Category Archives: Sermons Preached

Sermons I Have Preached at Riverview Baptist

Only A Fool Would Cancel Christmas

Posted on December 31, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

We live in a “feelings” day. I heard someone say something the other day that made so much sense. I never thought of it this way until I heard Tyler Zed, who has a program called Zeducation on Youtube, say this:

“Liberals and Progressives attack people, because they rely not on facts but on feelings. Conservatives attack ideologies or thoughts, not people, because they focus on what they believe are facts”.

You may not agree with that statement, but if you’ll honestly watch those who are Liberal and Progressive protest you’ll realize this is a true statement. People marching at a “No Kings” protest rally makes no sense. You can do it – this is America – but if there was a king over this country you wouldn’t be able to protest. Historically those who protested a monarch were executed, imprisoned, exiled, tortured, and lost their property. DID YOU EVER SEE BRAVEHEART? Then there are those who claim that our government is fascist. Those who protested fascist regimes like Nazi Germany were arrested and imprisoned, tortured and interrogated, executed or just “disappeared”, were placed in forced labor or concentration camps, and whole families were brutally disciplined. There is no way in which our country is like Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Francoist Spain (under Francisco Franco), or Imperial Japan.

Fascist regimes were much harsher in retaliation
than monarchs. Religious Fascist regimes were horrible.

When the national Church was Catholic, those who rejected Catholic teachings were considered threats to the state. This was indeed fascism. Those who were “Protestants” were considered heretics, and were executed, imprisoned, exiled, lost their property, and their worship attacked. Queen Mary I of England (called Bloody Mary) had around 300 Protestants burned at the stake just because they were Protestants. The Muslim Timur (Tamerlane) [14th Century] ruled Central Asia and the Middle East. He was responsible for killing hundreds of thousands during his reign.

Illustrate: You cannot live your life based on “feelings”. I got in my shower the other day, and nearly fell down. I had cleaned the shower with some “scrubbing bubbles” stuff, and the floor of the shower was slick. But I’ve learned to hold on to the hand rail when I get in the tub. I have hand rails all around my tub. My feelings tell me that I’m a man, and I don’t need handrails! But the facts are that gravity is real, and a real enemy if it has control or your body. That’s a fact. Period. If I fall in the shower at my age, there may be broken bones. Gravity real. Feelings poo!… Continue reading →

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You Can’t Run Looking Backwards

Posted on December 31, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Those who run looking backward are not children of God. They are enemies of the cross. Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins – not to enable us to revel in them. Those who love Jesus – love Jesus. Those who love Jesus – look for Jesus.

Philippians 3:20-21 For our CONVERSATION {politeuma, community, commonwealth, citizenship} is in heaven; from whence also we LOOK FOR THE SAVIOR, the LORD JESUS CHRIST: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.

We live for Jesus, not for ourselves. May God move on your hearts! The great Pastor and Preacher C.H. Spurgeon wrote of the false Christian, saying:

“These professors have… learned to sleep over the mouth of Hell and dream of Heaven while damnation is denounced upon them.”

And the great Evangelist Billy Graham said,

“Millions of professing Christians are only just that — ‘professing.’ They have never possessed Christ. They live lives characterized by the flesh.”

If you are saved, you will desire Jesus. You will love God’s Word. You will want to grow into what He wants you to be. May God lead you to His side daily! Amen. Continue reading →

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Redeeming The Time

Posted on December 31, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY, not as FOOLS, but as WISE,

The Bible uses the word “WALK” as a picture of living. This is the seventh time that the Apostle uses “WALK” in this book. How you walk is how you live out your life. How you walk will effect your eternity.

Word Study: We are commanded to “WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY”. The word “CIRCUMSPECTLY” is the Greek akribōs, which means “in an accurate and diligent manner, in a way that avoids flaws”. When we encountered the word “WALK” in the earlier passages of this book, we read:

Ephesians 2:2 (LSB) ….. you FORMERLY WALKED according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience,

When you were lost, you walked carelessly. You walked as “fools” do. When the Bible uses the word “fool”, it is a reference to those who are godless. “The FOOL has said in his heart, ‘there is no God’. They are corrupt, and do abominable works” (Psalm 14:1). But once you met Jesus, you were saved by Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). At that moment, your “walk” changed. We were told:

Ephesians 2:10 (LSB) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that WE WOULD WALK IN THEM.

To walk “circumspectly” is to walk not in sin, but in good works, in works that glorify the Lord our God. Continue reading →

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Winning Christ

Posted on December 17, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Philippians 3:1-3 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. 2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. 3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Rejoicing In The Lord, Our Safe Place

Word Study: When Paul begins this section with the word “FINALLY” (Gk. Loipon), it makes us think that this will be the last chapter of this book. It’s not. The word loipon means “now, furthermore, or from this point onward”. Paul has spent the last two chapters telling us the glorious riches we who are Christians have received from Jesus Christ. What do we who are Christians have?

1. We are all “saints of God”, set apart in God the Father’s eyes because of our faith in Jesus (Philippians 1:1).

2. We did not earn this sainthood. We have “grace and peace with God” as a free gift from our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:2)…. Continue reading →

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As Dear Children

Posted on December 17, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Ephesians 5:1-2 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And WALK IN LOVE, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.

The Child of God is a follower of God. The Child of God loves Jesus, God’s Only Begotten Son. Are you a Child of God? If you are not, what a wonderful day it would be to give yourself to Jesus! To be a Child of God was not offered to Israel under the Old Covenant. But being a Child of God is offered to ALL who will receive Jesus today. The Scripture says:
Galatians 4:4-7 (NKJV) But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that WE MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION AS SONS 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Only a Child of God can have the Holy Spirit. If you are not a Child of God, you are a slave to sin and the Law. Oh how I pray that you would give yourself to Jesus this very day! Continue reading →

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Living As Faithful Witnesses

Posted on December 12, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Proverbs 25:1 These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the MEN OF HEZEKIAH King of Judah copied out.

Solomon was a flawed, but wise man whom the Lord used. When King Hezekiah came to the throne (about 270 years after Solomon’s reign), the King had his scribes search the royal vaults to collect additional sayings of Solomon. These words make up chapters 25-29 of this Book.

God used humans in writing His holy Scripture. He could have written the Scriptures through angels had He wanted, but God used man created in His image (Genesis 9:6) to relay His Word.

King Hezekiah was a good and Godly King. He loved the Lord Christ. He wanted to honor God in his office. The Bible says:

2 Kings 18:2-7 (NKJV) {Hezekiah} was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name [was] Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And HE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, according to all that his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the [sacred] pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. 5 HE TRUSTED IN THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. 6 For HE HELD FAST TO THE LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. 7 The LORD WAS WITH HIM; HE PROSPERED WHERE EVER HE WENT. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

Hezekiah (Hebrew ḥizqîyâ, meaning “Jehovah is my Strength”) was not the only good King Judah (Southern Israel) had. The Southern Kingdom of Israel had eight good Kings who loved God, who were saved by faith in Christ. The Northern Kingdom had NO good kings, for they departed from God’s Word and God’s Commandment. When Hezekiah became King, the wisest thing he did was seek out the Word of God, and expand the Book of Proverbs. The Bible tells us that Solomon wrote about 3000 Proverbs (1 Kings 4:32), and many of those had not been transcribed up to this point. If Hezekiah was going to be an effective King, he wanted to cling to the Word of God! We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “all scripture is God breathed”. Further the Apostle tells us: Continue reading →

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Learning Christ

Posted on December 9, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

I heard a word several years ago – and when I heard it, I didn’t know what it meant. The word was “vicarious”. We all do it, whether we know what the word means or not. When some of you watch sports, you get a vicarious thrill when your quarterback runs a 60 yard touchdown, or your pitcher pitches a no hit game. Vicarious. When I saw Dale Earnhardt win a race, in my mind I was in the cockpit with him! Vicarious means to watch what another person is doing, then imagining that you are the one doing it. I get a vicarious thrill when I watch John Wayne or Clint Eastwood shoot a really bad guy. I didn’t do the shooting. I wasn’t in the scene. But watching it, in my imagination, I put myself there, and get a thrill out of it.

There was a song I grew up with called “Just My Imagination” sung by the Temptations. In the song they sang (and I sang along with them):

Each day through my window I watch as she passes by,
I say to myself, you’re a such a lucky guy.
To have a girl like her, is truly a dream come true.
Out of all the fellows in the world, She belongs to you.
But it was just my imagination, running away with me.
It was just my imagination, running away with me.

That’s vicarious. It’s imagined. It’s dreamed of. You do it when watching television, the movies, sports. You put yourself – in your imagination – in the place of the actor. But you’re really not there. It’s just your imagination.

The Christian way of life cannot be lived vicariously – yet many do so. They imagine they are believers in Christ, but never get in the game. They imagine living for Jesus, but do as little to nothing as they can. Why? Because “it’s just their imagination”. They never REPENTED and RECEIVED the Kingdom of God by faith. … Continue reading →

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The Way Of The Wise (Believer)

Posted on December 6, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

The “WISE” (Hebrew ḥāḵām) are those whom “God has FILLED with the SPIRIT of WISDOM” (Exodus 28:3). God is the Giver of Wisdom. The Bible says:

Proverbs 2:6 (LSB) YAHWEH GIVES WISDOM; From His mouth [come] knowledge and discernment.

Job 12:13 (LSB) WITH {GOD} ARE WISDOM AND MIGHT; To Him belong counsel and discernment.

There are few “WISE” people in our world today. Since the time of Adam and Eve, we have been eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and considering ourselves gods. We are not gods. God is God, and we are not. God tells us:

Proverbs 24:23 It is not good to have RESPECT OF PERSONS in judgment

Our God has a standard, and His standard is revealed in the Bible, the Word of God. God judges by His standard, and wants us to do the same…. Continue reading →

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The Mind Of Christ

Posted on December 3, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Philippians 2:1-5 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus

What Is The Church?

I remember when I was pastoring in North Carolina, an older woman was talking about a previous Pastor their church had. She told me, “The Pastor really loved Jesus, but he didn’t love us”. That made no sense to me at the time. How is it possible for a Pastor to love Jesus, but not love the Church? If you love the Lord, you will love the Church. What became evident to me as I pastored this flock that the people of that Church defined “love” as the world defines “love”, a selfish, self serving thing. Many of the “members” there wanted to do whatever they wanted to do, regardless of what the Bible said. Many wanted the Pastor to endorse their desires and man made traditions as if they were Scriptural. That is something Aaron would do. You remember Aaron, the High Priest of Israel? We read about it in Exodus 32.

The people whom God saved out of Egypt came to Aaron and demanded, “Arise, make us ĕlōhîm Who will lead us”. Aaron made them an idol representing the triune god. Aaron did not love the people. He should have pointed them to Christ.

Ĕlōhîm, by the way, is the Triune Name of God, the first use of the word “God” in our Bible. The very first verse of the Scripture says: Continue reading →

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With Fear And Trembling

Posted on December 3, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Philippians 2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Why Is This Happening To Me?

One of the most common questions I am asked as a Pastor/ Overseer is “Why is this happening to me?”. The “this” that people are usually referring to is some trial of life. Everyone is tried. Everyone goes through mountains and valleys. The valleys can be quite dark at times. The valley could be disease, loss of income, personal conflict, persecution, the death of a loved one, persistent pain or one’s own impending death. It is not sinful to question why a trial is occurring. As long as we do not “curse God and die” (Job 2:9) as Job’s silly unbelieving wife suggested, questioning the trial is not sinful. The Prophet said:

Joel 3:14 (KJV) Multitudes, multitudes in the VALLEY OF DECISION: for the day of the LORD [is] near in the valley of decision.

God allows trials into our lives to bring us into the “VALLEY OF DECISION”, to cause us to examine our lives in the light of eternity. The big question in all of eternity is, … Continue reading →

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