256.4K
Downloads
641
Episodes
Each week a new verse-by-verse Bible study podcast given in expository style. Join us and see the Bible come alive as we study the truths that God‘s Word has for us.
Episodes
Sunday May 01, 2022
Sunday May 01, 2022
The Bible talks about entering into God’s Rest. There is the “rest of salvation” spoken of in:
Matthew 11:28
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
KJV
Then, there is “the rest of redemption.” The Israelites that came out of bondage knew the rest of redemption. They were no longer slaves of Egypt. They came out by blood, blood on the doorposts. They came out by power---the power of God. God had brought them across the Red Sea. God had delivered them.
Then, Jesus spoke of “the rest of obedience, the rest of enjoying a Christian life.”
Matthew 11:29
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
KJV
The great failure of believers today is that they have received “the rest of salvation,” but they have not trusted God to do everything He says He will do. They still want to handle their problems all on their own. They have not found the peace and comfort, the rest, that comes from living a life of obedience and faith. “The rest of obedience” that an all powerful God can give you.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how Christ is a superior Savior and Priest, who provides better security than anything offered by Moses and the Law that God gave the Jews through Moses. How our belief and obedience to Christ, can bring us into the rest of obedience, the rest of enjoying a Christian life.
Amen.
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Did you know that God is interested in you being prosperous? Now, the reason that we don’t prosper like God wants us to prosper is very simple, there is un-confessed sin in our hearts and in our lives. It’s just as plain and simple as that. The reason that you don’t prosper, (meaning that you are not living a life of general welfare, where God meets your needs, and that you are being fulfilled and enjoying the blessings of God) is because there is unconfessed sin in your heart.
So, you might ask, “Well, Bro. Keith, I have covered sin in my life, and I want to get rid of it and get back the joy of the Lord in my heart. What must I do?”
Prov 28:13
13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
KJV
God is telling us that we need to confess that sin so that we “shall have mercy.” A good confession of committed sin is threefold. First, the sin must be exposed in your life. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to expose sin in your life. When we cover it, the Holy Spirit uncovers it. When we uncover it, He covers it, and when He covers it, it is gone; it is forgotten forever, never, never to be brought up again.
But not only must that sin be exposed in your life; that sin must be expressed. That is, you must confess that sin. You must name that sin. You must tell God exactly, precisely, what it is that you did. Then, Sin must be expelled from your life. It must be forsaken. We must be finished with that sin in our hearts and in our minds.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can enact God’s plan for prosperity in your life. God wants you to be prosperous. Turn your life over to Him today, and be the prosperous, victorious, Christian, that God wants you to be.
Amen.
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
Our message today is on the subject of truth. Now, the idea of real truth is something that is an often-discussed issue in our society, and everybody seems to think they can subscribe to their own version of truth. The idea of God, as our Creator, having the sovereign right to determine the absolute truths that govern our world, is certainly rejected by the majority of our society.
We have a generation today that does not know how to differentiate between truth and facts. Now facts deal with knowledge, and knowledge may double, but truth, never. If it is new, it’s not true. Truth is settled in eternity.
Prov 23:23
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
KJV
So, we have substituted facts for truth. Not that facts in themselves are wrong. Facts are stubborn things. But there is a difference in acquiring facts and learning truth. We’re drowning in facts. What’s the difference between facts and truth? Facts are like a recipe; truth is the meal. When you digest the truth, it will change your life.
Now, the Bible says, “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” When the child of God looks into the Word of God, and sees the Son of God, and is changed by the Spirit of God into the image of God, for the glory of God, I believe he has learned the truth of God.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how to apply God’s truth in your life, and how that truth will set you free.
Amen.
Sunday Oct 31, 2021
Sunday Oct 31, 2021
This is Part II of a message that I began last week on how the Word of God teaches that righteousness increases freedom, and I put this in the context of what is happening today to this country that we love so much. We live in a time when the very foundations of our nation are being challenged, and in many ways those foundations have already been unalterably changed.
Alexander Hamilton said, “People get the kind of government they deserve.” This means that the government that we have is a reflection of the character of our people. If the government reflects the character of the people, then you are going to find that the greater the character of the people, the more freedom, the more liberty, those people will have. The less the character of the people, the less freedom, and the less liberty, those people will have. Another word for character is responsibility, because character is responsibility assumed.
So, what is the only hope for America? I want to state with all of the power of my soul that the only hope for America is found right here in God’s Word.
Prov 14:34
34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
KJV
This is not merely what God has said in the past, this is what God is saying to any people, any nation. It is a universal truth from God, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” Unfortunately, the country that we love has overwhelmingly chosen the path that is described by the last half of this verse, where it says, but sin is a reproach to any people. It is with a very heavy heart that I have to say America is no longer the godly country our founders created.
Now on July 4, 1776, there was signed in the city of Philadelphia a document we call the Declaration of Independence. Now it was independence from Great Britain, but what many people fail to understand is that this same document was a document of dependence upon Almighty God. Now, without a doubt, the politicians of today have forgotten that fact. But it was clearly, and plainly, a declaration of dependence upon Almighty God.
Look at the opening and closing paragraph of this document. It says this: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are … endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights.” It begins that way. But it closes this way: “With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence …”—now, what is reliance? That’s dependence—“With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence”—what is divine providence? That’s God—“With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
All of that was stated in the context of depending upon Almighty God. It was then that the cannons fired. It was then that the fireworks went off. It was then, in the old statehouse now called Independence Hall, that the Liberty Bell began to ring out freedom. And on that bell are inscribed these words from Leviticus 25, verse 10: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land.”
In that document they said that God created us. Now, that isn’t what we can teach in schools today. But, our founders said in that document that God, as our Creator, gives us our rights, not the government. These are inalienable rights, like life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These have come from the Almighty, and not from government.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how our government, our constitution, began with a dependence upon Almighty God. And the Constitution was written by people of character, for people of character, and it will work for no other people. If we lose our character in the United States, our constitution will not work.
Amen.
Sunday Oct 24, 2021
Sunday Oct 24, 2021
This is a message that talks about a subject that weighs heavily on my heart as I read and see what is happening in our country today. We live in a time when the very foundations of our nation are being challenged, and in many ways those foundations have already been unalterably changed. The proverb that is the focus of our message today is very fitting for the subject at hand, because we are speaking today on this subject: Righteousness Increases Freedom.
Prov 14:34
34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
KJV
I believe the American Dream was placed into the bosom of our Founding Fathers by God Himself—I believe that with all of my heart. I believe that this is a Heaven-rescued, God-blessed land. I like what the Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident … that all men are endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights.” This means that, our very nature—the very nature of this land—is rooted in a belief in Almighty God.
When George Washington was sitting in the gallery amongst the members in the Continental Congress, somebody wanted to know which one he was. And, a friend said, “Well, if you want to see which one Washington is, when Congress goes to prayer, he’ll be the tall man who gets on his knees.” Washington was the one who went aside in the snows at Valley Forge, and got down on his knees, and prayed, and asked God to bless his little ragtag army. God did bless those revolutionaries, and out of that came America as we know it.
Thomas Jefferson said, “The God that gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.”
Alexander Hamilton said, “People get the kind of government they deserve.” This means that the government that we have is a reflection of the character of our people. You see, God ordained three institutions: the home, the Church, and the government. And, all three—the home, the Church, and the government—are but a reflection of the character of those people.
Now, here is another truth: if the government reflects the character of the people, then you are going to find that the greater the character of the people, the more freedom, the more liberty, those people will have. The less the character of the people, the less freedom, and the less liberty, those people will have. Another word for character is responsibility, because character is responsibility assumed.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how the righteousness of our people will determine the freedom and liberty that we enjoy as citizens of this great Heaven-rescued, God-blessed land.
Amen.
Sunday Sep 26, 2021
Sunday Sep 26, 2021
Everybody wants to be wealthy, but God tells us that there are different kinds of riches. There are true riches and there are false riches. True riches are the things that you have that when you share them, they increase. They become more. False riches, are the things that when you try to share them, they decrease. Anything that is of real value, anything that is of lasting value, anything that is a treasure in heaven—the more I give of it, the more I have of it. But with false riches, you hold on to them because if you give them away, then you have less.
If you want to know how rich you are, then add up everything that you have that money cannot buy and death cannot take away—then you will know how rich you are.
You see, with the riches of this world, if I think you’re trying to take what I have from me, it’s going to make me miserable. But if I have something that I want you to have, it’s going to make me happy to give it to you. With true riches, you’re not trying to keep everyone else from getting it. True riches are the kind of riches that I can share; and the more I give to you, the more I have for me. Isn’t that wonderful?
A man is impoverished if he is not rich toward God, if he does not have riches in heaven, if he has not made deposits in that safe deposit box in the glory.
Prov 11:4
4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
KJV
Who is our righteousness? Christ is our righteousness. Why is that important? Because it is the righteousness of Christ that “delivereth from death.” If you want to live for eternity with Christ in heaven, then you need Jesus Christ in your heart. Then, Solomon says, “riches profit not in the day of wrath.” What does that mean? It means that no matter how much money you have in the vault, you’re going to die.
There’s a life to live; there’s a death to die, and there’s a judgment to face.
It means that you will not be able to bribe the Judge that you stand before on that Judgment Day that all men will face. You’ll not buy God off. You’ll not buy your way into heaven. When you die a Christless death and stand before the Great White Throne of Judgment of Jesus Christ, your money is not going to profit you one little bit.
True riches are the things that you have that when you share them, they increase. They become more. The thing that is of most value, the thing that has the most lasting value, the thing that is a treasure in heaven, and the thing that I most want to give to my children are the true riches of God. And the more true riches that I give of it to them, the more I have of it. That doesn’t mean that they will all take that inheritance and make it their own, but it does mean that you have given them the key to having true riches. Loving God.
2 Cor 8:9
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
KJV
This means that Jesus Christ died for you, that you might be rich, and the Bible says,
Rom 10:12
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
KJV
This is God’s way to real wealth. If you will call upon Jesus Christ today, then you will have true riches. Based on the Word of the almighty God, I can promise you that this is true. God’s way to True Riches, riches that will last for an eternity, is to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and make Him your Lord and Savior.
Amen.
Sunday Apr 25, 2021
Sunday Apr 25, 2021
Over the last couple of weeks we have been talking about a believer’s freedom. In particular financial freedom, but the same concepts of putting Christ first in our lives, being diligent in our work for God, being generous with the blessings that God has shared with us, living with integrity, and depending on the reliability of God to meet our needs, will give us true freedom in Christ in all aspects of our lives. When we believe and trust in God, then God will take care of our needs. To be free in Christ is to be free indeed.
But does that freedom mean that we will have a life full of happy bliss, free of tragedy or testing? No, that is not what the Bible promises us. For example, being faithful to God in our tithing does not guarantee that we will never face trials. Yet, God does promise that He will give us a way through every trial, every test, and every tragedy.
Without a doubt, the best promise that God makes in His Word is that Heaven is guaranteed to be our eternal future. If you will make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, then Heaven is guaranteed to be our eternal future. I do not limit God’s fulfillment of His promises to this life only. If you do, then you will miss out on the best promise of all, for nothing compares to an eternity in Heaven with our Lord.
Click on the link below to hear a message on God’s promises to those who love Him. God promises to chastise you when you need it, to give you happiness, to give you a long life, to give you a prosperous life, a peaceful life, and eternal life. Don’t miss out on God’s promises to those who put God first in all things.
Amen.
Sunday Apr 18, 2021
Sunday Apr 18, 2021
Last week we started talking about what it means for a believer to be in financial bondage to the world, and how that impacts their ability to do the work that God has for them to accomplish. We said that God has a plan for every aspect of our lives, and our finances are part of His plan. In fact, God promises that if you will follow His amazingly simple plan, then you will find true financial freedom.
Prov 3:9-10
9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
KJV
Look at the promise the Lord has given us in these verses. He says, “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”
God wants you to know that He has a plan for you, and His plan for you is not to be in bondage; God’s plan is for you to have liberty and freedom. God does not want His children in bondage to anything or anybody other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you’re in bondage to the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s perfect liberty.
Click on the link below to hear a message about six principles from the Word of God that you can use in your life to find financial freedom. If you want to get out of financial bondage, or better yet, if you want to keep yourself out of financial bondage, to enjoy the freedom that comes from serving the Lord, then these six principles from the Word of God will make that happen for you.
Amen.
Sunday Apr 11, 2021
Sunday Apr 11, 2021
Have you ever had a time when you were sitting there working through paying your bills, and you just thought “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to never have to worry about whether there would be enough?” What if something happened to my health, or a family member’s health? What about losing my job, with no prospects of finding another? What if your brother-in-law came back, again, needing to borrow more money? I mean, he is your wife’s only brother, and it really doesn’t matter that he has never paid back the other loans you have made to him.
One of the leading causes of divorce is financial stress. If you allow it to, worrying about having enough money to meet your needs can consume you. Dreaming about financial freedom is a natural result of that worry.
God knows that these things are all true, problems occur, you have needs, and so the question is, what does God have to say in His word about true Financial Freedom? Does God have a financial plan for you and your family? Well, of course He does. God has a plan for every aspect of your life, and your finances are part of His plan.
Well, in this section of verses God has a very important message for each of us, as believers. God wants you to know that He has a plan for you, and His plan for you is not to be in bondage; God’s plan is for you to have liberty and freedom. God does not want His children in bondage to anything or anybody other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you’re in bondage to the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s perfect liberty, for the Bible says,
John 8:36
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
KJV
Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can determine if you are out of God’s will for your life and in financial bondage. God loves you and He does not want you to be in bondage.
Amen.
Sunday Mar 14, 2021
Sunday Mar 14, 2021
One of the luxuries of being a seasoned citizen is that we can look back on the choices we have made in our lives and see how our decisions impacted our lives for the better, or the worse. If you are like me, I have made my share of poor decisions, and a few really good ones. The wisdom to choose right from wrong, good from evil, and truth from lies, is something that each of us desperately need in our lives. The Bible describes this as choosing between light and darkness.
John 1:5
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
KJV
Notice what John says here about the light that shines in the darkness, he says, the darkness comprehended it not. Now, other Bible translations render this phrase in various ways: “the darkness has not overcome it,” “has not put it out,” or “can never extinguish it.”
Whatever the exact words, the message is the same. Jesus Christ stands as the unconquered Ruler of time and eternity, and all of history is a battle between light and darkness. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of light, and Satan’s kingdom is a kingdom of darkness.
But, and this is important for us to understand, don’t ever get the idea that the kingdom of darkness is somehow as strong as the kingdom of light. Satan is a formidable foe, but the grand truth is that darkness is totally powerless against the light.
Satan’s darkness is not the opposite of God’s light, but the absence of it. A lost person’s heart does not know God’s light, because it is filled with nothing but darkness. God’s light is absent from the lost person’s heart. A believer’s heart has a light within it that no lost person can ever know. A believer has the light of the Holy Spirit of God within them, and no amount of darkness can ever overcome that light.
Have you ever been in a room or place where the darkness is just so great that you can almost feel it? It oppresses you, it weighs down on you. For example, have you ever walked in a cemetery on a dark moonless night and felt the darkness surround you?
We once took a tour of Fantastic Caverns in Missouri, and at one point in the tour, the guide shuts off the lights and you are surrounded by complete darkness. They do this, because in a cave underground, you can learn what real darkness is. Yet the simple light of a candle can dispel even the worst darkness, and no amount of darkness can overpower that candle. Satan and his kingdom must bow before God and the majesty of His light. When God’s light comes, Satan’s darkness must go.
It also means that there is only one way to get rid of Satan’s darkness; the light of the Word of God. We have victory in Jesus because no force on the earth, or below the earth, can stand against the mighty majesty of God’s light. When our lives are filled with sin, it is the light of the Word of God that will give you victory over that sin in your life. In fact, it is the only light that will give you victory over Satan and sin. You cannot live the Christian life without the power and light of the Holy Spirit in your heart. The concepts of God’s wisdom and God’s light are intertwined. They are both based on the Word of God, and they both come from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. But, most importantly, they enable us to determine right from wrong, good from evil, and truth from lies.
Click on the link below to hear a message about how God’s wisdom, God’s light, can deliver us from evil. For it is when we acquire wisdom, that we will have light in darkness.
Amen.