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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 Mar 26, 2023
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
A PASTOR’S ACCOUNTABILITY (Hebrews 13:17)
The topic of our message is going to be on the accountability of the preachers and pastors that lead our churches. But, this message is not only for our pastors, it is for each of you as well, because you will also face a day of judgment. The Bible teaches that if the pastor is God’s man, then you ought to follow him; if he’s not, then you ought to fire him. It’s just that simple.
It is a fact that one of these days, every pastor, every preacher, every minister, must face the Lord, and He’s going to ask them to give an account of their ministry. But, it’s also a fact that each of us who are a true follower of Christ will one day face the Lord, and we will also have to give an accounting for not only, if we were obedient to God’s command to be submissive to our pastors, but for our own Christian work and ministry that God has given us.
Now, we are saved by grace through faith, and we cannot work our way to heaven. But, somehow people have gotten the idea that they can live just any way they like, do anything they like, and because they’re saved by grace they can just go to sleep in a Pullman car and just coast into the yards of glory and it will make absolutely no difference how they serve the Lord, what they did, or whatever. But the Bible teaches to the contrary.
The Bible teaches there is coming a day of accountability. The preacher is going to face an accountability. He is going to have to answer to God for the way he leads his church. Even though he is saved by grace, he will have to give an account.
Click on the play button to hear a message that will describe how Christ will hold pastors, and their followers, accountable the work that they have done in the name of our Lord.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Sunday Aug 14, 2022
Sunday Aug 14, 2022
There is within the Bible a scarlet cord that runs through the entire Bible, that highway of blood that we find from Genesis to Revelation. It is important for us to understand that Calvary was not an accident, and it was not an incident. It is not something that happened as an afterthought. In Rev. 13:8 God tells us “the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world,” which means that before God flung this world into space, before God scooped out the seas, and heaped up the mountains, and flung out the sun, moon, and stars, before all of that, before anything was that is, God had Calvary in His heart and mind. And Christ was slain in the heart and mind of God from the foundation of the world.
As you look through the entire Bible you will see the shedding of Christ’s blood as the sacrifice for our sins in picture, illustration, and typology. God tells the same story with Adam and Eve, Noah, and then with Abraham, and with all of the sacrifices over thousands of years required under the Mosaic Law. Yet, God tells us that none of these sacrifices were enough to make the people who offered them redeemed. There had to be something more, for it was man who brought sin into the world, and so it would have to be a man who sacrificed His own life and shed His own blood. Yet, it could not be just any man, it had to be the blood of the sinless, spotless, Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
If you’re an unsaved person, then you need to listen very carefully to this message because God put dark Calvary with its blood-drenched slopes, and with its uplifted cross, there as a roadblock to keep you out of hell. And if you’re a saved person, then you need to listen because when you understand what Jesus Christ did to redeem you, to buy you, Oh, how you ought to love Him all the more.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the power of the saving blood of Jesus Christ.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Sunday Feb 27, 2022
Sunday Feb 27, 2022
I don’t think anyone listening to me today would disagree that we are in moral crisis in our world today, and especially in America. But, we are also in a crisis of leadership, and certainly the Bible teaches us that a nation gets the kind of leadership that nation deserves. May I say clearly and plainly that leadership is crucial for any nation to be blessed by God.
There’s an old proverb that says, “If the gold rust, what shall the iron do?” Now, what that proverb is trying to say is that, if our leadership is not right, what’s going to happen to the rest of us?
Now, here in our country, our government is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The very genius of our government is that the people participate. It’s unthinkable that God Almighty would have ordained government and then told His people to stay out of it. Because, if we do stay out of it, then who would that leave to influence and to lead? Unfortunately, we see the answer to that question with the leadership that populates all levels of our government. There is a crisis in leadership in our country today, nor is this anything new. It has been a crisis for a very long time.
Yet, don’t ever think for one moment that because wicked men make wicked choices, and wicked rulers lead, that God has forsaken control. He has not. The Bible says, “For God is the King of all the earth,” and not only is He King of all the earth, but He is King forever.
Now having said all this, what should we do? Well, number one, the very first thing that we need to do is to pray for revival. The second thing we need to do is prepare for suffering. We need to teach our children that it may not be like we had it. We need to be building character into these boys and girls. Then, the third thing we need to do: We need to prepare for the Lord Jesus Christ’s arrival. He is coming. Jesus is coming. All you have to do is look around and see that the signs of the times are saying that Jesus is near.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the character of a leader.
Amen.
Sunday Feb 20, 2022
Sunday Feb 20, 2022
The Bible teaches that in front of every unsaved man there is a deadline. It teaches that if he crosses that deadline, he is just as lost, just as certainly doomed, just as destined for hell as though he were already there and as though the iron gates of hell had already clanged shut behind him. It is possible for a man to commit a sin in this life; it is possible for a person to come in this life to a point which, if he commits that sin and transgresses and goes beyond that point, he can never; no, never; no, never be saved. He will cross God’s deadline. Now, just to be clear, this is not about any so-called unpardonable sin, it is about you rejecting God more times than God is willing to let you pass, and God makes the sovereign decision to turn His patience to wrath.
Now, make no mistake, God’s Spirit does strive with us, and God is infinitely patient with us in that He often reproves us. Time and time and time and time again, God speaks, and God woos, and God warns, and God pleads, and God instructs, and God reproves. But there comes a time when the Holy Spirit can be so insulted, so sinned against, that you cross a deadline that God has set for you, and God’s gentle precious Holy Spirit no longer speaks to your heart.
Now, here is the most chilling part of this spiritual desertion. Did you know that you cannot be saved unless the Holy Spirit of God draws you to Jesus Christ? That is true, and if you cross God’s deadline, that in His omniscience He has sovereignly set for you, and the Holy Spirit stops speaking to you, then you will never be saved.
Click on the link below to hear a message on what God’s Word says about Crossing God’s Deadline.
Amen.
Sunday Feb 13, 2022
Sunday Feb 13, 2022
The subject of today’s lesson is a very serious and somber matter. It is one that we don’t like to think about, and it is something that is hard to reconcile in our mind, because we have the misconception that every person can put off getting saved until the moment right before they die and then rush to get saved so they can go to heaven. The Bible says that is not true and that is what we will talk about today.
There is in the mysteries of God’s omniscience a certain point in your life, a certain place in your life, where God has placed a deadline for you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. This is one of those lessons that if you have family members, or friends, that are lost, then you will want to get this in front of them, because the stakes are eternal, and they know not where God’s deadline is in their life.
Prov 29:1
1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
KJV
The Bible teaches that in front of every unsaved man there is a deadline. It teaches that if he crosses that deadline, he is just as lost, just as certainly doomed, just as destined for hell as though he were already there and as though the iron gates of hell had already clanged shut behind him. It is possible for a man to commit a sin in this life; it is possible for a person to come in this life to a point which, if he commits that sin and transgresses and goes beyond that point, he can never; no, never; no, never be saved. He will cross God’s deadline. Now, just to be clear, this is not about any so-called unpardonable sin, it is about you rejecting God more times than God is willing to let you pass, and God makes the sovereign decision to turn His patience to wrath.
Click on the link below to hear a message on what God’s Word says about Crossing God’s Deadline.
Amen.
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
I believe that God wants us to understand this problem because of the devastating impact the sins of immorality will have on our lives. God loves us, and He wants what is best for us, and so in His Word He warns us about the dangers of immorality. He then commands us to not commit those sins. Then, He follows that up with the story of the flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah, where He shows us the consequences of His judgment on those who ignore His warnings, ignore His commandments, and choose to commit the sins of immorality.
Now, the wonderful thing about God is that He doesn’t just command us not to do something without providing us the wisdom that we need to avoid committing those sins. God tells us in His Word,
Prov 7:1-2
1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
KJV
Our news media never tires of exposing the scandals of mighty men. The headlines tell of the fall of religious leaders, politicians, and celebrities, and it doesn’t matter if happened yesterday or 20 years ago. We also see that most people have a double standard. They expect a much higher moral profile in those they elect to public office than they expect from themselves, and woe betide the person who lets them down. Many a promising career has suddenly been shipwrecked because of a past immorality.
This warning may sound overly dramatic, especially in the times that we live in today, with its acceptance of all things evil as good. But, this is God’s warning, and it is a warning that is to be taken literally. God will judge those who commit the sin of immorality.
There is also a spiritual application in these words for us. So far, we have been talking about committing physical adultery and immorality. However, the Scriptures also have a great deal to say about spiritual adultery. That is what God called it when His people left Him and went after idols. They departed from the living and true God. They were to be joined to Him, but they had separated from Him. They were actually playing the harlot; they were being unfaithful and untrue to Him. That is spiritual adultery.
Today we have many cults and “isms” and all types of false religions around us. For example, someone will say that “You don’t need to follow Christ any longer as you are following Him. There are many ways to heaven. What you need to do is join our group and do what we do, act as we act, and worship who we worship, and you can earn your way to salvation.”
Yet, the Bible is clear that we are saved by the grace of God alone.
Eph 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
KJV
Paul is telling us that “Faith plus nothing equals salvation.” We are to be absolutely, utterly cast upon Jesus Christ as our Savior. Yet, many people cannot accept a salvation that they did not earn.
God’s answer to this is that the believer is joined to Christ. A person who has been saved by grace, and grace alone, is joined to Christ. Then, once saved, Christ has said that we are to keep His commandments if we love Him, and His commandments are not grievous. We are to love one another. We are to be filled with the spirit of God. We are to witness to the world. Those are His commandments today. We are joined to a living Christ; we live on a higher plane. The fruit of the Spirit should be evident in our hearts and lives.
Today there are isms and cults all dressed up like a woman of the street. They are flattering and they are calling men and women. Yet, God tells us that to follow them is like an ox going to slaughter. It is like a fool going to the correction of the stocks. God is reminding us that we cannot settle for anything less than the person of Jesus Christ!
Amen.
Sunday Jul 11, 2021
Sunday Jul 11, 2021
Here are a couple of questions for you. What type of sin caused God to destroy the world with the flood? Immorality. What type of sin caused God to bring fire from heaven to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? Immorality. So, some of the most dramatic and seriously devastating judgements from God have been caused when man allowed immorality to consume their lives.
Gen 6:5
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
KJV
When we think of the sin of immorality, we often think of the sins of pornography, adultery, fornication, or any sexual act that takes place outside of the bonds of Holy Matrimony as it is defined by God. However, immorality is more than just sexual sins, it includes those sins, but it also includes sins that violate the moral standards established by God as right and wrong. Words like evil, wickedness, promiscuity, sexual deviation, are all associated with the sin of immorality. But make no mistake about it, sexual sins are the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about immorality as it is discussed in the Bible.
The fact that God has reserved some of His most severe judgments upon man because of the sins of immorality should tell us a great deal about how God feels about the sins of immorality. I believe it is important to God because of the devastating impact the sins of immorality will have on our lives. God loves us, and He wants what is best for us, and so in His Word He warns us about the dangers of immorality. He then commands us to not commit those sins. Then, through the story of the flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah, He shows us the consequences of His judgment on those who ignore His warnings, ignore His commandments, and choose to commit the sins of immorality.
God is speaking to His children, to you and I as believers, and the overriding message that He repeats over, and over, and over again is to keep His commandments and to bind them in our hearts. God’s wisdom is found in His commandments, and the solution to every problem that we have in our lives can be found right here in God’s Word. All we have to do is follow them and bind them in our hearts. Amen?
Click on the link below if you want to hear a message on how to stop immorality in your life. There is only one way, you have to deal with it in your heart using God’s Word. Although the irresistible logic of God’s Word may be clearly understood and accepted in the head, the irrepressible love of God’s Word in the heart is what holds tight the fortress walls of the soul against the full force of the foe.
Amen.
Monday Jul 05, 2021
Monday Jul 05, 2021
Our lesson today is about a sin that is destructive to the lives of so many people in our world today. It is the sin of adultery. Adultery destroys marriages, families, and our relationship with God. Adultery is a sin, like so many others, where the person puts their own lusts and desires ahead of the needs of their spouse, their family, and their duty to God. It is a self-centered sin, and it is a sin that will destroy your life, both physically and spiritually. If you repent of it, God will forgive you of the sin of adultery, but the consequences of that sin will spread far beyond your own life, and even God’s forgiveness does not usually change that.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the high cost of adultery. God reminds us of these consequences, and then, as always, He tells us how to avoid it.
Prov 6:20-21
20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
KJV
As the children of God, we are told to hear and to heed our parent’s commandments, and most of all, we are to hear and to heed God’s commandments.
Amen.
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Let me ask you a question, how particular is the devil in how he gets someone to go to hell? He is not particular at all, right? In fact, he would just as soon send you to hell from the church pew as he had from the gutter. It makes no difference to him. In fact, I think it gives him a sense of satisfaction when he can so easily deceive all of those church members into thinking they are going to heaven, just because they have their names on the membership role, and they go to church most Sundays.
Now, there are people today who believe in Christ, I mean, you believe it in your head. You believe the facts of the gospel. You believe that Jesus is the Savior. You believe that Jesus is Sovereign. And you believe that Jesus is Sufficient, and yet you are as lost as you can be. There is still something wrong with you, and that is you have a lack of genuine love for Jesus.
Now, let me give you the acid test for your salvation today. I want you to look down deep in your heart and ask yourself, Do you love Jesus, and thereby love those whom Jesus loves?
Let tell you something very important, there are great number of people who identify themselves as Christians, and they have their name written on the church roll, yet they do not have their names written down in glory. They have never been born again. Paul describes them as having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. It is possible to be loyal but lost, religious but rejected. Many are going to go to hell surrounded by baptismal certificates and receipts for church offerings. Yet, at the end, Jesus is going to hand you over for judgment, because you have never been saved.
Now, I’m not trying to make you doubt your salvation, but the Bible says (1 Corinthians 11:28) “Let a man examine himself, whether he be in the faith.” So, I am asking you to examine yourself, and ask are you saved? I mean, are you saved? Have you fully surrendered yourself to the will of Jesus Christ? Please do not go away without Jesus. Don’t let pride keep you from coming to Jesus. Don’t worry about what people think. You obey the Lord, and you make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior.
Click on the podcast below to hear a message on the tragedy of a person who can serve the Lord for their entire life, yet still be lost.
Amen.
Sunday Dec 27, 2020
Sunday Dec 27, 2020
The America that most of us grew up in, was a country where self-reliance was expected and taught. You worked to provide for you and your family’s needs. If that meant digging ditches, or working in a factory, or in an office, then that is what you did. You relied on your physical skills and your mind to provide for you needs. You did not rely on the government or others or to provide for your needs. However, that is not the world that we live in today. We are told by a corrupt media and educational system that we are to rely on an equally corrupt and all-powerful government to provide all of our needs. The government takes from those whom they deem to have too much and gives it to those who they choose to give it to. We are expected, and we are taught, to trust in our government.
That is what the world teaches. Yet, as Christians, we are taught to rely on God to provide for our needs. However, that does not mean that we are to sit on our backsides and wait on God to turn rocks into bread so that we may eat. The Bible tells us that if we choose to not work, then we will not eat.
2 Thess 3:10
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
KJV
So, the world teaches us to rely on the world, and the Bible teaches us to rely on God. The question that we have before us today is who and what do your actions, not your words, say that you trust in?
Unfortunately, for most of us, even Christians, the answer to that question depends on how things are going at the time. When things are going your way, who do you trust in, and what do you trust in? Is it yourself, your bank account, your skills, and your intellect? When things are going good, why should you bother God? He is very busy.
However, when things are going against you, and each bad event seems to just stack one upon the other, then who, and what, do you trust in? Is this the time that you choose to bother God?
If, when you search down deep for the truth in answering these questions, God only appears when the times are bad, then this lesson is for you. If God is only your 911 call when things go bad, then this lesson is for you.
Click on the podcast below to hear a message on one of the greatest sins that man can commit, the sin of unbelief.
Amen.