that he was come from God and went to God. See, Jesus knew what was going on. Jesus is the one who told Judas is what so ever thou do us do quickly. But do you believe that the devil knew what was going on?

And the devil is going to try to turn people away from him and was going to use Judas as an individual, give him money in which he would betray the Son of God for the purpose of killing him, for the purpose of having him killed, the devil. You know that God is able to take even the works of the devil and use it for his own and glory to accomplish his purpose. That’s why you and I or suppose just read the Bible, believe it, and we’ll have an idea what’s going on in our own lives.

You see, when you don’t believe the Bible, you cannot understand your life. But when you begin to read it and grasp some of these things that God talks about and how God works, the limitations of the devil, but what He does, what His goal is, and you’ll find out that the devil was doing everything possible to devour the Son of God. But what wrong had He done anything wrong? Now, take a Bible-looking book of Luke, chapter 22. Luke, chapter 22.

Luke 22 in verse 31. Verse 31, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan is going to leave us all alone now. He’s tired of messing with us. So we got to pre-sailing from here on in. No, Jesus is still having problems because of the devil. See, if the devil can’t get the Lord, he’s going to go after his disciples. If the devil can’t get you, he’s going to try to go through your wife. He can’t get your wife.

He’s going to try to go through the kids. Can’t get the kids go through your boss. Whatever it takes, he doesn’t stop all the days of your life. Don’t think, well, he, all the devil was after me 20 years ago. He still is. But look what he says here in verse 32, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fell not and when thou art converted. See, I believe a lost man gets saved. And then after you’re saved, I believe that you can have your life converted or changed.

Anyway, that’s another story. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. So did the devil, is he still at it? Still after? Yes, he is. Still trying to do the damage. You see, Peter was in the jaws of the devil. Judas was in the jaws of the devil. And he’s a lion seeking whom he may devour, and he’s just about taking down, I know some Christians right now that are in the jaws of the devil, and they’re fixing to be devoured.

They’re at the point where they’re ready just to give up, I don’t care anymore. And they cease to fight. You see, how did you get trapped by that old lion a devil. Believe in a lie. How do you get free from the lion? Believe the truth. He says, know the truth and the truth will set you free. But if you don’t believe the truth, you’ll believe the lie and to believe a lie is to be in the jaws of the devil.

Some Christians never figure this out. So how do I get out of the jaws of the devil? Believe the truth. You just start taking everything that you know that is right, that is truthful and believe truth and acting and thinking and talking the truth, believe truth. And truth will set you free from all the lies, the deception, the deceit, the despair, the anguish, all the things of discouragement, the depression that we’ve talked about before. It’s all because of your attitude toward the Lord.

So have you been in the jaws of the lion lately? And it seemed like he’s just about gotcha. And then by the grace of God, you believe what God says and you hung on to his word. This is why it’s so important for a Christian to learn words or verses in the scriptures that you can hang on to, that you believe. You don’t know how God’s going to do it, but you just believe it and you keep believing and you just stay right and keep doing right Because you know God is going to walk you through this.

Take your Bible and turn very quickly to the book of Isaiah, chapter 11. The book of Isaiah and chapter 11. Is it where in the world are we going now? Well, see, it’s referred to in the book of Matthew about Jesus Christ have been a branch because he’s the tender branch that grows up, the root out of the dry ground. And in chapter 11 in verse 1 is a reference kind of like toward that. And just a couple verses before we quit here tonight, but look in verse 1.

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. And a root or a branch shall grow out of his roots. This is a reference to Jesus Christ coming from the line of Jesse. You see, Jesse was the father of David, and this is where it comes from. Verse two is an understanding about the character of the one that’s going to be born, and it’s a reference to Jesus Christ. So this is talking about the Lord down through here.

Now, take your Bible look in the book of Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53, you’ve probably never seen this before. And look there in Isaiah 53 verse 1, who hath believed our report and the home is the arm of the Lord revealed. The arm of the Lord is Christ, the right hand, the power of God, and He’s going to be revealed. And he says, who in the world is going to believe this? This is written 700 years before Christ ever came.

And in verse 2, for he shall grow up before him as a, and you ought to underline these little words, tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground. This is talking about Jesus Christ being born into the world, coming into this world. He is divine. He not just your average, every-go type of individual. This is the Lord Himself. Take your Bible, look over there in the book of Romans in chapter 1. The book of Romans in chapter 1.

Page 1191. See, on Wednesday night, it’s Bible study. We study the Bible. So you need to have a Bible, mark your Bible, Learn these scriptures in book of Romans chapter 1, look in verse 3. He’s talking about as the Apostle Paul when he goes to Rome he says, God has given to me a wonderful message and separated me unto this message, the gospel of God in verse 1. He said in verse 3, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord which was made get this of the seed of David according to the flesh.

So Jesus Christ coming into to the world is to be the seed of David. So he comes from David according to the flesh. Get this verse four, and declare to be the son of God. He is according to the flesh from the seed of David declared to be the son of God with power, according to the spirit of holy men by the resurrection from the dead. So Jesus Christ is to come from the line of David, of the seed of David, according to the flesh, because he had a physical body, a body has to have prepared me.

And yet he’s also called the Son of God. Now that does get interesting. Now take a Bible and look in the book of Matthew in chapter 22. Matthew and chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22, and look at verse 41, verse 41. I love this little portion of the scripture, this little quiz is a pop quiz. Because everybody had tried to find some way of trapping Jesus and they tried to ask him some trick questions as though you could ask him a question he couldn’t answer.

So in verse 41, while the Pharisees were gathered together. Jesus says, Hey, I got a question for you. He says in verse 42, saying, What think ye of Christ the Messiah? Whose son is he? Isn’t that a good question? It’s him. But he said, Whose son is the Messiah? They said unto him the son of David. He said unto them, how then the David in spirit call him Lord? How can David, if he came from David, how can David call him Lord?

Isn’t that a good question? And that’s not all of it. Look at the rest of the verse, verse 44. The Lord, Eloharity, the Lord Jehovah, said unto my Lord. This this is what David said, the Lord said unto my Lord, the one that came from him, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstoom. If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? That’s a man that’s awesome. And Jesus is giving this little pop quiz.

That’s a good question. Hey dig this Messiah guy that’s supposed to come. Oh, who son is he? David. Well, how can David call him Lord if he’s his son? And how can David say the Lord has said unto my Lord? The one that came from me, the Lord? I love there has to be a sense of humor here in verse 40 and no man was able to answer him a word neither dirt any man from that day forth ask him any more questions I wouldn’t have either look in Matthew 15 Matthew in chapter 15 Now, we talked about him being a tender plant.

Growing up as a root out of a dry ground, he came from Jesse, when he called about the rod of Jesse, something comes from Jesse, David, and yet the root of tender plant. And God’s Word says, every plant, every tree, that God Didn’t plant he’s gonna cut down see there in verse 13 But he answered and said every plant which my heavenly father have not planted shall be rooted up Every plant that my father have not planted Shall be rooted up What does that mean?

Take your Bible looking Matthew And you’ll see a little connection. Look in chapter 3 of the book of Matthew. When John the Baptist was baptizing the river Jordan, and it says in verse 7, when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, O generation of vipers who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come. for their forefoot, meet for repentance. Think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our Father.

For I send you that God is able of these stones to raise up children and Abraham. And now also get this, the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore every tree, which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewed down and cast into the fire, every tree. And the Bible says every tree that God did not plant, he is going to root it out. And here he’s talking about every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit. You’re going to chop it down.

Well, that’s interesting. Take your Bible and look there in the book of Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. And you’ll notice in in Matthew chapter 7, in verse 15, there’s a scripture about false prophets. False prophets have a false message. And people who believe a false message go to the wrong place. Isn’t that simple? You understand that. So he says here in verse 6, you shall know them by their fruits by the things that they say, because a false prophet has a false message.

So what did he say? the fruit of their mouth. Look what he says in verse 7, even though every good tree, bringeth forth good fruit and a corrupt tree, bringeth forth evil fruit. Good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Understand what he’s saying. If a tree is a good tree, it can’t bring forth bad fruit. If it’s a bad tree, it can’t bring forth good fruit, impossible. So what kind of a tree are you?

If you have one sin, and this is a reference to all the people on the earth, all have sinned and because we’ve all sinned, we’re all going to die. We’re all going to be cut out. We all die because we all have sin. So God came looking for righteousness. And He says, my righteous branch. There is a righteous branch. And that was at one little branch that came up, that root out of the dry ground. He was righteous and He was the only one that God the Father had planted.

And it had no sin and it didn’t have to die. So Jesus Christ is the righteous branch, the righteous tree, and He brings forth the good fruit on the tree. Jesus is the only good tree. All the rest of us are bad trees because we’ve got bad fruit. And so it’s not the fruit problem, it’s the root problem. And that’s why when you and I accept Christ as our Savior. We are born from the seed of the Word. That came from the righteous tree.

My new birth came from the good tree. And therefore I have a new birth and my new birth does not sin. And it cause it cannot sin. It cannot die. The one that you see that commits all these sins is that bad tree that came from a bad root, from a bad seed. And that’s… my old sinful nature. And one of these days, this bad tree is going to die, but that which came from the new will never die.

This is why Christ came into the world to pay for all the sins so that you and I could be born again, a new birth. And God says, once we believe, trust Him as our Savior, He gives us as a free gift of everlasting life. And we get to go to heaven on what Christ did for us. Look up here just quickly. This is you and me, and this is sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us.

H.R.C.N. but He loves us. But you see, because we’re born in this old world with an old sinful nature, we’re all bad trees because we’ve got bad fruit, because we’ve got a bad root. And because we’ve all sinned, the weight of the sin is death, so we all have to die. All the trees that God didn’t plan are going to be cut down, so we’re all going to die. And God says to go to heaven, you have to be perfect as righteous as God, and we’re not.

So no man can save himself. This then represents Jesus Christ. He came into the world, the only begotten of the Father. He had no sin, a tender plant, and it grew up as a green tree. No sin, didn’t have to die. Righteousness, the righteous branch. So Jesus cries who had no sin didn’t have to die. He took the sins of the world upon himself and died for us. Came back again from the dead and said that if we would believe that what what he did was for us and believe in the Word.

He is the Word. Then God would give to us as a free gift to everlasting life. We have a new birth from a new seed. And therein we’re able to form the righteousness that God wants. Now you may not, but you can. And when we get to heaven, God’s going to reward us for what we’ve done for Him. hope all of this makes sense. Can you know? Can you follow what I’m saying? Very good. Let’s pray, shall we? Our Father, we thank You so much for all You’ve done for us.

We’re thankful that even at this time of year we can think about who Christ is and what He’s done. And we just pray, Lord, Your will, to be done in the lives of each person. Well, it’s so much we want to do for You. And I know that you love us and you want us to do right. More than our desire to want to do it. We want to please you in everything that we do. And follow we just commit ourselves to you.

This church belongs to you. We’re just your people. We just want your blessings. In 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 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bibleline 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 broadcasts of our services may be seen by clicking on the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.org.

Thank you for joining us on Bible Eye 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, and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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.

Thank you, Bible. Turn to the book. Revelation, the book of Revelation. You said, oh good, we’re going to talk about the book of Revelation. No, you don’t like the book of Revelation, do you? I figured you did. But the title of my message tonight, you know, I’m always having fun trying to figure out a title. What did I speak on? This This is called the devil and the divine, the devil and the divine. As you know, last few services I’ve talked about the story of Christmas.

We talked about Mary and then we talked the story about John the badness. And tonight we talked about the story of Joseph. And so tonight we’re still talking about the Christmas story. You know who else was also there when Jesus was born? The devil. In case you didn’t know that the devil was there when Jesus was born. And did you know the devil has to work through people just like God works through people? The devil also works through people.

And so the devil, he always has to get you to believe a lie. And the Lord can’t lie. So he can only tell you the truth. So who do you think should be the most powerful, the one that tells you the lie or the one that tells you the truth? Don’t answer that. And as you and I live our life, there is the truth and there is the lie. Do you realize how easy it is to tell a lie?

don’t even have to work at it sometimes. It’s so easy. But trying to be honest and tell the truth, regardless of the consequences, sometimes it gets a little on the rough side. But this is a little bit about what we’re going to talk about. But in the book of Revelation in chapter 12, look there in verse 1, Revelation chapter 12 verse 1, and there appeared a great wonder in heaven, A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”

Now many believe that this is talking about the nation of Israel and the twelve tribes. And I believe that also. In verse 2, and she been with child cried, Trevalen in birth and pain to be delivered. I guess sometimes when you think about a woman having a child, I’ve heard of the call of, you know, they have a dry birth. In other words, the water-sacked bus and then it’s got to be a driver and it’s excruciating pain. I would have no clue.

That’s only what I heard. But do you know in the Old Testament from the time that Israel became a nation, as the years go by, you’ll notice that it seems like Israel was down in Egypt. know in a certain period of time until the law came like you know a child born in Israel has got to go to about 13 years and they’ve always known the law and then call a bar of misfund and they’re responsible for themselves and so on.

And it seemed like okay now they’re supposed to accept that responsibility and as you go on through time it’s just like a a person laid out in the length of time. But when Jesus Christ came, there was no word from the Lord. Four hundred years of silence. And then all of a sudden Jesus came on the scene. Israel was under persecution. It was a bad time. But look what he says here in verse three, talking about the devil, Satan.

There appeared another wonder in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads. Now you and I know who this red dragon is. And if you’ve got a question about who it is, well, just look down here and you’ll see it in verse nine. See in verse nine. And the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceived with the whole world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him.

So in verse nine, let you know that all those names is talking about the same one. Now Jesus has got a lot of names, but it’s all talking about the same one. But notice up there in verse 4, look in verse 4, and his tale drew the third part of the stars of heaven, which we believe are angels, and did cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman, which is Israel, and we know that the dragon is the devil, which was ready to be delivered, and then you are on the line this part, because this is part of the Christmas story, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

So the devil desired to devour the divine when it was born. But I wrote down a little statement and I’ll read it to you. Satan wanted to devour Christ all his life. You see, it’s not just that the devil wanted to get him when he was born. He stayed after him all his life. Did Jesus have any problem with the devil later on in life? Yeah. Take a Bible and look in Matthew in chapter Matthew and chapter 2. We looked at a part of this the other night when we talked about Joseph and the dreamer.

But in Matthew chapter 2, if you look there in verse 13, the devil uses people to accomplish his will. This is why sometimes when you can’t explain it, it seems like all of a sudden people turn. They change and can be sweet one moment and ugly the next. Yes, sometimes it’s because we have our own sinful nature, but sometimes there is a devil that you cannot see behind the scenes and he uses people. Look at verse 13, and when they were departed, talking about the wise men that came to see Christ, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, say, and arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring the word.

For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” Now we read over there in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, that the devil sought to devour Christ from the day he was born. And now he sees that Herod is doing his dead level best and he wants to kill all the children. But what was he doing? You see he was stabbing at one baby trying to hit the one baby. Look what he says in verse 14, when he arose he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt.

And was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets saying out of Egypt, shall I have I call my son? Then Herod when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men was exceeding wrath and sin for slew all the children that were in Bethlehem. I had someone ask me just today at the Tampa Bible study. So why did God let a little three-year-old girl that I know about die of cancer, a three-year-old girl die of cancer?

You know, those are tough things to understand, let alone accept. And so then I told them about the little girl that we saw at the hospital that has leukemia. I said, sir, did you know that when Jesus was born, there was a lot of little babies two years old and under. And And it says that there was weeping because their children had been killed. What wrong had those children done? None. What wrong had their parents done? None. But you see, everyone is going to die.

Some will die from cancer, some may be from leukemia. Some will die because they got too old. And you’re going to have cancer or high blood pressure, cholesterol, strokes. You name it, it doesn’t really matter. But sometimes I believe God knows what’s ahead for the people before they ever live their lives. And God in His wisdom may allow them to die early than to live long and suffer longer. I don’t know. I’m not God, but I do know this.

I know that God cannot make a mistake. I know that God cannot do wrong. So therefore, I do not question why God does what He does. I don’t want to be so foolish as to think. I understand more and therefore I can set in judgment upon the Almighty. God forbid. But there’s a lot of people that do and they get mad and bitter at God as though God did something wrong. And you as a Christian must be very careful that you don’t believe or think for a moment that God has done something wrong.

And you want to take it out on God and not be faithful or not trust Him or not talk to Him and not walk as close as you are to as though God failed you. God doesn’t fail. God doesn’t sin. God doesn’t do anything wrong. And so if God allowed all these little children to die, then God has a higher purpose. See, God was protecting one little baby, but that one little baby wasn’t just a normal individual. This was a unique baby.

This baby that God spared and let live lived to die for the sins of the world. So you and I need to understand that and believe that. Look in Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. You don’t find a lot about the childhood of Jesus. Oh, there’s a few books that have been out. No, the lost books of the Bible and things like that. You’ll be better, you just stick with the Bible. But notice here in chapter 4 verse 1, has the devil left Jesus alone?

Has he left him alone? No, here he comes again. And he says in verse 1, then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterwards hungry. Now, Now, to be tempted of the devil, remember, the devil is seeking whom he may devour, and he wants to devour me, you, even the Son of God. So the devil is always looking for a weakness, a weakness in your life.

That’s the reason you study the Word of God so you can be strong in your defense, so that you can protect yourself from the devil. The devil knows what areas of our lives we are weak. Do you think the devil knew that Jesus had an eight for a long time? And the devil knew that he was hungry? And the devil knew, hey, all I gotta do is this, you know, uses as an opportunity.

So I want you to understand, so that you know when the devil tempts you and you wanna do the will of God, The devil says, I can feed you. I can feed you. You just do whatever I tell you to do. You see, if you are who you claim to be, the son of God, all you gotta do is just command those stones and they’ll be turned into bread. Aren’t you hungry? Aren’t you hungry? You see, the devil knows that you and I have desire.

Did Jesus have a desire for food? He says he was hungry, I mean he was hungry. He wanted to eat something. The devil also knows you and I and knows us very well. Now he was talking about the Son of God, who didn’t even have a sinful nature. But you and I, we do have one. So if the Bible says this, the devil walks to and fro throughout the earth, seeking whom he may devour. I was going to preach a sermon one time called out of the jaws of the lion.

You know, really build it up how that I have been in the jaws of the lion where the lion had me in his jaws was ready to chop down on me, ready to kill me, eat me up devour me. And by the grace of God, he comes down and he delivered me from the snare of that devil. Don’t you think that would be a pretty good sermon? Do you know what he’s trying to do with Jesus? He’s trying to get him in the jaws of the lion.

He wants to devour him. He wants to get Jesus to make a mistake and to hit him when he’s weak. Because if he can get him while he’s weak and get him to sin, he can’t be the payment for our sins and there would be no one else. All the devil has to do is get him to commit one single sin. And then we won’t have a savior. There’s be no body that could down that cross and pay for our sin.

For God so loved the world that He gave us what? Only begotten Son. There was no body else that could do it. So Satan has a plan. Did you know that Satan has a plan for your life? Yes, God has a plan for our life, but so does the devil. And the devil wants to devour you so that you and I cannot do anything effective for the Lord. So he makes a statement here. And verse three, and when the tempter came to him, and I know it says for and when, it doesn’t say if, it’s when.

The devil will come, not if he does, but when he does. The devil is after you and he’s after me. He walketh about seeking whom he may devour and he’s waiting for you to be weak in certain areas of your life. And that’s why you have to guard every area of your life all the days of your life you have to be on guard. And you can’t let down. Now, I want you to see this in verse three when it says, the tempter came to him.

So the devil is after you and he’s coming to see you. And he’s going to use whatever it takes to tempt or to lure you. But notice what also he says in verse 11, then the devil, and you ought to underline that word, then the devil leave with him. And behold, angels came and ministered unto him. So the devil will come and the devil will go.

And you think, well, he’ll never bother me again. Oh, he’ll be back. He’ll be back. You can count on it. He will be back. Also, the thing I want you to see if you’ll look there in Matthew chapter four. In chapter four, notice in verse six. and saith unto him, if thou be the son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written. See, the devil knows scripture. The devil can quote scripture. He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and if their hand they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou shalt dash thy foot against a stone.

And the worst, hey, go ahead and pull yourself off that temple. Because the angels are going to watch over you and not even allow you to stub your little toe. Now, you understand with us in life, there’s one desire that we all have. One desire is for food and sometime we’ll do almost anything to make money to buy food. There’s another thing that all of us want. We want protection. And see, that’s one of the reasons why everybody likes to have insurance.

What is insurance for? Protection in case, you know, in case. Because it’s so hard and difficult to trust God that we can’t see, but if I know I got this policy and I make my payments, and then if something happens and goes wrong, I got a policy. Guaranteed, they got to take care of my health, they got to take care of my car, they got to take care of my house if it burns down. And so we want protection and some protection is not bad.

But it’s like the devil saying, look, you just do whatever I tell you. I’ll protect you. I see, I’m already the one telling you, you can do this because see, the angels are not gonna let you get hurt. I’m telling you truth. I’m telling you the truth. But see, he was deceptive. The Bible says, do not tempt the Lord thy God. don’t tempt God by being so stupid and foolish. I was told that hard times comes to all of us.

And because of these hard times, it’s kind of rough to go through. But it’s worse when you’re stupid. Do you find yourself doing stupid things? For example, somebody’s always trying to help me out in the ministry. They gave me this. And I thought, this can’t be real. I mean, nobody is this stupid, but then maybe they are. Recently when I went to McDonald’s, I saw on the menu that you could have an order of six 9 or 12 chicken nuggets.

I asked for a half dozen nuggets. We don’t have a half dozen nuggets. He said, the teenager, you don’t. We have six, nine or 12. So I can order a half dozen nuggets. But I can order six, that’s right. So I shook my head and ordered six nuggets. Now there’s some people that are just plain stupid. No, I was checking out at the local Walmart with just a few items and the lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine.

I picked up one of those little dividers that they keep the cash register and placed it between our things so they wouldn’t get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked up the divider looking at all over for the barcode and couldn’t find it. Not finding the barcode, she said to me, do you know how much this is? I said to her, I’ve changed my mind, I don’t think I’ll buy that today. I’ve been in the store and I’ve seen those things there, but I had no clue it a long time ago what they were for.

But this wasn’t written about me. A woman at work was saying put in a credit card into her floppy drive and pulling it out very quickly. When I inquired as to what she was doing, she said she was shopping on the internet and they kept asking for a credit card number so she was using the ATM thingy. Now some of y’all, if you don’t do anything with a computer, you won’t get that. This one says, I recently saw a distraught young lady weeping beside her car.

do you need some help?” I asked. She replied, I knew I should have replaced a battery to this remote door unlocker. Now I can’t get into my car. Do you think they would have a battery to fit this at the store over there? I said, I don’t know. Do you have an alarm to? I asked. No, just this remote thingy. Handing it, she answered, and handing it and the car keys to me. As I took the key and manly unlocked the door, I replied, why don’t you drive over there and check about those batteries?

It’s a long walk. Some people forget you got a car key, but you punch the button. That really messed my car up because mine don’t work anymore. I have to use the car keys. Several years ago, we had an intern who was none too swift. One day she was typing and turned to a secretary and says, I’m almost out of typing paper. What do I do? Just use paper from the photocopier, the secretary told her. With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of paper, put it on the copier and proceeded to make five blank copies.

By the way, she was brunette. A mother calls 911 very worried about and asked the dispatcher if she needs to take her kids to the emergency room. The kid had eaten ants. The dispatcher tell her to give the kid some men a drill and he should be fine, the mother said. But I just gave him some ant killer. This dispatcher rushed him to the emergency. I mean, if you could eat some ants, give them some ant poison, right? it’ll kill the ants.

Can you imagine that a parent would be that dumb? But listen, in this life there’s a lot of people doing a lot of stupid things. Here we are in, you know, 2000 years since Christ, everybody’s got all the evidence they need to verify that Jesus Christ lived upon this earth. and look at the effects of this one man after all these years. He was divine and the devil has lied to so many people for all these years trying to get people not to believe him.

And then for those that do trust Christ’s Savior, look how many lives the devil is ruining because God’s children won’t trust their heavenly Father. It’s enough to make you weep. But you know, here in verse 6, it’s like the devil says, look, you look to me and you trust me, I’ll feed you. I’ll satisfy that hunger desire. You look to me and I’ll take care and I’ll protect you. I’ll protect you. And so did you know that a lot of the problems that the nation of Israel had is, is because they look to Egypt or to Syria.

They look to other people for help instead of looking and trusting the Lord. And that’s why the Lord says the eyes of the Lord, the Lord to run to and fro throughout the old or whole, are looking for a person whose heart is right between him so that God could be strong on his behalf. God, just looking for somebody to trust him. See, God wants to lead you. God wants to provide. God wants to feed. God wants to protect.

God wants to do these things for us. And then we do everything, but look to him and trust him. You see, if the devil did that to Christ, that’s why the devil does that to us. Look what else he says here. You see there in verse eight. Again, the devil taken him up into a exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. You see, Satan will do whatever he has to offer you the world if you only serve him.

And God can make the other side of the, you know, the fence looks so green. And you say, well, I’m on this side and I’m serving the Lord in things like I’ve never had so many problems in my life until I started serving the Lord. I know in the other side, look so green. Well, if I just did what the world wanted me to do, I could have this and that and the other boy, look what I could have had.

Look what I could have been. I could have been somebody. I could have been a contender. And so people just wander from the Lord because there’s a devil and he lures. He lures because he lies. He deseces. And we can look to the Lord and we can trust the Lord because God knows what he’s doing. 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.

Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free, 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible line 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. 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. So live today and every day.

Believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for a Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. But look what he says here in verse 11 of chapter 2, Matthew chapter 2. And in verse 11 he says, and when they were come to the house, because see by the time the wise men got there, they didn’t come to the manger scene. That was, this was not a domain, this was at the house and the child was about two years of age.

And he says, and they saw the young child, and they were in the house. when they come into the house. This is not outside the house at a stable in a manger, in all the animals. Now that’s the way we see the mangers scene, but that’s really not the way it happened in the Bible. But look what he says, and they found the child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshiped him, and when they had opened their treasure they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincent and and get this in verse 12, being warned of God in a dream, that they should not return to Herod.

Why? Didn’t Herod say, when you have found the child, bring me word again, that we may come and worship him also. Do you really think that he really wanted to worship him? There’s a God in heaven that knows that Herod had evil in his man. And so God calls them to see if God didn’t intervene at times in people’s lives. You’d be surprised what would have happened. There’s time God may intervene in your life. Did you ever want to go someplace and get there quick and it seemed like everything goes wrong?

The car breaks down? The radiator messed up? And you think sometimes, Lord, that didn’t have to happen. I mean, Surely that didn’t have to happen. And yet God knows what he’s doing. You and I will enjoy life if you’ve just learned to enjoy the ride. Don’t pick God apart. Don’t try to make God explain everything to you. Enjoy the trip. It’s part of the trip. I’m on a vacation and something happens goes wrong. Enjoy the trip. Not just the destination.

It’s like life, enjoy life, not just, well, when I get this, I’ll be happy. When I get that, I’ll be happy. Like, it’s at the end of this, at the end, no, I don’t wanna, at the end of anything. I wanna enjoy it as I go. I have really enjoyed my life. I was telling Betty this the other day. Well, I was telling her the day. I says, I don’t know if you really think about it. I don’t know all the time.

I says, but you stop and think, honey. We have pretty good health, and God’s given us a good ministry. And we’re sitting here eating some good food, and we’re here in Tampa, Florida, and we’re going to drive down here and overlook the bay, drive a little bit further, you can see the beach, and just look how good God’s been. You don’t realize they’re having 18 degree weather up there. We’re down here with a sunshine almost all the time. Isn’t God good to us in our old age If you want to call 70 old age, I don’t.

I think we’re just hitting to the top of the peak, and it could last for a long time, the top of this plateau. One day, and this is the truth, I was going through Louisiana. And every once in a while, I like to stop at a golf course and just play around the golf. You know, I kind of have to exercise a little bit and enjoy some things. There’s a lot of things I don’t do, but this is just one of the things I enjoy.

So I got out of the car, and I went in there, and I paid, and I went out there and put my clubs in the back of my, no little golf carton. And this one little old man walked up to me and says, they told me to join you. Oh, okay. I says, you’re walking? Yes. You’re carrying your bag? Yes. I thought this little old squirt is walking and carrying his bag. And here I am riding in a golf cart and I’m out there for my exercise.

I hate it when somebody puts me on a gill trip. this guy hadn’t said anything really wrong, but it should bothered me. So I said, well, if you’re going to walk on, I might as well walk too. That was a dumb thing to do. But anyway, I said, okay, so I got my club. My bag weighs about 10,000 pounds. So we went to the first tee and this guy, little old man, I mean, little old dried up P-vine. And he got up there and he put his ball down there and he come back and he hit the ball.

He never looked up to see where it went. He just hit the ball and then he put his club in his bag and then he stepped to the side and he went like this. Well, he had hit it about 150 yards right down the middle. But I’m gonna take this guy to school. It’s time for him to go to school. I took out my driver. I’m a young whopper snapper. I killed that ball. And it went, did you know the harder you try to hit the ball, the more crooked it goes?

That’s the truth. I couldn’t for some reason, I could not hit a straight ball. And this guy was just hitting it 150 down the middle. Do you know after about three or four holes, I was like, this guy’s beating me. The guy is beating me. This old man is whooping me. I was so humiliated. So the harder I tried to worse, I got it. I thought, I couldn’t even hit the ball at all. I couldn’t even putt. So I hit a one hole.

I put it out there a long ways, right in the middle. And I went over there and got my clubs and I went, he got up there, he didn’t say a word. And I know he didn’t go and hit it no more than 150 yards. He didn’t hit it no more than 150 yards since we started. And he just hit it. Same way, he hit it. took his club, put it into the bag. And that ball just went out there and it hit the cart path.

And bounced, and bounced, and bounced, and bounced, and bounced. And it came off the cart path and he was just a couple yards right in front of my ball. Do you realize that whenever we finish nine holes, he says, I thought, I’m going to get this guy on the next nine. I’ll get him on the next nine. So I think he’ll get tired. I’ll get him on the next nine. He says, this is all I’m playing. I thought, don’t quit.

You can’t quit. But he quit. And then he got through, he says, you know, he says, I’m 98 years old. I says, what? He said, I’m 98 years old. And then he started to walk off and he turned back and looked at me. He says, and I’m blind in one eye. I wanted to wrap that driver around his head. I didn’t even witness to the guy because he was golf. And I thought, I’ll get him on the back nine.

I was planned again. I was fit to be tied. I am forever the loser to a 98 year old man that was blind in one eye. That is humility. When somebody can humble you in such a way, but look what he says here. You have to have sometimes God intervene to teach you something you may not want to learn. Do you realize that was probably 30 years ago? And I will remember that story for the rest of my natural life in verse 13, when they were departed.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, arise and take the young child and his mother and Flea into Egypt and be thou until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. So does God know what Herod wants to do to this young child? Yes. So God had to intervene into Joseph’s life through a dream and tell him, says, look, you need to flee. Now, that means that Joseph and Mary, look after all they’ve had to go through, and getting down to the place where the child was finally born.

And then they’re a couple of years, now he’s got to flee again. Because now they know that there’s a child and he’s to be the king of Israel, and Herod is after him. So he tells them that they’re going to have to leave and go down into Egypt. Now look what he says here in verse 15. and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet that we read while ago, over in the book of Hosea, chapter 11 and verse 1, where it makes the statement, out of Egypt have I called my son.

Now, when we read that verse in the Old Testament, we probably would never have gotten that truth out of that verse. But because it’s quoted here and yet it happened back there and yet out of Egypt have I called my son but we always think well that’s whenever God brought Egypt, I mean Israel out of Egypt and it did happen but you see there’s more to it than that. That’s why when you read the study the Bible sometimes you think well now I understand what it means and then you go back and you read it again and you’ll get more out of it than you got the last time.

You can read it again and get something outside of it. There’s no limit to the knowledge that’s hidden in these scriptures. It’s a treasure house. God says, search for his wisdom as a man would search for silver and gold according to Proverbs in chapter 2. It’s an awesome book. Looking for 16, then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding, well wait a minute, didn’t God know that look, you know, If you wise men don’t go back to see Herod, you’re going to make him mad.”

Well, it seems like everybody makes Herod mad. And he wants to kill. So he killed a whole bunch of little babies. Look at this. And so he sinned forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coast they’re off from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently acquired of the wise men. didn’t God know that Herod would kill all those babies? Why would God let it happen? He could protect his one son by sending him down into Egypt and let how many other babies die?

Were there hundreds of them? Was there a thousand of them? Who knows? I don’t know. But the Bible talks about it and it’s mentioned in the Old Testament. Rachel weeping for her children. Looking for 17. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying, in Rehma was there a voice heard, lamentations and weeping and great morning. Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they are not. Now, just hold your place right here, but look in the book of Genesis in chapter 35, just real quick, in Genesis chapter 35.

Genesis chapter 35, and look there in verse 16. And notice it goes all the way back even to something like this. It’s not one of the notes that you find there, but in the book of Genesis in chapter 35, looking verse 16, and they journeyed from Bethel, And there was but a little way to come to Ephra. And Rachel travail, and she had hard labor. It came to pass when she was in hard labor that the midwife said unto her, fear not.

Thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass as her soul was in departing for she died, that she called his name the only. Then his father named him Benjamin. In verse 19, Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephra, which is Bethlehem. Now, remember in Micah chapter 5 and verse 2, though there will be little among the thousands of Judean, yet out of the Bethlehem Ephra time. The same place, Rachel Bethlehem. The weeping and there’s a lot more that goes into all these scriptures that reveal so many things that we do not see on the surface.

That’s why you can forever study the Word of God and never come to the bottom of it. It is truly a treasure house house of wealth. Go back there to the book of Matthew. And now when talking about Rachel weeping for her children. Now that’s a scripture that’s found there in the book of Jeremiah chapter. 31. I referred to it, I believe this morning in Sunday school, so we won’t look at it at this time. But now look in verse 19, when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in another dream to Joseph in Egypt.

You know, it’s almost like if you would go back there and remember the story of the other Joseph in the first book in the Old Testament and the Joseph in the first book in the New Testament And you can see some of the similarities and things. You know, even this Joseph who was supposed to be the father of Jesus. And we know he wasn’t, but he was still a good man. He was a just man. He was a righteous man.

He was an obedient man. He was a faithful man. And yet he would take and leave everything that he had and take his wife and his child. he obeyed the Lord and went down into Egypt and stayed there until Herod was dead and then he came back and then the Lord had to appear to him again in a dream. Not only when to tell him to come back but another dream in verse 22 where it says in verse 21, I want you to see this, and he arose and took the young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel.

But remember, they came out of Egypt. You will bring my son out of Egypt. Look at the last part of verse 20, verse 20, saying, Arise, take the young child and his mother. Go into the land of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. See, God knew they would try to kill this baby. Well, I mean, it’s just one little old baby. What can this baby accomplish? Isn’t it amazing that if Jesus Christ was not the Son of God?

Why does almost everybody in the world know this child? Everybody knows the name of Jesus, just about everybody, and all the nations of the world. Good or bad? Look how many churches there are that bear his name, and how many Christians that say they know him and bear his name of been a Christian and claim it to be a Christian if Christ is not anybody but other than just a man. And yet he didn’t live very long. He only lived to be about 33 and a half years old.

He never wrote a book in his lifetime and he never left the land of Israel. He didn’t travel the world and look what he was able Look at the reputation of this man. There’s more songs about this guy than all the others all put together. More books written about this one man. He says that if all the things that he has done were written in a book, the libraries of the world cannot contain all the stuff. And we think we are really understanding the Bible.

Do you think you really know the Bible? I don’t know nothing compared to what’s in this book. One day we’re going to find out what the Bible had to say and how much is not even seen and taught. This is one deep book and it’s loaded with wealth that we won’t appreciate, I don’t think, in this lifetime. Look in verse 23 and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth But he was warned of God over and over and over and God spoke to him Innovation He had a dream.

He had a dream You ever have a dream? I Have dreams about what I’d like to do with my life and then God has something he wants me to do and sometimes they don’t agree Sometimes I have lived long enough to see that things I wanted 20, 30 years ago comes back around and it just blows my mind sometimes. How that God will give me what I’ve thought about and talked about years ago. Remember the little story about Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth and how that they had prayed for this child and God said, I’ve heard thy prayer.

Oh, well Lord I prayed that 30 years ago about this child business. And isn’t it a wonderful story? I mean when you stop and you think and you sense all these things and you can begin to… To enjoy reading and studying about because you don’t know what you’re going to come up with next and what God’s going to say. Hey, did you ever see that word before? Did you ever see that? Did you ever think about this? And you’ll learn some great new truth from what the word of God says.

But Joseph was used greatly by the Lord. I want you to look at a verse with me. Look in Matthew chapter 13. You’re right there in Matthew. Looking Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13 and look there in verse 13. verse 53, verse 53. In verse 53 it says, And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed thence. And when He was come into His own country, He taught them in their synagogue. In so much that they were astonished.

Now He’s back in His hometown. He’s back in His own country. You know where He was raised? In so much that they were astonished and they said, wince, dust this man, this wisdom, and these mighty works. Verse 55, is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? I mean, who is this guy? Where did he learn how to do all of this stuff? Because Jesus, he didn’t do anything until it was time when he had 30 years of age.

And look what he says in verse 50, say, and his sisters, verse 55, his brothers, and he says in verse 56, Winston hath this man all these things. Where did he learn all of this knowledge? Remember even when he was only 12 years old, Jesus was able to astound the doctors of law and give him a Bible education. Wouldn’t you have loved to have listened to him when he was only 12 years old and he could astound them? I think it’s awesome.

I already do. Look in John 642, John chapter 6, John chapter 6 and verse 42. It says in verse 42, and they said, they said, is not this Jesus the Son of Joseph? See, it doesn’t say here as supposed. This is a fact that they believed. So if he was the Son of Joseph, whose father and mother we knew. Well, it appears that maybe Joseph is still alive. How is it then that he said, I came down from heaven.

We know his mother and father. But see, they didn’t know that Jesus was born of a virgin. But he was born of a virgin. So Jesus was not just your average day kid. What would have been like, do you think, to have Jesus born into your family? And then find out later, he was the Son of God. He knew my mind. You know the Bible says that his own brothers and so forth did not believe on him until, I believe it was after the resurrection.

Scary stuff. But nobody was able to find anything wrong with him in his life. ever wondered, I’m going to Jesus ever got a spanking. You know, if he did, they must have been wrong because he couldn’t done anything wrong. They must have thought he should have done something and he didn’t do it and probably his brothers and sisters blamed him from something. I had a ton of that. But anyway, hope you enjoy the little lesson on Joseph. There’s just an awful lot of stuff about the Christmas story that you just sometimes don’t think about.

And it’s just usually just a typical thing. So I thought you would enjoy you, but Mary and John the Baptist and Joseph. This hand represents you and me while it represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us. H. What we do wrong, he hates all of our sin. And the Bible says that we have all sinned come short of God’s perfection. See, heaven is perfect. We’re not. We’ve come short of God’s perfection because of sin we can’t get in the wages in his death.

And God says, you cannot earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven. That’s why we all needed a Savior. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He came into the world. He had no sin. He was perfect. Born of a virgin. And the reason is because he, that way he didn’t have an earthly father, he didn’t have a sinful nature. We all have sinful natures, and that’s why we do wrong. He didn’t have one. And he came into the world and he took all of the sins of all the world upon himself, and he died and paid for them and came back from the dead, and said, if you’ll believe that he did it for you, that he would put this payment to your account, you get to go to heaven on what Jesus did for you.

You can’t earn it, you can’t work for it. Eternal life is the gift of God, not a works list, and you may should boast. Well, if it’s eternal life, how long would it last? Forever. When I was 18 years old, I accepted Christ as my Savior. He saves me from hell. That means I can’t go there. I can’t go there today. I can’t go there tomorrow. because he paid for all of my sins. I don’t have any sins to pay for.

He paid for them. Do I deserve it? No, I don’t deserve it. But it just shows you how much he loved me that he did it all. Doesn’t matter how bad you’ve been or how bad you will be. He loves you that much. And if you will believe he did it for you, he would give you the free gift of eternal life and you can know that you’re going to heaven whenever you die. Let’s pray, shall we? I pray that you’ve all trusted Christ as your Savior, but I don’t know the hearts of anybody.

I’m not like the Lord, I don’t have that ability. But I would like to know if what I said made sense to you, if you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, did you understand that you’re not going to go to heaven, that you will spend an eternity? Inhale, if you don’t trust Christ as your Savior? So there’s a great penalty for not accepting Christ. But if you do believe that He did it for you and you trust Him right now, then God said He would give you as a free gift everlasting life.

Never cast you out, never lose you. Best news in all the world. In just a moment I’m going to ask for raise your hand. Raise in your hand doesn’t save you. It just lets me know that what I said made sense to you and you said in preacher that made sense to me and tonight I will trust Christ as my Savior. And I do it with head, bow, nice, close so that no one will be embarrassed. So in the quietness of this moment is there anyone at all say yes that made sense to me.

When I will trust Christ as my Savior, yes, God bless you, sir. You can put your hand down. Anyone else, just slip it up very quickly by that. You mean, yes, pray for me. I will trust Christ right now. I want to be certain I’m going to heaven when I die. I realize I can’t earn it. I can’t work for it. That is a gift. Would you trust them? Anyone else? Our Father, we thank you so much for your love for us, for all your watch, care, and your provision, and how you move and work in our lives.

Sometimes even when we don’t see it, we don’t understand. But Father, if we read the stories in the Bible, we know that there’s an unseen hand, the providence of God working in our lives. In and through people and circumstances, we thank You Lord for the individual that indicated by an uplifted hand that they would trust You as Savior tonight. By doing so, they become Your child, Your child forever, that You’ll never cast them out, never lose them, that they can know they’re going to heaven because of what you did on the cross for them.

We ask the blessings upon each person here and we thank you for all that you’ve done and what you’re going to do in Christ’s name. 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 are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bible and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing tool free, 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. To learn more about your life, visit our website at www.beadaholique.com to purchase beading supplies and to get design ideas! 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. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

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 regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. 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.

your Bible and turn to the book of Hosea. Chapter 11, Hosea chapter 11, and verse 1. So Hosea chapter 11 took away way back here in the Old Testament out of all these books. There’s a little verse. And when you read it, you think, well, I know what that means. See there in verse 1, when Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. So we know that according to the Old Testament, that Israel, Jacob and his twelve kids, eventually all wind up going down into Egypt.

And we also know that 400 years later they came up out of Egypt. So God called his son out of Egypt. And most times whenever we see something like that, we think, well that’s the total meaning of that verse. And then sometimes you’d be surprised, there are so many verses in the Word of God that we have not even yet fattomed. We haven’t come close to understanding the depths of the Word of God. I don’t know if we’ll ever in this lifetime understand it until we get to heaven.

And maybe doing the millennium, we’re going to read the scriptures and we’ll be so enlightened. We’re going to see so much and we’ll wonder, why did I see that? Why did I see that? It’s so clear. It’s right there. Just like we can read the Bible and see some of the Old Testament prophecies and wonder why didn’t they see it? There’s probably people that are already in heaven right now saying, why in the world. Can’t you see that? It’s right there in front of them.

Well, take your Bible and turn to the book of Genesis, the book of Genesis in chapter 37. Genesis chapter 37 and look in verse 1. Now we know there’s Abraham, Isaac and in Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons. But out of those twelve sons, there was one of them that Daddy loved an awful lot. Maybe he loved him more than he should have. Maybe he set the stage for a little bitterness or jealousy and envy within the other children. That happens in families sometime when never one child thinks that he’s favored among the others or above them.

And so you get jealous and fill with a little envy because you think, oh, that’s daddy’s little pet or mummies little pet. And then whenever mom and daddy’s not around, you want to beat up on that little pet. Now I know that didn’t happen in your family. I know that. I know that. But I did have a sister that was daddy’s little pet. Very I tell you, I still have memories to this day. So anyway, if you look there in Genesis in chapter 37, look at verse 1, and Jacob dwelt in the land where in his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan.

These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, been 17 years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren and the lad was with the sons of Billhead and with the sons of Zilpa, his father’s wives, and Joseph brought under his father their evil report. Now Israel, Jacob, he loved Joseph more than all of his children because he was the son of his old age and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Who started that? You see, Joseph hadn’t done anything wrong. And his sons, well because of Daddy. And so, Daddy didn’t know maybe that what he was doing was stirring a pot. Did you know that God can use the evil, wicked ways of a man? to accomplish his purpose. God can use what people say and do. And in this family problem that they had right here, God still was able to work his will. And even though somebody else might treat you wrong in an evil way, God can use it for his honor and his glory.

And God can still protect you in the midst of all of this. But look what he says in verse 5, Joseph dreamed a dream. He told it to his brother and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Here I pray you this dream which I have dreamed. So he was known as the dreamer. He was a dreamer. And so they say, Hey, the dreamer cometh when I saw him coming in the field because he had dreams.

Was it Joseph’s fault that he had dreams? The other night, right before I went to bed, God bless my little darling wife, she made me something that I love, peach cobbler. Oh, I love peach cobbler. I sat there in my chair and she said, now here’s a surprise for you. I accidentally got some on my cheek and tongue like to slap my face to death getting at it. And I was, I was eating that bowl of peach cobbler. Oh, it was good.

You know that night I had a million dreams. I couldn’t say it was a natural dream. It was snapshots. I went like I was going through a slide show. One picture, another picture, another picture, another picture. And I couldn’t concentrate anything and I saw these snapshots all night long and couldn’t remember a thing. I was worn out the next day. So last night I had another bow. But anyway, there’s times when it’s worth it. It’s just worth it. But I’ve had dreams that, you know, sometimes I can remember and sometimes I can’t remember.

But he remembered his dream. Who gave him the dream? God gave him the dream. God know that giving him the dream was going to cause family problems? God already knew that. You’re sometime you wonder, well, why did God let something like this happen to me? Or God let this happen? And we question the things that happens in our life. Did you know that might be God is working in your life? And he just didn’t tell you in advance and he’ll allow things to happen.

And he knows what you’re going to do and he knows how people are going to respond how they can react all of that. And then sometimes you’ll see down the road how God has worked and weaved in your life and done some wonderful things. Now here in Genesis I want you to look there in verse 28, look in verse 28. It says, then they’re passed by meeting the night of merchant men and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit because his brothers were selling him.

They wanted to get rid of him. They weren’t going to kill him. And now they’re just going to sell him. And they drew him and lifted him up Joseph out of the pit, sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites 20 pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph into Egypt. See, this is how in the beginning God got the whole nation, the whole family down there because he had one guy, one little 17-year-old boy, and allowed this to happen to him. And to be separated from his parents, his brothers, they hated him, and to think what he went through.

And it wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Remember we talked about this morning, about some of the things that happens in people’s lives and Joseph and Mary. We think everything is just supposed to go so smooth and everything is supposed to work out just perfectly. Sometimes in our minds the things that don’t work out is what God wanted to do. They didn’t work out for us, but it doesn’t mean that everything was shot and that you’re a total failure.

You may just be an individual that God is using to accomplish His purpose because God has a plan. If we study the Bible, we’ll find that out that God has a reason for you living. And that God is working in your life, whether you see it or you don’t see it. So he goes through here and he makes the statement, but look in chapter 39 now, chapter 39, and look in verse 1, verse 1 down to verse 3, and he says, and Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, and officer Pharaoh, captain of the guard and Egyptian, A brought him of the hands of the Emishlights, which had brought him down the other.

And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hands. So I kind of call this the land of prosperity. He didn’t know when he was so by his brothers and taken down into Egypt and all the things that happened to him that God was with him.

And all he had to do was just serve the Lord and do right. God had a plan. And I want you to look there in chapter 41, chapter 41, and look in verse 51, verse 51. Now Joseph has, oh, gotten married and had a couple kids. And sometimes as you study the 12 tribes, you don’t always see the tribe of Joseph. He had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And you’ll always keep reading about Manasseh and Ephraim. And look what he says here in verse 51, and Joseph called the names of the firstborn Manasseh.

For God said he had made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house. God has helped me to forget. He didn’t because he remembered his brothers. He remembers his dad, but he caused him to forget over the hurt or even the bitterness and all the things that you have that builds up inside of you when someone wrongs you. But look what he says. In verse 52, and the name of the second called He Ephraim, and you ought to underline this phrase because it’s an awesome phrase, because this is the land of persecution, because He was persecuted.

And He was even persecuted when He first went down into Egypt and the things that He suffered because of, well, somebody’s woman. And He had to take and coat and He had to run. He was placed in prison and all of that He went through, and yet He didn’t deserve any of those things. Have you ever thought to yourself, this isn’t fair? This just isn’t fair. You haven’t been reading the Bible lately. Doesn’t say anything about being fair. It’s about God being just and right and having the authority to use you in any way he wants to.

He is God. And look at the last part of this verse. For God had caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. fruitful in my affliction, the land of my affliction. So you see, there’s the land of prosperity and the land of persecution and the land of preservation. Look in chapter 45, chapter 45. And look here in verse 5, verse 5, in verse 5, and we’ll read down to verse 8, but in verse 5, now therefore be not greed because now time has passed by.

Lo and behold, yes, Jacob was in a place of famine. There was no rain, there was no crop. And so therefore they were starving, they needed food. And so they heard that there was food in Egypt. So they came down to Egypt, He sent a couple of his kids and they go down there and while it wasn’t long, Joseph recognized them. He knew who they were. And he remembered what they had done. They didn’t know who he was at first until the second time he came down and he revealed himself to them in the Bible says he sobbed.

He just sobbed. Just broke down a whip. Well, wouldn’t you have? See, he still loved them. them. They’re still family. And God used it in such a way to break their hearts and their will and cause them to be humbled because they knew that he had the power. He could have killed every one of them. And it wasn’t long before he even got Jacob to come down, daddy. But look what he says here in verse 5. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me, hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life.

God sent me here. For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be hearing of nor harvest. And God sent me before you to, and here’s that word, preserve. This is the land of preservation. And then He makes the statement, apostarity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Verse 8. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but you are done the line, those two little words, but God.

Sometimes we say and do things, things that we don’t mean to say, we don’t want to say, and yet we do them. And sometimes we feel so rotten inside. And yet it might have been something that God wanted, but you can’t sometimes always put your finger on it. Sometimes people may treat you in a certain way and you don’t know why they did what they did. Because God may be working something. Don’t be too quick to jump the gun.

Don’t be too eager to kill somebody. Don’t be so quick to be mean and ugly with somebody. You see, there’s factors involved that you and I are not aware of and that we can’t control and sometimes other people can’t control. Because there’s things that happen. God can use everything for His honor and glory. You must believe, and I’m supposed to believe that God’s on the throne and He’s working out as well. See, the greatest thing you can ever do is to trust Christ as your Savior.

After you trust Christ as your Savior, decide to serve the Lord. And if you decide to serve the Lord, then expect God to interrupt your schedule. to use you any way he wants to for his honor and glory. But look at that last part again, in verse eight. So now it was not you that sent me hither but God, and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Now look in verse 13, and ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt. And of all that he ye have seen, and ye shall hasten, and bring down my Father hither.” And so they did, and it wasn’t long before they were all one big, happy family. Isn’t that wonderful? They were all back down there in the land of Goshen, top part of the Nile right next to the Alexandria, where we call it the day. I’ve been there.

And you cut a good land of Goshen. Well, that’s what it is, the good land of caution. Somebody’s talking about that. Holy Moses. No, Moses wasn’t holy in that sense, but Moses was a good man, I’ll admit that. Take your Bible and turn now to the New Testament. We know that Joseph here in the Old Testament was used by God to get the son down into Egypt. And then he tells him, when you go up out of Egypt, you remember to take my bones with you.

or a hundred years later, they did. Now take your Bible and turn to the New Testament. Matthew chapter one, Matthew and chapter one. We have a little story about another man named Joseph. And guess what Joseph was in the New Testament? He was a dreamer. He was a dreamer. You’d be surprised how many dreams he had. You see, if it hadn’t have been for some of those dreams, his life would have taken a different course altogether. You see, he was engaged to a woman, and that engagement peers was supposed to be long enough and guaranteed by the mom and dad, hey, my daughter is a virgin.

Well, she became pregnant, and he began to have what we call doubts, and then dreams, and then a decision. But first of all, he had his doubt. You say, I didn’t think he doubted it. Let’s just look at it. Looking, verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, been a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately.

Why? Because he’d have to believe that she’s pregnant and it wasn’t him. Now what would you think? What would you think? The normal thing to think. This was before his dream. And then he had a dream. And in this dream, God told him the plan. Told him what was going on. Told him that, yes, she’s going to have a child, but that child. He’s of the Holy Ghost. Did you know that he believed it? He really believed it. He believed what it says.

Look in verse 20. While he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream. St. Joseph thou son of David. Fear not to take into thee, Mary thy wife, for thou shalt, that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth the Son and call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. ends. Verse 24, then Joseph, been raised from sleep, had made a decision.

He did as the angel of the Lord had biden him. He took unto him his wife. So he didn’t put her away. He took her and became as was supposed the husband or the father of Jesus. Now Now remember this morning I mentioned to you that whenever you look in Matthew chapter one, it’s so and so begat, so and so begat, so and so begat. But now take your Bible and just turn real quickly over there to the book of Luke, the book of Luke.

And you’ll notice in the book of Luke and chapter four, excuse me not four, chapter three, first mistake I’ve made, you know, five minutes. Now in verse 23, in verse 23, and Jesus Himself began to be about 30 years of age, being and get this as was supposed. People thought Joseph was the daddy, as supposed the son of Joseph, which was the son of Helai. Now this we believe that he was really, Helai is Mary’s dad and he’s the son in law.

See doesn’t say here that he begat Jesus. This is the son of, the son of, the son of. And you go all the way down through here and look down there in verse 31, which was the son of Malia, which was the son of Mina, which was the son of Matata, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David. And so it’s going through and showing a genealogy. But this is from Mary’s side, because you see, Mary also was of the line.

And whenever we read over there in Matthew while ago, it talks about Joseph of the line of David. And here is talking about, see, Mary is of the line of David. But it’s through Nathan, and in the book of Matthew, chapter 1, it’s through the line of Solomon. But because later on down the road, there was a curse put upon the line of Jeccanias saying that he would not have any of his seed to set up on the throne of Israel.

That’s why Joseph could not have been a king. He hadn’t been for that. He could have claimed the throne. Joseph, he was in line. But there was a curse put up on the line, and none of them could be king. So unless God intervened some way, there would not be a king in Israel. But anyway, as you go through and you read and you study and you find out some of these things, it’s really interesting how that God kind of puts all these things together.

But it’s not done in such a way just to satisfy curiosity seekers. But somebody that looks and they read this thing and they say, well, now why did they do that? Now why did they do that? God was looking for reasons and trying to put things together because you know everything has to perfectly dovetail. The Word of God cannot contradict itself and so it causes you to really take a look at it. But he did what he did because God intervened and gave him a dream.

I think it’s amazing that you know here it was 1500 years in advance and you’ve got a man named Joseph that was going down into Egypt. Now here it is in the New Testament, in the first book, in the New Testament, you have Joseph going down into Egypt with his son. But look what he says here in verse 11 of chapter 2, Matthew chapter 2. And in verse 11 it says, and when they were come to the house, because you see By the time the wise men got there, they didn’t come to the manger scene.

That there was, this was not a domain. This was at the house and the child was about two years of age. And he says, and they saw the young child and they were in the house. No, sith, when they come into the house. This is not outside the house at a stable and a manger and all the animals. Now that’s the way we see the mangers scene, but that’s really not the way it happened in the Bible. But look what he says, and they found the child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshiped him and when they had opened their treasure they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincent and murah, and get this in verse 12, being warned of God in a dream, that they should not return to Herod.

Why? Didn’t Herod say, when you have found the child, bring me word again that we may come and worship him also? Do you really think that he really wanted to worship him? There’s a God in heaven that knows that Herod had evil in his man. And so God caused him to… See, if God didn’t intervene at times in people’s lives, you’d be surprised what would have happened. There’s time God may intervene in your life. Did you ever want to go someplace and get there quick and it seemed like everything goes wrong?

The car breaks down, the radiator messed up, and you think sometimes, Lord, that didn’t have to happen. I mean, surely that didn’t have to happen. And yet God knows what he’s doing. You and I will enjoy life if you’ve just learned to enjoy the ride. Don’t pick God apart. Don’t try EDITION God explain everything to you. Enjoy the trip. It’s part of the tripupdated on a vacation and something happens goes wrong. Enjoy the trip. Not just the destination. It’s like life.

Enjoy life. Not just well when I get this, I’ll be happy. when I get that I’ll be happy like it’s at the end of this at the end. No, I don’t want it at the end of anything. I want to enjoy it as I go. I have really enjoyed my life. I was telling Betty this the other day. Well, I was telling her today. I says, I don’t know if you really think about it. I don’t all the time.

I says, but you stop and think, honey. We have pretty good health. And God’s given us a good ministry. And we’re sitting here eating some good food. And we’re here in Tampa, Florida. And we’re, can drive down here and overlook the bay, drive a little bit further, you can see the beach. And just look how good God’s been. You don’t realize they’re having 18 degree weather up there. We’re down here with a sunshine almost all the time. Isn’t God good to us in our old age if you want to call 70 old age?

I don’t. I think we’re just hitting to the top of the peak and it could last for a long time on the top of this plateau. 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. Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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 toll free, 1-800-576-3771.

1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible line 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. For 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. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.