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.

Everybody got a Bible? If you don’t have one, there’s one right in front of you And you are encouraged to follow along as we look at a few scriptures tonight. And I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, and chapter 12. You see, whenever the Apostle Paul wanted to deal with the Corinthians about their rebellion to unify under the Holy Spirit. He rebukes them, but He also gives them a way out of their dilemma.

In other words, how to solve the problem. And we’re always wanting to know what steps can I take? You know, step one, step two, step three. You know, what do I do? And give me a sequence. Don’t give me one, three things to do it any one time because I can even organize a three-car funeral. So sometimes you can remember three things, but when he gets over that there, you kind of get mixed up. So you want to keep things simple for people to understand.

Now, they were loaded with all these spiritual gifts, you know, abilities that God had given to them of things they could do, but they became proud and exalted in their own minds and knowledge puffeth up, but they had very little love. And so therefore there was envy and backbiting, sins going on and nobody rebuking them. So it’s kind of like a Wild West church, do anything you want. And that’s pretty much what was going on. So the Apostle Paul deals with certain problems.

And so I just want to kind of skip up here to chapter 12 and show you that, even though he makes a statement, see back there in chapter three, in verse eight, when he says, every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor, the individual responsibility. So remember, going to heaven is free. That’s the gift. That’s to show us how much God loves us. Now, we may not serve the Lord, but we shouldn’t be hypocritical about it either.

You see, these believers were being very hypocritical. Claiming to be spiritual, but they were very carnal. It’s one thing when you’re just totally cold to the things of the Lord, but when you try to give the appearance that you’re on fire for the Lord, but it’s not for real. And so therefore God says you’re Luke, warm, and you make him sick. So there’s some people that, well, they needed to be dealt with. So in chapter 12, he breaks it down and he shows them things that everybody has.

In other words, when we were all lost, we were all in the same boat. So when we got saved, we all got saved because we heard the same gospel because there’s only one gospel. We all got saved by hearing that same truth. And then after we trusted Christ as our savior, God gave all of us the Holy Spirit. So I have the Holy Spirit, you have the Holy Spirit. We all have the same Holy Spirit. And God has given to us only one Bible, So we’ve got a Bible and it says the same thing to all of us.

So there are a lot of things that God has done that, you know, for everybody, that’s all equal. So we’re all called the children of God. We’re all going home someday. And He says this, you’ll notice what He says in verse 4. Now there are diversities of gifts, same spirit. In other words, there’s only one God, but He’s given to us different ministries. We don’t all get the preach behind the pole pit. We don’t all get to play the instruments.

All of us can’t come up here and sit on the bench and play the piano. That’d be fun to watch. We all can come up here and play Dan’s guitar. Might do better, no, I’ll just tell you that. We can’t all do the exact same thing. Not everybody plays that organ, not everybody. Let’s all go back here and we’ll sit in the sound booth and we’ll all work the sound system. Well then, who’s going to be out here to hear anything?

We all can’t go up there to that little old booth up there and run the camera. There’s different ministries, but there’s one God behind us. There’s one Holy Spirit that is to teach us how to do the things that God wants to do. to do. A lot of things the same and so collectively we’re to work in unison but also to realize that there’s an individual responsibility. Now notice what he says in verse 5, there are differences of administration but same Lord.

There are diversities of operation but it’s the same God that worketh all at all but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to you And here’s that word, individually, every man for something. Why did God give you the Holy Spirit? Right there, to profit. You see, when you studied the book of James in chapter two, it makes a statement about how I’ll sell it young man, you know, profit. And that is because you see, everything is going to be judged by whether or not did you or did you not have profit in your life.

But what profit it a man if he loses, he loses soul, the purpose of his life. And so he’s talking about you and I as a child of God having profit in our life, like a business. You either have profit and loss. Whoever you work for, if they don’t have profit, they’re going to fire you because they can’t keep you unless they can make money to pay you. So every business has got to have profit. That’s the way only way they can stay in business.

With you and I, God left us in this world and gave us what we need to profit so that when we get to heaven, God’s going to reward us for our profit. Our time God gives us to live is just so that we can have a time to spend our money. So God gives us the Holy Spirit, He’s given us a body, given us some truths, says, going to all worlds, spread the truth. God’s going to reward each and every one of us for how we fulfilled our responsibility.

But every person is responsible. Know to what else he says. In verse 8, 4, 2, 1 is given the spirit of wisdom, another the word of knowledge by the same spirit, another faith by the same spirit, to another to get the feel by the same spirit. Now all of these in verse 10 but all these work at that 1 and the self-same spirit divided to every man, severly as he will or individually as you have. So every individual has been blessed by God with a ministry.

Many Christians never find out what it is because they never seek to serve the Lord. And you can only find out what God wants to do by getting involved and doing something. And you’ll find out there’s some things you can do better than others. And you’ll find out there’s a way that the Christian life ought to be something that we can enjoy. Who wants to have a job you’re totally miserable with all your life. But serve the Lord all to be joy.

There is joy in the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. And a lot of Christians don’t have strength because they don’t have joy. They don’t have joy because they’re not happy knowing what they’re doing. So many, it’s a miserable life. That’s not what God wants. And when your miserable misery loves and buddy you just make everybody around you miserable and you become envious and jealous and back-biting and comparing and all the things that God says not to do we wound up doing.

Now when you get down here into the latter part of this chapter you’ll find out that the Bible says we are all baptized into one body. See that about in verse 12? He says in verse 12 as the body is one and half many members, all the members of that one body, many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all? You noticed that throughout the book of Corinthians, the word all is used an awful lot of times.

He says we all are baptized in the one body, whether it be Jew or Gentile, whether it be bond or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. So every one of us have all been placed in Christ. We all have been given the Holy Spirit. We have all been given ministries, but our ministry may be different, but we’re both and individually to be in subjection to the one that gave us that ministry. So you’re to check with the Lord and find out, am I fulfilling my ministry?

And somebody else is asking, Lord, am I fulfilling my ministry? See, if this person is yielding to the Lord, and this person is yielding to the Lord, you know, they might be able to work together. True? When there’s what we call personality class, Do you ever hear the personality clashes? No, it’s sin. S-I-N. That’s what’s the problem. Somebody don’t like what somebody else is doing. And just think about it. You have enough just controlling yourself. Just doing what God wants you to do.

Then notice is, look over in verse 27. Verse 27 is now ye are the body of Christ and members in and here’s that word. It’s very important, particular. In other words, you are a different individual. You’re not the other person. person, they’re not you. So therefore, if God in heaven has saved you, you are important, you are His child, you have eternal life, you have the Holy Spirit, you have been given a ministry. Now you find out what it is that God has for you.

And you’d be surprised that as you learn that you become so satisfied because you’re doing what God wants you to do and you don’t rate yourself as you compare yourself with somebody else and that’s where you run into an awful lot of trouble. Now hold your place right here just look over there in 2 Corinthians in chapter 10. Hold your place where you are, 2 Corinthians in chapter 10. I want you to see this very quickly and notice in verse 12, verse 12, this on page 12 37 and you’ll notice what he says in in verse 12, for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that command themselves but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are what?

Not wise. You don’t know anybody does that. Aren’t you glad we don’t have anybody like that does that right here. We’re not to compare and say, well, I know I’m doing a good job. Why? Because I’m doing it better than she is. I’m doing more than her. Now, you as an individual, you’re responsible to do what is it that God wants you to do? How much do you want God just like this? When it comes to the church and our service for the Lord and all you have, we’re in bedding and this is the truth.

We don’t worry about how much somebody else does or don’t do. We just do all we can do. And so, this was so funny. Well, it wasn’t really funny, but it did happen. On yesterday morning, we always set the clock to get up at five o’clock on the Saturday morning, you know, the last Saturday a month. What do we do here on the last Saturday of the month? Men’s Bible study, and that breakfast just automatically appears. No, it does not matter.

So anyway, we went to bed, and the alarm goes off, I bet he gets up, got it before the clock cold went off. And all of a sudden, I got a phone call. It was Carolyn. Carolyn call says, where are you? I says, what’s wrong? Oh no, we’re an hour off. It was six o’clock. Folks been there. We’ve put minutes six o’clock. We haven’t even let, she’s outside the church over here waiting to get in. So anyway, that’s the fastest I have ever seen my wife move.

She was out of that house, a lickety split, in the car and men she was up here and two shakes of a dead cat’s tail. And anyway, they got in and they cooked us a wonderful breakfast. But now what if these ladies didn’t do that? There’s some men that would go hungry. But we are loved and we appreciate what they do because men, they really fix us a great breakfast. And so we enjoy that. But now I see nobody makes them do that except their husbands.

No. But isn’t it wonderful that they do because they want to do it because they just don’t want to hear us complain because otherwise Dan would have to wind up cooking and we don’t want that. So the Lord uses different people and so just don’t worry about if I put in more time than I should just just serve the Lord. Whatever you do wherever you go just serve and enjoy it. The Christian life is in a life of boredom and misery.

It’s exciting and when you you get up in the morning, you look in the mirror and you say, you tiger, you don’t you ever die. And it might look like you’ve been baptized in lemon juice, but put a smile on your face and be a little excited. But you don’t compare yourself with what somebody else does. Well, I do more work than they do. What do you care? Is God gonna reward you for what you did? Well, aren’t you doing it for him?

Well, then you working for him. And if somebody else helps, well, that’s fine. If they don’t help, well, that’s fine. It’s not always easy, but sometimes you have to carry a little bit more. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love. That’s in Hebrews and chapter 6. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and your labor of love because he, well if you did it for the Lord, it doesn’t matter if anybody else sees it or appreciates it, patch you in the back.

Well, it won’t matter why because I did it for the Lord. God saw it and God’s keeping the books. And when I get to heaven, he’s going to reward me. So I ain’t worried about it. But if you do it, to please people, well then people don’t always appreciate what you do and you’re going to get your feelings hurt and we get your feelings hurt and know what appreciates me and you’ll go I have a you know the rocks in my rock garden died and you’re gonna weep and wail and nationale that’s because you did it for people and well I quit because nobody appreciates me well a lot of it is that why you were doing it so everybody appreciate me if I can be somebody God said, you don’t do that.

If Jesus came into this world, He lived a perfect life. And everybody turned, well, if all of y’all going to turn against me, I’m not going to the cross. I’ll show you. Wouldn’t that have been wonderful? When there was people of mocking him and down at the cross, then lookin’ up at him. If you’re who you say, why don’t you come down here and save yourself and save us? Go ahead. Now, me how to come down here and slap their jaws when back up.

up. But back there in 1 Corinthians, look at this. 1 Corinthians 12, he makes a statement in verse 28, and God has set some in the church for apostles, prophets, teachers, those at miracles, gifts of healing, helps government, diversities of tongues. Now look in verse 29. It’s what God has done for all, but not all, have the same ministry and he’s explaining what it means. Is everybody in an apostle? What’s the answer? No. Or all prophets, no. Or all teachers, no.

All workers of miracles, no. Have all the gifts of healing, no. Don’t speak with tongue, no. Do all interpret. No. So not everybody has the same ministry, but we all have a ministry. And the Holy Spirit works in every last one of us. So that’s why you don’t have to be envious of of what somebody else does because you’re just gonna be thinking, I’m glad I can do what God wants me to do. I just wanna please God in whatever God has for me and to be content with that and just do the best you can with what you got.

Some people always will. If I had his town, I could do that too. If I could sing like so and so, or if I could play the piano like Jan, or if I could just play the piano like Jan, would not be somebody? Well, Jan can play the piano and she doesn’t think she’s somebody, but she’s good. What are we doing out of her? So you have people that’s got certain talents and abilities, but don’t like somebody sees somebody and they say, oh, if I could just do that.

Yeah, but maybe God didn’t want you to do that. God wants you to do something else. You just do what God wants you to do. Now take your Bible and go back there to chapter 9, chapter 9. And you’ll notice that the apostle Paul had a vision. He had a reason to do what he did. He says, I am free from all men. You say, does he really say that? Well, he kind of says that he was free from all men.

He said, where does he say that? I knew you and asked that, but look in verse 19, for though I be, well, there it is right there, free from all men, yet have I made my servant under what? All. In other words, though I’m free, I made myself a servant. You see, God will not make you serve Him. God doesn’t make you trust Him, and God won’t make you serve Him. I decided after I heard the gospel that makes sense to me.

I’d be a fool to turn that down, so I trust the Christ as my Savior. He gives me eternal life. I’m going to heaven when I die. Then the Bible says that if I would serve Him, God would bless me. Well, I won’t God bless me. He will reward me when I get to heaven. Well, I want that. Whatever it is, I want it. I don’t know what they are. I don’t really care, but if God says it’s worth it, it’s going to be worth it.

And I want everything I can get that God can give for me. Did you know that it delights God, it pleases God to give us things? You have kids? Weren’t you excited about maybe even on Christmas you gave something special. You enjoyed giving. Wait until the grandkids come along and they’ll milk you for everything you got. They’ll play up to you. They’ll just love you and you’re the greatest in the world. Great grandpa, great grandma and they just know Christmas is coming.

Of course, they won’t do it for that reason. But don’t you love giving? Don’t you love expressing and giving to somebody? The Lord says it’s more blessed to give than to receive. You might as well like it because very few going to give to you, you might as well learn to give. So you learn to, it’s more blessed to give than to receive because there’s joy there in giving. Now here you are, you’ve got an opportunity. You’re free, free to choose.

You’re free to choose to serve the Lord, and you’re free not to serve the Lord. But there’s consequences to your choice. If I choose to serve the Lord, God promised to bless me and reward me. If I choose not to serve the Lord, then God can chase in me, maybe take me home before my time. So I’m free to choose, and God’s gonna do whatever according to my decision. So since I know that, it makes my decision very important, doesn’t it?

I mean, what I decide is very critical. It can make a lot of difference in my life. So once you understand it, it will be a blessing to you. So Paul goes down through here and he says, I am gonna run a race. Look down in verse 24. No, not that they which run and erase run, and here’s the word, all, all, but one receive of the prize. So run that you may obtain. So here in competition, we often go to a little, you know, places where we watch kids run and compete, and they run and somebody wins.

Now they didn’t got it today, well, everybody gets a reward. I don’t like that at all. That’s just new stuff, but it ain’t worth the quarter. Well, we don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. No, if you lost, you lost, deal with it, grow up. And if you win, learn how to deal with that. But you win or you lose. They said, if you’re going to run in a race, run to win.

And that’s why he says, so run. Now, what are we running after? Well, running after souls. I have become a servant to all that I might gain. So he’s running to win, running to win souls. So therefore in verse 26 he says, I therefore so run, Paul said, I run. And the reason he’s running, because he wants to run and play according to the rules. In every sport there’s rules. There’s an out of bounds. You got to touch the base after you hit the ball.

And then you got to run. And somebody throws the ball if they get there before you get to the first base, you’re out. But if you get there first, you’re safe. So you learn that there are rules and regulations and everything that you do. And with the Lord, God’s Word has a lot of do’s and don’ts. That if you want God to bless you, he says, now don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do this. And he said, I want you to do this, and then do this, and do this.

So there’s things to do, there’s things not to do. But this isn’t to get to heaven. Going to heaven is what he did for us. Now he said, I wanna bless your life, and I wanna use you, and I want you to be fit for the ministry. God said, I gave you a ministry, and he wants us to discipline ourselves, so that they might be able to use us for his honor and glory. Now here in the book of 1 Corinthians you’ll notice when it gets down to chapter 10 here we see this same principle all over again.

All all all all all. See look in verse 1 so there are five privileges that are mentioned here and there’s also five sins that are mentioned here. And he’s letting to know that what God did for the children of Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt, he brought them all out of Egypt. They all crossed the Red Sea. They all went into the wilderness. They all had that pillar of fire, that cloud by it. They all had it.

They all got the drink of that spiritual rock when they was thirsty. And Moses smoked the rock and the water came out. They all got the, some of that manna that came down from heaven. They all got some of the same benefits. Well, that’s the same as us. Oh, we all got saved the same way by faith alone in Christ alone. Now, I know what it says. In verse 1, more overbreathering, I would not that you should be ignorant of how that our fathers, all our fathers, were under the cloud.

They all had the exact same protection. And all past through the sea. They all had the same protection. had the same guidance and were all baptized unto Moses. They all had the same counseling. And were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And then you’ll notice and did all ate the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink. They drank of that spiritual rock that followed in that rock was Christ. So they all had the same presence of the Lord even back there in the wilderness.

So look at all the things that God did for all of them. They all had the same. So you see what God did for you, He did for me. When He died on the cross, well, didn’t He pay for your sins just like He paid for my sins? When He saved me by faith alone, and He saved you by faith alone, how much more do I owe Him than you? Or do you owe Him more than I do? We don’t owe Him anything, but we can as a child of God volunteer to serve the Lord.

And you know what God wants more than anything else in the world is He wants us to love Him. So that’s one of the things I believe that when God was in heaven and He had made all creation, I was like, could it be possible that God was lonely? I don’t know. Remember He made a man and a woman in God walked in the garden and talked to them because God was lonely? God wanted somebody to talk to. God wanted somebody to love him, and so God wanted usprus11 by choice.

________________________ So in order to have us choose to love him, you have to be able to choose not to love him. Otherwise we’re nothing more than robots and programmed to all perfectly obey without a will. So God gave us a free will, set us free to choose. God wants you and God wants me to love him because he’s God. Love him because of what he’s done for us and if you’re not gonna love God for that you probably never love anything for real and there’s nothing in this world worth loving because everything is gonna have you’re gonna lose so therefore God wants something from you God wants you to love him more than the things that He’s made, more than the world itself.

And that love for the Lord is what will help you restrain your life from doing those things that offend God. That is wrong. So it helps you to guard yourself because you don’t want to do something that brings shame upon God because you’re his child and you should not, as a child of God, bring shame upon your dad. Are you ready to learn how to live your life as a strong Christian, lead others to Christ, or excel as a church worker or ministry leader?

Then look no further, then Florida Bible College of Tampa, with traditional and online classes taught by instructors with years of experience. Florida Bible College of Tampa can help you grow in your Christian life. Whether taking individual classes or working toward a one year degree, Florida Bible College of Tampa is here for you. To learn more, visit online at floridabiblecollege.us or call the register Bob Gilbert at 8502275325. That’s 8502275325. 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. 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.