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 mutha- and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us was told free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible 9 website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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 how much did Abraham understand? I believe that he understood enough that he talked about because this was all this stuff’s about, about a substitution, a payment being made by the Messiah. Look now in Leviticus in chapter 14. Exodus, Leviticus 14. The one thing that leprosy does in the Bible, leprosy represents sin and incurable disease. But if a man could be healed of an incurable disease, it would have to be a miracle. And God says that when you’re healed, it’s almost like coming back from the dead because you had the sentence of death upon you.

There was no cure for it. So look in verse 1, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This shall the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing shall be the law. He shall be brought unto the priest and the priest shall go forth out of the camp and And the priest shall look and behold, if the plague of lepers be healed, healed in the leper. Then shall the priest command to take for him, that is to be cleansed.

Now get this and you are on the line this in your Bible that two birds alive, two birds alive. And clean and cedar wood and scarlet and hissom. And the priest shall command that that one of the birds be killed, only one bird would be killed. His it was like a little bush that had done in Egypt that they would take in the spring of the blood upon the doorpost and so forth when God was going to go, that he called the Passover.

God would pass over the home that had the blood applied. This is why we sing the song about the blood been applied and the Passover. And so God says that I will pass over the home where the blood has been applied and that’s the same thing to us. Every person who accepts Christ’s blood is applied to you in God the angel of death passes over you. So isn’t it wonderful that but the types were there. But give what he says.

In verse 5, and the pre shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird he shall take it and for the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssum and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.”

Now this is a picture of the death and the burial and the resurrection. This is a picture of resurrection. You see they had to use two living birds, but one bird would be killed and the blood of that bird would be put upon the other bird that was still alive and it would be released and free to fly. So it was like the bird died and lives again but that was because a person with leprosy had been healed, cleansed.

You and I when we believe on Jesus Christ and we have an incurable disease of sin we cannot save ourselves so whenever we trust Christ’s Savior, His blood is applied to us and it’s like we are free and we are able to leave and not die. That’s why I said if a man believe in me he shall never die because but in the Old Testament they… this is the way of illustrating the resurrection and used two birds. Can’t you see that?

I see that. I I got no problem with this. I believe they understood the death, substitution, somebody has to die and the resurrection is you being cleansed because of it and you live because one died. Look over there in verse 48. The last line there in verse 48 says, because the plague is healed because not sometimes just a person but a plague can come upon a house. And this is what they were supposed to do because one person got leprosy.

Somebody else can get leprosy. Next thing you know you got a bad case on your hands. And the reason they talked about outside the camp was because of outside the city walls They had to be declared unclean and stay away from everybody and to dwell and be alone But look what he says during verse 49 and he shall take to cleanse those house two birds in Down in verse 50 and one shall be killed and Down in verse 51 and he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the skull and the living bird dip them in the blood of the slain bird in and the running water and he gets set free.

He gets to go free because that’s a type of the death and resurrection. Am I supposed to be they did all this for 1500 years it had no clue what was going on? Then it would be nothing more than a ritual with no meaning. I don’t believe that. I believe there was an understanding. They had to understand the sacrifices that were made because God told them over and over again that it doesn’t take away sin. It was always they were looking forward to a payment that would be made.

Now take a Bible and look into 16th Psalm, the 16th Psalm. Psalm 16th written by David. David lived a thousand years before Christ. And you’re talking about 500 years after Moses, almost a thousand years after Abraham. That’s a a long time. That’s kind of like in the middle, wouldn’t it be? He lived under the law, but Abraham, well, he was saved by faith alone. And look what he says here in chapter 16. As David writes this, am I supposed to believe when he gets down here that he doesn’t understand what he’s writing?

Look there in verse 8. He says, I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope.” Now if you talk about my flesh, my body, when I die, my body goes to the grave. My body rests in hope. It’s going to come back again from the dead. You say, how do I know it’s talking about the resurrection?

And will it say so? It says so in the New Testament, tell that this is what this is talking about. So the David believe in the death and the resurrection of the body, yeah they do it. Look what he says in verse 10, for thou will not leave my soul in hell. Hell did not always mean the place of torment is the place of the departed dead. Sheal in the Old Testament Hebrew is sheal and in New Testament Haiti and that’s Greek but it means the place of the departed dead.

So when you said a man dies and goes to hell well there was two compartments one place of paradise when the place of torment, but they both went to the place of hell. Christ the Bible says he went to the place of hell, but he didn’t go to the suffering part, he went to the paradise part and that’s where he was because he said he would lead captivity captive and he told the man on the cross that was going to die.

He says today shout out, be with me where? Place of torment? No, that’s good. He got to death. I ain’t going with you. He said I’m going to the place of paradise. And so note what he says in verse 10, For thou will not leave my soul in hell neither will thou suffer thine and you ought to get this the word holy one doesn’t refer to David David never refers to himself as the holy one, but the Messiah To see corruption that means that even though he knows he’s going to die that his body is not going to be left in the grave More than three days because corruption starts on the fourth day Did they understand to know that the Messiah was going to die andhemy buried and come back again from the dead?

I think so. I believe they believe that. You take that out and you don’t have nothing about salvation, hardly in the Old Testament. What does it all mean? What did all the sacrifices mean? If they didn’t mean something, then they didn’t know what it meant. They just did a ritual? No, I believe there’s people the day that go to church and don’t understand why. I believe there’s people who give money to don’t understand why. I believe there are people that baptize but never really understand.

But that doesn’t know the fact that we should understand it and that that there are some people that do know the truth. Think of how many people today are in church today that have not a clue on how to get to heaven. Think of a clue. But that doesn’t know the fact that we’re still saved by faith and we can know it, and that I know it, and you know it, and that we know that we’re saved by faith.

Well, just because of a lot of people that didn’t understand what was said, I believe there were some people that did, and there was always a remnant. So it makes a statement there in verse nine and 10, I believe he’s talking about the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And when you go to the book of Acts in chapter two, it refers to this. Just to do it very quickly, very quick look over there in the book of Acts in chapter 2.

I think it’s important for you to see this in connection with this. Because there’s people that are very easily led astray and many are being discouraged because they don’t even know what to preach anymore. They don’t know how much do I say. Just believe on Jesus. Yeah, I believe them believe it on Jesus, but there’s a foundation that you have to understand. Otherwise, what does that mean? Trust him for what? You got to understand the story. You got to understand Jesus Christ died and paid for my sins.

Came back from the dead. But you’ll notice in chapter 2, look what he says there in verse 25. And David speaketh concerning him, says David was talking about the Messiah, Christ. I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for his on my right hand that I should not be moved.” This is what we just read in chapter 16, written a thousand years before. Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh also shall rest in hope, because I will not leave my soul in hell.

Neither will thou suffer thy holy one to seek corruption. Verse 20, Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy and thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me speak freely unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sapphrica is with us this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.

Get this in verse 30. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God He ought to swore to Him that a Messiah was coming through His loins, would set up on the throne. He seen this before the spake of the resurrection of Christ. So did He know about the resurrection of the Messiah? Yes. In the Old Testament, spake of this, that His soul was not left in hell, neither did His flesh see corruption. I have no problem in understanding that this is so simple.

It’s so clear. I don’t have to go back and try to make it say something. It says, no, you know what it says. It’s just a matter of what I believe, what God’s word says. Look in Isaiah 53, the book of Isaiah in chapter 53. This is a very, very familiar portion of scripture. As you know in verse one through the end of this chapter, this whole chapter is talking about the Lord. Am I supposed to believe that Isaiah used of God to write this, but he didn’t know what he was talking about.

No, I believe he understood what he was talking about. And up there in verse five and so forth, he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquity, cast hyphen of our peace was upon him, so it was verse six, all we light sheep have gone astray. We turned to everyone to his own way. The Lord had played upon him, the iniquity of his own. But he did lay it upon Isaiah. It wasn’t upon David. It was upon his son.

See there in verse one talks about the arm of the Lord revealed he was come up as a tender plan talking about Jesus Christ the Messiah. And then he tells this in verse eight he was taken from prison and from judgment talking about Jesus Christ who shall declare his generation. There’s no such thing as the Da Vinci code. Nobody can claim his from him. They didn’t come from him. That whole movie they’re talking about and so millions and millions of books is nothing more than that make money And to debunk Christianity, it’s a shame and disgrace that any Christian would even buy the book.

I hope none of y’all will ever have and never go see the movie. It’s junk, it’s slop. Christ died. He never did marry Mary Magdalene. He never had any kids after that. There were no such thing. That story’s made up. This book is true. But anyway, now that I’ve got my humble opinion on, He says they’re in verse 8, who shall declare his generation, for he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, was he stricken with his and made his grave with the wicked.

So this is the Messiah. He’s going to die for the sins of the world. And he was put in the grave. Is that all in the Old Testament or not? Is it here? It’s here. And with the rich in his death, he was buried in a rich man’s tomb. he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. And verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He had put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for what?

No man can be an offering for anybody’s sin, but they knew that the Messiah was. They had trouble understanding and discerning the time between the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that should follow. They didn’t know when it was going to happen, but they knew that the Messiah was going to die and the Messiah was going to come and ring. But when they didn’t understand, disciples didn’t even understand that. They couldn’t put their finger on when it is.

That’s why what I’m saying. I’m not going to believe it unless I see him. But anyway, look back there in verse 10. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his day. He’s going to be put to death, go into the grave, but he’s going to come back from the dead. And that’s what he’s talking about prolong his days. And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see that means after he’s dead, he’s going to see the travail of his soul shall be satisfied.

by his knowledge shall my righteous servant.” This is a phrase never mentioned to anybody else except the Messiah. My righteous servant and you are on the line those two words do what justify many not everybody but everybody that comes to him for he shall bear their what? Bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide us forl with the strong because he got poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors.

He was up there along with the two thieves on the cross and he bear the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressions. No bud, you think this is in the old days. You don’t think to understand what they was talking about? I do. I believe they believe them that they’re bearing the resurrection of the Messiah, but they were looking forward to the cross and we look back to the cross. Faith both ways. They got to take it by faith of what God said is true and we look back believing that it was true and we sold both saved by faith.

Everybody saved the same way. No man’s ever been saved any other way. If they think so, I’d like them to show me chapter and verse. Now take your Bible and look there in the book of Luke chapter 24. Luke and chapter 24. This is a very interesting portion of scripture. Because if you’ll notice there in verse 21, Christ has been crucified. He’s come back from the dead. And then verse 21, he had come alongside of several individuals and well they were having some doubts about what was going on.

He said, but we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. Beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yeah, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which went early at the And when they found not his body, they came saying when they had also seen the vision of angels, which said that he was alive. Certain of them which were with us went to the separate cup and found it even as the women had said, but him they saw not.

Then Christ, speaking to the two disciples, said of him, old fools, slow of heart to believe, you get this all that the prophets have spoken ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory didn’t the Old Testament prophets prophesied this in the words they’re talking about we thought this was the one and he’s been crucified in today’s the third day he says old fold and slow of heart to believe. Don’t you know that the Old Testament prophets prophesied of what’s happening right now?

So if that’s true, then wasn’t his death, birth and resurrection told him the Old Testament did? Because I listened to some guys and they said, well, you know, it’s not in the Old Testament. I thought you don’t know your Bible. You didn’t already had your Hebrew and your Greek and gone to 45 years into seminary and you don’t know it and you don’t understand this, then they ought not be preaching. But get what says in verse 27 and beginning it Moses and all the prophets, that’s Old Testament, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

So he must have opened up their mind to them. They could see so many things in the scriptures in the Old Testament that they didn’t know. We have people that they got a Bible in their home but don’t read it, don’t study it so they don’t know what’s in the Bible do they? Don’t you think that back then they did things and they didn’t understand it either. But that doesn’t mean God didn’t tell it and there wasn’t a remnant that did understand it.

Look what he says in verse 44, and he said unto them, these are the words which I speak unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written, were written in the law of Moses, in the prophets, in the Psalms, concerning me. Well weren’t they supposed to believe on Jesus Christ in the Old Testament? Even if it wasn’t the word Jesus Christ It was Jehovah. And believe in it, God was going to send his son.

You read the first chapter, the second chapter of the book of Psalm, and it talks about kiss the son, lest he be angry in my son, my son. And you can find many places where God talks about his son. God had a son, but he had a son. And he was going to send his son and he was going to be the king of glory. They understood an awful lot, those that would believe, but he didn’t make this statement in verse 40.

Then open, he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. The Scriptures is the Old Testament. They didn’t have the New Testament. Verse four, and he said it in. Thus it is written. That means in the Old Testament. Some of those verses we’ve already talked about. Like I used the illustration not long ago about Aaron’s rod that budded. Remember the illustration on Easter Sunday? that’s about the resurrection. Maybe he explained that story to him. And maybe explain to him about those two birds.

Remember, one has to live and one has to die. Maybe explain that story to him. Maybe he explains each of the Isaiah in chapter 53 or, you know, Psalms 16. Maybe he explained all those verses to him, but they knew they were told. And then he says in verse 16, Thus it be who Christ get this, it was written in the Old Testament to suffer, to rise from the dead, the third day. That’s in the Old Testament. And how much of the Old Testament I don’t understand, but it’s still there.

Whenever Christ came to him one day, remember, and they said, Lord, give us a sign, a sign that we might believe. He said this is an evil and adulterous generation. Seek it after a sign, but there should no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For his Jonah were three days and three nights in the heart of the year, in the Wales belly, even so shall the son of Mameth, three days and three nights in the heart of the year.

Do you think that the story of Jonah was a pitch of the death, Berlin resurrection of Jesus Christ? Would you have ever thought that? But it’s there. How much God revealed to their minds? I have no idea, but get what they says here. In verse 46, thus it is written, thus it be who Christ to suffer and derive from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations beginning in Jerusalem and it hasn’t stopped.

So the message before Christ died is the same message we preach after Christ died. They say, well, there’s a gospel before and then there’s a gospel. I see one story, it’s all one story. The story of redemption. Christ coming, He did it. We tell it. They told it. We tell it. Every The story of redemption. Christ coming. He did it. We tell it. They told it. We tell it. Everybody is to hear the same gospel. And I believe that you’re better off with a complete story and then just say and walk them.

just believe on Jesus, just believe on Jesus. And there’s a lot of people just believe in Jesus, and they don’t talk about what it means. And you got to talk about the death of burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to tell the story. That’s the foundation for them to believe. And there’s some religion, they talk about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and don’t say what you got to do to have eternal life. A lot of religions do that.

Never make it clear. I want you to take your Bible and look there in the book of 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. This is what somebody believes is a different gospel than John’s gospel. There’s not two different gospels. There’s only one gospel, one message that saves. And verse 1, he says, Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand, which also you are saved if you keep in memory that I have what I I have preached unto you unless you have believed in vain.

That means that Christ did not come back from the dead. But since He did, our faith is not in vain. Verse 3, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the what? That word. According to the scriptures. Scriptures is the old test. Christ died for our sins according to the Old Testament. Now did they know about it? Most of them believed that they didn’t know that the Messiah was going to die according to the scriptures.

Why even bring that out if it didn’t and it’s not true. It is true Get it. What else she says in verse 4 and that he was buried and then he rose again the third day according to what? And we’re not talking about New Testament. We’re talking about Old Testament So it’s the same story It doesn’t say here anywhere that this gospel is a different gospel than they used to have Their good news is not like our good news It’s the same good news A man is justified by faith because of the death of the girl in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He paid for all of our sins when he died. That’s why he can give it to us as a free gift. It’s one story, not two stories. It’s one. There’s a few other things I got down here I wanted to bring but I was just met at rest with that. Anyway, I don’t think you have any problem with this but if somebody comes along you can Ah, I believe the whole Bible. And I believe the story, there’s only one gospel that saves, and that’s justification by faith, believing that Christ died, and that He was buried, that He rose again the third day.

Because there’s some people think, you don’t have to mention the resurrection of Christ, or believe in that, or that He paid percent. Just believe on Him for eternal life. No, it’s one story, one story. This isn’t representing you and me and the wall represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God, He loves us. He loves you. He loves me. He loves everybody in the whole world. It’s the sin that we have a problem with because you see our sins separates is from God.

This then represent Jesus Christ. God is our sin separates us from Him. That’s why God hates sin because He’s perfect and we’re not. And He can’t fellowship with us. We can’t fellowship with Him. We can’t go to heaven because of the sin. And God says that since we committed it, we have to pay for it. It’s eternal separation from God in hell. But He loves us. He wants us to go to heaven and to go to heaven. We have to be perfect because righteous is God and nobody’s perfect.

Nobody is. We’re all sinners. The Bible says we cannot save ourselves by the good deeds that we do. The only payment for sin that God would accept is the payment of death. The sin represents Jesus Christ. God in the flesh came into the world because He does love us. He took the sin, paid for it on the cross. This was His way of showing us that he loves us. God so loved the world that he gave his only big gotten son who so ever in the world made it even, who so ever believe it.

Made it where anybody can have it. It’s not hard, it’s not complicated. Even a child can understand it. That all they had to do is believe that he did it for them and he would put the payment to their account. They’d go to heaven and what Christ did for them. If I offered you my tie and you accepted you’d have a tie. If Jesus Christ walked in here and offered you eternal life and you accepted, what would you have?

Eternal life. If it’s eternal life and it lasts forever, then where are you going to go when you die? You go to heaven. Let’s pray, shall we? Father, we do thank you so much for your word you’ve given us, that a man can know that he has eternal life because of the death of the Berlin resurrection. That you did it because your lustous, you sent your son, your only son. And Father, I believe in on Him, we have eternal life free from our sins, free from the condemnation of the Lord, to be free from the old nature.

And Father, one day will be with you in heaven. And even though we may decide to eternity, our bodies go to the grave, that body will rest in hope because it simply is going be resurrected, give a new life. We call that we thank you for all that you’ve done for us, help us to be clear, stand for us the whole story, not part of it. Believe in that, our eternal life is because of the death, urban resurrection of your Son.

Christ name we pray, Amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download to free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa.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. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

So live today and every day, everyday 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 on the air. the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. 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.

There are some who believe that before Jesus Christ died, before they’re Mount Calvary, that all you had to do was just believe the Gospel of John. You didn’t have to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can be saved and not believe that. That caused me a little bit of trouble. They said that how could they before the cross believe in the death of the resurrection of Christ when Christ hadn’t been killed and resurrected yet?

So how could they believe in the death of the resurrection? And many times we say, well, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the death of the birth of the resurrection. Well the death of the birth of the resurrection is the foundation upon which the good news is built. So they say there’s different kinds of gospels. It’s true because there was the gospel of the kingdom. And whenever John the Badges came and preached and he preached the gospel of the kingdom, that Christ was coming and they’re going to set up the kingdom.

And that was the good news, God word gospel means good news. And then there’s the gospel of Jesus Christ that we preached today. And we always include the death, broken resurrection. Every time I do the hand gesture, you’ll notice I say Christ took our sin and he died for it on this cross came back from the dead. I say that every time I do it, I’ve been doing it for 40 something years. So I teach that, but there’s others saying, now you don’t need to talk about the death of the resurrection of Christ because I do just believe in Jesus and you have eternal life.

So then you gotta get into what do you mean by believe? Well, the belief that he is the one that has eternal life and if you’re accepted he’ll give it to you. But I don’t understand any of the other stuff. And it’s kind of caused confusion. Well, I believe that there’s not two gospels. I believe there’s just one story. I believe before Christ, after Christ, it’s still the same story. And that they weren’t saved the different way before and were saved the different way after.

I think we’re all saved the same way. I don’t think we’re saved two different ways. I think if God ever saved anybody two different ways, one way in the Old Testament, one way that you could say, well, that wasn’t fair. That wasn’t fair. But it’s the same way for everyone. Which is the easiest. to look forward to the day that a payment would be made and trust it by faith that Messiah was coming or is it easier for us today to look back to a payment that was made?

Both require what? Say. So they look forward and we look back, which is the easiest. I don’t think there’s no easier. I’m just thankful that we have a more complete message today because he’s already coming done it. But it’s hard to get people to believe that he did come and did that as it would have been before that to believe that he was coming. So here in Galatians in chapter 3, look in verse 8, and the scripture. When you see and is written and the scripture says, generally it always refers to the Old Testament.

It means it was recorded in time past. And here in verse 8, and the scripture foreseen that God would justify the heathen through faith. So the gospel, the good news, is that you’re justified by faith. The heat, that’s the lost man. The heathen is justified through faith. Preached before they get this, the gospel under Abraham, sinning these shall all nations be blessed. And that phrase we know means is talking about Jesus Christ. Now people of the world will be blessed because of the one person who came from Abraham.

right there while your inhalation is in chapter 3. Look in verse 16, because I want to show you this in just a second in the Old Testament. In verse 16, now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, the main promise was that he would justify that he threw faith. That’s the good news. So Abraham who lived for 130 years before the law was ever given, he was saved the same way we’re saved. And he says here, he say if not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.

So Abraham was supposed to know and understand that God was talking about the Messiah. The Messiah is going to come and he’s going to make a death payment for the sins of the world and he’s going to justify those that simply believe. And the Bible says that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. in verse 6, even as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now take your Bible and turn all the way over to Genesis in chapter 12.

Genesis chapter 12, did they know anything about the death and the resurrection of the Messiah in the Old Testament? Did they have to believe what we believe? Or was it simply something different altogether? I believe it’s pretty much the same story. Look what he says in verse 3 of chapter 12. And I will bless them that blessedly this is God speaking to Abraham, saying what he’s going to do, and curse him that cursive and envy Abraham shall all families of the earth be blessed.

The also refers to Christ because Abraham was going to have a son down the road, the Messiah, through which the whole world would be blessed because of that. God told Abraham back. Am I supposed to believe that Abraham was told all these things, but Abraham didn’t understand any of it? No, I don’t believe that. Abraham already knew that he was going to a city whose builder and maker was God to another country, he knew that he wasn’t going to be here upon the earth forever.

He knew that. And he also knew that if he did slay his own son, that God was going to do what with him? Raise him from the dead. He all believed in the resurrection of Christ. I believe he understood a lot more than what people think. Look in Genesis chapter 15. Genesis 15 and look in verse five. Here he says, God’s speaking to Abraham, and he brought him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven. Tell the stars or count the stars.

If thou be able to number them, and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. That’s exactly what we just read just a minute ago over there in the New Testament in the book of Galatians. We just read that. He believed in the Lord. But what did he believe? And it says right before that, so shall thy seed be. That word seed refers to Christ because we read that in chapter 3 that that’s what the word means.

I suppose it’s that believe that Abraham didn’t understand none of this stuff. I do believe he understood. They knew what they were talked about and even before the writing of the Scriptures the Bible says that God spoke through the signs and the Heavens. Remember the twelve signs of the zodiac? Everybody talked today about the horse, goat and all that? Twelve signs of the zodiac, that was designed by God, not man. Man twisted it and turned it into something else, but God said that’s how he used to speak.

Those were stories and the stories were told in the stars. That’s written in the book of Psalms 19. It’s also mentioned in the book of Romans in chapter 10, how that their line is going on throughout the earth and the sun that comes out and runs into a circle in a journey and talking about Christ. And all these things, they mean something and there were stories that they told. And so they understood, I believe they knew a lot more than what we give them credit for it.

And so when he says there he believed in the Lord, he believed what God said about the seed and the seed was Christ. He believed what he said by Christ. Now look there in chapter 22, chapter 22. And notice here, when he makes the statement in verse 17, I’ll just look in verse 15, and the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, by myself have I sworn saith the Lord for because thou have done this thing and have not withheld thy son, thine only son.

See Abraham was a type of God himself, and he was not willing to withhold his own son, which was Isaac, from being slain upon an altar. He was willing to do it. He even pulled his knife up and ready to plunge it into the sun, and God stayed his hand. And there was a ram caught in the thicket, and then God used that for the offering. But this is what God, the Father, did, And he did not withhold his only begotten son.

God only had one. Abraham offered up his son Isaac on the very same mountain Mount Mariah that where Christ was crucified Mount Calvary, same place. So I am I supposed to believe that he didn’t understand nothing that was going on? No, I believe he did. He knew what the seed referred to. He knew what the type referred to. Otherwise all these types in the Old Testament, you would think that they didn’t understand none of those things. The tabernacle itself, which was made after the the one in heaven was a tabernacle and that was like that’s Christ.

Christ actually came into the world in a body form but he was God tabernacle in this tent in that body. And in the Old Testament the Chicana glory of the Holy Spirit would come down and rest over the holy place or the holy of holies in the Ark of the Covenant. So did the understand? I believe understood an awful lot. Now, I know that when he makes a statement here in verse 17, he says, that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of the enemies and in thy seed which is Christ, because we know that from the other scripture.

Shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thy has obeyed my voice. And God preached the gospel under Abraham’s and in all nations, he then is going to be justified by faith. So if that was told Abraham, and we’re justified by faith today, were they justified by faith? Abraham believed God, it was kind of the right that he was justified by faith. So everybody been saved by faith the same way. I don’t believe there’s a message before the cross and a message after the cross.

The only difference is they believed that he was going to be crucified and resurrected. And we look back and believe that he was already crucified and resurrected. So it’s the same fate in the same person doing the same thing. He made a payment for the sins of the world. And while you’re right there, look there in verse 7. And Isaac speak unto Abraham, his father, and says, my father. And he says, here am I my son. And he says, behold, the fire and the wood.

Where’s the lamb for the burn offering? I wonder why you asked a question like that. Because they knew they went up there to make a sacrifice. And maybe the sun hadn’t been told everything, but I believe Abraham knew. And then it says here in verse 8, and Abraham said, my son, God will provide what? a what? A lamb. Not that God’s going to provide a lamb. God’s going to provide himself a lamb. So I believe that Abraham knew God is going to provide a lamb himself.

But be the paper. And he says there in the last part of it. So they went both of them together. And then it tells about God staying at him and it was a ram and so forth cut. But how much did Abraham understand? I believe that he understood enough that he talked about because this was all this stuff’s about. About a substitution, a payment being made by the Messiah. Look now in Leviticus in chapter 14. Exodus Leviticus 14. The one thing that leprosy does in the Bible, leprosy represents sin.

incurable disease. But if a man could be healed of an incurable disease, it would have to be a miracle. And God says that when you’re healed, it’s almost like coming back from the dead because you had the sentence of death upon you. There was no cure for it. So look in verse 1, and the Lord spake unto Moses saying, this shall the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing shall be the law. He shall be brought unto the priest and the priest shall go forth out of the camp and the priest shall look and behold if the plague of lepers be healed healed in the leper.

Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed. Now get this and you are on the line this in your Bible that two birds alive, two birds alive. And clean and cedar wood and scarlet and hyssop. And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed. Only one bird would be killed. Hisop was like a little bush that had done in Egypt that they would take and sprinkle the blood upon the doorpost and so forth when God was going to go to call the Passover.

would pass over the home to have the blood applied. This is why we sing the song about the blood been applied and the pass over. And so God says that I will pass over the home where the blood’s been applied. And that’s the same thing to us. Every person who accepts Christ’s blood is applied to you in God. The angel of death passes over you. So isn’t it wonderful that the types were there. But give what he says. And verse five, and the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.

As for the living bird, he shall take it and for the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.” Now this is a picture of the death and the burial and the resurrection.

This is a picture of resurrection. You see, they had to use two living birds, but one bird would be killed, and the blood of that bird would be put upon the other bird that was still alive, and it would be released and free to fly. So it was like the bird died and lives again. But that was because a person with leprosy had been healed, cleansed. You and I, when we believe on Jesus Christ and we have an incurable disease of sin, we cannot save ourselves.

So whenever we trust Christ as Savior, His blood is applied to us and it’s like we are free and we are able to leave and not die. That’s why I said, if a man believed in me, he shall never die because, but in the Old Testament, they, this is the way of illustrating the resurrection and the use of two birds. you see that? I see that. I got no problem with this. I believe they understood the death, substitution. Somebody has to die and the resurrection is you being cleansed because of it and you live because one died.

Look over there in verse 48. The last line there in verse 48 says, because the plague is healed because not sometimes just a person but a plague can come upon a house And this is what they were supposed to do because one person got leprosy somebody else can get leprosy and next thing No, you got a bad case on your hands and the reason they talked about outside the camp was because of outside the city walls They had to be declared unclean and stay away from everybody and to dwell and be alone But look what he says there in verse 49 and he shall take to cleanse though house two birds in in 9 in verse 50 and one shall be killed and 9 in verse 51 and he shall take the cedar wood into his up in the scarlet and the living bird dip them in the blood of the

Slain bird in the running water and he gets set free he gets to go free because that’s a type of the death and Resurrection if I suppose they did all this for 1500 years it had no clue what was going on Then it will be nothing more than a ritual with no meaning. I don’t believe that I believe they are us on understanding they had to understand the sacrifices that were made Because God told them over and over again that they it doesn’t take away sin It was always they were looking forward to a payment that would be made now Take a if I’m looking to 16th Psalm the 16th Psalm Psalm 16 written by David David lived a thousand years before Christ And you’re talking about 500 years after Moses Almost thousand years after Abraham That’s a long time.

That’s kind of like in the middle, wouldn’t it be? He lived under the law But Abraham well, he was saved by faith alone and look what he says here in chapter 16 as David writes this Am I supposed to believe when he gets down here that he doesn’t understand what he’s writing? Look there in verse eight. He says, I have sent the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices My flesh also shall rest in hope now if you talk about my flesh my body When I die my body goes to the grave My body rested hope it’s going to come back again from the dead He said, how do I know it’s talking about the resurrection and will it say so?

Says so in the New Testament tell that this is what this is talking about So the David believe in the debt in the resurrection the resurrection of the body yet they do it Look what he says in verse 10 for a bow will not leave my soul in hell Held and not always mean the place of torment is the place of the departed death Sheol in the Old Testament Hebrew is sheol and in New Testament Haiti And that’s Greek, but it means the place of the departed dead.

So when you said a man dies and goes to hell, well, that was two compartments. One place of paradise, one place of torment, but they both went to the place of hell. Christ, the Bible says he went to the place of hell, but he didn’t go to the suffering part. He went to the paradise part, and that’s where he was because he said he would lead captivity captive. And he told the man on the cross that was going to die.

He says, today, shout out, be with me where? Place of torment. No, that’s good. He got a death. I ain’t going with you. I’m going to the place of paradise And so knows what he says in verse 10. Well, that will not leave my soul in hell Neither will thou suffer thine and you ought to get this the word holy one doesn’t refer to David They’ve never refers to himself as the holy one, but the Messiah To see corruption that means that even though he knows he’s going to die that his body is not going to be left in the grave more than three days because corruption starts on the fourth day.

Did they understand and know that the Messiah was going to die and be buried and come back again from the dead? I think so. I believe they believe that. You take that out and you don’t have nothing about salvation, hardly in the Old Testament. What does it all mean? What did all the sacrifices mean? If they didn’t mean something, then they didn’t know what it meant. They just did a ritual? No. I believe there’s people that day that go to church and don’t understand why.

I I believe there’s people who give money to understand why. I believe there are people that baptized but never really understand. But that doesn’t know the fact that we should understand and that there are some people that do know the truth. Think of how many people today or in church today it have not a clue on how to get to heaven. I think that a clue. But that doesn’t know the fact that we’re still saved by faith and we can know it and that I know it and kids are you know it and that we know that were saved by faith, were just because of a lot of people that didn’t understand what was said.

I believe there were some people that did, and it was always a remnant. So it makes a statement there. In verse nine and 10, I believe he’s talking about the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And when you go to the book of Acts in chapter two, it refers to this. Just to do it very quickly, a quick look over there in the book of Acts in chapter two. I think it’s important for you to see this connection with this.

Because there’s people that are very easily led astray and many are being discouraged because they don’t even know what they preach anymore. They don’t know, well, how much do I say? Just believe on Jesus. Yeah, I believe them believe it on Jesus, but there’s a foundation that you have to understand. Otherwise, what does that mean? Trust him for what? You’ve got to understand the story. You’ve got to understand Jesus Christ died and paid for my sins. Came back from the dead.

But you’ll notice in chapter 2, look what he says there in verse 25. And David speaketh concerning him, says David was talking about the Messiah. Christ, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for his on my right hand that I should not be moved. This is what we just read in chapter 16, written a thousand years before. Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh also shall rest in hope, because I will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thine holy one to seek corruption.”

Verse 1, “…Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy and I countenance. Men and brethren, let me speak freely unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sefrica is with us this day. Therefore, been a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.

Get this in verse 30, therefore been a prophet and knowing that God has sworn to him that a Messiah was coming through his loins, would sit upon the throne. He seen this before spake of the resurrection of Christ. So did he know about the resurrection of the Messiah. Yes. In the Old Testament, spake of this, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. I have no problem in understanding that this has seemed like it’s so simple, it’s so clear.

And I don’t have to go back and try to make it say something that says, you know what it says? It’s just a matter of what So I believe what God’s Word says. Look in Isaiah 53, the book of Isaiah in chapter 53. This is a very, very familiar portion of scripture. As you know, in verse one through the end of this chapter, this whole chapter is talking about the Lord. Am I supposed to believe that Isaiah used of God to write this, but he didn’t know what he was talking about?

No, I believe he understood what he was talking about. And up there in verse five and so forth, he was wounded for our transgressions, Bruce, whereGUI had cast hyphen of our pieces on him. So verse 6, all we light sheep have gone astray. We turned to everyone to his own way. The Lord had played upon him. Well, he did later upon Isaiah. It wasn’t upon David. It was upon his son. See there in verse 1 talks about the arm of the Lord revealed he was come up as a tender plant talking about.

Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And then He tells this in verse 8, He was taken from prison and from judgment, talking about Jesus Christ. Who shall declare His generation? There’s no such thing as the Da Vinci Code. Nobody can claim Him. They didn’t come from Him. That whole movie they’re talking about and so millions and millions of books, there’s nothing more to make money and to debunk Christianity. It’s a shame and disgrace that any Christian would even buy the book.

I hope none of y’all ever have and never go see the movie. It’s junk, it’s slop. Christ died. He never did marry Mary Magdalene. He never had any kids after that. There were no such thing. That story’s made up. This book is true. But anyway, now that I’ve got my humble opinion on, He says they’re in verse 8, who shall declare his generation, for he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken with his and made his grave with the wicked.

So this is the Messiah, he’s going to die for the sins of the world and he was put in the grave. Is that all in the Old Testament or not? Is it here? It’s here. And with a rich in his death, he was buried in a rich man’s tomb because he had done no Now no violence, neither was any deceitness, and verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He had put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for what?

No man can be an offering for anybody’s sin, but they knew that the Messiah was. They had trouble understanding and discerning the time between the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory The glory that should follow, they didn’t know when it was going to happen, but they knew that the Messiah was going to die and the Messiah was going to come and ring. But when they didn’t understand. 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. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Spinning Globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftempa.org. Thanks for joining us on Vital Line. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold.

Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep moving up.improving.

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 on the air. You can also call the church in Tampa, Florida. 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family. Take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 10, verse Corinthians and chapter 10. I want to speak to you on the difference between Israel and the church. And if you do not understand the difference, you will be like a lot of people that are in what they call Reformed Theology or Covenant Theology, which means that they believe that the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, and all the promises that God made to Israel, because Israel blew their chances and their opportunities.

The church now is the new Israel, and the church is to fulfill the promises, I’ll reap the benefits of all the things that God promised to Israel, and that the church now is gonna bring in the kingdom and so on, and that Israel is no more. And I wanna show you some of these things so that you’ll understand the difference. Here in the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 10, look there again in verse 32, give none offense. Neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.

There are three distinct groups that are mentioned here in this verse. This happens to be in the New Testament. It is something that is in the church age, our time in which we live. And so there are these three main groups. And God says there is the Jew, there’s the Gentile, there’s the Church of God. And they’re all different. And you’ll notice the very first thing that’s mentioned here showing you the difference between Israel and the church. Because if you don’t understand this, You don’t even understand the purpose of the local church.

You might think it’s just a place where people go to study the Bible. And maybe that’s all you think of it. It doesn’t mean much to you. Just like it’s an option. It doesn’t really matter. Well for those who know Christ is Savior, it is very important and it does matter. He has given us his word and explained it to us and we’re supposed to know it and understand it because we’re going to have to be held accountable for it.

The first thing mentioned here entered by the physical birth. That means that God made a promise to Abraham in the very beginning that he was going to have a son that was going to be the beginning of a great nation. Abraham at this time was childless. They didn’t have any children, name and Sarah, but you go all the way back here to the time of the promise that God made to Abraham. And so you became an Israelite simply by being born into the nation.

And so that was a physical birth. Now the church age is totally different. You’re not into the body of Christ. You don’t become a member of the church except by the new birth. So this is one that whenever you trust Christ as your Savior, you’re born into God’s family. Now this is where we are today. This little portion of time. This is about 2,000 years long called the time of grace. Back there you’re talking about maybe 4,000 years. So you got 4,000 years, 2,000 years at 6,000 years.

The Bible says that there’s going to be a thousand years upon the earth which will be known as the Kingdom. And this thousand years, well that’s the seventh day. One day as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day, six days, one day of rest, and that is the scripture that God has given in the book of Peter. Now when we talk about Abraham, God made a promise to Abraham that he was going to make of Him a great nation.”

And that’s what He did. And so there are those that are born into the nation of Israel and they’re part of that covenant that God made with that nation. The next statement, Jesus is Israel’s Messiah. John chapter 1 verse 41, the Bible says that when John the Baptist saw him, he says, “‘Behold the Lamb of God which take away the sins of the world.” And later on, one of the disciples says, come and see we have found the Messiah.

The only time is found in the New Testament where it refers to Christ as the Messiah and uses the word Messiah as an untranslated word. He is the Messiah, the Old Testament Messiah. He is Christ. Now, when Christ came, He is to be the head of this nation of Israel. Israel is to be a kingdom and a kingdom with a king. That’s why there was Saul who was the first king and then came David. So God had made promises to David that He would have a son that would set up on the throne of Israel forever.

Well, many thought, well, that’s talking about Solomon. It wasn’t Solomon because after Solomon died, the kingdom was divided. So there is the nation of Israel, and God had made promises to the nation of Israel, and he was born king of the Jews. When the wise men came to find him, they said he is born king of the Jews. Where is he that is born? King of the Jews, because that’s what he was. So Jesus Christ is to be the king of a nation, the nation of Israel.

This is important because, see, you don’t want to do away with the nation of Israel today and say it doesn’t mean anything and it’s not important what happens in the Middle East. Yes, it is. Because God made promises to that nation that He must fulfill. And just because they rejected Christ doesn’t mean the promises are not going to be fulfilled. They will be and not by us. We are not the Israelis, we’re not the Jewish nation, we are the church.

Now, across the page from that statement is, Christ is the head of the church. It means that when you and I as an individual, when we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Bible says we are part of the body of Christ because of this. When Christ went to the cross, He shed His blood on the cross and did that for you and I. So in God’s eyes, when we believe He did that for us as our substitution, God was satisfied as though I hung on that cross and I died on that cross and I was buried and came back from the dead and I’d seated in the heaven, he’s in Christ because what Christ did would put to my account and He did it in my place.

So every believer is in the body of Christ. But the Bible says Christ is the head of the body. So the body is here, the body of believers. But the head of the body is Christ and He’s in heaven. So He is the king of the nation of Israel, but He is the head of the church, head of the body. Two different things, they’re not the same thing. So we’re not looking for the promises made to the nation of Israel.

God has made new promises to the church. So when I know what they are, I know how I’m supposed to think, how I impose an act in live and what I can look forward to. And so meaning these things are written in the Word of God and are very simple, very clear. Now the next thing is this. In the book of Exodus chapter 20, the Bible says that Israel will be under the law. So God gave the law to the nation of Israel.

He did not give this law to you and I down here in this period of time, he gave the law to Moses for the nation of Israel. And it was a conditional covenant based upon the people’s response under the law. And when God gave them the law, the people said, all that He asked us of us, we will do. And if they did it, God would bless them. And if they didn’t, God would chasten them. Very simple, easy to understand.

They had dietary laws that do not apply to us today. They had the ceremonial law, the sacrificial law, the moral law. The moral laws were what we considered to be the 10 commandments. Those are laws that God gave to the nation of Israel. He didn’t give it to the nations of the world of the Gentiles. So all the people that were not Jewish were considered Gentile nations. But the church is made up of individual believers of a Gentile and a Jewish person and they both become one body.

And so we are believers made up of Jews and Gentiles. So there is the Jews and they are the Gentiles and there’s the Church of God. And if you don’t keep those things straight, you’ll be putting things where they don’t belong. And this is what mixes up a lot of people when they come to study in the Bible. And so you need to keep those things clear. The Bible says they’re in Romans chapter 6 and verse 14 that you and I we are not under the law we are under grace.

Look up here. You and I today we are not under the law. We’re not Israel. We are under grace. Though every person born into the world is condemned by the law because the law is still the righteousness of God. And a man who breaks the law is still sin. Even those that are not Jews, they are still sinners and they broken the law. And many of them don’t know it, but that’s why the Jews had an advantage over the Gentiles.

And that’s why it says in the book of Romans in chapter 3, What advantage didn’t have to Jew in much in every way? Chief, because they had the oracles of God. They had the Word of God. So there is a difference between Israel and the Gentiles and the Church of God. And there is a program for all three. God has a certain thing that’s going to be fulfilled through them until the end of time. Now, look at the next statement.

The citizenship is on earth concerning the nation of Israel. This is what God says to be part of them. You are born into the nation. That’s why you could not be just a proselyte. You had to be one that was literally born in the nation of Israel, you were born a Jew. And the Jews thought, well, because I am a child of God, because I have been chosen by God, we’re a special chosen nation, and that’s all true. But does it mean that that person in that nation of Israel automatically was saved, having turned a life, just because of them being born in the nation?

They still, as an individual, have to accept Christ as their Messiah. And if they reject Him, it didn’t matter. they still were lost, they have to be saved. The same way that a Gentile has to be saved. All are saved exactly the same way. Now, when it comes to the believer, I want you to see this verse over there in Philippians chapter three. Look in Philippians and chapter three. And notice what it says there in verse 20. For our conversation here, if you’ll notice, if you have an old scope of reference Bible, the word there means citizenship.

Citizenship is where you were you born? You’re a citizen of what country? Here in verse 24, our citizenship is in heaven. Cause when it says you are born again, to be born again me to be born from above. So you and I, when we trusted Christ as our Savior, we were born of God. And therefore God, been in heaven, we were born from the incorruptible seed. Our citizenship is in heaven. So therefore we are heavenly beings. Once you trust Christ as your Savior.

You have a new birth born of God. It’s a spiritual birth and it wasn’t talking about the physical birth. So with the nation of Israel, you had to be physically born into it. With the church, you were born into it by the new birth, by trusting Christ as your Savior. So they are two different things. They’re not the same thing. And things that are different are not the same. The next point I want you to see is in the Old Testament, they were not baptized by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit would come upon individuals. Take for example, Samson in the Old Testament. What was he noted for? His strength. And the Bible says that the Holy Spirit came upon Samson and Samson could do these mighty deeds. And he took the jawbone of an ash and one time and he killed a thousand Philistines. Now that’s a pretty good warrior. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of anybody else doing quite that much in one battle. So the Bible says that he had all this power.

power. But when the Bible says that he wished not that the Holy Spirit had left him, he had a strength because the Holy Spirit was on him. And when the Holy Spirit was off of him, he didn’t have that power and he could not do it. And so that’s why you and I need to understand the Holy Spirit would come upon them to perform a deed and then would leave. That’s why even King David prayed in the 51st Psalm, I pray that that will not take thy Holy Spirit from me.

So we’re talking about something totally different for you and I. Now, when you and I trust Christ as our Savior, we’re born into God’s family. We have eternal life and the Holy Spirit indwells every believer. The very moment you trust Christ the Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells you forever. And that’s why He said, I’ll never leave you and never forsake you. He lives within us. So keep that in mind. The next point, look at the The Israelites were blessed with physical and material blessings.

God promised that as long as they would obey His law that He would protect them in the land, their enemies could not devour the product that they had and everything that they produced, God would protect them. He said, I will put none of the diseases of Egypt upon you. So it was a health care plan. It was all the insurance they ever could have wanted. They had God as the great physician who would oversee his people and bless them materially in any other way.

So physical and material blessings were guaranteed to the nation of Israel conditioned upon their obedience to the law. If they did not, then God would take them out of the land. Now that is exactly what happened years later. God took them out of the land. But with you and I, the Bible says for you and me it’s a little bit different. He says, we, you and I in the book of Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3, we have been blessed with spiritual blessings in the heavenlies.

God never promised the earth to you and I. He promised the earth the land to the nation of Israel, and that they will get. Look there at the next one. On earthly temple, God promised in 2 Samuel, when he was talking to David, that he was going to have a son, they would have a temple. David wanted to build a temple, but God said, because you’ve got blood on your hands, I’m not going to allow you to build it.

But he used David to gather the materials to build a temple, and then when Solomon came along, God used Solomon, And God gave Solomon wisdom like he’s never given to any other man. And that man had wisdom greater than any man who has ever lived in the face of this earth, outside of Christ himself. So God said that this is what he was going to do, and he did it, and he did it through Solomon. But he says that Solomon built the temple, a literal temple, upon this earth.

Still part of it is called the Western Wall. That’s why there’s such a problem today because Jewish people claim that Solomon built this temple. God gave them this land and it belongs to them and nobody else has a right to it because God made the earth and God can give it to whoever he will. So God says that he gave it to Israel. The next thing I want you to see there, heavenly temple is because God says that we have something a little bit different.

And this one, the Lord tells us that we have a heavenly temple. in the Bible, the temple that’s in heaven, is the one that Moses used as a pattern to build the one in the wilderness, the very same temple. God says, we have a heavenly temple. That’s why when Christ died on the cross, He told Mary not to touch Him because He hath not yet ascended unto His Father. The Bible says that Christ went into the holy place Himself.

Well, it wasn’t the temple on the earth. It was the temple that was in heaven, a tabernacle, and that he sprinkled his blood upon the altar, the mercy seat for the sins of the world. Down here in this temple upon the earth, the high priest had to do this all the time, every year. But he went into the holy place in heaven and did it once for all, for all people. And so that whenever we have a payment made for our sins, it is the incorruptible blood of Jesus Christ that lives forever and therefore we have eternal life and our high priest doesn’t have to die again.

So there is a difference. The next thing I want you to see is the temple is a building. In 1 Kings 5 and 8, there is a literal temple that was built. later on the people came back from the Babylonian captivity and they rebuilt the temple but it was smaller. It was not the size that King Solomon had built. It was not in its glory. And many of the saints they wept when they beheld the temple that they had built and they didn’t compare with what they remembered.

And then Herod came along and there’s Herod’s temple and there were several reconstructions of the temple. But the Bible says for you and I when we trust Christ as our Savior God says our bodies our literal body becomes the temple of God. This is true in the New Testament. This is true for the church. My body is the temple of God. This body is where God Himself, that created the heavens and the earth. God lives in me. That’s what He says.

He met with the people in the Old Testament in the temple in the Holy of Holies. There was always the Shekonic glory that was over the temple in one day because of the sins of the people, the Shekana glory went away and they says that Iqabaad was written above it. It means the glory of the Lord is departed. Now the Lord, the Holy Spirit, where He is Lord is liberty. So He dwells within our bodies. So everywhere you go, whatever you do, you take in this living body, this living tabernacle, the Holy Spirit with you.

So every individual in the church age has the Holy Spirit living within them. The next thing what you see. The Jew and Gentile distinction is always made. When Christ was here he says, I want you to go to the house of Israel. Do not go to the Gentiles. Christ said that. It wasn’t till after he was rejected as the king that he told him in Matthew chapter 28, go into all the world and praise the gospel. So that was something that came.

So in the next one, I want you to look there. Israel will experience the tribulation. Matthew chapter 24th. Israel as a nation was a nation all the way down until you have Titus who came in from Rome in 70 AD. They laid siege against the city and Rome destroyed the temple and the temple was burned and the people were scattered. And Israel was out of the land for almost 2,000 years. Now, God promised that that’s what was going to take place, and that’s exactly what has happened.

But the Bible tells us this, in the last days Israel will go back to the land and they have. And what’s waiting on them? you Is a seven-year tribulation. Israel as a nation will go into the tribulation period. But what about you and I? Do we go into the tribulation? No, we are not Israel. God promised that would happen to the nation of Israel. Now, what are you and I looking for? We’re not looking for the tribulation because we won’t be here.

We are to be kept out of the tribulation period. So we will not go into the tribulation period. Look at the next thing. looking for the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, the nation of Israel, who will be here upon the earth in the tribulation period, are looking for the revelation of Christ. The Messiah revealed power, great glory. Every eye shall see Him. This is when Christ comes back in power and great glory to the earth. Israel is looking for that.

Israel was looking for that back there. They thought back before he came the first time he was going to come in power and great glory and deliver them from the iron hill of Rome. And he didn’t come like that. He came meek right upon a little donkey. But the next time he comes back, he’s coming back on a white horse. For the church is a little bit different. We’re not looking for the revelation of Christ to be revealed. We’re looking for the blessed hope for the rapture.

That means that if the Lord came back today, every person who trusts us, we’re not looking trust Christ’s Savior will be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we be with the Lord forever.” And that’s why he says in the book of 1 Thessalonians in chapter 4, 13 through verse 18, says, comfort one another with these words. So there is an agenda. There’s a program for the church age.

There is one for the nation of Israel. Israel, because they rejected the Messiah, has been scattered. So while that was going on, the Bible says God accomplished the job with the church as far as going into all the world and preaching the gospel. That’s what he wants to do. But he never promised us a kingdom down here. Never promised us land down here. He didn’t promise us the material in the physical blessings down here. And these preachers that are preaching this health and wealth gospel is false teaching.

That’s why you’ll find out that even the apostle Paul had troubles that he couldn’t heal. Timothy had stomach trouble that couldn’t be healed. If Haphorodius had problems that Paul couldn’t heal. And over and over again, the Bible says there’s a totally different thing. And some of them, they didn’t have anything. They were poor. And whenever they went into the temple one day, he says, silver and gold have I, what? None. But such as I give ID in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

So there is a difference between the nation of Israel and the church. Now look at the next thing. Nation of Israel started with Abraham, started with him as the father of the nation of Israel. And the Bible says for you and I, the church started on the day of Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came down, Pentecost is 50 days from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 50 days, that’s what the word Pentecost means. So this is the beginning of the body of Christ.

So on this day those believers that were there at that moment were baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. That’s not something they did, that’s something that Christ did. Because remember John the Baptist said, He Christ shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit. That’s something He does to every believer. In the book of John in chapter 7 verse 39 and 40 and 41 it says, Behold that day of the great day of the feast, Jesus stood in Christ and if any man thirst they’d been coming to me and drink, and at the scripture half set, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive. Those that believe on him would receive the Holy Spirit. So the church was born on the day of Pentecost. That’s when it started. So Christ was rejected as the king of Israel. He became the head of the church. And now the church age were not under law, were under grace. They had to do right in order to get God’s blessings. We, because we have been blessed, are supposed to serve the Lord.

We are supposed to serve the Lord, not because there’s laws, we’re supposed to serve God because of love. If you wrote L-O-B-E, that’s the motive. There are no laws that puts us under the law. We serve by grace or in view of what God has done for us. Let us present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So now, why do I serve God? Because of what he has done for me. They did it in order for God to do something for them. And they were under the law. We’re under grace. We should do it and go to church because that’s what he wants. He’s not going to take away my salvation if I don’t. I give because that’s what he wants me to do. I pray because that’s what he wants. I dedicate my life because that’s what he wants.

And if you love him, what he wants you to do isn’t hard. Only time that the Christian life becomes hard is if you don’t love God. If you love them, you don’t mind doing it. But if you don’t love them, you don’t want to do it. Everybody wants to do what they really love to do. And if you really love the Lord, you can live like you please if you love the Lord with all your heart. Israel rejected Christ.

The church is because they received Christ. He said he came into his own and his own received him, not. But as many as received him to them gave He power to become the sons of God. It involves one nation, the nation of Israel, but with the church it involves all people all over the world. See the church, the true church is made up of every believer from the time of Pentecost until the rapture. It doesn’t matter what church they are in.

If they have exactly trusted Jesus Christ and Him alone is their only hope to go to heaven, they’re saved, they have eternal life and they’ll go to heaven whenever they die and they are part of the body of Christ. When the rapture takes place, it’s not a rupture. It’s not God’s going to take those that are faithful. Every person ready or not, here I come, is going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. God says that.

Whether you’re ready or not. And we’ll stand at the Judgement seat of Christ, that’s a reward stand in heaven where God is going to reward you for what you have done for the Lord. This does not happen to the nation of Israel. And when we are taken out, It’s just like the seven years, you could slide it all the way back over here and Israel is still going strong right on through. This is like a parenthetical phrase in a sentence.

You can take it out and not hurt to flow the sentence. And so this is in here, but God’s going to take it out the seven years and Israel will again be in the land. The temple was going to be rebuilt. There’ll be a peace treaty made with Israel for seven years. And that’s what they’re working on now. They’re trying their best to get a peace treaty made in Israel. Yes or no. And there is no other nation upon the face of this earth that’s ever been out of the land for 2,000 years and then go back to the land and become established as a nation and it’s all happening in our lifetime.

And I’m excited as I can be. The Lord is coming back soon. As they would say, the Lord Hallelujah. 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 toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771.

If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvary oftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now we’ll closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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. 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 through the Bibleline website at CalvaryofTampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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 up there in chapters 2, the book of James. Then he’s talking about people that know the truth, but they don’t all believe exactly the right way. And he says that you become partial in verse four, or you not then partial in yourself, and you become judge of evil thoughts. You go into the right places, you’re trying to do the right thing. He says, but whenever there’s certain people around, you act differently. In other words, you’re not totally committed.

You’re a fence straddler. You’re sometimes you’ve got the faith and sometimes you got the work and sometimes you got the work and you don’t have the faith and you’re but you’re not clear And so he goes down through hearing he tells them and has to warn them. You’re doing things, but not correctly In other words, if you’re gonna run the race you have to be a master in all things in other words You have to be disciplined in every area of your life And so there’s some people who who go to church, but they’re wrong doctrinally They’ll witness, but they don’t tell them the true gospel.

There’s a lot of people who have a lot of weird beliefs. They’re doing what they think and their mind is right. Doing the works. There’s Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and there’s all kind of people that are going to church, giving money to a lovel, but their belief is wrong. So they got the work, but they don’t have the faith, the true faith. And so God says, that’s out of balance. See, the key thing is if you can get a balance between winning and training.

I believe in soul winning. I believe in talking to people about the Lord. But I also believe in God in my life. I also believe that a Christian should read the Word of God and be close to the Lord and study God’s Word and pray and do all these other things. I’m not just one side. If somebody says, well, Yankee doesn’t believe in just soul winning. That’s all he believes. That’s all he knows. Then they don’t know me. They’re not listening to what I say.

I teach many things about this book. You never know from one Sunday to the next what I’m going to cover. Unless I’m in a series or something. And I cover from anywhere in the Bible. I teach anywhere in this book. And I go to almost every book as I teach. In time, if a person comes every service, they won’t get a great, I guess, balanced knowledge of the Bible. Now, I can do that. But my goal is so when, but I need this other so I can stay strong enough to do that simple little thing.

Because this devil will try to stop you, try to ruin you. And so he makes a statement down here in verse 6. He says, but he despised the poor. They’re making bad choices. They’re making decisions, but the wrong ones. And he says here in verse 8, if people fill the royal law according to the scriptures, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, you do well. In other words, you got the word, but you don’t have the love. You’re doing the right things, but you don’t love.

Your motive is wrong. What you believe isn’t exactly right. And as if a man keeps the whole law and offended what? One point is guilty of all of them. He says, you’re doing a lot of things right, but there’s some things you’re not doing that’s right. Let’s ruin it for you. There are spots upon your garments, like having a white tuxedo, but somebody flesh mud all over it. Well it ruins it and this is the way Christians are. And so he makes a statement down here look there in verse 11, for he that said do not commit adultery said also do not kill.

Now if you don’t commit adultery but you did kill didn’t you still break the law? So there’s Christians that they won’t get right in every area of the life they just think it just long as I’m close. Do you think God just wants you to be close to Him, I mean a close-end something, or really right there with the Lord. I think you use the best choice of words there, but you understand what I’m talking about. So in verse 12, he says, so speaky and so do speak and do.

So he says, be swift to hear. Slow to speak, slow to write. The work of the flesh is that you’re slow to hear. Swift to speak, swift to write. Have you ever seen anybody who can lose their temper? that quick. Never seen anybody like that, huh? Or you somebody like that? I tell you, I have to be honest. I can lose mine like that. Just that quick. And that doesn’t mean that you are, you know, you stay there, but you’re for the moment.

You have a whole sinful nature inside of you. It doesn’t take much to get you mad. And if you are swift to hear God, be all right. And slow to speak means you had to think before you speak. Slow down a little bit. Count to a thousand. Somebody said count to ten. That ain’t long enough for some people. And, but if you’re not right, then you’re slow to hear what God says. See the Bible tells in the book of Hebrews in chapter 5, you are dull of hearing.

Means you’re slow to hear, slow. In other words, like you just turned God on. You don’t even hear God. So if you don’t hit, then you’re going to use your judgment and you’re not going to respond the way God says so God said that that’s not right. Now look there in James chapter 2 and verse 14. From verse 14 down to verse 26 then you’re talking about how that you need the balance between faith and works because faith without works won’t work and works without faith won’t work.

In the Christian life you have to have a balance between what God said and what you do. You’ve got to believe right so you can live right. And if you don’t believe right, you can’t live right. You understand that? You can see that. You can see that right there. And you see that. I know you can. So he goes down through here and he talks and gives him illustrations of how that faith without work, it is dead. It doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.

In these verses are we talking about how to get to heaven? We’re not I’m not talking about salvation. We’re not talking about eternal damnation and so forth. So when he says, if there can’t faith save him, no, it cannot save him. See up there in verse 14, he says, what profit would that the prophet my brother, though a man say he had faith and have not works can faith save him? No, it can’t. So we’re not talking about salvation from hell.

We’re talking about can it save you from God’s chagony? Can it save you from the judgment of God because every man is going to be rewarded for what he’s done, he’s going to serve the lost. So you put this in the context and it will make sense. But see many people take these verses. These are talking about salvation. And so they’ve got to have old works. Yeah, you’ve got to believe it. You’ve got to do these good deeds too.

No, we’re not talking about how to get to heaven. We’re already talking to those who know Christ is Savior and explaining how that you need. Leave right and live right. If you believe right, you can produce the righteousness of God. You don’t believe right, you cannot. This is why every time you come to church and you learn a little bit more truth, it’ll help you in your life. But if you go week after week or month after month and you never read the Word of God, you don’t go to church, whatever, then you will find out you cannot live right because you don’t believe right.

So you say to little by little, you’d be surprised that the truth that is said on Sunday morning, Monday morning the devil is picking it out of your brain. Remember he uses the parable of the sore went forth the sown, he sowed some seeds and the birds came down and he got the seed before it got Germany into the ground so he could grow. What do you think the devil, and use the statement and he says that the devil is like the bird that picks up the seeds out of your mind before you will think about it.

That’s why after a sermon is preached, the best thing you can do to remember it is to go over it and over and over in your mind So that you can remember what was said it’ll do you more good But by Wednesday chances are if you’re like me getting over you can’t remember what I preached last Sunday morning By tonight you might not even know what I preached today somebody working fast in order to get the thing out of your mind or to get you mind on something else so that you can’t remember what was saying All you know is, well, it was a good sermon.

What did you preach on? Well, I don’t know, but it sure was good. How are you supposed to change your life if you can’t recall anything that was said? If you can’t remember it. This is why notes write it down so you can try to remember. Because that’s why whenever you cover a certain verse, underline that verse. Not all of them. Otherwise that one verse won’t stand out. Just certain verses. Or certain thoughts. Some thing that you learn so that you can remember.

They say a short pencil is better than a long memory. I don’t know how long your memory is. It doesn’t remember everything all the time forever. But a short pencil is better than a long memory. And it can help you. Now look at the next statement. By being slow to speak, This is chapter three. And get this uncontrolled tongue received greater condemnation. In other words, like he says in verse one, my brother, be not many masters, not many teachers or instructors, because if you use this tongue to teach somebody, there is going to be greater condemnation upon you, greater judgment upon you, because somebody else might believe what you said, and what if you didn’t say the right thing?

See, if you are not willing to learn the truth, but you give your opinion to everybody, what if people are following your advice? What if they literally follow your advice and it’s wrong? You ever think of the consequences that might make a difference in their life? I’ve had people that will lie and have lied about me and people have believed a lie and if they believe the lie, it could change their whole life. It could cause them not to ever go to church again because You know, they I heard I heard I heard and it can destroy their lives Is that a wise thing to do you got to make sure that what you say your tongue cannot be tamed But it can’t be controlled it can only be controlled by the truth of God’s word So whenever you believe right you could say right and

If you don’t believe right you’ll say whatever comes into your mind and doesn’t mean it came from God But if you in your mind you feel like it’s true you’ll stand up on it and you’ll preach it and be totally wrong. And what a shame. Now also the second statement I wanted to give to you on this, number two, uncontrolled tongue produces greater consequences. It talks about the tongue sitting on fire the course of hell. In other words this little tongue, if you just do things with your life but don’t say a word.

It’s not going to maybe damage too many people but you can take that one little tongue and buddy you can inflame somebody that quick and hurt and destroy cut and because of the tongue you can hurt somebody make somebody mad bitter what all kind and the consequences are unreal, but not only the consequences, but look at the next statement. Uncontrolled tongue revealed greater contradiction. You see, it says here in verse 10, out of the same mouth for see that blessing, cursing, my brethren, these things ought not so to be, because they contradict each other.

God says this, you say this and hear somebody weak in the faith They don’t know what to believe in. You can influence somebody in the wrong direction. Bad consequences, because the tongue is not controlled. Do you think that God wants us to produce the righteousness of God? Or with the tongue, are you supposed to produce righteousness by the things that you say? This is why you’ve got to be careful about what you hear, what you believe, what you say.

out of your mouth should not come filthy communication out of your mouth should not come the gossip that destroys and ruins people you got to be very careful I have to be careful because this scriptures is to God’s children and There’s times when we may have guard upon our minds and we’re very careful and then there’s times where we may not watch what we say or do but the consequences can be devastating. And so down through here you have some scriptures that tells us about the different kinds of wisdom in the world.

The wisdom of man, the wisdom of God, and trying to discern so they will help you. Look at the next statement, the letter C by being slow to wrath. Look in chapter 4. Is it possible for Christians to war with one another? Christians to devour one another for Christians to say mean, bad, hateful things against one another? Is it possible? Hmm. And fighting. No. Okay. All right. All right. All right, we’re going down to the next one. Go back for the first.

Okay. Yeah. All right. All right. Thank you. All right. All right. Well, thank you. Yeah. And verse 1, 4, from whence come wars and fighting among you come, they not hence even of your lust that were in your memory. Look back there in James chapter 1, and look in verse 14. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of… what? His own lust. So where does all the problems come from? Well see, there’s… trials, there’s tribulations. Those are things that you may not be able to control.

You may not be able to help at what somebody else says or does. But are you supposed to be in control of your own lust? You can’t blame nobody else for that. A man is drawn away because of his own lust when he is in tight. But what you have to be careful is that you don’t try to in be the instrument that entices somebody else to share in a lie, the spread gossip, to do wrong, go to wrong places.

I know people that used to go to church and they were faithful and somebody got them to miss on a Sunday morning and they went up to the mountains and had a great time. There’s nothing wrong with them. Now those people keep going but the ones that got them there, they don’t because they go to church. But they stop long enough to take somebody else and then they love it. They didn’t have the control. They don’t know no more.

Now is that good or is that bad? Yeah that’s shame. You can use your influence in the wrong way. You’ve got to be careful. Everything in our whole life produced the righteousness of God. You know what they’re responsible for himself, but got to make sure that you’re not a stumbling block to somebody. You may be strong enough to say and do a lot of things. Go play in and you stay strong because you don’t like the wrong, you can discern.

But somebody else may not be able to. It’s whenever you care about them. It’s not your conscience. Sometimes the conscience of somebody else. Well, they’re not there strong or whether they’re weak. Now look at letter C. I got two things down here. The lust of man will produce the wrath of man. So whenever you let the lust of the flesh control you, you’re going to have the results and that’s going to be the wrath of man. The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.

And now, line in verse 5, do you think that the scripture sayeth in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us, lusteth to end? Now there’s two things about this verse I want to show you. One What is this? The lust of man leads to destruction. The lust of the Holy Spirit leads to the fruits of righteousness. You mean the Holy Spirit has desires? Yes. Can a man grieve the Holy Spirit? When you don’t produce the righteousness of God in your life, the Holy Spirit is grieved because that’s why he’s there.

He is the work in your life. And he lusted to end, in other words, to the point of it, the Bible says in the Old Testament that God is a jealous God. You ever heard that before? He’s jealous. If a Christian falls in love with the world, you don’t think God’s jealous? Would you be jealous if your husband began to look at another woman? Spent out enough, would you get jealous? Bill of India’s? Why not? That’s the way we are.

That’s the fear of being replaced. God doesn’t want to be replaced because you love something else more than God. It’s wrong. So the Bible tells us that there’s the lust of man, leads to the wrath of man, and they lust of the Spirit that will lead to the fruits of righteousness. But look at it somewhere else. If you have the lust of the flesh and it leaves you into sin, is it possible that they were some that thought? Well, it’s not my fault God tempted me and That’s why the scripture says God cannot be tempted with sin neither Kennedy any man because some Christians think that God someone attempted them to do the wrong and store it’s not my fault It’s God’s fault and God tempted me God doesn’t tempt a man to do wrong that never came from God He says, you’re drawn away from your own last from within you, not gone.

But do you actually think that the Holy Spirit that lives within you lures you in the sin? That one way God’s gonna test you is God’s gonna pimp to you with sin. God doesn’t pimp to sin. He’ll give you trials. He’ll give you tribulations. Those aren’t necessarily sins. Just because you’re having a rough day. Bad health. No finances. Or this or that. That doesn’t mean we’ve gone. You don’t want the things wrong because it’ll sin in your life? No.

But if you go ahead and commit adultery, that’s a different story altogether. If you lie, that’s a different story altogether. If you murder something, that’s a different story. That’s not tribulations and trials. It can lead to that, but that’s because of the temptation, the lust on the inside, the man that produced the right. That’s not the will of God. But what is the solution to the pride that produces the lust of the flesh, because a man wants his own way.

Look what he says in verse 6, instead of pride lifting you up, let it be humility. The opposite of pride is humility and verse 6, but he giveth more grace, wherefore he said, God resisted the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore they God resist the devil. So you haven’t seen the devil in all these verses, but the devil’s behind it, ain’t he? He’s there? The devil’s at work. He’s at work in your life. You see, can you see the Lord working in your life?

No, I don’t think so. Can you see the devil working in your life? Well, sometimes I think he’s working more than God. You’re the instrument by which they’re both fighting over to get you to do certain things. There’s a war going on and the battle is real. But get what he says, resist the devil and he will what? He’ll flee from him. He will flee. Resist. Not go along with him. Now, as you go down through here, we don’t have time to cover all of this here, but I did want you to see this.

Look at number three in your notes there. Endure till the end. Have you ever heard the phrase, Ah those that endure to the end, the same shall be saved? Well, enduring to the end, I believe it’s the will of God for every Christian to endure to the end of every trial, every tribulation, and to endure the temptation, as he says in chapter 1 and verse 12. In other words, until the Lord comes, you see there in chapter 5 and verse 7, the talk about being patient, and so forth, and verse 8 being patient until the Lord comes, verse grudge not one against another, lest you be condemned, behold the judge standeth before the door.

Don’t you understand that the Lord is right there at the door and we’re gonna be there. We’re gonna be there. And the judge, the Lord, is watching everything. You don’t have to be a judge in everybody else’s life. You don’t have to go around condemning. Remember this, it’s a good thing to remember. The Bible and everybody knows John 3 16 or most people. For God so loved the world that he gave is only begotten son. The hosts who ever believe within him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his son into the world to what? To condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. Now if I’ve been sitting to the world and you’ve been sitting to the world we’re not to go into all the world and condemn everybody. We already know people sin don’t we? So we don’t have to condemn them. They condemn nothing called it what they’ve done that because they don’t believe. So the key in our Christian life is not trying to find all the sin in everybody’s life so we can condemn everybody.

The goal in the Christian’s life is not trying to find all the sin in everybody’s life. I already know everyone of y’all said it here sin, but I don’t care to know what it is, and I don’t care to take an elaborate on all the bad things you’ve done over your life. And I don’t really have any great desire to share all of mine with you. So therefore I’m glad that we don’t have a booth up here and you’ve got to come up here confess your sins and pay me for doing so.

Aren’t you glad all you got to do is just talk to the Lord about it or if you wrong somebody else you can make it right with them. So we have the scriptures that tell us look look down the road and there are results down the road that after you have done this look at letter A when you believed all you can and you have worked all you can and you have prayed all you can and if nothing changes what should you do?

Praise the Lord anyway. Look at that relief. When you bleed all you can and you work all you can and pray it all you can and if everything changes what should you do? Praise the Lord regardless and stay faithful until it’s all over with. God doesn’t want you to just be faithful until you’re 30. Be faithful until you’re 40. Be faithful until you’re 50, 60, 70, 80. Now it doesn’t matter. Be faithful until the end. Endure. Turn the end.

Didn’t say you’re going to enjoy everything, but we can endure everything that the devil throws at us, the flesh throws at us, and unbelievers throw it up. and even Christians can throw at you. You can still be found faithful, can’t you? Doesn’t it work? And he says look at the end result of Job, the patience of Job mentioned right here in these verses. And then whenever you have others for an example then he says this pray. You got trials, what should you do?

Pray, got tribulations, what should you do? Pray, got temptations, what should you do? pray, pray all the time about everything. The fervent prayer of a righteous man of valor much. And if that much is true, it means it makes a difference in your life. It may not change the circumstances, the world, the trials, the tribulation, but it can make you stronger. And that’s what you’re praying for. So that you can endure. Sometimes God will not move the things away from us.

Our answer to prayer would be if God just removed the temptation, but sometimes that’s not possible. We live in a world of temptation. And God says, if you become a friend of the world, you’re no longer a friend of God. And he talks about in this book, James chapter 2, that Abraham was a friend of God, He didn’t love the world. And many of God’s children are in love with the world, and God is jealous. God doesn’t like that.

I hope that those notes will help you just a little bit more to understand. I believe one of the greatest books on the Christian life there is. You take it out of its context and try to apply it to the lost man. It’s chaotic. And that’s why so many people, they don’t do that with that book. Anyway, look up here. God loves you, paid for your sins. You trust Him, He gave you eternal life. I believe all of you in here has heard me maybe two or three times and you have eternal life and you’re going to heaven when you die.

But we’re not there yet. It is the will of God that we just keep being faithful. What’s the things we say and do because there’s other people that hinge upon our power of influence? Use your power of influence in the lives of other people to do right. Let’s pray, shall we? Our Father, we do thank you so much for the word that you’ve given us. And Father, for this book that makes it so simple and so clear. And I pray, Lord, your will to be done in our church, in our home, our families.

And bless these people and help us to endure until the end. Not for salvation, but because we’re your children. And there’s a lot of things in this world, a lot of battles to fight. So bless us 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 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, 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 m- and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can And reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calbryoftampa.org. 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.

Last couple months, I’ve covered quite a few messages from the book of James. But I wanted to give you an outline or an overview of the book. The kind to kind of remind us of what we’ve covered. Not a lot of things new, but to reorganize it in your mind so that you will have a better understanding of the book. I title this message in times like these. So whenever you’re living, it’s in times like these. Well, it was in the first century, it was in times like those.

But today it would be in times like these. And we have a command given to us from the Word of God of things that God wants us to do, how God wants us to be. But we have a lot of trials in tribulation, temptations. And I wanted to explain those just a tad better. But I wanted to give you a copy of the note because you can add to this and study it later on on your own. James is a book that is written to those who know Christ as their Savior, their believers.

But they’re not just believers, these are Jewish believers. These are Hebrew Christians. And it says in verse one, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. So some like to talk about the lost 10 tribes. Well, he wrote a letter to the 12 tribes. So I believe that they were remnants of all 12 tribes. And I believe in the tribulation period. Once again, they will be the 12 tribes of Israel.

So they’re not lost. God knows where everybody is and what tribe they belong to. And then in verse one, it talks about my brethren. But if you look there in your notes, I believe the proper response to the things that give us a greater understanding and appreciation is the why God did what he did. And we are to be thankful to the Lord because letter A trials that are designed to build character from the Lord in response from the Lord.

So we have a way that we’re supposed to respond to the various things that happens to us and the temptations that are designed to destroy character are not from the Lord. So there are things that God has sent our way to build our character and that’s what we consider to be trials and tribulations. See, you may have a financial difficulty, a health problem. May not have anything to do with the lust of the flesh. The lust of the flesh or temptation, the tempting to do something that’s sinful and wrong, God explains to us in His Word that God doesn’t tempt a man to sin.

See there in verse 13, let no man say that when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man. So this is why when Jesus Christ was here, Jesus Christ was not tempted to sin, he had no sinful nature. It was a mockery Satan wasting his time. And so you have these two things. The trials, tribulations, hardships, separate those from the temptations. He says in verse 14, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.

And then whenever that is fulfilled, then it brings forth sin and and bring forth depth. So you have these two things. One is because you as a Christian can go through trials and tribulations, and we’re not talking about the battle of the temptations of being drawn away because of the loss of the flesh. And so even if you do right or if you do wrong, whether you’re saved or whether you’re lost, there’s trials and tribulations in the world. And whether you’re saved or whether you’re lost, there’s temptations in the world.

But you need to separate it too because the one God can use to build your character. The other one is to destroy your character. So you need to understand which ones are to build me and which ones are to destroy me. Because the temptations are the things that you could be tempted to do that will be destructive. Not good for your health. Because then your heavenly Father may have to chase you. doesn’t necessarily chase you because you have to go through trials and tribulations.

Hardships, it could be like I said, you can lose a job and you have hardships, trials. And does God still expect you to be faithful in the midst of trials? Yes. And if you are tempted by the devil to do something, to produce sin, and you’re drawn away with your own lustful desire, can God still use that though? Yes, God can use it. Because if you’re weak and you’re not going to obey God, God can allow the devil to have at you pre-reign.

And God can know ahead of time whether you’ll stand or fall. That’s That’s why he says, be careful of bragging about how strong you are because lest you fall. So you can fall. And he says, there’s many trials, many temptations. But with every temptation, even though within you there is the desire to sin, there is a way to escape that strong, poor desire to do so. And this is what the Word of God teaches. So the book of James is a book on how to live the Christian life.

And so we’re told that in these verses, like in verse 12, blessed is the man that endured temptation for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised of them that let him. So many things in life is to designed to determine whether or not do you really love the Lord. And so he breaks it down to us. at number two, the theme of the book. In other words, we say, what is the purpose of this book?

The Christian man is to produce the righteousness of God. And he says here in this verse, look there in verse 19. Verse 19, wherefore, that’s wherefore, in spite of everything else he said before this point. Therefore, he says, my beloved brethren, Christians, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man, get verse 20, the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. So then what would it be the will of God for the man?

It is God’s will for the man to produce the righteousness of God and the wrath of man doesn’t produce that. So now we have a key verse in the book that tells us the purpose of the book. How a Christian is to produce the righteousness of God. And many say the purpose of the book is talking about faith and works. Well that’s true but there’s more to it than that. But how does a Christian produce something. So we’re talking about what a Christian is to produce with his life.

And there’s three things that God has given to us here in this verse 19. If you look there in your notes by being swift to hear, swift to hear, and the verses that cover this goes all the way over there to chapter two and the end of chapter two. But whenever you read down here in verse 22, There’s something that you keep in mind. It says, and I have here to note number one, it is faith with no works, faith and no works.

And the second thing up there in chapter two is talking about works, no faith. And then in verse 14 down it talks about you’ve got to have faith and works. Now, look up here just a second. Here you are as a Christian. God wants you to produce the righteousness of God, not the wrath of man. God says it is not you having faith and then no works. In the second part of chapter 2, the first part, is talking about not having the works and no faith.

And then by the time you get to the end of chapter 2, it’s talking about faith and works. So the Christian life is not for you just to say, well, I got faith and no works. It is not for you just to have works and no faith because your works won’t match what the word of God says. I’ve had people tell me that you serve God your way and I’ll serve God my way. And I say if you don’t serve God God’s way, you don’t serve God.

So we’re to serve God the way God wants to be served. We’re to worship God the way God wants to be worship. We’re supposed to call that which is holy, which God calls holy. And we’re supposed to call that unclean, what God calls unclean. God’s the one that decides. So we’re supposed to listen to what he says, but look in verse 22. But be doers of the word and not heres only. In other words you heard, and you can say because I heard the word, oh I’ve got faith.

I’ve got faith in the Bible. I’ve got faith that God’s going to do this and this and this and this and this. But you don’t live like it. You don’t have any works that shows that you’ve got any faith in God’s word at all He says you’re just like the person who looks in the mirror Sees himself, but then goes like he never saw himself. He didn’t make any changes. There was no improvement. Nothing happened So what are you supposed to do?

Well, God says you’re not supposed to be here’s only See in chapter two, it’s not supposed to have faith only So there’s something else that goes with it. In the book of Hebrews it talks about things that accompany salvation. Here I am, I trust the Christ as my Savior. If I don’t have the things in my life that God wants me to have by natural consequence and the nature of the beast, you’re going to have thorns and briars in your life.

They’re not the things that you want. There are many of of God’s people that know what the Bible says, understand what it says, and then will purposely go against the Bible. Leon and I was talking to an individual this this week about a person who knows this, knows right, knows wrong, and they’re gonna do wrong anyway, right, Leon? Right. Just gonna do wrong, they’re gonna do it anyway. And I said, you never thought that what you’re now doing you would have ever done.

You never would have thought that what you’re now doing you would have ever done. You didn’t think you would ever go that far. But people don’t think. You see, the devil will try to get you a little bit separate from any kind of authority so that you could do whatever you want. that don’t stay close to the Lord are bent on destruction. And it’s going to happen just a matter of time. But look what he says in verse 25, but who so look at into the perfect law of liberty, continue it therein.

He been not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work. So here you got a man who’s got the faith but no work doesn’t produce anything. But if you will put the two together it would be great. It’d be wonderful. How many times I’ve seen people that go to church and you go to church all your life. And yet the word of God has never changed that person’s life. Never altered how they think, how they talk, where they go.

It’s just that church is a place they go I guess and it’s a temporary thing but it’s a like puttingruary on a sword. They don’t do anything to get rid of the problem, it’s just they go ahead and play a game like with the Lord. Like they’re not really serious and it’s just like if it often came by they put a quarter in. But like that’ll keep God off my back. Just enough to keep God from really whooping them real bad.

They don’t want to do too much bad just a little bit. Don’t want to do too much good just a little. And they want to just ride the fence and never get on one side of the other. Well they don’t grow strong in the Lord won’t accomplish my won’t have much power of influence in their life. Now look up there in chapter two then he’s talking about people that know the truth but they don’t all believe exactly the right way and he says that you become partial in verse four or you not then partial in yourself and you become judge of evil thoughts.

You’re going to the right places. You’re trying to do the right thing. He said, but whenever there’s certain people around, you act differently. You know, words, you’re not totally committed. You’re a fence straddler. You’re sometimes you’ve got the faith and sometimes you got the work and sometimes you got the work and you don’t have the faith and you’re but you’re not clear. And so he goes down through hearing he tells them and has to warn them. You’re doing things but not correctly.

In other words, if you’re going to run the race, you have to be a master in all things. In other words, you have to be disciplined in every area of your life. And so there’s some people who go to church but they’re wrong doctrinally. They’ll witness, but they don’t tell them the true gospel. There’s a lot of people who have a lot of weird beliefs. They’re doing what they think and their mind is right doing the works. There’s Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and there’s all kind of people that are going to church, giving money to all of me, but their belief is wrong.

So they got the work, but they don’t have the faith, the true faith. And so God says, that’s out of balance. See the key thing is if you can get a balance between winning and training, I believe in soul winning. I believe in talking to people about the Lord. But I also believe in God in my life. I also believe that a Christian should read the Word of God and be close to the Lord and study God’s Word and pray and do all these other things.

I’m not just one side. If somebody says, well, Yankee doesn’t believe in just soul winning. That’s all he believes. That’s all he knows. Then they don’t know me. They’re not listening to what I say. I teach many things about this book. You never know from one Sunday to the next what I’m going to cover. Unless I’m in a series or something. And I cover from anywhere in the Bible. I teach anywhere in this book. And I go to almost every book as I teach.

In time, if a person comes to every service, they won’t get a great, I guess, balanced knowledge of the Bible. Now I can do that. But my goal is so when, but I need this other so I can stay strong enough to do that simple little thing because this devil will try to stop you, try to ruin you. And so he makes a statement down here in verse six. He says, but he despised the poor. They’re making bad choices.

They’re making decisions, but the wrong ones. And he says here in verse eight, if people fill the royal law according to the scriptures, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, you do well.” In other words, you got the word, but you don’t have the love. You’re doing the right things, but you don’t love. Your motive is wrong. What you believe isn’t exactly right. And as if a man keeps the whole law and offended what? One point is guilty of all of them.

He says, you’re doing a lot of things right, but there’s some things you’re not doing that’s right. That’s right for you. There are spots upon your garments, like having a white tuxedo, but somebody’s in a splash mud all over it. Well, it ruins it. And this is the way Christians are. And so he makes a statement down here, look there in verse 11, for he that said, do not commit adultery, said also do not kill. Now, if you don’t commit adultery, but you did kill, didn’t you still break the law?

So there’s Christians that they won’t get right in every area of the life. They just think it’s as long as I’m close. Do you think God just wants you to be close to him? I mean, a close end, something, or really, right there with the Lord. I think you use the best choice of words there, but you understand what I’m talking about. So in verse 12, he says, so speaky and so do, speak and do. So he says, be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

The work of the flesh is that you’re slow to hear. Swift to speak, swift to wrath. Have you ever seen anybody who can lose their temper? That quick. Never seen anybody like that, huh? Are you somebody like that? I tell you, I’d be honest. I can lose mine like that. Just that quick. And that doesn’t mean that you are, you know, you stay there, But for the moment, you have a whole sinful nature inside of you. It doesn’t take much to get you mad.

And if you’re swift to hear God, you’ll be all right. And slow to speak means you had to think before you speak. Slow down a little bit. Count to a thousand. Somebody said to count to 10. That ain’t long enough for some people. And, but if you’re not right, then you’re slow to hear what God says. See the Bible tells in the book of Hebrews in chapter 5, you are dull of hearing. It means you’re slow to hear, slow.

In other words, like you just turned God on. You don’t even hear God. So if you don’t hit, then you’re going to use your judgment and you’re not going to respond the way God says. So God said that’s not right. Now lookgroupon in James chapter 2 and verse 14. From verse 14 down to verse 26, then you’re talking about how you need the balance between faith and works. Because faith without works won’t work. And works without faith won’t work.

In the Christian life you have to have a balance between what God said and what you do. You’ve got to believe right so you can live right. And if you don’t believe right, you can live right. You can’t live right. You understand that? You can see that. You can see that right there. Can’t you see that? I knew you can. So he goes down through here and he talks and gives him illustrations. How that faith without works, it is dead.

It doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. In these verses, are we talking about how to get to heaven? We’re not talking about salvation. We’re not talking about eternal damnation and so forth. So when he says, if there can faith save him, no, it cannot save him. See up there in verse 14, he says, what profit would that the profit my brother? Though I man say he had faith and have not works can faith save him? No, it can’t. So we’re not talking about salvation from hell.

We’re talking about, can it save you from God’s chasening? Can it save you from the judgment of God? Cause every man’s gonna be rewarded for what he’s done. He’s gonna start with a loss. So you put this in the context and it will make sense. But see, many people take these verses. these are talking about for salvation. And so they’ve got to have old works. Yeah, you’ve got to believe it. You’ve got to do these good deeds too. No, we’re not talking about how to get to heaven.

We’re already talking to those who know Christ is Savior and explaining how that you need. Leave right and live right. If you believe right, you can produce the righteousness of God. If you don’t believe right, you cannot. This is why every time you come to church and You learn a little bit more truth. It’ll help you in your life. But if you go week after week or month after month and you never read the Word of God, you don’t go to church, whatever, then you will find out you cannot live right because you don’t believe right.

See Satan, little by little, you’d be surprised that the truth that is said on Sunday morning, Monday morning the devil is picking it out of your brain. Remember he used the parable of the sore went forth so and he sowed some seeds and the birds came down and he got the seed before it got Germany into the ground so he could grow. What do you think the devil, and use the statement and he says that the devil is like the bird that picks up the seeds out of your mind before you will think about it.

That’s why after a sermon is preached the best thing you can do to remember it is to go over it and over and over in your mind so that you can remember what was said. It’ll do you more good. But by Wednesday chances are if you’re like me getting over you can’t remember what I preached last Sunday morning. By tonight you might not even know what I preached today. Somebody working fast in order to get the things out of your mind or to get you a mind on something else so that that you can’t remember what was said.

All you know is, well, it was a good sermon. What did you preach on? Well, I don’t know, but it sure was good. How are you supposed to change your life if you can’t recall anything that was said, if you can’t remember? This is why notes write it down so you can try to remember because that’s why whenever you cover a certain verse underline that verse, not all of them. Otherwise that one verse won’t stand out. Just certain verses.

certain thoughts, some thing that you learn so that you can remember. They say a short pencil is better than a long memory. I don’t know how long your memory is. It doesn’t remember everything all the time forever. But a short pencil is better than a long memory and it can help you. Now look at the next statement. By being slow to speak, this is chapter 3, and get this uncontrolled tongue received greater condemnation. In other words, like he says in verse 1, my brother, be not many masters, not many teachers or instructors, because if you use this tongue to teach somebody, there is going to be greater condemnation upon you, greater judgment upon you, because somebody else might believe what What you said and what if you didn’t say the right thing?

See if you were not willing to learn the truth, but you give your opinion to everybody. What if people are following your advice? What if they literally follow your advice and it’s wrong? You ever think of the consequences that might make a difference in their life? I’ve had people that will lie and have lied about me. And people have believed lie. And if they believe the lie, it could chase their whole life. They could cause them not to ever go to church again because, you know, they…

I heard, I heard, I heard. And it can destroy their lives. Is that a wise thing to do? You got to make sure that what you say your tongue cannot be pain, but it can’t be controlled. It can only be controlled by the truth of God’s Word. So whenever you believe right, you could say right. And if you don’t believe right, you’ll say whatever comes into your mind. And doesn’t mean it came from God. But if in your mind you feel like it’s true, you’ll stand up on it and you’ll preach it and be totally wrong.

And what a shame. Now also the second statement I wanted to give to you on this, number two, uncontrolled tongue produces greater consequences. It talks about the tongue sitting on fire the course of hell. In other words this little tongue if you just do things with your life but don’t say a word. It’s not gonna maybe damage too many people. But you can take that one little tongue and you can inflame somebody that quick and hurt and destroy, cut.

And because of the tongue, you can hurt somebody, make somebody mad, bitter, what all kind of, and the consequences are unreal. But not only the consequences, but look at the next statement. Uncontrolled tongue reveal greater contradiction. You see, it says here in verse 10, out of the same mipersie that blessing, cursing, my brethren, these things ought not so to be because they contradict each other. God says this, you say this and hear somebody weaken the faith and they don’t know what to believe in.

You can influence somebody in the wrong direction. Bad consequences because the tongue is not controlled. Do you think that God wants us to produce the righteousness of God? Or with the tongue, are you supposed to produce righteousness by the things that you say? This is why you’ve got to be careful about what you hear, what you believe, what you say. Out of your mouth shall not come and built the communication. Out of your mouth should not come the gossip that destroys and ruins people.

You’ve got to be very careful. I have to be careful. Because then scriptures is to God’s children. And there’s times when we may have garbage upon our minds and we are very careful. And then there’s times when we may not watch what we say or do, but the consequences can be devastating. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, the 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.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. 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 on the air. You can reach us toll-free. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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 did a wonderful thing in a young man’s life. Totally turned him around. He had no idea that God had all these wonderful things in store for him. So God raised him up and wanted him king and gave him the Holy Spirit and allowed him to prophesy. He had a Samuelate side that would speak to God and intercede for him. And so he had it all set up for it. He didn’t have to do anything to get it.

And even at the very beginning, he honored the Lord and he served the Lord. it wasn’t long before things began to change. And when those things changed, just remember this. Out of this little portion of the scripture we just read, verse 1, the Lord chose Saul. In verse 6, the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and also in verse 6, he would prophesy. He would be turned into another man in verse 6. God would be with him in verse 7, and God gave him another heart in verse nine.

So we believe that there’s no doubt Saul was a believer in the Lord. It was not a heretic. He was not a heathen. He was a believer. Now first Samuel chapter 15, first Samuel chapter 15 just turned to your right. And notice a few things God had told Samuel some things to do. Samuel began to get the big head and did a lot of things that he should not have done. And one of the things that God told him to do is that I want you to kill the Amalekites, of Malachi is the type of the flesh.

They were people that had persecuted the children of Israel when they came up out of the land of Egypt. And God says that these are people that are a thorn in the side of the nation of Israel. And He says that I want you to kill them and kill them all. So God remembered what a gag had done. And this is a gag here. And He was to be killed. And God told them, says I want you to kill them all, but He didn’t do it.

He didn’t do what he was supposed to do. Now look there in verse 19. This is in first Samuel chapter 15. Says, wherefore then, this thou not obey the voice of the Lord? Samuel is talking to Saul. But this fly upon the spoil and this evil in the sight of the Lord. God says you did evil. What did he do? He obeyed in a lot of areas, but he didn’t obey in all areas. And remember, there’s people that say, well, either Christ is Lord of all or not Lord at all.

There is a point where you are supposed to yield yourself in every area of your life to the Lord. For salvation, it’s not Lord of all. It’s that you trust Christ as your Savior. Now after you are saved, I believe that Christ should be the Lord of every area of your life. Means you should be willing to obey the Lord in all things. But he says here, he says in verse 20, and Saul said unto Samuel, Yay, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way which the Lord sent me and have brought a guy the king of Malachite.

He says of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Malachites. But he didn’t. He saved one man alive. He had confiscated the sheep and so forth that he was going to offer sacrifice. He says the people made me do it. And he had talked to Eve. He had made excuses on why things were not right. He determined what he would do and wouldn’t do. You see, the steps away from serving God is not all at one time. It’s a process.

It’s where you go through a systematic step and away from the direction that God wants you to go in. And so now it was partial obedience. At the beginning it was total obedience. Now it’s partial obedience. And he made the statement down here in verse 21, but the people took of the spoil, chief in the oxen, the chief of everything. Samuel made this statement there in verse 22, half the Lord is great, delight and burn offerings and sacrifices as an obey in the voice of the Lord.

Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to harken than the fad of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Witchcraft was a sin that God says was to be with execution. They were to stone and put out of their land those who were those are familiar spirits, those who had seances and the diviners and so forth, those that were guilty of enchantments and so on. God said, he did not want, he said, I’ve given you my word.

My word is what you’re supposed to go by, not trying to line up some planets and not by trying to conjure up the dead and trying to find up some secret stuff. God says, no. He says, because I have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected them from be in King. You’re not going to be King no more. And in the verse 24, he saw, says, I have sinned, I’ve transgressed the commandment of the Lord and thy word because I feared the people and obeyed their voices.

Now therefore I pray, pardon my sin, turn again with me and that I may worship the Lord. He said, I will not return with thee, for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord. In other words, did he confess his sin? Yes, he did. He said, I’m sorry, I should I was wrong. That did not restore the crown to him. See, the biggest thing that we have today is there’s people think that all you have to do is just confess your sin and you’re right with God.

No, you’re not. Don’t think that just because here you are as a child of God and you commit a sin, you have broke fellowship with God. Our walk with God is not based upon our total 100% obedience because if it did, nobody could have fellowship with God. with God. We have fellowship with God because the blood of Jesus Christ continually keeps us clean. Now your fellowship with God might be that you’re not as close to the Lord as you should be, but you can still have some fellowship with God.

Me and my wife can have fellowship with each other, but there may be times when it’s not as close as it ought to be. And just because I do something wrong, it didn’t break our fellowship like, now we don’t have none at all. No, you can still have some fellowship, but it’s not as strong as it ought to be. It’s not as joyful as it ought to be. It’s not as full as it ought to be. First John talks about that your joy may be full.

So I don’t believe that as you walk with the Lord and you do certain things and you’ve got a little sin in your life, that all of your fellowship when God is broken. I believe it’s strained. I believe it’s weakened. I believe the joy is diminished, but God said he wants us to have a full joy. And so therefore we confess our sins and God is faithful and just to forgive us for what we’ve done and the forgiving us of what we’ve done means that we can continue to walk with the Lord.

And if you don’t restore your walk, you don’t restore fellowship because fellowship is you and God in agreement and if you don’t restore the walk, you don’t restore a fellowship or the the walk that God. So this is what is happening now with Saul. He had rebelled against the Lord. He asked the Lord to forgive him to pardon, but too late. And I don’t know if he asked God as much as he asked Samuel because Samuel was a very, very powerful man.

Things were getting bad for him. He was on a downhill slide. Now look at chapter 18. chapter 18 and notice there in verse 29, 18 and verse 29. This is just to start to in verse 28. Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michael’s Saul’s daughter loved him. So Saul hated David. Why? Well because David was going be the next king. But there’s a lot of things that David didn’t totally understand and know at the time.

But he knew that there’s something different about David, God that was with him. David was young again. And also Saul had a daughter and his daughter loved David. And of course later on David is hated by Saul. And what does Saul want to do with David? He wants to kill him. So he begins to throw things at him, try to kill him. He even had his men out hunting for him and so forth. So we got pretty bad. But look what he says in verse 29.

Saul was a believer. Saul was yet the more afraid of David. And Saul became David’s enemy continually. Now there’s those who say that in the book of 1 John when he says that whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, that word commit they say is the word Greek. Greek word praso, which means to habitually practice. So you can get even in your scopher reference Bible and look in the margin and you’ll say practice sin. In the NIV we’ll talk about you won’t practice sin.

Well the problem is is every Christian practices sin or they’re just plumb experts at it. Because then you get into how many sins did it take to practice sin? Well see the Greek word there is not prasot. Prasot means to habitually commit sin, who continues sinning. But the word is poeo in the Greek and poeo means one single act of sin. So he says, whosoever is born of God to not commit sin cannot commit one single act of sin because his seed remaining and he cannot sin.

Not that he cannot practice sin. That contradicts the part that you said you will practice sin. And And so that’s why I despise I do not like the NIV. The NIV is not a good translation. Though there’s some people who look upon it as superior to a girl King James. But the King James I believe is correct. It simply says what it says. Then you can explain things to people. But when you put it into a translation and say this is what it says and it doesn’t say that.

I believe people answer to God for saying the Bible says and the Bible doesn’t say that. So does a Christian practice sin? Well it says that first John, when they use that word incorrectly, they’re saying if you’re really saved, you won’t go ahead and practice sin. You won’t continue on in sin. So then everybody becomes fruit inspectors. Then look at people’s lives and if you’ve got sin in your life, you must not really be saved because if you was really saved, you wouldn’t do that.

And if that’s the case, then everybody is lost because if you fall around everybody long enough you’ll find out that everybody got sent in their life and generally we’re guilty of committing the same sins over and over and over and over again. When you get mad about certain things being said to you in a certain way you’ll probably do that again the next time, the next time, the next time, the next time, the next time, the next time, the next time.

But that’s not what it says. And God does not tolerate these things but look what He says. David was Saul’s enemy. Saul became David’s enemy, continued. That word continually means that Saul, a believer, was continually, habitually committing sin and still a believer. And he was doing it against David. But when we talk about in the book of 1 John, that whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, that’s the new birth. The new birth born of God does not sin.

But in your flesh you will habitually commit sin. It would be great if you would stop all of it, and I would stop all of it, but we’re born with a sinful nature and we sin. But this is what was happening. Saul was getting worse and worse. He didn’t get better and better. He was right with the Lord, and then he started getting away from the Lord, and the older, he got the worse he got. And it’s the worst thing involved, just because you and I have known the Lord for a long time.

What does it mean that you can coast from here on in? You wore it before and you had the discipline and you fought battles. You fought a lot of battles over the temptations of the flesh and the pride of life and the lust of the eyes and so forth and you’re going to have to fight them until the day you die. This old flesh will not stop and don’t let down just because you’re getting older and think it doesn’t matter anymore.

It still matters. We’re not dead yet. We’re not home yet. to get close to the bank of the river where we can look across with a wish for life. Like the song of Jordan says. Now look in 1 Samuel 28, 1 Samuel 28, and look in verse 7. Three verses that I want us to look at here. And then said, Saul unto his servants, seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit. Was that right or was that wrong?

That was wrong. 424 law, Saul would die for this. And if there was a woman that was able to, that guilty of this as a wizard would be, a word called Necromancer, they were to be killed. God did not want it in the land. It was a sin unto death. I saw going to this woman, according to the law, the Word of God, saw which would die. He says, seek me a woman to have a familiar spirit. that I may go to her and inquire of her.

And his servant said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at indoor, and Saul disguised himself and put on other Raymond, and he went and took him in with him. And they came to the woman by night, and he said, I pray thee divine unto me, by the familiar spirit, and bring him up whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knoweth what Saul hath done, How he had cut off those that have familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land.

Wherefore, then layest thou a snare for my life to cause me to die. See at one time in Saul’s life, he killed people that the Bible says he was supposed to do. He believed the word of God. He fulfilled the word of God. He did the word of God. And then he began to compromise the word of God and lifted himself up as the judge over the word of God and became disobedient. And as he became disobedient, he became, you know, lots of days ago in his own life, and he would partially obey the Lord.

And then it got to where he didn’t want to obey the Lord at all. Now he was trying to kill David. Now he’s going to the witch of Endor. Look what he says in the verse 10. Saul swear to her because she says, I could die for this. Saul says, he swear to her by the Lord. He swear to her by the Lord. As the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to be for this thing. But what was the will of God?

Now see now he is the judge of God and he is overriding God. God says, says, they all die. And Saul says, no you won’t. You see anything wrong with this picture? There’s a lot wrong with this. Because now a man has become the judge in his own eyes about what he thinks is right and wrong. See, this is what I was talking about this morning, the carnal Christian. When you become a carnal Christian, you do not see the way you ought to see.

You don’t understand. Then you set in judgment upon those that are godly, that our righteous and you become a nitpicking person, a back-biter, and then the blame, like he’s already blamed in chapter 15, it was somebody else’s fault. And here we go. So he says in verse 10, and Saul swear to her, by the Lord’s end, as the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to the for this thing. Was that right? That was wrong. He showed a great disrespect for God and for God’s law.

Now look in 1 Samuel 31, 1 Samuel 31, and look there in verse 1. In verse 1, Now the Philistines fought against Israel and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down slain in Mount Gilmohah. And the Philistines followed hard unto Saul or upon Saul, and upon his sons, and the Philistine slew Jonathan, and a Benadab, and Mácajua, Saul’s sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hid him, and he was sore wounded of the archers.

Then said Saul unto his armor-bearer, Draw thy sword, thrust me through their wiz, lest these uncircumcised come, and thrust me through and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not for he was sore of frame. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it. What did he just do? He committed suicide. Committed suicide. Now did Saul, toward the end of his life, all you’ll go astray in your backslide, but you’ll always come back before you die? No, he didn’t. because there is a sin on the death.

In other words, Saul died and even though it says that he fell upon his sword, did you know that the Bible says that God slew him? Did you know that the things that you can do in rebellion can be a fulfillment of God’s judgment upon you because of the seizures that you make? And God keeps his word. Remember he had just said, Samuel come up and Samuel, what’s going to happen to me tomorrow? He says, tomorrow you and your sons are going to be with me.

Saul was told in advance, tomorrow you’re going to die. I don’t know if Saul totally understood that, but the Scriptures said that. Now, look there in 1 Chronicles chapter 10. 1 Chronicles 10. 1 Chronicles 10, look there in verse 13. Verse 13. So Saul died After he came back to the Lord That what it said? for Saul died for his Transgression is there a sin on the death a sin that can produce death in other words There’s a point where God says that’s enough You’re dead man Even though he says I’ve sinned and pardon me it did not restore him time it did not restore the throne it did not restore his life so you’re gonna die you’re going to be with me tomorrow Samuel says so he says in verse 13 so Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord but was there somebody

watching what he did remember what at what time of the day was it that he went to see the witch of Endor, what time of the day was it? At night time. God can’t see at night. See God can’t see at night. He’s blind. So that’s why most people sin at night more than they do in the daytime because nobody can see you at night. I wonder if God can see through the blackness. Think God can see it all the time, anywhere.

There isn’t any place that God cannot go or see. God sees all. Did God see and know everything that Saul was doing? And God brought about his death. Do you think it was the Lord that caused those archers to be able to hit his body? Allow it to happen? If God wanted to, he could have protected Saul. But God’s going to let him die. God let him die. So in verse 13, because he committed sin against the Lord, even against the Word of God.

He knew the Word. He knew what God told him to do and refused to fully obey the Lord. He was told about the Amalekites. He would not do it. He became judged. Do you think that our obedience, or partial obedience, or total rebellion, makes a matter with God. There’s a God up there. He’s still on the throne. He knows what’s going on and God doesn’t play games. We’re not doing whatever we want and he’s asleep someplace on the other side of some planet and he can’t see what’s going on here.

God is busy working in the affairs of every one of us. You and your life is important to God. Get up what else He says, he said, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not. Do you think God wants us to keep His word? Think of why He died. It is important. And then He says, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit to inquire it, because God had a law. It’s a shame that Saul thought he could suspend that law, but God can’t just spend his law.

He fulfilled his law. And looking for a word to enquire that, not of the Lord. Therefore, and you ought to underline these three words. He slew him. God says he did it. God let it happen. God slew him. it was just an accident. You know, some guy got a lucky shot off, you know. No, it wasn’t. There’s a God in heaven that can guide that little old error right into that man. And then that man, not wanting to be captured by the uncircumcised Philistines, took his life and his armor bearer that was with him, he took his life too.

So he sees how it works. He said, and He turned the kingdom unto David, the Son of Jesse. Well, isn’t that a wonderful story of all the good things that God did for a man, only to take all those great opportunities and He blew it and turned against the very God that gave it to him. That was all grace. What had so done to earn this? Nothing. Now you have trusted Christ as your Savior and me. And now God has bestowed upon us all these wonderful opportunities that He gives us to have as we live our lives.

And we’re just like Saul. We will partially obey the Lord, but not fully, not totally. Not 100%. We’ll hold back. I wonder if God is doing the same thing in our life that He did in His life. You know, this little accident, that little accident, you know, because you can’t see God act. You know, nobody saw God shoot him with that arrow. Nobody saw God cause him to push him down on that sword. Nobody saw God make him think like that.

But God can do a lot of things behind the scenes. And God is taking credit for this. But Saul could say he committed suicide. I had people tell me, well, you know, if you commit suicide, you’re going to hell. Suicide is in? Yeah. Did Christ pay for all of sin? Yeah. Paid. Paid. Can you commit suicide until go to heaven? Of course. Of course. There’s people that’ll tell you, no, you can’t. Yes, you can. Am I recommending you commit suicide?

No. No. Don’t you go out of here and write on a little piece of paper. A Yankee told me to commit suicide and there’s my little note. Don’t you do that. I’ll hunt you. I don’t believe it’s right. I believe it’s dishonoring to God. I believe it’s a shame. I believe we should let God take us home and God is ready to take us home. And I don’t believe in the mercy killing. I don’t believe in euthanasia for old folks.

I don’t believe that I as an individual, I cannot. Impossible. And I have more compassion upon a person that’s suffering than what God can have. Don’t you think, if I hurt God hurts? If I have compassion, don’t you think God has more than I got? In whose hands is life and death supposed to be in? Then let God take them. God, you’re supposed to be a God of compassion. And if you can tolerate that person’s suffering, then go ahead.

You want to take them home, take them home. I find it a lot easier to do that than to become God. Deciding, OK, I’m going to take your life, and let you live. I don’t want nobody doing that to me. Just let God handle it. I think He can do a fairly good job. Let’s pray, Shoni. Our Father, once again, we thank You for the free gift of eternal life. We know that You love us. We know you paid for all of our sins.

We know you give us as a gift, eternal life, the very moment we trust you. And Father, because we know that we’re going to heaven, Father, we know that we also have a great responsibility. You have so blessed us, not because we deserve anything, but you’ve given us an opportunity just like you did this song. Great opportunity, great position as your child in this world to serve you, to do right. We pray that we’ll serve you fully with our whole heart, not partial, because it’s only a step toward disobedience and totality.

And Father, after a while we won’t even see and understand the things that we do. Because we’ll be doing it without it seems right in our own eyes. I pray Lord, You help us to do what’s right, to encourage one another as we should. I love each other. I’ll probably ask the blessings of one each person here tonight. Christ in the Pray. 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air.

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

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 1-800-5-7. to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. 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.

So take your Bible now and turn to the book 1 John and chapter 5. There’s a lot of different doctrines, the Zababa calls it winds of doctrine, false teaching that goes around. And some people believe that once you trust Christ as Savior, that sin doesn’t matter. You can just do whatever you want to do and there’s no consequences to it because all the sins paid for, therefore you’re free. You can just commit whatever you want. And I sit down, I don’t know, for a couple hours, at different times talking to this individual, trying to get him to understand that that is not true.

And he couldn’t believe it. He just still won’t believe it. And he’s up in age and he just can’t understand. He says, sin is not an issue anymore. I says not as far as a penalty percent going to hell because Christ paid for that. I said, but that doesn’t mean that you can go out here and just live the way you want and get away with it. Not one effect your eternal destination, but it sure will affect your quality of life here and when you get to heaven because God is going to either reward you or not reward you based upon what you’ve done.

So it does affect eternity, doesn’t affect your eternal salvation. Once you trust the Christ to save you, you’re his child. Forever, you’re saved by grace. You can’t lose that. Well, look here in verse 13, the first John chapter 5, verse 13, these things have are written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Now, believe is very simple.

It means you just take God in his words. God says something, you believe it, that’s faith, that’s taking him as words. Whether you want to talk about accepting or believing or whatever, as long as the words mean the same. And because that’s all you have to do. But many preachers today, they say, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that who sovar, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, parry, but have everlasting life.

He says, well, what did he say? Well, he says, in, you know, the book of John 647, and I’ve barely, barely asked him, you’ll heed that, bla bla bla bla bla, had their everlasting life. But you’ve got to make that, whatever that word is, it’s got to be clear. It’s not clear because you understand it. It’s clear when the lost men understand what you have said. And so when he says here in verse 13, these things have I written unto you that bla bla bla bla bla, on the name of the Son of God, you know that that word here is believe.

And that’s all you have to do is believe, but they want to make it so jumbled because they can’t believe that God made it so simple. But that’s exactly what he did. So once you have trusted Christ of Savior and you know that you have eternal life, should a Christian be concerned about the sins in the life? I’ve had people say that once you trust Christ of Savior. And if you do go astray, that God will bring you back before you die.

So yeah, you can backslide, but before you die, God will bring you back to him. I heard that for years, but it’s not true. God will bring you back all the way. Not just back to you here. He’s going to take you all the way on home maybe. Because you cannot live as you place and get away with it. There are consequences. And there is a God in heaven. And as we read the scripture this morning and it talks about for this cause many are sick, many are weak and many are what?

Dead, dead. And if they are dead because of their disobedience, that means they didn’t get back right with God before God had to take him home. So there’s people that do die. Now look what he says here in verse 16. Verse 16, it’s got some strange language. We’re not going to spend a lot of time on this. I just want to give you a couple ideas. There is a possibility that you can see people that will sin a sin on the death.

The Bible talked about a sin on the death in the words a sin that you can commit and bring physical death we’re not talking about spiritual death, but physical death and Because God’s word tells us that we can have our lives shortened because of our disobedience to the Lord and That this is mentioned there in the book of 2nd Corinthians in chapter 5 and verse 1 the verse 3 about the person who had committed fornication even with his mother.

So I’m going to leave maybe he called a mother-in-law. But whatever it was a sin he says it’s commonly reported among you and so therefore this is a great sin and he says that you prayed that this person would be taken from you and talking about physical death. Well look what he says here in verse 16 if a man see his brother a Christian. Sin is sin which is not in the death, he can ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not in the death.

There is a sin on the death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not in the death. But there is a sin that is on the death. So there is a sin that Christians can commit where God says that is enough, and God will not tolerate him. Now in the Old Testament under the law. It was very clearly stated that there were certain sins that if you committed them, you were to be taken and stoned to death.

That’s sure death. And they were to put out all the people that were sodomites out of the land. They were to literally be killed. Now, we don’t do that today, but that was under the law they did. That was a sin that produced physical death. And there were other ones like even sometimes in cases of adultery, they were to be stoned to death. So there were some pretty bad deals back then, and I think we’re ought to be mighty glad that we’re not living then.

If America was under that kind of a law now, we would probably have to kill probably seven eights of America because of the wickedness. The Bible tells us that even though there are people who sinned unto death, we are supposed to try to encourage individual Christians to do right. And therefore, if you don’t have the gall, if you want to say, the courage that it takes, in tests and afforditude to talk to people, Christians that have air in their ways, you might be saving a soul from death, as it says in James in the fifth chapter.

It will save a soul from death because you help get him corrected. But today we live in a society where everybody just does that which is right in their own eyes. And the thing is, is they’re and then we commit the same kind of a sin of intolerant or tolerance by tolerating the wickedness in our land. We are afraid to say anything about what people do, even when it comes to Christians. And there’s Christians that shack up with one another and they don’t get married.

Is that right or wrong? I know Christians that even went to Florida Bible College and was out there in Colorado and they was helping to put together the convention that we had and then I found out that they were homosexuals and I liked to die. And we had one that came and I hired them to be a teacher in our Christian school and found out that one of them was a a sodomite already graduated from Bible college, even in the ministry working your pain on your salary on the payroll.

And when I find out about it, they’re out immediately. Now you can forgive them, but they got to start all over again from scratch to earn a testimony before you just say it doesn’t matter anymore. It does matter. And so there are sins that people commit that the Bible says was worthy of death. And whether we do anything as a government about it or not is not so much as the issue, it should be because that is the role of government to take care of the crimes in society.

Remember, crimes are sins. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal and so forth and do these things that they’re not supposed to do, but all crimes are all sins. So whenever we tolerate crimes in our society, we’re tolerating sins in our society. So take your Bible now and turn to the book of 1 Samuel in chapter 10, 1 Samuel and chapter 10, just so that you know God does deal even today, though you may not see it because God is behind the scenes, but God does work in the lives of his children.

If God is going to bless me now, then I believe God is going to chasten his children now. So there’s blessings and there’s chastening. Rewards are when we get to heaven and there’s going to be Christians are going to be suffering the consequences in heaven when they’re not rewarded for the things that they could have done for the Lord. So first Samuel in chapter 10, this is now the anointing of the first king of Israel. What was his name?

His name was Saul, hidden shoulders above everybody. This is not what God wanted, but they wanted a king so they could be like all the other nations. So God told Samuel, I picked out a man, you going on on him. So in verse one it says, then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head, talking about Saul. See the last part of the previous chapter verse 27, and as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, bit the servants pass on before us and he passed on, but stand out here of while that I may show thee the Word of God.

I want your servants to go ahead, but I want you to stay right here. I want to show you something from the Word of God. I believe that Saul knew the Lord and that he was a believer in the Lord. And God had chosen him above all the men in all of Israel to be the first king. At one point, God told him, says, when bowless little and thine own eyes. He said, I raised you up, but now you didn’t got big in your own eyes.

It’s amazing how that when you’re young, you can become more sensitive to some of the things of the Lord, but when you get older, you become complacent. We become filled with apathy and we start drifting even with Solomon. In his younger days, when he He first became king, he was given a choice about what he wanted, and he said, I want wisdom to rule thy people. And so because he was young, he asked for the right thing. His heart was tender and God blessed him with great riches and great wisdom and the wisest man that ever lived.

But after a while, he drifted from the Lord. And instead of having one wife, he had a thousand of them, 700 wives and 300 concubines. The Bible says that God dealt with them and rent or tore the kingdom apart because of it. The two tribes from the 10 tribes. But now notice what he says here in the last part of verse 1. Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? When thou art departed from me today, when thou shalt find two men by Rachel Separica and the border of Benjamin?

So he says, I want you to go there, and this is what I want you to do. He says they’re in verse four, and they will salute thee and give thee two loaves of bread, which thou shalt receive of their hands. There’s somebody who’s going to meet you on the road. Now in verse five, after that thou shalt come to the heel of God. Where is the garrison of the Philistines? And it shall come to pass when thou art come dither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place where they saw to re-enitabric, and a pipe, and a harp before them.

And they shall prophesy. verse six, and the spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and thou shalt be turned into another man.” We would call that being led to the Lord or having a new birth, but he says here, and let it be, when these signs are come upon thee that thou do as occasion served thee, for God is with thee, and thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal and be whole I will come down unto thee to offer burnt offerings, to sacrifice sacrifices of peace operands.

Seven days shall thou teary, till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shalt do. And it was so that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all those signs came to pass that day. And then there in verse 11, and it came to pass when all that knew him before time saw that, behold he prophesied among the prophets when the people said one to another, what is this? That this is the son of Kish, is Saul also among the prophets.

So God did a wonderful thing in a young man’s life. totally turned him around. He had no idea that God had all these wonderful things in store for him. So God raised him up and wanted him king and gave him the Holy Spirit and allowed him to prophesy. He had a sandaletist side that would speak to God and intercede for him and so he had it all set up for him. He didn’t have to do anything to get it.

And even at the very beginning he honored the Lord and he served the Lord. But it wasn’t long before things began to change. And when those things changed, just remember this, out of this little portion of the scripture we just read, 1 in verse 1, the Lord chose Saul. In verse 6, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and also in verse 6, he would prophesy. He would be turned into another man in verse 6, God would be with him in verse 7, and God gave him another heart in verse 9.

So we believe that there’s no doubt Saul was a believer in the Lord. He was not a heretic, he was not a heathen, he was a believer. Now first Samuel chapter 15, first Samuel chapter 15 just turned to your right. And notice a few things. God had told Samuel some things to do. Samuel began to get the big head and did a lot of things that he should not have done. And one of the things that God told me to do is I said I want you to kill the Amalekites.

Amalekite is the type of the flesh. They were people that had persecuted the children of Israel when they came up out of the land of Egypt. And God says that these are people that are a thorn in the side of the nation of Israel. And He says that I want you to kill them and kill them all. So God remembered what a gag had done, and this is a gag here. And he was to be killed. And God told them, says, I want you to kill them all, but he didn’t do it.

He didn’t do what he was supposed to do. Now look there in verse 19. This is in 1st Samuel chapter 15. Says, Wherefore then, this thou not obey the voice of the Lord. Samuel is talking to Saul. But this fly upon the spoil and this evil in the sight of the Lord. God says you did evil. What did he do? He obeyed in a lot of areas, but he didn’t obey in all areas. And remember, there’s people that say, well, either Christ is Lord of all or not Lord at all.

There is a point where you are supposed to yield yourself in every area of your life to the Lord. salvation it’s not Lord of all. It’s that you trust Christ as your Savior. Now after you are saved I believe that Christ should be the Lord of every area of your life. Means you should be willing to obey the Lord in all things. But it says here he says in verse 20. And Saul said unto Samuel, yea I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way which the Lord sent me and have brought agai the king of Malachite, he said of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Malachites.

But he didn’t. He saved one man alive. He had confiscated the sheep and so forth that he was going to offer sacrifice. He said the people made me do it. And he had talked to Eve. He had made excuses on why things were not right. He determined what he would do and wouldn’t do. You see, the steps away from serving God is not all at one time. It’s a process. It’s where you go through a systematic step and away from the direction that God wants you to go in.

And so now it was partial obedience. At the beginning it was total obedience. Now it’s partial obedience. And he made the statement down here in verse 21, but the people took of the spoil, chief in the oxen, the chief of everything. And Samuel made this statement there in verse 22, hath the Lord is great delight in burn offerings and sacrifices as an obey in the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to harken than the fad of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Witchcraft was a sin that God says was to be with execution. They were to stone and put out of their land those who were those who were familiar spirits. Those who had seances and the diviners and so forth, those that were guilty of enchantments and so on. God said, he did not want that. He said, I’ve given you my word. My word is what you’re supposed to go by. Not trying to line up some planets and not by trying to conjure up the dead and trying to find up some secret stuff.

God says, no. He says, because I have rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected them from being king. You’re not going to be king no more. And in verse 24, he saw, says, I have sinned, I’ve transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy word, because I feared the people and obeyed their voices. Now therefore I pray, pardon my sin, turn again with me, and that I may worship the Lord. He said, I will not return with thee, for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord.

In other words, did he confess his sin? Yes, he did. He said, I’m sorry, I should have done I was wrong. That did not restore the crown to him. See, the biggest thing that we have today, there’s people think that all you have to do is just confess your sin and you’re right with God. No, you’re not. Don’t think that just because here you are as a child of God and you commit a sin, you have broke fellowship with God.

Our walk with God is not based upon our total 100% obedience because if it did, nobody could have fellowship with God. We have fellowship with God because the blood of Jesus Christ continually keeps us clean. Now your fellowship with God might be that you’re not as close to the Lord as you should be, but you can still have some fellowship with God. Me and my wife can have fellowship with each other, but there may be times when it’s not as close as it ought to be.

And just because I do something wrong it didn’t break our fellowship like now we don’t have none at all. No you just don’t have some fellowship, but it’s not as strong as it ought to be. It’s not as joyful as it ought to be. It’s not as full as it ought to be. First John talks about that your joy may be full. So I don’t believe that as you walk with the Lord and you do certain things and you’ve got a little sin in your life, that all of your fellowship when God is broken, I believe it’s strained, I believe it’s weakened, I believe the joy is diminished, but God said he wants us to have a full joy.

And so therefore we confess our sins and God is faithful and just to forgive us for what we’ve done and the forgiving us of what we’ve done means that we can continue to walk with the Lord. And if you don’t restore your walk, you don’t restore fellowship because fellowship is you and God in agreement. And if you don’t restore the walk, you don’t restore a fellowship or the walk with God. So this is what What is happening now with Saul?

He had rebelled against the Lord. He asked the Lord to forgive him to pardon, but too late. And I don’t know if he asked God as much as he asked Samuel, because Samuel was a very, very powerful man. Things were getting bad for him. He was on a downhill slide. Now look in chapter 18. Chapter 18. And notice there in verse 29, 18. in verse 29. This is just to start to in verse 28, Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michael’s Saul’s daughter loved him.

So Saul hated David. Why? Well because David was going to be the next king. But there’s a lot of things that David didn’t totally understand and know at the time. But he knew that there’s something different about David, God that was with him. David was young again. And also, Saul had a daughter. And his daughter loved David. And of course, later on, David is hated by Saul. And what does Saul want to do with David? He wants to kill him.

And so he begins to throw things at him, try to kill him. even had his men not hunting for him and so forth. So we got pretty bad. But look what he says in verse 29. Saul was a believer. Saul was yet the more afraid of David and Saul became David’s enemy continually. Now there’s those who say that in the book of 1 John when he says that whosoever is born of God to not commit sin. That word commit they say is the word, Greek word praso, which means to habitually practice.

So you can get even in your scofareference Bible and look in the margin and you’ll say practice sin. In the NIV you will talk about you won’t practice sin. Well, the problem is that every Christian practices sin, or they’re just plumb experts at it. Because then you get into how many sins did it take to practice sin? Well, see, the Greek word there is not praso. Praso means to habitually commit sin, to continue sinning. But the word is poeo in the Greek, and poeo means one single act of sin.

So he says, whosoever is born of God to not commit sin cannot commit one single act of sin because his seed remaining and he cannot sin. Not that he cannot practice sin. That’s contradicts the part that you said you will practice sin. And so that’s why I despise I do not like the NIV. The NIV is not a good translation Monstrous of the people who look upon it as superior to the girl King James. But the King James, I believe, is correct.

It simply says what it says. Then you can explain things to people. But when you put it into a translation and say, this is what it says, and it doesn’t say that. I believe people answer to God for saying, the Bible says and the Bible doesn’t say that. So does a Christian practice sin? Well, it says that first John, when they use that that word incorrectly, they’re saying, if you’re really saved, you won’t go out here and practice and you won’t continue on and sin.

So then everybody becomes fruit inspectors. Then look at people’s lives and if you got sin in your life, you must not really be saved because if you was really saved, you wouldn’t do that. And if that’s the case, then everybody is lost because if you fall around everybody long enough, you’ll find out that everybody got sin in their life and generally we’re guilty of committing the same sins over and over and note again. When you get mad about certain things being said, you in a certain way, you’ll probably do that again the next time, the next time, the next time, the next time, and the next time.

But that’s not what it says. And God does not tolerate these things. But look what he says. David was Saul’s enemy. Saul became David’s enemy, continued. That word continually means that Saul a believer was continually habitually committing sin and still a believer. And he was doing it against David. But when we talk about in the book of 1 John, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. That’s the new birth. The new birth born of God does not sin.

But in your flesh, you will habitually commit sin. It would be great if you would stop all of it, and I would stop all of it, but we’re born with a sinful nature and we sin. But this is what was happening. Saul was getting worse and worse. He didn’t get better and better. He was right with the Lord, and then he started getting away from the Lord and the older, he got the worse he got. And it’s the worst thing of all, just because you and I have known the Lord for a long time.

Does it mean that you can coast from here on in? You warned before and you had to discipline and you fought battles. You fought a lot of battles over the temptations of the flesh and the pride of life and the lust of the eyes and so forth and you’re going to have to fight them until the day you die. This old flesh will not stop and don’t let down just because you’re getting older and think it doesn’t matter anymore.

It It still matters. We’re not dead yet. We’re not home yet. 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. Our 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and everyday, believing that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, they are 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Turn to the book of Romans, the book of Romans, the tenth chapter of Romans. I talk to a lot of people that have questions about the Old Testament and what did they really have to know? What did they really have to believe? And I believe that they had to believe what we believe. I believe they had to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah, just like we believe. But when he starts off in chapter 10 of Book of Romans in verse 1, brethren, feel the heartbeat of the Apostle Paul.

Why was God able to use him in such a great way? He says, my heart and prayer desire for Israel is that they might be saved. I believe he had caught a glimpse of heaven. He had traveled with Luke, who wrote the book of Acts in the book of Luke, and Luke’s the one that talks about and gives us the picture of Hell in Luke 16. So those two men, one had a vision of Hell and the other one had a vision of heaven.

And I imagine that between the two of them they had a pretty good picture and I think sometimes God’s in now here’s the picture and we’re to take it by faith that what God says is true. So he makes a statement in verse one my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge they have a zeal and there’s a lot of religions today that have zeal I believe the Muslims they have a zeal and they believe that they’re doing Allah a great favor because they were told that this is how they honor Allah, their God, their fallen, their religion made up by a man.

But they have a zeal, the Jews had a zeal, and many religions to date, they got zeal, but he says here, but not according to knowledge. In other words, they don’t know the truth. So in verse 3, he says, for they be an ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness. Now, evidently, he’s talking to the nation of Israel and he’s talking to them about in the previous chapters how that he had given them the law.

So God gave the law to Israel. So they were not lack of knowledge concerning the law for righteousness. They knew the law, but they couldn’t keep the law. But they were ignorant of the righteousness that God would give as a gift. And if you’ll notice there in verse 32 of chapter 9, because they saw it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. Now they couldn’t stumble at the stumbling stone, which is Messiah.

If they didn’t have them, if they didn’t know about them, but the Old Testament did tell them about the Messiah. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense and get this whosoever believe it on him shall not be ashamed. This is talking about for Christ’s righteousness. The righteousness that they could have had by faith, they stumble over it because they had the law given to them and so they just assume you’ve got to keep the law and yet they didn’t keep the law.

They had a zeal but not according to the truth. They didn’t understand something. They didn’t see something. They’re just like people today. They’re religious people all over the world and yet they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God so therefore they go about to establish their own righteousness. And the only ones who do that are those that don’t know the truth because once you do understand it and you know that it’s free, well then you don’t have to try to earn something that you know as a gift, but they don’t know it’s a gift.

And so I do believe that this portion of scripture, chapter 10, is talking about Where does faith come from? This new righteousness because he’s explaining how that God had dealt with the nation of Israel. So chapter 9, generally we say talks about the past of Israel and chapter 10, the presence of Israel in chapter 11, the future of Israel, and it’s kind of like thrown between chapter 8 and chapter 12. But if you’re reading through the book of Romans and you get to chapter 8, you can just jump from over chapter from chapter 8 and go right into chapter 12 and it doesn’t miss a beat.

So these three chapters are sitting right in here for a reason. They’re written to explain some things that have been said before. How that salvation is free, you’re saved by faith, you’re never condemned, God will never cast you out and never lose you. And so he uses the nation of Israel as an example, a living example. how that there’s always a remnant that cannot be annihilated. There will always be, and just like you as a child of God, you will always be a child of God.

So we see that, we understand that. So now look there in verse three of chapter 10. So we are talking about how a man is to be saved, because he said, brother, that’s my heart’s desire for Israel that they might say, but they don’t know. And so he says, for they be an ignorant of God’s righteousness, but why were they ignorant? It wasn’t that God didn’t give it, they didn’t believe it. They wouldn’t believe it. They stumble over that.

Many people stumble over the gospel because well that’s too easy. That’s too easy. It’s too simple. It’s got to be more than that. So they stumble over that truth. And it’s just by faith. They can’t believe it. One man told me, says, You can’t tell me. I says, No doubt I can’t. But he says, they go about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. So there is a by works righteousness and a by faith righteousness By works God says you can’t have it because it’s not by works No man is going to be justified in the eyes of God by his works by the law and so there is another righteousness that God will give you and it’s by faith so whenever you read the book of Romans in Chapter 3 Then it tells you that the righteousness of

God which is by faith in Jesus Christ And that’s the only way now look there in verse 4 for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that does what? That believes. Is that talking about now or was that before the cross? I believe that’s always been. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness because He’s talking to the nation of Israel. It’s jumping on them because they had not believed and why haven’t they believed it?

All these years, 1500 years of the nation and they wouldn’t believe. And yet Christ would have been the end of the law for righteousness for them because God used the law to show that a man cannot save himself by his works. And even though they made the sacrifices in the temple, all those sacrifices did not pay for sin. And those sacrifices, the blood of bulls and goats as it says in Hebrews chapter 10, will never take away sin. But now hold your place right and just look at Romans chapter I want you to see this one verse.

In Romans in chapter three, look there in verse 25, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, the satisfaction, the payment through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed to the forbearance of God. That’s a whole testament. That’s what they did before the cross. They still had to believe in the sacrifice, the payment that was going to be made by the death of Christ and had their faith in his blood because putting faith in the blood of bulls and goats won’t cut it.

It would never satisfy and the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. And then he says in verse 26 to declare, I say at this time, this side of the cross, his righteousness. So before and after it’s all deals with Christ. And so now he’s talking to the nation of Israel, the Jews, referring to what they could have had and how they were saved by faith the same way. And so now as he writes to the Romans and tells them that a man is saved by faith and all the world is guilty before God, the Jews had an advantage because they had the law given to them in Romans chapter Look now in verse 5.

For Moses, now look where you’re going to, all the way back to Moses. And this is written in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 30. These scriptures were fixed in the read are from that person of scripture way back there and this is what they mean. Now sometimes the scriptures tells us things that wasn’t previously known. Now, for example, when you read in the book of Jude, when it says, an Enoch walked with God, and that he was a preacher, and he preached this.

It says that he preached about the Son of God, the Lord, coming in glory to execute judgment upon all the wicked, and has about three verses there. But whenever you go back to the Old Testament where it says there in chapter 5 of the book of Genesis, in it what with God, and He was not for God took Him. That’s all there is. Not until we read the book of Jude in the New Testament right before the book of Revelation, do we find out that in it was a preacher, and he preached about the Lord, and that’s Jesus Christ, coming in power and great glory and to execute judgment.

But we wouldn’t have known that if it hadn’t been revealed here in the book of Jude. So there’s a lot of things they were told and a lot of things they knew and yet not written down in Scripture. So how do you know that? Well, remember it makes this statement in the book of 2 Peter in chapter 2 that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Talk about how wicked the world was, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

And God used him to build an ark for the saving of his household and the whole human race. But when you read 2 Peter in chapter 2 it makes this statement was a preacher of righteousness. Now we didn’t know that he was a preacher of righteousness and never said that. Not when you read back there in the Old Testament, but he was a preacher of righteousness. Now we’re talking about man’s righteousness or you think you’d be talking about the righteousness of God.

So see they did preach just like there’s people today, they may worship the church house and they worship the Bible, but not the God that made the world and the God that made the Word, they don’t worship Him. And so people can worship the creature more than the Creator. So things change, but the Word of God still means what God intended. So here in the book of Romans in chapter 10, look here in verse 5, for Moses described the righteousness which is of the law that the man which doeth them shall live by them.”

In other words, if you want to live, and in chapter 8 of the book of Deuteronomy it talks about this. And also in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 30 it talks about this. But he says, I set before you this day to choose life or death. In other words, whether you live or die, and he’s talking about physically there, obey my law. And so So there’s laws that God gave to the nation of Israel that affected their protection upon the earth, their blessings of God upon their land and their help, and they had to make choices.

They made the right one, God blessed, they didn’t, God cursed. So God said it before them, they had decisions to make, but they did not keep the law. They didn’t obey the law. So the law was to reveal that every man has sinned, come short of God’s profession. in verse six, but the righteousness which is of faith. So now in verse five, the righteousness of the law and verse six, the righteousness which is by faith. So chapter 10, I believe, is to get us to understand if you’re not saved by the law and you’re saved by faith, where does faith come from?

Where do you get it? He got the law from God. Do you get faith from God? So there are people who believe that by grace or you say through faith and that not of yourselves, is the gift of God and they think that the faith is the gift of God and they translate Ephesus to 8 and 9 to mean that. So that means that if you want to be saved, you have to wait until God gives you the faith.

God give me the faith. So if that’s true, then no man can be saved until God gives him the faith and if he doesn’t trust the Lord, it’s not his fault, it’s God’s fault. So that’s fatalistic. That’s not what the word of God teaches. You see, faith is not the gift of God. Being saved and having eternal life, the gift of God. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself, it’s the gift of God.

That’s a reference to your salvation. That’s free. But where do you get the faith from? Because some people believe and some people don’t believe. Every man is born with the ability to trust. You start with your parents. You have to trust them. Maybe you knew it or didn’t know it. But as you grow, you may get to the place where you have doubts about your mom and your dad. Whether they can do this or do that. And you question whether or not there is bright and wise as you once thought they were.

And then after you live about another 30 years you’ll find out what they were smarter than I thought. But you can put your faith in anything. You see a man can put his faith in the pew to take him to heaven but that doesn’t mean that pew can take you there. You can put your faith in this church to take it to heaven but that doesn’t mean it can take you there. You see you’re the one that determines where you place the faith so you can place your faith in the Lord or you You can place your faith in things.

Can that thing, that object of your faith, do what you believe it can do? See, it’s not the size of my faith that gets me to heaven. It’s the object of my faith. I can put a lot of faith in this microphone that takes me to heaven, and I’ve got lots of faith. I really believe that they don’t have no power. And so a man can trust in his good works, and it has no power. So he says, when you trust Christ as your Savior, he gives you eternal life, you go to heaven and what he did.

So where does the faith come from? So then, so then, you know that you need it because that’s where you get the faith of right righteousness. A righteousness God gives you by faith. Well, where are you going to get this faith from? So look there in verse 17. And you ought to underline this verse in your Bible if you haven’t underlined it yet. So all calls we’re talking about if a man is saved by faith, then where does it come from?

So faith cometh by what? Hearing and hearing by the word of God. And you can’t trust in the Lord unless you hear about the Lord. And then you can’t hear about the Lord unless somebody tells you about the Lord. Therefore, that’s why a man is to speak with the mouth and confess with the mouth of what he believes in his heart, so that others can hear and understand how to be saved. It’s not a matter that you and I have to go up into heaven and get ahold of God and bring him down here.

And we don’t have to go down into the pits of hell and get ahold of God and bring him up here. So I don’t have to ascend or descend. And yet this scripture comes from the book of Deuteronomy, where it says, shall you ascend into heaven and bring down the Messiah or reach down into hell and bring up the Messiah? Wait a minute. What’s the Messiah doing in hell? Because that’s what the scripture says. See there in verse six, but the righteous, which is of faith, speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven?

That means to bring the Messiah down. Who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down from above. This is a quote from the Old Testament that was said by Moses. You say, well Moses didn’t understand anything about Jesus Christ. Doesn’t it say in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11 that Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures in Egypt? So evidently he made his decision based upon Jesus Christ and upon the treasures that he would have with the Lord and therefore he was able to muster up I guess the courage to leave everything that he had and To take a stand that he was going to deliver Israel from the iron grips of Egypt The only problem was that he was willing to do it 40 years before God was ready He’s going to do the same thing, but he did it 40 years later.

The timing wasn’t right. He was the right person. He thought that God was going to deliver Israel by his hand. He learned the ways of the world for 40 years and came to the conclusion, look what I am. 40 years on the backside of the desert, realizing that he wasn’t nothing. And God had to unlearn him, teach him some new things. And then God had to retrain him. And so the man lived to be 120 years old. But now look what he says in verse 8.

And this is all in the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy. Or who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring up Christ again from the dead. If this is what it meant to bring up Christ again from the dead, then evidently they knew that Christ, the Messiah, came from heaven and was on the earth and will be there and will be killed and come back again from the dead. That’s Old Testament. So they knew that the sacrifices that they were making would not save them because they were not to trust in them.

What if they weren’t to trust and those sacrifices just what then were they to trust in? God doesn’t save people two different ways. Everybody’s always saved the same way. We’re saved by grace through faith. They were saved looking forward to the cross, the payment the Messiah would make and we’re saved looking back to that very same event. So we’re saved by faith on both sides of the cross. Then look what he says in verse 8, but what say that the word is neither even in thy mouth and in thy heart.

That is the word of faith which we preach. Why should we preach? Why should I tell people how to have eternal life? they can’t be saved except by faith and they can’t have faith to trust the Lord unless we tell the gospel message. So we preach the gospel so that people can hear and understand it and trust the Lord. We are not responsible for their decision. I am not responsible for any man trusting Christ or rejecting Christ. I have nothing to do with that.

I and you are just to be faithful to give the gospel. So whenever you give out a track, you’re giving out the gospel. See, you don’t have to be behind this podium up here to be a preacher of the gospel. Every child of God is to preach the gospel, some way or another. So you preach. And by that, somebody liable to believe. And their eternal destination rests upon that truth. Now, if you don’t really believe that, then you won’t have a great desire to get it out.

But if you really believe that, then you do. Now you’re going to live and you’re going to die. And the thing is, what did you do with the time that God gave you? Or whatever God gave you? See, all of us have a responsibility to the Lord to do what we can with whatever God has blessed us with. But now get this in verse 9. Remember, we’re talking about how is a man saved by faith, and that a man has to hear it.

Because if he doesn’t hear it, then he can’t believe it, and he can’t trust. So he says in verse 9, that is, if that if thou shall confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved. If you believe this, if you believe it. Now you don’t confess with your mouth to be saved, but you confess what you believe. Only way that we can spread the word is I confess with my mouth what I believe in my heart.

I believe that Jesus Christ died on that cross, paid for my sins, came back from the dead because I believe he did it for me. I confess with my mouth for the last forty-six years, I want people to know it. I want them to hear it. Because if somebody hadn’t told me, then I wouldn’t have heard it. And I couldn’t trust Christ because I had never heard the message before. And those that know the truth, those that believe that this book is true, it is most difficult like pulling teeth, getting a person to witness, to get them to pass out tracks, to get them to pray for the lost.

And yet it’s so simple. He says it’s by faith and faith alone. And this is why Paul made the statement. He says, Brother, in my prayer and heart’s desire for Israel is that they might be saved. And in first part of chapter 9, he says, I would be willing to give myself to be separated from God, to be a curse from Christ for my brethren. In other words, be willing to go to hell so that his brother could go to heaven.

Go into your bedroom or a closet space where you can get alone and turn out all the lights and just let it be dark. Picture yourself in hell for all eternity in the flames of eternal conscious torment forever and ever and ever and knowing that you will never get it, it will never end. When you had a chance, did not take advantage of it. You talk about a living hell because the body will burn but not be consumed. But see, if we only had a vision, could catch it, could see that.

But you can’t make somebody see something because as you read the Word of God, you have to see it. And as I read the Old Testament, I don’t see much scripture in the Old Testament that talks about the literal place of hell, though it’s bare, but it’s a real place and you and I are supposed to believe that. But He makes the statement here in verse 11, for the scripture says, Whosoever believe it in Him or on Him shall not be ashamed.

In other words, you’ll not be ashamed or ever regret that you ever trusted the Lord. You’ll never be sorry. We sing a song sometime from the choir. I’ve never been sorry that I trusted his name. Remember that song? Somebody going to help me out singing it over here? Just go for it. I’ve never been sorry that I trust the Lord. This thing, when we get to heaven, we’re not going to be sorry. We did so. Now down here, you may be afraid or ashamed that somebody knows your Christian, but in heaven you won’t be.

But the Lord says, I will be ashamed of you because you were ashamed of me. That doesn’t mean you don’t get to go to heaven. You still get to go to heaven, but you’ll be ashamed because you never witnessed for him. And the Lord says, live now because one day he’s coming and in the book of 1 John in chapter 2 verse 28, now my little children abide in that when he up shall appear we shall have confidence and not be ashamed before him and his coming.

And a lot of God’s children are going to be ashamed, ashamed and never did what they could have done because we’re not asked to perform miracles down here. We’re not asked to be super men. We’re not asked to do anything. We can’t do. We can do what God wants us to do. All we have to do is just explain the gospel to people. So when you leave, make sure you have tracks. Always ask the Lord, let me talk to somebody this week.

Somebody. Give a track to somebody. That’s the Word of God. Somebody, I’ll trust the Lord from it. And it may lead to an open door where you might get to talk to them about the whole thing and explain it to them. You see me do the hand gesture a thousand times. Learn how to do it. do it. Be an expert at it. A soul wanders nothing more than a person who makes the gospel clear for the lost man to understand.

The power is in the message. It’s not in you, it’s in the message. Enough, the message is in you, yes. But God can use you. Look up here, this man represents you and me and the wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God says that he loves us. He hates our sin. And for you and I to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us and wants us to go to heaven and to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God because heaven is perfect.

God is perfect and we have to be perfect to go into heaven. But we can’t because of sin and God will not allow us into heaven. Remember the sin is not just the sin that I commit, it’s the sin nature that’s within me. I could take this away and I still can’t get in because you see the sin nature is still inside of me. I committed this because I am a sinner. So God has to give me a new birth, not change me, not change me, not send me to church and do all the deed.

God has to give me a new birth. So this hand represents Jesus Christ, he’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world. He has no sin, no sin nature. So he has no sin. But Christ, because he loves Jesus and hates our sin, it says that He hates it because it separates us from Him. So what Christ did for us, He took our sins, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead and said, if we would believe it, He would give us His righteousness.

And if God gave me His righteousness, then I would be as righteous as God. Can I go to heaven if I’m as righteous as God? Well, yes. That’s a righteousness that God gives to me by faith in what He did for me. God says, once you trust Him, He’ll never catch you out and never lose you. Best news in all the world. Let’s pray, shall we? With every head bowed and every eye closed and no one looking around, if you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior.

Right now, why not just talk to the Lord and say something simple like this? Lord, I know I’m a sinner. I don’t understand it all, but I know that I’ve done things wrong. I believe that Christ died, paid for my sins, and I’m going to trust Him this morning. It’s my only hope of going to heaven. Friend, I’m not going to have you forward. I’m not going to embarrass you. But right where you’re sitting, if what I said made sense, would you say, yes Lord, I will trust Christ as my Savior right now.

And friend by doing that, God will give you eternal life as a free gift. And He’ll never cast you out, never lose you. And you can know that you’re going to heaven when you die. Would you believe it? Would you trust Him? If you’ve already trusted Christ as your Savior, do you see the responsibility? How that all of us as God’s children are responsible to preach the gospel. One way or another, find a way, because one day we’ll all stand before the Lord and give an account of ourselves.

Our Father, we ask your blessings upon each one here. As Father, your protection, because we’re living in a sinful world, and help us to have the confidence and the boldness that we need, and use this for your honor and glory. Christ name we pray. Amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bible 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and everyday, believing that the Lord is coming soon. 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 today, I’m going to talk about the Bibleline. 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftappa.org.

We pray that you’ll 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. Why is it that sometimes Christians, they can go to church, they trust Christ as Savior, they fall in love with the church, They love with the preacher, the love with the people, and love with the Lord, and they just wanna be found faithful. And after a few years, all of a sudden it’s all gone and they’re gone.

What happened? God doesn’t love them anymore. No, God didn’t change. You see, to stay strong in the Lord, you have to stay close to the Lord, and to stay close to the Lord is gonna be a result of what you believe. And this is why the Bible talked about being strong in the doctrine, strong in doctrine, knowing what God says. See, the one of the biggest assets that I’ve got in my life that have helped me over the years is the Bible doctrine that I know I understand.

I know I’m going to be tested. I know that. I know the devil is after me. I know that. I know he wants to ruin me. I know that if I serve the Lord, not everybody is going to understand. I know that. And I years ago accepted that. I don’t have to have everybody agree with me or loving me as I pay back for whatever I do for them. I believe you need to understand that God will give you the strength and the grace you need to be found faithful.

You see, I didn’t just want to start a race. I want to finish the race and I want to finish my course with joy. I enjoy serving the Lord. Let me just throw this thought out. Here’s a scripture found in the book of John, chapter 13, where Christ is washing the feet of his disciples and he says, what I’m doing right now, you don’t totally understand, but you will. And he says, these things that I’m doing, he says, if ye do them, happy are ye.

Happy are ye if ye do them. I know that many times people think that happiness is a result of happenings. If things happen toward me that I like, I’ll be happy. But if things happen that I don’t like, then I won’t be happy. So my happiness is based upon what somebody either does for me or for me or the things that that happen in agreement with me, then I can be happy. But Christ didn’t say that. He says, if you do these things, happy are ye, if ye do them.

So my happiness can be a result of what I do, not what somebody else does. And see what I do can cause things to happen. If I make up my mind, I am going to serve the Lord, then I should be happy that I’m serving the Lord. If I want to go to church and I go to church, then I should be happy that I am able to go to church. If I want to read the Word of God, and I read the Word of God, then I should be happy that I can read the Word of God.

So not my happiness has nothing to do with what you do to me or for me. God has given us his word. Happy are ye if you do it. Blessed is the man that not only sees as he looks in the mirror, but does what he sees. And if you will do them, God says, blessed is that man in his work. So if you go through life and you’re miserable, good. You deserve to be. Because he happens to be.

Happiness is a choice and we make choices. If you want to be strong in the Lord, being strong in the Lord is not allowing other people to make you angry. Being strong in the Lord means that you don’t let somebody else’s cause you to be hurt and bitter. I told somebody not long ago, love other people like you have never been hurt in your life. How many have been hurt in your life? You ever had somebody say or do something that really hurts you to the quick?

Have you ever made stables online but I’ll never help another person. I’ll never do that again because I did that when I and I got hurt. I got burned. So you mean you didn’t expect to get hurt serving done? You didn’t expect to get burned? You didn’t expect somebody to persecute you? And so now you put your feelings up here on your shoulder and you dare somebody to knock it off? Shame. Love like you have never been hurt. Love like you’ve never been hurt before in your life.

Because see, you’re a God’s child and you’re supposed to realize that when Christ came back from the dead so did you and you’re now to walk in newness of life like I told somebody of the day I said live like you’ve come back from the dead and you don’t have a sinful nature he said that’s hard I said I know but pretend like you don’t have one and I said most Christians live like they don’t have a new nature and Instead of living like you have a new one, they live like they all have an old one.

And then they wonder why they’re not satisfied in the work of the Lord. You know there’s a word we call insatiable. Insatiable desires. It means that you just can’t get satisfied. In this life, God has so designed life that it cannot totally satisfy us. Doesn’t God do a wonderful thing for us by supplying us with food? But every time you sit down and you eat, you have what we call an insatiable desire. When you get through eating, you say, man, I can’t eat for a month.

In about two hours, you’re ready to go at it again. So not me okay with me we have an insatiable desire appetite God had designed life upon the earth for no man to totally permanently be satisfied in anything Otherwise we would not have any idea what it would mean to be in heaven and know that we will be totally 100% permanently eternally satisfied You’re not going to be down here But some of your biggest problems comes because I’m just not happy.

I’m just not satisfied. Well, with eating down. Who said you’re supposed to be? What do you want God to do? Stop the Earth so you can get off. I don’t want to run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run. This thing I want to love. I quit. And a lot of people quit. Let me read something to you that I found a long time ago. This is only to you if you are a quitter. I don’t like quitters. I don’t like quitters.

The world won’t care if you quit, and the world won’t whine if you fail. The busy world won’t notice it, no matter how loudly you will. Nobody will worry that you have relinquished the fight and gone down Where it’s only the things that you do that are worthwhile and get you renowned. Many Christians are successful at nothing of value. Only the things that you do for the Lord is of great value. That some Christians never learn it till it’s too late.

You see whenever you get to heaven God is going to reward you for what you did for him and being faithful is is success. If you’re not faithful, you’re not successful. I don’t care what business you have. Okay, how much money you make. In God’s eyes, faithfulness has been successful because God says it is required in the store that a man be found what? Faithful. Are you faithful to do the things God wants you to do? And I believe that’s one of the most important things.

The quitters are quickly for God. of them the world’s been a little time. And if you care that you’re not the courage or patient to climb, so give up and quit a despair. Take your place back on the shelf and don’t think the world’s going to care. Don’t you get it? You only hurt yourself. I read that probably 30 years ago, and I’ve always kept it in my notes. I wanna remember that. If I fail in this world, who cares if I will?

Nobody. Have you ever wondered if anybody cared what you lived or what you died? How important do you see yourself? And if you don’t think the way God thinks, you won’t have the proper view of yourself. There’s a human perspective and a divine perspective. So if you look at yourself to the eyes of the Lord, you must be very important, very valuable to God. valuable to God for Him to leave you here. Now you may not serve the purpose for which God intended, but you should.

And you can waste your life. But you don’t get a rerun or replay. You get one trip through life. And as you go through life, what are you doing? If you waste time, you waste life because time is what life is made out of. And the time that God gives you to live. How have you invested it? Invest yourself in something that will amount to something a hundred years from now. And that is for the souls of men. And by Christians working together you can have a church.

And church working together you can support the mission. Church working together you can win souls. A church is made up of a body of believers who think the same way and love the Lord and want to get something done, you’ll accomplish so much more working together than you ever will on your own. You see, whenever you get away from God’s people, you lose the warmth that you ought to have. You’ll be hotter, longer, burn more brilliant for the Lord when Christians hang together, encouraging one another, praying for one another.

But if you don’t and you start getting out into the world, the world is cold. If they don’t have the love of the Lord, and it won’t be long before you’re not gonna be strong at all. You see, I know enough to keep myself and fall into this thing. That’s one of the biggest things is, if you’re strong, you won’t leave a church. You stay and you do right. You put God first in the love of all your heart.

Here in the book of Corinthians, He starts off in the chapter 15, and he makes this statement there. And I want you to see this in verse two, by which also you are saved. If you keep in memory, what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. How can you believe in vain? You can believe in vain if Christ didn’t come back from the dead. Because then you’re trusted in someone that’s still dead. Christ didn’t come back.

There’s no resurrection. Christ didn’t come back, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain, and you’re still in your sins, and we are of all men most miserable. But you see, our faith is not in vain, because Christ did come back from the dead. The strongest thing that you’ll ever have in your life is the knowledge, and really believe Christ came back from the dead. He conquered the grave. That means that there is life after death.

Not only is there life after death, but he makes this statement in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in verse 23, but every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits afterwards, they that are Christ, and those three words add to him. See, he can’t come back if he never left. And if he didn’t leave, he is coming. And if He is coming, then it’s not in vain. Everything He said is true. It means that I am going to heaven.

I may die and He’ll put my body in a grave. But I may not die because in the same chapter in verse 51, He says, Behold, I show you a Mr. Wichan, I’ll all die. He says, I show you a mission. We shall not all sleep. We shall all be changed in a moment. The twinkling of an eye caught up to meet the Lord. And yet so that our service is not in vain. I am not living in vain.

I’m not preaching in vain. My faith is not in vain. Christ came back from the dead. You see, if you want to be a strong Christian, you cannot let your foundation be shaken. You have to know what you believe and why you believe it. Why? Did you ever dedicate your life to the Lord? Many Christians have dedicated their lives to the Lord said, I’m going to serve the Lord. And then little by little though, world kind of beats upon you not, not shadown.

Maybe takes a loved one or this happens in financial problem. And after a while you begin to question God. You be question, God must not really love me. God really doesn’t care. And for some reason you become bitter toward God. But you may not use God as the object of your bitterness. You’ll blame it upon a person. You’ll focus it upon an individual. All bitterness is toward God. All bitterness is toward God. God says, how can you say you love one another when you can’t love God?

If you can’t love God, then you can’t love one another. He says, we suppose to love God because he first loved us. Some people have never learned how to love, how to sacrifice, how to give, but what somebody else wants, because you can feel with the compassion their hurt in your heart. And as you looked upon the world, do you have at burning desire of wondering where people are going when they die? I told somebody just this recently, I said, when it comes to people, I consider every man a lost man until I know differently.

Somebody else may picture everybody as a Christian to find out it is lost. I judge just the opposite. I don’t know who saved and who’s not. But I want people to trust Christ as Savior. I want them to go to heaven. But I also know that in my desire to serve a Lord, if I take my eyes off the Lord, no man, me included, can stand. You’re going to go down. And you get weak and discouraged and you get greatly disappointed.

Have you lived long enough to have the death of a vision? Have you had a vision of doing something great and it seems like you’re still waiting on that day to come? Lord, do you remember who I am? Do you know where I’m at? Don’t you realize how great I am? Don’t you know that I ought to be doing something greater than what I’m doing right now? There’s a song that I had never heard before until a guy came to our church one time and he did a thing for us.

And it was a song called Little as Much When God is in it. You ever heard that song? Little as much when God is in it. Even the place where you are called to serve. But I remember the song. We sing it all the time now. Because little as much when God is in And you don’t have to worry about where your labor and just be faithful to serve God where you are with what you have and Trust the results to the Lord Here’s one great thing to keep in mind as a child of God You and I can choose what sin to commit.

Isn’t that wonderful God to give us a choice? You can choose to lie Well, you know, I don’t want to do that. Okay. Well, you can choose to steal. Okay. I like that one You can choose to commit adultery. You can choose to commit murder. But here you and I are, and we are, you know, going through a lot of things in our life then. There’s just some things that is going to happen. But if you and I would just realize that as his child, there are things in this world that are going to just totally rip us apart.

And sometimes it’s a loved one. Sometimes it’s something that happens, that you can’t explain it. But regardless of whatever it is, God wants you and I to be strong in the Lord. Strong. And to be strong means you’ve got to stay close to the Lord. And here’s a part. Nobody can be strong for you. They can help you and encourage you. They lean on me. There’s only singing, lean on me, lean on me. Lean on the Lord. That person you lean on might give way, but it’s good for them temporarily to try to help, but your permanent source of strength with the Lord.

Have you ever heard this phrase? Ah, joy of the Lord is my strength. There is strength in the joy of the Lord. So when you’re down in the story, there’s not much strength in that. So you have to, like David did, encourage yourself in the Lord. Because sometimes somebody else doesn’t encourage you. It is good that a man has a friend because if he falls down according to Ecclesiastes, a friend can be there to help him up. And it’s good to have somebody that you can depend on.

But the greatest friend you’ll ever have will be the Lord. I used to wonder why did God call Abraham his friend? He was a friend of God. When you study the book of James, it talks about being a friend of the world. If you’re a friend of the world, than you’re an enemy of God. So if Abraham was a friend of God, then he must have been an enemy of the world. And the Bible says that he knew, according to Hebrews in chapter 11, that he was just a stranger and a pilgrim, and that he looked for a city whose builder and maker was God.

And Christ says in the book of John chapter 15, he said, I have called you friend. And the reason because God wants us Not to love the world, not to be a friend of the world, to be his friend. He’s a friend that sticks us closer than a brother. It’s a great thing to know Christ is our Savior. And it’s also a great thing to learn how to walk with the Lord, but nobody can do it for you. There are steps that you take little by little.

That’s why it’s so important for you to be here every time the doors are open to learn some more of the word of God so that you can grow a little bit stronger. Because if you’re not strong in the Lord, when the winds of adversity come and they will, you have no idea what’s going to happen. And you today might think that you’re in the eye of the storm and nothing is happening. Do you realize how fast your world can be turned upside down?

Don’t take much, don’t take long. And next thing you know, your wife that you love for all these years to be in the hospital or dead, and your kids that you almost worship can be antennway683 incorporator. So quickly, your health that You Presently Enjoy, Be surprised, Next Week You Could You could be in the hospital with some serious surgery or have any radiation treatments for cancer. Your work can be turned upside down quick. But you’re confident in your faith in the Lord should stayWeak steady Because the Lord is real to you and he can sustain you and bring you through Whether you stay or whether you go you’re a winner either way like Paul says I Have a great desire to depart and to be with the Lord, but it’s more needful for me to stay here for you But you don’t have any idea neither the idea neither the time we’ve got to live

in this old world. But whatever it is, whether it’s today or tomorrow, the next 18 years from now, don’t throw in the towel. Don’t be a quitter. Don’t stop now. Wouldn’t it be a shame for me to serve the Lord for 45 years? And now the older I get to throw it all away, wouldn’t it be a shame that my salvation can never be touched? I’m going to heaven because of what Christ did for me. But the longer I live, if I stay right, the more I can accomplish for the Lord because I can gain more, multiply myself because I should be, as I get older, a wiser individual.

I should have greater knowledge to impart to other people. I can give to other individuals a little bit of that fire that I’ve had in my gut for all these years. I’m not about to stop or to quit, but I also know that if people don’t pray for me, there could be times when I’ll be a little weak and devil is going to jump on me and that could be all she wrote. Look up here. This hand represents you and me.

Waller represents sin. We all have sin upon it. God loves us. He hates our sin. And the Bible says that the pay for the sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us and wants us to go to heaven and go to heaven we have to be perfect because righteousness is God and none of us are perfect. We’re all sinners. And we can’t go to heaven because God won’t let sin in heaven. So sin keeps us out because we’re not perfect.

We got to pay for it. You said, what do you got to do? Well, you couldnegie just go to wait. Just get rid of it. You know, whatever you can do with it. Just get rid of it. You can’t because he’s sitting on the inside. It’s only inside. And so God says that the paper of the sin is eternal separation in God in hell. And since everybody sins, everybody’s condemned. We’re all in the same boat, but there’s a God in heaven that loves us.

He loves me loves you. And the Bible says that God doesn’t want us to go to hell, but he wants us to go to heaven. But we can’t save ourselves. This hand represent Jesus Christ. He came into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin because it separates us from Him. So what Christ did, or whatever He did for one person, He did for everybody, took the sins of all the world, paid for it on the cross and came back from the dead.

God said if we’ll believe He did it for us, He’d put that payment to our account and we get to go to Heaven on what He did for us. See, that’s free. That’s a gift. All that you have to do, what’s all that you can do, is to believe that He did this for you. See, I believe that years ago, when I believed that Christ did that for me, paid for all my sins, then God put that payment to my account and God gave me eternal life and I get to go to heaven.

Not because I’m good, because He’s good. God keeps His word. So I know that I have eternal life. I know I’m going to heaven whenever I die. I’ve known that for all those years. What about you? If you will accept Christ as your Savior, believe he did this for you, well then he’ll put that payment to your account and you get to go to heaven or what he did for you. So he did it for all of us. But the payment is not put to your account until you tell God you believe he did it for you.

So that’s why I’m going to ask you to bind your heads and tell God that you believe it. Let’s pray, shall we? Whatever he had bound every act closed and no one looking around, would you just talk to the Lord? See, he knows your thoughts. He can read your mind. So you don’t have to say it out loud. Don’t even have to move your lips. But in your own mind, would you just say something like this, Lord, I know I’m a sinner.

I don’t understand it all. Offering, none of us do. But you do understand enough to go to heaven. That is Lord, I’ve done wrong. I’ve sinned. And I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid for mine. And right now, the best I know how, I will accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. And friend, if you’ll trust Christ right now as your Savior, God said He would give you as a gift eternal life. If you’re not sure, you’re not positive of going to heaven, would you right now trust Jesus Christ as your Savior?

You that have trusted Christ as your Savior, your God’s child. Do you believe that God want you to be a strong Christian. Then be strong in the Bible, strong in doctrine. Learn to do right. Love your heavenly Father with all your heart. Let God use you to get others under the sound of His word. Our Father, we thank you so much for all that you’ve done for us. The Father, we want your will to be done. We ask Father, your blessings are found as church.

We pray the great things will happen. Christ, and we pray. Amen. We’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 Bible 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air.

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

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 m- and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can and reaches toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. 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.

1 Corinthians 15. In chapter 15, we call it the resurrection chapter. I believe in the book of Ephesians where it talks about be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It makes the statement about to the believer, being strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. And then he tells us that there’s a war going on. There’s a fight. There’s a battle. So you and I, ever since we trusted Christ as our Savior, there’s somebody trying to do it then.

There’s the devil. The Bible says who walks about, seeking whom he may, what? May devour. And sometimes him devour in somebody’s because Christians are devouring one another. He turns you into a little lion and next thing you know you’re chewing up on somebody. Backbiting and sometimes you’re totally deceived and don’t even know that you’re doing it. You see he’s a great deceiver. He lies to us, he saves us. Sometimes we might even think we’re doing the work of the Lord but I can tell you this if it’s envious and jealousy and bitterness backbiting it’s It’s not the work of the Lord.

I want you to understand that God wants us after we trust Christ as our Savior. God wants us to be strong. And the reason we need to be strong is because there’s a battle that’s raging. And when the be needed if every individual was strong, every family was strong and every church was strong. Our church has taken some hits and I’m telling you that it’s devastating when you lose one person. I’ve lost some people and it just breaks my heart.

I never like to lose one person. Just just devastates me because I I don’t I don’t put so much time and work into an individual and I’m not finished with them yet and they leave too soon. I’m not finished with you. I guess it’s kind of like parents who have a teenager and they get ready to leave home and say well you’re not ready to go yet. You don’t mind leaving you just want to make sure that when they do they can stay there.

And if they’re not strong, they’re going to be back. And you know, you just want to be able to take care of themselves, make wise decisions, and so forth, you know. And sometimes they want to jump the gun that they’re not ready yet. Now, when I got married, was I too young? Oh, yes. Did I know what I was doing? Well, no. But the Lord has been good to me, gave me a good wife. So God is really blessed me.

I don’t deserve all the goodness that God. I don’t deserve anything I’m just very privileged and I praise the Lord for You know we talk about Being strong and now we’re getting you know a little bit older and we like to give advice But I found out the best advice that I can live by is the advice that I’ve given to other people and That’s the hardest advice to take. I have found out I have solved many of my problems trying to help people solve theirs, because the advice I gave was the advice I needed, but sometimes we don’t think that way.

Well, one time there was Mother Superior. She was dying on her death bed, you know, there she is, she’s dying. And so the nuns had gathered around and so they wanted to kind of comfort her in her final hours. And they got a warm glass of milk and they brought it to her and and they put it up to her lips and she didn’t want it. So they took it back into the kitchen and one of them remembered that a year ago, somebody had given them a bottle of Irish whiskey.

And they said it aside because you know they didn’t drink. So they, the woman thought, well, I’ll just put a little bit in this one mil. And then she thought, well, you know, a little more hurt. So she gave a generous portion into the one mill. Stored it up a little bit and brought it back and she kind of struck a finger and earned you, put it on her lips and she touched it up. And she took a little bit more.

That was pretty good. It wasn’t long before she had, well, drink the whole glass of milk. And they said, Mother Superior, we know that you’re going to pass away soon. Give us some good advice. Some words of wisdom. She says, don’t sell that cow. Don’t sell that cow. Well we have lived long enough that we’re going to try to give you all a little words of wisdom to try to help you along the way. I don’t know if you have one of those kind of cows or not.

But we need to learn as we grow how to get along with, you know, ourselves, get along with our wives and husbands, children, get along with God. It’s sometimes a very difficult thing learning how to get along with somebody. Well, this woman, she got married. And they were doing all right for a while, but it wasn’t long before you know the man became nit-ticky. It wasn’t long before it she realized, you know, she just couldn’t do anything, right? She was talking to her neighbor friend.

She said, you know, I, I cook breakfast and I cook in stew. But he says, I just don’t do it the way his mama used to do. And she says, I, I make the beds and I I clean the house, but nothing I do is like his mama. I used to do. So I pondered this, and I looked for a clue. Then I turned around and smacked him like his mother used to do. We are learning as we grow older, trying to bring more peace and joy and happiness in the world.

There was a time in my Christian life where I was more like a bull in a china shop. Every time I preached, I didn’t care what kind of a mess I made. I mean, you know, I hit up against the head. It just didn’t matter. But now I’m getting a little bit older and I’m becoming more sensitive. My wife says that I’m getting mellow. That’s the step right before you write. And the Bible tells us that as we grow older, that in our process we should learn how to please our heavenly Father.

And sometimes there’s things in the world and the devil is, you know, after us. We have the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. And it sometimes makes it a little difficult, trying to discern what really places God. And we get all mixed up sometimes. And we don’t always say and do the right thing. What our primary goal should be is that we want to please our heavenly father. Well Willy one day, he lived on the farm with his dad.

Anyway he had a load of corn and a wagon and he was going down the road and it hit a big old bump and turned that thing and it flipped the load of corn over. So Willy got out there not hot blazin’ son, tried his best to straighten up that wagon and he just couldn’t do it, couldn’t budge it. So the farmer next door came down and says, look, go. Well, he said, I can see you got yourself a problem here.

But look, it’s almost noon. Why don’t you come on up to the house, sit a spell, and we’ll have the wife fix us something to eat. We hit the wheat. And he said, I’ll come down here, and I’ll help you get that wagon up. He says, I really appreciate that. But I don’t think Paul is going to like that. He said, well, I don’t think it’d be wrong. He says, you’re pawing on the mind. you just come up to the house and Mrs.

She’s already got food ready. All you gotta do is just take a little bit of time and relax a little bit. It’s this hot sun and I’ve come down here and I’ll help you. Each of all I don’t think Pa’s gonna like it, but okay. So anyway, he went up there to the farmer’s house and sat in the shade for a little spell and she finished getting everything ready to eat. Anyone in there and sat down and just go, he had everything.

Oh, he will just, just feed me the space. Drink some ice cold tea. And he says, well, I really appreciate this. The food was excellent. But I got to get back down there because I don’t think Paul’s going to be happy about this. He said, look, don’t worry about it, son. Don’t worry about it. I’m going down here and I’m going to help you. He says, and by the way, where is your dad? He says he’s under the coin.

See, somebody else may not know the seriousness of the situation. You’ve got decisions to make and they may not understand that You know God has told you to do certain things and you have to do what God says to do And it may not be pleasing to everybody else. They may not understand I’m sure that over the years there’s things that I’ve done that people just did not understand But I believe that’s what my heavenly father wants me to do and so that’s what I’ve done.

I I want to be a strong Christian. I want to be able to run my race that God has set before me all the days of my life. You know, a rock, a rock of hard, rock strong. But you can take iron and split a rock. Now iron is strong, but you can take fire and you can melt that Now fire is strong, but you can take water and quench a fire. Now water is strong, and if it wasn’t for water, we wouldn’t be able to live.

Think of all the things on the earth that need water. Water in the ocean can support a big old ship. Think about a hurricane that’s out there in the Gulf. Water is strong. But you know that clouds can lift the water. Clows can cause that water to come up here and you’ve got these great big old clouds. You ever wondered how a cloud can carry so much weight? What if the water all came down at one time instead of little diddy drops?

It drowned everybody. What about clouds that came down on top of your house? But aren’t you glad that God has designed a way for it to come down and little rain drops? Yeah, clouds are strong. can lift a lot of water, hold a lot of water, but when to move a cloud, any direction it wants it to go. So when is strong? And when may be strong, but you know a man can resist the wind. Man is strong, but you know that sin can bring down any man.

I don’t care who the person may be and how strong you think you may be. Sin can bring you down. sin can ruin you. But Christ came into the world and Christ is stronger than sin. Christ is stronger than the devil. Christ defeated the devil, sin, and Christ defeated death. And Christ broke open the gates of health and Christ came back from the dead. And so far I haven’t found anything that’s stronger than God. I guess God is the strongest.

So if I want to be like anybody, I’d want to be like Him. When God says, be strong in the Lord, the power of His might. So many of us, sometimes we’re strong in a lot of things in a lot of ways, but are you strong in the Lord? Have you ever had somebody call you a strong, willed individual? That’s not God by the way. One of the things that I learned years ago was that there’s is God and there’s me and that I’m not God.

You will be very wise if you learn at a very young age. You ain’t God. God is God. You’re just a man. And therefore because you’re just a man, that regardless of how big you get for your You’re still, you’re just a man. And I don’t care how rich you get, you’re still, you’re just a man. And I don’t care how many possessions you have, you’re just a man. And some people get lifted up with pride and they think there’s something that they’re not.

God says it is not within man that walk up to direct his steps. There is a, a God that has ways of dealing with us, where we get lifted up with pride. pride. I have become convinced that all sin, I don’t get what kind of sin it is, you name the sin, that all goes back to pride. And that’s what Paul Satan’s downfall. Pride and lifting himself up against God. That’s not a sign of strength. That’s a sign of weakness.

A person in rebellion to God is not a sign of strength. The Bible says Moses was a Meet Man. It means that he was in submission to a powerful God and that God was able to use him in a great way. God wants you and I to submit to his authority, to his strength, and to be strong in the Lord. One of the chapters, if I was to ask you, what is the resurrection chapter in the Bible, you would say 1 Corinthians 15, wouldn’t you?

You’re supposed to. That’s what I said for you. I knew you was going to say that. But in case somebody who didn’t know that, I wouldn’t let tell you anyway. First Corinthians chapter 15 is a resurrection chapter. I want you to look in verse 58. Verse 58. This is the last verse in the chapter. And I’m going to read it first because I want you to see where we’re going to go. When the Bible makes a statement in verse 58, therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Now you’re going to have to be pretty strong in the Lord to be steadfast. You’ll have to be pretty strong in the Lord as the Bible says here, unlovable. And you’ll need to be strong in the Lord to always be abounding in the work of the Lord, for He says here, for as much as you know that your labor in is not in vain in the Lord. One of the things that can destroy your zeal for God and your faithfulness to God, destroy your steadfastness, cause you to be moveable is because you are not convinced.

You’re not sure that what you’re doing for the Lord is worth it. You think after a while it’s just in vain. I’ve been doing the Lord’s work for 40-some years. There has been times in my Christian life when I have wondered if it’s worth it at all. You say, you’re not supposed to think like that. Don’t tell me how to think. I said, I thought that it was totally in vain Because you can work and work and work and you labor and you try to get people not only to trust Christ to save you But you want them to serve the Lord And you pour your life into them you pour your soul into them because you love them you want them to have the best You want them to know what you know?

You want them to have the victory that you have you want them to have the peace and the joy that you have and Then when they don’t do like I know they could do and should do I don’t know why is how come that person that is so weak robbed me of my peace and my joy and my happiness and my steadfastness because you see there come the time in your life where you wish you could just make people do things and you can’t you have to win them that’s what makes it difficult for the Lord’s work we have to work on your mind we have to be able to convince you with the word of God that what we’re saying is the truth.

And can we get you to see that if you obey this truth, it can revolutionize your life. When we take the Bible, like it says in Romans chapter 12, and verse 1, he says, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies of living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable servant. You’re going to have to be strong to do that. You know not just any Christian can present his body as a living sacrifice.

Because see, they’re not strong enough to do it. They want to use their body as a tool to get out of this world what they want, not what God wants. And so they’re not seeking to please God. They seek to please themselves. So you’re going to have to be strong in the Lord just to present your body as a living sacrifice. And then He makes the statement there in Romans chapter 12 and verse 2. He says, and be not conformed to this world.

You’re going to have to be strong in the Lord not to be conformed to the world. If you’re a live like the world and you think like the world and you’re in love with the world, then you’re not strong in the Lord. Are you? You’re not strong. Because not to be conformed to the world means you got to resist the world. And the world is trying every way possible to disappoint you, to discourage you, to get you not to serve the Lord, not to be found faithful.

Why is it that sometimes Christians, they can go to church, they trust Christ as Savior, they fall in love with the church, they love with the preacher, they love with the people, and love with the Lord, and they just want to be found faithful. And after a few years, all of a sudden it’s all gone and they’re gone. What happened? God doesn’t love him anymore. No, God didn’t change. You see, to stay strong in the Lord. You have to stay close to the Lord.

And to stay close to the Lord is going Bolshevik to be a result of what you believe. And this is why the Bible talked about being strong in the doctrine, strong in doctrine, knowing what God says. See, the one of the biggest assets that I’ve got in my life that have helped me over the years is the Bible doctrine that I know I understand. I know I’m going to be tested. I know that. I know the devil is after me.

I know that. I know he wants to ruin me. I know that if I serve the Lord, not everybody’s going to understand. I know that. And I years ago accepted that. I don’t have to have everybody agreeing with me or loving me as I pay back for whatever I do for them. I believe you need to understand that God will give you the strength and the grace you need to be found faithful. You see, I didn’t just want to start a race.

I want to finish the race and I want to finish my course with joy. I enjoy serving a Lord. Let me just throw this thought out. There’s a scripture found in the book of John chapter 13 that where Christ is washing the feet of his disciples and he says, what I’m doing right now you don’t totally understand but you will and he says, these things that I’m doing, he says, if ye do them, happy are ye, happy are ye if you do them.

I know that many times people think that happiness is a result of happenings. If things happen toward me that I like, I’ll be happy. But if things happen that I don’t like, then I won’t be happy. So my happiness is based upon what somebody either does to me or for me, or the things that happen in agreement with me, then I can be happy. But Christ didn’t say that. He says, if you do these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

So my happiness can be a result of what I do, not what somebody else does. And see what I do can cause things to happen. If I make up my mind, I am going to serve the Lord, than I should be happy that I’m serving the Lord. If I want to go to church and I go to church, then I should be happy that I am able to go to church. If I want to read the Word of God, and I read the Word of God, then I should be happy that I can read the Word of God.

So not my happiness has nothing to do with what you do to me or for me. God has given us his word. Happy are ye if you do it. Blessed is the man that not only sees as he looks in the mirror, but does what he sees. And if you will do them, God says, blessed is that man in his work. So if you go through life and you’re miserable, good. You deserve to be. Because he, happiness is a choice.

And we make choices. If you want to be strong in the Lord, being strong in the Lord is not allowing other people to make you angry. Being strong in the Lord means that you don’t let somebody else’s cause you to be hurt and bitter. I told somebody not long ago, love other people like you have never been hurt in your life. How many have been hurt in your life? You ever had somebody say or do something that really hurt you too quick?

Have you ever made stables online, but I’ll never help another person. I’ll never do that again because I did that when I and I got hurt. I got burned. So you mean you didn’t expect to get hurt serving them on? You didn’t expect to get burned. You didn’t expect somebody to persecute you. And so now you put your feelings up here on your shoulder and you dare somebody to knock it off. shame. Love like you have never been hurt.

Love like you’ve never been hurt before in your love. Because see you’re a God’s child and you’re supposed to realize that when Christ came back from the dead so did you and you’re now to walk in newness of life. Like I told somebody the other day, I said live like you’ve come back from the dead and you don’t have a sinful nature. He says that’s hard. I said, I know, but pretend like you don’t have one. And I said, most Christians live like they don’t have a new nature.

Instead of living like you have a new one. They live like they all have an old one. And then they wonder why they’re not satisfied in the work of the Lord. You know there’s a word we call insatiable. Insatiable desires. It means that you just can’t get satisfied. In this life God has so designed life that it cannot totally satisfy us. God do a wonderful thing for us by supplying us with food, but every time you sit down and you eat, you have what we call an insatiable desire.

When you get through eating, you say, man, I can’t eat for a month. In about two hours, you’re ready to go at it again. So not me. Okay, well me. We have an an insatiable desire, appetite. has designed life upon the earth for no man to totally permanently be satisfied in anything. Otherwise, we would not have any idea what it would mean to be in heaven and know that we will be totally 100% permanently eternally satisfied. You’re not going to be down here.

But some of your biggest problems comes because I’m just not happy. I’m just not satisfied. Well, whippy dang down. Who said you’re supposed to be? What do you want God to do? Stop the earth so you can get off. I don’t want to run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, this thing. I want to laugh. I quit. And a lot of people quit. Let me read something to you that I found a long time ago. This is only to you if you are a quitter.

I don’t like quitters. The world won’t care if you quit. And the world won’t whine if you fail. The busy world won’t notice it. No matter how loudly you will, nobody will worry that you have relinquished the fight and gone down, where it’s only the things that you do that are worthwhile and get you renowned. Many Christians are successful at nothing of value. Only the things that you do for the Lord is of great value, that some Christians never learn it till it’s too late.

You see, whenever you get to heaven, God is going to reward you for what you did for him. And being faithful is success. If you’re not faithful, you’re not successful. I don’t care what business you have, okay, how much money you make. In God’s eyes, faithfulness is being successful. Because God says it is required to destroy it, that a man be found what? faithful. Are you faithful to do the things God wants you to do? And I believe that’s one of the most important things.

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. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Vital Line, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold.

Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.

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. on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew and chapter 27, verse 35, and they crucified him, part of his garments casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet. They parted my garments among them and upon my vestibed that they cast lots, and setting down they watched him there. And set up over his head this accusation written, this is Jesus the King of the Jews. were there, two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left.

And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, Thou, that destroyed the temple and buildeth it in three days saved thyself, if thou be the son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priest mocking him with the scribes and the elders he said, He saved others himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God, the thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same into his teeth.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land from the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, Lemasov, that’s the night, that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there when they heard that said this man called for Elijah’s and straight way one of them that ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it on a read and gave him the drink.

The rest said let be. Let us see whether Elijah’s will come to save him. Jesus when he had tried again with a loud voice yielded up the ghost. Now Now look there in chapter 28, chapter 28 verses 1 through 6. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the Separach. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon him.

His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white snow, and for fear of him the The keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for I know whom ye seek, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come see the place where the Lord laid. So Christ was crucified. He was buried. He came back again from the dead. I talked to a man the other day right here in the office.

And he said he believed the Bible. I said, you believe Christ died on the cross and paid for all the sins of the Lord? Yes, I do. Do you believe he paid for all of your sins? Yes, I do. I says, where are you going to die? He says, I hope I’m going to heaven. I says, you’re not sure. He says, no, I’m not real sure. He said, nobody can really be sure. I says, is there anything you can do between now and the time that you died that can keep you from going to heaven?

He said, oh, yeah, a lot of things. I said, sir, you don’t believe the Bible. He said, yes, it does. I said, no, you don’t. I says, you don’t believe that Jesus Christ paid for all of your sins either. He says, yes, it does. says, no, you don’t. I said, if you believe he paid for all of your sins, then why do you think that sin that you’ll commit tomorrow or the next day will send you to hell? How many times must you pay for a sin?

You don’t believe he paid for that sin. You believe he paid for all the sins up to the day, but you don’t believe he paid for those that you haven’t done yet. Because when Christ died on the cross, all of your sins were in the future. You know what? He got mad at me. He literally got upset because he didn’t like what I said. But I don’t like somebody saying, I believe the Bible, I believe the Bible, I believe Christ I didn’t pay for my sins.

Sir, you do not believe that. You don’t believe it. You believe you’ve got to pay for your sins and that’s why you think you can still go to hell to pay for it. Because you don’t believe he paid for it. Now, either Christ paid for my sins or he did not pay for my sins. He came into the world to save the world, not to condemn the world. John 14, 6 says, Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father. by by name. Now that’s exclusive. That’s exclusive. It means it excludes everybody else. This means that you can’t get to heaven no other way except through Jesus Christ. No man comes unto the Father except through Him and He is the only way. There’s not two ways. There is no other God. You can’t go through Buddha, Muhammad, or Confucius, or anybody else. You do not go to heaven because you trust in a church. You don’t go to heaven because you trust in a preacher.

You don’t go to heaven because you trust in your good deeds You can’t save yourself understand you can’t save yourself That’s why you needed to save your Christ came into the world to save individuals Look at number two. He entered the city Victoriously receiving the praise of his people and John 12 through 13 He says with joy they took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried Hosanna God. Blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

So Christ is making a joyful entry into the city of Jerusalem. And lo and behold, everybody is all excited and hollering and cheering and praising the Lord. See, they were looking for a king to deliver them from the iron heel of Rome. They weren’t looking for a Savior that watched him raise some people from the dead. They’d watched him walk on water. They watched him feed to 5,000. We could use somebody like that. You know the Bible says that in the last days in the tribulation period which is right ahead of us, the world is also still looking for a superman, a most brilliant individual that has the answers to everything because the world is in a mess.

And the Bible says, men’s hearts failing them for fear, seeing those things which are coming upon the earth. And so an individual is going to show up and evidently be able to deceive even God’s elect if God doesn’t intervene. And he’s going to fool the people, lie to the people. They seed the people and talk about peace and world peace. Everything is global now. It’s global world peace. They ain’t gonna be no peace until the Prince of Peace comes.

And Christ doesn’t hear yet. And we have seven years of tribulation here so you can forget all this here about peace in the world. It ain’t gonna happen. Christ says, I did not come to bring peace but a sword to divide the mothers and the fathers and the sisters and the brothers and everybody away from each other. And what does that, the gospel, cause one man to believe and another man doesn’t believe. It divides. Whenever the rapture takes place, what’s going to happen?

There’s going to be a great divide. All those who know the Lord are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and those that don’t know the Lord are going to be still right here. You’re talking about a division? There’s a division. It’s all the way through the Scriptures. And what happened to this peace-honored good will toward man? Well, there would be peace-honored if people accepted the peace, but they rejected the Prince of Peace, and there will be no peace without him.

In the next statement, he is later betrayed. Matthew 20 verse 18, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man shall be betrayed onto the chief priest and unto the scribes and they shall condemn him to death. Now this was prophesied in the Old Testament, it was prophesied. It’s prophesied again when Christ was here, he told him over and over again, I am going to be killed. Three days later I’m coming back from the dead, but he told him what was going to take place.

Jesus Christ did not come to see how rich he could be. His goal in life was not, I’m going to be a millionaire by the time I’m 30. His goal was he was going to become the minister when he was 30. And he knew that in three and a half years he was going to be dead. His goal wasn’t to see how many houses he could have, how much land he could own, or how much money he could have in the bank, how many cars he could drive.

That wasn’t his goal. It wasn’t to see how rich can he be. Remember he left glory, came into this world stripped himself of everything that he had came in here born in a manger poor he was the son of God he had all the power in the world he could perform miracles he could read minds think of much money he could have made reading people’s minds he was awesome he was a man’s man he was a carpenter he worked with wood he has tried condemned and and scurged.

Then released He barabbas, the robber unto them, and when He had scurged Jesus, He delivered Him to be crucified. You know what scurged means? It means that they took and laid them over a bench like, and they took a cat of nine pills with broken pieces of glass and pottery and nails and pieces of metal in it and nine of those things on long look. I got one in the office and they would take a hit them on the back and then sink it in and rip it across his back and then do that to them in 39 times.

Just rip his back Open. And then Christ did a lot of suffering before he ever got to the cross. But you know all that suffering that he did, that wasn’t paying for our sins yet. That was just what men were doing to him. You see, they poured out our sins upon him. And so yes, he had the evil of man, the wickedness of man crucifying him. And people did all these wicked things to the Son of God. But when he was on the cross and he cried out, My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?

That’s when the payment for our sins, I believe, were paid because he paid for our sins on the cross. He is mocked as he hung on a cruel Roman cross, where they said, say thyself, if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. He says, they said, if you are who you claim to be, you come down from that cross and we’ll believe you. Let’s just wait and see if he can save himself. They mocked him.

They made fun of everything that he said. If it was me, I came down from the cross. I’d have zapped every one of them, and then went back up. But I’d hit him first. If he’d come down from the cross, he couldn’t have saved anybody. He couldn’t come down and save himself. He didn’t come into the world to deliver himself. He had to die on the cross and pay for it. And he allowed the wickedness of people to do what they did to him as a lamb.

That means without lifting any resistance. He never resisted whatever they want to do. They want to spit on. They could do so. They pull his beard. They could do so. They put a crown of thorns on his head. They could do so. And then they would hit the thorn on the top of the head and push it down to the skin and blood. They can do that. Whatever they wanted to do, they could do they could say anything they want.

He wouldn’t say anything back. He’d let him do whatever they want to do. He was led as a lamb to be slaughtered. He was being slaughtered. When somebody says something about us, we want to get even with them. It’s the last thing I do. INCLUDES He was the son of God, came into the world to die willingly for the sins of the world, and to die upon a cruel cross. He could not come down. If he came down, he could not have saved anybody.

The next statement, He has declared dead, removed from the cross buried in a tomb. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, it is finished. And He bowed his head and gave up the goat. meant that what he had done on the cross when he says it is finished. It means the payment for the sins of the world were done. It means there’s nothing that anybody else has to do. The payment for sin was complete. You know, you go to buy something, you get a receipt.

Well, Christ coming back from the dead is a living receipt that the payment was made in full. And the scars in his hands and his feet, that’s the mark that it’s paid in full. There’s nothing for anybody to add to it. There’s no more work to do. We are saved. We go to heaven because of the work Christ did. You don’t earn it. You don’t work for it. He said, if I go ahead and kill somebody, I’ll still go to heaven when I die.

What did you say is true? I said, that’s a true way to put it. But yes. He said, I’d never believe that. I’d never believe that. He said, you’re trying to tell me that a man can go out here and kill people and still go to heaven when they die. I said, yes. And I said, yes. I said, I got worse news than that. I said, what’s that? I said, you can go to church all your life and live to be a little saint as close as the God you can live.

I said, if you don’t trust Christ, you’re still burning the hell. Just like that man that killed all those people. God says there’s no difference between them. I said, you mean I like the one? I said, but the other one is just as bad. I said, the greatest sin you can ever do, the greatest sin is to reject Christ as your Savior. You can’t get any worse than that. The sin of unbelief, all sin can be forgiven, but the sin of unbelief.

See if you die without believing on Christ, there is no forgiveness in this life or the life to come. There is no hope because the worst thing you’ll ever do is not because you and I here murdered somebody or raped somebody or robbed the bank. No the worst thing you can ever do, ever do. The worst is to reject the payment Christ made on the cross for you. John 19, 34 said, but one of the soldiers where they spear pierced his side and forth with tamed their out blood and water.

And when Joseph had taken the body, he rapped it in a clean, linen cloth. Later in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone to the door of the Separach and departed. Three days later, he is absent from the tomb, having risen under his own power. Look at this verse, John, chapter 20, verse 1. The first day of the week come at Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark under the Separacham and see if the stone taken away from the Separacham.

And he an angel said unto them, Be not afraid of them, you see Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. Christ came back from the dead. Christ is alive. He is in heaven and he has eternal life as a gift to give to every person that believes that he died for them. Next statement, he is seen, they lead on by hundreds and a sins in the heaven.

1 Corinthians 15, 6 says, after that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once. This is after he came back from the dead. So this wasn’t something done in the corner. 500 people saw him after he came back from the dead. This is on one occasion. And then it says, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the place. He Jesus Christ was God. He was God manifested in the flesh. And get what he says about this.

This is a tremendous verse 1 Timothy 3 16. God was manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in the glory. He came into the world, did what he came to do, and left this world. Now he’s in heaven. And he has given eternal life to every individual that believes that he did all of that to them. If you don’t earn eternal life, you don’t work your way to heaven, and yet there’s a lot of people that go to good, independent, fundamental Bible-even missionary minded, Baptist churches that do not know Christ as their Savior.

A lot of preachers do not understand that eternal security is the gospel, and the gospel is eternal security. And if you’re not saved forever, you’re not saved at all. The best news in all the world is to know that you have eternal life. You cannot know that you’re going to heaven when you die. If you don’t believe that once you’re saved, you’re always saved. If you don’t believe you’re always saved, you don’t know where you’re going when you die.

And you don’t understand the gospel. This is the Bible and the issue is heaven and hell. And that is critical. It’s not a game. This is serious stuff. It would be a shame for you to come and you hear and you say, I heard that a thousand times, but did you ever trust Christ as your savior? If you haven’t, you’re lost. You’re still lost. It means that when you die, you go to hell. And wouldn’t it be a shame for tomorrow you’d wake up in the flames of hell knowing that you could have gone to heaven knowing you sit there and you heard it over and over and over again and you never trust the Lord because you thought you had time or it really wasn’t that critical.

Not that important and now you’re in hell and knowing you can’t get out. You’ll never get out. It’ll never be changed. They’ll never get any better. Have you ever burnt yourself on a flame? Touch something so hot it burnt you? I’ve done it a many a time and I’ll thankful I am. I can not go to hell. If that doesn’t make a man thankful, nothing will. Look at the next segment. This is Jesus the Christ, God in the flesh, who died in your place that you may have heaven forever.

1 Corinthians 15, three and four says, for I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. He was buried that he rose again the third day according to the scripture. See, this is a clear definition on how salvation is offered to you and I. But you can believe this intellectually and not really trust Christ as you’re saved. You can say, well, I believe Christ died. That’s, that’s, that’s history.

But Christ died for me. That’s salvation. You must believe that when he died on that cross, he died and paid for my sin, mine, mine. That means if I really believe that, then I don’t have to pay for mine. But if you think he’s still going to help, you don’t really believe he paid for yours. Oh, yeah, I heard Christ out on the cross and paid for the sin of the world. I heard it all the way. Where are you going when you die?

Well, the hell, if I don’t change, you don’t get it. You don’t understand. He died to pay for your sins. Forget everybody else’s. Let’s forget the world. He did it for you. Think about it as an individual thing. He did this for me, my sins, so that I could have eternal life. Now what should be our decision? John 3 16 says, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso ever believe it in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Now it’s done. It’s finished. Take your Bible very quickly and turn over there to the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 1 Corinthians 15 is what we call the resurrection chapter. But in this resurrection chapter, notice what he says there in verse 51. Christ can’t come back if he never left. If Christ is still in the grave, you have no hope and neither do I. And everything is in vain. What do we have really messed up. See, look in verse 16.

Verse 16 says, for if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ is not raised, your faith is in vain, you’re yet in your sins. Means you’re still lost. Your sins are not been paid for. How can you believe in vain? You can believe in vain if Christ died in vain, if Christ did not come back from the dead. If he didn’t come back from the dead, how can you trust somebody to save you who can’t even get out of the grave himself?

What value was that? Or it’s true when he did come back from the dead and my preaching is not in vain and my faith is not in vain and your belief is not in vain and we don’t live in vain because it’s all true. Now, looking verse 51, behold I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. That means we won’t all die. If we won’t all die, we won’t all be buried. I really don’t care. die. No, not that I’m afraid to die.

I said I’ve never done it before. I want the Lord just to change me in a moment. The twinkle of an eye and caught up to meet the Lord in the earth. Now think about it. Wouldn’t you rather go that away? I do. But he says, we shall not all sleep die, that we shall all be changed. Verse 52, in a moment, the twinkle of an eye, the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. Look at me. I am mortal. It means I am subject to death, but I am going to put on immortality means that I won’t die. Those that have already died, their bodies in the grave, that is corruptible. So they are going to put on incorruption. So the resurrection is going to take place. Christ is coming in the air. And then all of a sudden those dead bodies are going to be made incorruptible.

And we that are alive when this moment comes will be changed in a moment. The twinkle of an eye caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And this mortal will put on immortality. That is what I am looking forward to. See if there is no such thing as a resurrection then they can’t be this happening either because the one that did the other’s gonna do this one We’re looking for Christ to return Therefore he says in verse 58 looking verse 58 good on the line this verse in your Bible if it’s not on the line Therefore might be love it brethren Be a steadfast see once you trust Christ is your Savior you have eternal life You’re going to heaven when you die you just not there yet, but until then Be steadfast be faithful do right because he says my beloved brother be a steadfast unmovable, solo like a rock,

always a bounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor and get this is not in vain. It’s not in vain. So I read all of this and I see all of this and I know Christ came back from the dead so it’s not in vain. My faith is not in vain. My preaching is not in vain. My living for God is not in vain. My witnessing is not in vain. My reading the word of God is not in vain.

My plan is not in vain. My given the Lord’s work is not in vain. It will pay off in the long run. I believe it because Christ came back from the dead. He’s coming back again someday. Now look at verse 58 one more time. Therefore, my beloved brethren, that’s the reference to those who know Christ is Savior. You’re going to heaven when you die. Be steadfast, be unmovable. I have tried to stay the same way since I’ve trusted Christ as my Savior and got the clarity of the the gospel down.

I want to stay rock solid the rest of my life. I’m thankful the Lord for saving me when I was 18 years old. It would have been nice that if I had been raising a Christian home and I’d have known the Lord at an early age and all that. But that wasn’t my life. That wasn’t what I had. I didn’t want God to save me in vain. To give me eternal life and then leave me here in this life and it be for a waste.

Oh, I’d go to heaven when I die. But I want others to be in heaven when I get there. I want people to be in heaven because I passed through this life. God left me here. That was by the grace of God. He didn’t owe that to me, but He did that. And I don’t want His grace of a leaving me here that I didn’t be totally in vain. I want to accomplish something with my life. And that should be the goal of every Christian to be steadfast, unlovable, always abounded in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

It’s not in vain. Because remember, if you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, you are lost. And if you’re lost and you die, where do you go? Where do you go? Hell. That’s not a pretty subject to talk about, but you can’t talk about the love of God if you don’t talk about the wrath of God because you’ve got to see until you know that you’re going to heaven when you die, you’ll never appreciate God really loving me.

How do I know God really loves He saved me from hell. Now look up here, this is you and me. This is sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us. He hates our sin. He loves us. And the Bible says since we committed the sin, we have to pay for it. Since we committed that sin, we’re all guilty. We all have to pay. And the wages is eternal separation from God. Inhale. Now God says that Heperty lovesiversity and He wants us to go to heaven.

God does not want anybody to go to hell. He wants us to go to heaven. To go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God. Nobody is perfect. Nobody is righteous like God is. You see, God cannot let us in because of sin. So we have to pay for this. And he says that the wages of sin is death. It’s not going to church. It’s not giving money. It’s not praying through and hanging on and let go and let God.

You need a Savior. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord. He’s God in the flesh. Came into the world because He loves the world. He hates our sin because it separates us from Him. I can’t get to God. He can’t get to me. We can’t have any fellowship. I can’t spend eternity with Him because of sin. So what Christ did for one person He did for the entire world, He died in paper, all of the sins of all the world paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead.

And He says, all that we have to do is the only thing we can do, is to believe that He did this for us. He paid for our sins. God says, if I believe He did this for me, He would put that payment to my account. When I was 18 years old and I believed that he did this for me, he put that payment to my account. When you believe it, he put that payment to your account. If you haven’t believed it, that payment is not put to your account until you believe he did it for you.

That’s why your sins could have been paid for and you still go to hell because you rejected the payment that was made for you. Just because you know about it and because you want to go to heaven, don’t make you get there. You won’t get there just because, well, I want to go, you can’t will yourself there. You have to admit to God, I’m a sinner. There can be no pride in you that I’m going to have him because I deserve to go.

You don’t deserve to go. Nobody deserves to go. Nobody’s good enough to get to heaven. We’re all bad enough to go to hell. Only took one sin. But that one sin is enough to keep us all out of heaven. So Christ took the sins, paid for them to cross now. The only way you’ll ever get to heaven is do you or do you not? Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior? Will you accept this payment He made for you?

Now, if I was to offer you my glass of water and you accepted you’d have a glass of water and if I offered you my wallet and you accepted you’d have an empty wallet, if I offered you my microphone and you accepted you’d have a microphone. Well, if Jesus Christ walked in here right now, offered you eternal life and you accepted it, what would you have? Eternal life. eternal life, how long would it last? Forever, if it lasts forever and all your sins are paid, where would you go when you die?

Go to heaven. Can you know that you’re going to heaven before you die? Yes, that’s what it’s all about. Knowing that you have eternal life, these things have I written unto you that they leave on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. You have to know it and you have to have it. Have it now. Do you have right now? No, you have right now. everlasting life and you’ll never lose it.

God will never cast you out. If you don’t understand that and you don’t believe that you’re lost. Every head bowed and every I closed. No one looking around. If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior. I don’t care how many times you’ve heard it. Have you honestly be honest with yourself. It’s a heaven and hell issue. If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you trust Him right now? Say yes, I will trust Jesus Christ as my Savior.

I want to be certain I’m going to heaven when I die and preach I like you to pray for me. 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 toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. 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 going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. 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 on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

Acts chapter 13, look there very quickly. The book of Acts and chapter 13, these are also of my favorite verses in the Bible. Feaches 2.89, I guess you would say, is my two favorite verses, but these come pretty close. I want you to see this in Acts chapter 13 verse 38 and 39. Be it known unto you, brethren, he says that through this man, Jesus Christ, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And get verse 39. And by him, Jesus Christ.

All, that keep the 10 commandments and obey the golden rule and turn her burning for sacred bait and wine of pine and mowing and groan, had everlasting life. Now I didn’t say all that, does it? No. What do you say? All that believe, all that believe are justified, justified from what? All things from which you could not be justified by your works. of Moses refers to your work. In other words, God will never save you or justify you because of your good deeds.

But you can just by believing all that be leave are justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. That’s awesome. All that believe. He made it on the level that everybody can have it. It’s not just for the intelligent, It’s so simple. The gospel is so simple to believe. Little children can understand that if you accept something, you’ve got something in that. God loves you and He offers you something. You can accept that.

Children understand that. Aren’t you glad that children can understand it? Because most people who trust the Lord are children. You know when you get to be teenagers, most of them don’t trust the Lord. And when you get to be adults, very few adults ever trust the Lord. So I believe in winning people to the Lord at their easiest moment of their life when they’re a child. You see those little kids that are over there right now? It’s easier for them to hear and understand and trust the Lord.

And if they trust the Lord, we just want some teenagers to the Lord and some adults to the Lord. True? We just want them while we can reach them. That’s the most important thing. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. of these verses are not new to you. But I want you to have a copy of them because I want you to know and to believe and have a list of these verses so that you can know assuredly what God has done for you to show that He does love you and it’s in the Bible and why you should tell other people what God has done.

Hebrews chapter 10, and look in verse 10, 10, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. And those words once for all. Look up here. See here you and I were all sinners. The word sanctified comes from a Greek where hagiasra meaning to be made pure and holy and sanctified set apart. So you that have trusted Christ as your Savior because you believe that when Jesus Christ, He died on the cross, paid for your sins, that when you believe He did it for you, He gives you His righteousness, therefore making you pure and holy, pure and holy, you’re sanctified, you’re set apart, you’re God’s child, forever you’re going to heaven whenever you die.

No sin can ever be put against your account. He says, blessed is the man unto whom God will not impute their sins. My sins have been imputed to Christ. As a child of God living here in this world, I will be chastened and disciplined. But the penalty, which is death and hell, eternal separation from God I never have to pay. He did all that for me. That’s an awesome thing. Look in verse 12. But this man, after he had offered one, he had to pay.

sacrifice for sin, get this, one sacrifice for sins forever. One payment He made for everybody’s sin, for all time, all eternity has already been made. One time. Look in verse 14. Verse 14, you need to underline this verse in your Bible. It’s an awesome verse. For by one offering, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now get what he says, for by one offering, here’s Jesus Christ, he made one payment by dying one time, one offering came back from the dead.

When you and I believe he did it for us, he says we are perfected made perfect by one offering. You see if in God’s eyes I am perfect in all my sins are pain. What sin can condemn me to hell? Not one sin. I can’t go to hell. It’s impossible for me to go to hell. I don’t care how many religions around the world don’t like what I’m teaching or the boldness or the cockiness of it. It’s still the truth and I’m still gonna say it.

I’m gonna explain it because I don’t appreciate all the religions of the world. I don’t honor all the religions of the world and I don’t respect all the religions of the world or the preachers. Either this book is the truth and all others are wrong. Christ says no man come up unto the Father but by me. Either it’s true or it isn’t true. Once in a while my humble opinions leak out. This is you and me. This is sin we all have sin on us.

God God hath made him, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to be sinned for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So when you believe on Christ, he gives you his righteousness, and you go to heaven on what he did for you. That’s a gift. If I offered you my wallet, and you accepted you’d have a wallet. If you accept the Bible, then you would have a Bible. And if Jesus Christ walked in here and offered you eternal life, and you accepted you would have eternal life.

And if it’s eternal life and it lasts forever, then where would you go when you die? The heaven. Can you know you’re going to heaven when you die? Can you know it before you die? Yes. Because he promised he that believe it on me had, everlasting life. Eternal security is not a separate doctrine from salvation. It is salvation. If you are not saved forever, you are not saved at all. So you say, well, I’m saved, but I don’t believe in internal security.

Then you don’t know you’re saved. You cannot know you’re saved. You can’t know you’re going to heaven if you don’t believe in eternal security. You must believe that you are secure forever and you cannot be lost. Or you cannot honestly say you know you’re going to heaven when you die. It’s impossible because the one demands it. You say, well, I trust that Christ is my Savior. What did you trust Him for? Well, I trusted Him to save me. what?

From hell. What did he or didn’t he? If he did, then you’re saved from hell and you go to heaven. But if you believe and go to hell in the future, then you don’t really believe he’s going to get you there. You’re not totally trusting him. You believe that your good works is going to keep it for you and it won’t. I want you to take your Bible and look in 1 John chapter 5 and verse 13. 1 John 5 and verse 13, I realize that if I cover these verses enough times, they will be some of the best known verses that you know, and that’s what I’m after.

I know that there is a key to getting people to memorize the most important verses, and that’s to always keep covering those verses. And you’ll notice that I do that. But these verses are the salvation verses that will help you and understanding and explaining eternal security to someone because many people who don’t if you don’t believe in eternal security they are not secure and they really don’t know where they go when they die and you can help them. Don’t ever be afraid or ashamed of the teaching of one saved always saved because you see that is the gospel.

And when you explain the gospel, you explain that, how you can be saved forever. It’s not a damnable doctrine. It’s not one that you need to be ashamed of. It is the gospel. There’s no message like this message. 1 John chapter 5 and verse 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. Those who think they are saved now but could lose their salvation later have one of two problems.

Either they are trusting to some degree in their works to save them, and that’s why they think they can lose it. So of course, if they think it depends upon them, they can’t be sure they’re going to make it so they will not believe in eternal security. Others have had little or no Bible teaching and do not realize that God has determined that all who believe will go to heaven when they die. They have at the time they trust the Lord they trust the Christ of their Savior they believe they have eternal life they know they go into heaven when they die and then later on down the road begin to question and doubt because they’re not grounded they’re not secure and they have teachers that put doubts in their minds and get them perhaps to look at their life or they look at something else and get them to

question their salvation. And so there are evangelists that are noted for doing things like that. Love to go into a church and get people who have been saved and know the heavy eternal life and get them to doubt their salvation by saying, well, if you’re really saved you’re not going to do this. Or if you’re really saved you’re going to want to love God and you want to witness and you want to and there you sit and you say, well, I’m saved but I don’t want to do all of those things if you’re honest.

Maybe there’s things that you still are battling in your life with certain sins. Well, I guess I must not be saved. See, they got you to doubt. Now, if you really mean business, and here you go again, it’s not you that have to mean business. It was God that meant business says, you accept what I gave. I did it on the cross for you, and I’ll give you eternal life. It’s free. It never cast you out, never lose you.

Believe that. And doubts will arise when eternal security is not kept secure in their mind. That’s That’s why I like people to hear me give the gospel. That’s one of the reasons that I don’t always at the end of the service invite a person to come down here to the front and deal with them individually, quietly with nobody else knowing what’s been said, because you don’t hear it. And whatever I tell this person down here, and I’ve done it many times, I can tell you right where you’re sitting.

Whatever I tell you here, I can tell you there. And then everybody gets to hear everything I said. And it’ll keep you stronger in the gospel because you hear it over and over and over and over again. Those who think a poor Christian life results in a loss of salvation actually need to have the plan of salvation made clear to them. So people who say, well, they’ve been saved, but they think they can lose their salvation. I always go over salvation again, making it clear because to understand the gospel in its entirety, the truth of the gospel, it clears up the doubts of eternal security.

It’ll answer the question. It lets you also know that just because you don’t live up to a certain level of expectation, you’re still saved. Somewhere they have not fully understood that Christ’s death paid for all their sin, that their works have nothing to do with their salvation and that their only hope is their faith in Christ that will save them. See, some people believe that you’re saved up to the time you believe in it. He paid for your sins up to that moment.

But then if you sin after that, well then you got to pay for those or you can still go to hell because these sins because you ain’t committed them yet. So evidently they couldn’t have been paid for yet. How many of your sins were in the future when Christ died? So when Christ died, all of your sins the future, that means he paid for your sins before you were born. So if he paid for all of them, then he’s paid for all sins past, present, and future.

So whenever you accept the payment he made, you have a payment for how many of your sins? Just the ones in the past? All sins. They’re all paid. So there’s not a sin that I can commit from this day forward that can send me to hell. So that’s why it’s impossible for a person to go to hell once they’ve been saved because all their sins are paid. I’ve had many people ask me the question, well, what about if you commit suicide?

Because you see, if you commit suicide, you didn’t get forgiveness for it, and therefore you had to go to hell. Well, if I commit suicide, is that a sin? Yes. Paid. I mean, in my sins you pay for it. Then that was paid too. They’re all paid. People can understand them. Am I advocating that when you’re having a rough time go out and commit suicide? No. But I’m not gonna lie to you just because you might take something the wrong way.

I can’t help it how somebody takes it. I’m gonna try to teach the Bible the way the Bible says it and that it is true and you’re gonna have to deal with it. With salvation, the issue is always grace versus works. It’s either free or it’s by works. Any time a person doesn’t believe it’s by grace, they’ll believe it’s by works. And if they believe it’s by work, they can’t believe it’s by grace. One way or the other, but it cannot be grace and works.

Why? Because grace means without works and works means without grace. Isn’t that simple? It can’t be both ways. In other words, you can’t be, I’m gonna trust Christ as my savior, but as a backup plan, I’m gonna live right just in case. Can’t do that. because you’re not truly dependent upon Him. You’re saying that I’m gonna do this, trust Christ, then I’m gonna live right just in case. That’s not trusting Him. That’s putting confidence in you, in case He fails.

Do you believe Him or don’t you? God is not a man that He should lie, and if He says it, it’s gonna be true. You can trust the Lord. You can trust Him. When it comes to the lost man, issues always grace versus works. After a person is saved, the issue in service is always chastening and reward. So anytime a person has trusted Christ’s Savior, I always want to make sure they understand about serving the Lord. You need to understand chastening and rewards.

What God does to you if you don’t serve him and what God does if you do. So did you understand? And then as you live your life, you’ll know whether or not am I serving God or not serving God. But it’s not an issue then of salvation because salvation has been settled once and for all. What is a Savior? What is a Savior? It’s a good little illustration. Suppose you’re drowning. You’re out there in the middle of the ocean, 1500 miles out there in the ocean.

And somebody comes along and they seize you out there and you’re going down. Once you’re going down twice, you’re going down three times and he throws you a book. Three easy lessons on how to swim and he drives off. Is he a savior? Well, didn’t he give you a book? Three easy lessons on how to swim? All you got to do is read it and follow it because he, it depends upon you. He’s not a, he didn’t save you.

It still depends upon what you do that gets you back to shore. He’s not a Savior. See you and I are trying to get to heaven. Heaven’s shore. How are you going to get there? The next little example, number two, a man got out of his boat, jumped in alongside of you and gave you an example of various women’s strokes. You know the dog paddle and did the backstroke, the butterfly kick. He did all these things. He said, now look, you do just like me long enough and hard enough and you’ll make it.

Is he a savior? No. He may be a good example. See, Christ was an example, but He was a savior. He wasn’t educated, but He was a savior. He said, behold, it’s born into you this day in the city of David, a educator. No, a savior. Christ the Lord. He saves you. What if He took you in His boat, dried you off, fed you, took you ten miles from shore and then threw you out again into the ocean? Would it be a itely a savior?

No, that’s a probation. And many people think that the Lord is a probation officer. In other words, I promise that I won’t do this anymore and I promise that I will do this and He’ll save me as long as I keep and obey my probation. But if I break my probation, I got to go back to jail. Or, hey, he’s not a probation officer. It’s salvation, not probation. A Savior’s one who takes you safely all the way to shore.

He saves you and puts you out on the other side where you’re safe. When God says, He gives you eternal life, that He will never cast you out or lose you, He means it because He is the true Savior. If you do not trust Christ to take you all the way to heaven, then you have not trusted Him as your Savior. How far are you trusting Him to take you? All the way to heaven. So if I’m trusting Him to take me to heaven, then my going to heaven depends upon Him, not me.

See, eternal security is not a separate doctrine in salvation. It is the gospel. That’s how you understand whether or not it’s the gospel you believe. See, there’s a lot of preachers, a lot of missionaries preaching a lot of messages, and it’s not the gospel of Jesus Christ. A lot of people have questions and doubts about their salvation. And the only reason people doubt their salvation is because they don’t live up to a certain standard that somebody told them they had to.

I’ve heard preachers say that if you smoke, you’re going to hell. You ever heard that? You smoke, you’re going to hell. So if you want to get saved, what are you gonna stop doing? Gotta stop smoking. Okay, now you’re saved. Start smoking again. Now what? You’re gonna lost it. You done back slid and gotta get saved again. If you drink, you go to hell. I rent, if women, if you put on makeup, you’re going to hell. Boy, I’m glad that ain’t true.

Or if you wear pants, you’re going to hell. See, that’s not the Bible. It’s not Bible. So whenever you do those things, you think, well, okay, I’m going to help. So why don’t you get saved now? Because I’m not ready. You’re not ready what? I’m not ready to give up my makeup. I’m not ready to give up my booze. I’m not ready to give up my cigarettes. I’m not ready to give up. And you name it. They ain’t ready to give it up.

Who told them they had to? A preacher who told them that. That’s not the gospel. That’s because they say, well, you got to turn or stop from your sins. That’s not the Bible. Look in John 637, Gospel of John, chapter 6, and verse 37. These verses are mentioned here to help you be more effective. It’s not just because that you don’t know these things because you’ve been around here long enough, you do know them, but you need to have these verses done.

You need to memorize these verses. I want you to be effective. You may only show this verse to one person this week, one verse, but it might help them. And don’t just take it while everybody’s heard this. No, they haven’t heard it. And John chapter six looked there in verse 37. It says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that come up to me, I will know why is cast out. You see, God the Father is the one who gives you the new birth.

You are born of God the Father. You are a son of God the Father. And God the Father said, because of the payment Christ made, He’s going to take all of those who trust Him, born into God’s family, and He’s going to give us to Him. We are the inheritance of what Christ has done for us. But He makes a statement in Him that coming to me, I will have no wise cast out. No wise means no reason. No way.

He’ll never cast you out. He will never lose you. Look at verse 39. And this is the Father’s will which have sent me that of all which He hath given me, I should lose how many? Nothing. That means that He’ll never cast you out. He’ll never lose you. He’ll never lose you. Well, if He won’t cast you out and He won’t lose you, for no reason, where are you gonna go when you die? The heaven, the understanding, do you see it?

Look in verse 47 there. Verse 47, now this verse you should have underlined you. It’s a powerful verse. It says, barely, barely means truthfully, truthfully. I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Jesus said this. What did he say? He said he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. If this is not true, shouldn’t he have said so? If God is not a man that he should lie And if he said it, we can rely upon him.

What did he say? He said he, that believeth on me, hath everlasting life. So should I expect to get everlasting life when I believe on him? If he said so, yes. When should I expect to get it? Then what’s wrong with knowing I have eternal life? The moment I trust him as my savior. And if I can know I have eternal life, the moment I have him as my Savior, what’s wrong with knowing that I have it forever? See what I’m saying?

So what’s wrong then in talking to a lost man and say, look, if you trust Christ as your Savior, I want you to see what you’re going to get. You’re going to get something. You’re going to get the free gift of eternal life that lasts forever. And God will never cast you out. Inevolution. John chapter 10 and verse 28. There’s a lot of verses in the Bible. I’m not asking you to memorize every verse in the Bible or every book in the Bible or every chapter in the Bible.

I’m asking you to do one thing. Learn these salvation verses. Learn these simple verses that can help you help others. This is the most important thing of all. John 10, 28 says, and I give unto them eternal life. I give unto them. See, many people think that being saved means I’m getting something to God. I don’t give God anything to be saved. I receive something. He said, I give unto them eternal life and get this. And they shall never perish.

Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. The Bible says, if I believe that He did this for me, and I trust Him, He saves me any difference. I don’t have to do no hanging on. I don’t have to do anything. All I’m doing now is I’m resting in His power and His strength.

He saves me and I have trusted him as my Savior and he promised that he would take me where? To heaven whenever I die. So my getting there depends upon him and he said he’ll never cast me out. He said he’ll never lose me. Now if I’m in his hand and he makes the statement, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. So nobody can pluck me out of there. I had a kid tell me, well what if I get out by I’m a sale.”

I says, if nobody else can get me out. And God said, he’ll never cash me out and never lose me. I said, if you could get out, then he lost you, right? He said, yeah, he says, it can’t happen. Can’t happen, Kevin. So your salvation is dependent upon him and not upon your works. This then represents you and me and the wall of represents sin. We all have sin upon us. Now, God, he loves us. He hates our sin because our sins separate us from God.

But it says we commit it and we ought to pay for it. So we are in debt. We have earned the wages. The wages of sin is debt. So we earn the right to be eternally separated from God. We have to die. Spend in eternity and help. But God loves us, wants us to go to heaven. 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 cannot save ourselves. And no good deeds will ever make us perfect. Never make us righteous. The good thing that we do will never pay for the wrong things that we’ve done. So the Bible says we cannot save ourselves. This end represents Jesus Christ. He is the Lord, He’s God and a flesh. He came into the world because we can’t save ourselves. And He doesn’t need our help either. You see, if we help Him, He can’t save us. He won’t help anybody who tries to help save themselves.

He says, you can’t save yourself and you can’t help me. That’s why the Bible says that he bore in his own body our sins. When the Bible says he hath by himself purged our sins from us. He by himself, Hebrews chapter one and verse three. He made that payment on the cross for our sins. Came back from the dead, said, if we would believe he did it for us, He puts the payment to our account. We go to heaven on what he did for what he did, not what we do.

And he saves you, gives you eternal life, and you go to heaven whenever you die. And he’ll never cast you out and never lose you. You’re in the Father’s hand, and nobody can pluck you out of his hand. 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 toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvary of tampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. Hot 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. Let me 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 your Bible and turn to the book of John chapter 10, John chapter 10, verse 17 and verse 18. The question is asked, who is guilty of his death? Who’s guilty of his death? Was it the Jews? Was it the Romans? who really did him in. When the Bible says that he died for me, he died in my place, then I put him to death. If he died in your place, you put him to death. He died for the world.

He died because he loves the world, loves every individual in the world. The Bible tells us that no one can prove their love for anyone greater than someone who’s willing to die for someone. And that’s why the Bible says that He displayed His love toward us in the while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us to give up your life so that someone else can live. But He gave up His life so that we could have eternal life, not just so that we could live a physical life.

He gave up His life so that we could have eternal life live forever. So don’t ever think, don’t ever say, nobody loves you. God does love you. He loves you with an everlasting love. Why did Christ come to the earth? To live or did He come to die? The Bible says in the book of Mark, also a couple of the other gospels, that He came to give His life a ransom, a ransom. In other words, to pay a price so that you and I could have eternal life.

The next question is what do we lack? What do you and I lack in order to live forever, to go to heaven, to be with the Lord? Heaven is perfect, God is perfect, and you and I lack perfection. We lack the righteousness that we need to go to heaven. So in order for God to approve that He loved us, He had to meet our basic need. Our desire to live forever is inherent in every individual born into this world.

No one wants to die. Everyone wants to live, but everyone wants a super quality of life. People want love and they want joy. They want peace. They want happiness. And they want it to last forever. No one wants to suffer. No one wants pain. No one wants tribulation and nobody wants heartache and sorrow. No one wants those things. And God says, I love you and I’m going to make it possible for you to have everything you really want. And you can have it.

Heaven is a place. It’s not a state of mind. I’m glad that I’m going to heaven because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for me. Take your Bible and look there in the book of 2 Corinthians. Second Corinthians and chapter 5. Second Corinthians and chapter 5. The Bible tells us that he did something for us. And what he did, all of this that we’re looking at this morning is to show you that God does love you. You need to be convinced that the Bible does say that what he did, he did do that, he did that for you.

Sometimes we say, you know, God’s a love the world. Yes, but who in the world? Well, everybody, I know, but you got to boil it down to God loves me. He loves me. Did you know that even after you trust Christ as your Savior, you will serve the Lord if you really believe he loves you. It’s when you get to where you question, God really loves you. And then what causes you to doubt His love is because of the things that you go through.

The heartache, the troubles, the lack of finances, the physical health. All of your problems convinces you God doesn’t love you and that’s why you don’t serve Him like you should. That’s why you’re not going to be faithful like you should be. Because you allowed things to cause you to doubt God’s love. See, if you really believe, He really loves you. Love responds to love because I am convinced, totally convinced God loves me. I want to respond to that kind of love.

But if you let the things of the world cause you to question the love of God for you, then you’re not going to be faithful to Him because nobody wants to be faithful or loyal to anybody. They are not sure, really loves them. That’s what causes the problems between husband and wife when one begins to doubt the love of the other individual. And they are things are not right. But God says He does love us. He loves us forever.

Look there in 2 Corinthians in chapter 5, looking verse 21. He says, for He hath made Him Jesus Christ. To be sinned for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God and Him. Look up here just a moment. What do we lack? we lack the righteousness of God. This is you and me, this is sin. God says we all have sin upon us. Now God says He loves us but He hates our sin.

And for you and I to pay for this sin, the wages of sin is death. We’re all condemned to die. And to go to heaven we have to be perfect. Because righteous is God and none of us are perfect. We’re all sinners. And the Bible says that we cannot save ourselves. That Jesus Christ, He loves us so much, He’d do something for us. This hand represents Jesus Christ, He is the Lord, He is God in the flesh, He came into the world because He loves us but He hates our sin.

Why does God hate sin? Because it separates us from Him. So Christ took the sin and paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. The Bible says that God hath made Him Jesus Christ who knew no sin, to be sin for us. That you and I we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. In other words, he takes my sin. He pays for it on the cross and he did it first to prove that he loved me.

Came back from the dead, but the payment is not put to my account until I believe he did it for me. The very moment that I believe he did that for me, the Bible says that his righteousness is put to my account and I go to heaven on what he did, not what I’ve done. And there’s no sin against me because it’s just like I paid for all of my sins, but he did that for me. He says, now, I’m doing this to prove to you, I love you.

He loves you. And he’s done it for every person in the world. And what he did for one person, he did for every person. But a lot of people don’t know that he did this for them. And that’s why telling people about the love of God is the most important thing that anybody can do in their whole life. There isn’t anything greater than telling people how to have eternal life. I want you to take your Bible, I want you to take your Bible, I see a 53.

I see a 53. And verse 6, way over there in the Old Testament, Isaiah, and 53. And verse 6, this also is a verse that will show you how much God loves you. You need to believe that. He loves you. And verse 6 says, all we like sheep have gone astray. In other words, everyone has gone his own way, which is contrary to God. God says, your ways are not my ways. Your thoughts are not my thoughts. He says, cause my thoughts are higher than yours and my ways are higher than yours.

And he says, everybody has gone his own way. But, but, look what he says. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. See what I mean? And the Lord hath laid on him, Jesus Christ, the iniquity of all of us. That’s what he did. And the Lord, God Himself, laid upon His Son, Jesus Christ, all of our iniquity. That’s how God proves that He loves it. Sometimes we say, well God, if you really love me, you wouldn’t let me have these hard times.

God says, no, that doesn’t prove that. What proves it if He lets you go to hell for all eternity and did nothing about it. Then you could question whether God really loved you. You see, the worst thing that you and I will ever face, He already faced it for us. And see, it’s people and their decision that rejects the payment that Christ has already made. Once again, all we like sheep have gone astray. But the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all.

That’s what he’s done for us. That’s why we know he loves us. Take care of Bible and look in 1 Peter chapter 3, 1 Peter and chapter 3. We’re not the book of Hebrews and James, but 1 Peter and chapter 3 and Look in verse 18. You need to know where these verses are. It is so important for you to always remember this Because someone has already done everything is necessary To show you that he does love you Why a person or how a person could ever reject Christ as their Savior is beyond me.

I cannot understand that When I really understood what Christ did for me, it made sense to me. Here in 1 Peter chapter 3, look what he says in verse 18, for Christ also hath, past tense, he’s already done, hath once, one time, never has to do it again. He hath once suffered for sins. He’s already done it 2,000 years ago. He has already paid for all the sin of every individual. that. He had once suffered. In other words, Christ doesn’t come down tomorrow and pay for what you did today or next year to pay for what you did this year.

One payment that He made was sufficient for all sin for all time. When He died on the cross, it was for everybody sinned before the cross and everybody sins after the cross. And since He died for you before you were ever born, He’s already paid for every sin you have ever done and every sin you have not yet done. They’re all paid because he suffered once for all sin. You say why? Look at the rest of the verse. The just for the unjust.

The just means that he was clear. Perfect. He was just for the unjust. How does God prove that he loves you? Because the just was willing to die for the unjust and a once and for all pay for all of your sins. You see, he took the initiative. The Bible says, we love him because he first loved us. You see, you didn’t have to love God first. You’re not the one seeking God. You see, I’m just trying to find God.

It’s God who is looking for you and place that desire within you. No man searches for God. All we like, Chief, have gone astray. It is the Lord who searches for us and he puts things in our path so that he can get our attention That he might bring us to God that you ought to underline that statement in your Bible that he might bring us to God Without him doing this we could not get to God You see that’s like that must be the most important thing in all the world is for a man to get to God.

It is The greatest knowledge that any man can ever attain is the knowledge I know God. I know God. And he is more real to me than the clothes that I’ve got on my back. I know God. Do you know God? I know the Lord and he’s real. Here in this verse he says that he might bring us to God. Put to death made alive by the Spirit, but He did all of that that He might bring us to God.

Take your Bible look in Colossians chapter 2, the book of Colossians and chapter 2. You got Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and chapter 2. I want you to see this verse. God loves you. He proved it. He proved it. You should never question whether he loves you or not. All the things you go through in life, you’re supposed to understand that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

In other words, if you love God back, if you love him back, you know that all things work together for your benefit. Do you believe that? I believe everything in this life works together from my benefit. So how do you know that? Because I love God. I love Him. So how do you know when a man loves God? The Bible says if a man loves God the same shall be known of Him. What does he live for? You live for the things of the world.

You love the world. You live for money, you love money, and you worship money. You can have all the things in the world and not love it. And you can have nothing in the world and love it all. But you see, loving God, where things can come and things can go, but it should not change you. It should not change your character. You should be the same whether you have it or you don’t have it because of your love for the Lord.

Colossians in chapter 2, I want you to see this in verse 14, blotting out the Bible. handwriting of ordinances that was against us. Look up here. Here I am and I’m the Lord. And I keep an eye on you. And I got all these things against these guys. And by the time I get through I got something against everybody in here. And everything that is against you to condemn you to an eternity in hell, I’ve got the books. That’s what God said.

I’ve got the records. The handwriting of ordinances that was against you, but what did he do with it all? He says, it was contrary to you. I took it out of the way and I nailed it to what? I took it and I took a hammer and a nail and I nailed it to his cross. And he died for all of your transgressions, for your trespasses, all of your anyway, all of that was nailed to his cross. He did that and paid for all of your sins and all of my sins.

Been done. That’s what he says. And look what he says, because this is true, you and I should understand that we have been forgiven of all sins. I want you to see in verse 13. And you being dead in your sins and uncircumcision of your heart are flesh, happy, quickened together with him, having forgiven you and you ought to underline this statement, having forgiven you how many trespasses. All trespasses. Everything you’ve ever done, all forgiven. And you go to heaven because of what he did.

Now shouldn’t that prove that he loved you? That should prove every person. God loves them. That’s why he says, going to all where and preach the gospel, this good news of how God so loved the world. You’re supposed to tell people that because there’s a lot of people that don’t think God loves them. And that’s one of the biggest reasons for them not trusting Christ as their Savior because they don’t believe God loves them. Because if God really loved me, he wouldn’t have done that.

No, you need to understand. This is where you were headed. This is where you were going to be for all eternity. And this is how the God of heaven says, I’m going to prove that I love the world. This is what I’m going to do for the world. And that’s what he’s done. In Acts chapter 13, look there very quickly. The book of Acts in chapter 13, these are also two of my favorite verses in the Bible. Feaches 2.89 I guess you would say is my two favorite verses, but these come pretty close.

I want you to see this in Acts chapter 13 verse 38 and 39. Be it known unto you, brethren, he says that through this man Jesus Christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and get verse 39. And by Him, Jesus Christ, all A-L-L-all that keep the Ten Commandments and obey the Golden Rule and turner burning for sacred bait and wine upon and moan and groan, hath everlasting life.” No, I didn’t say all that, does it? No. What He said, All that believe, all that believe are justified, justified from what?

All things from which you could not be justified by your works. The law of Moses refers to your work. In other words, God will never save you or justify you because of your good deeds. But you can just by believing, all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law. Moses. That’s awesome. All that believe. He made it on the level that everybody can have it. It’s not just for the intelligent.

It’s so simple. The gospel is so simple to believe. Little children can understand that if you accept something, you’ve got something in it. That God loves you and He offers you something, you can accept that. Children understand that. Aren’t you glad that children can understand it because the most people who trust the Lord are children. You know when you get to be teenagers most of them don’t trust the Lord and when you get to be adults very few adults ever trust the Lord.

So I believe in winning people to the Lord at their easiest moment of their life when they’re a child. You see those little kids that are over there right now it’s easier for them to hear and understand and trust the learn. And if they trust the Lord, we just want some teenagers to the Lord and some adults to the Lord. True? We just want them while we can reach them. That’s the most important thing. Hebrews chapter 10. Many of these verses are not new to you.

But I want you to have a copy of them because I want you to know and to believe and have a list of these verses so that you can know assuredly what God has done for you to show up. that he does love you and is sin the Bible and why you should tell other people what God has done. Hebrews chapter 10 and look in verse 10. Verse 10, “‘Baba which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ and those words once for all.'”

Look up here. See here you and I were all sinners. The word sanctified comes from a Greek where hagiasra meaning to be made pure in holy and sanctify, set apart. So you that have trusted Christ as your Savior because you believe that when Jesus Christ, He died on the cross, paid for your sins, that when you believe He did it for you, He gives you His righteousness, therefore making you pure and holy, pure and holy, you’re sanctified, you’re set apart, you’re God’s child, forever you’re going to heaven whenever you die.

No sin can ever be put against your account. He says, blessed is the man unto whom God will not impute their sins. My sins have been imputed to Christ. As a child of God living here in this world, I will be chastened and disciplined. But the penalty which is death and hell, eternal separation from God I never have to pay. He did all that for me. That’s an awesome thing. Look in verse 12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, get this one sacrifice for sins forever.

One payment he made for everybody’s sin for all time, all eternity has already been made. One time. Look in verse 14. Verse 14, you need to underline this verse in your Bible. It’s an awesome verse. For by one offering, he had perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now get what he says. For by one offering, here’s Jesus Christ, he made one payment by dying one time. One offering came back from the dead. When you and I believe He did it for us, He says we are perfected, made perfect by one offering.

You see, if in God’s eyes I am perfect in all my sins are paid, what sin can condemn me to hell? Not one sin. I can’t go to hell. It’s impossible for me to go to hell. I don’t care how many religions around the world don’t like what I’m teaching or the boldness or the cockiness of it, it’s still the truth and I’m still going to say it. I’m going to explain it because I don’t appreciate all the religions of the world.

I don’t honor all the religions of the world and I don’t respect all the religions of the world or the preachers. Either this book is the truth and all others are wrong. Christ says, no man, come up unto the Father but by me. Either it’s true or it isn’t true. Once in a while my humble opinions leak out. This is you and me. This is sin. We all have sin on us. God hath made him, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to be sinned for us.

That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So when you believe on Christ, he gives you his righteousness and you go to heaven on what he did for you. That’s a gift. If offered you my wallet and you accepted you’d have a wallet. If you accept the Bible, then you would have a Bible. And if Jesus Christ walked in here and offered you eternal life, and you accepted you would have eternal life. And if it’s eternal life, and it lasts forever, then where would you go when you die?

The heaven. Can you know you’re going to heaven when you die? Can you know it before you die? Yes. Because he promised he that believe it on the hat, ever lasting life. Eternal security is not a separate doctrine salvation. It is salvation. If you are not saved forever, you are not saved at all. So you say, well, I’m saved, but I don’t believe in internal security, then you don’t know you’re saved. You cannot know you’re saved. You can’t know you’re going to heaven if you don’t believe in eternal security.

You must believe that you are secure forever and you cannot be lost. Or you cannot honestly say you know you’re going to heaven when you die. It’s impossible. Because the one demands it. You say, well I trust that Christ is my Savior. What did you trust Him for? Well, I trusted him to save me from what? From hell? What did he or didn’t he? If he did, then you’re saved from hell and you go to heaven. But if you believe he can go to hell in the future, then you don’t really believe he’s going to get you there.

You’re not totally trusting him. You believe that your good works is going to keep it for you and it won’t. I want you to take your Bible and look in 1 John chapter 5 and verse 13. John chapter 5 and verse 13, I realize that if I cover these verses enough times, they will be some of the best known verses that you know. And that’s what I’m after. I know that there is a key to getting people to memorize the most important verses and that’s to always keep covering those verses.

And you’ll notice that I do that. But these verses are the salvation verses that will help you in understanding and explaining eternal security to someone. Because many people who don’t, remember, if you don’t believe in eternal security, they are not secure and they really don’t know where they go when they die and you can help them. Don’t ever be afraid or ashamed of the teaching of one saved always saved. Because you see, that is the gospel. And when you explain the gospel, you explain that, how you can be saved forever.

It’s not a damnable doctrine, it’s not one that you need to be ashamed of. It is the gospel. There’s no message like this message. First John chapter 5 and verse 13, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. Those who think they are saved now but could lose their salvation later have one of two problems. Either they are trusting to some degree in their works to save them.

And that’s why they think they can lose it. So of course, if they think it depends upon them, they can’t be sure they’re going to make it so they will not believe in eternal security. Others have had little or no Bible teaching and do not realize that God has determined that all who believe will go to heaven when they die. They have at the time they trust the Lord, they trust the Christ of their Savior, they believe they have eternal life, they know they go in the heaven when they die.

And then later on down the road, begin to question and doubt because they’re not grounded, they’re not secure. And they have teachers that put doubts in their minds and get them perhaps to look at their life or they look at something else and get them to question their salvation. And so there are evangelists that are noted for doing things like that. to go into a church and get people who have been saved and know the heavy turn of life and get them to doubt their salvation by saying, well, if you’re really saved, you’re not going to do this.

Or if you’re really saved, you’re going to want to love God and you want to witness and you want to. And there you sit and you say, well, I’m saved, but I don’t want to do all of those things if you’re honest. Maybe there’s things that you still are battling in your life with certain sins. Well, I guess I must not be saved. See, they got you to doubt. Now, if you really mean business, and here you go again, it’s not you that have to mean business.

It was God that meant business. It says, you accept what I gave, I did it on the cross for you, and I’ll give you a turn light. It’s free. Never cast you. I never lose you. Believe that. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Our 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 Bible 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. By broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound. 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 Your 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Turn your Bible to the book of Leviticus chapter 23, Leviticus chapter 23. In Leviticus chapter 23, there is seven feasts that we’re going to look at. The whole chapter of Leviticus is broken down into seven different parts. Number one, the Passover, number two, Unleavened Bread. Number three, the first fruits, number four, the Wave Loaves, number five, the Trumpets, Number six, the day of atonement, and number seven, the tabernacles. Seven different things. Seven is the number perfection. It wasn’t five, it wasn’t six, it wasn’t eight, it was seven.

God uses seven in His word. It’s a sign of completion. And it, these things that I want to share with you, they’re on a timescale. Some of them you know. The ones that you know should convince you of the ones that maybe you didn’t think of before. You often hear us talk about Jesus Christ as going to come back again someday. And can you know approximately when it’s going to happen? Well I think so. And I want to show you a little bit of that today.

So in the book of Leviticus chapter 23, make sure you have a Bible and you look at it. The first three verses is not really about the feast of Jehovah. Jehovah is the Lord God Himself. These are feasts. These feasts are holy days. Holy days is where we get the word holidays. Holidays used to be holy days. Today they’re not very holy. Some people celebrate the Christmas season. They go out and they get sauced. Did they get drunk as a coo?

You know, just plastered. And they’re celebrating. celebrating a holy day, you’re mocking a holy day. It’s to be something that’s kept holy. Now here I want you to notice in the first one, there it says in verse 4, these are the Feast of the Lord, even holy convocations which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the 14th day of the first month at even is the Lord’s Passover. This was a memorial service. This is a memorial of the day that when Israel was down in Egypt and they were going to bring them out and he says, I want you to take a lamb and take the blood and put it upon the doorpost and the lentil.

He says, I want you to do this so that the first born of every home won’t die. And he says that death will come through, and when I see the blood, I’ll pass over you. So every house that had the blood on the door, he passed over that house. If they didn’t apply the blood, then the firstborn would die. And of course, Egypt didn’t believe it, and their firstborns died. So they were to do a memorial every year. The first month in Israel was April.

It wasn’t like ours January. There’s as April. And so you have here on April, the 14th, is the Lord’s Passover. So they were to celebrate it every year. And they did this from the time they came out of Egypt when they got into the Promised Land. Then these feasts were to be in order. And so we know that today that the Passover is the very day on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Jesus Christ died on Passover. And many people today still celebrate the Passover.

I don’t celebrate the Passover. I celebrated his resurrection. He came back from the dead. But you and I are supposed to believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he paid for your sins. And the blood that was shed from that holy lamb is supposed to be applied to you so that when God who has a judgment against all sin, regardless of where sin may be found, his resurrection may be found. wrath is going to be poured out upon that individual.

The Bible says that we are under the wrath of God. But when I see the blood applied to that particular individual, he said, I will pass over that person. So God sees me as one who has his blood on me. We call it, I have been washed in the blood. The blood of Jesus Christ has been applied to me. His blood has washed me from my sins. So therefore, his judgment passes over me. Now, the blood that he shed on the cross was enough for everybody in the whole world.

But the people who don’t believe it won’t apply it, and it can only be applied by faith. You must believe that he did it for you and your belief in his death for your sins is an application of the blood been applied to you. So God will pass over you. So Christ, in the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 5, He is our Passover Lamb. That’s why when John the Baptist Psalm says, Behold, the Lamb of God which take it the way the sin of the world.

So we know that the Passover was on a particular day, a particular month, and it was exactly like God said it would be. And here we are 2,000 years from the time of the Passover, Christ died, and we’re still celebrating that day. The second thing I want you to look there in verse 6, but He makes a statement here, and on the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the Lord. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

I remember this. When Christ came into the world, the Bible says that Jesus made the statement, I am the bread of life. He says, you ate bread in the wilderness. He says, and the fathers, he says, they’re dead. He said, but I’m the bread that came down from heaven. Levin speaks of sin. Unleavened bread means no yeast in it. It means that Christ had no sin in Him. He is the eternal bread. And he says, if you would eat this bread that came down from heaven, you’ll never hunger again.

40 years ago, I took some of that bread. I’ve never hungered again. I’ll never hunger in the future because that bread satisfies. That bread gives me eternal life. It will last forever. He’ll never cast me out and never lose me. Two things from this verse, if you will look there in your little chart that I gave you, you can see where the cross is. There’s another line that goes down that says, Unleavened Bread, No Sin. Because when Christ went to the cross, He took all the sin upon Himself.

So He bore our sins on the cross. But when the payment for our sins were made, He came back again from the dead without sin. And now the command is for every one of us to believe on him, to trust him, and God says we will be like unleavened bread. We will be just like him without sin. See to go to heaven you have to be without sin. There is no sin in heaven. God has no sin. There’s no death in heaven.

There’s no disease in heaven. There’s no sorrow in heaven. And none of those things are in heaven because it’s perfect. And to get there, you and I have to be perfect, but we are not perfect. And we have to be without sin. So the second feast that he’s talking about here of Unleavened Bread speaks not only of Christ who came back from the dead after he had bore our sins and no longer has sin upon Him. You and I, after we believe on Jesus Christ, are to have a holy walk with the Lord.

You and I are supposed to live our life. For the one who died for us, and so therefore God wants you to live, not in sin, but away from sin to live righteously, because now you’re God’s child. If you’re God’s child, you should live like God’s child. Now the next statement I want you to look there in verse nine, where the Lord says, I spoke unto Moses and he said this in verse 10, speak unto the children of Israel, say unto them, when ye be coming to the land which I give unto you, shall reap the harvest thereof, shall be the harvest of the land.

Then ye shall bring a chief of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest. This is the barley harvest about seven weeks later Would be the wheat harvest so there is the barley harvest and then there is the wheat harvest about seven weeks later So the Bible tells us this is the first fruits of the year when you have reaped a harvest Jesus Christ came back from the dead and the Bible says he is the first root. This is a sign or a type of Jesus Christ coming back from the dead.

Just like the one there, the Passover was a picture of Jesus Christ on the cross and everything is in order. If you took this whole chapter and you laid it out, it is a prophetic chapter laid out concerning the events and periods of time even into the future and they’re very, very, very revealing. You’ll notice also on verse, in verse 11, and he shall wave the sheep before the Lord to be accepted for you on the morrow after the Sabbath.

The day after the Sabbath would be on a Sunday. That’s the day we meet together to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It’s called the Lord’s day. Isn’t that true? We call this day the Lord’s day. It belongs to the Lord. So we come together on the first day of the week the day after the Saturday. This is what it says right here. You see, even though these things were written, and you’re talking about here almost 1500 years before Christ, you’re talking about 3500 years ago, something being written.

And yet, if you don’t read it and study it, you won’t know what all this refers to. You see, that’s just a bunch of old stuff in the old territory. I don’t care if that’s someone going to be here to book a John. And And yet lo and behold, sitting right here, hidden in these verses are some tremendous truths. They are specific things, periods of time, things that happen. It talks about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the first truth, that which comes up out of the earth.

That’s why the Bible says Jesus Christ. He actually is the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 23, He says, Christ first and then those that are His, that is coming. So we know that there’s more to it than what meets the eye. These are types of something greater events in the future. And that’s where you and I are. When this was written, all these were events that were future. Now the next thing I want you to look at there, look down in verse 15.

Verse 15. So now the crisis died, he’s come back from the dead, and the next thing to happen was for the Holy Spirit to come on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost means 50 days, 50 days from the resurrection of Christ. That’s an event that took place in the New Testament, the book of Acts. Look what he says in verse 15, “…and ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, the day that you brought the chief of the wave offering, seven Sabbath shall be complete.

Seven Sabbath, sevens is 49 days, 49 days. But the day after the last Sabbath would make it how many days? Fifty days. So you see there in verse 16, even unto the moral after the Sabbath, seven Sabbath shall number 50 days and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. These were holy days, feast days of the children of Israel and they were to do them every year they had to do these feasts, every year. But they did them but many of them never knew what they represented, they don’t know what it’s for.

Even today to many of the children of Israel, the Jewish people, they are blinded to the truth of what these scriptures refer to. They do the practice. They don’t know what it represents. When Christ came, they don’t associate none of this to Christ, and yet all of it is about Him. So the Bible says they have a veil upon their eyes that they cannot see. Now I want you to notice this. When it says it was 50 days… Fifty days from the resurrection, Christ came back from the dead, ascended into heaven because He told His disciples or married them that were there.

They said, do not touch me. I have not yet ascended unto my Father. So He went to heaven right after His resurrection. And then the Bible said, He came back and He met with His disciples in the upper room. And when He met with the disciples, the Bible says the doors were locked, the windows were shut because the disciples were afraid for their life. And the Bible says He appears to be appeared in their midst. And then the Bible says that he appeared into him 40 days after his passion showing himself all these things with many infallible proofs.

Showing himself to him 500 at one time. And on the day of Pentecost, the Bible says, the Holy Spirit came from heaven to those group of people that were in that upper room and they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit. baptized by the Holy Spirit. And the Lord says He gave them the ability to speak in various languages, not unknown tongues, don’t you ever buy that junk. They spoke in various languages that the people that were there understood what they were saying.

There wasn’t an unknown gibberish, none of that stuff. It wasn’t, people weren’t crazy and rolling any out, none of that stuff. They were able to speak and people were able to hear. And this was the baptism of the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, 50 days, and see this was written over 1500 years before all these things happened, but they were a type of it. It was written in advance because God says, your hard-headed, you stiffen it, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen before it ever takes place.

Now see, that’s the last thing that was before us. Now, there’s something else is supposed to happen. If you’ll notice there now, there is the feast of trumpets. there in verse 24, speak unto the children of Israel, saying in the seventh month, in the first day of the month shall you have a Sabbath, a memorial, a blowing of trumpets, and holy convocation. Now if if all these other things happen on the very day, just like it was supposed to, and that was fulfilled accurately, just like it says here in the Old Testament, and Christ died on the very day in April, on the Passover, the Holy Spirit came 50 days later from the resurrection, just like it says, is it possible that the other can also be fulfilled on the very day, the very month, just like God said it will happen.

Now I’m not saying it will. I’m just saying this is the word and you can decide for yourself. But if this is true in verse 24, which is yet future, the blowing of trumpets was for two reasons, to assemble the children together and for war, to assemble and for war. Now we know that the tribulation period, if you look on your notes there, there’s a tribulation period where there’s a man blowing a trumpet. Well this trumpet to be blown is for I believe the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth.

First thing will be a gathering where he gathers us, though that believe we are taken out of the world and taken to heaven to be with the Lord. That’s the rapture. But you notice when Christ comes in the air for you and I, doesn’t come to the earth only in the air and everyone who knows Christ to save you, the Bible says at the last trumpet, the trumpet shall sound and everybody that is alive at that moment. The Bible says, will be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye and caught up to meet the Lord in the earth.

We will be gathered to the Lord. Now the blowing of trumpets has to be according to the Jewish time for the feast of trumpets. And then seven years later Christ comes to the earth. But this time the blowing of the trumpets is for the gathering of the children of Israel together because there is the battle of Armageddon. That’s war. And so here are the second coming of Christ, two phases of the second coming. The rapture in the air and then the revelation to the earth and power and great glory.

Here for all the All the believers here for the nation of Israel, because this is Israel laws, types. And the Bible says that the tribulation period will be seven years long, and both deal with the blowing of the trumpet when the trumpet shall sound. Now we know the very month and we know the day. We don’t know the year. Now, I believe it’s close. Now, if all these other things in this chapter were laid out on a timescale, is it possible that this also is laid out on timescale when you get to verse 24 and so forth?

Now, in verse 27 deals with the day of atonement. This is another one of their feast days, the day of atonement. This means when Christ comes back in power and great glory as the king of Israel to the earth and the Mount of all of the split. In two, then the Bible says that Israel, when they see Him coming, the Bible says they will look upon Him and say, where did you get those wounds? He says, I received those in the house of my friends.

That’s when He came the first time. He’s coming back and they’ll see the wounds in His hands and in His feet. And the Bible says that Israel as a nation will be born in one day born again. And God says, according to Jeremiah, I will put my spirit into my people. And Israel will accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. This is the day of atonement. It’s the day when they accept the Messiah as their payment, as their atonement for their sins, as a nation.

Not only as a nation, but individually. and they will be born in a day, and Israel will become in the kingdom the greatest nation in all the world. That’s what’s ahead of us. Who would believe? Here’s China. Here’s America. There’s Russia. Would you believe that that little old tiny nation over there no bigger than the side of Rhode Island? With 13 Arab nations all around them will be the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. If that ever happened, that’d be America with it.

It’s a miracle that Israel is even a nation today. And we’re living at the most exciting time because, see, Israel will have to be back in the land and they are. And there’s many things that are going to have to be done, but we’re living at a very exciting time. Or if you get a chance to read the book of Leviticus chapter 16, it’ll tell you a little bit about the atonement, the day of atonement, because it deals with the sufferings or the sorrow that Israel should show before the Lord and a time of repentance as a nation about what they’ve done to the Messiah and how they have deserted God and went astray and whore mongrel off all the other gods of the world.

And the Lord says one day they’re going to come back and they’re going to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Now all these other things happen just right on schedule. Now when is it possible that this could happen? I have some things that I can show you that I believe that it can come very close. I can’t prove it. But if there’s anybody who believes this book and loves this book and loves prophecy, I do. And there’s some things that I wish that God would reveal to me, but that hasn’t been done yet.

But I don’t set up at night waiting for some special revelation. No, it’s going to be only through the study of God’s Word. Read it and read it and read it and see what He’s talking about. Now the next thing, the last thing I want to share with you is verse 34. Speak unto the children of Israel, say him, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, October, shall be the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was twofold. It’s kind of like our Lord’s Supper.

The Feast of Tabernacles was similar to the Lord’s Supper. You see that when we take the Lord’s Supper, we take and take the bread and that represents the body of Christ. And the grape juice represents the blood of Christ. And so it doesn’t become the body of Christ, it doesn’t become the blood of Christ, it’s just a symbol. And we look back to the cross of what He did on the cross for us. And we look forward to His coming again.

So we look back to what He did and we look forward to His coming. Well, the nation of Israel, they came out of Egypt. They lived in the wilderness for 40 years. The Bible says they had tents and little booths that had to live in. all the time been promised that one day they’re going to have their own vine, their own fig tree, they’re going to have their own place. So whenever they were to have this, they looked back and this was also called the time where they built booths and they were living a booth for so many days.

And they looked back to the time where God brought them out of Egypt and they had to live in little booths. And they looked forward to the day that there’s going to be a millennium, a kingdom upon this earth where every man had his own pomegranate trees and his own fig tree and his own vines and his own property, his own stuff. And they look forward to that. Well, there’s a kingdom coming. And the Bible says that this feast of tabernacles is the time when Christ is going to come back to the earth.

And all of this is laid out in order. It’s not, you got to figure out where it’s going to go. It’s all in order, so all lay that exactly. And a period of time. And the next thing to happen if you look on top of your notes, Appearham, number one, it’s a memorial as to the redemption from Egypt and to prophetic to the Kingdom rest. So there’s a time coming in the future for the thousand year reign upon this earth.

And it’s all told here in the book of Leviticus chapter 20. Now let me make sure you understand this. Though I don’t have time to go through and document everything I’m saying on this stuff. I’m not twisting these scriptures to make it say what I wanted to say. This is what it is and this is what it’s a type of. Now there is a gap from the Pentecost until the blowing of the trumpets. This unknown period of time in there but that doesn’t annul what went before and it doesn’t annul what’s going to happen with the blowing of the trumpets and of the Feast of Tabernacles.

But there is this period of time which you and I are living in right now. How long is it going to be? And many Bible scholars believe that it’s going to be appeared of about 2,000 years. He said, well, it’s already been 2,000 years, not since the crucifixion from his birth, yes, but not the crucifixion. So you don’t count it from his birth, you count it from when he died. Because in the Old Testament it says that there’ll be 483 years from the time that they issued decree on And the Art of Xerxes, they go back and to rebuild the temple until the Messiah would be cut off.

So, when he was cut off, that’s the time limit, not his birth. And you’re talking about additional 34 years. You see, Jesus Christ can’t come back. He can’t return if he never left. But he came to the cross just like he said, and he was buried. He came back from the dead and sent it into heaven. And the Bible says, he’s coming back to the earth. There is no doubt that these scriptures that we just read are all written 1500 years before Christ.

The Jewish people still have the book of Leviticus. Leviticus, Levi, the servant, the priesthood, the tribe of Levi, the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, the Pentateuch, they have that and they know that it was theirs. They just don’t understand what it represents. If you’ve taken, put Christ in here, you can see everything. And it’s clear as a bell. And if all these other things happen, just like he said, is it possible the other time, is it also?

And the time period between the Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets can be known, I think it can. I believe that we’re living in the closing days of this dispensation and the crisis coming back soon. You see, if all of this is true and Christ is coming back soon. That’s why you as a child of God don’t play games, don’t be foolish, don’t live in sin, straighten up and do right. If you’re God’s child, you serve God. Don’t let the devil mess up your life.

You’re too close. It’s too soon. Any moment, don’t be ashamed before him at his coming. If there’s things in your life that are not right, confess those things to God. Say, Lord, I’ve sinned against you, I’ve been wrong, I confess it, and God will forgive you, and serve the Lord, and put Him first. Put Him first in everything that you do. Pray and seek God’s will. Try to win people to the Lord. If the raptor took place, are there people that you’ll wish you to talk to, but you never talked to?

It’s so important. 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 Bible Line 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, 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, they’re 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 through the Bible line website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of John, the Gospel of John in chapter 20. Of us we read a little bit earlier, talked about Jesus, that when he would be born he would be called wonderful counsel of the mighty God, the everlasting father of the Prince of Peace. The Bible says that his name would be called wonderful, wonderful because there’s many things that are different about him, totally unique about him. Even a man in his best state is still a center.

The best person you know is still a center. Jesus Christ was not a center. Jesus Christ was not just a man, but if he was just a man, what a man. No man was like this man. Let me just mention to you very quickly. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ did many signs, miracles, wonders in order to get people to believe that he was who he claimed to be. The Bible says that there were to be external revelations, external revelation that means outside of the natural man, that God was going to reveal by these miracles that He was able to perform an internal response inside of a person, an internal response in order to produce within us an eternal result, means that lasts forever, the gift of eternal life.

So God wants us to believe. But man doesn’t believe unless he can see something. Here’s something that’s totally unique. Jesus Christ being born to this world, his birth was not like the normal person. He did not have an earthly father. The Bible says the Holy Spirit came upon the woman Mary. and the Holy Spirit placed the seed within the womb of Mary, so that that which was born of her was a holy thing. He was wonderful in His birth because nobody was ever born like this man was born.

And the thing is that was so neat is not only was his birth it was planned because God had planned this before the foundations of the world, called the plan of salvation. And the Lord prophesied what He was going to do. He told in advance that Jesus Christ, when He came into this world, that He would be born of a virgin. We read that verse. It says in the book of Genesis in chapter 3 verse 15, talking about the seed of the woman, Christ, bruising the head of the serpent.

But God foretold these things and prophesied of it. And because of that, nothing is quite like Jesus Christ. No man ever had any of these things told about Him. When you stop and think about it, since no man can produce His own birth in order to create an individual without sin. You see, you cannot. You can get you and you can get your wife and you can produce a baby. Babies can have babies. Youngens can have youngens. But you can never produce a perfect child.

This was a perfect child. No sin, no fault, no flaws in this child. And in his life, the Bible says that he went about doing good. So he had a wonderful life. Years ago they had a man, I guess, James Stewart that made a movie that called it, It’s a Wonderful Life. Anybody seen that? Most people see that at Christmas. It’s a wonderful life. There is no life of any person who’s ever lived quite like this man’s life. The Bible says everywhere he went, he went about doing good.

He never wronged anybody. He never wronged his mother. He never wronged his earthly father. Joseph, who was not his real father, but he never wronged anyone. He never wronged a brother. He never wronged a sister. He never told a lie. This man was unique. He was different. Never been another one quite like him. He was wonderful in his birth, but he was wonderful in his life. And the Bible says that things that happened in his life had been planned.

He was totally in the hands of his father. And the thing that had happened in his life prophesied thousands of years in advance. And to realize the power that it takes to live above sin, no other man has ever done it. When you take about people talking about keeping the law, out of 1500 years, not one person ever kept the law, yet Jesus Christ kept the law perfectly. Means he never failed. He lived a perfect life. He could look at an individual and say, Which one of you can convince me or convict me of sin?

Point to one sin that I’ve ever committed. Now you and I wouldn’t dare do that to anybody. But Jesus was different, he was unique. And the Bible says that this man was wonderful in his birth, he was wonderful in his life. When you talk about the death on the cross, most of us didn’t determine when we would be born. Most of us are not gonna determine when we died. very day will die or by whose hand we will die if it’s that away.

This is different about Jesus Christ. See, He was wonderful in His death. You see, His death was planned. He was born that He might die. His death was not an accident. You might have an accident. Oh, you had a car wreck and you accidentally got killed. His death was no accident. His death was planned by God from the foundations of the world. And it was prophesied in the Old Testament and even in the 22nd Psalm told about how he would be pierced in his hands and his feet.

In other words, looking forward a thousand years to the day when under the Roman government he would be crucified. You see, not just anybody could be held accountable by two governments, two nations and rejected by both. What a man. And yet this person died a unique death. Not only were there other people who died on the crosses but nobody died like this man. So how come? You see they died for their sin. They did do wrong but this man had done nothing amiss.

There was no fault found in him. Paulus says I washed my hands from this man. This man had done nothing wrong. This man’s done nothing worthy of death. The only thing they could come close to accusing him of was blasphemy because he said he was God. But the thing was, he wasn’t lying. He told the truth. That’s who he was. And he told him, he says, when you put me on the cross, my father will tell you who I am.

He says, I bear witness of myself. I bear witness of myself. I said, I am the light of the world. I am the Son of God. I am the way, the truth and the life. That’s who I am. I am the Son of God. I am the Messiah. I am the Savior of the world. But my testimony is not to be believed by one alone. Everything had to be established in mouth of two or more witnesses. He said, but there’s another one he’ll testify.

He says, one that you have listened to, one that you have followed. He says, a man named John the Baptist came on the scene and he was a bright and shining light. He testified of me and you went to his baptism and he baptized many of you with the baptism or repentance. He said, that man that you hold up in very high esteem, that man, his character, his integrity, that man says that I’m the son of God that takes away the sin of the world.

He witnessed for me. He said, if you don’t want to believe it because of what I say or maybe not because of what John says, he said, what about the works that I do? my very works, the way I live, the things that I’ve accomplished, tells you who I am. No other man is able to make a blind man see. Nobody else can make the lane to walk or the death to hear. But listen, Christ making the blind to see did nothing for me.

He can’t do anything for me. Just because He was able to make the dumb to speak, that didn’t save me. That didn’t pay for my sin. That doesn’t get me to heaven. Just because Christ would walk on water. That didn’t save me. That didn’t give me eternal life. That didn’t make me God’s child. But yet Jesus Christ would walk on the water. And He could feed to 5,000. He could do all the miracles that He did. And the Bible says that Jesus Christ did all they think.

He says, Believe me for the works that I do. For what I’ve done tells you who I must be. I’m not a normal man. I’m not the average Joe Blow. Many people thank Jesus. Oh, he was just a good man. He died for a good cause. He was God. He was God in the flesh. He had a body like ours. But this man was different. He was wonderful in his birth. And he was wonderful in his life. And he was wonderful in his crucifixion.

When he died, his death was foretold. It was prophesied. It was planned and it was powerful because he says, I have the power to lay my life down, and I have the power to take it up again. No man take it my life from me. And yet when he came back from the dead, it was by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. No man died like this man. But not just wonderful in his death. You stop and think about this.

What’s the most powerful thing in the world? Now it’s wonderful that when we can look out and behold, and we could see maybe a man walking on water because we know that’s, that’s America. That’s supernatural. The Bible says that Christ did these things so that we could be leave. Look there in verse 30. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. signs or a miracle, signs or external revelations to produce inside of a person an internal response.

What does God want from me? Why did He do that? That I might believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that I might believe that. And so Christ was allowed by the God the Father to produce the miracles that in an individual he might believe. And if he will believe that an internal response he would have the eternal results which would be eternal life. So the miracles was to produce belief so that we could have eternal life.

But I wasn’t there to see all those miracles that were done. I never saw one miracle. What the Bible says concerning the woman at the well in chapter four of the gospel of John, it says that the men in the city that came out said, we believe not because what the woman said, but because we heard Him hours that we heard Him. So it’s not only by seeing is by hearing the greatest message in the world. Remember this, there is no story.

There is no message as great, as powerful as moving as the story of Christ’s death on the cross. You listen to the story of what happened to him when he was persecuted, when he was mocked and hung on a tree, what he went through and what happened and the story behind it, there is no story as moving as that story. to know that here was a perfect man in the hands of sinful men and had the power of all heaven behind him and what he could have done and the Bible said he could have called 10,000 angels and yet he allowed man to do what they did to him and he did it for a reason.

That took power. The power to refrain himself from power that he had lest he used it and not accomplish the purpose by which he came. They said, if you’re the Christ, come on down from the cross and we’ll believe you, but they didn’t understand. He couldn’t come down from the cross. If he’d have came down, he couldn’t have saved them. He could not have paid for their sins. He could not be intimidated by them. What a man. Every person in this room would be filled with bitterness and hatred toward anybody, whoever wronged you.

And yet in him, he says, forgive them for they know not what they do. They don’t know what they’re doing. See he’s not like you and I. He was God in the flesh. The miracles that he did was to produce the leaf in us. But he says, there are those who were able to see like he told Thomas and he says, because thou hast seen, thou hast believed. But blessed are those who have not seen yet believe because they all hear the story and that’s why the Bible is written that’s why the gospel of John was written so that we might believe because of what we heard and that’s why he says in not only in chapter 4 when they said we’ve heard him ourselves chapter 5 verse 24 says as many as here is the word here the word and believe it on him that sent me half

everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but has passed from death unto life. You see you and I we don’t have to see the miracles. But we have evidence that it is true. And the evidence is not only what Christ said, it’s not only what John the Baptist said because everything has to be established in Mafatour more witnesses. It’s not only that his work bear witness of it, but he says, my Father, my Father also bears witness of me in chapter 8 verse 18 and chapter 8 verse 28.

He said, my father tells you who I am. He says, when you lift me up, when you lift me up, my father that created the heavens and the earth, my father’s gonna tell you who I am. And when he hung on the cross, when he had said, I am the light of the world, the world went dark when the light went out. He says, I am the temple of God. And he said that Vayo was rent from the top to the bottom.

That was another miracle. Because it opened up the door way into the holy of holies so that you and I can have access to God and go to heaven whenever we die because his body was the veil according to Hebrews in chapter 10. You see God the Father spoke because when he was on the cross he said when you lift me up my father will bear witness that I’m who I said I was. The Bible says that the earth shook and the graves were open and the people that were Over in the grave came out after his resurrection and walked through the city of Jerusalem.

Now wouldn’t that scare you half to death? To see some uncle or some aunt that’s been dead and all of a sudden they’re walking the streets of Jerusalem. He started to know that was in the Bible, chapter 27, a book of Matthew, read it sometime. So what is all that proof? He is God. It proves that He is who He claimed to be. He says these external miracles is to birds that inward response. Why? So that you’ll believe it.

You will believe it. There is no story you have ever heard that has more documentation than this story that’s in this book right here. He says, search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me. They’ll tell you, if you’ll read it, they’ll tell you in the Old Testament scripture they’ll tell you who I am. They told you where I was going to be born. They told you how I was going to live.

They told you how I’m going to die. And they tell you about my resurrection. It’s all in the book. Read the evidence. And written before he ever came into this world. So I didn’t have to see anything. But I was 18 years old when I heard the greatest story I’ve ever heard in my life. Somebody told me the story of Jesus Christ. They told me that Jesus Christ was God’s Son, that He came into this world, that He died on that cross to pay for my sins, came back from the dead, and my only way, my only hope of going to heaven is if I accept that payment He made for me.

Through Christ is the only way of going to heaven. You cannot get there any other way. I did a, I don’t have to live looking for some miracle, some sign to convince me. There is no story like this story. No man could write this story. This story took 1600 years to write. And it’s perfectly woven together. No story quite like it. You see, all this is wonderful because you see him. Jesus was wonderful. He was wonderful in his birth and he was wonderful in his life.

He was wonderful in his death and he was wonderful in his resurrection. You know the greatest power in all the world. If a man could kill you, it would be the greatest power you could have to come back from the dead. I mean, if you had the power to make a blind man see, okay, but if you can kill him, I mean, so what? I mean, if you could feed to 5,000, but if a man can die, you can’t come back.

So what? But the power to come back from the dead to live forever. You know, they always try to make some movies, you know, something like vampires and eating drinks in somebody’s blood so that they can live forever and all that kind of stuff like that. You see, they can get stories like this, but in the Bible, it’s real. It’s a real story. Christ says, if you’ll eat my flesh and drink my blood, my blood, you’ll live forever. I literally believe that if Christ had gave us a bite of his flesh to eat or a drop of his blood to drink, we would live forever.

blood was precious blood. It was incorruptible blood. And when he died on the cross and shed his blood, it was the very blood that he shed that he took to heaven and offered on the mercy seat in heaven. I believe that. His blood might have failed to the ground, but when he left, he took every drop of it with him. How much of his blood did he have to shed? He shed all of his blood, but one drop would would have been enough to pay for the sins of the whole world.

Because of the quality, the underminue of that blood. It was pure blood. It’s the Bible called the precious blood of Jesus Christ. In the book of Leviticus, chapter 17, verse 11, … Verse 11 said, for the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your soul for the blood and making the atonement for your soul. It is the one. …the blood of the unto the unto you upon the altar to make an entitlement for your soul, for the blood making the tumult for your soul.

He had to die to pay for our sins so that we could have as a free give everlasting life. And to think that somebody could a man, a natural man, come back from the dead, go out to your cemeteries and see how many of them have the power to come back. When I do your funeral, why don’t you just go ahead and get out of that casket? Don’t you have to have any funeral services when it be wonderful but you ain’t got the power to do it.

You can’t do it. You don’t have the power to do it. And if there is no resurrection, there is no Savior. There’s no resurrection. There is no proof because he prophesied that he would. He says over and over again, they’re going to kill me. Three days later, I’m coming back from the dead. Now, if he hadn’t kept this word, he was a liar. But he came back from the dead. And the thing that’s also wonderful is to think for a moment.

Get out here someday, get out here in the parking lot and jump up in the air and say, how you can jump. So if you can jump clean off the earth, how can you get up in this air on your own steam, on your own power? On the Mount of Olive, they were all standing there watching him and all of a sudden on his own power a man began to to go up off the earth and they watched Him ascend up in the heaven.

That ascension was a wonderful thing. Wouldn’t you like to see it? To see a person do something no man can do. He’s not just a man. From the beginning to the end, He’s not just a man. He was a man, but not just a man. He was perfect man and he was perfect God. He was the perfect God-man. He was God manifested in the flesh so that you and I could understand, see, the greatest miracle of all is the power to come back from the dead.

And that’s why in the New Testament they preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That power, the power that saves us, can give us eternal life. The greatest news in all the world. You take away the resurrection of Christ. We have no story. You take away the resurrection. We have no Savior. This hand represents you and me. This wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. Now God, He loves us, but He hates our sin. Now get this. You and I committed the sin we ought to pay for.

The payment for sin. The pay for the wrong we’ve done is eternal separation from God in hell. You see, you’re going to die. And if you have not accepted the payment Christ made for you, you will go to hell. That’s where you’re going. To go to heaven you have to be perfect as righteous as God. None of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. That’s why you and I needed a Savior because we can’t save ourselves. If we could save ourselves we don’t need a Savior.

But God says you cannot save yourself. It is impossible for a man to save himself. This then represents Jesus Christ. God in the flesh. See God cannot die. So God sent his son Jesus Christ into this world, He took upon Himself a body. And through this body, He became a sacrificial lamb. That’s why He called the Lamb of God to take it away the sin of the world. Jesus Christ came into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin because our sin separates us from Him.

So Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead, and God said, anybody, who’s sure ever in the whole world would believe that He did this, that He paid for their sins. He would give them as a free gift ever lasting life. And you’ll go to heaven on what Christ did for you. Now, what miracle am I supposed to perform for you today? Am I supposed to walk on water? No. Am I supposed to feed to 5,000?

No. Am I supposed to make the blind to see in the death? No, no, no, I can’t do no those things. You see, I’m just a man like you, but there was a man who did live and could do all of that. And the greatest miracle of all is he came back from the dead, seen of over 500 at one time, 500 people at one time. There’s enough witnesses. I can’t make people believe this story. I can’t see it, but I heard about it.

The Bible says, Faith, Timothy, by what? Hearing. And hearing by the Word of God. If you have not trusted Christ as your Savior. Then you are not saved and you will not go to heaven. But if inside of you is the desire that you want to go to heaven for all eternity and you don’t want to go to hell, you must accept Christ as your Savior. I’ve offered you my wallet and you accepted what would you have? Empty wallet.

I’ve offered you this Bible and you accepted what would you have? A Bible. If Christ walked in here and offered you eternal life and you accepted what would you have? Eternal life. If it’s eternal life, it lasts forever. And if it lasts forever, all your sins are paid and you’re going to heaven whenever you die. It’s the greatest news in all the world. I don’t need any miracles to convince me. What I’ve heard about it is good enough for me.

Blessed are they who have not seen yet believe because they heard about it. And that’s why he says, going to all the world and preach the gospel to every person because all you’re gonna get today And all you’re going to get on any day of any day during the rest of the man kind of on the earth is the story. That story. That’s why the Bible says the gospel, good news. That story itself is so powerful. That story is able to break down every man, every woman.

That story is why you’re supposed to tell it and tell it. You should. Let’s pray, shall we? Every headbound, every act closed, no one looking around. If you’re here this morning and you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, let me encourage you. If you’ve never done this, do it now. Just talk to the Lord in your mind and say something simple like this, Lord, I am a sinner. Be honest, God already knows it. Lord, I’m a sinner. I believe Christ died that He paid for my sins.

And right now, the best on Ohio, I will accept Him as my Savior. And friend, if you’ll trust Him right now in right now as your Savior God will save you and give you eternal life and you can know that you’re going to heaven whenever you die. If you’ve never done that do it right now. I’m not going to have you forward not getting embarrassed but I am going to ask you in just a moment to raise your hand.

Raising your hand does not save you. I’m not going to embarrass you but I do want to have prayer for you and raising your hand lets me know that what I said made sense to you and that’s why I do it with hedge bow nice clothes so if you will you’ve never done it before and you want to to go to heaven when you die. You must trust Christ as your Savior. Will you trust Him right now? Depend upon Him to take you to heaven.

Not the preacher, not the church, not your good works. You can’t earn it. It’s free. It’s a totally free gift. So you say, yes, I’ll trust Christ as my Savior and preach I like you to pray for me. Friend, would you just slip your hand very quickly and put it right back down and say, and what it all? If you’ve never done it before, would you do it right now? If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, your God’s child.

If your God’s child, you’re going to heaven when you die. And the power that raised him from the dead is the same power of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you to help you to do the things that you should do, not to get to heaven but because you’re going there. Servilor, honor him not just on Easter Sunday, but every day of your life because you have divine power living within you, his power, his life. 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33-634. 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 going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. 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. 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 month… and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us was told free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at CalvaryOfTampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

If God really loved you and Jesus Christ was the epitome of love, When God sent his son, God sent his love. So what people were not knowledgeable of was the love of God. They could not see nor understand real genuine, pure, perfect love because they rejected it. So what does that say about the nature of man, the discernment of man. When the world rejected the most perfect, wonderful, lovable, individual the world’s ever seen. What does it say about our character?

About the integrity of man, the wisdom of man. And yet here we are, if God offers to you and I, His salvation. If we reject salvation, you reject Christ. You reject Christ. You reject love. You reject God. That’s what you’re rejecting when you reject Christ. But what about those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior? Isn’t it difficult for you to understand how anyone, anywhere, once they know it, hear it, could ever reject salvation by grace. That’s hard to understand.

And yet the world has rejected the Lord. Here in Isaiah, says surely he hath borne our grief to carry our sorrows, yet we had did esteem him, stritting of God and afflicted. God had to afflict his own son because the son took upon himself the sins of the world. Why don’t you take your Bible and look in the book of Mark? The book of Mark and chapter 6. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In the book of Mark and chapter 6 and look there in verse 6.

He says in verse 4, but Jesus said of them a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house. And he could there do no more mighty works, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and heal them. He marveled because of their what? Their faith. He marveled their unbelief. In other words, for them not to be amazed at what he was doing, brought attention to the fact that he marveled at their unbelief, not their belief, because that to him was a miracle.

What he did was so miraculously done that it was hard for the Son of God to imagine why wouldn’t you believe. marvel at their unbelief because they rejected him. They rejected him. But look what else he said in verse 3 as they made the statement about Christ. Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judah and Simon and are not his sisters here with us and they were offended at him because you’re just a man.

You’re no different than anybody else. Who do you think you are? God? Yes, he was. What does it say about the so-called wisdom of the world? You and I would have a difficult time believing that one of your brothers or sisters could have been the Son of God. If he did ever did anything wrong, would it just blow your mind? Do you find out later that my wife? Because you said, well, I know he did this wrong and this wrong and this wrong and this wrong and you’d have a whole list of things you did.

But what if they couldn’t find any fault in him? Could you live all those years with a brother or sister and not know if they did something wrong? Or maybe they just thought he did. Maybe they imagined things. What it would have been like. And so in verse 5, and he could there do no more mighty works. Couldn’t do any more mighty works. They didn’t believe. But there’s three things in verse four I want you to see. But in his own country, the nation rejected him.

Among his own kin, his kin folks, rejection. In his own house, rejection. And yet what’s the most wonderful thing that you and I want in life? Acceptance. You want acceptance. Do you know what’s biggest problem with teenagers today? The peer pressure they want to be accepted by their peers That’s why they like to dress like them act like them talk like them because they want to be accepted Even in our society Most adults like to be accepted We want people to accept us nobody likes rejection and And to think the person that came into the world that never did anything wrong to anybody, this happened to.

But God wants us to understand this. The more that you want to be like Christ. Christ made the statement in the gospel of John. He says, the world hated me. The world despised me. What do you think it’s going to do to you? So as you try to live godly you’re going to suffer persecution. So the closer you are like Christ, the more you’re going to be rejected, not accepted, the more you’re going to be despised. And people may not really understand who you are and what you’re all about if you really want to live Godly.

He says in James, he says you cannot be the friend of God and the friend of the world. He said, if you’re the friend of the world, then he says you just made yourself an enemy of God. And more people would rather have the world be their friends than God be their friend. But the one thing that’s made Abraham different from the majority of the people that came along as the Bible says that Abraham was a friend of God.

That me to be a friend of God. He was not a friend of the world. And he wants to be your friend. He says, I have called you friends, John chapter 15. I’ve called you friends. If you’re my friend, you can’t be a friend of the world. He says, the world does not love me, then how can the world love you? We want to try to love the world, but don’t expect the world love you back. If your love is only because you expect the world to love you, the world to accept you, then you won’t last long because you’re going to be so easily offended because not everybody’s going to appreciate what you stand for or who you are or what you’re trying to accomplish.

But he made these three statements in his own country, his own kinfolk, his own house. And then he told us about his own. So he says there in verse 6, and he marveled because of their unbelief. Don’t you think that Jesus Christ marveled when his own brothers and sisters didn’t believe that he was who he claimed to be? Wouldn’t that be rough? Or what about with his relatives? And what about with the nation of Israel? He came unto his all in his own received them not looked in Luke chapter four got Matthew Mark Luke and chapter four Luke chapter four look their inverse 16 In verse 16, there’s scriptures here where he had gone into the place with Nazareth and so on.

But you realize that when Christ was in Nazareth, he had lived there for 25 years, approximately 25 years, lived a perfect life for 25 years in front of those people that were the closest to him, and they couldn’t tell. tell he was different, that he was God. How bad must their eyes have been, how blind they must have been, and Christ marveled at that. Why couldn’t they see? There’s people that are in our world and they are blind. But here in Luke chapter 4, he makes a statement in verse 16, he came to Nazareth as he had been brought up, as his custom was.

He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, stood up for the reed, but he’d been going there for years. Been there about 25 years, and one day he decides to read something and say something. He says, this day is this scripture that he’s reading from the book of Isaiah chapter 6 and 1, fulfilled in your ears. He says, these scriptures are talking about me, C-dine verse 1, he began to say, and this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

And all bear him witness, wondered that the gracious words was foreseeded out of his mouth, and they said, is not this Joseph’s son? They would admit, wait a minute. Do we know this guy? We know his family. How can he claim to be somebody like that? He says surely a lot of things were done, but as he goes down through here, he makes them statements. He says they would not believe the very same people after they heard him for a while made a few statements.

And then he made some comments that they didn’t like and look in verse 28. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things were filled with joy, they were waiting, they were thrilled. This was an exciting moment. The Messiah had come. And he says, I’m the one that he’s talking about. This day, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. I’m here. Yoo-hoo. And they said they were filled with what? Wrath. Evidently, Jesus had not read Dale Carnegie’s book on how to win friends and influence people.

He must have had a bad attitude. That’s why they responded that way. It was all his fault. Jesus did not know how to deal with people. He rose up and thrust him and they rose up and thrust him out of the city. Let him onto the brow of the hill where on their city was built and they might cast him down headlong. What were they going to do to them? They were going to kill it. Wait a minute, this is hometown.

This is hometown. They’re going to kill him. One statement that he made. One little message that he made in the synagogue on that particular day. And they’re ready to kill him. They knew his mom. They knew his dad. Supposedly. Joseph. They knew his brothers and sisters and are ready to kill the guy. How did that make you feel if you were the son of God? Christ says whenever you’re mistreated and you’re despised, you’re rejected, consider him. Consider what he’s gone through.

Look in the book of Luke chapter 8. Luke and chapter 8. Luke chapter 8, look there in verse 37. Then the whole multitude of the country, multitude refers to the people. On the gatherings round about besought him to depart from them, for they were taken with great fear and he went up into the ship and return back again. He left. A whole country. Said they didn’t want him. Told him to leave their city. How many times that happened over and over again?

He was rejected. But you see when you read that one verse over there in the Old Testament in Isaiah chapter 53 he was despised and rejected. That’s a prophecy. So when you go to the New Testament then you ought to be able to validate that. So you find these places where that’s what’s happening. It knew it. Christ knew before he came how the world was going to treat him. And he came what? Came anyway. Came anyway. Would you treat somebody lovingly and kindly even though you know they may mistreat you?

If you had foreknowledge? See, we are very nice to people that we feel are gonna be nice to us or are nice to us. But we don’t like to be nice sometimes to people who are not that way to us. We want to treat them the way they’re treating us. I’m glad that Jesus Christ did not do that when He came into this world. And so he says that no man wanted him. They wanted him to be cast out Because of what he had done see there in verse 39 Return to the in-own house and show how great things God have done for thee because he had healed a man He says go and show people what God’s done for you And that’s what he did I’m going to jump down to Luke chapter 19 Luke chapter 19 and look in verse 41 verse 41.

In this scripture he had told them some things that were very important and they didn’t believe and so after a while he stopped offering to them the kingdom but in verse 41 he And when he had come near, he beheld the city and he wept over it, saying that this is what he said. Here’s the Son of God, and he’s weeping. If thou hath known, even thou, at least in this thy day. In other words, if you’d have just known what’s going on, the days in which you live, If you understood if you perceived had any discernment, the things which belong unto my peace and the word that would have brought you peace, what you could have had and you threw it all away.

You threw it all away. He said, but now they are hid from by nine. There’s things that you could have had. You could have seen. You could have known, but you’ll never have it. This generation. He says in verse 44, and they says the others will come and they’ll leave the even with the ground and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another. And here’s the reason you are underlined this because, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation when God visited the earth.

the earth, the day the Son of Man came to your home. Remember what he told Ozakius? Today the Son of Man is going to buy it at your house. We find in the Corinthians he says, behold today is the day of salvation and the reason is because you and I don’t know when we’re going to die. Did Jesus know when he was going to die? Take your Bible and look there in the Gospel of John in chapter 7. This is where we were this morning when we read the opening scriptures.

Chapter 7, the Bible tells us that Jesus knew he was going to die. He had already told them that I must go to Jerusalem and men, wicked men, will take and crucify the Son of God. But in three days I’ll come back from the dead. And even though he told his disciples they didn’t really perceive what he said, they didn’t understand. Though he said it clearly. Verse one, after these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jury or in Judah because the Jews there in Judea, which was in Jerusalem, wanted to kill him.

So he was in Galilee. But remember when he was in Galilee years before at the beginning of his ministry we walked into that temple and Luke chapter 2 says these days this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears and they wanted to kill it. Time passes. They heard of miracles. They wanted to see some more. Now toward the Innivist Ministry. After these things Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Judah. Juri because the Jews sought to kill him.

Now the Jews, Feast of Tabernacles was at In other words, they were getting ready for the Passover. Was it gonna be long? But if he went there, he knew they were gonna kill him. And the Jews that were there wanted to kill him. They were hoping to show up. But he didn’t go there yet because he knew he’s gonna die at a certain time, at a certain place for a certain reason. He knew when he was gonna die. But get this.

Verse 3, his brethren therefore said unto him, depart this and go into Judea. This is family talking. His family says, why don’t you go there? Did they know what the Jews wanted to do to them? They knew. And what did they tell them to do? Why don’t you go? I love you too. I love you too. But think about this. And this is a critical person’s scripture. His family says, why don’t you go there? All these people that wanna see these miracles, they said nobody does miracles like this unless he really wants to be known.

Well, if you’re gonna do it, let everybody, let the world see what you’re doing. They didn’t believe him. Yet they live with them all their life. They live with them all their life. He says this, his brother and therefore studied him, the part that’s and go into Judah that thy disciples also may see the works that thou do us. Why would they say that? Look at verse 5, for neither did his brethren believe in him. I’m making this up.

This is the book. They knew that they, did you, they want to kill him. Why don’t you go? And if you are who you say you are and if you can do what you say you can do, then go ahead and do all these things so everybody can see. Don’t go in and hide. Reveal yourself. Thank you family.

So he says in verse three the last part of it, depart hence and go into Judah for thy disciples. Also may see the works that thou doim for there is no man that doeth anything in secret and he himself seeketh to be known openly they even knew his motives. You ever had somebody check always know your motor. I know why you really did that. I know why you did that. And maybe they do, maybe they don’t. Maybe they question, down.

But he says here, if thou do these things, show thyself to the world. For neither did his disciples believe in, then Jesus said unto him, my time is not yet come, but your time is always ready. Jesus knew the time. He knew the very hour and you’ll find this mention about three or four times in the book of John. My hour is not yet come. My hour is not yet come. My hour is not yet come. My hour is come.

He knew. He says that I am going to be a Colonel Corn that falls into the earth. He says if it just bites, he says it, it bites along but if it dies, it can come forth and you have all these kernels of corn on all these years, so he’s willing to die. That’s John chapter 12. He says, if I be lifted up, I’ll draw all men unto me. And yet, he knew how he was going to be treated before ever came into this world.

He knew that he’d be rejected by the Jewish government, the Roman government, his country, his kinfolk, his family. He was deserted. And then after three and a half years with the disciples, they all deserted him too. They rejected him. They left him. Peter denied him three times. What a story. A story of how much God must have really loved somebody. But he says here, my time has not yet come, but your time, you don’t know when you’re going to die.

He said, I know when I’m going to die. Yours could happen at any time. You don’t know when you’re gonna I know what I’m gonna die. I don’t think they totally understand. The world cannot hate you but me it hated because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil and whenever you take a stand for truth when you say that abortion is wrong people will hate you for it. When you say that homosexuality is a sin and wicked sin and people hate you for that.

Even Christians don’t like you to say things about things like that. And yet God says, stand on the housetop and shout it out. Fear not, fear not their faces, be not afraid, be not ashamed and declare. In the book of John chapter 4 where he said he must needs to go to Samaria. When he went to Samaria, the Bible says that one woman that had trust the Lord got the whole city to come out and they all believed. toward the end of his ministry, that was the beginning of it, toward the end of his ministry, the place called Saikhar, the people got together and didn’t want him to come.

That was still in Samaria. One time open arms, next time get out of here, nothing to do with you. Do you think that it’s a shame for people to reject Jesus Christ as their Savior? I’m sure you do. But also when I ask you another question. What about Christians? Christians that deny the Lord the right to use their life for his honor and glory. What about when God chastens an individual and despise the chastening of the Lord to despise God’s chastening when God chastens you because he loves you to despise the chastening is to despise his love for you true like about it and so they despise the chastening of the Lord they despise the will of God they despise the church they despise prayer because they don’t pray.

They despise the word because they won’t read. And then they wonder where’s God? There’s many of God’s people that despise and reject the will of God for their life. And the time that is left for us to live. If the word of God means anything, supposed to discern the times in which we live and realize that you cannot be a friend of God and a friend of the world. You’ve got to make big of a mind one side of the other.

I’m either going to serve a Lord and stand for what I believe is right or just fall in love with the world and go whatever you want. It’s a choice that every individual has to make and regardless what somebody else does or doesn’t do personal responsibility is to develop on our own individual shoulders. Let’s pray, shall we? Our Father, we thank You for the free gift of eternal life that You loved us so much. Even though You knew what You were getting into, You knew how You You are going to be despised and rejected.

You came anyway because you loved us. And Father, we pray that each one of us would so live that the world may know that we love the Father and we don’t love the world. The loss of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, help us Father to keep our eyes focused upon you. And thankful for what you’ve done and help us to be a blessing to others in need encouragement to be an right example and use a figure on glory 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 Bible 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

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

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 through the Bibleline website at Calvary of Tampa. of Jesus Christ.

And that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family. We are designed, especially by God, with certain desires. And I believe that those desires that are right or desires that came from God. And God said he made us in his image. God wants us to be part of him, not just his creation, but somebody that’s part of family. I’m sure you understand. one thing about people that, you know, they may be neighbors, might be good people to work with, but sometimes you just feel like, you know, family is still family.

And whether it’s your wife, your kids, brothers, sisters, family, family, and you believe that there should be a closer tie there, you know, because say, well, we’re blood, and blood is thicker than Well, I believe God has placed a little bit of that in us. God loves. God wants not only someone to love, God wants to be loved. And you and I think have lived long enough now, most of us in this room, we’re all adults. We’ve lived long enough to know what it feels like to be loved and be hurt by being rejected.

Rejection is a terrible thing. I remember whenever I was in school, I was at a stage in my life where I wasn’t really that athletic. I didn’t have a chance to play like some of the kids, so I didn’t have a chance to develop in certain, you know, certain athletic skills. would get together and they’d always pick up sides and they would take this when they take down. And Yankee is the last one. How would you like to be?

It’s either me or some guy that’s got three left feet and they’re trying to decide whether or not to pick me or the guy that’s totally off the wall. And you think, this is where I am in life. I am on the bottom. And one of them know that whether you can’t hit, you can’t catch, you can’t run too good. We don’t want him on our team. And there’s a sense of rejection. I used to hate it whenever they had to pick up size because I always knew that they were going to pick all the good guys because they always want the good guys on their team.

Some of you may have experienced some of that. But as we got older, I always made sure that look, we’re going to pick up teams. Me and Tim, we’re going to pick up teams. have I done now? I am on a team. I am on a team because I just put myself on the team and I learned that very early just to go ahead and do it. I always wanted to be the president of a Baba college so the best way to do it president of a Baba college do what?

Start one and then you have just nominated yourself the president. Well isn’t that wonderful? There’s things that we don’t like to go through in life We don’t like the experience and that is the feeling of being despised and Rejected do you know anybody that the Bible talks about that was despised and rejected and Think for a moment. What was the world like? When God sent his son into the world Was the world? Ready to receive him was the world all the getting everything straight.

Remember one of the jobs that John the Baptist had was getting the people ready for the Son of Man. And he went preaching and repentance straighten up. Do right. Straight paths for your feet and all this stuff. It didn’t make much difference. They weren’t ready for him. When God sent his son into the world, the world was not ready. It was a terrible time. In the book of Genesis in chapter 6, we won’t turn there right now. But the more people there were, population explosion, wickedness got worse, got worse, and worse.

until God had to destroy the world. And then when God did send his son into the world, the world was still a wicked place. You imagine when Christ was born, what the world condition was like. Israel was under the iron heel of Rome. The people were in rebellion. They had added to the scriptures. They weren’t looking for Christ to come. the Sadducees were Sadducee, because they didn’t believe in any miracles, they didn’t believe in the resurrection, they didn’t believe in a new birth.

These are the leaders of the Sanhedrin. You got people that were really in a bad fix. The Romans were killing anybody that rises up against them, made prisons other than them, Made and pay taxes to Rome So Christ was not born at the best time in history The world was not in a better condition There’s people today that write books that we’re not looking for the rapture the job of the church is To get the world already So the Christ can come back and he’s not coming back until we’ve got the world ready So that’s why we’re supposed to get all the countries and do a lot of socialism and get people and solve the world’s problems and get it so good that God will have to come back if he wants to have any part of it.

Because if he don’t, we’ll do it without him. And there’s people to write books like that. I’d read some. It’s pathetic. But in Isaiah 9, the Bible tells us that God is going to send a son unto us, sent His Son unto us. And us there was the nation of Israel. Then of course He would have benefited the whole world. John chapter 1 in verse 11. Now we know that from John chapter 1 that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the same was in the beginning with God and all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.

And he says, and he was in the world, and the world was made by him. And the world knew him not. And then he makes this statement that they received him not. As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God. But when he came unto his own, his own received him not. So he was rejected, despised. And there’s two things about him been despised at his birth. One was just plain because people were ignorant, they were indifferent, they really didn’t seem to care, they were careless, because they had the word they could have known.

So carelessness was a choice. They chose not to care. They didn’t care about what God said. They wouldn’t do anything about getting their lives right. And so they paid a great price. They were not ready when he came. They didn’t recognize him. When God gave all the ear marshal how you could know this was truly the Son of God. And then not only that, but Herod, his was blatant. His was not indifference. His wasn’t carelessness. And it wasn’t because he was totally ignorant.

He actually believed that this could be the child that was supposed to come that was to be the king. So what did Herod do because of it? He murdered probably thousands of little children that were under the age of two years all and under, just murdered them. In other words, an outright hostility to the Son of God. This is how the world received them. Nobody cared. And those that did believe, they wanted to kill him. And that’s the world that God sent His Son into.

When He came to the end, and they said there was no room for Him in the end, do you think that if he had been rich, royalty, famous, they probably would have made room. You think they would have made room but think nobody really cared, either careless or ignorant or indifferent. But throughout his life, as they begin to find out who he claimed to be, there was great hostility toward him and a great price was paid. I want you to take your Bible and look there in the book of Isaiah in chapter 53.

Isaiah and 53. You will see that this was a prophecy about Jesus Christ. This is like reading today’s paper, 700 years in advance. And Isaiah chapter 53, talking about Jesus Christ, it says in verse 1, Lord, who hath believed our report? In the words you’re writing something no one’s going to believe. To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed the word arm of the Lord up in verse 10 of the previous chapter really is a reference to Jesus Christ because he says in verse 13 of chapter 52, Behold my servant shall deal prudently.

He shall be exalted and extolted be very high. As many were astonished at his visage was so marred more than any man. This is the one that God’s going to sin. This is what the world is going to do to him. But he says in verse 2 of chapter 53, He shall grow up before him as a tender plant as a root out of a dry ground. He have no formative commonness than when we shall see him. There is no beauty that we should desire him.

See when Jesus Christ was here, he wasn’t the most cancerous man around because he drew no attention to himself that he was somebody different or greater. I don’t know if he had a physique that was any different from anybody else because he didn’t stand out in the crowd. They couldn’t even recognize him. They had to have Judas that even gave McKiss at night when they brought the torches and all just so they How did Judas recognize them from the others?

See, there was just, Jesus was just a plain, common, ordinary individual as far as the human eyesight went. There was nothing at the bottom that stood out, plain and ordinary. But He was anything from being plain and ordinary. He was the Son of God. And verse three, this is a picture of how the world is going to receive him. Remember in Hebrews, it tells us that whenever we get faint and weak in well-doing, when we think it’s not worth it, when we have been despised and we have been made ashamed and we’ve been rejected.

God says, consider Him, consider Christ. So what we’re looking at today is for you really to be able to keep serving the Lord. Not to get weak and well doing, not to faint, not to become lackadaisical, not to become careless or indifferent, but to be aware of the time in which we live and the example that we have to follow. Verse three, he is despised and rejected at man a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. You ever feel sorry for yourself?

Look who he was and he did no wrong to no one. There’s not one thing that Christ did that caused him to deserve the treatment that he received to realize that one of the worst things in the world that you and I go through is to be rejected by somebody that you love. It hurts and it’ll hurt deeply cuts to the quick. He says and we hid as it were our faces from him. You didn’t want him. The world did not want him.

And remember when Christ came here, He was perfect. He did absolutely nothing wrong to any individual. Why wouldn’t we want somebody like that? Have you ever seen somebody that says, you know, I like this guy and I like this and I like this guy, but I love this man. I love him. I really love him. Or I love her. Have you ever thought that your love at one time was totally pure? As real as can be… And you’re all as honest as you know how to be, and then after a while you might even sure about your love.

Because if somebody rejects you and in a way it’s amazing how your love can change. Because maybe you love them only because you thought they loved you. And you love them because they treated you right. But if they do you wrong, I don’t love you anymore. Did you ever really love? See the Bible says God loves us with an everlasting love his was a pure love If there’s anything that anybody wants would be able to really have somebody love them, but think about this for a moment Are you really capable of discerning when somebody really cares about you?

How do you know someone he really cares about you? really loves you are other signs and Then as you think about that If God really loved you and Jesus Christ was the Epidemy of love When God sent his son God sent his love So what people were not knowledgeable of Was the love of God They could not see nor understand real genuine pure perfect love Because they rejected it So what does that say about the nature of man the discernment of man?

When the world rejected the most perfect wonderful unlovable individual the world’s ever seen. What does it say about our character? About the integrity of man, the wisdom of man. And yet here we are, if God offers to you and I his salvation, if we reject salvation, you reject Christ, you reject Christ, you reject love, you reject God. That’s what you’re rejecting when you reject Christ. But what about those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior? Isn’t it difficult for you to understand how anyone, anywhere, once they know it, hear it, could ever reject salvation by grace?

That’s hard to understand. And yet the world has rejected the Lord here in Isaiah. He says surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we had did esteem him, stritting of God and afflicted. God had to afflict his own son because the son took upon himself the sins of the world. I want you to take your Bible and look in the book of Mark, the book of Mark and chapter 6. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In the book of Mark and chapter 6 and look there in verse 6.

He says in verse 4, but Jesus said of him, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house and he could there do no more mighty works, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and heal them. He marveled because of their what? Their faith. He marveled at their unbelief. In other words, for them not to be amazed at what he was doing, brought attention to the fact that he marvel at their unbelief, not their belief, because that to him was a miracle.

What he did was so miraculously done that it was hard for the Son of God to imagine why wouldn’t you believe, marvel at their unbelief, because they rejected him. They rejected him. But look what else he said, in verse three, as they made the statement about Christ. Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judah and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us, and they were offended at him, because you’re just a man.

You’re no difference than anybody else. Who do you think you are? God? Yes, he was. What does it say about the so-called wisdom of the world? You and I would have a difficult time believing that one of your brothers or sisters could have been the Son of God. If he’d ever did anything wrong with it, just blow your mind. You find out later that my wife, because you say, well, I know he did this wrong and this wrong and this wrong and this wrong and you’d have a whole list of things you did.

wrong. But what if they couldn’t find any fault in him? Could you live all those years with a brother or sister and not know if they did something wrong? Or maybe they just thought he did. Maybe they imagined things. What it would have been like. And so in verse 5, and he could there do no more mighty works. Couldn’t do any more mighty works. They didn’t believe. But there’s three things in verse for what you see. But in his own country, the nation rejected him.

Among his own kin, his kin folks, rejection. In his own house, rejection. And yet what’s the most wonderful thing that you and I want in life? Acceptance. You want acceptance. Do you know what’s biggest problem with teenagers today is the peer pressure. They want to be accepted by their peers. That’s why they like to dress like them, act like them, talk like them because they want to be accepted. Even in our society, most adults like to be accepted. We want people to accept us.

Nobody likes rejection. And to think the person that came into the world that never did anything wrong to anybody, this happened to. But God wants us to understand this. The more that you want to be like Christ, Christ made the statement in the gospel of John. He says, the world hated me. The world despised me. What do you think it’s going to do to you?

So as you try to live godly, you’re going to suffer persecution. So the closer you are like Christ, the more you’re going to be rejected, not accepted. The more you’re going to be despised. And people may not really understand who you are and what you’re all about. If you really want to live Godly. He says in James, he says you cannot be the friend of God and the friend of the world. He said, if you’re the friend of the world, then he says, you just made yourself an enemy of God.

And more people would rather have the world be their friends than God be their friend. But the one thing that’s made Abraham different from the majority of the people that came along as the Bible says that Abraham was a friend of God. that means if he was a friend of God, he was not a friend of the world. And he wants to be your friend. He says, I have called you friends, John chapter 15. I’ve called you friends. If you’re my friend, you can’t be a friend of the world.

He says, the world does not love me, then how can the world love you? We want to try to love the world, but don’t expect the world to love you back. If your love is only because you expect the world to love you, the world to accept you, then you won’t last long because you’re going to be so easily offended because not everybody’s going to appreciate what you stand for or who you are or what you’re trying to accomplish.

But he made these three statements in his own country, his own kinfolk, his own house, And then he told us about his own. So he says there in verse 6, and he marveled because of their unbelief. Don’t you think that Jesus Christ marveled when his own brothers and sisters didn’t believe that he was who he claimed to be? Wouldn’t that be rough? What about with his relatives? And what about with the nation of Israel? He came unto his own and his own received him not.

Luke chapter 4, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and chapter 4. Luke chapter 4, look there in verse 16. Verse 16, their scriptures here where he had gone into the place with Nazareth and so on. But you realize that when Christ was in Nazareth, he had lived there for 25 years, approximately 25 years, lived a perfect life for 25 years in front of those people that were the closest to him and they couldn’t tell. He was different. He was God. How bad must their eyes have been?

How blind they must have been. And Christ marveled at that. Why couldn’t they see? There’s people that are in our world and they are blind. But here in Luke chapter 4, he makes a statement in verse 16. He came to Nazareth as he had been brought up as his custom was. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, stood up for the reed, but he’d been going there for years. Been there about 25 years. And one day he decides to read something and say something.

He says, this day is this scripture that he’s reading from the book of Isaiah chapter 61 fulfilled in your ears. He says, these scriptures are talking about See that verse from him, he began to say this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bear him witness, wondered that the gracious words was foreseeded out of his mouth and they said, is that this Joseph’s son? Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute. Do we know this guy? We know his family.

How can he claim to be somebody like that? He says surely. A lot of things were done. But as he goes down through here, he makes some statements. He says they would not believe. The very same people after they heard him for a while made a few statements and then he made some comments that they didn’t like and look in verse 28. And all they in the synagogue when they heard these things were filled with joy they were waiting they were thrilled this was an exciting moment the Messiah had come and he says I’m the one that is talking about this day the scriptures fulfilled in your ears I’m here and they said they were filled with what wrath evidently Jesus had not read Dale Carnegie’s book on how to win friends and influence people he must have had a bad attitude.

That’s why they responded that way. It was all his fault. Jesus did not know how to deal with people. He rose up and thrust him and they rose up and thrust him out of the city. Let him onto the brow of the hill where on their city was built and they might cast him down headlong. What were they gonna do to them? They were gonna kill him. Wait a minute, this is hometown. This is hometown. I can kill it.

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. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. You’ll notice what he says there in verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved. If ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. Now two things in this verse is very scary, or was very scary to me a long time ago.

One is if you keep in memory, and the other one is believe in vain. I thought, well, you mean if I trust Christ as my Savior today, but I have to keep remembering that I did in order to stay saved, because if you don’t think you’re saved any more than you’re not saved anymore, because you gotta remember it, then what if I forget? The other part of that verse that scared me was, unless you have believed in vain, I thought, well, how can a man believe in vain?

You mean I can trust the Lord in vain? You mean I believe Lord, but God won’t save me. Why? So I had a problem with those two things. And I think a lot of other people have problem with that. And that’s why they add things on to the gospel. I’m sure you’re like, I was, I’d heard that Jesus Christ had died on the cross, that he paid for sin. But I never really understood, what does that have to do with me going to heaven?

I still thought I have to be good to get there. And if I wasn’t good, I wasn’t gonna make it. So I never really understood the gospel. But the one of the greatest things that can ever happen into anybody’s life is to trust Christ as their savior. But you see, it’s not in vain if you forget. And it’s not in vain, whenever that verse says, unless you have believed in vain. How do you believe in vain? We see your faith in the Lord is in vain If Jesus Christ did not come back again from the dead.

You see that whole chapter, the 15th chapter, 1 Corinthians is talking about the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Him coming back from the dead is our security. That’s what gives us eternal life, is the power that he had to come back from the dead. And that’s why he says, your faith is in vain if Christ is still dead. If Christ is dead, then our preaching is in vain. You are believing or trusting is in vain. In other words, it’s to no avail.

And then he says, we are found to be Jehovah’s Witnesses. I mean false witnesses. If we do not teach and believe that Jesus Christ came back from the dead. So since I do believe that Jesus Christ came back from the dead and he did come back from the dead, then my faith in him is not in vain. Now, I want you to take your Bible turn over there to the book of Romans and chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. Here in the book of Romans and chapter 4, I want you to look there at a good definition of what faith is.

Since we’re saved by faith, here in verse 21, he says, and being fully persuaded. Faith is taking God at his word being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was also able to what? To perform. Being saved is not something that you perform. Being saved is something that He performs. And when He makes this statement, being fully persuaded means that you have to totally trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. It’s not trusting Christ 90% and you 10%. You have to totally trust the Lord and be fully persuaded that what he promised to do, he will do.

He is the Savior and he saves us. We cannot save ourselves. Now, in verse 22, it makes a statement, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. To impute means to put to your account. It means that what Christ did on the cross, that payment that He made for the sins of the whole world is put to your account. But when is that payment put to your account? When you believe. Just because Christ died and paid for all the sins of the world, doesn’t mean that everybody the world not going to heaven.

No, the payment is not put to your account until you believe that he did that for you. See there in verse 23? Now it was not written for his sake alone, talking about Abraham here, that it was imputed or put to his account because you see he was saved about 400 and something years before the law was ever given. So Abraham could not have been saved by his works. The law had not even been given. So Abraham was saved by faith.

So before the law, people were saved by faith. Under the law, people were saved by faith. See there in verse 6 of the same chapter, referring now to under the law, David even made this statement, also described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed what? Righteousness without what? Without works. And yet wasn’t he living underneath the dispensation of law when the law had been given? Yes. He was the king of Israel. But David was not saved by the law.

He was saved by grace having God’s righteousness put to his account without works. Now look what he says in verse 5, whether it was before the law or under the law or after the law, but to him that worketh not, but believe it on him that justifyeth the ungodly, his what? His faith is counted for righteousness. In other words, it’s just like when you believe that what Christ did on the cross that he did that for you, you believing that puts that payment to your account as though you did it.

So all the righteousness, the sinless life that Christ lived, his perfection, his righteousness is put to your account. He doesn’t impart the sins that you committed to your account. They were put to his account. Christ paid those and gives you his righteousness the moment that you trust him as your Savior. Now Now look there again in verse 23. Now it was not written for his sake of imputed to him, but for us also. Not just him, not just David, but everybody.

Look what he says down in verse 24. But for us also to whom it shall be imputed. That means it shall be put to your account, his righteousness put to your account if we do what? If we believe if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord From the dead if we believe those three little words you know That’s all you have to do to be saved if you’ll believe that what Christ did was for you You see a lot of people believe that he died and paid for sins, but are still not saved You have to believe that what he did was to pay for your sins Oh, I believe he paid for the sin of the whole world.

I know, but you got to believe he paid for yours and accept that as your payment. That means that you stop trying to earn your salvation. You’re not trying to work for something because you realize it’s been bought and paid for. And all you have to do is accept it as a gift. Faith is the ability to trust. Being fully persuaded that what he has promised, he will perform. The reason you trust Christ is because you’re believing that He is able to perform that work of salvation, saving you from hell, giving you eternal life, making you His child and take you to heaven whenever you die.

That’s what you’re trusting Him to do. Now notice the next verse. In verse 25, it says, who was delivered for our offenses? In other words, you and I have offended God. We have offended Him. In other words, God made these laws. God is righteous and perfect and holy. So God gave the law. But the law was not given to save us. The law was given to show us that we are sinful and we have broken God’s standard of righteousness and that we have offended a holy God.

So the law is like a mirror that we look at to see what we have done against God. Therefore the law condemns us because the wages of sin is death. And because we’ve all sinned or broken God’s law, we’re allNSA the condemnation. To an eternity separate from God in hell. So we have all offended a righteous God. And now because we have offended God, we’re enemies of God. Look what he says down in verse 10 of chapter 5. For if while we were in your underlyingness, we were enemies.

We’re enemies because our sins separated us from God. So that’s why he says we have offended God. And God is going to take judgment or wrath upon those who have offended him. So what he did is sent his son into the world to take all of our offenses and our offenses is what nailed him to the cross. In other words, all that list of things that we have done, God said that that was nailed to the cross and Christ was there paying for our offenses.

So instead of us taking the punishment and the judgment, his son died in our place under the wrath of God the Father. Now when he makes a statement here, he was delivered as a lamb for our offenses, then he says and was raised again for our justification because he just Christ died on the cross didn’t save anybody. It makes it possible for people to be saved. The good news is that a man can be justified by his faith. That’s good news, that’s gospel.

That a man who is a wicked man can be justified just as if he’d never sinned by his faith alone. Raised again for our justification. That means that if you trusted in Jesus Christ who has not risen from the dead, your faith in him is in vain and he can’t save you or justify you from all those offenses that you you have made against him. Therefore your faith is in vain. You are not saved and you’re still yet in your sins and we’re of all men most miserable and we’re without hope.

But because Christ came back again from the dead, he’s a living Savior. How can he be a Savior if he’s dead? But he’s not dead. He is not here. He is what? Risen. He is alive. And so now Christ who is alive from the dead can save us. So we accept Him as our Savior and we’re justified. Now remember this simple illustration. This is the Lord and He’s perfect, righteous and just. The Bible says that you and I have sinned.

That means that we have come short of God’s perfection. Since we’ve all come short of God’s perfection, We are short of His glory. The glory refers to the perfection of God. So therefore you and I are in a heap of trouble. And God says, by your good deed, your good works, you’ll never be justified. You’ll never be perfect by your good works. The brain fourth perfect works, you’d have to be what? Perfect. A good man can only bring forth good works.

A bad man can only bring forth bad works. And God says, we’re all bad. So how can you even be good? You can’t. There is none good, no not what? One. So now by our works we’ll never be justified. That’s why we needed a Savior. So Christ dies paper our sins. When we Friexup that payment, that He made for us, His righteousness is put to our account. And if God gave us His righteousness, that would make us as righteous as who?

That’s God. Therefore we are equal. That’s why when Christ was here, it says it was not Robert for him to be equal with the Father. Because you see, he was equal. He was God. There was no fault, no flaws in the Son of God. So when Jesus Christ took upon him the sins of the world, he died in our place so that we could be raised up to be equal or justified with God. That means when you trust that Christ is your Savior, God no longer sees any sin in you.

You have been given a new birth, a new birth, new creation, born of God, no sinful nature. And if it cannot sin, then it cannot die. And that’s why once you trust Christ as your Savior, you are his child forever. Now look down here in verse six of chapter five. Verse six of chapter five. In verse six it says, for when we were yet without strength, that means you did not have the strength, the ability to live up to the standard that God has demanded.

So the law becomes a mirror that letsnyder see that we have sinned and come short of God’s perfection. So the law was given to point us to Christ. So then instead of trying to save ourselves by our works, we trust Christ as our Savior. So the law leads us to Christ. Then he says this in the last part of it. In due time, and you are on the line these little words, Christ died for who? The ungodly. The ungodly.

That’s everybody in the world. There’s only one that’s perfect and that’s the Lord. So Christ died from all the sins of all the world. Now, verse 7 is very interesting. For scarcely for a righteous man, well, one die if such was a righteous man, or by his so-called adhes he has achieved, and we looked upon as a righteous man. Yet, for adventure for a good man, somewhat even dared to die. But God committed his love toward us in that while we were yet what?

Saints, sinners, not saints, sinners Christ died for us. A little illustration that I used about a week ago, two weeks ago. Simple illustration, but let’s just say for example, we take John Reynolds back here. John Reynolds is hanging over a cliff. And John Reynolds is only hanging on by a little branch, and it’s about ready to go. He knows he’s fixing the plunge to his death. You know, it’s about a thousand foot drop. Sure death, he has no hope.

I come by, and I see John in his situation. And I say, John, you’re gonna die, aren’t you? He said, it looks like way, bud. I says, you know, if that thing breaks loose with you, you know, you’re mashed potatoes. He says, yep, yep. I says, would you like to be saved? He said, I sure would. I said, I’ll make a deal. I got a lot of work that I need to have done. See, I want to move this mountain over here, and I’m not going to live long enough to get it all done by myself, but I’ll make a deal.

If I save you, would you promise to give me your life so that I can have you help move this dirt pile? And he says, you mean you want me to work the rest of my life helping you move a dirt pile? Yeah. I mean, as a token of your appreciation, I want you to promise that you’ll help me to do that. And John looks at me and he says, just let me fall, bud, just let me fall. I have no desire to be your little slave for the rest of my life.

I’d rather just die. All right. Now, what if I went by and I talked to Mr. Bray, Mr. Bray’s in the same position. And I say to Mr. Bray, I said, Mr. Bray, I said, you know, you’re gonna die. You need to be saved. He says, yes, I know that. And I says, I’ll make you deal. Would you serve me for the rest of your life and help me move his dirt pile? I mean, I just want you to do it for more than until night for the rest of your life faithfully and do nothing else.

Only what I want you to do, be my little slave.” And he says, I sure will. I promise I’ll do anything you want me to do. And I says, okay. And I save him. Now he gave his word and he promised and then he didn’t do one lick of work. He wouldn’t do it. And I say to him, you never really meant business. You lied to me. You didn’t keep your word. Now I could do that and he could do that.

Couldn’t he? He could deceive me. Now another one is I come by and I see Milton Hayell. I say look, you’re dying and you’re gonna fall a bit at Cliff and you’re gonna be mashed potatoes. If I save you, will you promise that you’ll help me move that dirt pile? And he says yes I will. And then you’ll work faithfully from the time that I get you up for the rest of your life. You owe me. Will you promise to do that?

Milton says yes I will. So I pull Milton up, save his life, and he goes to work and he works faithfully. More than tonight. I mean, he is like clockwork and he does everything that he was supposed to do. And boy, I tell you, but inwardly he despises me for what I did to him because he knew that I took advantage of him and he hates me for it. But he does the work, but he hates me and despises me.

He’s there and it’s just a drudgery. It’s just a job and he hates every minute of it, but he’s faithful because he gave his word. And then lo and behold, I come by and there’s Tim King. And I say to Tim King, I says, Tim, you’re going to die. I said, you got no hope. And I said, look, if I save you, will you promise to help me move that dirt pile? For the rest of your life, you’ll work helping move that dirt pile.

I said, after all, you’re going to die anyway, so your life is nothing. So if I save you, at least you’ve got to, you know, you’ve got a good reason to live. He says, all right, I’ll do it. And I bring him up. And lo and behold, he does the work and enjoys it all the days of his life. Just always seeing him with a smile on his face. He’s all happy and he works faithfully all the days of his life for me.

That would be very rare, wouldn’t it? Virtually impossible, wouldn’t it? Now, you see, there’s people who are saying this is what Christ does and thinking they’re making deals with the people on salvation. None of those is the gospel. Not a one. All four of those is misleading. They’re wrong. It’s not that, you know, will you promise God that you’re going to live for the Lord if I save you? No. It’ll produce the same results that we’ve just mentioned. And that’s why you have some people say, no, just let me fall.

Or I’m not ready yet. I’m not ready. Not ready to what? I’m not ready to promise that I’m going to live for Him yet. And so they’ll rather just reject the Lord because of what they’ve been told. That’s false. That’s not to be taught. That’s not the gospel. That’s not good news. On none of these was good news. None of these was totally free. True? None of it was free because they had to promise what they would do if I delivered them.

If they had to promise to me and make a commitment in any way about how they’re going to live their life once I saved them, then they were not saved as a total gift. When it comes to salvation, if I come by and I see John Reynolds hanging over the edge, I still have that mount in the dirt to move. And I rest in air and I save him. And he has made no promise of no commitment of anything.

And I set him free. If he appreciates what I’ve done and he wants to do anything for me, that’s his choice. I can beseech him, I can even plead with him. I may even beg him, but it cannot be a stipulation on me saving him. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, and then He says for us to stand fast in the freedom that He has given to you and I. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, it’s not less make a deal.

He gives us salvation, and then we have the freedom or the choice. were saved to either serve Him or not to serve Him. But all of our service to the Lord should not be in bitterness. It should not be because we are vindictive toward Him because now that I’m a Christian, a child of God, and I don’t have a choice if I don’t, he’s going to beat the tar on me anyway, and I resent every man of it. No, you’re not to live that away.

The The Bible says in the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 5, because we thus judge that if He died for all, then we’re all dead, and that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again. So I should serve the Lord because of what He’s done for me, but it cannot be a condition for my salvation. My salvation is free. It is a total gift. He was raised from the dead so that he qualifies as a Savior.

He can save me, give me eternal life, and I’m going to have a look in verse 1 of chapter 5. Therefore, being what justified, justified, made righteous with God, made being made equal with the Father so that the Father finds no fault in His sons, not just His Son Christ, but even in us. It’s like you never sinned. But that was given to you freely. It was His righteousness put to your account. And then He says, therefore, being justified by what?

By faith. That means you taking your confidence, your trust, and putting it in the payment that He made on the cross for you and He saves you and gives you as a free gift. Eternal life. Look there in verse 15. But not as the offense. So also is the what? Free. What is it? Free gift. For it through the offense of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God. And the what’s the next word? Gift by what?

Grace. Look there in verse 16 of chapter 4. Therefore, it is of faith that it might be by what? Grace. Grace is unmerited. The reason that God saves a man by grace so that it can be offered freely to everybody. If He charged us, none of us could have it. Because then it takes you out of the realm of grace and it becomes works. becomes works. And God says salvation is by grace through faith and that not of yourselves it is the what?

Gift of God not of works. So you cannot be saved, putting faith in Christ and in your good works. You have to totally trust Jesus Christ and Him alone as your only hope of salvation or you do not get salvation. That payment cannot be put to your account unless you’re fully persuaded and trusting Him that He will perform this act of salvation and saving you and giving you eternal life. Now, looking for 16 of chapter 5, for not as it was by one that senteth so is the gift, and over and over again, the gift, the gift, the free gift, the free gift of grace, and a saved by faith, and it is not by works.

And we’ll close with this one verse, look again there in verse 5 of chapter 4. But to him that does what? Worketh not. But does what? Believe him. That’s how we know that believing on Christ is not a work. Why? Because the Bible says it’s not. Believing on Christ means trusting him to save us. So he says, but to him that worketh not but believeeth on him that justifyeth the who ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness. Let me show you a simple illustration.

I know most of you have never seen this before, but let him this hand represent you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. Now God says He loves us. He hates our sin because you see our sin separates us from the Lord. And the wages of sin is death and since everybody’s sinned everybody’s condemned. Now to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God. What none of us are perfect. So we have to be justified, made to the place where we’ve never sinned, but we have to pay for these.

And God says, you cannot earn your salvation and all your good works will never take away your sin. It won’t justify it. Now this is Jesus Christ, this hand represented the Lord. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from him. So Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. Now how many of our sins did Christ pay for when He died? All of them.

If He paid for all of our sins, how many sins do we have yet to be paid? None. So when you accept this payment that Christ made for you, you have a payment for how many of your sins? All of them. So that means from the time that you’re born, till the time that you die, you have a payment for all of your sins, past, present, and future. Christ has already paid for the sins you have not yet committed.

Because when He died on the cross 2000 years ago, how many of our sins were in the future? All of them. So that means that Christ has paid for all of your sins. So when you accept the payment He made, you have a payment for all of your sins. So whenever you believe that He did this for you, that He paid for your sins, He gives you as a free gift eternal life. Now if it’s eternal life, how long would it last?

forever. If it lasts forever and all you send are paid, where will you go when you die? You go to heaven. So you go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for you. He not only paid for your sins and was buried, that wouldn’t save you. Because there’s no Savior unless He could come back from the dead for you to trust, for Him to give you eternal life. So He was raised for our justification to make us as righteous as God.

And so we go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. 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 area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Life broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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 Calbreak Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the Internet. Your regular prayers and mutha- and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us was told free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

If the people in America want God to bless this nation, We still need to do right as a nation. We’re going to get the kind of government that we deserve. And the reason that we can accept the fact that they can go trillions of dollars in debt is because most Americans are already in debt. We have broken the biblical principles of finances and we break the laws of physiology where we don’t do right by our bodies. We don’t eat right.

We just do whatever we want to do and pop a pill. We’re on drugs. We’re pathetic. And we are a wicked nation. We’re tolerating things in this country. We should not tolerate. Because we want to be politically correct. We don’t want to offend nobody. We want to show how well we can get along with everybody. Lot. Remember lot? A believer who went to Sodom. Second Coronicals. And look there in chapter 7. Many people read this verse and many preachers do.

I have. And I will. But remember, Israel was under a theocracy. Means they were under God rule. God made a covenant with Israel. So now you’re talking about Solomon that built a temple. They’ve had a dedication service, and the Lord appears to Solomon. See there in verse 12, and the Lord appeared to Solomon by night. He said, I’ve heard your prayer. He says there in verse 13, if I shut up heaven, that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, see God can do all of those things.

14th, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, pray, and seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then when I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land. This is not a promise to America. We are not in this verse. This is a covenant God made with Israel. If Israel will do this, this is what God will do. We can pray this and hope that God might spare our land. I’d like to see America stay free to the rapture.

But buddy, we’re on a slippery slope and we’re going fast. We’re becoming a very wicked nation. Every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes. I don’t see anything wrong with this. I don’t see anything wrong with that and that’s the problem they don’t see. So you see, you either see things from a divine perspective, gods, or a human perspective. Man, you either believe in what God said or humanity, humanism, how you see it. Has nothing to do with how God sees things.

Wickedness is what God calls wickedness. And he makes this statement in verse 17, As for me, if thou wilt before me, is David thy father wilt, talking to Solomon, and do according to that, I have commanded him, and shall observe my statute, my judgment, then, while I establish a throne of thy kingdom and so forth, and there shall not fail to have somebody rule, but Israel did. And there hasn’t been a ruler on that throne for over 2,000 years in Israel.

aaashim God does know what’s going on in nations. God knows what’s going on in this nation. God knows the hardships and all this coming down the road. But we have violated the principles of what God has given to His Word. Because people in churches and God’s people, if they fail to give to the Lord’s work, what they’re supposed to and take care of one another, okay, then thy pax is, they’re going to take it from you and they’re going to give you that just a little bit.

And they always take from you more than they want. will ever give back. And you know, a democracy is whenever you see that you can vote for yourself money out of a treasury. Then you’ll always vote for the person who promises to give you the most and because of greed, getting something. Take care of me because we’ve lost our trust in God. We’ll feel more comfortable if government will take care of us from that cradle to the grave. And it won’t matter as long as they take care of me, let my grandkids and all the rest of them, let them all go to hell then.”

Not a believe in that philosophy. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Mark chapter 1. The book of Mark in chapter 1, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Not all of them at one time just Mark right now. The book of Mark. John the Baptist came on the scene. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. And it says in verse 4, And John did baptize in the wilderness, preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Verse 8, And I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. What was this baptism of repentance? If you believe the message that John the Baptist preached, then you were baptized in water. And it was a picture that when Christ came, He’ll baptize you with a holy ghost. So they were baptized in water because they looked forward to the baptism that Christ would give them. That’s what He said. Some people like to make it a lot more than that, where if you’re willing to turn from all of your sins and stop all your bad stuff, then God will save you.

That’s not what He said. And God will forgive you if you’re sin. That’s not what it said. help you understand what he said. Looked there in the book of Acts in chapter 19. Acts chapter 19, the apostle Paul had come through the coast there of Corinth and on down to Ephesus found certain disciples. And in verse 2 he said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since she believed? They said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

And He said unto them, under what then were you baptized? Because then baptized in water is because you’re looking forward to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. That was before Christ died. After Christ has died, we’re baptized in water because we have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ when you trust that Christ is your Savior. See how easy it is? But now look what He says in verse 3. And He said into them under what they were your baptizing.

They said, under John’s baptism, then said Paul, John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. So John the Baptist preached that a person to be baptized by him had to believe on Jesus Christ who was coming after him. True or not? It’s not hard, it’s not complicated. But people like to twist things and make it more complicated. And how to tell a lost man that he’s got to be worthy of salvation.

You’ve got to do this and this and this and this so that you’ll be good enough for God to save. Like you’re too bad that God can’t save you, but you’ve got to be good enough to him to save. No. Salvation is the gift of God. It’s not of works lest any man should boast.” Let me show you something. You’ve probably never seen this before. This hand represents you and me. This wallet represents sin. Now we all have sin on us.

You see, God says that He loves us. He hates our sin. And the wages of sin is death. Eternal separation from God. In hell. But He loves us and wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven, you have to be perfect as righteous as God. None of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. all sinners because of sin, we can’t get in. Everybody’s in the same boat. Nobody can save themselves. It’s not by your works.

You’ll never be going to, you don’t have to promise God you’ll quit your sins because when you go back to your sins, you’ll think, well, God never really may be saved me or he’s lost me now. That has nothing to do with it. Christ is going to take care of your sins because you can’t. This end represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh, came into the world because He loves us. Now He hates our sin because our sin separates us from Him.

So Christ, who had no sin, took hours. All of it and paid for it. See, that’s why we don’t have to pay for it. Say what? He did. He paid for how many of our sin, all of them came back from the dead and said that if we would believe He did it for us, He would put this payment to our account and we go to heaven on what it did for us. You see, many people think they can save themselves by their good work.

God says you need to repent. Change your mind. That is not true. Change your mind. Think differently. Reconsider. Look now in the book of Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke chapter 13. And notice what he says here in verse two. People came to Jesus and they had thought that something, but it wasn’t true. What they thought was it true. So he says in verse two, and Jesus answered instead of them, suppose ye. Now look up here, suppose, think.

Has to deal with the way a man’s mind is. is. Just talking about what he’s thinking. And he says, suppose you that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things. I tell you, nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise, repent, change your mind, think that that’s not true. They were believing something that wasn’t true. The reason people are deceived today is because they believe something not true. You can listen to a man with flowery words, and it sounds so good and sounds so believable, but if it’s not truth, it’s still not truth.

So then he says in verse 4, or those 18, upon whom the power in Silom fell, slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem. I tell you, nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. There are people who died physically because of this. They died physically. He said, you think that they died because they were worse. He says, repent, change your mind. That’s not true. And yet most evangelists take these verses where it says, except you repent, you shall all like life pairs and then scare everybody half the death of you.

If you don’t stop all your sins, God’s going to send you to hell. That isn’t true. That’s taking it out of its context. You see, you don’t turn from sin to be saved from hell. Now if you want to be delivered from the chasting hand of God as a child of God, yes, you better watch your step. Because he makes the statement there in Timothy, he said, and it is the will of God that everyone who claims the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

So is it the will of God for his children to turn from sin? Yes it is, but not to be saved. But if you want the blessings of God upon your life, you better walk the walk and you better talk to talk. Or your heavenly Father’s going to beat the tar out of you. And I hope that you want the blessings of God and not the chasing hand of God. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew.

Matthew, in chapter 21, Matthew chapter 21. look how the Lord explains repentance. The reason this is so important because there’s so many people who are telling people they have to do something in order to be saved. And what they mean by that is that you’ve got to deserve to be saved by stopping certain sins in your life. And then if you go back and do those sins, that means you never really meant business. So you’ve got to start all over again.

That’s not the Bible. what he says in verse 28. It’s on page 10 and 29. But what? And here’s those two words. Think ye, you ought to underline those two words. A certain man had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and he says, I will not. Sound like your kid? I will not. But afterwards he did what? He repented and he went. He changed his mind and he went.

Then he says in verse 30, and he came to the second and said, I He answered and says, I go, sir, but he went not. He repented too. He didn’t go. So in verse 31, which of the two did the will of his father? They said in him the first, Jesus said in them, barely I send to you the publicans, tax collectors, and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him, not beleaved him, You didn’t believe the message.

But the publicans and the hardest believed him. And ye, when ye had seen it, repent, did not ask, or you didn’t repent, you didn’t change your mind. Now get this, that ye might, what? Believe him. You didn’t repent that you might believe. The reason you’re repent is to change your mind so that you’ll believe it. So the reason you can study the whole gospel of John, and you never find the word repent mention, because it uses the words he that believe it, and he that believeth not, he that believeth not, he that believeth not.

If you’re an unbeliever and then you believe, what did you do? Change your mind. You didn’t believe it and now you do believe it? You repented. I repented the day I trusted Christ as my Savior because I realized I cannot save myself by my works. And all I had to do was trust Christ as my Savior and He gives me the free gift of eternal life. It’s not something you earn. You cannot work for it. You cannot buy it.

Repent means to change your mind and see that you cannot save yourself by your works and you’ll put your trust in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for you. Turning your Bible to Acts chapter 2, the book of Acts and chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 and look in verse 38. This is on page 1151.

He says here in verse 38, then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are the people on the day of Pentecost that had crucified Christ. They crucified Him. They didn’t believe He was who He claimed to be. And so He says in verse 22, a ye man of Israel, here are these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man proved by God, proved to God, among you by miracles and signs and wonders, which God did by Him in the midst of you all, as ye yourselves also know, you know this.

You have taken by wicked hands have crucified and slain the next verse. So after they heard this message, then in verse 36, he says, therefore let all the house of Israel, look he’s talking to him, and there’s those two words, no assuredly, what you know that God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ. He is the Lord. He is the Christ. Well, what are we supposed to do? And it says, and they were pricked in their heart.

He says, Repent, change your mind. See that he was who he claimed to be. Jesus is God in the flesh, and he died on the cross and paid for the sins of the world. And by believing it, you can have as a free gift everlasting land, repent and be baptized. And that every time you see the word baptize, it does not mean in water. It means to be cleansed, to be wellmed, submerged. It means here simply and be baptized.

As I read the verse, then Peter said unto him, change your mind and be cleansed every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sin. And you have no problem because you take and study it in the context with what your understanding is of the word of repent. No man has ever turned from any sins in order to be saved. And I would venture to say 98% of all preachers teach it. Now I ain’t lying to you, I’m telling you the truth.

But it’s not in the book. It’s because we get sick and tired of sin that carelessness, the calluses of God’s people not serving God and doing right. So we got to doctor up a little bit and scare you half the death and maybe Todd it convinced you you’re not really saved because if you were really saved you wouldn’t live like that. So you never really meant business so you’re really not saved so we got to get you saved all over again.

I don’t believe it. I believe you can trust Christ as Savior just like you are. I think it’s a shame that God’s people don’t serve God and live right but I’m not going to change the gospel message in order to do it. The way Paul corrected the problem is he taught proper doctrine. That’s why you have the book of Romans in the book of 1 and 2 Corinthians, where the churches had problems, but they dealt with a doctorate. They didn’t say, that means you were not really saved.

You don’t find that in there, in the Scriptures. Take your Bible and turn to Acts 20. Acts 20. These things, even though you might not think are as important, it is important. It’s a heaven and hell issue. In Acts 20, look what he says here. He says, I have not kept anything back from you. verse 20. I want to get back to nothing that was profitable unto you. But I’ve showed you and I’ve taught you publicly for house to house, testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Change your mind. About God been a big old mean, wicked God who gets up every morning and looks over the banister of heaven, so I got it in for you, buddy. God is a good God, a loving God, and He’s done something about our sins. And all that you have to do, it’s all that you can do, is to accept the free gift of eternal life. You don’t change your life to get it. You don’t have to deserve it.

Grace means undeserved. It’s undeserved. You don’t deserve it. Advantevious. He said, you mean to tell me if I, all I got to do is trust Christ as my Savior in the hip. Give me turn life and I go to Him and I die. And I said, that’s right. He said, we don’t deserve that. I said, that’s the point. That’s what grace is. Grace means you don’t deserve it. It is by grace. Look in chapter 17 of the book of Acts, chapter 17.

Paul had preached on Mars He says, I want to talk to you about the unknown God. And he says, there’s a God that made everything. And he says, I want to talk to you about that one. Look down in verse 29, for as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not, and here’s that word, we ought not to think, that the Godhead is likened to gold or silver or stone or graven by art and man’s divisive.

the times of this ignorance, God winked at, but now commanded all men everywhere to repent. And here’s why, because he had to point it a day in which he will judge the world and righteousness by that man whom he hath to ordain. Talking about Jesus Christ, he’s going to judge the world by this one man. Did you or did you not? Did you trust him as your Savior? That’s the only thing that’s going to decide. Did you go to heaven or do you go to hell?

What did you do with Jesus Christ? He is who he claimed to be. And there’s a lot of people can think whatever they want. And there’s a lot of religions. And they’re deceived. But they think that. They need to repent, change your mind. If they don’t put their trust totally in Jesus Christ, they will spend an eternity separated from God in a literal fire burning hell. Now in the book of Hebrews, you won’t take time to look at it, but I just want to mention this to you.

In the book of Hebrews in chapter 6, it says, or shaking or leaving the first principles which be the oracles of God and the foundation of repentance from dead works. Repentance from dead works. You see, God says salvation is changing your mind about trusting in dead works to give you spiritual life. Works cannot produce eternal life. It is a gift of God. Eternal life is in a person, it’s in Christ. It’s not the result of good works being done.

Now, we live in difficult times. It is, I would say, a lot more difficult raising children today than it was years ago. When I was, I was saved when I was 18, but before I was saved, I had higher standards, I believe, than majority of Christians do today as the lost man. There was a certain amount of things that we consider to be right and wrong. And you knew what was right and what was wrong. You knew it was black and what was white.

Today everything’s becoming a dirty great. People are losing their way, losing their direction. You know what’s right and wrong anymore? Got to get back to the book, back to the Bible, and let God lead and guide us. Let what God say be right, and what God says is wrong, let that be wrong, and do right. I hope that you have trusted Christ as your Savior. If you have not, the only thing you need to do is to admit between you and God God, I’m a sinner.

Everybody else in here already knows it anyway. You ought to know you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and you’ll trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. And God said if you’ll trust Him, He’ll give you a free gift, eternal life, and you’ll go to heaven whenever you die. As a child of God, there’s many things God wants us to do. There’s positive and there’s negative. There’s saying He doesn’t want us to do because it’ll bring a curse upon our life, but not talking about heaven and hell.

There’s things He wants us to do because it’ll be a blessing and God can bless you because God’s deal will bless right. Even if a lost man does right God will bless him. If a wicked man does wicked, thank God’s they’re going to chasten him. There’s a price to pay. We as a nation and as a church and as a family. And as an individual, keep your life clean. Do right. Live a holy life. Do right. Put your confidence in God and let him be the one that leads and guides you.

And God will richly bless you for it. If you want God to bless our nation, God doesn’t bless disobedience and rebellion. He doesn’t bless sin. So I would say as his people, put God for you. and honor Him and let God bless you. And if there’s enough of us, maybe God will bless our nation. Pray for those in place of leadership, whether they want to or not and pray that they’ll make wise decisions so that the rest of us can live in peace and in safety.

Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bowed and every eye closed and no one looking around. If you hear this morning and maybe you’ve never trusted Christ as your savior, I’m not gonna have you forward. I’m not going to embarrass you. I’m not going to have you stand up. I don’t want you to sign a card. You don’t have to do anything. Just talk to the Lord and say something simple like this, Lord, I don’t understand it all. Lord, I know I’m a sinner.

And I believe Christ died on that cross and paid for my sins. And right now, the best to know how I’m going to trust Him, to take me to heaven when I die. And friend, God said, if you’ll trust Him, He’ll save you and give eternal life. Would you do that? You need to repent, change your mind, and trust Christ. If you’ve never done it, would you do it right now? I’m gonna ask 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, and you say, yes, preacher, that made sense to me. And I wanna trust Christ as my savior. Would you just dip your hand very quickly and put it right back down, is anyone at all? I’m not gonna mock you and make fun of you, opinion against the wall or do anything to you. I just wanna know if what I said made sense to you, You say, yes, I’ll trust Christ as my Savior and I’d like for you to pray for me.

You that no Christ is your Savior, God bless you, sir. I appreciate that. Anyone else? Say, there’s no tricks to this. There’s no gimmicks to it. I’m not trying to get you to become a religious hypocrite, claiming to be something that you’re not. You that no Christ is your Savior. Are you playing in sin? Are you godly? Are you doing right? Are you asking God to chasten you? If there’s things in your life that you know that you’re doing that’s not right, correct it, change your mind, you’re not going to get away with it.

Change your mind, it will not be the best. Change your mind, it will not bring the blessings of God, but the chastening hand of God. If you want God to bless your church, then be a people that God can bless. Our Father, we thank you so much for these that indicated by an uplifted hand that they would trust your Savior by doing so they become your children for all eternity. That you’ll never cast a mountain, never lose them. We also pray Father, You will to be done in the lives of each family represented here.

And Father, we pray for our nation. Many decisions to be made, and they will be made. But Father, we pray that they’ll be made, that it’ll be right, and be a blessing to this people. And not a curse. We commit this day to You and ask Your blessings upon us in Christ’s name we pray. Amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, in 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again If you would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa.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. 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 And soon, 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 prayer… prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can And reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calpryoftampa.org. 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 your Bible and turn to 2 Corinthians in chapter 6. 2 Corinthians in chapter 6. We’re going to go around the world. We’ve got a lot of scriptures to cover, so make sure your fingers are ready to go. You’ve got your Bible and your Latin, and that you don’t just take me at my word, you look at the book. The scriptures is the authority. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14, be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness?

What communion have light with darkness? Some things cannot coexist. Righteousness and unrighteousness cannot exist and coexist together. Light and darkness cannot coexist together. There’s many things that God says cannot coexist. And he makes a statement in verse 16. He said, in what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? They don’t go together. Some things just don’t go together. We have a philosophy in America a day that anything goes. Anything is okay. No, it’s not. Righteousness has to be viewed from the eyes of God.

What God says is right is right and what God says is wicked is wicked. It’s not left up to government to decide for us. It’s not left up for your neighbors, for the people at school. The Bible is the word of God and God is the one that says what’s right right and what is wrong? Take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis in chapter 6. This is in the Old Testament, first book in your Bible.

Turn your Bible upside down and be the last book in the Bible. But it’s on page 13, Genesis chapter 6. And you can believe this, God is not dead. He is on the throne and he is looking down from heaven and he sees what’s going on in the world today. hallucinations and verse 5 and God saw and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. If God saw the wickedness in this day before the flood, do you believe that God sees the wickedness that’s in the world today?

And if he sees what’s in the world today, do you think that he might be upset if he is as righteous and holy and just as he says he is? If God does not judge the America, then he’s going to owe an apology to the people before the flood. Now listen, it makes the statement in verse 5, God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart.

Now the word here, repent thoughts. I believe mainly refers to a change of mind. The way a man thinks and you can change your mind. cases it might refer to leading to a change of action but it refers to, I guess you had to find out whether, is it talking about in life where you’re talking about a nation of the judgment of God upon a people or are you talking about a heaven and hell issue? When it comes to heaven a man has to repent and when it talks about repent concerning salvation It’s always just a change of mind.

But if it does refer to a change of action, it means that you’re gonna trust the Lord and not in your works for salvation. But God repented. The Bible says it repented the Lord. It greed God. Look what he said in verse seven. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. Both man and beast and the creeping things and the foul of the air for it repented me that I have made them.

God was grieved because of the sins of the people. You and I cannot live as we please and get away with it. Whether you’re saved or whether you’re lost, it rains upon the just and the unjust. God is good to all mankind. And what God does for one, He does for everyone. There’s certain things that we all enjoy in this life. Whether we trust the Lord as our Savior, or we don’t trust the Lord as our Savior. There is a certain amount of standard of righteousness that God wants from a people, whether you trust Him as Savior or not, is a different question.

In other words, can you just live as you please if there were no Christians on the earth, no Christians? Can you then freely live the way you want without consequences from God? No. Because God is still God, and you’re still a creation, and you still cannot live as you please and get away with Him. Now you can try, but there’s still a price to pay. And God said that He would bring judgment upon the earth, and that’s why there was a flood.

But the Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And he says in verse 12, he says, and God looked upon the earth and, behold, it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. That’s what God calls corrupt. When his way is corrupted, when things are not the way God wants them to be, when people don’t hold his views, when your thoughts are not his thoughts and your ways are not his ways, it’s wickedness.

Now, there’s many things that happens in our country. We today can murder little babies, call it abortion, but it’s still murder, it’s wrong, and it’s wicked. There are many people that are living together, shacking up together, calling it love. God calls it sinful and wicked. It is not right. All sex outside of marriage is wrong, and it is wicked. It is not to be. Men with men, women with women, sodomites, it is wickedness, it is not right, it’s not decent in a society, and God will judge America.

Those are my humble opinions, and I don’t want anybody to misunderstand me. I want to be clear. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Zechariah, the book of Zechariah, and look in chapter eight. Zachariah and chapter 8, this is on page 972 in an Old Schofield reference Bible. There are some things that God will not repent of, and there are some things that God will. And yet He also makes the statement, God does not repent for God is not a man that He should repent.

And then He also makes the statement that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. You have to find the context in what God is talking about. God does not make mistakes. God does not lie. God does not contradict Himself. All the mistakes are with you and I. In Zechariah, I want you to notice this. Look there in verse 13. Zechariah chapter 8, and it shall come to pass that as you were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing.

You see, in the book of Deuteronomy, God laid out for Israel as a nation, blessing and cursing, choose to live, choose life, but they rebelled against God. So they brought upon them a curse. And so God cursed the land, took them out of the land, and took them into captivity. It didn’t have to be that way. That was because they turned their backs upon God. chose to rebel and to live in sin. Thinking it doesn’t really matter. We can do whatever we want.

It’s my life, isn’t it? And after all, you don’t see God doing anything, so we’re getting away with it. And lo and behold, then God lays the hammer down. But He says, I brought a curse upon you. Now I’m going to bring a blessing upon you. He says, fear not. He said, let your hands be strong. strong. In verse 14, for the saith the Lord of hosts, as I thought, now remember when we talk about repentance, you’re usually talking about the way a man thinks because repent means repentance metanoia, metanea, it’s talking about changing your mind.

So if you think one way and you repent, you change your way of thinking. So he says here in verse 14, as I Thought that’s your mind. I thought to punish you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, sayeth the Lord of hope, and I repent and I didn’t change my mind. So in verse 50, so again have I thought in these days to do you well unto Jerusalem, and he’s not going to change his mind. See, there’s some things that God has made up his mind on what he’s going to do.

For example, you as an individual. Let’s say you trusted Christ as your Savior, your His child, you’re going to heaven when you die, and you choose to serve the Lord. Well, God has already fought to do you good and to bless your life and reward you when you get to heaven because of your obedience. God ain’t going to change his mind on that. And God’s already made up his mind on something else. If you as a child of God rebelled against the Lord and choose to go your own way, then God your heavenly Father is going to blister your bottom.

He’s going to take you to the woodshed. He’s going to hoof you. You get the point yet. He’s going to beat the tar out of you is what I’m trying to say. And you can’t get away with it. And God’s not going to change his mind on that. But what God does is if you correct the problem, then God can change his mind. God will do certain things based upon what you do. It’s so important to understand this matter of repentance.

Otherwise we understand why did John the Baptist go about preaching the baptism of repentance? And today you have a multitude of preachers from all walks of life preaching that you gotta repent in order to go to heaven and you do. But by that they mean you gotta turn from your sins in order to be saved. Does a lost man have to turn from his sins, stop his sinning in order for God to save him? No, no. In a nation, as an individual, do I have to stop my sin in order to have the blessings of God upon my life?

Yes. So you gotta find out the context of what you’re talking about. Now take your Bible and look in the book of Jonah. book of Jonah, and now it’s on page 944, just turned to the left a couple pages there, it’ll help ya? But Jonah chapter 4, God had told Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh, I want you to preach to those wicked people. Why didn’t Jonah want to go? Well Jonah didn’t care if God hooked up on those wicked people.

God, Jonah didn’t care if he annihilated the whole city. Why? Because Jonah wasn’t Jew. He didn’t like him anyway. Jonah knew that if he goes and he tells them the truth, they’ll get right and God won’t help him. He wanted God to get him. Isn’t there people in your life that you wish, oh I hope God gets them. Somebody said something about you, did something wrong Jew, oh God get him. Get him Lord and And you wish that you could be his avenging angel, get even with him if it’s not the last thing we ever do.

Now here in Jonah, in chapter 1, he was told to go and preach to these people. And so in verse 4, Jonah had to have a little, well God had to deal with him just a little bit. He had to go and get into a vicious belly and things that weren’t working out right for him. If Jonah hadn’t got right, that whale would have never vomited. He says in verse five, so the people of Nineveh believe God, he went preaching and told him the message and proclaimed the fast, put on sackcloth from the greatest of them, even to the least of them.

For a word came unto the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne, laid his robe from him, covered him with sackcloth and satin ashes, and he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout none of about the decree of the king and his noble saying, let neither man nor beast herner flock taste anything let them not feed nor drink water but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God. Yea, let every one of them let them turn everyone get this from his evil way.

So is it in the Bible? Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hand. Who can tell if God will turn and repent? How do we know if God won’t change his mind if we do right? Now this is talking about as a nation to keep God from annihilating them and bringing judgment upon them because God can be swayed. Isn’t that why we pray? You realize that a prayer of an individual can move the mighty God to do do something that maybe God would not have done if you had not have prayed.

I have a good Sherman on that. Look what he’s saying. And God saw their works turning from evil ways, turning from sin is a work. Can’t deny it. Right there. So when it comes to salvation, going to heaven, and a man has to repent. But if a man had to turn from his evil ways, turn from his sins, then what he did would be works for works for salvation. And a man is not saved by his works. You are not saved because you quit one sin or you quit ten sins or you changed your life or because you started going to church.

Nobody has ever been saved because they turned from sins, not one person. Now, correcting things in your life might bring the blessings of God and it might keep you from being under a curse because you live wickedly, but you cannot live as you please and get away with it. But the penalty is not always hell. Hell is because you reject Christ as your Savior, not because you live the sin for wicked life. God took care of our sins when he died on the cross.

He paid for all of those sins in full. And yet the Bible is full of scriptures that talks about And the Bible even says that God repent. Did God turn from his sins? God didn’t have any sin to turn from. God turnedependent from your wicked ways. No, but God repented that he made man. And God could repent. See if God will repent. See if God will change his mind. That’s in the Bible and that’s scriptural. But it’s wrong for a preacher to try to get a man to promise that he’ll stop his sins in the Bible.

sins in order for God to save him. That makes it works for salvation. Look at verse again, and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not. He didn’t do it. Ain’t that wonderful? So we’re not talking here about heaven and hell, but as national blessing. If the people in America want God to bless this nation, We still need to do right as a nation.

We’re going to get the kind of government that we deserve. And the reason that we can accept the fact that they can go trillions of dollars in debt is because most Americans are already in debt. We have broken the biblical principles of finances and we break the laws of physiology where we don’t do right by our bodies. We don’t eat right. We just do whatever we want to do and pop a pill.128 We’re on drugs. We’re pathetic. And we are a wicked nation.

We’re tolerating things in this country. We should not tolerate because we want to be politically correct. We don’t want to offend nobody. We don’t show how well we can get along with everybody. Lot. Remember Lot? A believer who went to Sodom. and chronicles. And look there in chapter 7. Many people read this verse and many preachers do. I have. And I will. But remember Israel was under a theocracy. It means they were under God rule. God made a covenant with Israel.

So now you’re talking about Solomon that built a temple. They’ve had a dedication service and the Lord appears to Solomon. See there in verse 12, and the Lord appeared to Solomon by night. Said, I’ve heard your prayer. He says there in verse 13, if I shut up heaven, that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, see God can do all of those things. Verse 14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, pray and seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then when I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.

This is not a promise to America. We are not in this verse. This is a covenant God made with Israel. If Israel will do this, this is what God will do. We can pray this and hope that God might spare our land. I’d like to see America safe free to the rapture, but buddy, we’re on a slippery slope and we’re going fast. We’re becoming a very wicked nation. Every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes.

I don’t see anything wrong with this. I don’t see anything wrong with that and that’s the problem they don’t see because you see you either see things from a divine perspective, gods, or a human perspective, man. You even believe in what God said? Or humanity, humanism, how you see it, has nothing to do with how God sees things. Wickedness is what God calls wickedness. And He makes this statement. In verse 17, as for me, if thou wilt walk before me, is David thy father walk, talking to Solomon?

And do according to that I have commanded him. And shall observe my statute, my son, and my son. Then, well, I establish the throne of thy kingdom and so forth, and there shall not fail to have somebody rule, but Israel did. And there hasn’t been a ruler on that throne for over 2,000 years in Israel. But you see, God does know what’s going on in nations. God knows what’s going on in this nation. God knows the hardships and all that’s coming down the road.

But we have violated the principles of what God has given to His Word. people in churches and God’s people, if they fail to give to the Lord’s work what they’re supposed to and take care of one another, okay, then by taxes they’re gonna take it from you and they’re gonna give you that just a little bit and they always take from you more than they will ever give back. And you know a democracy is whenever you see that you can vote for yourself money out of a then you’ll always vote for the person who promises to give you the most.

And because of greed, getting something, take care of me, because we’ve lost our trust in God. We’ll feel more comfortable if government will take care of us from the cradle to the grave. And it won’t matter as long as they take care of me, let my grandkids and all the rest of us let them all go to hell then. again, not a believer in that philosophy. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Mark chapter 1. The book of Mark, in chapter 1, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Not all of them at one time just Mark right now. The book of Mark. John the Baptist came on the scene, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. It says in verse 4, and John did baptize in the wilderness, preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Verse 8, And I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. What was this baptism of repentance? If you believe the message that John the Baptist preached, then you were baptized in water.

And it was a picture that when Christ came, he’ll baptize you with the Holy Ghost. So they were baptized in water because they look forward to the baptism that Christ would give them. That’s what He said. Some people like to make it a lot more than that, where if you’re willing to turn from all of your sins and stop all your bad stuff and God will save you. That’s not what He said. And God will forgive you if you’re sin.

That’s not what it said. To help you understand what He said, look there in the book of Acts in chapter 19. Acts chapter 19. The apostle Paul had come through the coast there of Corinth. And on down to Ephesus found certain disciples. And in verse 2 he said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since she believed? They said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them unto what then will you baptize?

Because then baptize in water is because you’re looking forward to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. That was before Christ died. After Christ has died, we’re baptized in water because we have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ when you trust that Christ is your Savior. See how easy it is? But now look what he says in verse 3. And he said unto them, under what then were you baptized? And they said unto John’s baptism.

Then said Paul, John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on Him which should come after Him, that is on Christ Jesus. So John the Baptist preached that a person to be baptized by Him had to believe on Jesus Christ who was coming after Him. Should not. It’s not card, it’s not complicated. But people like to twist things and make it more complicated. And how to tell a lost man that He’s got to be worthy of salvation.

You’ve got to do this and this and this and this and this so that you’ll be good enough for God to save. Like you’re too bad that God can’t save you, but you’ve got to be good enough to Him to save. No. Salvation is the gift of God. It’s not a works list. Any man should boast. Let me show you something. You’ve probably never seen this before. This hand represents you and me. This wallet represents sin. Now we all have sin on us.

You see God says that he loves us. He hates our sin. And the wages of sin is death. Eternal separation from God in hell. But he loves us and wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven you have to be perfect as righteous as God. None of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. We’re all sinners. Because of sin, we can’t get in. Everybody’s in the same boat. Nobody can save themselves. It’s not by your works.

You’ll never be gonna, you don’t have to promise God you’ll quit your sins. Because when you go back to your sins, you’ll think, well, God never really may be saved me or he’s lost me now. That has nothing to do with it. Christ is gonna take care of your sins. Because you can’t. This end represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh, came into the world because He loves us. Now He hates our sin because our sin separates us from Him.

So Christ who had no sin took ours. All of it and paid for it. See, that’s why we don’t have to pay for, say why, he did. He paid for how many of our sin, all of them came back from the dead and said if we would believe he did it for us, he would put this payment to our account and we go to heaven on what it did for us. You see, many people think they can save themselves by their good work.

God says, you need to repent. Change your mind. That is not true. Change your mind. Think differently. Reconsider. Look now in the book of Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke chapter 13. And notice what he says here in verse two. People came to Jesus and they had thought that something, but it wasn’t true. What they thought was it true? So he says in verse two, and Jesus answered instead of them, suppose ye. Now look up here, suppose, think.

Has to deal with the way a man’s mind is. It’s talking about what he’s thinking. And he says, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things. I tell you, nay, but except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Repent, change your mind, think that’s not true. They were believing something that wasn’t true. The reason people are deceived today is because they believe something not true. You can listen to a man with flowery words and it sounds so good and sounds so believable, but if it’s not true, it’s still not true.

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. Our 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 3, 3, 6, 3, 4. 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 going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed.

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

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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Genesis, the book of Genesis. I want to speak very briefly on one on one, especially playing basketball, it’s five against five. But a lot of guys like to hone their skills and so they like to play one on one. When it comes to you and the Lord, did you realize how it’s just gonna be one on one? Can you imagine that here was Adam in the garden and Adam in the garden was able to go one on one with the Lord?

Adam didn’t have any sin. He was in a perfect paradise. Everything was wonderful. They fellowshiped together. Their relationship was great. The Bible says, and they walk in the cool of the day. Well, what if it had been you? Wouldn’t you have loved that to be put into the Garden of Eden? And then to be given the most beautiful woman in the world. Why would she be the most beautiful woman in the world? She was the only woman in the world.

And that’s why he said to Adam, he says, do you love me? He says, who else? Tell me, did you get that? And of course you know what happened. But let me ask you a question. How many chances did God give to Adam and Eve to get it right? One time. Think about this for a moment. How wonderful it was and how bad it became for a little bitty sin. They ate an apple. Was it an apple? I don’t know.

Some people say they think it was a banana because it had a peel. I don’t know. But whatever it was that they ate, it was such a simple little bitty thing. It was no big deal. It was just one little thing. I mean, why punish him so bad? Think for a moment. God is perfect. God is perfect, then he cannot tolerate any sin in his presence. And the Bible says that the Lord walked in the cool of the day.

God was in the garden. God talked to Adam and Eve. So now everything’s changed. Everything changed because of one little deed. Not two, not three, just one. One sin, and it’s all she wrote. And when he made the statement, look in Genesis in chapter 2 and verse 16. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not, eat of it for in the day that thou eatest there are, thou shalt surely die.”

Now a lot of people say, well he didn’t die that day, but remember this. There are three deaths that we talk about in the Bible. There is the death of a relationship because isn’t it true that God and Adam walk together, talked together. Now that relationship has been destroyed. It was the death of a relationship. They could no longer participate together like they once did. One little sin, so much damage. Think of all the consequences in the world because of that one tree, one fruit, one sin and look at all the results.

Have you You ever thought about some of the things, little things, that you tolerate in your life and don’t even think about the consequences of one little sin and yet one little sin in your life and my life can make a lot of difference. Because we can’t always see how it relates to everything. We can’t see all the cause and effects down the road. But sin is sin. Sin is imperfection. God is perfect. God cannot tolerate sin. So there is the death of a relationship.

A man by the name of John Cross, he was a missionary to Papua New Guinea. He took his wife and his son, named Andrew, It went all the way over there to pop the new kidney now. We’ve had several missionaries has come through here that have been to this place to bend of these tribes They had a little house built on stilts not far off the ground, but just enough that a person could weasel a little way underneath it and They loved their little hut that they lived in and they loved every morning waking up in that fresh air and and the beautiful greenery that they had, and they loved being there, they loved what they were doing, they loved the people, and everything was great.

Kind of like being in a paradise. One day, a big old rat crawled under the house, got about in the middle of the house, underneath it, died. How many of you’ve ever been to Colorado? Or out west where you’ve seen as you’re driving along and you can tell lo and behold, there must be a cattle farm around here somewhere because there’s an odor about it. And you say to certain people, how can you live so close to this cattle farm because of the odor?

What do you smell? He says, money. Smell money. And if you stay around it long enough, you know, after what, you don’t even, you don’t even notice it anymore. I’ve noticed being down here in Georgia, there are a lot of chicken farms around. Can you tell when you get close to a chicken farm when the wind is just right? You say, what is that smell? Say, money, money. That’s what it is. And some people that are not used to that, it is file.

It’s a bad odor. It’s a bad omen. And they try to hold their breath. If you’ve been driving the car and you come across them, I can’t try to hold your breath. But you hate to take a deep breath. And then see how long you can hold it. They had a rat. Well, the stench got so bad they couldn’t stand it. So they moved to the back part of their house to try to get away from the stench. But it permeated the whole house.

Andrew got the job. They told him to put a plastic sack around his hand and he was small enough he could crawl underneath the crawl space and he finally got to the thing trying to hold his nose and get a hold of that dead rat. Crawling underneath the house on his belly and engine his way. Finally got to this rat, got it by the tail. He looked at it and realized that there were maggots all over this rat. So he got it by the very end of the tail and drug it out as he crawled underneath that thing trying to get out from under there and the smell was terrible.

He took that thing and he swung it over his head and he let it go out into the woods. Now if that rat could have come to life at that moment, that rat could have known that Andrew was angry. He probably could have heard him say if he could hear. You’re out of here. And the rat would have probably said for how long? And Andrew would have said forever. Well, when can the rat come back? What would you want the rat to come back?

Never, never, because you don’t want to be in the presence of such a gross file, smelling, stench for the rest of your life to someone that is perfect. That’s what you and I smell like in the presence of God from one sin. God could not stand for any sin to be in His presence. He often talks about the sins of man as a stench in his nostrils. His son that he sent into the world, well, it was a sweet smelling saver.

It talks about the sacrifices that were made in the Old Testament as a sweet smelling saver. Sweet to the nostrils of God. But God does not like sin. He hates sin. Adam and Eve only had to commit one sin to be cast out of the garden. How long were they cast out of the garden? Forever. They couldn’t go back. you Even put a angel with a flaming sword to keep the way so that nobody could come back in. I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Habakkah in chapter 1.

I want you to look there in verse 13. There is also not just the depth of the relationship because now that had been severed. Thou art of pure eyes than to behold evil. Canst not look on iniquity. You ought to underline that statement in your Bible. The Lord’s perfection cannot tolerate imperfection. That’s why you and I were not able to live in the presence of God. So you and I, when we were born into this world because of this old sinful nature that’s been passed on to us, we are separated from God.

We are spiritually dead, separated from God. And so what the new birth is about is You being connected back to God, God restoring life. Because he says, thou shalt surely die means that you were cut off from the very source of life. I’ve used the illustration before if these plants were real and I was to take a flower and I cut it off. Well, the flower has been cut off from the source of life. It’s dead. Now, it doesn’t look dead.

It still smells good. It looks good. It’s just that it’s dead because you and I know, once it’s cut off from the source of life, it’s dead. It’s gonna take a few days before it withers. You and I have been cut off from the very source of spiritual life, we’re spiritually dead. It means that God is a spirit and being spiritually dead, we can’t communicate with God. And that’s why we have to be made spiritually alive. So when you trusted Christ as your Savior, you were born of the Spirit, made spiritually alive.

So now you have a body, soul, and a spirit. So your body is what makes you world conscious, and your spirit is what makes you God conscious, and your soul is what makes you self conscious. But being spiritually minded, it means that my spirit can communicate with God who is a spirit. He also says that concerning the body, eventually the body of man will die. It will die. There is the death of the body. Look in Psalms 104, the 104th Psalm.

Verse 29 says, Thou hideest thy face, they are troubled. Thou takeest away their breath, they die, returned to their dust. That’s the body. Now the spirit of man lasts forever. Death is simply the spirit from the body. Whenever you lost that relationship in the garden from God, it was you were made spiritually dead. You were separated from the presence of God. That’s why they were cast out of the garden. Later they were cast out of their body. And one day at the second death, they will be cast from the very presence of God forever.

That’s the second death. But here he makes the statement, “‘Thou take us to weigh their bread.'” Now keep this in mind. It is God that gives life. God gives life. The right to life comes from God. God is the one that can take and let us live and God can let us die. What is supposed to be a mature men and woman? Well mature people that are married and they’ve got responsibilities. So we often say they are responsible for their own actions and what they do.

If I was to ask you how many of you think you ought to pay your legitimate debts? most people raise your hand. Yes, everybody ought to pay the legitimate debt. But whenever we have bills to pay, we just believe that that’s a normal, a right thing to do. So whenever the gas bill comes due, we got to pay the bill. So one of the advantages of being an adult on our own is if we get to pay our own bills.

This is why some kids like to stay at home because they don’t have to pay many bills. I know some kids, they’ll never get out of home. They’re smart enough to figure this thing out. Some kids never grow up and figure this out. But can you figure out why a man and a woman will look at each other and have such wonderful dreams for the future? And they’ll want to talk about getting married someday and getting out on their own.

Getting out on their own. What do you mean getting out on your own? You get your own set of bills. You get to pay. So you got to get a job. Work make some money so you can pay your own bills. Or you can stay at home and live off mom and dad. But have you ever seen a mom, a dad that hates to pay the last bill? Well, what is the last bill we’re going to have to pay?

Well, the wages of sin is what? Debt. That means you earn the right. You have to die. You have a debt to pay. You have a debt. And because you sinned the soul that sinned that shall die. So we have to die. That’s really is nothing more than a bill we have to pay. Now wouldn’t it be neat if the Lord came back before we die? Now you know there is some people that are going to be alive when Jesus Christ comes and they’ll never have to pay that bill because they won’t die.

I don’t want to live forever down here. I just want to live long enough to bury everybody else. Why is it that everybody knows they got that one bill to pay but nobody wants to talk about paying that bill? Nobody really looks forward to death. And yet it’s the last final, you know when you pay that bill, you don’t have to pay your light bill anymore. Any kind of it, you don’t have to pay no more bills anymore. Think about it.

Our final enemy is death. As a final bill that we have to pay down here, God says that soul that sent that shall die, and there’s a payment to be made. You realize that there was a day upon this earth when if man had not touched that fruit, We would have been living, we have still been born, but we would have been living in total paradise. Do you realize that death is also the death of future joy? To realize that what you are going to have and could have had by the disobedient, one sin is going to keep you from all of that.

It caused the death of a relationship that you had between you and God, caused you to death of a body that God gave and made that could have lasted forever. Your body and my body could have lasted forever. For eternity our bodies were designed to last forever. But because of sin, look what is cost. And then for the joy that we would have had for all eternity, death of a dream. You know there’s some time to a guy, he looks at a girl and Thanks boy, we need to get married.

And it takes everything he’s got, the muster up, that courage to say, will you marry me? And she says, yes I will, I will marry you. And the joy at that moment whenever he’s asked, and she says yes, and there’s a ring put on her finger, and they are so thrilled and happy. Now, are they thinking about the future or thinking about the past? They’re thinking about the future. They’re thinking about how it’s gonna be wonderful and happy. And they’re left together because they just see enough cowboy movies as they ride off into the sunset and they live happily ever after.

And they’re engaged. They’re thinking about who they’re gonna invite to the wedding. They gotta get a preacher. They gotta take and get all the things together, the flowers and who’s gonna be in the wedding, the best man, the best girl and all this stuff and the bridesmaid, whatever. And all these people and who’s going to be invited and the party and the food, and they’re all excited about all these things, cards gotta be written out. They think about the house they’re gonna have, where it’s gonna be, you know, and who’s gonna work, who’s not gonna work, or whether they’re gonna pull the money together, or account his account.

How many kids are gonna have? It’s all about the future. They’re all excited. And it’s good and they’re happy about it. But for some reason, if they decide to call off the wedding, they broke the relationship. Does that change all the plans? You think they’ll go through with all the plans? It changes everything. Did you realize how little decisions can affect so much in our lives that we don’t think are really that big? And yet it can affect everything, affect so much.

But what Christ did was to restore everything that was lost. All the death of a relationship, to restore the death of a physical body that was designed to live forever, but now 50, 60, 70 years, maybe a few more, but it’s still sorrow. And then we are cut off and then fly away. And the death of the joy of the future. individual wants to be happy. But we don’t want to be happy in heaven, we want to be happy now.

So what would it be great if we could get a little bit of that happiness and that joy and bring it into the present? Well, God says we’re supposed to believe Him so much. See a little faith in Christ. Takes the soul to heaven. But a lot of faith in the Lord, after we’re saved, can bring a lot of heaven to the soul. So, by believing God and trusting God, we can be happy now. We can have peace now.

Even while the world is at such turmoil, we can have joy. Things that the world can’t give and things the world can’t take away. But if one little bitty sin can cost so much, think what one little bitty obedient decision can bring. So that’s why the offer is made to every individual because it’s a one-on-one. It doesn’t matter what everybody else did or are doing. It’s what am I going to do? What is going to be my decision? Here’s Christ.

He died on the cross from a whole world. I can either accept it or I can reject it. But it’s my decision, not yours, it’s mine. You can’t make it for me. I can’t make it for you. It’s a personal one-on-one decision. And if I choose, I can have eternal life. I can become a child of God. And God will give me a new birth. The new birth that’s born without a sinful nature. See my first birth was born with a sinful nature.

My second birth was born without one So I Not having a sinful nature my second birth. It can’t sin if it can’t sin it can’t die So that means I’m a I’m a child of God forever and my greatest relationship Is now with the father and I am related to him as his child now I have a relationship that can never be broken that relationship can’t be broken My fellowship with God can be broken, but not my relationship. So I have an eternal relationship because I am an eternal Son of God.

He is my eternal Father. I belong to Him. That can never be broken. Now or tomorrow or on an eternity, it can never be broken. I am a child of God. That is a relationship that’s better than the one they had in the garden, because that one could be broken. It wasn’t so much that of an evil or so perfect. They had the capacity to sin. They just hadn’t sinned, but they had the capacity to sinned. You and I in our new birth will not have the capacity to sin.

Like a cup, it has the capacity to hold water. We will be created in our new mercy without the capacity to hold a sinful nature. We can’t see. We will not be able to tolerate sin no more than God would. The closer you get to God, the closer you stay with the Lord, the more you walk with the Lord, the sins of the world become a stench in your nostrils. Can’t stand it. You can’t stand it when people take God’s name in vain.

You can’t stand that. And you’ll see things that other people won’t see. You’ll hear things that others won’t hear. Because see, the closer you are with the Lord, you’ll wind up loving and hating the same thing that God does. Now some people get so far away from the Lord, see they have gotten used to the stench, the rebellion of people, the way the world is. Everybody’s like that and so they just become like the world. They’ve lost the shock value and we ought to stay where we can still be embarrassed, still be ashamed, still get read faced because you see if you don’t that dead rat under the house, get to where you can just live with it.

It’s alright after a while. Or you can get it out of there. I’m talking about in this life there’s some things we can’t change with other people. But it’s a one-on-one. It’s what do you want? What do you accept? Because as a child of God, we have a day coming where we’re going to stand before the Lord and He’s going to reward us. Now He doesn’t reward us in groups. He doesn’t reward a committee. He won’t bless us in heaven as church members.

Would y’all please come up here? It’s Individually, what did you do? What did you do? What did you do? Remember he faced Adam and says Adam what has style done? Well, you know that woman you made? Eve What did you do? Well the serpent you know the serpent you made the blame game began. Now while we’re down here we blame everything everybody for my sorry lot in life. But with God’s, it was one on one. In spite of what Adam said, the woman that you gave me, God put a curse on Adam.

And the woman, God cursed the woman. And the serpent, do you ever wonder why God never asked the serpent? What did you do? Some people say because he didn’t have a leg to stand on. Some of y’all get dead after a while, you know. But he cursed the ground. whole earth, one loves sin. This is why as much as possible, and nobody can do it for you, who is going to make you read the Bible? Because that’s how God speaks to you.

Prayer, well that’s how you talk to God. It’s a one on one. See, nobody can do this for you. It’s an individual thing. And when we get to heaven and God rewards everybody, God’s going to reward one on one. It’s what you did. And blank game won’t work. God said, what did you do? Why didn’t you serve me? Well nobody else did and not worry about that. What did you do? And God’s gonna reward us for what we as an individual and every man shall receive his own Reward according to his own labor.

That’s one on one God’s gonna do it. It’s a personal thing has nothing to do with your wife life, your husband, your children, it’s you, it’s me. It’s a personal thing. It’s one on one. And I think we need to keep it in mind because God’s not looking for the committees. Don’t worry about the committee. This end represent you and me and the wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us, but He hates our sin.

And the Lord tells us that because He loves us. He wants us to go to heaven. But because of sin, we can’t get in. God says that to pay for the sin is eternal separation from God in a place called hell. God wants us to go to heaven and we can’t get into heaven because heaven is perfect. We cannot save ourselves. If you never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you trust Him right now? Just say simply, Lord, I know I’m a sinner.

I believe Christ died, paid for my sins and I’ll take and trust him to take me to heaven whenever I die. If you’ll do that, God will save you, give eternal life. If you’ve never trust the Lord, I urge you to do so. So why not write down the quietness of this moment, say something simple like this? I know I’m a sinner. I believe Christ paid for my sins. But right now I trust him to take me to heaven when I die and preach I like you to pray for me in closing.

So I hit by nice clothes so that I can pray for you. Would you slip in it very quickly and put it right back down and see them with all? If you’ve never trusted Lord, would you trust Him now? Yeah, what at all? If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, realize how one little sin in our life can alter so much in our life. The things that we don’t think are important, study in the Word of God as what keeps your discernment sharp, where you can see and understand and see how God thinks and feels about things.

Because it’s a one-on-one. Nobody can do this for you. You can be as holy and as godly as you choose to be. Or you can be currently minded. Do right, serve the Lord. Father, we do thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. We ask your blessings upon each one here. And have us Father to put you first in every area of our life. 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again, Program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvary of tampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound. We will be changed.

Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and everyday, 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 on the years. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians and chapter 13, if you’re going to write down anything, I’ve got six things that I think will help you. First thing I want you to write down is enjoy this precious moment. Enjoy this moment. Don’t ruin this moment. I mean this day, this hour, this time. Learn to appreciate the very moment that you have. I think you’ll be happier when you learn how to do that.

Many people live in a dream world that will never be. When everything is right, like some people say, well, when I get everything right, then I’ll come to church. When everything’s right, I’ll do this. It’ll never happen. You have to learn to enjoy the ride. Happiness is not a destination. Boy, I’ll be happy when I get this or when I get that. No, you won’t. You got to learn how to be happy in the process on your way. So look what he says here in verse 11.

I want you to look at verse 11. Paul says, when I was a child, I speak as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. So the first thing you need to do is put away childish things. You’re not a child anymore. Grow up. So when I became a man, I spake as a man. I understood as a man. I thought as a man. So if you don’t want to act like a child, grow up and become a man.

First Corinthians in chapter three. And you’ll notice what he says in verse one. He says, and I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it. Neither yet, nor are you able. For you’re yet carnal, like a babe. For where is there among you envy and strife and divisions? Are you not carnal?

Or are you not a child? Children, wine, and complain, and moan, and groan, and murmur, and usually down in the mouth. But it says, when I became a man, I put away these childish things. Put it away, childish things is put in the way simple little stupid things that ruin your life. Look in Philippians chapter 3, Philippians and chapter 3. In order to enjoy the moment, there’s something you have to do. He says in verse 13, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.

Lord, I’m not complete. I haven’t accomplished everything that God has for me. It’s not over yet. But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before. In the words, you got a race to run, so run the race. And let God have his way and however he wants to lead and to guide you. And you’ll accept that. You do not want to be found fighting against God, but I would be foolish to take on God.

And what really irritates God is when you, for the time you ought to be a mature child of God, you’re still just a babe. But when you grow up, he says, put away these childish things. Now, look in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 34. Verse 34, take note therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. In other words, don’t borrow evil from the past and don’t borrow evil from the future.

Just expect God to give you the grace that you need today to solve the problems of this day, because it’ll be sufficient. God will not require of you anything you can’t perform. If you can’t do it, God will be wrong to give you more than you can handle. God doesn’t give you more than you can handle. Every Christian can do exactly what God wants him to do every day.

That’s the book, that’s the book. And God says that all you have to do is be found faithful, but it’s learning how to think. The second thing I want you to write down is this. Have a positive outlook. Now there’s people who have negative outlook. What it is, they’re negative. Okay, what are they, they’re getting it. Lawyers always look for what can go wrong. Anybody understand or know what Murphy’s law is? What is Murphy’s law? If it can go wrong, it will.

Well, there’s Christians like that. They never think of anything positive. They’re always negative. Some people just don’t like change. In other words, if there’s a big old ditch, big old mud puddle, don’t dare me to jump over it. Cause you dare me, I’m gonna show you how I can do it. Even if I fall right in the middle of the mud. Now there’s other people that are finding another way of getting around it. I gotta try to show you that I can do it.

I’ve lived long enough now that I shouldn’t do it. So take your Bible, I want you to look at this, Over in the book of Nehemiah, got Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Nehemiah and chapter eight, this is on the page, 549 in the Old Testament. In Nehemiah chapter eight, look in verse one. And all the people gathered themselves together and you’re on the line is, as one man. It’d be like all of our church coming together And we’re like one person.

We’re all on the same page. We all believe the same thing. We all want to do the same thing. And we all work together for the same thing. And we pray concerning the same thing. Whoo, what a power that would be. Like they say, the world has never seen what God can do through one man that’s totally yielded to God. I don’t know if the world has ever seen What could be accomplished with one church totally yielded to the Lord?

What they could do, the impact they could make. I’d like to find out. But look what he said in verse two. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and, and, and women. And all that could hear with understanding. Look at verse three. And he read therein before the street, That was before the Watergate from the morning until midday. That was not a one-hour sermon. I don’t even think it was a two-hour sermon. From morning to midday.

Early in the morning, probably till noon. Well, that’s a long church service, isn’t it? And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood. This is where we get it from, which they had made for the purpose. I like that. So you got all the people together, made him a pulpit out of wood. And then he says in verse 5, and Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up in verse 3, and he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday.

So while he read, they all stood. So what are you doing, sitting down? While I’m preaching, you ought to stand. I’m standing. Why can’t you stand? How would you like to stand for the hour that I’m preaching? And look down in verse 8. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly. That means they started probably in the book of Genesis, and they read, and they read, and they read, and they read. And he says, and look at the last part of this verse, and gave the sense in the words and caused them to understand the reading.

So it not just that they read it, then they explained it so that they would understand Don’t that make sense? That’s what preachers do today, or supposed to do. Look in verse 10, and he says, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy unto our Lord, neither be ye sorry, and ye are underlined as part of the verse. You heard that song before, and we showed it to you in one of the Psalms.

The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. I mean, y’all, I’ve ever heard that before. And all over. Everybody ought to sing. He fills my mouth with laughter. All right. I’m looking verse 12 now. and all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great mirth and you ought to underline this, underline it.

Why were they so happy? So fill with joy because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. When you understand what God is saying in His Word and you can believe them, it can cause you great joy and peace and happiness. That’s where it comes from. But anyway, Proverbs chapter 17, take your Bible and turn to Proverbs chapter 17. And verse 22, it says here, a merry heart doeth a good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dry up the bones.

Now I believe this. I believe a lot of people’s medical problems is because they don’t have a merry heart. You let yourself become a bitter person and you’re going to have more health problems. It will affect your body physically. Haven’t you ever been to the doctor and he said, well, what’s your problem is you’re under too much stress. But why are you under stress. You see, a Christian is supposed to have somebody we can cast all of our cares upon.

So if you cast your cares upon the Lord, I know that that’s easy preaching and hard living. I was on the road one time and we were just traveling on preaching. This was 20 years ago or more. And we had a great big motor home back then. It was a continental trailway bus. And so we’re boogin’ around the country and Betty had to go to the doctor and the doctor says, I don’t know what kind of work your husband does, but you need to change jobs or do something differently.

He says, you’re in a lot of stress. So I went off the road and took a church. That man doesn’t know what he’s talking about. There is no stress like being a pastor because you’re dealing with people of all shapes and sizes, all different levels of spirituality. And they all want you to say just exactly what they want to hear, but don’t get on my case, don’t preach against sin. Help me spiritually, but don’t tell me what I’m doing wrong.

And they want to preach it with 50 years experience, but only 40 years old. Stress. Do you notice, even though I say and I hit things seriously and sometimes hard, I still have it with a little sense of humor, don’t I? Because I love to laugh. If you don’t love to learn to laugh, you can do a lot of weeping. I have been in such a jam that I had no possible way of getting out of it. And I said, Lord, this is going to be fun.

I’ve got to see you get me out of this mess. And I’ve got to just wait and see what God’s going to do. But I’ve never been afraid of getting anything because I always know God get me out of them, but learn to have a merry heart. Learn to laugh a little bit. Remember that sermon I preached on the woman’s stand there in the mirror? She was hungry, we’ve been married 30 years. And I’m old and I’m gray. And I’m sagging.

Give me a compliment. He said, well, nothing wrong with your eyesight. Let’s see that, but it’s humorous. But see how you laugh? Laughter is good medicine. That is good medicine. It will help you physically. It really will. Proverbs in chapters 15. And look there in verse 13. Verse 13. So it’s pretty much the same thing, but it says, a merry heart, makeeth a cheerful countenance. You want to improve your countenance? Did you know if you don’t learn to smile, you’re going to look older?

Smile. You say, well, I’ll get wrinkles. Yeah, but they’ll be in the right place. They’re mirror on the wall, crap. Anyway. A merry heart, make it a cheerful candidate, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. Let up a little bit, because if you don’t, you may never be a happy person, because there’s always sorrows. There’s always something to upset the apple cart. I don’t care what it is going on, there’s always some problems that you have.

Now I’m not talking about walking around with a smiley face all day long. There’s times that you’ll have to be sorrowful and you’ll grieve. But don’t let it overwhelm you to the place where you can’t smile anymore, that you can’t be happy. Number three, I want you to write down, slow down. You don’t need to do all that you think you have to do. Slow down. The Bible says God has given us all things freely to enjoy. There’s nothing wrong enjoy in life, rest in the Lord, rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him, learning how to depend upon the Lord.

The only reason you become a workaholic because you think it all depends on you and you just work yourself to death and never have any free time to do what you really want to do. So you have to be careful. There’s time, I mean you got responsibilities, you got to be able to figure these things out and look to the Lord for guidance, I believe that you ought to do with your life what you really enjoy doing it. If it’s possible, enjoy doing what you’re doing.

Learn to wait and depend upon the Lord and look to Him and believe in that God is going to do what He says He will do. I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined me, hurt my pride. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of a mighty clay, set my feet upon a rock, to establish my goings. And he had put a new song in my mouth. They’ve been praising to our God. Many shall see it in fear and trust in the Lord.

God put a song in your heart. Sing it. Does God done anything for you lately? But he put a new song in my heart. If I could, I ought to learn this thing. You don’t have to sing. Somebody, I was singing today and somebody says, but is that what you call a joyful noise? Oh, it’s coming down a hallway. Somebody stuck their head out and says, is that what you call a joyful, who did that? Hurt my feelings.

I could have been a professional singer now he’s discouraged me from doing it. See there, what I could have been. All right, look in Psalms 126, 126 Psalm. See if you just slow down and smell the roses, I did and a beast on my nose. Psalms 126, look at it. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. That was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue would sing. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them.

The Lord have done great things for us. We’re glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south, they that so in tears shall reap in joy. He they go forth and weep at bear in precious seed. Shout doubtless, come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Oh, that sounds good. Well, that sounds good. People in captivity learn the same. Some things you may not be able to change. You may not be able to change the situation where you work.

You can’t change the situation with concerning your health. So be it. One of the day we’re gonna die anyway. Learn to be happy and fill with the joy of the Lord until you’re no longer here. You’re going to have problems, you know it. You’re going to suffer, you know it. I already know it. And sometimes you’re going to hurt. But when you can muster just a little bit of a smile, do it all. Aren’t you impressed with people when they’re really going through the fire?

And they say, praise the Lord. I don’t understand it. I can’t help it. I can’t change it. but praise the Lord anyway. There’s people who can do that. And there are other people who find it very, very difficult to smile through anything. And some people just don’t know how to express themselves. But it doesn’t hurt to say, you know, God been good to me. And like Jobah, he did not sin or charge God foolishly. He simply said, the Lord give it.

The Lord take it the way. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I still got the Lord. You know what? The most precious thing in all the world is to have the Lord. Now you can lose everything else, but you can’t lose Him. So you see, you still got the best. You still got the best. I want you to write down this statement. Number four was the smile and laugh which was Psalms 126. Number five, live expecting a miracle at any time.

Live expecting a miracle at any time. And you can write down the scripture reference, James chapter four and verse two. Because this talks about ask and receiving. If you prayed, you should expect. You prayed? Expect. Live every day expecting God to work some little miracle. You know if God can work a little miracle, God can work a big miracle. If God does it, and God delights and performing for us when we’re totally helpless, and there’s no other way, no other visible means of support.

When there’s nothing else you can do, So that way he definitely will get the honor, the glory, and the credit. When you are totally in despair, true faith is serving God when it appears that God has let us down, when it seems like God has failed us. Look at this verse over in the book of Psalms. Since we’re right here in Psalms, look in Psalms chapter 50, the 50th Psalm. And look at verse 15. Verse 15 is a good verse underlying in your Bible.

upon me in the day of what? See, it’s like saying you’re going to have that day of trouble. You’re probably going to have a lot of days of trouble. So what do you do, call upon the Lord and get what he says, I might deliver thee. I will deliver thee. And thou shalt glorify me. That’s why you had the day of trouble so that he could deliver. He could have delivered you before the trouble, but he let you have the trouble so that you cry out to the Lord so that you would brag on him when it’s all over with.

Now, sometimes I believe God’s children cry out to God. He delivers them and they never thank him. So since you didn’t pass the test, you might have to take it over again. You know, you always have to come up against something that’s bigger than your faith in order to challenge your faith to grow, to get over that obstacle. God’s not going to move the obstacle. He wants to give you the faith that you need to accept the challenge. That’s what forces your faith in the Lord to grow.

Otherwise, you and I would never grow. We’d never mature. Never be the way God wants us to be. Number six was just write this down very simple, just never give up. Believe that failures and dead ends and dry holes and detours and all those things are just stepping stones to success. They’re just stepping stones to success. I said, your failures and your dead ends and your dry holes and your detours, they’re just stepping stones to success. Because you believe that God works all things for your good.

You want to be strong in the Lord. God wants you to be strong. Well, tribulation worked with patience. Patience is a strength of a strong man of God. But tribulation is what develops the patience. Many people don’t let tribulations perform its work. It’s to build you strong in the Lord. Alright, look up here. Letting his hand represent you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. Now God says that He loves us. He loves you, loves me.

He hates our sin because our sin separates us from God. So the payment for sin is death, eternal separation from God in hell. And God loves us and wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God. But God says that we’re not righteous, we’re not perfect. We’re not good enough to go to heaven. He says there’s none righteous, no not one. All have sinning them short of God’s perfection, the glory of God.

So God says we cannot save ourselves. Going to heaven is not by my works. I’ll never be good enough. 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 took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. God says that if we would believe that He did it for us, He would put this death payment He made to our account as the payment for our sins, then I have no sins to pay for.

All my sins are paid. They’re all forgiven. And if they’re all forgiven, then I would have as a free gift eternal life and get to go to heaven whenever I die. That is not because of any good deed that I’ve done. It’s all because of the work that he did. So all I had to do to go to heaven was believe that Jesus Christ paid for my sins and trust Him as my only hope of going to heaven. That’s the best news in all the world.

Let’s pray, shall we? With every head bowed and every eye closed, no one looking around if you’re here tonight or if you happen to be watching by internet. Right where you are, you don’t have to do anything as far as your good works are concern. You don’t have to do anything about your sins. Christ already put cure that. And he says that if you’ll believe that he died of that cross and paid for your sins, he said he would save and give us a free gift, everlasting life.

So why not write down the quineness of this moment just between you and the Lord? Say something simple like this, Lord, I’m a sinner. I know that. And I believe you out on that cross and pay for my sins. And right now the best on O’Haul, I want to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. For in God said, if you’ll trust Him, He’ll save you. Give you eternal life and you can know that you’re going to heaven whenever you die.

I pray that you will. For the heads by a nice close, if you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, would you trust Him right now? I’d like to have prayer for you in closing. And we’ll all just to slip your hand up very quickly and by that you mean just pray for me, I will accept Christ as my Savior tonight. I want to be certain I’m going to heaven. Is there anyone at all?

Our Father, we do thank You so much for giving us the clarity of these things in Your Word so that we can be found faithful. And Lord, they help us concerning our attitudes to know that You love us And we live in a troublesome, sinful wicked world. But Father, you said, Riese, we’re gonna have these troubles. But to call upon you and you would deliver us. And then we would give you the praise and the glory, the honor, the cause of it.

We thank you so much for all you’ve done. Master of Blessings upon us 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 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.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. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.

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 on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Turn in your Bible to the book of 1st Timothy, 1st Timothy chapter five. The scriptures tell us an awful lot about the sin of gossiping, hillbears devouring one another. All these things that people do when they disobey God. What are some things that people say, and it’s not true? But then people believe that it’s true, and then so they talk or treat that person as though, that’s a wicked person and it’s not true. Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing to do?

Look there in verse 15, for some are already turned aside after Satan. Remember that you’re either going to serve the Lord or you’re going to serve Satan. There isn’t anybody else. You say, well, I’m just going to do what I want to do. OK, you’re going to serve Satan. No, I’m not going to serve Satan. I’m just going to do what I want. What’s the difference between you and him? So you have a nature just like his. So in its its rebellion to God, it’s Satan.

So you’re either going to obey God or you’re going to obey the devil who we serve is revealed by the decisions that we make. And then he makes this statement here in verse 17, let the elders that rule well. Now that’s preachers elders in a church. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor. So what does that mean? Aren’t like that? If a man goes to work and he just say in the church and he makes a hundred dollars.

If the average of the people is $100, then how much should the preacher make if he gets double-honor? $200. If they get 500 average, the preacher is supposed to get twice that. If they got $1,000 average, then the preacher gets $2,000. That is if he has committed himself to the study of the Word of God. Look what he says. In verse 17, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the Word and doctrine.

Preachers are supposed to give Himself to these two main things. That’s the Word and study and know in the Word and prayer because that’s a powerful thing to know because that’s what you teach the people and that’s what governs their life is the knowledge they gain from what the Bible has to say and then the prayer that He does on behalf of interceding for people. One of the most powerful things you can have is somebody they can pray and talk to the Lord because He’s either a holy man or a righteous man, godly man.

But look what he says. In verse 18, for the scripture sayeth, this is the Old Testament, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that should have out the corn. In other words, the ox that treads the corn ought to be able to eat of the corn. And what he’s talking about, the preacher that preaches the gospel should live of the gospel. And he says this, the labor is worthy of his reward. This is what belongs. Then he says in verse.

That was the positive. Now here’s the negative. Against an elder or preacher received not an accusation but before two or more witnesses so that you don’t just listen to what somebody says there has to be witnesses and also in and conjunction with this, it’s based upon the truth of the Old Testament law to or more witnesses. So then it’s established and it’s true because they’re going to check it out and prove before you just believe what somebody says, find out if it’s true.

Because what if it isn’t true? Have you ever heard somebody say something against a preacher and it not be true? and yet people believe it. That the devil can, he doesn’t want people to believe that the pastor is either a good man or a godly man because he don’t want people going to listen to the guy. The devil will say and do whatever he can to destroy. Then in verse 20, if it’s true, Then, that sin, the elder, rebuked before all that others also may fear.

In other words, can the preacher just do whatever he wants to do and get away with it? No. If he’s wrong, he’s to be confronted. And if he’s confronted, it’s to be between two and three witnesses at least, and it be proven to be true, and then it’s supposed to be known to the people, to rebuke the person, so that at person knows he can’t get away with it. And then everybody else in the church knows, look, if the preacher got rebuked, everybody ought to get rebuked.

If you really did believe what the scriptures teach, then there is to be church discipline. We should challenge and motivate one another to serve the Lord and to do right. Now look now in the book of John, the Gospel of John. When Jesus Christ came, well, there was the problem of believing Him. And some would believe on them if they saw miracles done. But there was the religious leaders that they had a problem with Christ. See, they didn’t believe He was who He claimed to be.

And the reason the apostle Paul made the statements that he did is because they had a lot of accusations made against him because people were saying things against Paul. And it wasn’t true. Paul says, look, find out if it’s true first. He said, I’m the guy that led you to Lord. I’m the guy that’s been teaching and training you all these years. He says, listen to what I’m saying before you just quickly believe something and then you act upon it and it not be true.

Well, what about Jesus? Did he have anybody ever say anything like that about him? Oh, yes. Why do you think they put them on a cross and crucified him? Because somebody said, somebody lied about him. Remember, they had witnesses, but they were false witnesses. They lied about him. They said he said things they didn’t say. And then something they said about him, well, he claimed to be God. Well, he was. And that wasn’t a lie, it was the truth.

So anyway, in the last part of verse 18, looking verse 18 of chapter five. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him because he not had only broken the Sabbath, but in their opinion, he was wrong. And they convinced the people that he was wrong. But also that God was his father, making himself equal with God. Jesus said that God was his father. they know that if God was his father, they know he’s saying he’s God too. He’s equal with God.

If you’re a human and you have a child, your child is human as you. Yeah. If God is God and God has a son, his son is just as good as God. I can say he’s as good as gold. He’s as good as God. So when you go down through here and he talks about the judgment, look what he says in verse 30, I can of my own self do nothing as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will But the will of the Father which had sent me if I bear witness of myself My witnesses not true in other words.

You’re not going to believe me if I only say what I am Then you’re not going to believe what I say and maybe they don’t have to but he says, I’ve got some witnesses. I’ve got more than two. I’ve got more than three. And so they were to believe him. Hold your place right here and look there in the book of Numbers in chapter 35. In verse 30 says, who so killeth any person. The murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses.

But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. In other words, nobody is to ever die because of what one person says. So you had to have two or more witnesses because you’re talking about taking a man’s life. We said, well, you mean if two people got together and said something about somebody they could have them killed? Well, yeah, but there was something else to it though. And so look there in the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy chapter 17. See, God didn’t tolerate in the nation of Israel, anybody believing anything else except the truth. That was that he was God. They were not to tolerate all religions in America. Everybody can have any religion they want because that’s what slowly wanting to change our laws and our land because we have people here who have different religious beliefs. They no longer hold the Christian faith. There was articles that I’ve read where the Muslims want to replace the Constitution would they corralle?

Well, should that be allowed? It shouldn’t be allowed. But you know, if they get in enough places of leadership, get enough of them voted in and little by little, they’re wanting to get into places of politics because they know that they can change our country without having to bomb it. They can just pass laws and take over our country. But look what else it says here. Look in verse 2. If there be found among you within any of our gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee man or woman.

That hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God in transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worship them either the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven which I have not commanded. Whew, that would take care of all these astrologers in our country and all those who worship their horoscope and all that stuff again. See, that’s a wicked thing. The horoscope, something so innocent, it’s just fun. No, it ain’t just wicked.

How do you know God says so? You go by what the book says. He says in verse 4, and it be told thee, and thou have heard of it, and enquire diligently, and behold, it be true. Now, keep this in mind. We talk about two or more witnesses. It’s not just because somebody said something. It is to be inquired, searched into diligently, and yet this, and it was true. And the thing was certain there’s no doubt about it because you don’t just take a man’s life But he says it’d be found to be true And then he makes this statement he says and the thing certain that such Abomination is rotten Israel in other words the man or woman guilty of it Then shout our brain forth that man or that woman which have committed that wicked thing unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they

what? Die. This is God’s way of putting away evil from Israel. Okay, you think you can just live like you please and get away with it? They didn’t do it then. You don’t do it now. Get what he says. In verse 6, at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death, but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.” Now get this, the hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death.

In other words, who’s the one that’s got to throw the first stone? The one that brought the accusation before you make an accusation. You’ve got to be willing, am I willing to take this man’s life. And is it true? You see, this was to stop gossip. But in verse 7, the hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and afterwards the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.

You see, the ones that were the executioners were the people themselves. Remember the hangings in the Old West outside where everybody can see it. Why do they want everybody to see it? This is what happens to those who commit crime. Crime doesn’t pay. Well, long before we live at a time where a crime does pay. Everybody does something and get away with it because our laws protect the criminal and they let the victim suffer the consequences. I go back to the book of John in chapter 5.

You see, whenever it just in the New Testament says to be established in the mouth of two or more wits. This is what is referring to, but it’s to be searched into and verified to make sure that it’s certain, it’s right and a person wants to die. So when they said these things about Jesus, they were trying to get Jesus to be rejected because, you know, stirring up the people and the people were to have them stoned or crucified them.

But now look what he says there in verse 30. I can of my own self do nothing as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him or the Father, which have sent me. But he says this, there is another that bearth witness of me. And I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. In the words, I’ve got somebody that knows what I said and will bear witness and say that what I’m saying is the truth.

Who was it? Well, he says right there in verse 33, he says, you sent on the John and he bearth with witness unto the truth. For I received not testimony from man, but these things I say that you might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light at first, but because he found out he was talking about Jesus and Jesus claims to be God. See, either the Pharisees, these hypocrites, had to either believe that Jesus was telling the truth, well then they’d have to believe on him.

And that would mess up their little, I guess you call it their scam because they were religious scam artists. They were scamming the money off the people because the scriptures would always lead to Christ. So he, Christ, says, I’m going to give you some witnesses, not not just what I say, but it’s also John said it. He says, and you know John, you heard John. John said that I was the light. John said that. John’s the one that said you ought to believe on me.

John’s the one that said that he was not even worthy to step down and get in and did Ty’s shoes. But I have a greater witness than that of John. For the works which the Father had given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me. That the Father had sent me. He said, look, I’ve already raised the dead. I turn water into wine. I can walk on water. And he said, I fed the 5,000.

I’ve raised the dead. I called the blind to see and the deaf to hear. He said, what else do you want? He says, what I’ve done, my works. That tells you who I am. You think, well, that ought to be enough. That ought to be expensive. No, I didn’t convince you. Some people, you’re never going to convince. Even when we witnessed the people, some people we went, some people, you’re never going to win. Just accept the fact Jesus couldn’t convince them.

I mean, if I saw somebody do all those things, I know that there’s ain’t no normal man. Something’s going on here. I’d want to investigate. I want to find out. I want to listen to this guy. And the Father Himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape. And you have not His word abiding in you, for whom He hath sent Him, you believe not. He says, you don’t believe what God says.

Because God bears witness of me. And He makes the statement a little bit further. He says, I am the light of the world. He says, when you put me on the cross, he says, my father will tell you who I am. That’s why whenever Christ was on the cross, what happened to the lights in the world? They were all turned off. He got dark. He said, when you put me on the cross, he said, my father will tell you who I am.

He said, I said, I’m the light of the world. You don’t believe that. My father’s going to tell you who I am. He bear witnessed me. And my father turned off all the lights and they got dark while he hung on the cross. He says, my father’s going to do that. Now you did with all these testimonies these witnesses that would really believe it Man, I was scared to be dead not to trust the Lord He says in verse 39 Search the scriptures now.

What is the scripture scriptures is the Old Testament? He says for in them you think you have eternal life You think you have eternal life just because you have the scriptures. He says search the scriptures He says and you’ll find out they testify about me.” See what he says? And they are they which testify of me. The scriptures tell you who I am. And if you really know the scriptures, really believe the scriptures, then you would believe that I am truly the Son of God.

I am the Savior of the world. I am the one that’s come to make the death payment for the sins of all mankind. You would believe that I am what I claim to be the son of God. He said, if you believe the scriptures, but you don’t believe the Bible. You know the people who believe that you can be saved and lost, lose your salvation, you got to be good to go to heaven and all that stuff. They don’t believe the Bible.

They don’t believe the Bible. Because see, they don’t believe the gospel message. The message of the gospel is that when you believe it, you have eternal life. If you don’t know you have eternal life, you don’t believe the message. You don’t believe the message. You’re not believing in Christ unless you know you have eternal life, unless you know that you’re going to heaven when you die. If you don’t know he’s for sure you’re going to heaven because you don’t believe it.

Look they’re in verse 40 and this is a very very important verse and ye will not come to me that you might have life. Since not that they cannot come is that they will not come. He says you will not come. He just say you could not come because Christ will save anybody. He says, you will not come that you can have life. So the reason they don’t have life because they won’t come is their fault, not cause. I’ve had people say, well, God chose to save some and let the rest of them go to hell.

God came to save the whole world if they will believe it, but they won’t come to him. They will not believe. They will not trust him. He says, and ye will not come to me that you might have life. I receive not honor from men, but I know you that you have not the love of God in you. You don’t have the love of God in you. See, that a lot of people live their lives and they love a lot of things in this life, but they don’t love God.

One of the greatest things you and I can do is love the Lord. How come Jesus Christ could say to them that you do not have the love of God in you because he knows every man? God know right now whether you really love him or not. If you really love the Lord, that is the key to loving him and being found faithful to him. If you’re not faithful to the Lord, you don’t love him. You’re deceiving yourself. You’re deceiving yourself because love is what makes you do anything.

It’s like a man said, I love my wife, but then you’re not faithful. Something’s wrong with that. You love God. You’ve got to be faithful to God. You’re not faithful to God. You’re something wrong with a love problem. Now, these scriptures are dynamite. He’s in verse 40. I am coming my father’s name. You receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, you will receive. Now, remember this. Since Jesus Christ has been here, there’s a lot of people come and go and people claim to be prophets and so forth But there’s never been one not really a real prophet that came on the scene and claims to You know be sent by God until we have this guy named you ever heard a guy named Mohammed who started the religion of Islam Did you know there’s a day coming when the people of

Israel? I believe we’re going to accept that religion. Someone’s going to accept. He says, I came in my father’s name. He’s going to come in his own name. There’s only been one. This is why there’s a good possibility that the Islamic religion could be what leads into the great tribulation period and be the worst religion that’s the world’s ever known. What would happen and what would this world be like if the Muslims were totally in charge of this world?

What kind of freedoms would we enjoy and would it be true that? Chances are you will lose your head and the Bible says the book of Revelation that we saw the souls of him that were beheaded for his name’s sake. It looks like everything is lining up just like God said it would and And they’re going to make his peace treaty with Israel. He says in verse 44, how can you believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor that coming from God only?

In other words, they were so hip on themselves that they looked upon each other. Oh, I honor you and you honor me and we honor each other and we’re somebody and we’re the doodads. I mean, we really got it made. We’re the big shots around here. He says, you don’t seek honor from me, and you don’t seek to give honor to me. So whenever you’re like that, you’re a thief. See, they were not as righteous as they thought. They were self-righteous in their own mind.

They sought to justify themselves even before man. And so they were some great thing, and God says, you don’t want to be like a Pharisee, which is a hypocrite. In verse 45, do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. In other words, you trust the law. You say you believe the Bible, you believe the law, you believe the scriptures. Yet the scriptures tell you about me and you don’t believe it.

Moses told you in chapter 18 of the book of Deuteronomy that a prophet, like unto him, will come one day and they’re talking about Jesus Christ. You’re on the 18th. He says, Moses told you about me and you don’t believe him. Do you think Jesus was a wimp? He stood up there and knew that these people wanted him dead. See over there in verse 13 18, they wanted him dead. And this is his answer back to them. He didn’t run.

He didn’t have to hide. He says, what I’ve done and what I’ve said has not been done in a corner. Jesus was a man’s man. And look what he says there in now in verse 46, for had ye believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. That’s powerful. So he said, you don’t believe the Bible. You don’t really believe what you say you believe. You say you believe the Bible. You don’t believe the Bible. And this is why I say to people today, you don’t believe the Bible.

I told a preacher that says you don’t believe the Bible. I says, read here going to hell because you don’t believe the Bible. He believed you’re saved by what you do. And you have to live right. And I says, you believe that you’re lost as a hound dog in the end of the soup bone. And people that get up here and can talk about, get the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and all that, they’re funny. They don’t believe the Bible.

They don’t believe salvation’s totally, really, truly by grace. And they believe you can lose your salvation if you ever had it. They don’t believe what Christ said. You don’t believe the Bible. You believe what you think the Bible says. You believe what you think the Bible ought to save, but you don’t believe what the Bible says. It doesn’t say all that stuff. And so a lot of people just do not get it. When I say they don’t get it, they don’t get eternal life.

They ain’t going to heaven when they die. Look up here. Letting this hand represent you and me, and this wallet represents sin. Now we all have sin on us. Everyone here is a sinner. Just like me, we’re all sinners. God loves us. Now He hates our sin, but He loves us. All of us are in the same boat for all have sin. All have come short of God’s perfection. The wages of sin is death, and since every man’s sin, every man is condemned.

And God wants every man to be saved and to go to heaven. So Christ died for all men. You see, to go to heaven you have to be perfect, but nobody’s perfect. Nobody’s righteous. So that’s why no man can save himself. And so a man cannot do any good deeds to get to heaven because you see it can’t be bought. We’re already condemned to pay for what we’ve done. So a man has to be saved. This is Jesus Christ.

God’s Son. God chose His Son. to come into the world because he had no sin. He was his righteous servant. He took all of our sins, the sins of the whole world upon himself, came back from the dead. And God said that if we’ll believe that he did it for us, God is bound by his word. He has to save everyone who believes, whosoever believe it. For God so loved the world that he gave He has only begotten Son that whosoever be leaveth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God from the foundation of the world has predetermined to save all those that will believe. And all those that will not believe God has predetermined, they’ll spend an eternity separated from God in a literal fire burning hell. Salvation is free. It’s a gift. And it’s whosoever beleaveth. Let’s pray, shall we? head by and every I close and no one looking around. I hope you understand what I’m saying. I have no axe to grind. I just want to preach the book.

And I want you to understand that God loves you. He sent his son to die for you, to pay for your sins. He said, if you’ll trust him as your savior, he’ll give you eternal life as a gift. You don’t earn it. You don’t work for it, you don’t buy it. And God says, once He saves you, you’re His child forever. You’ll never cast you out, I’ll never lose you. If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, I hope you understand the importance of telling people, getting them out under the sounds of the gospel.

Let God use your power of influence in the lives of other people to get them under the sounds of the gospel. It’s so important. Our Father, we ask Your blessings upon each person that’s here, to help them to understand that you have chosen them. They have been elected, unknowned by you, called to serve you. Not to be saved, but because we are saved. And I pray, Lord, that each person who would respond to you, correct anything in their life that needs to be corrected.

I love you with all their heart. In Christ’s name we pray, amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa dot org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed.

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

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calbreak Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the Internet. Your regular prayers and month- and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us He’s told free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at CalvaryOfTampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

And many of God’s people are not faithful. They’re not faithful to read, not faithful to play, because they don’t see the need for it. need to be. They don’t see their condition. And I believe it’s a shame. Here in 2 Corinthians in chapter 4, looking verse 16, he says, for which cause we faint not? We mean we don’t quit. Well why? Well see right before this, he makes a statement in verse 14, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus and shall present us with you present us with you.

So I not only want people to be there because I want them to Christ. I want them to be rewarded by God. I want Christians to have everything they could have had. You see, whenever you see things right, it’s not that you’re glad you’re going, you want everybody else to go. Not only do I want to be rewarded when I get to heaven, because I do. I want everybody else to be rewarded too. Wouldn’t it be a shame that you get to heaven and you You don’t get anything because you didn’t serve the Lord.

Well, I knew it, but I didn’t tell you about it. I’m gonna tell you now. Cause I don’t want you up there saying, why didn’t you tell me? I’m telling you, you can’t use me in the excuse. Nana, nana, nana, nana. But look what he says in verse 15, for all things are for your sake. In other words, why do you need preachers, evangelists, missionaries for your sake? Because we want to challenge you, regardless of how hard it gets, how rough it gets, don’t quit.

I’m just so discouraged, don’t quit. Perplex, don’t quit. Cast out, don’t quit. Whatever it don’t quit. Stay in faith, but just keep serving the Lord. What you got, where you are. And God will bless you for it. And here’s one of the reasons why. Look there in verse 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment. And now this light affliction Paul is talking about when he was stoned outside of the city of Listerum. when he would beat with a cat of nine tails, everything that happened to all those people trying to kill him?

Boy, he took a bow that they would even slavery until they killed him. I wonder what happened to them. I wondered. You think they died? They died. Because Paul didn’t die by him, but isn’t it something that all the things that happened to the apostle Paul, he says this light affliction, your life, and this is where it would be good to go to James chapter 4, but since it’s already been read, we won’t have to turn there. Your life is but a vapor.

It appeared for a little while and then vanishes away. It’s just a moment in comparison to eternity. It’s nothing. But it’s a little portion of time that you and I are privileged to live. And in this period of time, God says, the devil is after you and he’s going to have all these things. He’s a roaring lion seeking whom he made of power. And so the war is on. In verse 17 he says, For our light afflation, which is but for a moment, work it for us.

Did you know that every problem you have is an opportunity for you to be enriched? You see, laying up treasure in heaven is because you have had a victory over some testing or trial or temptation here. Because that’s the only way you get to prove your faithfulness to the Lord is by the things that happens to you. Did you know that being blessed down here can be a testing? The supply of riches can be a great testing to your faithfulness.

I’ve seen people who didn’t have anything go to church to be faithful. And all of a sudden God starts blessing them. And then their blessings take them out of church. You see, they could handle it when they were poor, but when they got some money or something like that, they can handle that. A lot of Christians cannot handle prosperity. It’s too much for them. Because now they don’t need God. I got money. I got a good job. I got this, that and the other.

And so they fall by the wayside. Stay faithful to the Lord. I wish God keep everybody poor if it keep them in church and keep them doing right. But he wants to bless him a little money on a long way. That’d be all right. No. But you don’t want it to come between you and the Lord. Look what else he says here. He said, working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. See, it’s something that this light affliction, this problem that you may be facing or that I face is working for me and eternal weight of glory.

I’m going to get something for all eternity for some little temporary trial that I got to go through. And it’s just a light affliction in comparison to what I’m saying. Remember the verse over in the book of Romans in chapter 8 that says something along the line that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed here after. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the dynamite of what you’re going to get.

It seemed like man, better know that. God’s telling you. That’s why we studied the Bible. The Bible is God’s mind on paper. So as you study the Bible, you’re studying the mind of God to know how God thinks. And if you’ll study the word of God, you’ll learn how you are to think. And if you know how to think, you’ll know how to live. Some people don’t know how to live, because they don’t know how to think. And if you want to raise the caliber of your life, you have to raise the caliber of your thoughts because your actions are a byproduct of the way that you think.

And all actions are born within the mind. That’s why he said, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So look now in verse 18. When he makes the statement in verse 18, while we look, see this is talking about vision, this is talking about what you’re able to see. Some people can’t see this. See, they have vision only for the things of the world.

In this world you have a body and you have eyes to see what’s here. You have ears to hear by some way things that happen here in this life. And you can sense things and you can feel things. But there’s another world. And if I listen to what God says, I can see it. If I listen to what He says about it, I can visualize it. I can see things that the natural man cannot see. I can hear things they can’t hear.

I can sense something. They can’t sense. I feel what they cannot feel. I don’t know about why some people feel like God is called and into the ministry. To me, it was not one night God rang my bell and said, Yanki, I want you to preach. Yes Lord, I surrender all. Well, it never happened. I never got a call on the phone, no telegram. But I can tell you this, by the constant barrage of these scriptures pounding into my mind and breaking down my wall of resistance, then after a while bringing my thoughts into captivity to the Word of God, I heard things.

I saw things and I began to understand what I needed to do with my life. I’m not saying everybody has to to the same degree, but I believe you do need to have better vision, better hearing, And I’m talking about spiritual. God says that you have ears to hear, but you don’t hear. You have eyes to see, but you don’t see. How do you know that’s not you? How do you know he’s not talking about you? Well, it’ll depend on what are you gonna do with your life?

And he makes a statement here in verse 18, while we look not at the things which are seen, that’s the physical. He said, but at the things which are not seen. So there is something to be seen that can’t be seen. He said, for the things which are seen are temporal and the things which are not seen are eternal. So that means that God wants us to see something that everybody else can’t see. I don’t believe that a man ought to say, I have been called to preach unless he heard something.

It’s better to have heard something and say, I didn’t hear something than to say, I heard something and then hear nothing. There’s some people, I believe that never had a vision, that are motive, I question. I want to explain to you just a little bit about something that makes sense to me. You remember the story where Jesus went over the city of Jerusalem in Matthew chapter 23, where he made this statement, how often I would have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks together and ye would not.

But Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. Can you see Him weeping? Picture, can you see Him weeping? Can you hear Him cry? Can you feel what He feels? Can you enter into him and try to understand why was he weeping? How he cares? You remember the story where in chapter 9 of Matthew that Jesus said that he looked upon the multitude and was moved with compassion. That means feeling of their hurt within him. And he was moved with compassion because they were as sheep having no shepherd.

Of course, he is the only shepherd, but they were sheep about as shepherd. When you see people, what do you see? What do you really see? Can you see something that God’s talking about? Do you have compassion? Now believe it or not. I have seen on television where they have somebody in some foreign country and they have the dirty streets and the poor people and these little children. And they’ll have a couple of these little children and they’ll show you their dirty little faces.

Now, this is Emily or whatever name and we want you to help us to feed these hungry children. And as people watch that, especially I know women would, their hearts are moved with compassion. Get out that checkbook and start writing out because they are pricked to the heart. They know the power of a picture because of what you see and how it can move you. And they want you to help them reach those children and put food into their stomach and and maybe some doctor can go and maybe give them some shots or maybe some clothes for them and whatever.

And we believe that it’s good to have compassion. I remember years ago they came out with a little film, they wouldn’t show it on TV, but a little film called The Silent Scream. Anybody remember that? The Silent Scream. And what they did is they videotaped a baby being aborted in the mother’s womb. And they showed that whenever they pricked that child, that baby’s face, grimmus would pain and cried. But you couldn’t hear the cry. A silent scream. They won’t show that to the mass of America.

It’s too gross because if they did see it, they’d probably outlaw abortion. So it’s just a silent scream, a child crying, but nobody can hear it. And yet it should be the safest place in the world of mother’s womb. people hurting in this world that is for sure and they have a lot of pain you and I go to a lot of pain God is so designed that this world that you and I are never going to be satisfied here that’s what makes heaven so wonderful we keep looking for a time when the body don’t hurt when there’s no more separation there’s no deaths, no more tears.

But see, we wouldn’t know what that would be like unless God had allowed us to temporarily have an experience in life where we got a little bit of all of it. Has anybody in there ever had a tear? You ever had a pain? You ever had the loss of a loved one? You ever felt rejected? Think of what you have gone through just to make heaven real. Otherwise you’d never see it or understand how much better it’s going to be unless you know how bad it is here.

And this is all temporal. And we live in a body that is not going to last forever. We’re going to be with the Lord soon. Time is running out. And because of what God’s done for us, we sometimes fail to see what God sees. When God looks at mankind, what do you think he sees? And yet the Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He must really love the world. He must really love the world.

Do you realize that there is no amount of love that you can have, no amount of joy or compassion that can be greater than what God has Himself? Can you care more than God? Can you love more than God? Where do you think you got yours from? We were made in the image of God. You’ll never love your wife or your children or anything like God loves you and think how much he must really love. How he must really feel.

What it must be like to know that there’s some of his creation that have rejected him. and will spend an eternity separated from him. Christ went. I don’t really know exactly why Jesus wept at the great side of Lazarus, but I know he just finished talking to Mary and Martha. He says, do you believe that I am the resurrection in the life? And they said, we believe all that. He says, you believe this. He said, oh we believe this.

He says, but I am the resurrection of life. I mean I can do it right now was because all they looked at him and said, oh, how he loved so. He must have really loved him. Four days before that, didn’t Jesus already know he was dead? Didn’t Jesus know that he was coming there and he was going to raise him from the dead? Didn’t Jesus know that in a few minutes, labs are going to walk out of that great, he already knew that.

Then why did he cry? I think it was because of their unbelief, not because of Lazarus. He already knew he was to see him in a minute. He already knew where he was, he had a word by him. A funeral is not for the dead, it’s for the living, for the living. Every time you have a funeral, it’s never for the dead, it’s for the living. Because that dead ain’t there, because you didn’t know that. Absent from the body, present with the, present with the Lord.

I used to go into my study and I’d read the 16th chapter of Luke. I turn out the lights. I’d sit there in the dark and I tried to picture myself being in hell. No, and I’ll never get out. What if I had been one that had been missing? Nobody had ever witnessed I mean, I would be in hell for all eternity and I never get out how horrible that was going to be. And I’d literally sit there in my office and I would cry because I was so glad that that will never happen to me.

I can’t go to hell. That’ll never happen to me. I’m good, I haven’t. But I would pitch your seeing people in hell. So I believe that you need to see from God’s viewpoint how God sees the world. You have to see that. You have to feel how God feels about people, the lost people. Because if you don’t hear what God has said, who will go for me? You don’t hear, then you can’t answer it. So a lot of people never answer the call to the ministry because they don’t hear.

They don’t see how God feels, how God hurts, because they’re wrapped up in their own little world about me, my problem. They don’t care. They have ears but they don’t hear. They got eyes but they don’t see. I’m talking about in Luke chapter 6 that there’s a man that’s in hell and he cries out to Abraham. Sin lads with that he may come and dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am toward me in this flame.

Can you hear him? Can you hear him? Can you see it? Can you picture this? You see if you can’t see it, you can’t hear it. You have nothing to motivate you to answer the call. I’ll do something about that. They’ll seem to be a preacher, missionary, evangelist, or just a faithful person that goes to church and gives the money so they can have some mission or support. You care, you go, you give, you do that, because you can see it.

A lot of Christians don’t see it. Stop and think, isn’t what God wants more important than what you have? And what about the lost man that’s going to hell? How big is his concern over your little petty problems? But if you can see the lost man in hell, if you can hear the silent screams, see with the physical ear, you’ll never hear it. The only way you’ll hear it is spiritually. When you read the scriptures and you hear and see a lost man in hell suffering an eternal torment for all eternity.

When I used to sit in church because Betty’s dad took me around. I could see my mother. And I could see my stepdad, and I saw my brother, and I saw my sisters all go into that place. And I was set there in a church, and I would weep, and I cried because of it, and I couldn’t stand it. And I determined to do everything I possibly could to see my family came to know Christ as their Savior, and they all have.

They took years for some of them, but they all did. Two years ago, I buried my sister. I led her to the Lord. Last year I buried my mom I led her to the lawn But see I had to sing something I had to hear something You see you can read the scripture and many people read the scripture and well, I had my devotion this morning Okay, you had your devotion. What did you see? What did you hear? What did you feel?

There was a duty You’re trying to keep up with a schedule. It’s good to have a schedule I like schedules. I even have a thing where I read so many scriptures and so forth. I got all that. But do you read because you’re looking for something you want God to speak to you? You want him to impart a vision to you? Have you ever thought about the people in this world and how they have all kinds of problems of all kinds, just like these people over there and do our liens now, a lot of them suffer.

Many of them probably died. But you know that greatest need was the Lord. And I pray that most of them, that they trust the Christ to save but sometimes things like this is a perfect opportunity for some people that listen for the first time in their life. So they can see that there’s some things they can’t control. We often call it an act of God. You know a hurricane, floods, that’s an act of God, an act of God. Everybody’s going to die.

Should we say, well, they were greater sinners than others, on whom the tower in Salom fell? No. We got a lot of wicked people all over the world. And the day’s going to come and we’re going to leave this world one way or the other. I pray that you trust that Christ is your Savior. I know that whenever you read the book of Acts and it talks about how that the apostle was fixing to go up in the age of the Holy Spirit told him to come over here and master and help us.

And when he went to help him, there was a woman named Lydia by the river. There was a Philippian jailer. And so the Holy Spirit leading them was to the year of a lost man. The Holy Spirit led them from one country into another country for the simple sake of getting the gospel to them. But some people don’t see that. They don’t see that the greatest need that people have. When I see a banker, I’m thinking, save your loss.

I see a lawyer save your loss. I see anybody save your loss. I want their save your loss. And I wish that I would witness more. I’d like to be more faithful. I’m thankful for all the ones that I have reached, but how many I could have reached. I said this before and I may not be right. I don’t know. I don’t know if a man goes to hell because I didn’t reach him, but I do know that there’s a lot of them that go to heaven because I did reach him.

I know if I hadn’t, they wouldn’t have been going. I think it’s very, very important. The Holy Spirit indwelled you. And when the Holy Spirit dwells you, you have something on the inside of you that cries out. It’s like the Holy Spirit said inside of you said, Hey, can you hear me yet? You ever seen that? Come come here. Can you hear me yet? Can you hear me now? And the Holy Spirit will let things happen into your life trying to get your attention.

Can you hear me yet? But see sometimes maybe you’ve heard the verse. It’s not in the thunder, it’s not in the light, it’s not in an earthquake, it’s not in the tornado, maybe just a still small voice. And somehow you hear what others cannot hear because you’re sensitive, you’re teachable, you’re pliable. You’re looking for something special. You’re looking for something out of this world because what you want is not here in this world. But you have to have a vision, you have to see what others don’t see and hear what others don’t hear.

It’s only thing that’s going to make you different. Otherwise you’re no different than anybody else. Because if all you can hear is the things of the world with the natural air and the natural eye, you have nothing. You need spiritual vision. You need bionic ears to hear the voice of God. And when you can hear the cries, then you can answer a call. And I believe there’s many people have answered a call that’s never heard the cry. I believe you need to hear the cry.

It was because I said in Bible school week after week after week, four or five hours a day for four years straight and I could see all of this. I hear all of this and every teacher teaching exactly the same thing and buddy, all of a sudden, I know what God wants me to do. I don’t know if it was a gradual progressive thing, a little by little, but I realize how real it is and how important it is.

Look after this, and representing you and me, the wall of represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God, he loves us, but he hates our sin. And for us to pay for the sin is eternal separation from the Lord in hell. God loves us. He wants us to go to heaven and to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God and none of us are perfect. So no man can save himself. The church can’t save you.

Water baptism can’t save you. Giving money can-, can’t save you. Can’t even help. You need a Savior and there’s only one. Letting this hand represent Jesus Christ, he is the Lord God in the flesh. He came into this world because he loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from him. Jesus Christ who had no sin did not have to die, but when he took our sins, he died to pay for them. He came back from the dead and God said that if we’ll believe he did that for us, that he paid for our sins, he would put the payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us.

There’s no tricks to that. That’s the best news in all the world. A lot of people have never heard that story. Learn it. Learn it well. Learn how to tell people about it. Let God use you. And if you’ve seen what I’ve talked about tonight, if you really heard what I’ve said, if you really have a compassion and heart do something about it. Make a difference. Make a difference. Let’s pray, shall we? Every head and bow in every eye, close, and no one looking around.

If you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, would you write now just between them, you and the Lord, talk to him and say, Lord, I know I’m a sin and I believe Christ died, paid for my sins, and I’ll accept him as my Savior. Friend, if you’ll do that, God will save you, give you eternal life, and you’ll go to heaven whenever you die. I’d like to have prayer for you and close them. So, as anyone would also say, yes, I’ll trust Christ, and that is my Savior, in which I’d like you to pray for them.

It would just slip you hand it very quickly, and put it right back down. Is there anyone at all? Anyone? You that know Christ is your SaviorXXX? Can you hear what I’m talking about? Can you see it? Do you believe that God wants you involved in a good Bible, believe in and teach in church that wants to rid souls and you go because you want to help us? You give because you want to be a part of something like that.

You want fruit that can abound to your account. You may not be the greatest soul-win in the world, but you can work and give and help to help the job it does. We can do so much more if we work together. Let God use you. I follow we thank you for this time together. Ask the questions upon this question. 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 Bible 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org. click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now we’ll close you thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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 on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-800-800-800-800. 800-576-3771. One-line donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calbryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want to talk to you about something that I’ve heard over the years and I never really understood for a long time. And I remember, bit in our church, there in Athens, Georgia, I had just trusted prices, my Savior. So Betty’s dad would drive me around to hear different preachers. And how many times I heard them talk about, you know, God called me to preach. Man, I was taken with that, God called him. And you didn’t want to do it unless you were called.

God forbid that a man, where they go into the ministry without being called with God. And I remember one day I walked up to the preacher and I says, how do you know when you’re called preach. And he looked at me very seriously and he looked at me and he says, you’ll know. But that was all that he told me. And I really didn’t know what to expect when that moment would come. All I knew is that I didn’t want people to go to hell, but I didn’t know about a call.

And I didn’t know if God was going to call on the phone, tell the graph. I didn’t go to church, see? I just got started. I trust the Lord when I was 18. I didn’t go to church before and didn’t see my parents in church were raising a Christian home. But I had a hunger for the things of the Lord and I I’ve often wondered about that and I believe there’s a lot of people today that are doing what they’re doing but God never called them to be a preacher.

And then I believe they’re a son that God has called and they never answered the call. But I want you to take your Bible and turn to Matthew chapter 13. Tonight I want to speak to you on the blind, the death in the dumb, the blind, the death in the dumb. I’m not talking about lost people either. I’m talking about Christians, Christians that are blind, Christians that are death, Christians that are dumb. Now I’m not talking about mentally, I’m talking about they don’t speak.

Something’s got their tongue. I remember when I was going up, somebody said, cat got your tongue, cat got your tongue, because you couldn’t talk. When it comes to the things of of the Lord, there’s a lot of things that we should understand. Here in the book of Matthew in chapter 13, I want you to look there in verse 10. And the disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given, for whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance.

But whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away, even that he hath.” Another parable later says, I will take away from him that hath and give it to somebody else. If I had ten thousand dollars and I gave it to this man, and ten thousand dollars and I gave it to this man and told him to take that money and do something with it, multiply my money. Well, if this man over here, he doubled my money. Nice. This man over here didn’t do anything with what he had.

Well, then I’m going to take it away from him that had and I’m going to give it to this other man over here because I’m going to put it to where I can get something from it. There are people who here know and have and won’t use it for the Lord and God He’ll take it away what you’ve got and give it to somebody else that’ll use it. I believe that we live in a wonderful period of time in history.

I was telling Lee on the way over here tonight. I just finished talking to him about how quickly things can change. Well I was talking about doing the blood and how quickly things changed. And I was talking to him about sodoming tomorrow and how quickly things can change. And I was bringing up to the presents and… Tell them how that all of a sudden the rapture could take place and how quickly everything can change. You don’t think it can change very quickly.

Very quickly. We have no idea. It could be something that causes a domino effect and our country can be in a mess real, real quick. I think it already is in a mess. I told the Lord, I said, Lord, it seems like we need a major crisis in our country to get people back on their knees. They get their attention because I think we didn’t raise a generation of people that don’t think they need God. They mock God, laugh at Christians, despise the church, everything we stand for, our Constitution, and any man that’s decent, they want to rob him of his dignity.

And I believe God needs to deal with America. Now I have a compassion for people. for people. I hate seeing the pictures where people are dying, struggling, and no doubt many are worried about what’s going to happen to them, but I do believe that there’s something a lot worse than all the catastrophes that we have in this world. You stop and think for a moment a lost man, his condition is worse than all the other things that can happen whether it’s a tornado, hurricane, floods, or whatever.

A lost man has a greater need. The need of the gospel is greater than anything else. Because here we may all work together to deliver someone from a devastating dilemma. But what we also need to look is a little bit deeper. Every man is going to die eventually. And where are they going to spend eternity? And so I believe that there’s Christians who need to see things that others do not see. They need to hear things others do not hear.

We need to sense and feel things that others do not feel. For a long time I was not a person that was filled with compassion for anybody and I kind of developed a little bit of compassion over the years. I guess I’m just mellowing with age. But there was a time in my life when I was just kind hard, kind of cold, you know, blunt. But the longer I lived, the more I hurt for people. I used to not care what you were going through.

The longer it didn’t happen to me. But I don’t live long enough to have a lot of things happen to me and then find out, boy, I wish somebody would be a little compassionate with me. They helped me understand. But he says here in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 13, he says, therefore speak eye to them in parables because they see not, hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. For in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which said by hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand, and see, and you shall see, and shall not perceive.

For this people’s heart is waxed gross, their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their hearts and should be converted and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. And as you go through much of the scripture it talks about, especially to the churches, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches.

In other words, there’s things that God is saying but people are just not listening. At one time in my life I had perfect hearing, and then little by little I began to lose some of my hearing. I remember one time I was working on my house, and I went outside in the yard and I had been mixing some mud and laying some 12 inch blocks. Oh, they get heavy after a while. And I looked up toward the trees and I started crying.

I couldn’t see. I had no idea what was causing my problem, but everything had like a milk like you take plastic seren wrap or something, I can put it over my eyes and I couldn’t see. And I stood there and I cried, I said, Lord, if I’m going blind, I know you’ll either take care of it or give me the grace I need to bear it, but I sure don’t want to go blind. I didn’t know what a cataract was.

I didn’t even know what a Lincoln catarina was either. Some of you all slow. But I didn’t want to go blind. I don’t want to go deaf. I want to see. And I want to hear. I want to be able to talk. My whole ministry is based upon speaking, telling what I know. Wouldn’t it be a shame if you got to where you are blind, deaf, dumb. You see, some Christians are like that by choice, and they don’t want to hear.

They don’t want to see. They don’t want to feel. They don’t want to have that compassion that they need that makes them different from everybody else. See, God has put you and I in this world and there’s something that he wants from us. But sometimes we don’t see what God is saying. We don’t hear what he’s trying to tell us. And we don’t feel the compassion that he had. And I believe it’s so very, very important. Look in 2 Peter in chapter 1.

2 Peter and chapter 1. 2 Peter 1. Look there in verse 4. You see, you trusted Christ because you saw that you were lost. You saw that you were going to hell. You saw that Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid for your sins. You saw that he came back again from the dead. So you heard the gospel story and you believed it, and you saw that if you didn’t trust the Lord, that you weren’t going to heaven.

And so you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior because of what you saw and heard. Now some people have never heard the message. They don’t see themselves the way they really are. So they blindly go on in light. There’s a lot of people like that in the world. But when you saw that, you saw the importance of trusting Christ’s Savior because you had no guarantee of life. You don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. You don’t know how long you’ve got to live, and so you accepted Christ as your Savior.

You were given by God a divine nature and many, many precious promises in the Word of God. But did you know that there’s still a lot of Christians who have no idea what those precious promises are? any of the precious promises of God. But look what he says there in verse 4, whereby are given unto us exceeding great precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, have an escape the corruption that is in the world through lust and beside all of this, beside God given to you a divine nature.

God wants you to add to your faith. And the reason for adding to your faith is because when you start adding, it’s not long before you’re able to take that which has been added to your faith, then you can begin to multiply. Have so much mercy. The longer you live in serving the Lord, the more fruitful you can become. You can accomplish more in the long run because you see you not only added to your faith, you can begin to multiply because now there’s people that you have trained, one to Christ, challenge and now they are doing the same thing.

I think about that young man that’s up there in Minnesota. I went up here in 1969, got a bunch of wild meetings. There’s going to tar and feather me and run me out of town on a rail. I got black ball in two major denominations. The first year I was out of Bible College. Well, I was moving on up and it was one man. He was 25 years old, Danny Adams. Trust that Christ is a Savior. He’d dad trust the Lord, split one church, one preacher quit the ministry, and closed the church door, started another church.

It was wild. But that one young man that trusts the Lord, he’s pastor, three churches up there, as for years. And so we got churches started, and here’s a young man, and he’s winning people to the Lord. But my first Bible study up there in at the Georgia was two little teenage junior high boys. But I didn’t know that started from that there and years later all those people that came and trusted Christ is Savior. Know they came to Bible school or the Christian school.

We’d have 50, 60, 70 kids go out every Friday night so winning. And it was awesome. And they would have lots and lots of kids, trust the Lord. But you don’t know down the road. But somebody somewhere catches on and sees what you’re talking about and they want to make a difference They want to do something adding to their faith look what he says in verse 5 besides this giving all diligence add to your faith virtue Virtue knowledge and knowledge temperance temperance patience patience golliness golliness brotherly kindness brotherly kindness charity and get this if these things be in you and abound They’ll cause you where you will not be barren and you won’t be fruitless If you want to be successful in the Christian life and have an abundant life, the abundant life is not sitting around with the Bible in a corner someplace and

I’m having the abundant life. The abundant life is a fruitful life. The abundant life is a life that’s lived for the Lord where you have some results in your life. And you can look back and you have a fruitful bow. There’s a lot of grapes on your vine. There’s a lot of apples on your tree. There’s a lot of peaches on that tree. and some Christians live and they had never have any fruit. They may have foliage, they look good, but there’s no fruit.

And as you serve the Lord, you ought to be very concerned. Christ is without me, you can do nothing. Are you really living your life without Him? Going through the motions, your Christian life is mechanical, but it’s not real. And you’re just trying to tack on a few things in your life, give everybody that Christian smile, you play little games, you can income the church, and you can be faithful. But the Lord may not be real to you because you still have not seen what God wants you to see.

You haven’t heard what God wants you to hear. You don’t feel what God wants you to feel. And in these verses, looking in verse 9, he makes a statement. He said, but he that lacketh these things. He didn’t add to your faith. He said, lacketh these things is what? He’s blind. He cannot see you far off. Have forgotten that he was purged from his old sin. Work for a rather brother and give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you do these things you shall never fall See Christians don’t have to fall.

You don’t have to fail. You do so because you didn’t add to your faith Every time you come to church Sunday morning Sunday night you’re adding to your faith You’re adding and whenever you miss there’s some knowledge that would have been a solution to a problem and you didn’t get the answer and some problem will wind up keeping you from coming back or you get weak in your faith and you’ll let what somebody said hurts your feelings and all you’re not going to be a strong Christian because you didn’t add to your faith you didn’t get strong and when you don’t get strong you don’t see right you don’t hear right and you don’t have the compassion that you ought to have look in the first Corinthians in chapter two first Corinthians and chapter 2.

He says in verse 9, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9, but as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard neither has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. Isn’t that a strange verse that you know you’re in this world and without the Bible you don’t even know that there is a heaven or a hell without God’s Word. You may know there’s a God, but you don’t know what God is like.

You don’t know His name. You don’t know how He loved. You don’t know what He does. You don’t know the judgment that that’s God. But see everybody is conscious that there is a higher power. God says it’s in the book of Romans in chapter 1. But it’s the revelation, the revealing of God’s Word that lets us know about this invisible God. A God that you can’t see. A a God you can’t hear. But somehow you sense that there is a God.

And so whenever you accept Christ as your Savior, of the Spirit of God that knows all the things about God is indwelling you to teach you the things about God that you could not have known no other way. That’s why he says in verse 10, but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. Yeah, the Spirit shirts it’s all things. Yeah, deep things of God. I believe everything in the Bible is deep. If it lies beyond the human knowledge of man, because it has to be revealed.

And so all these truths that we have in the Word of God are things that we can know that the natural man cannot. Because it says these things that we are talking about, he says the Holy Spirit compares spiritual things with spiritual means. So they are given to us. The lost man doesn’t have the spirit so he cannot understand or discern that’s in verse 14. And so we have a wonderful thing that God has given to us. And that is the ability to see and to hear and to feel things that the lost man cannot.

But isn’t it a shame if you go through your whole Christian life and you do not sense it, you don’t see it. And I want to speak to you about that in just a second. But first of look there in 2 Corinthians in chapter 4, 2 Corinthians and chapter 4. The Apostle Paul has told the Corinthians Christians about many things that had happened in his life. The first chapter in 2 Corinthians, he was talking to them about the troubles they had and how they were pressed out of measure, pressed in their spirit where he thought he’s going to die.

And sometimes, wonder whether or not you’ve got the strength and the grace to go on. But he says, having this ministry, he says, we faint not means we didn’t quit. In the book of Hebrews in chapter 12, he makes a statement. He says, faint not when thou art rebuked of him. It’s the same thing as when you tell a child no and they get mad and quit or run away from home, just because they got rebuked. And sometimes you have to rebuke a person.

Well sometimes God rebukes us. We don’t get our own way. So God has to deal with us and we get mad, but sometimes we don’t use God as the, you know, directly to Him. We just, sometimes we get mad at a person. We rebuke, get mad at a person because they’ve got on us about something. And sometimes if a preacher has to rebuke you, do you ever get mad at the preacher because of it? It’s like children get mad at parents because they tell them no on something.

Babies, not growing, not seeing that somebody who really lives in the Bible. loves you. Have you ever seen a man a drunk and he’s in denial? Don’t believe he even has a problem, doesn’t see the damage that he does, doesn’t see all the hurt that he does to his wife or his kids or on the job. He just don’t see it and you look at the damage that he does. There’s Christians that are doing exactly the same thing. They’re in denial.

They don’t believe they got a problem. They don’t believe he got a spiritual problem, but they do. You read the book of Revelation chapter 3 when he talks about the church there at Laodicea and it says, they think everything is all right, but things are not all right. He says, you’re not hot, you’re not cold, you’re lukewarm. He says, you make me sick. But you see, there’s Christians that don’t see themselves the way they really are. And see, if you’re not on fire for the Lord, you’ve got a problem.

If you’re not soul-wening, you’ve got a problem. If you don’t love the word of God, you got to pray. No, you just could still be saved. You have eternal life, you go to heaven when you die because eternal life is a gift, it’s free. God saves you by grace. But now that you are saved, it is the will of God for you to love the Lord and to walk with Him and to do the thing that God wants you to do with your life.

How you live your life is your way of saying thanks to the Lord for what He’s done for you. So how are you living? What are you doing for it? Here in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 4, looking verse 1, therefore seeing we have this ministry, that word seeing, see some people, they don’t see it all. And we’re not talking about just with the physical eyes. Some of you all may have wonderful eyes, wonderful ears. You speak articulate, but you are blind, deaf, and dumb.

If you can’t see spiritually and hear spiritually and have spiritual understanding. The Bible says in the book of Ephesians chapter one where Paul says, I pray that you will have spiritual enlightenment, understanding. And many Christians live their whole life and never really understand the Christian life, what God really wants them to do. And they miss out on so much. So he makes the statement here in these verses. He talks about in verse eight. He says, we are troubled on every side, but we didn’t quit.

He says, we are perplexed and so forth. Sometimes He says we are distressed, we are perplexed, but not in despair. We didn’t quit, persecuted, but not forsaken, but we didn’t quit. Cashed down, but we didn’t quit. All this down through here has to deal with, we didn’t quit. What does it take for you to quit? Do you carry your feelings on your shoulders and dare somebody to say just the wrong thing just so that you can use it as an excuse not to be found faithful.

Wouldn’t it be a shame for you not to be faithful because you’re using another Christian as an excuse? What did God do to you? I served God because of what God did for me, not because of what people did for me. I served God because of what God did for me. And think about this, when Christ died on the cross and paid for my sins, I believe that I should serve Him not for what He is now doing and not for what He’s going to to do, but because of what he hath done.

What he hath done should be enough for me to serve him for the rest of my life if I never get another blessing and there were no such thing as rewards. I should serve him because he’s God. He demands to be served. He is worthy to be worshiped. And we should do it because we want to, not because we have to. You realize this after all these years that I’ve known the Lord, nobody has encouraged me to go to church.

Nobody has to call them and say, hey, where were you last Sunday? They’ve never had to do that. Nobody has encouraged me to give to the Lord’s work. Nobody. Nobody has encouraged me. I don’t know why, because I do it because I want to. That’s me. I’m a grown up. I have matured in the Lord. But there’s some Christians, listen, God says that you were supposed to lay by Him in store on the first day of the week. Most people believe First year of the week, most people probably still Sunday.

What if you don’t go to church at Sunday? Well, I was sick last Sunday, so they come to church the next Sunday. Did you give for that week that you weren’t here? Some people they say, well, I only give whenever I come to church for that Sunday, if they do it then. No. You’re a thief. You’re a thief. You say, well, I give 6%, OK, you’re 4% thief? Well, I give 8% well, then you’re 2% thief. You’re still a thief until you give what you’re putting in.

You can start giving an offering. You haven’t given in came to God until you’ve done the 10th, at least. That’s the minimum. That’s just a good way for a Christian to learn how to give. And many of God’s people are not faithful. They’re not faithful to read, not faithful to play because they don’t see the need for it. They don’t see why they need to be. They don’t see their condition. And I believe it’s a shame. Well look what he says down here.

I want you to see this also in verse 16. He says, for which cause we faint none. We mean we don’t quit. Well, why? Well, see right before this, he makes a statement in verse 14, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus and shall present us with you. Present us with you. So I not only want people to be there because I want them to cry. I want them to be rewarded by God.

I want Christians to have everything they could have had. You see, whenever you see things right, it’s not that you’re glad you’re going, you want everybody else to go. Not only do I want to be rewarded when I get to heaven, because I do. I want everybody else to be rewarded too. Wouldn’t it be a shame that you get to heaven and you don’t get anything, because you didn’t serve the Lord. Well I knew it but I didn’t tell you about it.

I’m going to tell you now. Because I don’t want you up there saying why didn’t you tell me I’m telling you can’t use me in the excuse. Nana nana nana nana. But look what he says in verse 15 for all things all things are for your sake. In other words why do you need preachers, evangelists, missionaries for your sake. Because we want to challenge you regards how hard it gets, how rough it gets, don’t quit. I’m just so discouraged, don’t quit.

Perplex, don’t quit. Cast out, don’t quit. Whatever it don’t quit. Stay in faith or just keep certain or what you got, where you are. And God will bless you for it. And here’s one of the reasons why. Look there in verse 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment. And now this light affliction Paul is talking about when he was stoned outside of the city of Listerum. When he would beat with a cat of nine tails, everything that happened to all those people trying to kill him, boy he took a bow that they would even slavery until they killed him.

I wonder what happened to them. I wondered. You think they died. They died. Because Paul didn’t die by him. But isn’t it something that all the things that happened to the apostle Paul, he says this light affliction, your life. And this is where it would be good to go to James chapter 4, but since it’s already been and read we won’t have to turn there. Your life is but a vapor. It appeared for a little while and then vanishes away.

It’s just a moment in comparison to eternity, it’s nothing. But it’s a little portion of time that you and I are privileged to live. And in this period of time, God says, the devil is after you and he’s gonna have all these things. He’s a roaring lion seeking whom he made of power. And so the war is on. In verse 17 he says, For our light of flesh and which is but for a moment, work it for us. Did you know that every problem you have is an opportunity for you to be enriched?

You see, laying a treasure in heaven is because you have had a victory over some testing or trial or temptation here. Because that’s the only way you get to prove your faithfulness to the Lord is by the things that happens to 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 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Spinning Globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Vital Line, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound, we will be changed, caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, they are 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew, a book of Matthew. Chapter 5 Matthew Chapter 5 verse 48 verse 48 of Matthew Chapter 5 It’s a verse that’s enough to scare you to half the dead And I want you to make sure you listen to everything that I’m saying very important Verse 48 says be therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect God is perfect and he wants us to be perfect now isn’t that a little on the the odd side, especially telling us in this world to be perfect like somebody else is perfect, because you and I know that’s impossible, because nobody’s perfect but God.

He’s the only one that’s perfect. Some even said that, you know, what must I do? Good master in reference to Christ. He says, why call a stow me good? There is none good but one. That’s God. So there’s only one that is good, but long perfect. Because the Bible says we have all sin and he says there is none good, no not one. So there’s none good, not one, there’s not one that’s perfect. So why would Christ ask us to do something or be something we cannot be?

Somebody mentioned that they thought Jesus Christ had two messages, had two gospels. And if somebody came to him that thought they had to earn their way to heaven, he would tell them how good they had to be. And then when somebody else knew that they couldn’t do it, he would tell them just by grace alone, by faith alone. When you read Matthew, Martin, Luke, it seems like there is two messages, but there really isn’t. Christ used the law to show people that they cannot save themselves by their works.

So I want you to look there Matthew chapter five and look what he says in verse 20. Verse 20. Now this is when Jesus Christ was here. Now this is God. Jesus Christ is God. And he says in verse 20, he says, for I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.

So the Pharisees were the law-keeper. Those were the best people in the city, in the whole nature of Israel. If they were the best and that wasn’t good enough and yours had to be better than that, well how are you going to do that? Well then he went through and he says a few things that also would cause you to have some problems because he makes a statement in verse 22, but I say unto you that whosoever’s angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whosoever shall say to his brother Raka shall be in danger of the council but whosoever shall say thou full shall be in danger of hell.

You mean just something so simple? You fool. You know you can go to hell for that. So we finally got I guess to the place where parents finally had a good way of trying to keep her kids under control and make them do right. You don’t make up your bed you’re going to hell. You don’t eat your food, you’re going to hell. If you don’t go to school and dole your homework, you’re going to hell. So it wasn’t long before everybody was told they’re going to hell for everything.

So, my kids figured that, well, I’m going to hell anyway. I might as well have me up all for a good honor. This isn’t talking about… You haven’t earned your way to heaven. But it is showing you that it’s impossible for you to earn your way to heaven. He also made a statement in verse 27. I want you to see that. Verse 27, ye have heard that it was said of them an old time, thou shall not commit adultery.

But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her already in his heart. He said that well that’s all for a man that that’s almost impossible You mean if you don’t do it, but if you think it you’re going to hell for that And everybody’s going to hell. I mean Jesus getting a little strong here I mean this is this is impossible and If you do one little thing in lower look what he says in verse 29 if I right hand I offend they pluck it out Then everybody go around blind He also says you know if If you’re right hand to fend the cut it off.

So whatever you see, if it’s offensive, then what you saw wasn’t the problem, it was your eye. Cut out your eye. And if you do something, I mean, this wrong, then you cut off your hand. Well, after a while, you wouldn’t have any feet. You wouldn’t have any hands. You wouldn’t have any eyes. I mean, what could you do? This is impossible. There’s got to be another explanation. I would think. Well, there is, there is, there really is. But look what he says also in verse 38.

He says, you have heard, and I’m sure you have heard, that it hath been said an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. He said, what do they mean? Well, if you knock out my eye, guess what I’m supposed to do to you? Now I got you right. That takes people out of the eye taking out business. You knock out my teeth, I knock out your teeth, therefore, we stop knocking out teeth. Or everybody don’t have any teeth anymore.

He makes a statement here in verse 43. You have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies. You say now, if this is what, see, he says, unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the fairies, you shall not in any wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Then he lays all these things out here. This is what you got to do.

Ooh. You got to do all this, man, who’s going to make it? But he says, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy neighbor. He said, but I say to you in verse 44, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them which spitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven, that ye may be the children. I mean, I got to do this to be a child of God.

They know it just don’t make any sense. It seemed like this is backwards from everything I was always taught. This is, you gotta live a perfect life. You can’t do that. And then he talks about down here again in verse 48, be therefore perfect even as your Father which in heaven is perfect. You see why people can get so confused? I can see why they can get confused. Was Jesus confusing? No. It’s our limited understanding. You see, whenever people think they have to live so good to go to heaven, you know what Christ would say?

Just be perfect. If you want to be saved by your good work, it shouldn’t be perfect. You sure nobody could be perfect. What? The point. You sure can. So why try? But during the kingdom of God sits upon the earth, this is what He’s going to require. You have to live like this during the kingdom when He’s up on the earth. Matthew chapter 19, there was a man who came to Christ, I want you to see this, in verse 16, verse 16.

Matthew 19 verse 16, he said, and behold one came and said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? See everybody wants to have eternal life. What good thing must I do that I may have eternal life? What do I have to do? He said unto him, why call us thou me good? There’s none good but one, that’s God. But if thou will enter into the life, keep the commandments. See there you see, he says you got to keep the commandments to be, have eternal life.

All right. And he said unto him, which? So which one? Which one do I have to keep? Well, you and I know that according to the book of Galatians, if you got to keep the law, you have to keep how many of them? All of them. And he says, and not only keep them today, you have to continually keep them every day as long as you live from From the time you’re born to the time you die, you’ve got to keep the law perfectly.

And if you fail at any point, then you blew it. You can’t go to heaven. Well, he says, Thou shalt do no murder, shall not commit adultery, shall not steal, shall not bear false witness, honor thy father, thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. And the young man said, All these things have I kept from my youth, up from a youth. I done did all of that. I did it. So I get to go. He said, what lack I yet?

In other words, what else do I have to do? Jesus said to him, if thou will be, what’s the word? If thou will be perfect, go and sell that thou hast give to the poor, thou shall have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. Boy, that’s a whole bunch. So you can see why people think they have to be good to go to heaven and why people think they have to keep the 10 commandments to go to heaven and why people think they have to give up something to go to heaven and give to the port to go to heaven.

So people think going to church, given your money and not live in a certain way and following the Lord all of us involved in going to heaven because that’s what he said. That’s what he said. You can’t ask he said that. I just read it to you right out of there black and white. But in verse 22 he said, but when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. Now whenever Christ used the law and he says thou shall not commit adultery and thou shall not steal and thou shalt not know.”

You know the one that he didn’t mention? Thou shalt not covet. He left Christ left that one out. So when he said, well, what do I lack at? You broke the one on covet, he broke all the other, he just didn’t know it, but he covet. And so Christ used the law to show him that he has not kept all the law. So he makes a statement in verse 23, Jesus said unto his disciples, verily I send you that are rich, man shall hardly intern to the kingdom of heaven.

Why? Because why do you have so much riches? Coveting. You see, most people have a lot of riches if they covet a lot. But you can be a poor man and covet. Can you covet what a rich man has? Mm-hmm. You may be dirt poor here today and guilty of covetousness because you live for greed. You just can’t get it, but if you could you would. But he makes a statement. He says in verse 24, and again I send you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter to the kingdom of God.

He says, it’s harder to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter to the kingdom. Why? Because the rich man trusts in his riches. As long as you have a lot, I don’t need God. I don’t need God because I got money. So many people think that as long as I got money, I can buy anything I want. You’re gonna find out one of these days it cannot buy you life. It may extend your life a little bit because you can afford a good health insurance and a good doctor, but sooner or later you’re gonna die.

It can’t get you eternal life. I know that in verse 25 when his disciples heard it they were exceedingly amazed saying now get this he says who then can be saved who can be saved because if you have to be perfect in order to be saved the question the disciples asked who can be saved because this would eliminate how many people in the world, everybody, because none of you in here can meet the standard. You see, God gave His law in order for you to look at it and realize you can’t keep it.

You cannot keep the law. There’s not a man that can stop from ever-lusting after a woman, because you have a sinful nature within you. You cannot always love your neighbor. You don’t always love your enemies. You don’t always do good to them who persecute you and say evil things about you. No, you don’t. You get mad and you get angry and you want to fight back and you want to hurt back and you may not outwardly do it, but inwardly gets brewing and you know it if you’re an honest individual or you could be a liar.

The Bible says we’re all liars. I remember the first time I ever saw Ray Stanford do this in a big old meeting that he had. He said, how many of you in here have never told a lie, raise your hand. I mean, never told a lie, raise your hand. Well, you know, you’ll have a few kids that’ll raise your hand and they’re lying. And so, of course, they’re gonna put your hands down. Okay, nobody’s ever told a lie. How many of you here’s never stole anything in your life?

You never stole anything? Well, I can’t, I never stole anything. Well, I stole a pencil one time. Well, have you ever stole credit for something you didn’t do? Well, yeah. Okay, he says, so now I need to know that I need to hang onto my wallet because everybody in here has admitted that you’re liars and thieves. Everybody, your liars and your thieves. We are, that’s what we are. We’re liars and thieves. And everybody is. And nobody can save themselves.

But look what he says in verse 26. Jesus beheld them, said them of them, with men, with men, this is what? He says it’s impossible. You mean the very one that just told you to be perfect, also just told you it’s impossible. And yet you see, people don’t read far enough. And so now many of them taking those other verses that you gotta keep the law to go with heaven. You’ve got to be good to go to heaven. And you’ve got to love your enemies.

And you’ve got to go to church. You’ve got to learn to give to the poor. And you’ve got to do all those things in order to go to heaven when you die. And knowing that nobody can. You can’t fulfill all of it. You’re not good enough. So God says it is impossible for you. But look what He says in the last part of it. But with God, all things are what? It is possible. It’s possible for me to be saved.

By God, but it’s not possible for me to be saved by me. I cannot save myself. You cannot save yourself. Now, I want to show you a verse that many people have heard all so long, almost all their life, but don’t really understand. Look in the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 15, 1 Corinthians and chapter 15. We often call this the resurrection chapter, and it is, it talks about the resurrection. But there’s something in here that I want you to see.

Here in 1 Corinthians in chapter 15, I want you to know there in verse 1. He said, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preach unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also ye are saved. You are saved by what? The gospel. And he says, if ye keep in memory, so now you know you could not be saved by yourself. You could not, because it’s impossible. But he says, with God it is possible.

So evidently somehow the gospel is to reveal to a lost man that which was impossible, impossible. The gospel. The story of presenting the gospel to a lost man, a person doesn’t know where he’s going. Shows a man why it’s impossible for him to save himself and why it is possible for God to save him. And the reason it’s impossible for a man to save himself because God says there’s none good, there’s none righteous, there’s none perfect. have sin so a man can’t save himself by his good deeds because he don’t have any.

He can’t have any. But yet in that same message is something that reveals the possibility of God saving a man. So the gospel reveals the impossibility of man saving himself but the good news is that a God can and God will. Now that’s what he says here. He says in the last part of verse two, He says, by which you’re also saying, if you keep in memory, what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain, you have to wait.

Well, how can you believe in vain? You can believe in vain very easy. How? Well, if you believe in Jesus Christ and he really didn’t die, or your sins, that didn’t vain. You believe in vain or you trust in vain. If he died and didn’t come back from the dead, then you’re believing in vain. Trusting in somebody who’s still dead. And you also see you can believe in vain if you don’t believe what the gospel really says. See a lot of people say, well I’ve heard the gospel all my life and they say they believe in Jesus Christ.

But don’t really believe what he said. You can believe in George Washington. But that doesn’t mean you’re trusting George Washington to get you to heaven. You can believe that Jesus Christ down the cross and paid for sin and still not you go to heaven. Just because you heard that that’s a historical fact But to some times it comes the time when you have to believe he did it for you But what is said in verse 3 variety delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how the Christ He just died for our sins now stop right there You hear the statement all the time Christ died for our sins Alright Which of our sins did he died for?

If he died for all of our sins there are people who teach that Christ paid for your sins up to the time you believe and then after that you’re on your own. Then commit a sin that he didn’t die for or a sin that he did die for but you haven’t been forgiven for it. So there’s two things that has to take place. One is you must believe that he paid for a humming of your sins all of them and you must believe that he forgave you of all your sins when you trusted him.

Because if you believe he He paid for all of your sins. Then you say, okay, I believe He paid for all of my sins. And He’s forgiven me only for those that I confess. But now I’ve got to confess all of these one by one. Is it possible for you to commit a sin and not know you did it? Are you aware of every one of your sins that you have committed? So at this point, if you believe that you could lose your salvation because there’s some sin that you did not get forgiven for, then you don’t know that you’ve already lost it or not.

Because you can commit a sin and not know it. Is it possible for a person to be deceived? Yeah. So you could deceive yourself in the thinking that what you did was okay. And God says it is a sin and he could have already cost you your salvation and you didn’t even know about it. How stupid. So you have to understand this. He died for how many of your sins? All our Now when I say he did it for our sins, that means mine and yours, our would be all of us.

That means if I believe he did it for all of my sins, well, if he forgave me of what I’ve already done, but then I’ve got to get individually forgiven for all these sins, then I’ve got to stay on track and ask forgiveness for all these sins that I’m going to commit now until the day. So today, Lord forgive me, Lord forgive me, Lord forgive me, Lord forgive me, Lord forgive me. How big of a gap can I have in here what I wouldn’t have to worry about it?

How often would I have to keep asking him to forgive me to make sure that I got them all covered? You don’t really know So it’s see your salvation would depend upon you asking for forgiveness over and over and over again God says no, you don’t have to do that you see when you believe he paid for all of our sins and You accept that payment that he has forgiven you of all of your sin all forgiven. He forgive you of all of them.

That’s the penalty which is death in hell. You have been forgiven of the penalty of your sins. As you live your Christian life, yes, as a child of God, I should confess my sins to the Lord. That’s for fellowship, not for salvation, total difference. But you see, what you have to understand is, is this sin that I commit today or the sin that I commit tomorrow or the sin that I commit the next day? Who are they? If I did it, I owe it.

I own it. It’s mine. So when I say Christ died for our sins, I must believe he died for my sin. That was mine. That was mine. That was mine. That was mine. That was mine. And he died for my sins. So he doesn’t say here. He died for only those things you’ve already done 10 years ago. ago, he died for my sins, all of them are included. So they’re all there. And he hath forgiven me of all sins from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

So I have a payment for all of my sins all at one time. Remember that if a man trusts Christ as his Savior and God gives to him as a free gift everlasting life. If it’s everlasting life, it lasts forever. This is why I am so strong on the doctrine of eternal security. Once saved, always saved. And the reason is because that is the gospel. If a man does not believe that he has eternal security, I don’t believe the man is saved.

I don’t believe anybody who’s saved if they don’t believe they’re saved forever. Because if they don’t know for sure they’re going to heaven, why should I believe they are? Why should I believe you’re going to heaven when you don’t even believe it? Only way you can believe that you’re going to heaven when you die is that there’s nothing that can keep you from getting there. If you could do something today or tomorrow or the next year that could keep you from getting to heaven, you don’t know you won’t.

If it’s possible, how do you know you won’t. And if that means that you could commit a sin that could lose your salvation, you’re actually saying Christ didn’t pay for that sin. And if Christ didn’t pay for it, you’re calling God a liar. Any person who does not believe in eternal security calls God a liar. Don’t believe him. When Jesus said, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life, if you don’t believe you have everlasting life, then you don’t believe what he said.

I’m not telling people to wonderful and sweet and kind and all of a, if they don’t believe what Christ said, then they don’t believe it. They don’t believe it. And if they don’t believe it, they call them a liar. And so therefore, I believe in the doctrine of eternal security. That once you’re saved, you have eternal life as a gift and you’ll go to heaven whenever you die. And there is no tricks to that. There’s no gimmicks to that.

It is the best news in all the world. Now, because this is true in 1 Corinthians in chapter 15, I want you to see this verse because it is true and he is coming back. He says in verse 20, but now is Christ risen from the dead. So your faith is not in vain. Become the first fruits of them that slept by sense and for sense by man came death. By man came also the resurrection of the dead. For in Adam all die, that’s the first man.

Even so in Christ, the last man shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ is coming back. And when he comes back, he’s taken all of us out. And we can believe that all of that’s true. Now he can’t do that if he didn’t pay for all of our sins. And here’s why. How many of your sins were in the future when Christ died? When Christ died 2,000 years ago, how many of your sins were in the future?

All of them. You weren’t even born yet. Can Christ pay for your sins before you committed Him? Yes, He did. can Christ forgive you of sins? You have not yet committed. Yes. He can pay for them before you commit them and he can forgive you before you commit them. It’s maybe difficult to understand, but that’s the power of this good news. And he says, we’re saved because he has an endless life, an endless life. He lives forever and his blood is incorruptible and I have a payment that is eternal, eternal redemption, a payment that he made.

And then I want to close in this one verse, look at in verse 58. Verse 58, because this is true. And life is short, and we’re not going to be here forever. Therefore in verse 58, therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Do I believe that a Christian should labor in the Lord? Yes, do I believe in good works?

Yes, I do, but I don’t believe you should do that to be saved or to stay saved. I was saved by grace Means without my works. I am kept saved without my works. He saved me by his power. He keeps me saved by his power. I didn’t have the works good deeds to save myself. I don’t have the good deeds to keep myself saved. But as a child of God, I believe in certain or with all my heart, not to get to heaven, but because I’m going there.

If you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, you’re lost. You are going to hell. But it doesn’t have to be that way. As long as you can draw breath, you can trust Christ as your Savior. He said, he’ll never cast you out and never lose you. All you must do is believe that he did it for you. Look up here. This is you and me, and this is sin. We all have sin upon us. Now God, keep in mind.

God loves you. You hate your sin, but he loves you. The Bible says we committed the sin, but he paid for our sin. So from the time that I’m born to the time that I die, all my sins that I own their mind. He died for it. He paid for all of mine. So it doesn’t matter whether it’s past, present or future, if they’re mine, he paid for it. He died in my place for mine, that which I owned.

were my sins and he paid for them in four came back from the dead. Now when I believe he did it for me, he forgives me of all that I’ve done not because of what I’ve done, but because of what he did for me. He paid for my sins. And so now all my sins are paid. All my God don’t have a sin against me. There’s not one sin that can keep me from going to heaven because you see I don’t have any.

He died in my, I’m going to heaven because of what he did for me. I am as righteous as God in God’s eye. God sees me, he sees me just as righteous and holy as his son is. Just as righteous and holy as God himself. Because see there’s no sin in heaven, but I’m going there. See with man it’s impossible, but with God he can make you perfect. And if he can make you perfect, would that be good enough to go to heaven?

Yeah. So I’m going to heaven because I have been made perfect and righteous as God. Not not because of what I did, not because my works, but because Jesus Christ, He loved me. My sins, paid for the one cross, came back from the end. God says, if I believe He did it for me, it’d give me turn on 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 were blessed by today’s message.

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This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, they are 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

What is prayer? If you had to give me a definition of what is prayer, what would you tell me? Give me your definition of prayer. What is prayer? You just led somebody to the Lord and you explain it to him what prayer is. Prayer is what? Talk into God. All right. Is it any more than that? Praise in the Lord. Okay. What else? You think you have exhausted the meaning of prayer? What else could prayer mean? talking to him, talking to him about what?

Thanking him? Okay, thank God. Those are examples of prayer, but prayer is asking and receiving. So if you’re asking and not receiving, something’s wrong with the asking according to the Bible. God says he hears our prayers. prayers. Well that’s good. But how do you know that prayer works? How do you know? If you get what you ask for, but I want to be specific, I want, I don’t want to say Lord bless me because then I won’t know if He did or He didn’t because I didn’t ask for anything specific.

So should prayers be more specific? What are you asking for? So you know whether He answered it or not. Lord I want a can of Brunswick overcomes a can of Brunswick stew. Now, if you do that about five, ten times, you just liable to believe there’s somebody on the other side of that wall. True? But what if, after all of your years, and you prayed, but you prayed such general prayers, that you really don’t know if he ever answered them or not.

Have you ever asked for something specific? And God gave it to you. And yet when you read the Bible, it’s not that God wants us to pray in generalities. He wants us to ask for something specific. We now go to Walmart, y’all walk in there and go up to the manager and says, would you please give me some items? I need some merchandise. And then when you walk out of that store, you feel like you’re supposed to have got what you went for.

And yet when it comes to prayer, I don’t know if people really understand what it is. What’s it based on? Whoever told you that prayer works. Who told you that? How do you know it does? Your daddy told you. So the basis of prayer is my daddy. In the Bible, the word prayer is mentioned over and over and over again. Many many times the word prayers used in the Bible. So you find out what is prayer and it talks about people who pray to God.

I mean they talk to God, they ask God for something and God answered. So people by prayer can move the Almighty God and get God to do something he was not going to do. Some people say that praying is just asking God to do what God wants to do anyway. But if he didn’t ask you wouldn’t do it, but he wants to do many things. So it’s just you lining up. Do you think how you live helps to influence God concerning your prayer?

Yes. So how you live makes a difference with whether God answers your prayers or he doesn’t. Look in Jeremiah chapter 25. Now there’s three words that we want to look at tonight. One of these words is the word prayer. The other one is called promise and then the other word is possibilities. Prayer, promise, possibilities. So we want to talk about prayer and promise and possibilities, but take your Bible and look all the way over there into the book of Jeremiah, chapter 25.

In Jeremiah, chapter 25, look there in verse 11. This is a prophecy. Remember this, there has to be a basis for prayer. One, you have to understand who is the one who told us to do this. to pray to start with. All right, God. But then you’ve got to understand what is prayer. All right, it’s asking and receiving. So if you ask God for something, you are expecting to receive. That’s where faith comes in. If you don’t really believe it, why waste your time praying?

But if you do pray, really believing, then you should expect receiving. True? I have had a very difficult time in my Christian life trying to figure out prayer. I don’t always understand it. It’s like electricity. I don’t like to mess with that electricity because I don’t understand it that much. But prayer, I don’t understand much about it. All I know is that God says it works. And I know that we’re supposed to do it. And I know that He says that you have not because you ask not.

And God says, you don’t have something because you asked it amiss or you ask it to consume it on your own lust. So there are rules. And I don’t know all rules. I wish I had it very simply laid out where God says, these are the rules concerning prayer, but you can’t find it that way. You’ve got to study the Bible. You’ve got to study all the stories. You’ve got to find out what God did in this case, in this case, in this case, in this case, like a lawyer who builds a case off of the cases.

And I just wish that sometimes it was just a little bit simpler. But God wants us to study. He wants us to read. He wants us to search wants us to knock and keep knocking. And then we says ask and keep asking and seek and keep seeking not one time and stop one time and stop. No, we’re supposed to stay at it. So we’re supposed to live in an attitude of prayer. Here in verse 11, it says, in this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment.

And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seven years. And it shall come to pass when seven years are accomplished that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation sayeth the Lord for their iniquity and the land of the Calvians and will make it perpetual desolation. God said this is what I’m gonna do right I did a book and blah blah blah blah. So that’s what Jeremiah did. So this was written 70 years before they were to come back out of captivity.

Now take a Bible look all the way under the book of Daniel. Look at Daniel in chapter 9. Daniel was a young Hebrew lad that was taken into captivity, along with a bunch of others. So time has passed, they’ve been taking the captivity. He might have been a teenager 14 years old, something like that. So 70 years has passed, so you know the man’s got to be an 85, 90 years old. So Daniel’s got to be an old man.

And so it says one day that he was he was reading the prophet Jeremiah and it says they’re in verse 2 of chapter 9. He’s in verse 2, he’s in the first year of his reign, I dangled, understood by books the number of the years where of the world of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation of Jerusalem. So he had the Bible, he had those books, those Old Testament scrolls, and he said he was reading them.

And he saw that and he understood by reading what Jeremiah had already written that this thing is going to put the last seven years. Prayer must, must be based upon a promise. God promises something. And so when you pray, you’re basing your prayer up on a particular promise God made. So when it tells us in the book of 1 Peter, he talked about the exceeding precious promises, then your prayers are based upon promises God made. If there’s no promises, you have no basis for your prayer.

Because God never promised this, this, this, this, this, this, this, so why should you pray for this, this, this and this and this and this. You don’t have a basis for it. You’ve got to have a basis for the prayer. So God has given us precious promises throughout the world of God. The more promises you know, the more things you can pray to God for. And you are simply reminding God and is based upon His Word. Keep this in mind.

If you had a garden, you had some corn, put it in the ground, and you’ve had some oaks and you put it in the ground. You had some tomato plant, you put them in the ground. You had this and you put them in the ground. What is one thing? The promise is that they are going to grow if they get something. They’ve got to have something else. What is it? They’ve been planted, put it in the ground, covered up, covered up.

do they now need? Water. They got to have water. Water in prayer is the same thing to the promises of God. Those promises that God made are the seeds from the Word of God that’s been planted and it’s only waiting for something. And see these seeds are promises that God’s made to his children and only a few of his children will ever put water upon the plant and see something grow. So, if this is true, a Christian should want to find out what are the promises and then apply the water.

And the water is Him prayed. God says, if you will pray, I will do this. Remember all the things that happened to Israel. God has said is, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and forsake their wicked way and call upon me and so forth, I will forgive their sin, heal their land.” Didn’t that what he said? Chronicles? What he said? That’s a promise. So if you know that promise, you can do something. Do you know what Daniel did?

Because he knew what God had promised about the nation of Israel. how God does is I’m not sure how that God can look down the road and see that here’s a man who’s going to read the prophecy that he had Jeremiah right 70 years in advance and yet this promise is fulfilled because of his prayer and boy you ought to read his prayer look in verse 3 and I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting sakloth and And I prayed unto the Lord my God, made my confession, and said, O Lord the great and dreadful God.

And goes through here and talks about what we as a nation have done, how wicked they had been. And he speaks for all of Israel, pours out his heart, whole chapter. And he talks about how just God wants. And God says, this is what the people have to do in order for the promise to be fulfilled. So here’s Daniel, 70 years later. And how does God, He has to get Him the message through the prophecy and He’s going to pray.

But God knows that He’s going to get the message. He’s going to pray and God can make the prophecy according to His prayer. It just bogs my mind. I can’t figure it all out. And yet God says, because of prayer, but God can make a prophecy in advance before you ever read the prophecy or before you ever pray. But what if Daniel had to pray? Well, there probably wouldn’t have been the prophecy. But I don’t know. See, God knows what would have been had you done something else yesterday.

He knows all the possibilities of all the possibilities of all the options of every decision that you’ve ever made. Don’t that blow your mind? Just think how different your life would be if you just made a few different decisions in your life. But anyway, as you go down through here, you’ll see many things. Now what I want you to do is look there in chapter 9 and look in verse 12 and he hath confirmed his words which he spake against us and against our judges that judged us by bringing it upon us a great evil.

For unto the whole heaven hath not been done as had been done upon Jerusalem because they were destroyed. As it is written, get this, as it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth. Did you know that one of the biggest cures for a wicked life is prayer? If a man truly believes in prayer and talking to God and you know you’ve got to be right with God in order for God to hear and to answer your prayer, it cleans up your lungs.

The wickedness of God’s people is a dead giveaway that they’re not praying. Christians worry always in despair and distress to sign they’re not one. They ain’t praying. No, they know prayer. Believe in prayer, but not praying, not really praying. Because there’s certain things that prayer does to a person. He says they’re in verse 14. Therefore, half the Lord watched upon the evil, brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he did, for we obeyed not his voice.

Do you believe that if they had prayed, all that would have been changed? A lot of things would not have happened. Jerusalem would not have been destroyed. The temple would not have been destroyed. None of that would have never, never, could never, would have never come in there and destroyed them. Then if we’ve been taken into captivity, a thousand miles from home, none of that would have happened if the people had prayed. Because you say, if you pray, you keep everything else right in your life, if you really believe prayer.

Because you know you’ve got to live a certain way. You’ve got to be right between you and God. You have to confess what you’re doing that’s wrong. You have to desire from God, life and holiness. It’s the key. Why do you think in the New Testament, Christ told his disciples to pray. He was always telling them to pray. When Christ was here, did he pray? He’s the son of God, and yet he prayed. Even when he went into the garden that’s gonna get him that night, he told his disciples, pray for me.

They didn’t pray, and he said, could you not have bear with me one hour? You could pray for me one hour. What were they supposed to pray for? Him? What do you pray for? If prayer doesn’t work, why waste your time doing it? Who’s listening? So when you do pray, do you really expect somebody to be listening to you? I expect God to be listening when I’m talking, but you know what God expects? He expects me to be listening when he’s talking.

When you read the Bible, that’s how God speaks to you. And when you pray, you’re talking to God. And it’s not to be a one-way conversation. You’re supposed to talk to him. He talks to you. You have a communication going on to what it’s supposed to be. Have you ever prayed for something? And then you say, well, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope. And then you begin to question and doubt. Or if God answers your prayers, you don’t even thank Him for it.

Did you know that Daniel prayed the Bible says three weeks before an answer ever got to Him? And it says that the angel had been hindered. You see, there’s a spiritual war going on. That’s why you’re not supposed to stop praying. Keep praying, always believe it. Take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of Luke. In the Gospel of Luke, there’s a scripture talks about praying. Now look there in verse 25 of chapter two.

Verse 25 of chapter two. Here’s another story about an old man. If you had lived in that day and you knew the scripture, you really believed him, then you should have been looking for the Son of God to come, because he knew how long it was supposed to be, knew where the King was supposed to be born. They knew all of this. A few of them did, a handful of them, and they prayed. Have you ever asked the Lord, Lord, I want to be alive when the rapture comes.

I don’t want to die of old age. Did you know that there are some people that are going to pray and that’s going to get their wish? I want to be in that number. I have no desire to die down here and I want to be changed in the moment, the twinkling of a, only a handful of people are going to get that honor of all the people that have ever lived. They ain’t going to happen to everybody. They ain’t going to happen to everybody.

A lot of people are going to die. I don’t want to die. I want to be caught up with the Lord in the air. Is it wrong for me to pray that prayer? I pray that I Want the Lord to come back in my lifetime, but he don’t have to come right now Just long as this is with him and I like time. Just don’t let me die until the time I want to do something get for the Lord.

I feel like I still got a little time left I still got a few good years maybe in this old body and I want to accomplish this whatever I can then get this In verse 25 and behold there was a man in Jerusalem Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout. If he was a just man and a devout man, do you think he was a praying man? Evidently he was a praying man. And it says here, and the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And the Holy Ghost was about waiting for the consolation of the, I wonder who he was waiting In the context, you’re talking about Jesus Christ being born. He was waiting for the Son to be born. He did not want to die until He laid His eyes upon the Son of God. And He asked the Lord, Lord, don’t let me die until I see the Messiah. So think there were some people that believed and they prayed. And God answered their prayer.

Now, a lot of people have the same promises and Christ was promised to come. Didn’t God promise that He’s coming back again? Promise about the translation of us being caught up in the right. And all that’s true. Well, why can’t I pray for that? Did you know the last promise in the Bible is in the book of Revelation, the last chapter? And even that says was a prayer because John prayed even so. come Lord Jesus. Even so come Lord Jesus.

Now he’d come in his lifetime but he might come in hours. But get what he says here. It says in verse 20 and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of a law, which was to be circumcised. That’s mentioned right there in verse 21 to 24.

And so he says, then took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let thou by servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. What in the world is this man talking about? How do they know?

But he had been looking for the of Messiah and he prayed and God answered his prayer. I think it’s awesome. Look over there in the book of 1 Peter chapter three. 1 Peter chapter three. New Testament, 1 Peter chapter three. And then look down in verse 12, look in verse 12. There’s a lot of things about prayer work. We don’t have time to cover one meeting. I simply want you to know that prayer is based upon promises of God.

So you need to know the promises, which is in the word of God, so that you can base your prayer upon what God promised. And if you do that, according to Israel, then you have possibilities, unlimited possibilities. But when you don’t know that and you don’t really believe that, you will be very limited in your prayers. And this is where I am. I feel like I am so limited in my prayers because there’s so much I don’t know about the Bible.

So many promises that I don’t know where I could forget. I can read the promise and then it’s gone out of my mind. And sometimes I will try to figure out a way to do something instead of one of the greatest things that we have that are disposal is———————————————— pray it. We can pray it. When everything else seems to fall apart and there’s no hope, no other way. Have you ever seen somebody that goes to the hospital and all they got was bad news and it’s terminal, there’s no solution and people get to, hey, call all the churches, get everybody pray them.

Why do they want everybody to pray? Because they believe that somehow God may override whatever the doctors say. Whatever my body is saying and the limitations of it, maybe perhaps by prayer God may change it. That’s I don’t mind prayer. I believe that God may intervene and because of my prayer. How much is my prayer worth? How much is the prayer of a righteous godly man worth? Well, to a man that’s dying, it might be worth everything. What if you need something bad?

See, the greatest thing I’ve ever asked God for is to learn lessons. To learn values, to build my character. to build my character. Everything that our church has gone through. Go through it. Just go through it. Don’t worry. Don’t start to figure out everything you can. We’ll TheNitrome never live long enough. And what’s going to happen now? I don’t know. I don’t care. Just keep praying and give God a chance to do something that God can do. Something that’s beyond your ability to do anything about.

Faith is born in despair. When you’re totally at your wit limit and you have no way of knowing. Then you have the idea,Weak prayer based upon promises that’s based upon unlimited possibilities. And that’s where you got to find out what does God want to do and seek the Lord with all your heart. But look what He says here in the the first 12, for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. And his ears are open unto their what?

Now, if there is nothing to pray, there’s nothing to that verse. If there’s really no God there to hear, and it’s not going to change anything, why go to the motion? Why play the game? Unless there is something that is of magnificent, wonderful power at our disposal, and we don’t avail ourselves of it. Well, he says this, his ears are open under their prayers, but get this. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil. So what you do can in effect your prayers and whether God will answer them or not.

And just to give you a clue, look up there in verse seven. Now above this talks about the woman, but this verse talks about the man. In verse 7, likewise, he husbands dwell with them, talking about the wife according to knowledge. If you can’t, if you can understand them, Krug, that’s why he says, maybe you have to be an old man before you figure that out. Anyway, he says, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. Now they say that the woman is the weaker vessel, the man is the stronger vessel.

But I really think that the man is the weaker vessel, big out of his weakness for the other vessel. Anyway, there’s another sermon in here. Get this. He says, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, in other words, the gift of eternal life, your bold husband wife, your heirs together of eternal life. And you are going to be with each other forever in heaven. Of course there’s going to be a few other people there too. But get what the last part of the verse.

He says that your prayers be not one. Is it possible that you can do something that would hinder your prayers? Now there’s something in the spiritual realm that can hinder our prayers. There’s things BELOW you7601 you can do personally that can hinder your prayers. But it can also hinder the husband and wife, their prayers. So, does things need to be right between husband and wife for their prayers not to be hindered? Yes. If this is all true in person, really believe that it would make you want to keep things right between husband and wife, right?

It will be benefit. This is the greatest benefit. Power of prayer. That’s better to be able to do that. Then to have social security, money in the bank, health insurance, life insurance, all that security is better to have good through prayer, that’s better to have. Because when that falls apart or when the doctors can’t do anymore and they have their limitations, God is unlimited and you’ve got greater possibilities. Now I’m not saying you got to throw the other way but I’m talking about you all to be strong in prayer.

A man who is not strong in prayer is not strong. You’re only as strong as your prayer life and if you have no prayer life you are not strong. You don’t have a spirit to life. You may come to church, you may even read your Bible, but you are not strong if you do not pray. You must pray. That is the word of God. And yet I still don’t understand everything. I’m not prayer. I can tell you all of this.

And I don’t know whenever God’s gonna answer your prayer. It’s not gonna answer your prayer. There’s promises that you have to know and you have to believe. 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 If today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Life broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvary oftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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, they are 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Turn to the book of Philippians and chapter 4. chapter 4. The message today is a war on worry. You may not know this, but it is true that many Christians worry. Well that’s a little bit about what I want to talk about. You were not born worrying. Worrying is just like whether it’s smoking or drinking or you know it’s an acquired habit. You learned out of it. And so many people have practiced until now they are experts at worry.

You may not know that you’re worrying, and you may not even think that worrying is a bad thing, or that worrying is really a sin. Worry will reveal many things about you and I. I have worried, and therefore I am an expert on worry. I do it all the time. Despite what I know, I still worry. And I can’t figure out how to just totally stop worrying completely. I guess as long as I’ve got this old body that I’m living in, I might be doing just a little bit of it.

But I want to help us anyway with the scriptures. Philippians chapter four, Paul has wrote this while he’s in prison. So this is what we call a prison epistle. And notice how happy the guy seems to be. You might be a little bound and discouraged because of where you would be if you was in prison, but He makes a statement there in verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. Does that sound like a testimony of a man who is having a pity party for himself?

Not exactly. And then you look there in verse 10. But I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again. So there’s things that happens in a person’s life that causes things not to flourish. Sometimes it seems like there’s droughts in your life and you wonder where the next meal is coming from or the money is going to come from the pay for this or if you’ll ever get well or you know there’s all kinds of things.

And so we have many many things in this life that we can worry about. But you know one thing I never worry about anymore. I never worry about where I’m going when I die. Now, what’s the time I worried about that? But did you know that once you have trusted Christ’s Savior and God gives you eternal life and you become His child, if you really understand it, you really don’t have to worry about it anymore, do you? Because you know you have eternal life.

You know that you’re going to heaven and you know that you can’t change it and you know that God can’t change it because eternal life was a gift. It was free. God gave it to you and you accepted it and you have eternal life. You’re God’s child, you’re going to heaven. I never worry about that anymore because I’ve got God’s word on it. Well, what if you had God’s word on other things, you know, concerning life? What you wouldn’t have to worry about that either, would you?

The trouble comes is because we don’t know what God says about many other things that pertain to life. But what if we did? What I want you to see there in verse 10, when he says, I greatly rejoice because there’s certain things that he’s learned. And one was not to worry. He learned not to worry. Look at verse 10, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at the last year, care of me hath flourished again, wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity.

Then in verse 11, not that I speak in respect of what, for I have learned how to worry. Is that what he says? I’ve learned how to worry. No, he doesn’t say that. I have learned in whatsoever state I am, Therewith, to worry. You see, you could take the words peace and content, well, cast those out of the Bible and put the word worry in the place of it and you’ll see how ridiculous it sounds. But the reason we don’t have peace is because we don’t have peace.

And the reason we’re not content is because we are worried. We worry about a lot of things. And look what he says in verse 12, I know both how to be a based and worried, and I know how to abound and worry. Everywhere I worry and in all things I worry. I’m instructed both to worry and to be hungry, both to abound and to worry and to suffer need and to worry. Do you see anything wrong with what I said?

And yet, how many times we do worry about a lot of things that God says that we need to pray about. So as you read these scriptures, you see that that’s not what it says and it’s just the opposite. That’s a sign of growing in the Lord when you can have peace of God. You see, you have peace with God when you trust it, Christ is your Savior. But the peace of God is what God gives to you on a daily basis when you rely upon him and you trust him.

Look at verse 13. I can do all worrying through Christ. Christ is going to strengthen me to help me to worry more and more. It doesn’t say that. So there is something that’s totally opposite of all of that. But we worry about losing our health, losing our job, losing the loved one, losing, you know, somebody’s affection, not losing, you know, you name it. and we worry. But there’s some wonderful things that God has given to us. Worry is like a rocket chair.

It gives you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere. It never solves a problem. It’s dragging the past that you can’t do anything about into the future and ruining this perfectly good, given day that God’s given to me. Worry is the interest paid on trouble before it comes due. And so some people just worry about everything. They’re worry warts. Have you ever heard someone say, I am worried sick over and then you put the word in there?

Because we don’t know the answers of some things in life and so we worry about things. We won’t say it’s worry and worry can produce a lot of stress in a person’s life. One person says if it wasn’t for stress, I wouldn’t have any energy at all. They just work under stress all the time. That’s what keeps them going. Worry is a sin that can literally make you sick. Consider the stress-related illnesses. Heart attacks, worry can do that. Worry can produce high blood pressure, worry can produce ulcers, worry can produce insomnia, worry can produce headaches, strokes, immune system malfunction, suicide.

Stress can do all of that. And stress is because you’re worried about someone. You see, you don’t have to worry about anything you put in God’s hand, but you will not say, I’m trusting the Lord, I’m trusting the Lord. And then you worry yourself sick. You’re not trusting the Lord, you’re saying the words. And you can be, have you ever seen an alcoholic in denial? They just don’t believe that they’re an alcoholic or a drunker. They deny it. They deny all the symptoms.

And yet there’s Christians that deny the symptoms. They’re under a lot of stress and they’re worried sick, but they won’t say, no, no, no, no, I’m trusting the Lord. No, you’re not. Because worry is a sign that you’re not. Worry is a sin. And you will never have the freedom, the liberty, that you ought to have until you recognize it for what it is. If you’re sick and tired of being tired and sick, you need help, help, and healing.

Remember God is the great physician and he has just the right prescription for his children. The text in Philippians in chapter four, verse six and seven, look in verse six. Says, be careful for nothing. That word careful means be anxious for nothing. Don’t be worried about anything. He says, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God, and then he says in verse seven, and the peace of God. If you don’t do what God says to in his prescription, then you’re not going to have the results of it.

How many people are having to get prescription drugs? Don’t read him. But you know when it comes to spiritual healing, God has a prescription that he wrote out, and all you have to do is take two pills a day, or do whatever it says to, and the peace of God will be with you. It means it will annihilate worry. So there’s symptoms that we have and there’s a prescription that is a cure. Here are four steps from these verses of how to get from worry sick to worry free.

Now everybody would like to say, well, I don’t worry, I’m not worried about anything. And then, but the stress. Well, show symptoms in their life sometimes that they are. Constraint is a command. The text says, be careful for nothing. Nothing means don’t worry about anything. Not some things are justified. No, don’t worry about anything. That doesn’t mean you’re not concerned about how this comes out of that doesn’t. But I’m talking about, you know, concerned about, you know, you got to work so you can pay bills.

You got to do that. You do all the things you can. But worrying to make you sick that you can’t do anything about God’s essence. a sin. Worry is not a disease. You didn’t catch us from somebody. But if you hang around people who worry all the time, it won’t be lumped, or you might be just worried just like they are. Because a person who has a particular problem, like a person who gossip, like to hang around people who gossip, and they feed each other information to let you know, they really love gossiping.

But if you say, do you believe in gossip? Oh no, I hate gossiping. And then They just mention things to people, you know, this is just a prayer. But they gossip. Gossip is a sin. There’s a lot of things that are sinned, but we overlooking say, well, that’s not it. We deny it. We’re is not a disease unless you consider sin a disease. It is not an uncontrollable condition. I can’t help myself. How many times have I heard of you?

Well, I just can’t help myself. Well, maybe you can’t, but God can. Now will you let God help you? can help us in every area of our life. The word worry comes from two Greek words which means to divide the mind because there’s a part of your mind that says, trust the Lord. And there’s another part of the mind that says worry, worry, worry, worry. Well, a double-minded man is unstable in how many of his ways, all of his ways.

Did you know worrying about one thing can contaminate the peace of mind you had in everything else. Worry is a sin and sin is like leaven and leaven is like the Bible says a little leaven, leaven at the whole up. So a little worry can destroy a lot of peace of mind. He can keep you from sleeping at night. He can cause a lot of stress related illnesses in your life, in your physical body. All those things can happen.

Yeah, I’m worried sick and many times that relates into physical problems. In the Bible it makes this statement. Let me read this to you first of all. The word it says here, you will be dominated between positive or negative thoughts. Success starts in the mind but so does worry. All your success and failures begin right up there. As a man think of so easy so you have to learn how to think. You can think positive or you can be negative.

Some people it doesn’t matter you know isn’t the sunshine and beautiful today. Well you could have seen it this morning there was clouds everywhere and I know but it’s a sunshine and right now it’ll be raining in a minute they have something negative to say I don’t care what it is and then there’s some who are just positive and this daddy had a little boy and a little boy was just so positive about everything it was just positive He said, I’ll knock some of that positive out of you, but he was always negative.

He took him out there and he says, now, bring that manure out of this barn. And so the little boy got out there and he started and his daddy checked down in about 15 minutes and the little boy’s a humming and a whistling and a singing and throwing manure everywhere. He says, what are you doing? What are you so happy about showing manure? He said, with this much manure, there’s got to be a pony around here somewhere. all depends on how you look at life.

You can be negative all your life or you can be a little on the positive side. John chapter 14 verse 1 says, let not your heart be troubled. Says you believe in God, believe also in me. God’s it let not your heart as your mind. Don’t let it be troubled. Don’t worry. And the answer was you believe in God, you believe in me. Trust me. Trust me. I know we’ve had president said, look, just trust me. That’s enough to cause everybody to worry.

Just trust me. You can trust the Lord. The Lord will never fail. The Lord won’t let you down. You can be as happy as you want to be. Without changing circumstances or anything. You see, happiness is a state of being. It’s the way you are. You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be sad. And every one of us do. You are as happy as you really want to be. Because nobody can make you happy and nobody can steal it from you if you don’t want them to.

You can be mad, angry, bitter, happy, joyful if you want to be. Whatever, take, take your pick. It’s your choice. And worry. Where is the shan? There are 400 references to peace in the Bible with 100 in the New Testament. Most of Paul’s letters start and end with a reference to peace. God wants his people to have peace, peace of mind. And if you’re peaceful in your mind and your spirit, you can be so happy, you can be joyful, you can be so rejoicing all the time about everything like that.

like that. Rejoice always and again I say rejoice. Confess, worry as a sin. First John one I said if we can sess our sins, his faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and the cleansers from all unrighteousness. Ain’t that what it says? Alright, that’s to the Christian, not to the lost person. That’s to the person who knows they have eternal life. They’re going to heaven when they die and they’re a Christian. Is worry a sin? If worrying is a sin, then should you confess your sins to God.

You should confess you’re a worry to God and there’s a reason. And you need to understand it from God’s point of view. Don’t say, well, I just can’t confess the way that I am. Stop all that. Listen to what God says. Don’t excuse yourself. Don’t make allowances for yourself. Always be seeking to be what God wants you to be, in your attitude. Worry shows a lack of trust in the Lord. Yes or no. It shows a lack of trust in the Lord when you worry.

If you are dominated by sinful, worry, fear, anxiety, you are thinking too much about yourself. One of the biggest things that helped me to be a soul winner, to talk to people about where they’re going to spend eternity, is when I I stopped thinking about me and started thinking about them. You think about yourself and you’ll be scared to death. What are you scared of? Them? Or what it does to you? Or how are they gonna respond? Or are you gonna be rejected?

Or were they gonna think about you? It’s all about you. It’s all the reason we wind up being afraid. Our fear is what causes us not to do the thing that we should. But that means you’re not trusting the Lord. We think about ourselves. we become intimidated. And it can keep you and rob you of the greatest things in life. The first step toward victory is to recognize and confess worry as sin. Worry is emotional atheism. You heard me say many times, many Christians live their lives as though God fell off his throne and he can’t get back up.

No, God is alive, God is real. He is on the throne and he does work and he is powerful and he can do what he promised he will do. Worry is emotional atheism. It means, to some extent, I don’t believe God. I don’t trust God. God’s gonna fail me. He’s gonna not gonna come through. So we worry, because now if that’s all truth, that it’s all depends on me and I can’t handle it. And it’s just too much pressure and that’s the last straw.

And I can’t handle anymore. I’ve had so many people say, you know, I can’t handle it. Shut up. You can too. You and the Lord by yourself know God says he will not put upon you anything greater than you can bear. Yes or no. Then he won’t. You don’t have any problem big enough to break you. But many people are broken. Not because of the problem but because of their weakness to trust the Lord. Worry is an indication that we think God cannot look after us.

Perpetual uneasiness is symptomatic of prayerlessness. No one can pray and worry at the same time. Now which one are you doing? You can’t worry and pray at the same time. Well I prayed about it and then you worried? No you didn’t pray about it. You’ve said the word but you didn’t pray. Pray me I’m testing all my cares about them before. Well if you did that, then what are you worried about? Let’s see, we say the words where our Christianity becomes mechanical.

It’s not really alive. It’s not a personal God that I really believe in, but we have so much to learn from the Lord’s Word. Look at this. And this is so important. last part of this statement, unbelief is a what? Sin and a sin is to be confessed. So if worrying is a sin, it has to be confessed, but you have to see it as that. The next statement, worry actually vandalizes the body. What does that mean? Sometimes somebody might vandalize your home or your car, but isn’t it a shame when a Christian vandalizes their own body?

words you are destroying yourself, hurting yourself. And that’s why you will not be a happy Christian, you will not be a joyous Christian, you will not be a victorious Christian because you’re mutilated and vandalizing yourself. Just stop the world that’s doing it to you, you do it to yourself on how you accept things. Now get this statement. Worry actually vandalizes the body. You’re emotional and spiritual well-being has an effect on the physical body. Have you ever had doctors tell you that?

Has doctors ever told you that worrying is not good for you? Stress is not good for you? You never had a doctor tell you that? They will? Just ask them. And that’s why sometimes there’s nothing they can do, no medicine they can give, that can cure it. Because the problem is not the normal thing because it’s a synduce, because it’s a spiritual problem. Things that happen because of the mind. That controls the brain that works the parts of our body.

Three keys for lasting change. The renewing of your mind. Any visions in chapter four talks about put off the old man, put off the old behavior. There’s something to put off. That’s repent. Change your mind. Reconsider. You don’t want to be the way you were your Christian now. But you have to renew your mind. In verse 23. And that is be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Appear to how you think. doesn’t want you to think like a normal individual who lives in the flesh in the world because that’s not you.

You are a child of God. You’re a citizen from heaven and your destiny is fixed. You’re going to heaven whenever you die and you’re here temporarily as long as God has a ministry for you and you’re accomplished that which God intended and until then let God have his way with you. Don’t challenge God. Don’t rebuke God. Trust Him. Believe it. And let God do whatever God wants to do. He can be free to bring into your life or out of your life whatever He wants.

And it won’t bother you. You can accept that. And then you’ll begin to grow as a Christian. If not, it’ll make you bitter because you’ll get hurt. You didn’t get what you wanted. Your expectations were not met. You’re not all that you thought you ought to be. We’re not interested in what you want. We’re interested in what God wants. You see, there’s a conflict of the wheels. There’s a lot of things you want out of life. Maybe you want to do or be or go or whatever it is.

Yeah, but then there’s something over here. What does God want? And these two make the trash. And that’s why you can have peace of mind if you’ll just say, Lord, whatever you want, let’s find with me. And you can have peace. But if you don’t, you’re going to be totally disarray and despair because it may never work your way. Learn to trust the Lord. And the third thing is replace. You’ve got to put on the new man, which was created in righteousness and true holiness.

So there’s something to put off, change your mind, something to put on. And God says, if you learn this, it can truly help in your Christian life. You can’t change the past, but you can ruin a perfectly good day by worrying about it. Have you ever had a wonderful day that God gave to you and then you ruined it by bringing up the past that you can’t do anything about it? And you can be just, listen, you can rehash things that happened a long time ago and did you know you dwell on it long enough and it’ll make you insight just as mean and bitter and hateful as it did 20 years ago?

ruin this moment. Now you think that’s what God’s will is for you? This is why you’ve got to forgive, forget that it go dwell upon that which God wants you to have. There’s problems in life, but the problems are not supposed to make us totally filled with despair and stress and worry and to were sick and we can’t move and operate because of it. Cast your cares on Christ. 1 Peter 5 seven when he says cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you.

Do you believe that? You believe that then you can trust on. If you take everything and put it in God’s hands you’ll see him see God’s hands and everything that you put in his hands. Ask God to lift the weights off your soul. Have you done that? And you don’t think he will? See many people figure this way. Why pray when I can worry. Is there anything wrong with that? It’s supposed to be why worry when I can pray.

The second thing, if it’s too small a matter to pray about, it’s too small a matter to become a burden. You should never think that your problems are too big, God can’t do anything about it, or too small that God’s not going to be concerned. Both are an insult to God. God says pray about how many things. All things. Play all the time. I don’t have time to read that. I was going to read the words of that song.

What a friend we have in Jesus. You ought to just read the words of that song. We sing it, but you ought to just hear the words. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our grief and so forth to bear and then talking about casting our cares upon the Lord and all the word that we do because we do not take it to him in prayer. So awesome song. Carry confidence in your countenance. Give God thanks for what you do.

you pray for in advance over you receiving it. Gratitude and praise confirmed that you are trusting in the Lord. Thanksgiving and praise are in a note to worry. If you look at that verse when he makes the statement verse 6, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. When you pray to God and you’re asking God for something, then it says give thanks before you get the answer. Give God thanks for what you prayed before you ever get it.

Because don’t you thank you well? But rejoice not so much in what God is going to do or what God is going to answer. But rejoice in the fact that I have a God who heard my case and I’m gonna leave the righteous judge the options are open they’re all his he can do anything he wants. He can say yes he can say no he can say wait a while and his answer is sufficient for me that’s That’s all I wanted was to hear it with a God who could do something about it and I’m going to trust Him with a result.

Tell me if that won’t give you a peace of mind. It lies beyond the power of an individual to make things work because you’re limited. You don’t have all the answers. You can’t do everything. But there’s a God who does. He does know and he cares. Chronic warriors make the mistake of waiting for their circumstances to change before rejoicing. You take a piece of paper right down all the blessings you can think of as a tonic for your soul and see if you can think of anything that God has done for you that you can rejoice about and be thankful for.

Learn to be thankful. It’s hard to be a worrier when you’re thankful and you’re praising the Lord for what He’s done and you’re rejoicing in the right thing. What are you going to worry about? It will give you a peace of mind that your husband can’t give it to you, the wife can’t give it to you, the kids can’t give it to you. Nobody can give it to you. is between you and God because it’s the peace of God.

It’s a personal thing. Otherwise the Bible is just a book, it’s a mechanical thing, and it’s not a living, vivacious personal book that gives your relationship with Christ that nobody else can. In the Christian life you live by faith or you don’t live at all. When you cease to live by faith, you cease to live. You know God says a child of God God is not only saved by grace, He is to live by faith. And if He lives by faith, and that’s the only way you can live as a Christian.

For God is to live by faith. Well if you’re not living by faith, you’re not living. 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 toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.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 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.

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 month… and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach which is toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of Second Peter, chapter one, Second Peter, and chapter one. Some interesting scriptures here. But in the book of Peter, there is the danger of a Christian having life without growth. There’s a danger of the children being born without growth. If they don’t grow, you know there’s something wrong. Or what about Christians that won’t grow? say to have you turn like, but as far as their spiritual walk with the Lord, they never get strong enough to handle spiritual responsibility.

Children of God. And so these verses here from about verse three down to verse eight is talking about life without growth. And then there’s another danger from verse nine down to verse 14 about knowledge, but having a knowledge without practice, knowledge, but it doesn’t do you any good. Is it possible that you could go to church every week, never miss and never grow spiritually or never do anything with the knowledge? What’s interesting to me for years whenever I would preach, Eddie would always say that out there in the congregation.

And he got to where he was pretty good at taking notes down of what I preached. And he would show me after the service. He had wrote down every verse. Oh my point. He had better notes what I had, but he would sit down here right down the notes and he’d write down the scriptures. He got to where, you know, after a while he could tell where I’m going next. He says, no, he’s going to go to this verse.

Now he’s going to go to this verse. Now this is what he’s going to say. Now that’s reputation that you hear so often so on you know where a person’s going to go. He says, I could just about do that. He said, I know what you’re going to do next. And he’s going to hear me. He’s out listening to you on the radio this morning. He says, no, I know he’s going going to do this and he’s going to go to this verse and lo and behold that’s why that’s why they’ve heard me camps they come to ranch they come to church well after a while you start learning and the reason I say it over and over and over again is because that’s exactly what I want him to do now Eddie likes to speak and he preached for a little man a couple weeks ago and he loves this this

preach now but now he can he can remember he got a better memory now he can remember the sermons and he had all my notes and he could recall doing a super job doing that. But what about you? When you sit down and you read the Bible, do you realize that there’s things you’re supposed to be learning because you want to do? See, this is why I say the work we do with the teenagers or the kids in Sunday school, you don’t have any idea down the road what God’s going to do with those individuals.

But you keep telling them, keep teaching them. And because someday those things come back to your remembrance. person in here you can well I should say well you can remember when you were a child I can remember back when I was four years old I can remember all the way back before I was born non-just joking but look what he says in verse 10 wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you do these things you shall never fall so it’s not the will of God for a child of God to fall, but we can stumble.

But falling, God said, I’ll uphold you with my right hand unless you just don’t want to walk with God. So we do a lot of stumbling in our life and sometimes we fall, but God says that all you got to do is just get up and keep on walking with the Lord. But some Christians, they don’t grow. They don’t put into practice the things that they’ve learned in their Christian life. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 4, the book of Ephesians and chapter 4.

This is what was written to the church at Ephesus, the church at Ephesus. So as this letter is written, remember he’s not just writing to preachers and missionaries, evangelists, you believe it or not have a high calling from Jesus Christ. Of all the phone calls you can get in this world, of all the people you could talk to and the people you can listen to, God called. And the only thing that’s going to make you different in this world is that you can listen to God.

this world than anybody else is if you’ll hear him and obey him then you’ll be different. Otherwise, you’ll be just like everybody else who’s ever lived. You can live your whole life and make no difference in the lives of other people. Nobody’s eternal destination has been altered. Nobody has been challenged to serve the Lord if you don’t let God change you. God must speak to you. And as you sit down and you’re home and you read the word of God, you must believe God is speaking to me.

God is telling me this. This is why, like in 1960, when Dr. Virgil Edwards would speak, I did not listen as though I’m listening to Dr. Virgil Edwards. Whenever he would refer to the Bible, I would always believe God is speaking to me. This is what God wants me to do, has not do with Virgil Edwards. because I listen to it from that point of view, it changed my life. You see, I don’t want you listening to the Bible as Yankee says, the preacher says, no, God said, and you have to believe, see the reason I go to church on Sunday morning, what, because God says to do so.

Yankee didn’t tell you to do that. I have no authority to tell you what to do. God does. So whenever God says, upon the first day of the week, okay, on the first day of the week, I wonder what day that is. That’s a Sunday. And then He said, do not have no forsaken of yourselves together. In other words, and even more so, as you see the day of fruit, in other words, the closer we get to the Lord coming, should I forsake the assembling of ourselves together?

Somebody would say, well, I can worship God, I don’t have to go to church. Well, you can, but you’re not gonna please God. Who’s the one who said to go to church? The preacher of God. The preacher’s only telling you what God said. Outside of the Bible, the man has no authority. Can’t do anything. But you must hear that. God is the one that told me to go to church on Sunday mornings. So that’s why I do it. And if God’s the one that tells me that I should give, well then why do I give?

Because God says so. And if the preacher says, no, no, no, I had not do it a preacher. The preacher’s not the power. The power is the word. You hear God. I do what I do because God says so. I don’t go to church because Leon wants me to. I don’t go to church because Tim wants me to. I go to church because God wants me to. Therefore, I don’t feel right when I disobey God, because I believe that’s what God wants me to do.

But if you don’t believe it’s what God wants, and God said it, well then if it’s just a man, well you can defy him anytime you want to. Who is he? I don’t have to give because Yankees wanna say that I should do this or this and that. I don’t have to obey him. Who’s the think he is? You’re right. But did you hear God? If God called you upon the telephone and told you this is what I want you to do, will you or will you not obey God?

That’s why you do what you do. Who’s the one that wants you to be conformed to the image of Christ? I want you to, but I don’t have to command to make you do it. God does. But you must hear God wants me to be conformed to the image of Christ. God wants me to have a good testimony. God wants me to do right. God wants me to do this and do that. So you must hear God call you.

Now here in the book of Ephesians in chapter 4, look in verse 1. I therefore, Paul said, the prisoner of the Lord, that word is do-loss in the Greek and it means a bond slave. He means he is a bond slave, a love slave of the Lord. So I am a free man. God save me, set me free and I have chosen voluntarily. I chose to be a bond slave of Jesus Christ. Lord, I’ll be your slave. Now am I doing that to get to heaven?

No. because God says, I am in this world for a reason. He is calling me to do something. So as I heard the thing about the gospel and going into all the world and preach the gospel and so forth, I became addicted to the gospel. I am a gospel addict. That’s why the copy of my book back there, the thing of the gospel driven men. It’s all about the gospel. Why? Because I’m addicted to it. I heard God say something about that and it has so changed and motivated my whole life.

Now get what he says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord be seated that ye walk worthy of the vocation, wherewith ye are what? You are what? So you have a vocation. You ask something, what’s your thing? Well, I’m a doctor, I’m a lawyer, I’mCatalia, I’m this, I’m that or whatever the, but God gave you one too. You are a servant of the Lord. You are to be a bond slave of Jesus Christ. Therefore he says walk worthy, walk worthy of the vocation.

So have you been called on God? Yes. You have a calling just as much as a preacher, emissianary, or any vangelist. God calls. called you. You’re called of God. You’ve been called by God to meet together with God’s people. You’ve been called by God to support missions. You’ve been called by God to be that church. You’ve been called by God to study his word. You’ve been called by God to pray. You’ve been called by God and you go through the book and there’s many precious promises God’s given us in his word that are just as real for you as they are for me.

And some of you God has called to be a faithful husband and God called you to be a faithful wife and God called you to be faithful teenagers. It’s been called by God to be a good steward. A steward is required to be found. Have you been called? Have you been called? Have you answered a call? A faithful steward of God. Well, God called you. You see, the preacher is just a lead you to guide you. But outside it has no power.

Can’t make anybody do anything. I wish they could sometime. I give me a bull, but it won’t work. If I can’t get you to do what you do with truth, then you didn’t do it for the right reason. Because you and I are both answerable to God. We do what God wants us to do with our life. But He makes a statement that you are worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. Then get what He says here in verse four.

There is one body, one spirit, even as you get this, ye are called, and one hope of your calling. You have a calling. This is to the church. This isn the pastor. This is to the church, but he makes the statement there in verse 12. Look at verse 12, that God has called some pastors, prophets, apostles, evangelists, teachers, as I said in verse 11, and get verse 12. For the perfect thing of the saints, that means the equipping of the saints.

See, all I’m supposed to try to equip you to fulfill your calling. God has called you. That word perfect me to equip you with the tools necessary to answer the call. So if I am trying to teach you, but let’s just pretend you won’t come half the time. That really cuts back on my teaching you, isn’t it? And if you only come half the time, that really cuts down on your being equipped to do the work of the ministry, true.

But if you came all the time, as much as you can, the more you learn, the more you can do, the more you can answer the call of God. Is it important for the pastor to be faithful? Do you believe that when a man says that I have been called of God to be a pastor or a call of God to be a missionary, call of God to be an evangelist? Don’t you believe that that should be a requirement?

What about the pastor believing that about you? God called you. And you’re supposed to be able to look into the word of God that God called me to be part of the body of Christ. This is the body. Look in verse 4 again. There’s one body, one spirit even as you’re called and one hope of your call of. There is one true church. You are part of that. You have been called by God. And in the local assembly you’re called by God.

Are you supposed to be found faithful? You are to be found faithful. It is the will of God. Now of course you You can disobey it like we can and everything else. Nobody gonna make you. It’s just that you’ll lose out on what you could have done or what the church could have done or the people that we could have reached or the missionaries we could have supported or the lost goes on and on and on. What could be done if God’s people were faithful but the results is they don’t think down the road he says, what do you want to do?

Whatever pleases me if it’s con, now the Lord’s work has to be a priority in your life. Your high calling must be a priority. Take your Bible and look in the book, this is not in my notes, but I want you to see this verse in the book of Acts chapter 26. Look at Acts chapter 26. And look there in verse 15. 493 When the Apostle Paul had trusted Christ as Savior on the road to Damascus, bright light appeared and he has given his testimony several times and I mentioned this the other night.

He said in verse 50, and I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecuted. But rise, stand upon thy feet. He’s rehearsing this now before you could say like a grand jury. He stand upon thy feet for I have appeared under the, for this purpose. To make thee a minister And a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee. Delivering thee from the people, from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee.

In other words, I am going to protect you, and you are virtually invincible until I’m ready to send you home. I want you to go, and I’m going to protect you, but I’m going to show this man what great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. He made others suffer and he put him in prison and jail and threatened and slaughtered and so forth. Then he says verse 18 To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and Inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

That was your calling God appeared to him and so this is what I want you to do God called Paul answered, spent the rest of his life, totally a changed man. Wouldn’t you think that if God called you and you answered the call of God, you ought to be a changed individual? How can you dare be the same kind of a person you was before he ever called you and said, I want you to do something for me. Shouldn’t it change your life?

There’s something about you that’s different than it used to be. But look what he says in verse 9, I love verse 9, these verses are the verses that I read the day that I graduated from Bible college and the night that I was ordained. I had to give a little speech and this is what I spoke on. You know what? It ain’t changed. But in verse 19 he says, we’re upon O King Agrippum and you ought to underlined this in your Bible.

I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, this heavenly calling. You see Paul made the statement of Aaron Philippians where we read just a moment ago where he says, I pressed toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In other words, there’s a reason, a higher reason for living, a greater purpose. And I don’t want to be disobedient to that heavenly calling. Every one of you ought to say in your mind, I don’t want to live my whole life and disobey the heavenly calling of God that he has for me.

You have to hear it. You have to believe that what you heard was not what the preacher said. I heard it as it was the voice of God. I heard the voice of God speaking to me. This is what the Word of God says and I heard this from the book And that’s what changed my life. Otherwise, see, if it’s just the preachers or any preacher, you can wipe that out of your mind. That’s just a man. They know better, greater than you are.

You’re right. But if you hear it from this, now you’ve got a problem. You either have to obey it or disobey it. You can’t acknowledge. Obey or disobey. It cannot be any other way. You either answer the call or you hang up on God and refuse to hear. You see, whenever you have your Bible, and you never read the Bible, and you don’t study it, he’s like, it keeps ringing, the phone keeps ringing, but you will not answer because you’re afraid he’s gonna tell you to do something you don’t wanna do.

We don’t mind doing for God what we really wanna do. But what if God wants us to do something we don’t want to do? Do you realize that in my lifetime, I’ve had to forgive people that I really didn’t want to? I’ve had to be nice to some people, when I’d rather just give them a Hawaiian punch. But I know it was wrong. And you do something because it’s the will of God. It’s what God wants. What if your will clashes with the will of God?

Who wins? God says, do this. I will not. You clashed. You hung up on God and you refused to do it. I’ve listened to people give testimony when they were older. And they was sit there and they and that’s him cry. God called me to preach when I was a teenager and I rebelled and I would not do it. And now all these years later that call is still bugging them. And they said I refuse to obey the voice of God.

God called me and I would not answer. And now all these years later that still just tears them up. I remember listening to a man one day and he said, he saw, he cried, and his wife was walking around, he said, I want it to be a pastor. He said, and I knew that’s what God wanted me to do. And then after it because of what my wife rebioned, he says, I had to forfeit it because his wife would not be a good preacher’s wife.

And he had a constant ministry. Oh man. He saw like a child. But the day’s gonna come when we’re all gonna stand before the Lord. I want you to be able to say I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. One other verse I want you to look at. Look there in 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter and chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2 and look in verse 21. The book of 1 Peter deals with a lot of suffering.

We suffer. And one of the callings of God in this life is that God has called us to suffer. And we’re going to suffer. We’re going to suffer in a lot of ways. You may suffer because of your husband, because your wife, because your kids. You may suffer because of bad health, losing a loved one, finances, physical problem. Now all of the health problem men that we can go through and you hurt, you suffer. One time I was suffering with my feet.

I didn’t know how that was going to come out. I see God has brought me through so many and is and I’m gonna keep bragging on him because he keeps pulling me through That doesn’t mean something ain’t gonna happen tomorrow But I do believe Romans 828 God can let it come but I believe God’ll bring me right through it and I just keep on trucking right on because I believe the Lord I don’t have all the answers, but I know God does and I don’t have to know them all I just kind of trust him and sometimes it gets rough But here in 1 Peter chapter 2, looking verse 21, for even here unto were ye, and there’s that word, you ought to un-the line it, called, called to do what?

Called to suffer. Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps, follow his steps. And so did Christ suffer while he was here? Did he have people against him? Did people hurt him? Yes, all kind of thing. rejection. You name it. He went through it. Was he a rich man? No, he was a poor man. Bared in a bar in a rich man’s tomb. Didn’t have money. He couldn’t even buy his own.

But yet the Heavenly Father took care of him. And so you may be called upon to suffer. Those are things that will happen to us in John 524 when he made the statement. I want you to see this. John 5 and verse 25, verse 25, I quoted verse 24 to you, but I want you to see this other verse before we close here. John chapter 5, we’ll read verse 24. In verse 24, it says, Verily, verily I send to you, He that heareth, heareth my word, believeeth on Him that sent me, have everlasting life.

So if you hear, believe you have everlasting life. Now look in verse 25. Verily, verily I send to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the God, son of God, shall hear the voice of the son of God, and they that hear shall live, that last line you ought on the day that hear shall live. See, we don’t have to worry about hearing the literal voice of God. When you hear the word of God, this is the voice of God.

If it’s his word, it’s his voice. If you heard my word, you heard my voice. So whenever you read the Bible and you hear the voice of God, and you’ll believe that God is speaking to me. God is talking to me. Now, I don’t believe some angels, they’re in your bed post them night and tell you some sweet dreams and so like a death. No, you might have had too many onions on your hamburgers. You be careful of that.

But the Word of God and the will have never lead you contrary to what’s right here in this book. It will always be with chapter and verse and to believe that. Look at her. This is you and me and this is sin. We all have sin upon us. God loves us but He hates our sin. For you and I to go to heaven, we have to be perfect. None of us are perfect. We’re all sinners. But the Bible says we committed the sin.

We ought to pay for it and the payment for that is eternal separation from God in help. But God doesn’t want us to go to hell. He wants us to go to heaven. They go to heaven. We have to be as righteous as God because heaven is perfect. God is perfect and we’re not. So we need a Savior. We cannot save ourselves. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the place. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from.

So Christ took the sin, paid from the cross, came back from the dead. And God said, if you knife. We’ll believe he did it for us. He would put that payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. When you believe that God saves you, gives you eternal life, you become His child. Now as a child of God, it is the will of God that all of God’s children, believe it or not, to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

Did you realize that this is not really so much is an option. This is a divine command. But in the midst of this command, for us to partake of the Lord’s Supper, He says, examine your own life. You don’t examine somebody else’s. Just your own. And if there’s anything in your life that is not right, you make it right. If there’s something that you need to confess to God, confess it, don’t hide things from you and God. God sees everything.

God just wants us to be honest with God. And so you’re looking back to what He did on the cross until He comes again. So you look back at the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and you’re looking forward to his coming again for us someday The Lord Supper does not save anybody It’s a divine command because it’s what God wants us to do to keep ourselves Examined and to do right and verse things in our life that are not right will make it right But it says not to partake of the Lord’s Supper Unworthy I want you to understand You’re important.

You’re important to God God needs you.” I have people say, well, you know, God doesn’t need you. Yes, he does. He said so. He created me because he needed me. You see, whenever I didn’t exist, I didn’t need God. I wasn’t there. But God has always been. He needed us. He wanted to bestow his love. He wanted to demonstrate us as the trophies of God’s grace in his mercy and what he can do for us. God wants to do a work in your life.

Do you really believe that? God has called you to Something that’s higher that anything else in this world and he loves you that much And he wants to do something with you and for you and through you Let the Lord be more real to you than anything else in the world And God will bless you for that. Let’s pray shower Our father would you thank you for loving us for giving us is a free gift eternal life and And Father, I pray that each person here, if they haven’t trusted your Savior, that they would, because we know that eternal life is free, not something we aren’t going to work for.

When He heads bowed and the eyes closed, no one looking around. If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you trust Him right now? Say something like this, Lord, I know I’m in the center, I believe Christ died, paid for my sin, and I’ll trust Him right now to take me to heaven when I die. You’ve never done it. Would you do it right now? If you have trusted Christ to save it, you’re God’s child. And also at this very moment, do you understand you have been called by God?

If you’re a housewife, a mother, that’s a calling. Do your calling, your vocation, whatever God has given to you as unto God. And whatever you do, wherever you work, that’s a calling of God. God has called you to be found faithful. I don’t get where it is, what you’re doing, be faithful to the Lord. I follow we ask the blessings upon each person here, that each person would understand they are called. They’ve been called by God Himself, a higher calling.

And that one day when we leave this world, we don’t want it to be said that I was disobeying to this heavenly vision. So bless us in Christ’s name we pray. 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 toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa.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. 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 on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-800-800-800-800. hundred five seven six three seven seven one online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calbury of Tampa dot org 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 to the book of Romans in chapter eight. Romans chapter eight. This is generally the scripture that many people like as perhaps their life burst, believing that all things work together for good. Because as they look at life, sometimes it doesn’t look like very much is good. You ever feel like it’s raining on you every day? Well, sometimes it seems like it rains on me an awful lot. I’m always in the midst of a storm. That’s why I said I was going to write a book called, Living on the side of the mountain.

It seemed like I never get to the top. I’m always, you know, one foot forward and slipping back two feet. But here in the book of Romans, as we talk about this thing about being called of God, as God called you, a sermon I preached down there in Florida, I asked a man that was sitting there, had just finished leading this thing, and I said, you got a cell phone on you? He said, yes I do. I said, let me have your cell phone.

So he brought me cell phone up here, and I pretended like, oh, excuse me, just a minute. I just heard God just call me on the phone. And so I took a phone call from God and then God told me something. I did that about three or four times. I said, see, God called me. God called me. And see, none of y’all could hear that, but I heard it. God called me on the phone. Well, a lot of times people, they say, you know, God never speaks to me.

God never speaks to me. And how does a preacher know when God called him to preach? Or a missionary? You know, here’s me. God called me to Ecuador. God called me to Peru. It seemed like wherever you want to go, say, God calls you. And there you go. Where do you really want to go? Well, God uses the desires of an individual. God says, the light thyself and the Lord, and he shall give the desires of thine heart. What do you desire?

What do you want? And so sometimes though, desires come from God. So it’s a good thing, it’s a great thing. But believe it or not, there is a high calling of God. The high calling of God is when you got a call from God. God called you. Well, does he God call just the men? Can God call a woman? And if he calls a woman, what did he call her to do? Well, I think that you’ll see this in just a moment.

But look there in verse 28, verse 28, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Now notice every person who trusts Christ’s Savior is really somebody who’s been called of God. You see, whenever somebody preached the gospel, He says, he that heareth my word and believe it on him, that sent me half everlasting life, he that heareth my word. So whenever someone preaches the Bible, gives the gospel, somebody heard it, and if they hear it, they gotta answer the call.

They gotta tell God, God, I heard you. They must believe that the message they heard didn’t come from the man. They must believe, and you must believe, and I must believe God is the one that’s speaking. God’s the one that says, I’m a sinner, not the preacher. God does. God must be the one that says, I paid for your sins through my son Jesus Christ. I did that for you. You must hear that and understand, believe that. And you must believe that when Christ came back from the dead, all you have to do is accept Christ as your savior.

And if you trust him, you’ll have eternal life. You must hear God say that. You must hear the word somehow. Faith cometh by what? Hearing. So when you heard it, you have to answer. So a lost man is simply you’re leading them to crisis, getting him to hear what God said so that he’ll answer the call. And what does God want him to do concerning what he heard? Well, if you hear that you’re lost and you hear that all you have to do is trust Christ’s savior to answer the call is to trust Christ’s savior.

Get it? See how simple that is? So every Christian has been called of God. You were called. I can say I’ve been called a God to be a pastor. God called you in other areas, not just on salvation that I want you to say. To get what he says, he says to them who love God to them who are the called according to his purpose. So God has called you. You are just as called of God as the preacher or missionary or evangelist.

Every man, woman, boy and girl who trusts Christ the Savior has been called by God. And if you answer it concerning salvation, then God will save you and give eternal life. So if you have eternal life, because you heard the call and you answered it. Now, look what he says there in verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the first born among many brethren So when God called you if to let you know that he wants you to be conformed to the image of his son So when God called you on the telephone, let’s just pretend for the sake of the services born in simplicity You’re gonna picture it God is calling you on the telephone and you heard the phone ring and you answered the phone Or just pretend

God calling you, but of course he calls you through the what? Do the word. Do the word. So whenever you sit down and read the word, as God is calling at your number and He wants to talk to you and you’re answering His call. Do you understand and do you really believe that God has called you to be conformed to the image of Christ? That means that in your life you’re supposed to take up on the image of Jesus Christ.

How How are you doing? How are you doing? You’re so, well, I don’t know. That’s what Yankee wants me to do. No, no, no, no. How are you? Nothing to do with Yankee. How are you doing to preacher? This is because you heard God call you and this is what God wants you to do. And that’s why he makes the statement here in verse 30. Look at verse 30. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also what? Called whom he called, then he also justified and whom he justified them, he also glorified them.

So have you been called of God? Yes, you’ve been called of God, just like the preacher says he’s been called to preach, you’re called to do this, a missionary, whatever you have been called. Now you just need to find out what did God call you to do? Because your calling is as important to you as mine is to me so that I have a ministry and you have a ministry. Now the Bible makes a statement in the book of Peter, it makes a statement about making your calling and election sure your calling.

Make sure that you heard right and you answered right. Kind of like giving you a test. Did you hear? Now take your Bible and turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and look in verse 13. two verses I want you to look at here. Because you need to be convinced, sure that God calls you, you hurt correctly and you answered the call the way God intended. In verse 13 he says, but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

In other words, God has predetermined before the foundation the world to save every person who answers the call. God called you. If you answer it, God is predetermined. He’ll save you. That’s what predestination is about. God has chosen before the foundation of our own who soever hears, who soever answers, I will save them. Call upon me and ye shall be saved. There is no other salvation anywhere. Now get what he says in verse 14. Where unto he called you by our what?

What’s that word? Gospel. So God calls through the gospel. So whenever I witness, whenever you witness, that’s the way God calls another person. You hear it. You heard the message. You answered the call. You trusted Christ’s Savior. So being a soul winner is simply you telling people what God said so that they can hear it. And it’s between them and the Lord then. But God uses people to explain that to people. And you don’t have to cross 3,000 miles of a body of water to become a missionary.

You don’t have to go to a foreign country to be a missionary. You’re either a missionary or you’re a mess. You should need to be reaching somebody or somebody needs to be reaching you. And if you’re not reaching somebody, you still need to be reached, not for salvation, but you need to be reached in order to be challenged so that you will reach. This is what it’s all about. So he says you’re in verse 14, where unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, through the gospel is how you obtain the glory or the perfection of Jesus Christ. God is perfect. Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God. When you heard the gospel, you answered it and say, I believe that and by believing that, that’s how you obtain the righteousness, the perfection of God. So God gave it to you. That’s how you got saved. Now, has God called you? Did you hear the gospel? And when you heard the gospel, what did you do about it?

You said, well, I believe it. Okay? With you believed it, then you are what the Bible calls. You’re called of God. You were called of God. God called you. So God spoke to you and you heard and you answered. So can God speak to you? Yes. Now, is there other things in the Word of God? Can God call you on the phone about other things? Well, yes, he can. Look there in Romans chapter 1. Romans and chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, and notice where it says in verse 1, he says, Paul a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.

God has not called you to be an apostle, but he could call you to be something else. But see, as I studied the Bible, I always wanted to find out, well, what does God want me to do? So I find out where his voice refers to me. See, there’s things that God told Moses to do that he didn’t tell me to do. I’m not Moses. There’s things he told Adam and Eve to do that he didn’t tell me. I’m not Adam and I’m not Eve.

Therefore I don’t have to worry about that. There’s a thing he told Israel to do, but I’m not Israel, so I don’t have to worry about that. But is there anything in the Bible that he’d tell me to do? Well, that’s what I gotta find out. Now look down in verse six. He says in verse six, “‘Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ? “‘You’re even looked upon as the Bible refers “‘to a group of people, those are the called of Jesus Christ.'”

That means you called and you heard salvation and then look what he says in verse 7, to all that be in Rome, the levered of God called saints. Call to be saint, call saint, to be is in the italics. So God says that when you trusted Christ as your Savior, God’s Word says that He called you to be a saint. You are a saint. Now you may not look like one. I have a sermon that I’m working on. It’s about the pig.

You know that you take out the muddle and you take them in your house and you put them in your bath of you wash the pig all up and you curl this tail and you spray them with some lily of the alley and the art piggy, piggy whatever you call it, and clean them all up spray and make them look good put a ring on them or whatever you want to do but if you turn that pig loose where’s that pig gonna head right back to the muddle.

Why? Tell a pig. But what we’re going to do is we’re going to change the pig and the pigs still going to look like a pig but we don’t want the pig to act like a pig and here you are. So you’re going to take on the image. We’re a little piggy’s. And we’re going to pig out but anyway I better stay back with this. Look give. In verse seven, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called saints, grace be to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So you are called a saint. What is a saint? It comes from a Greek word, Hagi Azo, meaning to be made pure and holy. So God, when he called you and phoned, said, I just want to let you know that whenever I called you and you answered, I made you pure and holy. You’re perfect because of what I did for you. And also I want you to understand that all things work together for your good. To those who are the called according to his purpose.

Do you believe that God has a purpose for you living here? Yes. You see if God didn’t need you, he would have let you die a long time ago. He’d have let the devil then it didn’t take care of you. As long as you can do this. Draw a breath and you got a purpose for living. Now, take your Bible and turn to the book of 2 Peter, chapter 1, 2 Peter, and chapter 1. on Peter 1. Some interesting scriptures here.

But in the book of Peter, there is the danger of a Christian having life without growth. There’s a danger of little children being born without growth. If they don’t grow, you know there’s something wrong. Or what about Christians that won’t grow? They’re saved, heavy turn of life. But as far as their spiritual walk with the Lord, they never get strong enough to handle spiritual responsibility. Children of God. And so these verses here from about verse three down to verse eight is talking about life without growth and then there’s another danger from verse nine down to verse 14 about Knowledge but having a knowledge without practice knowledge But it doesn’t do you any good is it possible that you could go to church every week never miss and never grow spiritually?

or never do anything with the knowledge. What’s interesting to me for years whenever I would preach, Eddie would always say that out there in the congregation. And he got to where he was pretty good at taking notes down of what I preached. And he would show me after the service he had wrote down every verse. Oh my point, he had better notes than what I had. But he would sit down here right down the notes and he’d write down the scriptures.

He got to where You know, after a while, he could tell where I’m going next. He says, no, he’s gonna go to this first. No, he’s gonna go to this first. No, this is what he’s gonna say. No, that’s reputation that you hear so often so on. You know where a person’s going to go. He says, I could just about do that. He said, I know what you’re gonna do next. And he goes here and he’s out listening to you on the radio this morning.

He says, no, I know he’s gonna do this and he’s gonna go to this first. And lo and behold, that’s why they called they’ve heard me camps. They come to ranch, they come to church. Well, after a while, you start learning. And the reason I say it over and over and over again is because that’s exactly what I want him to do. Now, Eddie likes to speak, and he preached for a little man a couple of weeks ago. And he loves this preach now.

But now he can remember, he got a better memory. He can remember the sermons. And he had all my notes. And he could recall doing a super job doing that. But what about you? When you sat down and you read the Bible, do you realize that there’s things you’re supposed to be learning? because you want to do. But remember, the things that he learned, that was 15, 20 years ago. And now, all these years later, he’s beginning to implement them.

See, this is why I say the work we do with the teenagers or the kids in Sunday school, you don’t have any idea down the road what God’s going to do with those individuals. But you keep telling them, keep teaching them. And because someday, those things come back to your remembrance. Every person in here, you can, well I should say, well you can remember when you were a child. I can remember back when I was four years old. I can remember all the way back before I was born.

No, I’m just joking. But look what he says in verse 10. Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you do these things He shall never fall. So it’s not the will of God for a child of God to fall, but we can stumble. But falling, God said, I’ll uphold you with my right hand, unless you just don’t want to walk with God. So we do a lot of stumbling in our life, and sometimes we fall, but God says that, all you gotta do is just get up and keep on walking with the Lord.

But some Christians, they don’t grow. They don’t put into practice the things that they’ve learned in their Christian life. take your Bible and turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 4, the book of Ephesians and chapter 4. This is what was written to the church at Ephesus, the church at Ephesus. So as this letter is written, remember he’s not just writing to preachers and missionaries, evangelists, believe or not have a high calling from Jesus Christ. Of all the phone calls you can get in this world.

Of all the people you could talk to and the people you can listen to. God called and the only thing that’s gonna make you different in this world than anybody else is if you’ll hear him and obey him then you’ll be different. Otherwise you’ll be just like everybody else who’s ever lived. You can Live your whole life and make no difference in the lives of other people. Nobody’s eternal destination has been altered. Nobody has been challenged to serve the Lord.

If you don’t let God change you, God must speak to you, and as you sit down and you’re home and you read the word of God, you must believe God is speaking to me. God is telling me this. This is why, like in 1960, when Dr. Virgil Edwards would speak, I did not listen as though I’m listening to Dr. Virgil Edwards. Whenever he would refer to the Bible, I always believe God is speaking me. This is what God wants to do.

me to has not do it, verse of Edwards. And because I listen to it from that point of view, it changed my life. You see, I don’t want you listening to the Bible as Yankee says, the preacher says, no, God said, and you have to believe. See the reason I go to church on Sunday morning, what? Because God says to do so. Yankee didn’t tell you to do that. I have no authority to tell you what to do. God does.

So whenever God says, upon the first day of the week, okay, on the first day of the the week. I wonder what day that is. That’s a Sunday. First day of the week and then you said, do not have no forsaken of yourselves together. In other words, and even more so as you see the day of fruit, in other words, the closer we get to the Lord coming, should I forsake the assembling of ourselves together? Some people say, well, I can worship God, I don’t have to go to church.

You can, but you’re not going to please God. Who’s the one said to go to church? The preacher of God. The preacher’s only telling you what God said. Outside of the Bible, the man has no authority, can’t do anything. But you must hear that. God is the one that told me to go to church on Sunday mornings. So that’s why I do it. And if God’s the one that tells me that I should give, well then why do I give?

Because God says so. And if the preacher says, no, no, I had not done it to the preacher. The preacher’s not the power. The power is the word. You hear God. I do what I do because God says so. I I don’t go to church because Leon wants me to. I don’t go to church because Tim wants me to. I go to church because God wants me to. Therefore, I don’t feel right when I disobey God because I believe that’s what God wants me to do.

But if you don’t believe it’s what God wants and God said it, well then if it’s just a man, well you can defy him anytime you want to. Who is he? I don’t have to give because Yankees want to say that I should do this or this and that. I don’t have to obey him. Who’s the think he is? You’re right. But did you hear God? If God called you upon the telephone and told you, this is what I want you to do, will you or will you not obey God?

That’s where it hangs. That’s why you do what you do. Who’s the one that wants you to be conformed to the image of Christ? I want you to, but I don’t have to command to make you do it. God does. But you must hear God wants me to be conformed to the image of Christ. God wants me to have a good testimony. God wants me to do right. God wants me to do this and do that. So you must hear God call you.

Now here in the book of Ephesians in chapter four, look in verse one. I therefore, Paul saying, the prisoner of the Lord, that word is do-loss in the Greek, and it means a bond slave. It means he is a bond slave, a love slave of the Lord. So I am a free man. God save me, set me free, and I have chosen voluntarily, I chose to be a bond slave of Jesus Christ. Lord, I’ll be your slave. Now, am I doing that to get to heaven?

No. I’m doing it because God says, I am in this world for a reason. He has called me to do something. And so as I heard the thing about the gospel and go ye into all the world and preach the gospel and so forth, I became addicted to the gospel. I am a gospel addict. That’s why the copy of my book back there, the thing of the gospel driven man, it’s all about the gospel. Why? Because I’m addicted to it.

I heard God say something about that, and it has so changed and motivated my whole life. Now get what he says. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation, wherewith ye are what? You are what? So you have a vocation. You ask something, what’s your thing? Well, I’m a doctor, I’m a lawyer, I’m this, I’m that, or whatever the, but God gave you one too. You are a servant of the Lord.

You are to be a bond slave of Jesus Christ. Therefore he says, walk worthy, walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. So have you been called of God? Yes. You have a calling just as much as a preacher, missionary or any evangelist, God called you. You’re called of God. You’ve been called by God to meet together with God’s people. You’ve been called by God to support missions. You’ve been called by God to the beef at that church.

You’ve been called by God to study His work. You’ve been called by God to pray. You’ve been called by God and you go through the book and there’s many precious promises God’s given us in His Word that are just as real for you as they are for me. And some of you’ve got has called to be a faithful husband and God called you to be a faithful wife and God called you to be faithful teenagers. Everybody has been called by God to be a good steward.

More of a steward is required to be found faithful. Have you been called of God? Yes. Have you answered the call? Are you a faithful steward of God? Well, God called you. You see, it’s the preacher’s just to lead you to guide you. But outside it has no power. Can’t make anybody do anything. I wish they could sometime. I give me a bull, but it won’t work. If I can’t get you to do what you do with truth, then you didn’t do it for the right reason.

Because you and I are both answerable to God. We do what God wants us to do with our life. But He makes a statement that you are worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. Didn’t get what He says here. In verse four, there is one body. One spirit, even as you get this, ye are called and one hope of your calling. You have a calling. This is to the church. This isn’t to the pastor, this is to the church.

But he makes a statement there in verse 12. Look at verse 12. That God has called some pastors, prophets, apostles, evangelists, teachers, as I said in verse 11, and get verse 12. for the perfect thing of the saint. That means the equipping of the saint. See, all I’m supposed to try to equip you to fulfill your calling. God has called you. That word perfect me to equip you with the tools necessary to answer the call. So if I am trying to teach you, but let’s just pretend you won’t come half the time.

That really cuts back on my teaching you, isn’t it? And if you only come half the time really cuts down on your being equipped to do the work of the ministry. True. But if you came all the time, as much as you can, the more you learn, the more you can do, the more you can answer the call of God. Is it important for the pastor to be faithful? Do you believe that when a man says that I have been called of God to be a pastor or called of God to be a missionary, called of God to be an the angels.

Don’t you believe that that should be a requirement? What about the pastor believing that about you? As God called you. And you’re supposed to be able to look into the word of God that God called me to be part of the body of Christ. This is the body. Look in verse four again. There’s one body, one spirit, even as you’re called and one hope of your column. is one true church, you are part of that. You have been called by God.

And in the local assembly, you’re called by God. Are you supposed to be found faithful? You are to be found faithful. It is the will of God. Now, of course, you can disobey it like we can and everything else. Nobody going to make you. It’s just that you’ll lose out on what you could have done or what the church could have done or the people that we could have reached or the missionaries we could have supported or the lost goes on and on and on.

What could be done if God people were faithful, but the result is they don’t think down the road is just whatever I want to do, whatever please me if it’s convenient. Now it’s the Lord’s work has to be a priority in your life. You’re a high calling must be a priority. 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.

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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 going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.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, we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.