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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.

Father, pass the nose out. Go ahead and take your Bible. Turn into the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 15. 1 Corinthians in chapter 15. Chapter 15 in the Bible is called the resurrection chapter. It’s the chapter that tells us that if there is no resurrection, how terrible it will be. But if the resurrection is true, wonderful it will be. So you have the negative and you have the positive. And one of the things that I want you to see there in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I want you to look in verse 58.

Because verse 58 is where we are headed to that last verse. So we’re going to start off with the last verse so you know where I’m going. If you have one of the church bibles, it’s on page 12, 28. the Bible’s right turn the pew in front of you and if you need to look on I think you would enjoy it. And verse 58 it says therefore in other words if the resurrection is true if it’s true my beloved brethren be ye steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

In other words, it’s not in vain to serve God. It will be worth it all. Now that’s a tremendous verse. In other words, if the resurrection is true, it’s amazing how many people say, oh yes, I believe in Jesus, I believe in the cross, I believe in His death, birth and resurrection. And then they live like the devil, like it It doesn’t matter when I owe to that all this, what if it’s true? If it’s true, there is a heaven.

If it’s true, there is a hell. If it’s true, Christ did die and pay for the sins of the world. And in answer to a lot of questions, there’s a book in the Old Testament called the book of Job. Job was having a bad day. Then lost a lot of stuff. He lost his health, he lost his wealth. He lost 10 children in one day. He lost it. He had a few questions on his mind. Like why? Is there life after death?

If a man die, shall he live again? Shall he live again? And when a man died, shall he be just with God? can a man be just or right with God? Because he knew in his mind that he had served the Lord with all of his heart as much as he knew. He was doing all this right and nothing was happening right. Everything was going wrong. Where is there just with God? If there is no life after death, if there is no life after death.

All of your loved ones that have died, you will never see again if there is no life after death. There is no justice in this world if there is no life after death. If the Bible is not true. And there is no real purpose in life. And we’re really just a bunch of animals to do whatever we want to do and power will make right. And that means there is no consequences beyond the grave for anything. If there is no resurrection.

Believe it or not, these statements that I’m making are made right in the Bible. I didn’t make them up. I want you to look there in chapter 15 and look in verse 1. In verse 1, more over brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received and were in yes stand, by which also you are saved. If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain, I used to wonder, how can I believe in vain?

If I believe it, how can I believe in vain if there is no resurrection? He said, I preached the gospel unto you. This good news, but if there’s no resurrection, there is no good news. There is no gospel. He also says here in verse 3, for I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received have Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen of Cephas and then of the Twelve, and after that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained unto this present, but some were fallen asleep.

After that He was seen of James, then of all the apostles. of all he was seen of me also as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles that am not me to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than the all, yet not I, but Christ, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach, so you believe. Now, if Christ be not, or if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, your faith is also vain. Yeah, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ whom He raised not up if so be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not then is not Christ raised and if Christ be not raised your faith is in vain you’re yet in your sins then they also which are fallen asleep in in Christ or perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. And this is why there are people who are living their lives as though there is no God. Christ is not real. He did not come back from the dead and they live their lives based upon whatever makes them happy, whatever they want to do with their lives, as though none of us is good.

None of this is true. Take your Bible, take your thought to trash can and do whatever you want to do. But if it’s real, that changes everything. If Christ really came back from the dead, that changes everything. It means everything that He said is the truth. I wrote a few little things down here for you, just from these scriptures that we’ve just read. Look at that, one part there in the bowl, right in the middle of your page, top of it, the resurrection of Christ is the proof that all of God’s promises now and beyond the grave are true.

Why is it so important to believe that? Because it makes a difference on your destiny. Where are you going when you die? You say, well, I’ve already trusted Christ as my Savior. Then you’re testifying that, yes, I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross for my sins. And I believe He did it for me. But now if that is true, what about verse 58 that we just read? Moreover brother, he said, being steadfast, unmovable, always abounded in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your faith is not in vain in the Lord.

Your work is not in vain. What are you doing for the Lord because of it? If it doesn’t change your life, you don’t know the Bible. You may know Christ is your Savior, you’re going to heaven when you die. But you’re not there yet. Isn’t it a shame if you live your life in vain, wasting your precious time that God’s given you to live? Because, see, if this is true, then you ought to know and believe that beyond the grave, I’m going to be in heaven.

And I’m going to get a new body, and I’m going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ, and God is going to reward me for what I did for Him. And I’m going to suffer the loss of what I could have had. based upon how you’re living for the one who died for you. Now he loved you so much that he paid for your sins. And he came back from the dead. Our life should be our way of saying how much we love the Lord because of what he’s done for us.

But a lot of people don’t love God. They don’t love him. They despise him. And by their lives, their testimony, they preach that they don’t believe he’s alive. Oh, they may have trusted Christ as their Savior, but their living like Jesus is dead, like God doesn’t know, and God doesn’t watch. I want you to look at some of these problems, look at the problems that all of these problems that are mentioned here are right here in your Bible and they ask questions that many times we have the same questions.

You see there at number one if Christ is not risen you have believed in vain. Let me just ask you a question. How many of you in this room believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross paid for all the sins of the world and was buried and came back again from the dead and you believe he did that for you. Let me see your hand. Put it up. Alright put it down. Do you really believe it? If Christ did not come back from the dead, you’re trusting Him to save you is all in vain if He did not come back from the dead.

That means that every time we have someone that we know and we love and they, we have a funeral service for them or a memorial service. We go to the cemetery and we place that body in the grave and we all have that hope that we’re going to see them again. Well if Christ did not come back from the dead, you’ll never see that person again. And that means that they’re dead and they died and they perished. There’s nothing more to it if Christ did not come back from the dead.

Look at the next statement, number two there, all the witnesses are liars. There is no other way to get around it. They testified They saw him after his resurrection. They said, we saw Christ over 500 at one time says they saw him must have all been lying. You see? after his resurrection. They must have all been lying. You see, if the resurrection really didn’t happen, nobody saw him because he was dead. That’s all there is to life. You die and that’s it.

I asked the man one time I said, where are you going? You die. He says, Tennessee. I said, what do you mean? And he said, I just believe that when you die, that’s the end of it. I said, can I ask your question? He said, sure. I said, have you ever died before? He said, no. I said, then you don’t know that’s true, do you? Look at number three, there is no resurrection. If Christ didn’t come back, then there is absolutely no resurrection of anybody because he claimed to be God in the flesh.

And while he was here, they said he walked on water. It says he could make the blind to see the deaf they hear, the dumb to speak, and even can raise the dead. But we know that was just a myth. None of that’s true. What difference does it make? I remember somebody saying that, what difference does it make?

Oh, that’s not with Hillary. How she got herself into this sermon, I don’t know. Look at number four. Number four, then our preaching is in vain. It means that everything that I’m preaching about isn’t worth a quarter. Sometimes that’s why we only get a quarter from some people. It’s a waste of time. Look how many preachers there are across the country. Look how many different kinds of religion there are. All promising something beyond this life. I don’t care if you believe in Buddha, and Moham, and the Confucius, or our foot washing up originally.

They all believe in something, that life after death. But if there is no life after death, how does anybody know that you can live after you die? Only because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he is the$%%%% ploy that there’s life after death, because outside of that you have no proof. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which Christianity has been built. But Christ died on the cross. A lot of people died on the cross. Christ was crucified, yes.

He shed His blood. A lot of people shed their blood. He died. A lot of people died. If there’s no resurrection, there’s no difference between Jesus dying and any other man dying. The only reason we believe He is God in the flesh and every promise He made is true. He says, I have power to lay it down my life and I have power to take it up again. Nobody else has ever done that. He is the proof that there’s life after death if there is a resurrection.

But if there be no resurrection, well look what he says. And then in verse number five we are found Jehovah’s Witnesses of God. I believe that there is a resurrection, Jesus Christ is who we claim to be. And I know that I have eternal life. I know that I’m going to heaven whenever I die. But see if there’s no resurrection, you can’t know that. Because you don’t have anything to base it upon. Your opinion is just like probably go, we had everybody raise their arm, raise your arm, you lose your charm.

But opinions are like armpits, everybody got them, they all stink. And everybody got opinions. Isn’t it a shame nobody agrees with anybody? Every man is gone after us. Well, does his own thing. Goes his own way. That’s why it’s hard for people to get along because we’re so independent. We all want to be little bosses and we don’t like anybody telling us what we can and cannot do and where we can and cannot go and how we can and cannot live.

And here’s God. God says, I made you and I have the right to tell you. Well, how do you know there’s a God? Have you seen him lately? The resurrection of Jesus Christ is what puts everything in true focus. So you can really see and understand beyond this life. Look at the next statement. You see, if there is no resurrection, the dead do not rise. And having a grave, and that’s just a planting of a body in a grave, in 1 Corinthians, it talks about that’s like a seed that’s planted, and something’s going to grow.

These bodies are going to come back from the dead because God said so. Well, how do we know to take him at his word? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at number eight there I wrote down here. Yee are yet in your sins. It means that you have sinned and you are going to have to pay for your sins and you are condemned to an eternity in hell. But if there is no resurrection of Christ, that means there’s no justice in this world.

It means a lot of people do a lot of things wrong to a lot of other people and they don’t have to pay for it. I remember years ago, we always taught crime does not pay.Pope don’t tell people in Washington that they go in there and they make a little salary and walk out with 10, 15 million dollars worth. Where did they get it? They worked for us, and now so we paid them, so how did it get all this other money?

I think somebody’s been crooked somewhere along the line. They’re yet in their sins, and there’s no hope of it ever changing. Nothing can ever get any better. We can’t change this world because we all have the same sinful desires, and it’s ugly. We have a wicked, sinful nature. But look at the next statement. Number nine, they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. The Bible said that, that if there is no resurrection, then when He makes a statement in John 3 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever it be leave it than Him should not perish.

It means you will not perish. It means you will not go to hell when you understand what the Bible is saying. So if I trust Christ as my Savior, He gives me a guarantee. I will not perish. But if there’s no resurrection… That verse isn’t true. John 3, 16 isn’t true. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 that you’re saved by grace, it isn’t true. First John 5, 13, these things have been written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

That’s not a true verse. If there’s no resurrection because, how do you know it’s true? That means that God had to tell a lie, or Jesus was a liar or a pastor, but he wasn’t a good man. He was a deceiver. Or he was who he claimed to be. It can’t be both ways. It’s either one way or the other. Either this Bible is true or it’s false. And the only reason we can believe this whole book is true is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Look at the next statement. Number 10, we have no hope. It means that we are here and there is no hope for anything after death. There’s nothing to base it upon. There’s no way of proving anything. It’s all a figment of imagination. We just made it up. We’re just filled with fables. And isn’t it a shame when some of God’s people actually live like this Bible has no power? Can’t change your life. Like there’s nothing worth living for. Just pleasure and sin for a season.

Do whatever you want to do. Do your own thing. It doesn’t matter how godly you may be. We’ll see if there’s no resurrection. None of it’s true. Go for it. Just go for it. Do whatever you want to do. live like a devil. But of course there is none. You know if the Bible isn’t true. Look at the next statement. And this is a true verse. This is why we have the problem in our schools today and in a lot of churches and in our country is because we are all men most miserable.

People are living a miserable life and to keep them being so miserable they want to be happy So they do what makes them happy, what pleases them. And it’s always temporary because your desires keep changing and you’re never satisfied. Only the truth, the Lord can really satisfy a person and give purpose to everything. Because see, if there’s no resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, there’s no purpose to life. We’re all a bunch of accidents. I’ve heard a lot of parents say that about their kids too.

Look at the solution to the problem. If Christ did come back from the dead, if he did, number one, you have not believed in vain. Now you can believe it or not believe it. Nobody can make you believe on Jesus Christ. It’s not something you can force a person to do. You can force them to lie, but you can’t force them to believe. I can’t stand up here with machine gun and I’m gonna shoot every person in here that doesn’t trust Christ as Savior.

How many would you like to trust Christ as Savior? Oh, here we go. Because I’m just gonna shoot the ones that don’t. So can I force somebody to really trust and to believe this is about, now I can’t do it, it won’t work. Let’s see if it’s true, I wanna know. But I don’t wanna take and be some hypocritical person, religious nut, you know, looking down my long fairs so you can know that everybody else thinks I’m like Kellogg’s cornflakes, just a little bit better.

I’m a dirty lousy stinking rotten sinner now to go to hell, just like you, we’re all sinners. But if the Bible isn’t true, who cares? There’s no purpose to anything. But you have not believed in vain because Jesus did come back from the dead. Number two, all the witnesses told the truth. They did see him. I can’t make you believe what they said, But when you get that many witnesses, there’s more truth and proof that Jesus Christ was here than George Washington, the President of the United States, more on Christ.

He’s affected more people all over the world because he was alive and he was real. When he says he was alive and died and rose again, that means he was alive and he was dead and he’s alive again. And I believe in it. three there is a resurrection and if he came back from the dead he also had power to come back from the dead but remember while he was here there was a man named Lazarus who also had died and Christ brought him back from the dead so he has the power to raise himself back from the dead and he has the power to take somebody else and bring them back from the dead, then you and I don’t have anything to worry about.

Because he has the power to do what he promised to do. See, all of the promises of God hangs upon this truth. Is Jesus Christ who he claimed to be? He came back from the dead. How many times have you seen so far in your life somebody who was dead come back to life? You said, well, I was on the table and I saw this bright light and then he said I was dead for 20 minutes and they brought me back to life.

No, no, no. If you were dead, you’re dead. There’s no doctor going to bring you back because when you’re dead you’re absent from the body and there’s no doctor anywhere that can reach out there and get a hold of you and bring you back. Not a one. Now the next statement, our preaching is not in vain. This has given me greater purpose than anything else I’ve ever seen in life. Knowing that I can explain this good news to somebody.

that resurrection, what makes it good news is the proof that when he says he that believeth me hath everlasting life I have everlasting life. And so this body one day will die but I have everlasting life and my everlasting life does not start when I die physically. It started the day I trusted Christ as my Savior. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. That’s when I got it the day I trusted Christ as my Savior 57 and a half years ago.

And I remember the day and the place because I was there when it happened and I guess I ought to know. Next question. We are true witnesses of God. If you believe in the resurrection then what we’re saying is the truth and people ought to believe the truth. You see I can’t prove Christ came back from the dead but you can’t prove he didn’t. It’s a matter do you want to take and believe it or not? It says nobody can force anybody to believe.

There’s something on the inside of me that says I want to know God and I don’t want to be trapped in some man-made religion and I don’t want people trying to cram religion down my throat. I want to know the truth and I believe that God made salvation in such a way that you can know whether it’s true or whether it’s false. If God so loved me and he wants me to spend eternity in heaven with him, then he’ll make a way and he did.

And he said it would be free. Whosoever believe it. It’s a gift. I don’t have to earn God’s love. I don’t have to work for God’s love. He gave it to me freely. God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son. That means this is what he did. He died on the cross and paid for our sins. And if we will believe that, see that’s what he did. But if we will believe what he said, then I know I have eternal life and that I’ll never perish.

I’m going to be with the Lord for all eternity. It’s the greatest hope any man can ever have. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bibleline programs, just go to our homepage at BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Radio Broadcast link. 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. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10-30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. broadcast of our services may be seen by clicking on the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.