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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 Bibleignmenistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of First Corinthians, verse Corinthians chapter 2. I told you I wanted to kind of wrap up where I started this morning and just kind of ran out of time. Do you remember this? Think about this. What will help you in understanding the so-called evidence of salvation? You know to prove your say. Let’s say for example that I have a man right here. He’s a lost man. I share with him the gospel.

I tell him all about how God loves him, send his son Christ to die for his sins and paid for everything he’s ever done. Come back from the dead and said if he would be lead that he did it for him, God would put the payment that he made to his account and he would be saved from hell. He wouldn’t go to hell because there’s no sin for him to for him, Christ paid for it all, and He believes it that moment.

When is He saved? When is He saved? That very moment. That very moment. That very moment. He saved. And God gives him eternal life. Can that very moment, can He know that He saved? What would be the only thing that he would have at that moment that he would have that he saved. Hm? God said so. That’s the only evidence you ever need. Isn’t it true at that moment? That’s the only thing you have to go on because you don’t have no life to look at.

You haven’t lived yet. It has nothing to do with you turning from sin, committing your life to Christ. has nothing to do, what you’re going to do tomorrow or the next day or the next year, nothing changes this moment. And the reason I know that I am saved because that day I trusted Christ as my Savior, I knew that day, that hour, that moment I was saved and I’m going to heaven when I die. And the only thing that I had to look at was what did God say?

If I believed I have everlasting life, that’s all the evidence I have ever needed. There isn’t any other piece of evidence to guarantee to you, you’re saved. that we’ve got done out of the way. What if down the road and people often say this, I don’t remember the day, I don’t remember the hour. I know I’m saved, but I don’t remember when. Don’t worry about it. Because the Bible says the Lord knoweth them that are His. The Lord knows those that are His.

That’s because has all the evidence. You see, he knows when you believed, doesn’t he? He knows the very day you believed it. He knows the hour you believed it. He knows that very moment you believed it. He’s the one that gave birth to you. So therefore you have two evidences. Let everything be established in the mouth of two or more. One is you were there when that happened. And I guess you ought to know. You believed it. And that moment God saved you.

Now nothing anybody else says or does can change that or alter that. There’s nothing that you can do that can ever change it. So the Lord says in his word, we have this foundation. The Lord know of them, that are His. So the Lord knows things you didn’t forget about. And you might even get to where you’re not even sure it’s saved anymore. God has not forget. It won’t be something for you to think you’re going to hell after a while.

And Lord, behold, you died and you wake up in heaven. Surprise! You made it. And you realize all because you trust the Lord. That’s the only thing that’s going to get you to heaven. None of your works will ever have any part in it. Now based upon that, take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians 2, where it makes the statement in verse 9, but as it is written, I have not seen or heard. Neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them, not loving, but God hath revealed them unto us by a spirit.

Yea, the Spirit searches all things, ye the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man? Say the Spirit of man which is in him. Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Now keep us in mind. When you trusted Christ as your Savior, Things that you didn’t know about God The Holy Spirit does So if God gave you his Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit knows everything about God Then the Holy Spirit can teach you things about God.

You can’t learn from no one else If that is true, and I believe it is the Holy Spirit lives within you and he is the author of this book Isn’t it wonderful to sit down with the most important book in all the world and have the author sitting right there with you to teach you, thus, say of the Lord? And the Holy Spirit can reveal things to you that you didn’t even know existed or thought about and God can quicken your mind and lighten your understanding so that you can have spirit of discernment.

Now why can’t the lost man understand it because the lost man doesn’t have the Holy Spirit of God. That’s why he says the natural man, theapeshifter, cannot discern the things of God because these things are spiritually discerned. He doesn’t have the Holy Spirit living within him. So you and I have an advantage of knowing things about God, the loss man cannot know. So he makes a statement here in verse 12, now we have received past tense, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God and doesn’t cost you anything.

In other words, the reason for God through the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind is to give to you discernment so that you can know and really understand right and wrong from God’s viewpoint. See in your eyes and my eyes, I don’t see anything wrong with that. I don’t see why I can’t do this. I don’t see. remember those words? I don’t see. I don’t see anything. I don’t see. When a person can’t see, what does that mean? They’re blind.

They’re blind. Can a Christian be blind concerning the will of God? Yes. So you see, as you study the Word of God, it’s the Word of God through the Holy Spirit that enlightens causes you to see, causes you to understand. This is why we want people to go to Bible school so they can have their eyes really opened. And look what he says now in verse 13, which things, the things of God, which things also we speak not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches and get this comparing spiritual things with spiritual or by spiritual means.

So you have to understand what the Lord wants you to know and God makes some wonderful statements here and I want you to see them because it’s so important. In verse 14, the natural man receive if not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, he cannot know them and here’s why, because they are spiritually discerned or spiritually understood. You have to have the Holy Spirit of God that illuminates your mind so that you can see and understand.

You see up here when he says in verse 10, but God hath revealed them? That’s revelation. And when you look down there in verse 12 where it says, now we have received not the spirit of the world. See, this becomes illumination. And then when you read down there in verse 13, the Holy Ghost teaches comparing spiritual things that’s inspiration. So we have some wonderful things that God wants us to know because there’s some wonderful things God wants us to do.

I want to do with my life what the lost man can’t do. There’s a lot of things that could be done in this world. I’ve often thought about it. I guess I could have been a car salesman. Man, I got a salesman. I don’t know. You know, be able to talk somebody into doing something. I was told James was the car salesman. Is that right? He can talk anybody anything. You want to hear him some of the time he’s talking to these guys in here.

He can talk to him in the trust and crisis, save it just like that. And I think it’s wonderful. But now, notice in the next verse, verse 15, look what he says, but he that is spiritual judges all think that means you’re able to discern all the things that God’s talking about. If you’re a spiritual person because you’re letting the Holy Spirit teach you, lead you, guide you. And so you are able to discern, but look at the last part of verse 15, yet he himself is judged of no man.

In other words, the lost man cannot discern him. He can’t discern why he does what he does. Now, most people would never be able to figure out why a bunch of teenagers got so in it. Or why some people would dedicate their life to become a missionary, go to the foreign fields. You think, they’re wasting their life. Oh really? God only had one son. And he was a missionary. Sounds pretty good to me. If it was good enough for him, good enough for me.

And then what he says here in verse 16, For who had known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. You see, the Word of God came from God. And the Holy Spirit of God that knows everything about God takes the word of God and helps you to know the mind of God. So you can understand the mind of Christ. You know how you think? So that you can discern. So as you begin to live your life, there’s things that we do and don’t do that.

Well, maybe we don’t have the correct discernment and we cannot make the best decisions because we don’t know how to judge. So that’s why we are to do this. Now what I want you to see is turn over there of 1 Corinthians and chapter 6. A lot of people, they come across this verse and it just blows them out of the water. I mean, they can’t understand. Why would God put this in here? In the word, you’re talking along here, everything’s flowing pretty smooth and then right in the middle of everything he’s talking about.

And like in verse 8, may you do wrong and defraud and that your brother and then in verse nine. No, you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. What? So he’s talking about there were some Christians that were, you know, sex outside of marriage. They were doing bad. And then he comes off and says, no, you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, idolaters, or daughters. This is what they were doing.

See this right there in chapter 5. That’s what they’re doing. Look what he says there in verse 1 of chapter 5. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you. Such fornication as is not so much is named among the in the other word, you’re saved people living worse than the lost people. See, a lot of people don’t think, well Christians can’t do those things because you’re a Christian now. Or you won’t do those things because you know you won’t have the desire to do those bad things anymore.

Well, wait a minute. What is he saying that there’s believers that are worse than the lost in their life and that he should have his father’s wife? Now, when you read all of this… And then he says there in verse 9, the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Okay, well, what are you going to do with this? And then he makes the statement, be not deceived. Neither fornicators, idolaters, the feminists, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkard, revilers, extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Now that’s pretty bad. All of a sudden because, you know, hey, Christian, you’re being bad. And then he throws that at him. Why would he do that? I mean, we know that you’re not supposed to, you can’t lose your salvation. How come then if you can’t lose your salvation, you can inherit the kingdom of God. And then he’s talking to these Christians. There’s a problem here. Now I’ll be honest with you, I’d venture to say that probably 90% of most Christians haven’t got a clue how to answer those verses because that’s why they teach that a person has to have a change in their life.

You can’t do those things and live like that and claim that you’re saved. Save people, don’t live in sin. Okay? What are we going to do with it? Put it in its context and it’s not quite as bad. Let me show you this. Look what he says here because there’s a few places that talks about it. But look in verse 6 of chapter 5. He says, your glory is not good. No ye not, that a little 11, 11th the whole lump.

No ye not. In other words, don’t you know this? He shouldn’t explain something to them, but evidently they don’t know it. And then he makes a statement down there in verse 2 of chapter 6, do ye not know that the saint shall judge the world? Verse three, no ye not that ye shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? So he’s talking about these believers they’re in Corinth not been able to judge not being able to judge the things of this life not been able to discern and because they can’t discern they’re not making wise decisions for their own lives.

So they got a problem. Now look what he says there in chapter 3 and verse 1. He says, and I brethren could not speak unto you as under spiritual. So evidently, they were not spiritually minded. They did not have the discernment that they needed, and therefore they were not as wise as they ought to be and their lifestyle revealed that they were not making good decisions for themselves. So he makes the statement here in verse 1, he says, I could not speak unto you as un-spiritual but as under carnal.

Carnal means fleshly minded. Those who were walking in the flesh. Christians that walk like a lost man, Christians that live for the world, do everything in the book. And yet the Bible says this, they were written to the saints at Corinth. These are saints living like the devil. I’ve had people say, well, you can’t tell me you can go out here and live like the devil and still go to heaven when you die. Then you don’t the Bible. Didn’t David do some things that were think he’s living like the devil?

How many wives did Solomon have again? 700 wives and 300 concubines. A thousand of them. Did you know that he didn’t get away with it? God still judged, said it’s still wrong. And see, just because, well, they did it in the Bible, that doesn’t make it right, didn’t mean God approved. Sin is still sin. Look, whatever she says here, in verse 2, is that I have fed you with milk, not with meat. For hitherto, you were not able to bear it, neither yet.

Now, are you able? In other words, you should be able, you should be able to be mature and discerning. In other words, When you talk about giving you meat, I mean giving you something that you can discern more than what you had before. You see, there’s not real milk in the Bible. It’s not real meat. It’s the teachings of the Word of God. It’s what you’re able to understand. And some people cannot understand the power of discernment of right and wrong.

And so he says, don’t you know, Don’t you know? Don’t you know? And their answer was no, I don’t know. They did know they could not understand. He said, I can’t speak unto you as under spiritual. I gotta talk to you like you’re a bunch of babies. These were Christians babes in the Lord. And look what he said and look why he said it. In verse three, he says, for ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you, envy and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as me?

or the natural man that doesn’t have the spirit of God. You see, there should be a difference between those who have been enlightened, they can make better decisions. And you’re able to guard your testimony and seek to serve a Lord. Just because I don’t teach there ought to be a change in your life, well maybe there ought to be, but doesn’t have to be. Doesn’t mean it must be. And you don’t, it’s a sign you’re not saved. know it’s a sign you’ve got an oath and for nature.

Them not doing right was a sign. They had an oath and for nature. And so he says, your carnal minded, you walk like lost people. You can’t discern. And so when he gets over here in the chapter six, go back to chapter six, unless you had come up and evidently in these verses, they weren’t doing too good. had a lot of problems. These people had about 14 major church problems. Why? Because they were acting like babies. They hadn’t matured.

They hadn’t let the Holy Spirit teach them and guide them. They didn’t yield to it. So they were still acting and talking and thinking like a lost man. So he says here in verse 1 of chapter 6, he says, dare any of you, having a matter against another. Go to law before the unjust and not before the saints. So what is he talking about? Here’s believers in a church. They got problems. He says, among yourselves, against one another in the church.

So what are they doing? Taking each other to court, taking each other to court. And so Paul in writing to them admonishes them, don’t you understand you are going to be judging the angels? You are going to be judging the lost the world. You are. Can not you judge even the smallest matters among yourselves? Don’t you have any discernment? Can’t you figure out what’s wrong between two people and solve the problem? Why are you going to the court? Why are you going to the judge in the world?

And so he says in verse 4, if then you have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. In other words, isn’t there anybody that you can say, would you help me? Would you give me some spiritual guidance? Is there anybody you can get some good spiritual Godly counseling from without going to the world? Why would you want to go to the world? Remember, God’s people that have the Holy Spirit to discern right from wrong and things that pertain to the Kingdom because see the things that happens to us in this life though you may not solve all the problems is how you respond to them because God is going to reward you later and when he rewards you later because of the Kingdom of God that’s why you make the decision that you make that’s why you

don’t retaliate. That’s why you don’t get even. That’s why you don’t need to be filled with envy and bitterness and hatred and jealousy because you have something more to live for. There’s another reason. And if you’re spiritually minded, you can discern this, but if you’re not, you’re not going to discern it. Why would you want the people in the world that do not know spiritual things, judging spiritual things among you. Are you following me so far? Can you follow my thinking?

You go to sleep, you’re not going to catch it at all. Because majority of people never understand this little bit of portion of scripture, they get all balled up about it. Now look what he says. Look there now in verse 5. I speak this to your shame. Is it so that there’s not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren, but brother, goeth the law with brother and that before the Ennure on the line, that word, the unbeliever.

But remember as you put it into its context, the natural man receiveeth not the things that you have to do with the Bible. of the Spirit of God because they’re spiritually discerned. And he doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, so he cannot discern spiritual things. So why would you want the natural man, the lost man, trying to give you spiritual guidance? A lot of times I’ve had married people have a problem and they go get him some philosopher, some psychologist that don’t know a thing about God to help solve their spiritual problem.

When they got a pastor that won’t charge him a cent and tell them spiritual answers to their spiritual problems. And if you’ll do what God says do, it’ll work. But they’ll pay thousands of dollars to some nut to tell them, now tell me what your problem is. You don’t even have to tell me your problem. I can tell you the problem. So how can you do that? Because I can discern. I know what marriage is all about. I know just about every problem you can ever face.

I’ve been doing this for a little while. Plus I’ve been married for 52 years and I got a great spiritual advisor. She’s smart. That’s no lie. She is very discerning because she knows the Lord and she can see things so quickly, a lot quicker than what I do. But now notice. So as you go down through here and he says they’re in verse six, but brother go to law with brother and that before the unbeliever. Now, therefore, there is utterly a fault among you because you go to law with one another.

Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nobody’s going to treat me wrong and get away with it. You say something bad about me, but I’ll get you back with the last thing I do. That’s just the way I am. Ain’t nobody walking on me. Hi, God. No floor mat. God bless you. Boy, you’re sticking up for your rights. And then when you read verses like this, it’s almost totally contrary to my nature.

I do have an old simple nature. I do have a little problem with pride, every once in a while. And yet God says, why don’t you just let people wrong you? You don’t have to make it right. You don’t have to get even. Why? Because for the kingdom of God’s sake, we’re not here to win arguments. We’re here to win souls. And you may fight for your right, but the way you do it is wrong. And it may not accomplish the thing when it’s all over.

Are you a new listener to Bibleline? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well, if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel-driven man. Every day we receive many emails from folks who have questions about repentance and salvation, about faith in works, and about how to share the gospel with friends and loved ones. This book, The Gospel-Driven Man, covers all those topics, and we want all new listeners of Bibleline to receive a free copy.

There’s no obligation, no donation necessary simply call us at 1-800-576-3771 or write to us and request your free copy of the Gospel-Driven Man. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address, and God bless you and thank you for listening to 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.