Category Archives: Sermons Preached

Sermons I Have Preached at Riverview Baptist

The Joy Of Faith

Posted on October 14, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

We see toward the end of verse 25, “Joy of Faith”. When you live for Jesus, you will often find yourself in bad spots. The Apostle Paul had more than his share of bad spots. Saul met Jesus on the Damascus Road, and heeding His call became Paul the Apostle. When Ananias was told to go to Saul and lay hands on him, Ananias was initially hesitant. After all, the Saul had been terrorizing the Church. But Jesus told Ananias:

Acts 9:15-16 (ESV) “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

As Saul caused others to suffer for Satan’s sake, now Paul himself will suffer “for the sake of {Jesus}”. Oh, how Paul would suffer! Paul told the Church at Corinth:

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (ESV) For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

The brighter and more flamboyant the LIGHT, the greater the DARKNESS will hate it.

Paul said that he was so distressed that “we despaired of life itself”. That is a profound statement. This means that Paul got so discouraged that he and those with him welcomed death. This is a state of advanced depression, where life has lost its savor. Paul was like that poor old Saint Job who cried out:… Continue reading →

Posted in Philippians, Sermons Preached | Tagged Faith, God is my Joy, joy, salvation, serving christ, serving God | Leave a comment

Who Or What Constrains You?

Posted on October 9, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Throughout the Old Testament, God showed His love for His creation. God put Adam and Eve in a perfect “Paradise”, and even when Adam sinned, God covered his sin. Though Adam died spiritually, God did not take Adam’s life but took the life of an innocent creature. Adam was saved by the sacrifice of an innocent.

Man continued to fail God. The world drifted so far from God, that the Lord would have destroyed it all. Yet God loved us anyway. He had Noah build an Ark, and though God stayed the judgment of mankind for 120 years, God used Noah to save a remnant that would repopulate the earth.

Word Study: God loves us so much! Each time God loved us, we pushed Him away. And yet, He did not destroy us. His wrath tarried, for God promised that a Messiah would come to save us. The word “Messiah” is only rendered four times in the King James Bible, in Daniel 9:25-26; John 1:41 and in John 4:25. In the OLD Testament “Messiah” is the Hebrew mâshîyach, {pronounced maw-shee’-akh}, which means “One Anointed or Chosen by God to govern or care for others”. The Kings and Prophets of the Old Testament were mâshîyach or anointed for service. Yet in Daniel God foretold of a special Person Who would be mâshîyach or “The Anointed One”. When we come to the New Testament and move into the Common Greek (Koine Greek), the word mâshîyach is not used to describe the Messiah, but “Christos” or “Christ” – some 559 times. In the New Testament Jesus is called “The Christ”, or “Jesus, the One Anointed of God”.

Kings were anointed to protect, rescue, and lead nations.
Priests were anointed to temporarily cover our sins before God.
Prophets were anointed to speak to us God’s Word.
Jesus was anointed to be both King and Priest to “whosoever will”. Continue reading →

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Sermons Preached | Tagged from darkness, imitate God, imitate Jesus, Loving God, loving Jesus, salvation, to light | Leave a comment

Who Has Your Heart?

Posted on September 27, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

What is IN the spiritual heart is manifest in what you OUTWARDLY do. Religion cannot fix a heart problem.

Our Lord Jesus put it this way. Jesus chastised the religious Pharisees of his day – because they twisted the Word of God to make allowance for their sinful practices. Their are many in our world who do that today – you might be one of them! Jesus told the Pharisees:

Matthew 15:7-9 (ESV) You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Preach: Jesus said of the Pharisees, “their heart is far from Me”. God gave us His Word, the Holy Bible, to show us His Standard and His Savior. We are to follow His Savior Jesus Christ with all our hearts. We are to love God with all our hearts. Jesus came to this earth not just to heal our physical bodies, but to fix our heart problem. He said:

Matthew 15:10-11, 17-20 (ESV) … “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” … 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

When we look around our America today, around our homes, in our schools, what do we see? Certainly there are good things out there. Certainly there are good people. But I’ll guarantee you, there were a lot of “good” people who stopped traffic to pick up and, yes, steal money that was not their own. They did not earn that money. They had a heart problem.

Jesus came, not to be a Hero, a conquering King,
but to be a Healer of our hearts…. Continue reading →

Posted in Luke, Revivals, Sermons Preached | Tagged Following Christ, God Is Faithful, gospel, Jesus Christ, love God, prayer, revival, salvation | Leave a comment

Likewise …

Posted on September 26, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Nowhere in the Scripture are we commanded to love ourselves. We are commanded to love others. John Stonestreet of Breakpoint notes:

“The biggest factors behind the drop in life expectancy among Americans over the last three years are drug overdoses and suicides. In 2017, more than 70,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, and approximately 45,000 people intentionally took their own lives. These deaths, along with alcohol-related deaths, have been dubbed “deaths of despair” … {there is a} 30-percent rise in suicide rates among 15-to-24 year-olds … As the sixth-century theologian Isidore of Seville put it, “to commit a crime is death to the soul; but to despair is to descend into hell.” If there’s a better word than “Hell” to describe the despair we are seeing in so many American communities, I’m not aware of it.”

This world needs Jesus. This Church is God’s tool to bring the glorious hope of Jesus to a lost and dying world. Let us strive to be one as we reach other to other in His name, for His glory. Through God’s Holy Spirit I pray…. Continue reading →

Posted in 1 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged arrogance, humility, pride, salvation, worry | Leave a comment

I Am Not a god

Posted on September 25, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

A cowboy rode into town, and saw a crowd gathered around a gallows. The hangman standing by, there was a man clothed in leaves and branches. Everything he was wearing BADLY was leaves. The cowboy dismounted his horse, and went toward the crowd. He whispered to another townsman standing there, “Are they getting ready to hang this guy?” He replied, “Yes we are, stranger. This man kept telling us he was a bush, and kept dressing up like he was a bush. We warned him to stop it, but he refused. So we’re hanging him!” The cowboy said, “Hanging him because he says he’s a bush?” The townsman said, “No. We’re hanging him because he won’t stop rustling”.

Yeah, that’s a “dad joke”, or you might think a “bad joke”. But it’s a good introduction to the message today. Every time I turn on the television or radio, I hear people pushing “You do you, and I’ll do me”. According to the Progressive mind so prevalent today we as humans can make ourselves into anything we want to be. If I’m born a woman, I can be a man with enough surgery. If I’m a man, I can have radical surgery and hormones and breastfeed babies. In fact, some say that men can get pregnant. If I wake up and think I’m a kitten or a dog, then what I say is reality. I can bark or meow, and you must treat me as a “furry”.

We want to be God. We think we are God. We Aren’t God.

This mentality creeps into the churches – even our Church. It creeps into your Pastor. I was praying this past Monday and felt like God told me to “Go to the middle of My Book”. So I went to Psalm 117. I kept trying to “get a sermon” out of this text until God reminded me, “You are not God. You are David.” So I stopped trying to make a sermon, and asked God what He wanted me to say. Read with me:… Continue reading →

Posted in 1 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged Christ, Church, God, idol, pride, salvation | Leave a comment

Elders Among Us

Posted on September 23, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

We had a few Presbyterians come to our church when the Cumberland Presbyterians began to normalize sexuality that the Scripture forbids. They stayed with us a few years, then drifted back to their churches. Why? Because Satan keeps hammering through the media that what the Bible says is abnormal is actually normal. It is not fashionable to cling to the Word of God. It is as Jesus said:

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV) Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The narrow gate is traveled by few. It is uncomfortable. It is much easier to become a part of the crowd, to fade into the masses. But Jesus calls us to be the “light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). The Apostle asks this question… Continue reading →

Posted in 1 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged Christian maturity, Church growth, elders, growth | Leave a comment

Live Like You Are Beloved

Posted on September 20, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

I have always resisted the easy believism preaching of “God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life”.

This type of preaching became popular in the later 20th century church, and often pops up in the current culture as well. I do believe that “God loves you”. But I’m not sure how “wonderful” the plan for your life is, as “wonderful” means “to inspire delight, pleasure or admiration”.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. But we live in a fallen world absolutely opposed to the Biblical Jesus. If you live for Jesus, expect – at best – discomfort!

That’s what 1 Peter chapter 4 focuses on: S-U-F-F-E-R-I-N-G! I have talked with other Pastors who tell me they’d rather focus on the love of God and future Heaven, than they would on the darkness of this world. But Beloved, we live in a dark world. Not too long ago Canadian Authorities chased two brothers Damien and Miles Sanderson who killed at least ten (10) people, and wounded eighteen (18) more with knives. Why did they do this? Because we live in a fallen world.

Every dark and evil thing in our world today can be traced to sin. It is sin that separates us from God. It is sin that drags people down…. Continue reading →

Posted in 1 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged follow Christ, Following Christ, Following Jesus, gospel, living for Jesus, salvation | Leave a comment

Let’s Lose The Wrong Mind!

Posted on September 18, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

As Christians (Christ followers), we are to be “of one mind”. As humans, we are always happy to be “of one mind” as long as it is our mind. But the “one mind” that we are called to have is “the mind of Christ”. This is what the Bible says:

1 Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Preach: We have the Word of God, the Bible (Proverbs 30:5). “Every Word of God is pure: He is a Shield unto them that put their trust in Him”. We have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us. “Even the Spirit of Truth; Whom the world cannot receive” (John 14:17). The Christian – born again of the Spirit – is given access to the mind of Christ.

The devil will do all he can to get us to rely on OUR mind or on the mind of THE WORLD. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

We as believers are to “with one mind and one mouth glorify God” (Romans 15:6). The Church must share the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ cannot be achieved without this key: “It is written”. We must head toward the Scriptures. This is where Jesus went in His teachings.

Jesus did not come to this earth and develop a new doctrine,
but to establish a New Covenant. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged Christian love, Following Christ, gospel, love, Love One Another, mind of Christ, salvation | Leave a comment

We Desperately Need God In Us

Posted on September 16, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

You can be religious. You can keep the Law. You can follow God for a time. But if you are not born again of the Spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, your false faith will not last. No faith that is primarily of works will save. Salvation is by faith in Christ Jesus. The Temple died after Israel rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah. Today, those who are born again of the Spirit (John 3:1, 3, 7; 1 Peter 1:3) through faith in Jesus Christ are the Temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-16; Ephesians 2:21).

And this Temple cannot be torn down by anything but faithlessness. Let us bind our hearts to Jesus, for the glory of God forever. … Continue reading →

Posted in Nehemiah, Sermons Preached | Tagged Faith, Following Christ, God Is Faithful, love, love God | Leave a comment

Be Of One Mind (Do You Really Believe?)

Posted on September 12, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

The CHRISTIAN is to follow the laws of the land that are around us. Certainly we do not disobey the Word of God to do the word of man. As Jesus said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). We never rob from God the glory He is due. But insomuch as His command of our lives is not abrogated, we are to obey the laws of the land around us. When the laws of the land commanded that the Apostles not preach the Gospel,

Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Christians are to obey the laws of the land as long as we may honor God in doing so. Servants are to obey even cruel masters. And now we have, “Likewise, ye wives”.

When God created the institution of marriage (and God created it – not the Supreme Court), Man was to be the leader and Woman
the follower in that union. Only Satan endorses anarchy!

This concept has come under attack because of certain forms of feminism and social justice militants. People think that submission is to degrade, or to make lesser…. Continue reading →