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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 Nov 22, 2020
Sunday Nov 22, 2020
The story of David and Bathsheba is a story that is a challenge to each of us as believers, for if a man as great as David could fall into sin, then so could each of us. It is also a tragic story, because of the tremendous cost of David’s sin. There will always be consequences when we sin against God. Not just on what we might call the “big” sins, but any sin. Too many times we get complacent with our sin, because we have rationalized them as “little” sins, or “socially acceptable sins,” and we do not realize the full extent of the cost of that sin in our relationship with God. There is always a tragic cost of our sin, and that is what I want us to see in our message today.
But there is also hope. We can have our relationship with God restored, and that is what I want you to know today, there is hope for us when we fail, even when we fail greatly.
If you’re living in sin and God is not dealing with you, then do you know what you need to do? You need to get saved. You need to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior.
If you’re living in sin and God is dealing with you, then do you know what you need to do? You need to get right with God. You need to repent of the sin that is in your life and let God forgive you, and restore you.
God is serious about your life. He wants you to live a righteous and a holy life. God loves you and He wants you to be in fellowship with Him. What is the hope for the child of God who has sinned? God’s never-ending love for you. God told David, that “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” God tells you the same thing,
1 John 4:10
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
KJV
1 John 4:16
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
KJV
1 John 4:19
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
KJV
Do you want to restore your relationship with God? Do you want to once again “dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him?” Then you must repent of your sins and find forgiveness in God’s love for you.
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
KJV
The promise that God “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” is our hope as believers.
If this message is for you, if you are now walking in sin, it doesn’t even have to be a great big one, like adultery, but any sin, then that sin is impacting your relationship with God. You need to repent of that sin. This message is for people who want to live once again in the full love of God.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the cost of sin, and the hope that the believer has in restoring their relationship with God.
Amen.
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Can a child of God sin? Yes, they can and do, frequently. Can a child of God sin a great big sin, like breaking one of the 10 commandments? Now, before you answer that, I want you to work your way down the list of commandments, and tell me if you can break them and be a child of God? Yes, of course, they can. Then, can a child of God sin and not suffer? Absolutely not.
Today’s message is about a child of God who sinned, and sinned greatly, which makes this a very sad story. It is sad because a man whom God loved, and who truly loved God, committed not just the sin of adultery, but then he tried to cover it up by committing murder. Now those are really big sins, and David committed them.
So, not only is this a sad story, but it is also a tragic story because a man who the Bible describes as a man after God’s own heart will have to face the consequences of that sin. Make no mistake, there is always a consequence to our sin against God, and David was no exception. First, without a doubt you will suffer conviction from the Holy Spirit of God. If you sin and you don’t feel the convicting power of the Holy Spirit working on you, then you better check your salvation, because a child of God cannot sin and not suffer conviction from the Holy Spirit.
Now, if we repent of that sin and ask God for forgiveness, then He will forgive our sin. But, as we will see in this story, we may still have to face the consequences of that sin. If you are a twice-born child of God, you will not lose your salvation because you sin, even if that sin is adultery or murder, but you will face consequences in this life, and perhaps a loss of rewards in heaven.
Now, not only is this a sad and tragic story, but it is also a familiar story. People who do not love God, people who believe all Christians are hypocrites, love this story because it details the failure of a man of God. Of course, I am sure you know by now that the story in our message today is about David’s sin with Bathsheba.
Now, I want you to pay attention to this scripture that we are about to cover, and it is going to be a two-part lesson. This first week, we are going to cover the sin that David committed, and make no mistake it was a terrible sin. But, the reason I want us to pay attention to this Scripture is that next week we are going to give hope to believers who have sinned greatly. God wants you to know that no matter what you sin is, there is a way back to fellowship with Him. This is important because we all sin, even as a child of God we sin, and we need to know that this hope is there for us. We can be right with God.
Click on the link below to hear a message about a man of God who sinned greatly, and the warning in this message is that if a man as great as David can fall into sin, then so can you.
Amen.
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
I am going to tell you a little secret about me. When I dream, I am always the hero. I am the one who saves the damsel in distress. I am the one who charges into the fire and carries out the little baby, and I am the one who captures the bad guy and puts him into jail. In my dreams, it’s me who is the one doing everything wonderful. In my dreams, I am the hero. Yeah, I know, I have watched way too many John Wayne movies.
However, in reality, if something bad happened, I know that I could barely save myself. I would put up a good fight, especially if you threatened my family, and that includes my dogs. But, I have learned from experience what my limitations are. No, I know that in real life, when real danger comes, that it is the real heroes of our society that do the saving. It is the fireman who climbs that ladder to save the damsel while the building is burning all around him. It is the policeman who puts his life on the line to catch the bad guy and put them into jail, and it is the soldier who stands on the line between tyranny and freedom. These are the real heroes.
Now, truth be told, I am really glad we have these heroes because I couldn’t do it. Not anymore, and probably never could, but that is not what I tell myself in my dreams. Hey, a man can still have his dreams, right?
In today’s lesson, we are going to talk about dreams, and what happens in the dreams that God gives us, and who the hero is in God’s dreams. You see, sometimes God will put a dream in our heart. Sometimes God will lay something on us and give us a vision.
I firmly believe that God speaks, God leads, and God will plant things down deep in your heart. But, I want to be clear that when I say the word dreams or vision in our lesson today that I don’t mean that you will see movies in your mind, but I do mean that God will lay things on your heart. Things that He wants you to do.
I’m also not talking about human schemes, or carnal ambition. I’m talking about things that God lays on us that I believe from my heart of hearts are from Him. I believe that God gives a dream to everyone, that is, if they’ll listen. God didn’t just put us here to waste time and idle away. God made us for something very wonderful, and the Bible says,
Eph 2:10
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
The word workmanship means that we are His work of art, and God built us to work for Him.
Click on the link below to hear a message about a dream that God laid on David’s heart, and how God expounded and expanded that dream beyond anything that David could imagine.
Amen.
Sunday Oct 25, 2020
Sunday Oct 25, 2020
Most of the people who read my posts and listen to my audio messages have been Christians for a long period of time. Some of you, like me, were saved as a child. Others, were saved at some point later in life, and as we get older, we tend to get set in our ways.
I say all of that to indicate that we have probably also gotten pretty comfortable in on our method of worshipping God. We know what we like, and how we like to do it. Some of us will be more ritualistic and formal than others, some with much less formality. But we like what we like, and we resist change. Now, I can hear some of you thinking, “Why bro. Keith this is the way we did it back in the church I grew up in, and that is what makes me happy, and you want me to be happy, don’t you?” Well, I do and that is real good, because in today’s lesson, we are going to see what the Bible says about how to worship God, and who knows, maybe some of us seasoned citizens might learn a thing or two.
The title of our lesson today is How to worship God. Now, that is a pretty big subject, with lots of territory to cover, but we are going to make it short and sweet today, because the Bible is pretty straight forward when it comes to worshipping God. It is us that makes it difficult, or complicated, not God.
Do you want to have victory in your Christian life? Do you want to really be used of God? Then, learn to praise the Lord. Praise Him. Praise Him continually. Praise Him creatively. Praise Him celebratively, and Praise Him, confidently. God is such a great God! Some people just don’t understand what real worship is.
Click on the link below to hear a message that tells us that Worship is all that I am responding to all that God is.
Amen.
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
David was a man that God loved in a special way, and David loved God in a special way, as well. In our message today, David wants to be the kind of king that God wants him to be. In order to do that, David knows that he needs God’s power, he needs God’s anointing, and he needs God’s presence.
Now, if you want to have, and to know, the conscious presence of the Lord in your life, then there is the holy reverence towards God, and the things of God, that you must express. The reason that some people do not know the conscious presence of God is they have lost a holy reverence for God. We see an example of that in the way that David tried to move the Ark of The Covenant into the city of Jerusalem. David’s first attempt to bring the ark in was lost because he did not express a holy reverence for the things of God. He became careless in the things of God, and his carelessness led to a great calamity that day.
The interesting thing here is David is following the way of the world rather than following the Lord. Now, God had said clearly, specifically, and plainly, how the ark was to be transported, but rather than transporting it as God had said to transport it, David starts out to do a good thing the wrong way, and what he’s doing is just simply disobeying the Lord.
Now, we can have the presence of God in our church and we can have the presence of God in our lives, but if we do, it’s going to be God’s way, not ours. You know what’s wrong with so many churches today? They’ve learned from the world, and they’re following the ways of the world. In fact, the world is conforming the Church more than the Church is transforming the world. We are being conformed by the world rather than being transformed by the Spirit of God, and it’s amazing how the spirit of this world has crept into so many churches.
When we choose to follow the way of the world, we are disobedient to God. What follow’s our disobedience of God? God’s displeasure with us, and then comes discouragement, and then comes defeat.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how if you want to have the conscious presence of God in your life, then you must have a holy reverence for God, and the things of God. You cannot lay profane and unholy hands on the things of God by being disobedient to His Word. We need a reverence for God, for holy things. We ought to be on our face before the thrice holy God of Israel. We ought to tremble in the presence of God.
Amen.
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
When I look at the life of Saul, it gives me pause, and it challenges me, because what happened to Saul could happen to me, and it could happen to you or anyone. Today, we are going to talk about the folly of disobedience. We need to learn that fools are not born, they are made, and generally, they are self-made.
Saul, was a man who had it all. In fact, no man ever had a better start than the man named Saul, and nobody ever had a sadder finish than the man named Saul. When we first meet Saul in the Bible, he was Israel's first king, he is handsome, he is courteous, he is thoughtful, he is humble, he is young, and he is vital, virile, and vivacious. Yet, when you look at this same man when he becomes older, you see him as a bitter, murderous, envious, wicked, and desperate old man. You look at him and say, "How could it be? How could someone who started out so well, end so poorly?”
Click on the link below to learn that there can be no success without obedience. Saul failed to obey the Word of God. No matter how much you know; no matter how much you have; no matter how much influence and authority you have, if you do not obey God, then you are going down, because you are practicing witchcraft. “God says that Disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft.”
The song says that we are to trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
As I have gotten older, and God has made it plain that I have a lot fewer days ahead of me than I do behind me. Do you know what my prayer is for me? I want to end well. I would not be honest with you if I did not tell you that I believe that God has had His hand on my life, and I bless Him for it. I bless Him for these years. I regret the years that I spent not doing what God wanted me to do, but I rejoice in the days that God has let me teach His Holy Word. So, my prayer is now that God will let me end well.
No one is immune to the deceiving and deadening power of sin if he becomes self-willed rather than Spirit-filled. We will never be over the power of sin in our lives until we are under the power of the Holy Spirit of God. We cannot defeat sin without God in our hearts.
I don’t care who you are, or what you’ve achieved. I pray God that every one of us will have enough sense not to play the fool. Never a man had a better start, and never did a man end more tragically, than Saul, the man who had it all.
Amen.
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
We live in a world today that is full of rebellion, and it is not just the riots and chaos that we see in our streets. It is in our families, our churches, and in the places that we work. People are choosing to rebel against the authorities that God has placed over them. They stand up and say, “I will not wear a mask because my government tells me that I have to”, or “nobody can tell me I have to shut my business down.” Even far worse, they take the streets looting, rioting, and burning down the foundations of our country. The Bible is very clear about Christians who have a spirit of rebellion.
Rom 13:1-2
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
KJV
Now, you might say, "Wait a minute. You don't know the kind of government we have. It is full of a bunch God hating, progressive, socialists." Well, maybe you don't know the kind of government that existed when Paul wrote this, when Nero was on the throne. Nero was feeding Christians to the lions in his arenas, and he was setting Christians on fire to light the streets of the city.
But you say, "What if I have an unworthy authority? What if my parents are unworthy? What if my husband is unworthy? What if my president is unworthy? What if my mayor is unworthy? What if my councilman is unworthy? What if my teacher is unworthy? What do I do?" That's a wonderful question. The Bible says that one thing that you don't do, you do not have a spirit of rebellion. If you wish to live a victorious Christian life, then one of the most important lessons that we can learn is how to live under the authority of God. This includes those whom God has placed in authority over us.
Now the phrase kingdom authority means to be able to act with the authority of God in your Christian life. Let me assure you, it is not God's plan for you to be defeated by the world, the flesh, nor the devil. Because, when Jesus died and rose again, He gave to His children authority over these things. But, listen carefully to me now, we will never be over those things that God has put under us until we are willing to get under, and stay under, those things that God has put over us.
However, I want to be clear that to be under authority does not mean that we give in to wickedness. It does not mean that we approve error. It does not mean that we blindly obey an ungodly government. The prophets in God's Word preached against the wickedness in the kingdom. Nathan warned King David when he did wrong. Elijah warned Ahab. Eleazar spoke to Jehoshaphat, Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, Moses to Pharaoh, and God forbid that we should have pulpits today that are silent when little babies are being murdered and when wickedness prevails in so many ways.
One of the most disturbing and reprehensible rebellions that is taking place today is against our police officers, and it breaks my heart to see this occur. Pastor Adrian Rogers quoted this description of a policeman in one of his sermons, and he says the author is unknown. It is similar to what Paul Harvey once said about being a policeman, but it is not quite the same. Every time I read this it moves me.
"A policeman is many things. He is a son, a brother, a father, an uncle, and sometimes even a grandfather. He is a protector in time of need and a comforter in time of sorrow. His job calls for him to be a diplomat, a psychologist, a lawyer, a friend, and an inspiration. He suffers from an overdose of publicity about brutality and dishonesty. He suffers far more from the notoriety produced from unfounded charges.
Too often acts of heroism go unnoticed, and the truth is buried under all the criticism. The fact is that less than one-half of one percent of policemen ever discredit their uniform. That's a better average than you'll find among clergymen. A policeman is an ordinary guy who is called upon for extraordinary bravery for us. His job may sometimes seem routine, but the interruptions can be moments of stark terror. He is the man who faces a half-crazed gunman, who rescues a lost child, who challenges a mob, who risks his neck more often than we realize. He deserves our respect and profound thanks.
A policeman stands between the lawbreaker and the law abider. It's the prime reason your home hasn't been burned, your family abused, and your business looted. Try to imagine what might happen if there were no policemen around, then try to think of ways to make their job more rewarding. Show them the respect you really have for them. Offer them a smile and a kind word. See that they don't have to be magicians to raise their families on less-than-adequate salaries. We think policemen are great. We thank God for all the little boys who said they would be policemen and all who kept their promise. We hope you feel the same way, and we hope you will show it, so that there will always be enough good policemen to go around." That is a description of a hero that speaks to my heart.
Click on the link below to learn how to have kingdom authority in a world full of rebellion.
Amen.
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
One of the most important concepts in the Bible is that of the blood covenant. The blood covenant is what the Bible is all about. In fact, it is the subject of the Bible. The Hero of the Bible is Jesus, the subject is the blood covenant.
Now, not only is the blood covenant the subject of the Bible, but it is therefore the strength of the believer. The believer's security, the believer's victory, comes to the one who learns what his covenant rights are. If you want to live a victorious Christian life, then you want to have the strength that belongs to you because of your covenant rights. It is no wonder that it is the secret of blessing.
Why would God show mercy to me? Why would God have mercy on such a person as I am?
Eph 4:32
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
KJV
Why does God forgive me? Because I am worthy? No, I am under a sentence of death. Because I deserve it? No, I'm a rebel. Because I first loved him? No, I feared him. Why does God forgive me? For Christ’s sake, "Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
It is because of the blood covenant that the Lord Jesus Christ made with God the Father that I am forgiven. We are brought in, not because of what we have done, but because Jesus Christ made a blood covenant for us. When you understand the covenant, no longer do you become a slave to fears. Sometimes you feel unworthy, but that doesn't make any difference. The covenant is kept no matter how you feel about it, and the Lord will never break his covenant. Quit living by the tyranny of feeling, just live by the covenant. It doesn't matter whether you are worthy or not.
Christianity is not based upon your ability. It is not your responsibility. It is your response to his ability. That's what Christianity is. Jesus cut a covenant for you. There is no longer any need for you to live like a beggar, and die like a pauper, when you can walk on this earth as one of the king's sons because of the blood covenant. Hallelujah for that.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how the covenant that David made with Jonathan illustrates the blood covenant that Christ made for us, so that we can have everlasting life.
Amen.
Sunday Aug 30, 2020
Sunday Aug 30, 2020
The Bible story of David and Goliath is one of the most familiar in the Bible. You don’t even have to be a Christian to know this story. There have been books and movies, and even TV shows based on this story. Michelangelo even depicted the story on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. We are told this story from the time we are a child. The image of a young man with just five smooth stones and a sling against a giant of a man in full battle armor is iconic in Bible history. It is a story that reveals more than human bravery. It reveals that, even as a boy, David had a heart for God.
The key to this whole story is found in the fact that David didn’t volunteer to fight the giant because his people were being shamed. No, David fought Goliath because Goliath was defying the armies of the living God! David, put his faith in God. He knew that God would deliver the giant into his hands. David testified to his faith in God telling the giant “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.”
Powerful words of faith from such a young man.
David knew that it was not by chance that God had led him to this battlefield. David could say in his heart that it is not by chance that he was born into Jesse's family. It is not by chance that he had seven older brothers. It is not by chance that he had to fight for his place in the family, not with carnal weapons, but with spiritual ones. It is not by chance that I learned early to love, trust, and obey the living God. It is not by chance that God has become my constant companion and guide. It is not by chance that I learned to play the harp and write great hymns which will be sung by God's people forever. Such things do not happen by chance; they happen by choice. God chose me, and I chose Him.
It is not by chance that I became a shepherd and developed a heart for the flock. It is not by chance that God gave me courage to face the lion and the bear in the wilderness of which you speak. It is not by chance that I have great skill with a sling and a stone. That skill represents hard work and constant practice. And it is not by chance that I am not afraid of Goliath and you are. And it is not by chance that we are where we are and that we are who we are.
David learned that he could not use the weapons of this world to fight the battle. He had to use his own weapons, his own methods, those in which God had schooled him. The believer today needs to recognize that the world can be overcome only by his faith and confidence in God.
Amen.
Sunday Aug 16, 2020
Sunday Aug 16, 2020
The section of verses that we are about to cover is very familiar if you have been a Christian for a while. They are the verses where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. They are verses with a lot of different messages that can be taught and preached on, but they all deal with the word love. It is loving Jesus that is the secret of serving our Lord.
Now, most pastors spend time talking about the differences in the Greek words that Jesus and Peter use for the word love. Jesus, the first two times He asks Peter if he loves Him, uses the word “agapao” meaning to love deeply, but Peter doesn’t feel worthy to respond using the same word, so he uses the word “Phileo,” which means a brotherly love. Peter’s deep feeling for the Lord is real, but having failed Him miserably, Peter just cannot bring himself to claim that he loves the Lord deeply. This feeling in Peter is certainly important because Jesus has come here to prepare Peter for the things to come. Jesus is here to show Peter what love really is, and to be honest, that is what the gospel of John is all about, love. God’s love for us, but also what it means for us to truly love Jesus Christ.
Jesus doesn’t ask Peter about whether he believes the Lord’s doctrine. He doesn’t ask if Peter is obeying His commandments, or if he is giving large sums of money, or what great things he has accomplished. Jesus looks right at Peter, and He asks, do you love me? Jesus is asking you that same question, do you love me?
Why does Jesus want you to know this? Because the secret of serving our Lord is that you must first love Jesus with all of your heart, then you can feed His sheep. It is love for Jesus that is the secret of service and if you're a teacher in a church, if you're a greeter in a church, if you're on a committee in a church, or if you are on the staff of a church, and if you serve for any other reason than that you love Jesus, then quit that job right now, or get right. You will have a deadening influence if you don't get right with God. You say, "Well, I just love music, I want to sing in the choir." That's not good enough. "I just love playing instruments." That's not good enough. "I just love to teach." That's not good enough. Do you love Jesus? If you love Him, then you can feed His sheep.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the secret of serving the Lord Jesus is that you must first love Him, then you can serve Him by serving others.
Amen.