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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Here in chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians, I want you to notice here in verse 9. 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 hath prepared for them that love him. The reason I want you to serve the Lord and to win people to Christ is because I have not seen and ear have not heard all the things that God has prepared for them that love him.

And if you love the Lord, he says, then obey my command. He says, if you will obey me, then I will honor you. So God wants you to discern him. He says, herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. God wants every one of us to bear fruit. We may not go to the foreign fields, but we can help. And that’s why it’s so important for you to learn, to sacrifice and to give. If you love God, you won’t mind it.

But if you don’t love God, you’re not going to want to witness. You don’t want to go to church. You’re not going to want to pray like you should or witness like you should when you’re not right with the Lord. But if you love Him, He says, then serve me. And so we prove our love and loyalty to Jesus Christ by living for him, by putting him first in our life. And every man has to make that decision for himself because no one can do it for anyone else.

I want you to notice that in verse 14, verse 14 tells us that the natural man, that’s the lost man, received if not the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness unto him, Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. The things of God are spiritually discerned. And the lost man does not have the Holy Spirit in dwelling them. And if the Holy Spirit doesn’t indwell him, then he cannot know the things that are freely given of God.

So you and I have a responsibility to first of all give to a lost man only that which it takes to open up his eyes so that he can see. You see, in the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 4, the Bible tells us that the gospel is the light that illuminates a person’s mind, that the Holy Spirit can take the truths of the gospel, which is the light of the knowledge of God and opens a man’s mind so he can see.

And once a man has his mind open and can see, he’s trusty Christ is Savior, bore him, then he can see other things, other truths in the Word of God. That’s why we do not try to get people in such deep Bible studies and teach them so many different things about the Bible until they’ve trusted the Lord. Because see, they cannot understand all the things. And God says they’re spiritually discerned. Look at your notes there. God wants the unsaved to trust Christ as their Savior and will help them understand the verses on the plan of salvation.

Wait until the person is saved before you start talking about service or any so-called deeper truths. Now the word of God is deep. I know sometimes some preachers go down so deep and stay down so long and come up so dry. I was always told if you don’t strike all in 20 minutes stop boring. So I’m not a long-winded preacher. You may think So, but I’m not. There are some preachers who talk for hours and say nothing. I would rather talk for about a half an hour, 35 minutes, 40, 45 or 50, and say something that will help you, that when you leave, it’ll make you more productive for the week.

So, what I’m trying to teach you right now is something to help you in your Christian walk. I want you to take your Bible-looking to book of John, chapter 16, the Gospel of John, and chapter 16. John 16 tells us that concerning the Holy Spirit, there is a ministry that He has. When you accepted Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells you, that very moment, forever. And you cannot leave the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit cannot leave you.

But the Bible says, well, we can grieve the Holy Spirit. We grieve Him by not yielding to Him, because the Holy Spirit within you is to lead you, to guide you, to teach you. Well, the Holy Spirit teaches you the word of God, but if you don’t open the word of God, or if you don’t go to church or sign and go where you don’t learn the word of God, the Holy Spirit doesn’t teach you. And you can pray all you want for the Holy Spirit to lead God and direct you.

But He does not lead God or direct you contrary to the scriptures and without the knowledge of the scriptures. That’s why you need to know the Bible. So you as a child of God, you may live all your Christian life and never have allowed the Holy Spirit to guide you. You guided yourself. You trusted the Lord and you lived your life the way you want to. You do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it and you don’t consider what God wants.

Now you can do that, understand that. And nobody can change you on that. Only the Lord. Now He may chasing you, make you wish you had served Him. But no individual can make another person serve God. All we can do is try to set a right example before others. We can challenge, we can rebuke, we can do all of them, but there’s no way to force a man to love God. It cannot be done. We are supposed to love God because of what He has already done for us.

And if what He did for you wasn’t good enough for you to serve Him, then you don’t have a good reason for serving Him. Because nothing else is going to work. I don’t serve the Lord because I’m going to get rewarded in heaven. I’m going to get rewarded, but that’s not my motive. I serve the Lord and I know that God promised that He’d blessed my life. But that’s not the reason that I serve the Lord. I serve Him because He died on the cross and paid for my sins.

and he kept me from going to hell. He saved me because of that. I have what I need to motivate me for the rest of my life. Now, not everybody feels the same way. They can take the free gift of eternal life and never darken the doors of a church, never open the Bible, never pray, never do anything. That’s their choice. I hope you’re different. Look in verse seven, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away.

If I go not away, the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, will not come unto you. But if I depart, I’ll send him unto you. When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father, and you shall see me tomorrow. Of judgment because the Prince of this world is judged. In other words, the purpose of the Holy Spirit living within you as you go into the world, he uses the message of the gospel to reveal to individuals that they’re unbelievers, and that they need to be righteous, and that they’re going to be judged.

So this message that we take to people is so very important. And every one of us heading in this room that no Christ is our Savior can be a soul and it means you can win a person to the Lord. Now I’m not talking about you just living a life in front of them. There’s people who call it the lifestyle of Angela. In other words, I’m just gonna live in front of people so holy that they’ll want what I have.

How long has it been since somebody came up to you because you live so holy and they want to live like you. Now, very few, if ever, and you can live your whole life, and nobody will ever ask you. That way you get all the on and all the glory because you’re so holy, but they don’t know why you’re doing it unless you open your mouth, and you’ll let them know that what the Lord means to you, and you can be used of the Lord.

So that’s why these verses are important. Do things in order. The Bible says be disciplined. Do all things decently and in order. As you explain the plan of salvation to someone, you need to be sensitive to notice which areas you need to deal with at length. In other words, once you’ve convinced a man that he’s a sinner, move on. It should be the easiest thing in the world to convince a person that they are a sinner, but it’s not really that easy.

Let me relate to a good incident. I’ve done it before, but I’ll share it to you again. I was in Colorado and I was getting on the plane to go to Tampa, Florida. I sit down on the plane and there was an open seat right beside me, and I was hoping that somebody was sitting there that I could witness to. And so I waited and lo and behold, the last person to come down the aisle was this woman dressed in silk and wrapped from head to toe, all over.

You could see her face, and she walked down the aisle and I wondered, I wonder where she’s gonna sit and guess where she’s at? Right beside me. And I thought a victim. I mean, where can she go? She can’t run away. And anyway, plain took off, we’re flying along and I’m gonna strike up a conversation. I said, where are you from? She says, pay Rue. I says, where? She says, pay Rue. I says, you mean, Peru? Yeah, pay Rue.

And I asked her, I says, what was you doing in Denver? She says, my, he, right, he. I said, what? She says, my, he, right, he. I said, what do you mean, Mahiraji? She says, me worship Mahiraji. I said, oh. I said, where are you going to go with your diet? She says, I’m going to heaven. Wow. How do you know you’re going to heaven? She says, me perfect. She says, me perfect. I said, no, nobody’s perfect. Only God perfect.

Nobody perfect. She says, ah, me perfect. I had never met a perfect person before. Never. And here setting beside me was a perfect individual. Because she said so. I says, no, nobody’s perfect. Everybody does things wrong. No, no, no, no, me perfect. I thought, can’t get them saved until you get them lost. I can’t get this woman lost. And so I couldn’t think. I was thinking for a minute. And she was writing something and she would tell me something in her language and she was explaining a word and she would do write some more stuff and then she’d write some more and then she’d erase a little bit and she’d write something.

And not the one I thought, what the hell? I said, you know perfect. She said, yeah, me perfect. I said, no, you know, you know perfect. I said, see, you write something? Then you turn the pencil over and then you erase. I said, the reason you erase because you make a mistake and on the plane, she goes, hi. And here come the stewardesses are running up down the aisle. They thought I’d go raping this woman beside me. She never spoke to me another word.

The rest of the trip. It blew her mind and all I had to do was and sugar. She thought she was perfect. I was witnessing to one man one day at a truck stop. And he says, I like you to know I haven’t sinned in 40 years. I ain’t sinned in 40 years. I says, you’re lying. He said, no, I ain’t sinned in 40 years. Well, I thought I’m going to keep on until I see that he does. And I did.

I got him so mad at me, he wanted to choke me. He came after me. I had happened in a church one time, two in the back of a church. It was the preacher of the church. He ain’t sinned in about 30 years. Well, when I got through with him, he did. I made him so mad. He came after me in the deacons had to get a hold of him to keep him from getting on me. I said, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.

You just lost your religion. I said, 30 years. And I blew it all for you in one minute. I mean, one day. You see, you shouldn’t do that. Well, I know that now. But back then, I didn’t care. This here’s a smart, elegant person that I ain’t sinned in 40 years. The Bible says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in. I say, you’re lying. Anyway, there’s a whole story on it, but we won’t have time for that right now.

You are a center. Everybody’s a center. Look at number one. I want you to believe this and know how to present it to an individual. Don’t do it the way that I have done it. I tell you that because some people are like I used to be. Very unkind, very rude. You may be right, but the way you’re doing it, you’re not going to win nobody. I convinced them, well, I don’t know if I ever convinced them or not, well, I convinced where they were at the center.

But on how to get saved, they wouldn’t listen. Everyone is a center. Less perfect than God means you’re not perfect. You’re not like God. There’s only one that’s perfect and that’s the Lord. If you compare your life with that of those around you, you might feel you are a good person. But when you compare even your best qualities with those of the Almighty God, you will see that you are not as perfect as God. Nobody is. One word God uses when he says, we sin is harmatano in the Greek, it means to miss the mark.

We miss the mark of God’s perfection. Now the verse that’s wrote down here for you, Romans chapter three and verse 23. Look what he says here in your note. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible teaches all, and that means all, have sinned. Whatever sin is, yep, you’ve done it. Whatever it is, you’re guilty of it. I’m not interested in listing what kind of sins you committed because everybody has sinned. And the Bible says for all have sinned, come short of the glory of God.

Short of God’s perfection. It means that we have missed the mark. As a man would take a bow and arrow and shoot the arrow and it missed the mark. Doesn’t matter how close you got, you missed the mark of perfection. So everybody, the Bible says, born into the world is a sinner, has missed the mark of perfection. We have people today that believe that the Virgin Mary never sinned. That’s not true. She was born into this world. She was a sinner.

That’s why she even said unto Christ concerning my Savior. You see, you don’t need a Savior if you’re perfect. So Mary was a sinner. She had an understanding. She had a The federal is a sinner has missed the mark of perfection. We have people today that believe that the Virgin Mary never sent. That’s not true. She was born into this world. She was the sinner. That’s why she even said unto Christ concerning my Savior. You see, you don’t need a Savior if you’re perfect.

So Mary was a sinner. old sinful nature just like you and just like me. She was guilty of sinful thoughts, harboring those things in her heart just like you and just like me.” You see, what about the Pope? I even got his name down here. The Pope is supposed to be infallible. No, he is not. How can somebody who was born a sinner? He lives a sinner. He dies a sinner. He is a sinner. The Pope is a sinner.

no better than anyone else in the whole world. It doesn’t matter how many people believe their religion, and if he puts on a royal robe and a high-pointed crown and people bend down and kiss his toe. His toe is no better than my toe. You ought to see my toe. I’ve got a pretty toe. And after the service this morning, I’m going to take off my shoe And my sock and I want all the people in here to come down and bow and kiss my toe.

Would you do it? Why in the world would they do it to that man? Worship in some man, bow in to some man. That’s hypocrisy. That’s idol worship. That’s sin against God. All men, all women, all people, your mama is a sinner. This one guy says, I’ve only heard about one person in this world that was perfect. I said, who’s that? My wife’s ex-husband. The pope, your minister, your mother, you and I, we are all sinners. You need to understand, believe it, because everybody in the whole world needs a savior.

The guy at the bank, the president of the bank, the doctor, the lawyer, the football player, all everybody needs a savior. You say well, I don’t know how to talk to a doctor. I wouldn’t know how to talk to a lawyer or a judge. Why? You talk to them the way you would anybody else. I Believe it or not was 23 24 years old Down in Florida going to Bible college and somehow it worked out where I wound up witnessing to football players I didn’t even know what a quarterback was.

I thought it was a refund. I never played football I didn’t know how many guys was on a team. Didn’t even know. I’m 24 years old. I could care less. I didn’t know what a fall back was and a quarter back was and a half back was. They all look the same size to me. But I didn’t know the various positions. I didn’t know what they did. And here I am given devotion for football players. And they became the national champs.

How did you get to work with those football players? I didn’t understand football. I didn’t talk to them about football. I didn’t try to talk to them about it. Now let me tell you how to run. If you give me the ball, if they come after me, you could have the ball. Don’t give Yankee the ball. But you see, you witness to a person in something that you’re a specialist in, the gospel. Going to all the world and preach the gospel.

And you don’t have to know all this other stuff, but do explain how a person can be saved. Ecclesiastes 7, 20 says, for there is not a just man that doeth good in sin, there isn’t one. Number three, but we all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness, now you are the underlying that in your nose, all our righteousness, not all our sins. Did you understand all our righteousness are as filthy rags in God’s eyes. Not the bad that you do, the best that you can do.

Did you know that going to church and reading your Bible and praying and all these good things that you do is a sin when you’re doing it to get to heaven? All the good deeds you do and you trust in those good deeds that you do to get you to heaven, that’s a sin. That’s wickedness. Those are works of of Iniquity. God says, your righteousness, the best you have, is as filthy rags, stinks in the nozzles of God. That’s why you don’t try to get people to live a good life to go to heaven because that doesn’t get you to heaven.

You can’t live good enough to get to heaven on your works. We’re all sinners. Look at the presentation. Be careful how you point out a person is a sinner. First of all, you should always admit that you are. You know I used to be a sinner. I got news for you. You still are. Sometimes there’s a song we sing. I was once a sinner, but I… Are you still a sinner? I was once a sinner, but you still are.

You still are a sinner. Now we can sing the song, but the thing is the truth you need to understand your mind is that you still sin. Now God no longer sees you as that. He sees you as a saint, not Bernard, but now notice, admit you are and he will be willing to admit he is. An effective statement is God says, everyone is a sinner, I am, you are, we all are. See that means that you’re not trying to put yourself above somebody else.

Don’t go around looking down your long fair silica nose and thinking you’re like Kellogg’s corn flakes just a little bit better. You’re not better. You are a sinner. We’re all sinners and God says there is no difference. He’s, well I know I’m better than so and so in whose eyes. Now you may morally live better than somebody else, but whether you are a sinner or not, you are. Remember this, a man that’s 99% saved and 1% lost is 100% lost.

You’re 100% lost. Well, he’s so close. He’s so close. It doesn’t matter how close you are, you’re either saved or lost. I’ve talked to people and said, well, no, I’m not saved right now, but I’m working on it. You can’t work on it. I’ll get saved when I can live it. When can you live it? Only after you’ve got it. If you happen to know that the person is very moral, compliment him. That’s nice, that’s fine, you know. But are you perfect, sir?

Well, nobody’s perfect. You got that right. I’m not either. Don’t ever put yourself as though you’re better than somebody else, and you’re going to heaven because you’re so good. You are not that good. You’re only going to heaven because Christ died and paid for your sins, and you’re going to heaven because you’ve accepted Him as your Savior. It’s the only reason that you and I will go to heaven. Number two, never act like or imply that we are holy because of personal righteousness.

Neither is it wise to go to the other extreme. Don’t tell him your past sins. In other words, going to all those old bad things that you’ve done over this, including it. Boy, I really was bad. You wanna see what I did? No. You may hint that you’ve done some things wrong and some things, but you don’t teach to do that. I’ve told people that whenever I got married, We run away and got married. But I’m not suggesting that everybody who wants to get married run away and get married.

Don’t use phrases like I used to be a sinner, but now I’m saved. You still are a sinner, but you’re a safe sinner. You’re saved, you’re going to heaven. The reason these words are so important because there’s people in this world that think Christians think they’re too high in mighty and you’re better than I am. And you think that I got to live like you to get to heaven. And most people think Christians are number of hypocrites anyway. true.

And all you want to do is be honest. You say, well, what do you, I am a sinner. Number three, sometimes a person will feel he is too great a sinner for Christ to save. An effective statement is God cannot save a good person. Romans 3, 12 says there is none good, no not one. If God can save the chief, he can save the Indians. In 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 15, says more over it, it makes this statement, Jesus Christ can save anybody, anybody.

And that Paul says, I am a sinner. I am the chief of sinners. And if God can save the chief or the worst, well then he can save all the rest of the Indians. So it doesn’t matter how many things a man has done. It doesn’t matter how bad he’s been or what you’ve done. God can save you and give eternal life. It doesn’t matter how many good deeds you’ve done. If you’ll trust Christ, He’ll still save you anyway.

But no man is saved by His works. You don’t go to hell because you did bad things and you don’t go to heaven because you did good things. It’s not true. The Bible says that our sins have already been paid, but a person rejects the payment that Christ made on the cross for him. You always keep the issue between the Bible and that individual. In other words, you don’t go around talking to them about, you know, in my opinion is, as you’ve heard, opinions are like armpits.

Everybody got them, they all stink. So does yours. So does mine. But always keep it between God and the person. The Bible says, you know, the Bible says blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, the Bible says we’ve all sinned. You know, the Bible says Christ died and paid for our sins. You know, God says that none of us are good. Always the God said, the Bible says, and as much as possible show them what the Bible actually teaches. Look up here just a moment.

This hand representing you and me and the wall of represents sin. Now, when I’m doing this, I’m taking you so winning with me. If we were sitting in a house, this is what I would do, and I want you to watch me, because I want you to do this. I want you to learn how to do this and be effective at it. I think if I do it a couple of times, you’ll kind of catch up on it. So I only do it maybe once every Sunday morning.

By me doing that, you’re gonna learn it. Maybe this is you and me, and this is sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us, hates our sin. You want the person to know God loves them. He hates the sin. He loves the person. And the Bible says the wages of sin is death and for us to pay for that sin is eternal separation from God in a place called hell. But he loves us and wants us to go to heaven.

To go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God. Nobody’s perfect. Nobody can save themselves. It’s not by your works. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord, God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin because our sin separates us from them. See, that’s why God hates sin because it separates us from Him. I always remember that. So what Christ did because He loves us so much and sin separates us, He took care of the sin because you couldn’t.

Paid for it on the cross came back from the dead and says, now there’s nothing to keep you and me apart except your choice. He did that because He took the initiative. He wants you so bad. That’s why he’s also placed within you a desire to want to know God. And now you have that chance. If you’ve never trusted Christ’s Savior, there’s nothing to keep you from Him except your own will. He’s already made the payment for the sin.

And if you accept Him as your Savior, say, He’s willing to accept you. When you accept Him, the Bible says a union takes place and He gives to you His life and He’ll never separate Himself from you. He’ll never cast you out. You are united with Him for how long, forever. Sin can never separate you from God, never again. You’re His child and you’ll go to heaven whenever you die. And God said He gives you eternal life. You go to heaven on what He did for you.

That’s the best notion of where a lot of people don’t know that. You do. And God wants you to share it with others. You’ve been listening to another great message from Dr. Arnold, and we hope that Bibleline is a blessing to you. In appreciation for your support of this ministry, we’d like to send to you a gift. During this month, for a gift in any amount, we’re going to send Dr. Arnold’s teaching on the subject of marriage. This nine lesson CD series includes titles such as God’s View of Divorce, eight pressures of raising children, how to love your wife, and the humorous but insightful teaching, and then the war began.

Whether you are For married, single, or dating, you will certainly benefit from this teaching series on God’s design for marriage and divorce. And this CD Series is yours for a donation at any amount. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. God bless you and thank you again for supporting Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. And we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.