Episodes
Sunday Aug 01, 2021
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD‘S WISDOM (Proverbs 8:1-13)
Sunday Aug 01, 2021
Sunday Aug 01, 2021
Our message today is about the characteristics of God’s Wisdom. The things about God’s Wisdom that makes it so beneficial and good for our lives.
During the week as I work on these messages, I sit in an office at home that is mostly quiet. My wife doesn’t make much noise, and there are no kids living with us anymore to make a racket. The only real noisemakers are our dogs, and one in particular, that cannot stand to have people walking up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. He especially can’t stand it when a package is delivered to the front door. So, for most of the time that I am studying, it is real quiet. Sometimes too quiet and I will turn on a selection of piano solos of hymns in the background to give a little bit of noise to focus my mind.
I have learned that most of us can operate at two levels of thought, one of direct focus, and another in the background. For example, most of us can have an instructor behind us walking us through how to do something while we concentrate on the task at hand. However, if a third person tries to talk at the same time, we cannot manage it. For me, I can be focused on studying and composing the lessons with God speaking as my instructor, but in the background, the activity of the day wants to intrude on my mind and distract me. So, I will play a selection of piano solos of the old hymns that I grew up with and love so much. I don’t have to concentrate on them because I know them so well, and they don’t distract me, but they do help to shut out the events of the day that are trying to distract and take over my mind. It is like having God speaking to me through His word and His music at that same time. It fills up my two levels of thought and I can study.
Now, I study very differently than how my father did. He used books and hand wrote everything. I do all of my work on a computer. I hand write very little. All of my notes are on the computer. I have 26 versions of the Bible on the computer. I have all of my reference material, commentaries, inter-linear Bibles, sermons, Greek and Hebrew translations on the computer. They are all available to me at the touch of a button. Yet, that same computer puts at my disposal all the news of the day, entertainment, and connection with my friends and family via the airwaves and the internet. All in a machine that I work on in my quiet office, in my quiet home. Often the only sound is the clicking of the keys as I type.
It is all available to me, but as I type my lessons, I’m not even aware that all of that communication and entertainment is there. If the music gets too loud or distracting, I can turn the volume down, or up, or even off.
Yet, I also have a different kind of receiver in my room. The highest and holiest wisdom is as close as that computer, but it is not on that computer. This different receiver sits on a table right next to me and it is my old Bible. The one my parents gave to me 40 years ago as a graduation gift. It is still very special to me. The Bibles on my computer are just study tools, there is nothing special about them, I never use them to really open my mind to God. However, there is just something special about being able to reach out my hand and take up that Book of books, turn its pages, and open my heart and mind to the words of the Holy Spirit. The wisdom of the Word—the revealed and inspired wisdom of the living God—is right there in my room. God’s Wisdom is never farther away than that Book. It calls to each of us. It says, “Unto you, O men, I call.” God speaks to me when I listen to the words found in His book and apply them to my heart.
God’s Wisdom says that “All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.” All the words of the God’s book are inspired by God, they are true, righteous, and nothing twisted can be found in them. We may not understand all of the Bible, and we may not always interpret it properly. Nevertheless, every word of the Bible is God-breathed, divinely inspired, inerrant, infallible, and wholly dependable. All of God’s words are righteous. All of God’s words are right. We may not like them, and we may not want to obey them, but they are right.
The Scriptures contain unfathomable depths. How could it be otherwise when the words are those of an infinite God? A man can study the Bible all his life and still feel he has but touched the fringe of Inspiration’s garment. At the same time a little child can read and understand the Bible. It is that simple.
There is enough truth in the Word of God to save a soul and truth enough to occupy the sharpest mind for a lifetime.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the characteristics of God’s Word.
Amen.
Sunday May 16, 2021
TO LIVE A VICTORIOUS LIFE (Proverbs 4:14-27)
Sunday May 16, 2021
Sunday May 16, 2021
This message is about a task that God has given to every born-again believer. That task is to allow the light of Jesus to shine through us to reach a dark world full of people who need to hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ. What makes this challenging is that we must live our lives in such a way that brings glory to our Lord, and still avoid the sin that is around us. I believe that is one of the reasons that God has given us the book of Proverbs. To show us how to live a victorious Christian life, in a world full of sin.
God’s wisdom is the key to living in this dark world that is full of evil. Satan would like nothing better than to destroy the witness of a child of God. The world likes nothing better than to see a righteous man fall. This chapter of Proverbs is giving us the instructions from our Creator to live a victorious Christian life so that we can bring people to Christ and eternal life.
Click on the link below to hear a message on God’s instruction manual for living a life that honors God.
Amen.
Sunday Feb 21, 2021
WIDSOM CRIES OUT TO YOU (Proverbs 1:23-33)
Sunday Feb 21, 2021
Sunday Feb 21, 2021
In our message today, Solomon discusses wisdom. The interesting thing is that while we think of wisdom as something we obtain or achieve, Solomon describes wisdom as a person. A person who cares for you and wants to teach you and guide you. But most of all, the image that we are given is that of someone issuing a warning to those who are headed down a path that will lead to their destruction.
It is like the lighthouse that shines its light out to the ships to warn them of dangerous reefs or shoals. It reminds me of the old-time railroad switchmen who would signal trains with a green or yellow light to signal that all was well on the tracks, or a red light when there was danger ahead, like a bridge being out. I think of wisdom as that switchman standing by the tracks with his red signal light, just to watch the train speed on by ignoring his signal. I think of the tragedy of the people on board that train who will die because the train engineers disdained the warning from the switchman in their arrogance and pride.
This is what our lesson is about today, God has given us His wisdom, in the form of His living Word, and it cries out to us to stop heading down a path to our certain destruction. People ignore the cries of God, they disdain those who share His word, and they will lead themselves, and their families, friends, and loved ones to tragedy because of their own pride and arrogance.
Wisdom looks at the simple, the scornful, and the foolish. She cries out to them, but these people cannot be bothered with wisdom. They are so wrapped up in the world around them, that they do not have time to stop, look, and listen to her words of life. Having money is more important than listening. Succeeding at their job is more important than listening. Going to school is more important. Life in this world is demanding, keeping up with the Jones’ is hard, keeping the family fed, the clothes washed, the car running, and the dogs walked and fed, is hard. There is no time to stop to look at some person standing by the road shining her red warning light, and listen to their words of life. So, they go on in their self-centered, pride, and arrogance.
The days of our lives are short and hurried. During these days, we search for the answers to many of life’s most important questions. If we are wise, then we discover that, apart from divine wisdom, we have no satisfying answers to any of these questions of life: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? What is life all about? Why is evil so prevalent and triumphant? Is there life beyond death? Is there a God? How can God be known?
Only the wisdom contained in the Bible can answer these questions with the wisdom of the Creator of all things. Foolish answers to these questions are plentiful, but they are all wrong to a greater or lesser degree. Wisdom stands, calls, and is disregarded, so she reproves us of our foolishness for listening to the answers of man.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how wisdom stands by the roadway at the intersection of the broad way and the narrow way. She is holding her warning light out to those who will heed her words. Each of us have a choice, to follow God’s Wisdom or reject it. The consequences of that choice have eternal implications.
Amen.
Sunday May 24, 2020
TO CHOOSE DARKNESS OVER LIGHT (John 19:1-15)
Sunday May 24, 2020
Sunday May 24, 2020
Jesus came to this earth to reveal the true nature of the sin that is in the heart of every person. He came to show the world that there was a way out of the darkness of sin and into the light of truth and eternal life. But Jesus was judged and condemned to die on a cross by a world that did not want to come out of the darkness to have their deeds reproved. They chose darkness over light.
John 3:19-20
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
KJV
All of us face this timeless challenge and respond one way or another. Salvation, and eternal life in heaven, is not about our works, it is about what we decide to do with Jesus Christ. Just as the men who rejected Christ did, we either cry "Crucify him" or "Crown him." There is no middle ground. You can’t work your way into heaven, pay your way, or be religious enough to be saved. You must decide to crown Him Lord of your heart or crucify Jesus in your heart. Just like each of the men who put Jesus Christ on trial, you must decide to crucify an innocent man, or make Him your Savior.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how the Jews and the Gentiles alike rejected the one true Son of God and the free gift of salvation and eternal life that He offered them.
Amen.
Sunday Oct 06, 2019
STUBBORN UNBELIEF (John 12:37-50)
Sunday Oct 06, 2019
Sunday Oct 06, 2019
Jesus Christ has been my Lord and Savior since I was a young man. His Holy Spirit has lived in my heart for more than 50 years. In fact, it is hard for me to remember a time when the Holy Spirit was not my constant companion in everything that I did. I have chosen to live my life in the center of God’s will. I am God’s servant and that is the desire of my heart, to serve God in all that I do. However, that has not always been the case. There have been periods of my life when I have ignored Holy Spirit who lives within my heart. I have put Him in closet within my heart and told Him that He was not welcome in certain areas of my life. I wanted Him close by if I needed Him, but otherwise I didn’t want to be bothered. I wanted to live my life, my way. Now, every single time I did that, the Holy Spirit convicted me, chastised me, even took me out to the woodshed to discipline me. In short, I failed in all aspects of my life when Jesus was not first in my life. It is when Jesus is the President of my life, not just a resident, that I truly live an abundant life in the way God wants me to live.
As a result of this lifelong relationship with Jesus, it is sometimes hard for me to understand why someone would choose to reject Jesus as the Son of God, as their Lord, and as their Savior. Knowing what I know and what it has meant to me, it just doesn’t make sense to me why the vast majority of people would turn away from the free gift of eternal life in heaven with Jesus. It boggles my mind. Yet, it is true. Whether it is for self-centered reasons, or to chase after a false religion, they deliberately, willfully, and knowingly, choose to reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It doesn’t mean they cannot be reached. It doesn’t mean that they are morally bad people. It just means that, so far, they have made a deliberate decision to reject Christ. It means that if they were to die today, they would spend eternity in Hell, without God. Unfortunately, the longer a person lives rejecting Jesus, the harder it gets to ever reach them with the truth of who Jesus is. In other words, their mind is set in its ways. Their heart becomes hardened to the gospel message that is found in the Bible. They say, it cannot be true. That the words of the Bible have been corrupted by man. When you die, you die, and that is it.
Listen to me, the Bible is the one true word of God, and the God that I believe in, is powerful enough to protect His word from any efforts by man to corrupt it. If you believe that man can corrupt God’s Word, then you do not believe in the same almighty Creator of all things that I do. You do not believe in the God of the Bible.
I also believe that there comes a time in everyone’s life when they must choose Jesus as their Savior, or to reject Him. The Holy Spirit is patient with each of us.
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
KJV
Jesus declared that He stands at the door knocking.
Rev 3:20
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
KJV
Jesus wants you to choose Him, but when the Holy Spirit determines that your decision is final, He will stop convicting you, and walk away. He will harden your heart to the word of God, and you will be doomed to die and go to Hell.
Click on the link below to hear a message about how the Jews, in their stubborn unbelief, finally rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus stopped knocking, stopped pleading with them, and then hardened their hearts.
Amen.
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
A LAST ATTEMPT (John 12:23-36)
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Have you ever had an event or an experience that you knew was going to be really, really, bad in front of you? You knew it needed to be done, people were depending on you, but you had a few days that you had to get through before it would begin? The waiting, the dreading, the sheer horribleness of it playing on your mind. I can think of things like watching my mother’s last few days on the earth, and the suffering she was dealing with. I knew her death was imminent. I knew it would happen in the next few days. I knew she would be in heaven soon, but I had to steel myself for the emotions that would come.
A soldier facing some kind of really tough battle. He knows the chances were slim that he was going to make it, but he couldn’t let his brothers in arms down. These were men he depended on, and they were the ones who depended on him, so he prepared himself to deal with it.
This is what our next few messages are going to be about for Jesus. He knew this was the reason that He had come to earth. His whole life had been about this coming hour. The entire human race depended on Him completing the work of salvation. He knew that He was about to carry the burden of every sin that had ever been committed and would ever be committed. He knew the ugliness of the world’s worst sins was about to be thrust upon Him and He would have to die as punishment for that sin. He dreaded the hour, but He knew the whole world depended on Him, and so He prepared Himself. There was so much He needed to do before that hour came, but His disciples needed to hear what He had to say. These next several weeks are going to be a study in how much Jesus loved each and every one of us, even the Jews and the Romans who would crucify Him.
Click on the link below to hear a message on what is likely the Lord’s last attempt to convince the Jews that He was the Son of God, the Promised Messiah.
Amen.
Sunday Oct 14, 2018
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD (INCLUDING ME) (John 3:16)
Sunday Oct 14, 2018
Sunday Oct 14, 2018
What was the very first Bible verse that you can remember memorizing?
It would be John 3:16 for me. In fact, with my memory going away in my old age, it is probably the only verse I still have memorized. I know lots of verses by their context, but if it wasn’t for the internet search engines and the Bible concordance on my computer, I would have a hard time finding them. But John 3:16 is one I still remember.
So, why do you think that is? Why would this verse stay with me so readily, when others do not? It is because it tells me of God’s love for the whole world, but it is written in such a way, that it seems like He is talking to just me. God loves the world, but the word whosever means including me.
Who does the verse say loves this poor lost world? The one, true, almighty God. The eternal, self-existing, uncreated, and having need of nothing, God. It is God, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. It is God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. It is God, who takes the initiative. It is God, who loves and gives. It all begins with God.
That God is “not willing that any should perish” is a great Biblical truth that is revealed to us. John tells us in 3:16 that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That is God's earnest desire for all the children of Adam. The gospel invitation is extended to all. If you want to make the invitation of this verse personal, then put your own name in the verse. For example say, For God so loved the world (including Keith Martin), that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever (including Keith Martin) believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God’s plan for salvation, includes me, even me. God does not want me, or you, or anybody else to perish.
The word Perish is a word that should make us all tremble as we think of the consequences of our sin against God. The word perish reveals the other side of God's character. He is not only a God of immeasurable love, he is also a God of infinite holiness. It is the finality of the word that terrifies us. Death, and what occurs on the other side of death, is a mystery to the lost person, but John 3:16 brings clarity to the mystery. In it, God puts a choice before us. He says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The choice that God gives us is to believe in Jesus Christ or perish. If we reject Christ, then God will allow sin to complete its work beyond the grave of condemning the soul to an eternity in torment.
But that is not what God wants for us. God would have every person come to repentance. That is why the invitation of John 3:16 is universal, hinging on believing in him. Those who do, become heirs of everlasting [eternal] life. God created us with eternity in mind. We have an immortal soul and spirit that will exist for all of eternity. This great verse, which summarizes the whole gospel story, begins with God and ends with everlasting life. It begins with one who had no beginning. It ends with that which has no ending.
The fact that Jesus Christ has come into the world provides each person with the ultimate test of believing or disbelieving, of choosing whether to continue in their sins and surely perish, or whether to believe in him and pass from death to life. The coming of Christ into this world is the single decision point of eternal destiny for each of us.
This great verse is the essential foundation of the gospel of Christ. God loved the world, including me, so much that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever, including me, believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Don’t walk away and reject such a gift. Choose Christ. Choose eternal life.
Click on the link below to learn just how much God loves you.
Amen.
Sunday Jul 22, 2018
WOULD YOU RECOGNIZE JESUS? (John 1:10-13)
Sunday Jul 22, 2018
Sunday Jul 22, 2018
If Jesus walked up to you today, dressed in the current millennial age fashion, narrow pant legs, long pointy shoes, hair trimmed short on the sides and bushy on top, would you know Him? Why not? Because He didn’t look like the images from the paintings we are all familiar with, in long white robes, sandals, long hair and a beard? Is it because He wasn’t what you had been taught to expect by the media, by teachers, preachers, and religious tradition?
What if He went over to a park courtyard and started teaching out of the Word of God with great insight? Would that be enough to make you think He was Jesus?
What if a sick person came up to Him and He healed them? Would that be enough to make you think He was Jesus?
What if He claimed to be the Son of God? Would that be enough to convince you?
Would you ask Him for a sign to convince you that He was truly Jesus? That is what the Jews did.
Matt 12:38-39
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
KJV
In the Book of Revelation, it tells us that Jesus will come for us at the Rapture and that will we meet Him in the air. It also gives us a description of what the Lord looks like in His resurrected form, full of glory and power. So, that is what we are expecting, that is the Lord that we are expecting, but what if, and there is nothing in the Bible to say that this will occur, I am just making an illustration here, what if the Lord chose to come speak to you one day as you were on your way to work? Would you recognize Him?
Our lesson today is about how Jesus came to this earth, and some recognized Him for who He was, and others rejected Him. Now, reading this with 20/20 hindsight, we can be pretty quick to judge those who did not recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. But the question is, if you were a Jew living in that day, would you recognize Jesus for who He was?
Click on the link below to hear a message on how the light of the world, Jesus Christ, came to the world that He had created, and they knew Him not.
Amen.
Sunday Jul 15, 2018
WE ARE CHRIST'S CANDLE (John 1:5-9)
Sunday Jul 15, 2018
Sunday Jul 15, 2018
Today’s message is about our role, as born again believers in Christ, of being a candle for Christ. We have been commanded by our Lord to allow His light to shine through us. We are to be Christ’s candle for the world.
Mark 4:21
21 And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?
KJV
When you stop and think about it, a candle, in and of itself, really is a remarkable invention. When it was created, its whole purpose was to serve as a simple instrument for dispelling darkness. It enabled man to work, or rest, in the dark. It allowed him to see the dangers that used the darkness to prey upon him. If it was put into a lantern casing, it became a mobile source of light and protection as man traveled along the road. It guided man along the pathway or trail that he was following. If you placed the candle in front of a reflective surface you could focus the light and cast it out for greater distances enhancing the protection, and utility, that it gave.
Darkness, with all of its power to frighten and bewilder, is no match for the light. The faintest gleam, the smallest candle, will dispel the deepest darkness. The function of the candle is to provide the light that dispels that darkness. But notice that the candle performs this function at a great expense to itself. It has to give itself up to the flame and be consumed. The light of the sun and stars is provided on the same principle. As they shed their light upon us, they consume the energy that is within them.
Now, the Word of God tells us that in the spiritual realm, the Lord Jesus is the Light that dispels darkness. The light that He brings has been provided at an infinite cost. Yet, when we come to Him, He kindles that light in us. The fact that we are now His light bearers means that we, too, must pay the price of shining. Our light is not to be hidden. It is not a secret light. It is to be placed where it will be seen of men. Many people hate and resent the light of Christ and will try to extinguish it. On the other hand, many other people will be drawn to it.
It is important for us to understand that it is the light itself that is the miracle, we are just the candles. We are sowers, and we are light bearers. We are to be a light unto the world.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the role of a believer to be Christ’s candle to the world.
Amen.
Sunday Jul 08, 2018
JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD (John 1:1-5)
Sunday Jul 08, 2018
Sunday Jul 08, 2018
John tells us that Jesus Christ is the light of the world when he says, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Jesus is the Light of the world, that is why He came to this earth as a Man, to be the Light of the World. The world was in darkness when He came, and it is even darker today because mankind rejected that Light. We are in a desperate condition, but, thank God there is Light. God’s light floods our hearts. Jesus, who turned a chaos into a cosmos at the creation of the heavens and the earth, turned the chaos of our lives into something wonderful when He made us a new creation.
John 8:12
12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
KJV
We have life everlasting only because of the light of Jesus Christ.
Click on the link below to hear a message on who Jesus Christ is and the impact that He can have in your life.
Amen.