This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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

You know we’re having communion service today, don’t you? You saw that. Some people are very discerning. You know some people can’t discern anything at all. Here you are as a child of God and still struggling in your Christian life because of a few things you may not be able to discern. We’re gonna talk about that this morning. Once you take your Bible and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter one. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, I want to run through a few things because there’s something that the Apostle Paul wanted the children of God to be.

Now they trusted the Lord, they’re God’s children, they’re going to heaven, but things were not right. All was not well in the Corinthian church. So he made the statement that he wanted to present them blameless to the Lord. Now in Christ we are blameless. In Christ we’re holy. In Christ we’re perfect. But when we stand before the Lord and God rewards us according to what we did in the body. So yes, we are in Christ, but we’re also in this body, in this world.

And there’s things that God wants us to know because if we know them, we might do them. So look there in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and notice in verse 2, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ. means you’ve been made pure and holy by trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior. You’ve been called a saint. You’re set apart. You’re holy. Greek word, hagi-aso, meaning to be made pure and holy, sanctified, set apart.

You belong to the Lord. Now that’s how God sees you. So He also says there in the last part of that verse, called to be saints. With all that in every place call upon the name of Christ. Now, this is important to know your position that you have in Christ. You see, these Christians were not living like saints. They had a problem with carnality. You see, what does that mean? Carnal means you’re saved, but you’re living in the flesh.

You’re living as though you’re not saved. You’re living like a lost man. It was interesting yesterday or the other day I had a guy call me upon the phone and he says, now I’m getting this and it’s really helped me about this salvation thing. So now he says, I am so glad that I’m going to heaven because now I can go out here and rate all the women I want, molest all the little children that I want. And I discerned that he was pulling my leg.

And I said, sir, I don’t believe that what you’re saying is true and that you don’t really believe that.nil I says, you’re forgetting what=[God says about his children. See, trusting Christ is your Savior. Yes, we do get to go to heaven when we die. But there is a responsibility that God has placed upon his children. And you can live as you, but you cannot live as you please and get away with it. So I want you to notice this.

Look there in verse 4. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. Now they’re saved by grace. They have eternal life. They’re going to heaven when they die. So this is what God has done for them. But now. You He uses what we call the sandwich technique. You know, when you’ve got to rebuke somebody, you say something really nice about them. And then you just slack them a little bit, and then you say something nice about them.

So you sandwich it between two wonderful things, you know, the correction. Try this with your kids, they’ll work a little bit better. Don’t just slack them around. compliment him, find something to brag on him about if it’s possible. Now, he says, these people, you were right up there. I mean, as far as any Christian goes, look who you are. Look what you have got. Verse 7, so that you come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now until Christ comes back, you have been given and blessed by God to have certain gifts, abilities. God has given you a ministry. And in verse 8, who shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now when you stand before the Lord in His righteousness, you’re as righteous as perfect as God. But God’s not going to reward you for the work Christ did, or what the Holy Spirit did.

He’s going to reward you for what you did. So there is an personal accountability. Now as you go through the book of Corinthians you’ll also see from two different point of views. One is where he addresses the body as a whole, all the believers. But how do you deal with the individuals that make up the body when they’re disobedient? You see a lot of preachers today they try to correct the disobedience of believers by adding works to the gospel to get them to commit themselves to live a certain way, turn from their sins.

Don’t do that even more, not bad. And commit to serving God and they make that as a bundle package. Now you’ve seen these things on TV about, you know, we don’t bundle and they want to bundle everything together. Well, they bundle that into the gospel. It’s add-ons and they confuse the gospel of grace with these works that a man must do. And so it’s total confusion. So he says, you correct wrong living by correct doctrine. So in order to help these carnal Christians do right, because you and I have we can’t make anybody do right.

We can reward, you may chase them, but you can’t make a person do right. So they have to understand what’s it going to cost me? What am I going to get out of this? I want you to try to see a little bit about what is the value of one good work? I mean if you do one good work, how does that affect eternity? Now getting the heaven is free doesn’t cost you a thing. But did you know the Bible says that God is going to reward you?

And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own work. So you have a work that God is going to reward you for. If you only knew the value of just one work, you’d want to take and do as much work as you could for the Lord. But remember who says this, it’s God. And he is not going to be outdone. God is going to richly reward you when you get to heaven. And when you think the value of one work, you say, how can you figure out the value of one work?

Let’s talk a little bit about the value of one sin. isn’t it true that when Christ died on the cross, He paid for all of our sins, right? So even though we’ve trusted Christ as Savior, we have eternal life. We’re going to heaven when we die as a child of God. Do you believe that you still commit sins? How many believe that the person beside you is still sinning? Let me see your hands. Did you see what they He just said about you.

Yes, but see, they don’t commit real bad ones. Their sins is not as bad. Remember I preached to sermon years ago, my sins better than yours. But here you are, how bad is just one sin, just one? When you understand that, you’ll know the value of one sin because of the price that has to be paid, just for one sin. What is the… Reward the value of one reward if you did serve the Lord. If you could figure it out and have some kind of an idea, it maybe could make a difference in your life because I can’t make you do right.

Some of you know to do right and still won’t do it. You know to live godly, but you still may not be living godly. But I want you to understand what God says when you think about this. What if a loved one of yours, close friend of yours, died every time you committed a sin, even a little sin? Well white lie. A thought. Any sin, big or small, whatsoever is not a faith, is sin. To him that knoweth to do good and doeth not to him it is sin.

What can one little sin cost me? I mean, it’s not that bad. It’s not that big. So don’t get excited. Don’t get bent out of shape. Don’t rock the boat. I mean, it’s just one little sin. But it was just one little sin that took him out of the garden, wasn’t it? I mean, they didn’t commit no murder. They didn’t rob a bank. They weren’t no banks. They didn’t kill nobody else. And yet, just because they ate fruit, they were not supposed to eat.

out. Now, if a person died for every little bitty sin that you committed, there wouldn’t be many people left on the earth would there? Now let’s take a little bit further. We often say that Christ died on the cross and paid for all the sin of all the world. But here you are. Let’s say that you have lived your life for 50 years and you only committed one little bitty sin. Just one. We’re really going to strip it all down.

And all you did was had a bad thought one time in your whole life how bad was that little thought that you had. If it was sin, in rebellion to God, how bad was it from God’s point of view? Jesus Christ could not let you into heaven. He would still have to come down here and pay for that sin. That little sin that seemed like it has no value to it, it’s not that big, nothing to get excited about, Jesus would have to die.

little sin just costs Jesus Christ his life. Think about it. If that was the only one you did, and he dies for your sin. He had to die for that which you thought was not worth much. The value of it is revealed by the price that was willing to be paid because you did it. Now, this being true, and I believe it is, how do we get Christians to discipline themselves? I mean, can I scare you with hell, threaten you with hell?

Can I threaten you that God’s going to take away your salvation? You know that can’t happen. So what else can you use? What can you do? Well, I want you to look in verse 11. verse 11, for it has been declared unto me of you in chapter 1, 1 Corinthians, which are of the house of cloth that there are contentions among you. In other words, you’ve got problems. And you’re at each other. There’s envy in going on jealousy, bickering, all that kind of stuff.

What does God want? God wants, in the previous verse, verse 10, to be of the same mind, or they didn’t have the same mind. They were against each other. So how’s he going to solve this division problem? Does he try to prove to them that, well, you’re not really saved? No, that’s not what he said. He says, you’re carnal. You’re not mature. But see, sometimes I don’t think Christians understand what you’re going to get for one work you do for the Lord.

If you could see what God is going to give you because of that one deed, look what one sin can cost, look what one work can produce. And then you got a chance to live your whole life. You’d want to do as much as you possibly can for the Lord. So your future is been determined by your obedience to God today. Not your destination. Once you trust Christ, you’re having turned like you’re going to heaven. But you’re not there yet.

But you should be called God has sanctified you, made you a saint. Now God wants you to live like one. Not a Saint Bernard, a saint. He wants you to live holy and godly. Now look at verse 29. Verse 29 says, as he rebukes these carnal Christians, and the point is that no flesh should glory in his presence. You see the root cause of all of the envy and bitterness and jealousy and all those things it goes on and cause people to be at each other’s throat is because somebody wants glory.

They want they want praise, honor, and glory. And they can’t get it, they’ll steal it. They want what somebody else has that makes me look better, makes me feel better. It’s all about me. Glory in the flesh. Now God says, I want you to realize your whole purpose of life is to glorify the Lord, bring Him glory. That God gets glory from the way you live. That people are impressed because God is working in your life and through you.

You’re always to brag upon the Lord, boast about the Lord. And so that’s why he says that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now look in verse 31, thus he says, according as it is written, he that gloryeth let him glory in who? Glory in the Lord. So in your life, when you’re trying to find out what should I do or not do, does it bring glory to God? If it doesn’t bring glory to God, maybe you ought not be doing that.

can make somebody love God. When I stop and think that if Christ had not saved me, I’d be going to hell. I’m not going to hell because of what He did for me. So why shouldn’t I live the rest of my life for the one who died for me? He gave up so much so that I could have eternal life. And those sins that I think, well, they weren’t that bad. You know, I never murdered anybody. I didn’t rob a bank.

So I’m not as bad as some people. And yet God says there is no difference for all have sinned. So even those little sins, and God does have greater punishment for different kinds of sins. There were some sins in the Old Testament that they stoned to death that they did this and this. And some other things just offer this little, you know, a dove or something like that. But there is a statement when he made a statement about Judas.

He had committed the greater sin. It would have been better if he had never been born. Jesus had that. It would have been better if he had never been born. Because God gave Judas choices just like He gave to everybody. He made wrong decisions. He had an opportunity at walking with Christ, seeing everything, and then turning against it. That was his choice. God didn’t make him do that. So I want you to look there in chapter 2, now in verse 9, where he says, but as it is written, I have not seen ear, have not heard neither, hath entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

Some people are carnally minded. They won’t live for the world. This This is all they think about it. But God says, if you will seek to please me. He said, now I have not seen ear have not heard. Neither has entered to the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. Now we don’t know what all that’s going to be. But I would venture to say that what you do for the Lord, it will be worth it all.

And the things that you allow in your life, you don’t think it’s that bad? How does it look in the eyes of God? Are you doing things that you know you should not do because nobody else sees or knows or maybe it’s everything fine with the world? This is a personal thing. Though he addresses the church at Corinth, he also holds in on the individual. That’s why it is so important. Look there in chapter 3, chapter 3, verse 8.

Now he that planet and he that water or one, every man, this is the individual. You see, you can’t make everybody. Work together as a body unless individuals make up their own mind because it’s an individual thing. I’m not yet convinced that God’s going to have everybody from Calvary Community Church would you please stand when we get to heaven and God blesses us as a group. I don’t find it. Now he might. You know, that choir down there really impressed me.

Let’s just have that choir stand up and sing for us. I mean, he might do that. I mean, there’s a good, but God may bless the individuals in the choir for their individual faithfulness. You think that’s possible? Look what he says in verse eight, and every man shall receive his own reward, according to what? His own labor. So you’re trying to get an individual. You, in a sense, are on your own to make up your own decision. And then when you make up your mind, I’m going to serve the Lord.

Somebody else says, I’m going to serve the Lord. Somebody else, I’m going to serve the Lord. So now let’s all serve the Lord together. You’d be surprised the power that could be in a church. When everybody’s on the same page and wants to do the same thing, they want to glorify Him. They want to, God, to use them to bring praise and so forth to the Lord. Now look in verse 10, the last two lines of verse 10, but let every man take heed how he buildeth their upon.

Because you see in verse nine when he says, for we, we, we, that’s all of us are labors together. But it’s individuals that will get the individual honor, praise and glory. It’s individuals that God’s going to reward when you get to heaven. We would probably all serve the Lord greatly if God would just open up the ceiling, give us a view into heaven as of what they are. That He simply tells you it will be worth it all. Can you trust Him?

Can you trust God? Let’s say for example, here you are, you gentlemen in here, we’ll just say for the men right now, you men, you look around And then you see that good looking blonde bombshell. And you don’t know if her clothes are, well, they’re so tight, you don’t know if she’s outside getting the inner inside getting out. And it might be that, you know, there’s not enough material there to make leggings for a hummingbird. And some of these dresses of nungatsu short, they’ve hit bottom.

And some people would say this, I hope they call a nuclear dress, 50% fall out. And you are used by lust and now is whatever that good looking wrong, whatever she can do for you, however she may satisfy you, is she worth what God has for you? That’s going to cost you, that could cost you dearly. Because see in heaven God says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things that we need be added unto us.

Set your affections on things that are above. Set your desires on godly things. Every man has to fight the same battles. Read the Bible and see what great men fail because of the opposite sex. Now you’ve got to worry about the same sex. Well, ain’t that true? That’s why I’m very careful about this hugging business. I went to one church and they said, and everybody was hugging everybody. I come to home. You got to be careful. You got to be careful.

I could get lost right here. I can get totally sidetracked. But you need to know that there is a price to pay. You just don’t know what it’s going to cost you. Every sin that you do and you know what you’re doing is going to cost you something so much greater than any sin in this world could ever give you. There’s nothing in this world that is worth not serving God. But you have to believe that. And it’ll help you have restraints upon your life.

Look, the longer we live, the more important it becomes to you. Because the longer we live, we realize we ain’t got much time left. Just numerically speaking. Somebody said to me the other day, Yankee, you’re 74. That’s right. It was me. I said that. Did you realize that you’re gonna be 80 soon? And then 90? 100? I’m not planning on going past 130. I’m gonna stop right there. That’s as far as I want to go. Now, take your Bible and look there in chapter 4.

Chapter 4 and verse 2, moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found. What’s the word? God wants you to be faithful. Now Paul did not try to convince him, well that’s a sign you really weren’t saved. No, he says you’re just carnal minded. You’re walking in the flesh. So in order to correct wrong living, you don’t change the gospel. You teach correct doctrine. Do you realize that we’re gonna have to stand at the judgment seat of Christ?

So look there very quickly in verse 14 where he says of chapter three, if any man were abide which he had built there on, he shall receive a reward. Any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer lost, but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire. This is when you get to heaven and God is going to reward you for what you did. You see, works don’t get you to heaven. Salvation by grace gets you to heaven and once you’re in heaven once we get there God’s going to reward us according to what we did for him.

And what you receive it’ll blow your mind. That’s why he says, I have not seen ear, have not heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. So do you love the Lord? That’s the key. If you’ll love God more than you’ll love the opposite sex or the same sex. If you’ll love God more than money, more than fame, more than popularity, more than anything, you’re going to get so much more rewards when you get to heaven because of it.

Serve the Lord with all your heart. Why do you think in the Old Testament when he gave the law, the first two things were love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, body, soul, and strength and love thy neighbor as thyself? Because that’s what it’s about. Loving God and in one another. And it’ll be a blessing to you. Also, I want you to take your Bible and look in chapter 5. Look in chapter 5. And notice in verse 6, they had people in the church that were rebellious, some were committed in fornication.

Now look up here, listen to me, sex outside of marriage is wrong. Any kind, it’s wrong. Love does not excuse it. It’s okay if we love one another. No, it’s not. You see, you don’t use your reasoning. You don’t worry about what the world thinks or what helli would says. Sex outside marriage is wrong. It’s ungodly in its wickedness. The Bible says the marriage bed is on the file. Man and a woman, not two women, not two men, men, woman, and they too shall become one flesh.

They can have one child. Two women can’t have one. Two men can’t have one. Something’s wrong with this picture. And some people cannot discern the difference. Don’t call lust love. And many of the young people today cannot discern the difference between love and lust. 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 believe in that the Lord is coming soon just keep looking up