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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 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.
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
If you are searching for wisdom from God because you have a question, you have a problem, or you have a need, then there is good news for you. God desires that we have His wisdom so much that He sent His own dear Son, the Lord Jesus, to die upon Calvary’s cross that you might know His wisdom; and He sent His dear Holy Spirit to teach it. The book of Proverbs is indeed God’s book to health, wealth, and wisdom for His children. These proverbs are God’s ways for God’s people.
If you want this wisdom, then God tells us that the first step on this infallible path to His wisdom is that you must pursue the Scriptures. God says, “My son, if thou wilt receive my words …” It’s all predicated on that. If you choose not to receive God’s Word, then you will never have God’s wisdom. God’s Word, the infallible, inerrant, Word of God, is God’s handbook of wisdom for His children. You must pursue it. You must pour over it. You must study it. You must saturate yourself with it.
In order for you to receive God’s Word, then you must appreciate God’s Word. You must be willing to receive it with an open heart. You must welcome it into your heart. Yet, appreciating God’s Word is not enough, you also have to appropriate God’s Word. That means, not only do you need to let it get in, but you have to let it get down deep inside of you. Then, once you have appropriated the Word of God, then you must assimilate it. The word assimilate means to take in information, ideas, and understand it fully. Then, you must activate the Word of God in your life. You must apply it in your daily life.
God says that we must,“…apply thine heart to understanding.” When you apply it—when it gets out of the notebook and into your head, and then when it gets out of your head and into your heart, and when it gets out of your heart and into your life, and you begin to live it, and you begin to apply it, and you begin to activate it—at that moment, it becomes wisdom to you.
Listen, there is no finer food known to man that a plate full of biscuits and sausage gravy, at least the way my wife makes it. But it is not enough for me to simply appreciate that plate of biscuits and gravy. I can sit there and say how wonderful it is all day, but that is not enough. It is also not enough for me to appropriate it by sitting it down in front of me, possessing it. No, that is not enough. It is also not enough for me to assimilate it, to bend down and smell that wonderful aroma of goodness. It is not until I activate my hand to put that biscuit and gravy into my mouth and let it settle down in my stomach that I have put that food into my life. It is the same with God’s Word.
Jer 15:16
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
KJV
You must activate the Word of God in your life. You must apply it in your daily life. Now, when you come to God with fervency, consistency, expectancy, and after you have received the Word of God, then you can pray to God for wisdom, and it shall be given. God’s not going to scold you. He’s not going to say, “Is that you again, pestering me?” Oh no! God is pleased when I come to Him daily and say, “God, I need wisdom here.” “Lord, I’m preparing a lesson; Lord, help me.” “Lord, I’m making a decision; Lord, help me.” “Lord, I’m seeking a college, a wife; I need to buy a home; I want to win souls; Lord, I want to be used; God, give me wisdom!” God will give it. God wants you to have wisdom.
However, there is one thing above all else that you must have if you are to have the wisdom of God, if you would know wisdom. There must be the presence of the Savior in your heart. You see, a man can have knowledge, but he needs understanding. He needs wisdom! In order for you to know the secrets of the universe, you have to know the Lord Jesus Christ, for the Bible says,
Col 2:3
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
KJV
Jesus is the secret of the universe. Jesus is the glue of the galaxies. Jesus is the secret of it all, and the only way that a man can know it, is not by books, but by knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some things that you cannot learn from experience. Wisdom is the presence of the Savior. You will never have real wisdom until you know the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart.
Prov 2:7-9
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
KJV
Who is our righteousness? Who is our wisdom? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. God is telling us that in Christ, there is soundness; in Christ, there is strength; in Christ there is security, and in Christ, there is satisfaction.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can have the wisdom of God. Do you want God’s wisdom? Then you must follow the infallible path to that wisdom. You must know Jesus. Christ must be in your heart!
Amen.
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
There is an old proverb—not a biblical proverb, just a proverb—that says, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” But the problem is that a lot of people who go to bed early and get up early, they’re not healthy, they’re not wealthy, and they’re not wise. Going to bed early and getting up early doesn’t make you healthy, wealthy, and wise. However, what is taught in God’s Word will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise, at least by the standards of God’s word. Not by the world’s standards, but by God’s standards.
So, what is a proverb, anyway? Somebody once said that a proverb is a short sentence based on long experience—that is, it is a lot of wisdom that has been distilled, crammed into, packed into, a sentence. That is, by a proverb, we can learn from the experiences of other people. Somebody else said, “You’d better learn from the mistakes of others, because you’ll not live long enough to make them all by yourself.” That is probably a wise statement for most of us, but I know of some people who are definitely trying to do it alone. They like making their own mistakes.
But the proverbs that we find here in the Bible are not like earthly proverbs. Earthly proverbs are learned from experience. But that is not what Biblical proverbs are. Biblical proverbs are truths that are given to us by divine revelation. These are not just simply things that are being worked out by human ingenuity; these are God’s words of wisdom given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
This is telling us that Jesus is wisdom personified. Let me tell you about wisdom. It commences at conversion, and it deepens by discipleship.
Prov 9:10
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
KJV
That is, a man does not even have a modicum of wisdom until he knows the Lord. When a man reverences God, when a man receives Christ, when a man has a personal encounter, that man receives the wisdom of God.
This is the incomparable worth of wisdom, it is provided by the Father; it is produced by the Spirit, but only by the presence of the Son. When you have the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart, then you are ready to have that real wisdom.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the incomparable worth of wisdom.
Amen.
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 Feb 07, 2021
Sunday Feb 07, 2021
This is the second message in a two-part series on the role of a father in the direction that a child will go as they get older, and our message today will be about the way parents can raise a child who is wise and loves God.
Certainly, we would like to think that every parent, every father, loves their child and wants what is best for them. And as believers, we want to believe that the deepest desire of every parent, every father, is that their children will love God with all of their hearts.
But unfortunately, not all children have the benefit of loving parents. Sometimes children are caught up in the mistakes and the pride and the arrogance of their parents, and more often than not it is the pride and arrogance of the father. Sometimes it is the mother, or even both, but more often than not it is the father.
So, what happens to that child who was not taught by their parents to love God? There is an evolution of that child into becoming someone who does not know the love that God has for them. They become someone who lives their life without God. The really sad thing is that they never learn what it means to have eternal life with God in Heaven.
But that is not the way that child starts out. It doesn’t have to be that way. That is where a godly father, and a godly mother, come into the picture. It is their responsibility to teach that child what it means to love God with all of their heart. Now, the fact is that, ultimately, it is the child who must choose to accept or reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Even with the best of parents, that child still has to make their own choice, and some don’t choose Christ. But as parents, we can have tremendous impact on the path that child will take.
Click on the link below to hear a message on what it takes to raise a child who loves God with all of their hearts.
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
One of the greatest blessings that God has bestowed on me is that I am the father of two godly sons. The fact that they both love God and serve Him is not a testament to anything that I have done, but to the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They were also blessed with the love of a truly wonderful mother. That undying love that she has for them has shaped them in many ways. Now, it is true that I have loved them both with all of my heart since I held them in my arms on the day they were born. It is also true that our deepest desire for our children was that they loved God with all of their hearts.
Unfortunately, not all children have the benefit of loving parents. Sometimes children are caught up in the mistakes and the pride and the arrogance of their parents, and more often than not it is the pride and arrogance of the father. Sometimes it is the mother, or even both, but more often than not it is the father.
There are many children who are going to be shipwrecked because of the pride and the arrogance of their fathers, who willingly choose not to guide those children into a safe and secure haven. Those fathers will shipwreck their own lives, and then the lives of their children who will suffer in their own ignorance because their father did not teach them the ways of God.
You might ask, “Well what about the mother, isn’t she just as responsible?” Yes, but the Bible is clear that the father is to be the major teacher of the family. But, when the father doesn’t perform that role, whether it is because he is lost and does not know God, or he is too proud and arrogant to do so, or he just isn’t there anymore, then the mother has to step in. But, God gives the role of the spiritual leader of the home to the father.
Our message today is on how To Be a Father, and it is part I of a two-part series. In this first part I am going to describe what happens when a father fails to teach his child. We are going to talk about what happens to that child as a result of that father’s failure.
Click on the link below to hear a message on what happens when we do not teach our children. When a father, who is so wrapped up in his own life, who is so proud and arrogant that he does not love God, and does not wish to teach his children to love God. I hope you hear my words today, and I pray that you will not let this happen to your children.
Amen.
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
I am always amazed at the wisdom of God. There are times that I don’t always understand what God is doing, but that is ok, because God doesn’t need my understanding. One area that I think about is the fact that most people are parents when they are young, full of energy, and make no mistake they need that energy to chase after those kids, but they lack the wisdom that it takes to be a really good parent. You see, we tend to gain more wisdom as we get older, but it is when we are young that we need that wisdom, and raising kids is one of those times.
Now, my wife is a terrific mother. She has dedicated herself to our boys, and nobody ever loved a child more than my wife loves our two boys and their wives, and our grandchildren. But, I have to admit, that I could have been a better parent than I was. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. I just never did get a copy of the how to raise kids manual so that I could read it and know what I was supposed to do. I had to learn on the job, just like everyone else. Now, it is at a time like this when I realize just how ignorant I was. There I had, available for me in His Word, a complete guide to the way God wants us to raise kids to count for Him, and I just didn’t have the wisdom to use it like I should have.
If you are a Christian parent, one of the promises of God that you should hold dear to your heart is that, the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
Ps 112:2
2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
KJV
This is a promise that God will bless your children and make them mighty upon the earth. The strongest desire of my heart for my kids is not that they be wealthy, not that they be famous, not that they will always be praised or whatever, but that they will love the Lord Jesus Christ and count in His cause. I want them to be people who will count for God. God has kept this promise in my two boys and their own families, in spite of my failings.
I thank God for Christian homes. I don’t know of anything any better than a Christian home. Your home doesn’t exist so you can do your business; your business exists so you can have your home. God ideally wants everybody to have three homes. A family home, a church home, and a heavenly home. Jesus is the greatest homebuilder. Satan is the greatest home-wrecker. God wants you to have a family home. Now maybe you’re an orphan. Maybe you’re divorced. Maybe you’re separated. Then you need some friends that will be sort of a family to you. That’s one of the good reasons we have Bible fellowship classes in churches. But you need some kind of a family home. And then you need a church home. You need a place with your brothers and sisters in Christ. And then you need to know that you know that you know that when you die, you’re going to heaven—to the Father’s house. Now Jesus is the key to all three. You have to know the Lord Jesus Christ.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how to raise kids who will count for God.
Amen.
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
Whenever I get ready to teach, or study, a book of the Bible, and I know that I am going to be spending a lot of time in it, I try to get in my mind why God put this book in the Bible and what it is that He wants me to learn from it. The Bible is such a marvelous book. It is so simple that a child can learn about God’s love for them, and it is so deep that a person can spend their entire life plumbing it depths and barely get below the surface. I love the Word of God, because it allows me to know the mind of God, and when I know the mind of God, I know the love of God. There is nothing that I value more than the love that God has for me. It sustains me, it motivates me, it guides me, and it makes me the person that I am, a servant of God.
I firmly believe that God gave us His Word so that we might know who He is, what He has done for us, and as a result, that we might live for Him. It is His Word that answers all of the questions that we have in this life. It is His Word that grounds me in the absolute truths about right and wrong, it establishes what good and evil are, light from dark, and it gives me the keys to living a victorious Christian life.
So, what is it that God wants us to know from the book of Proverbs? Why did God give us this very unusual book? When you look at the book of Proverbs, you will find it to be an interesting collection of short, concise and forcefully expressive sayings. Unlike our studies of the gospel of John, and the life of David, Proverbs does not even tell a story, or a series of stories. We won’t find David slaying Goliath with five smooth stones, and we won’t find Jesus healing the sick and feeding the five thousand. As a result, you may not consider the Book of Proverbs as a very thrilling story, but it is. You also may want to think of the Book of Proverbs like a big collection of sayings that you might find in a Chinese cookie, but it is not.
Click on the link below to hear a message on what God wants you to know about the book of Proverbs, and how it can give you the answers to many of your questions about life.
Amen.
Sunday May 19, 2019
Sunday May 19, 2019
Today we are going to talk about a familiar story from the New Testament. It is about a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, but the woman is not the focus of this story. It is instead the statement that Jesus makes to the scribes and the pharisees who had brought her to Jesus. Jesus tells them, “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”
The real question that Jesus is asking is, “are you qualified to judge this woman?” We are required to make judgments almost every day of our lives, but rarely do we judge whether a person should die for their sin. Never are we allowed to determine the eternal destiny of a person, and I am glad that is true because we are simply not qualified to be that judge. I am glad that Jesus is the only One qualified to judge my eternal destiny. To determine if I will spend eternity in heaven or hell. Amen?
Click on the link below hear a message, not about the perils of judging others, but a message about the wisdom and compassion of Jesus Christ. Wisdom to see through the schemes and agendas that we have as humans, and the compassion to forgive the sins of a woman whose heart chose Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
Amen.
Sunday Apr 03, 2016
Sunday Apr 03, 2016