Pewee Valley Baptist Church

Pewee Valley Baptist Church Posting Biblical messages a few times each week. We are a Bible Believing Church rejoicing in the fact that we have a living, risen Savior.
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We would like to encourage you to join us for a time of encouragement, prayer, singing and a gospel message from God's word. Our church is a pleasant place where you will feel at home and learn through faith and fellowship
with the Family of God.

06/01/2026

Written by pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our page to receive Biblical messages regularly.

"Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you." (Joshua 23:15) Wow, did you read that! Yes, this is an actual verse of Scripture, which is the absolute truth. I can honestly say that over my 30+ years of salvation and ministry that I have never heard anyone quote this verse and, much less, I have never heard anyone ever preach or teach on this verse from a pulpit, lectern, TV or radio. Yes, I have seen it covered in a cursory manner in some commentaries, but the truth in this passage has escaped many believers. Let's take a look at the context in which we find this verse. Joshua had just completed the possession of the promised land (Canaan) and he had just completed the division of the land as an inheritance to God's people, Israel. This verse is a portion of Joshua's last instructions to the people of Israel just prior to his death. In verse 3, Joshua reminded the people of what they had witnessed through the personal and miraculous work of God to deliver the land to them. In verse 6, Joshua commanded them to be courageous (that is, confident in the Lord) and to be obedient to God in all things, never departing from God's Word at any time, in any way or in any degree. He told them to hold fast to God (v. 8) and to be diligent in loving Him (v. 11). Then, in verses 12-13, Joshua warns them that God, with certainty, will no longer drive out the enemies from the land as they worked to gain entire possession of the land if they were to associate with the heathen natives in any way. So, finally, we come to God's stern warning in our text verse - that just as God brought the good things upon them to that point in time, so would He bring "...all evil things, until he have destroyed (them) from off (the) good land..." if they transgressed against the Lord (v. 16).

We need to meditate on that and let it soak in for a while. We must never come to the point in our Christian walk that we ever take the good things for granted that God has provided. And, we must always be fully aware that just as God has brought good things to pass in our lives, that He will bring trouble into our lives when we disregard, disobey and walk contrary to His Word. David learned this lesson the hard way when, after he had committed adultery and then attempted a cover-up by killing Uriah, God said this to David in 2 Sam. 12:11-12: "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take they wives before thine eyes, and give them unto they neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun." The Hebrew word for evil here means trouble. And, David continued to experience trouble until the day he died -- all because of his sins, even though he confessed them with a heart of contrition in Psalm 51. Sin always has consequences (Heb. 12:5-8). By the way, about 800 years after the warning from God in our text verse, God completed the removal of the Israelites from the promised land into captivity - all because of their disobedience to God's Word. So, now we should reflect upon our own behavior and conduct to understand if we are conformed to God's Word, or if we have deviated to the right or left in some way, shape or fashion. God's Word is not optional, it is mandatory. As much as we love the positive things God says, we need to remember that God gives us many commands - none of which are meaningless or insignificant. For example, since we are in Joshua, in 23:6-7, there are six, yes six, negative commands -- turn not, come not, neither make mention, nor cause to, neither serve, not bow. I will conclude by saying that verses with negative statements and commands are rarely memorized and quoted by believers, likely because we like to focus on the positive. But, remember that disregard and disobedience for any of God's Word will have consequences, and the consequences may be severe and even have a life-long impact.

05/27/2026

Written by Pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our church page to receive Biblical messages regularly.

"And these are they that are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares if this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." (Mark 4:18-19) In this parable of the soils, Jesus identified the reasons why people do not come to Christ in faith to be saved by God's grace. The sower represents Jesus as well as born-again preachers, teachers, evangelists, missionaries and every other believer who proclaims, witnesses and testifies of God's Word, which is represented by the seed. The problems related in this parable pertain to the different soils, which represent different kinds of hearers of the Word. Four types of hearers are identified by Jesus: (1) those who refuse to hear or disregard what God has to say - v. 14-15; (2) those who actually receive the Word with enthusiasm for a short period, but fail to persevere in it because their profession of faith is not genuine and they become offended when troubles or persecutions arise - v. 16-17; (3) those who hear the Word, but because of their preoccupation with and interest in the cares of this life, the deception of wealth and the continuous bombardment of pleasurable things, they also prove to be false believers as the Word is choked out and they are found fruitless - v. 18-19; and (4) those who hear the Word, receive it and then bear fruit, which is the evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25) - v. 20. Our text verse identifies false believers who choose the things of this world over the Word of God, making their lusts and pleasures their priority and through indifference allow the Word of God to be choked or crowded out of their lives. Their spiritual need is to receive the Word of God with faith, faith in Christ - but their trust is in the things of this life.

What type of soil are you? What have you done with God's Word which you have heard? Has it taken root in your life and produced fruit? One thing that is clearly manifested in this parable is that unless you genuinely receive God's Word by faith and produce spiritual fruit that is always evident in a true believer's life, you are not a true believer. In this case, you have feigned salvation, professed a lie in saying you are a believer and deceived yourself through an intellectual ascent to the Word without truly committing to it in faith. But, if you are the 'good ground' of verse 20, you are a true fruit-bearing Christian. In John 15:4b-5, Jesus said, "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing." So, spiritual fruit equals genuine faith in Christ; and, the absence of spiritual fruit equals no real faith in Christ. This parable serves as a spiritual mirror so that we can examine ourselves for evidence of real fruit. Remember, there is a bunch of fake fruit out there (Matt. 7:21-23), so be sure you are the hearer with whom God is well pleased, with faith in Christ and acceptable service fueled by the Holy Spirit. Be sure your salvation is real, not fake like the three inadequate soils in our parable.

05/19/2026

Written by pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our page to receive Biblical messages regularly.

"But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out." (Num. 32:23) Because preaching about sin and its consequences does not appeal to the masses nor draw crowds, many so-called Biblical teachers intentionally avoid the subject, focusing instead on the love of God and His blessings. Because these intentionally more popular, more attractive and obviously more positive messages are designed to generate widespread acceptance and larger audiences, these congregations grow by leaps and bounds. Persuasive and influential motivational messages have replaced bold and candid presentations of the whole Gospel, choosing messages of love and acceptance at the exclusion of sin and judgment. In our text verse, the children of Reuben and Gad were warned against failure to fulfill the requirements of the Lord. As the children of Israel crossed the Jordan to posses the land God had given them, the children of Reuben and Gad (who were to inhabit the land east of the Jordan River) were required to pass over the Jordan to fight with their fellow countrymen to secure the promised land. After the land was conquered, they were to return to their home on the other side of the Jordan. The Reubenites and Gadites promised to do as the Lord commanded. The warning in our text verse is that failure to obey the Lord is considered sin by God.

Sin cannot be hidden from God, regardless of how insignificant we think it might be. Neither are we exempt from the consequences of sin, regardless of how good we think we are. By the authority of Scripture (Heb. 12:5-11), every true child of God will be disciplined by the Lord for sins committed, even if confessed. King David sinned by committing adultery and attempting to cover it up with a murder, but he made a sincere confession in Psalm 51. Despite his confession, the Lord disciplined him by permitting much trouble to devastate his family. This pronouncement came from the Lord in 2 Sam. 12:10-11: "Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house, because thou has despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun." And the trouble experienced by David the rest of his life was extreme. And, just think, David was called by God as "...a man after his own heart...." (1 Sam. 13:14) And, Christians, even though we are believers in Christ, we still sin according to 1 John 1:8, so though we confess our sins, we still experience the discipline of God. And, we are no more exempt from God raising up trouble in our lives as He did in David's. So, as our text declares, we can be sure our sins will find us out! We must continue to grow in the Word and draw close to the Lord, maturing over time to significantly reduce the number of sins we commit. We must fight the good fight and finish our course of life well (2 Tim. 4:7).

05/15/2026

Written by Pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our page to receive Biblical messages regularly.

"And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." (Col. 2:4) The "this I say" that Paul uses in this verse refers to the previous two verses. Paul told the believers at Colosse in v. 2-3 that they should be united through the love of Christ and rich in the understanding and knowledge of God. The reason Paul insisted that they be strengthened by the love and wisdom of Christ is so that they would not be deceived by the false reasoning of others, particularly false teachers. The Greek word translated 'beguile ' means to reckon wrong or to reason falsely. This same Greek word is translated 'deceive' In James 1:22. The Greek word translated 'enticing' refers to persuasive speech or plausible arguments. False reasoning surfaces in persuasive arguments that seem reasonable, probable, credible and believable - yet they are intended to deceive and accomplish human objectives and drive personal agendas. Of course, lies and deception are authored and sourced by the devil (John 8:44). In other words, commitment to and dependence upon the truth of God's Word will enable Christians to recognize the difference between truth and error and to resist being duped by those who mix truth with error through plausible arguments and great oration that are intended to deceive.

Christian, are you dependent upon God's Word? If you answered yes, how dependent are you on the truth? Do you rely on and are you sustained by God's Word? God's Word is the truth - everything else must be evaluated by the Word of truth to determine if it is accurate and trustworthy. If we accept persuasive arguments that seem reasonable according to conventional wisdom and human intellect, without comparing it to the Word, we place ourselves at risk of being deceived by false reasoning - a weakness that results from a lack of dependence upon God's Word. A slick, charismatic and polished speaker can convince the average Christian to accept their reasoning if they are not totally dependent upon the Word. Many such deceivers can be found today in church pulpits, on Christian TV programs, on mission fields, on Christian radio, in various evangelistic venues, etc. We must heed this direction from God's Word and verify everything people say by the truth. When we stop checking the accuracy of what people say by the Word, we forfeit our dependence on the truth. So, again, are you truly dependent on God's Word?

05/11/2026

Written by pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our page to automatically receive our messages on a regular basis.

"Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom. I am understanding; I have strength." (Prov. 8:14) God declares vividly in this verse that He is the only source of real and reliable counsel, sound wisdom, clear and concise understanding, and every form of ability. Pride was the original sin that resulted in Lucifer's fall from heaven (Isa. 14:12-14), and pride continues to plague humankind today. The minutest evidence of natural pride combined with a little self-confidence gives one the feeling that she/he can originate and provide valuable counsel, wisdom, and understanding; and, exercise personal ability apart from God. Paul characterized the typical tendency of each person in 1 Cor. 8:1b-2: "...we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing as he ought to know." This is a certain indictment against self-confidence and pride.

So, Christian, how frequently do we react naturally and carnally to circumstances and situations with puffed up feelings along with a self-perception that we are self-sufficient regarding wisdom and understanding that serve as a basis for confidently offering counsel and advice to others, believing we actually have the wherewithal and ability to do so? As Paul stated in the 1 Cor. passage cited above, a little bit of knowledge has the tendency to inflate our pride to make us unknowingly arrogant; giving us a false impression that we know stuff - a condition that is characterized in the passage as 'knowing nothing as we ought to know.' One evident and demonstrable characteristic of every born-again believer should be genuine humility. Humility is literally having a low view or estimation of one's own importance and capability. We are commanded not to think too highly of ourselves (Rom. 12:3), but to value others to be more excellent than ourselves (Phil. 2:3). When we totally submit to the Lord and surrender to His will in humility, we will assume the proper spiritual perspective that counsel, wisdom, understanding and all ability belong to God and are only channeled through believers who are humble and obedient, seeking to glorify the Lord in all they do. Remember, we are nothing (1 Cor. 3:7) and without Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). So, let's avoid being presumptuous to think that counsel, wisdom, understanding and ability belong to us or come from us. We should always be careful to identify the source of our abilities as the Lord Himself, and we should always glorify Him by refusing to accept the praise of people, but thanking God in all circumstances for what He does through us. After all, it's all about Christ, not about us.

05/04/2026

Written by Pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our page to receive Biblical messages regularly.

"Ye, therefore, beloved, seeing that ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness." (2 Pet. 3:17) 'Therefore' refers to the warnings against the emergence, presence and danger of false teachers in chapter 2 who deny the Lord (2:1), who speak evil of the truth (2:2) and who face sure judgment by God (2:3). The phrase translated 'seeing that ye know these things before' is one word in the Greek and is the word from which we get the English word 'prognosis.' The phrase in context here means that Peter's audience (and equally as well, we) know beforehand and have previous knowledge of false teachers, their tactics and their danger. So, in light of this reality, both then and now, Peter goes on to say that we need to beware - that is, we need to watch and be on guard for the danger associated with false teachers. The warning from God here is that if we fail to guard against the unprincipled wickedness, or lawlessness, of false teachers and their error, we are likely to be led astray from our steadfastness (firm position in the truth) by their influence and persuasion. We must remember that false teachers are serving the devil, and so our battle is not with the people but with the wiles, or cunning deception of the devil (Eph. 6:11). We are no match for the devil - but "...greater is he (God) that is in [us], than he (the devil) that is in the world." (1 John 4:4) In other words, if we do not stay away from errant teaching, we will be led astray from the truth.

Do you know the difference between the truth and false doctrine? If you answered yes, how do you know? This knowledge is not intuitive and it does not come naturally or by human intelligence or experience. The only way we can discern false teaching is to be well-studied in the Scriptures and to be enabled by our teacher of truth, the Holy Spirit. Of course, we must be saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ before we can know the difference. If we allow the Word of God to live abundantly and comfortably within us (Col. 3:16), we will profit from it doctrinally (2 Tim. 3:16) and be able to understand and apply the Word with accuracy and precision (2 Tim. 2:15). So, are you able to detect false teaching? And, are you willing and courageous enough to stand up, by the power of God, for the truth in the midst of a world that overwhelmingly accepts error as truth?

Big shout out to my new rising fans! Saleh Akbar, Lumoindong Paendong, Rusmi Hadi, Koko Kikil, Temur Muir, Korine Githu
05/01/2026

Big shout out to my new rising fans! Saleh Akbar, Lumoindong Paendong, Rusmi Hadi, Koko Kikil, Temur Muir, Korine Githu

04/29/2026

Written by pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our page to receive Biblical messages regularly.

"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Cor. 5:15) In this passage beginning with verse 11, Paul urges the Corinthian believers, and thus us too, to serve the Lord with reverential fear realizing the hearts and minds of His children are fully manifested to Him. God knows our true intentions and our every thought at all times. In verse 14, we are reminded that it is the love of Christ that should be controlling every facet of our lives, conforming us to God's will and purpose. So, in our text verse, we are equally reminded of the overarching importance of avoiding living for ourselves. We must live our lives for Christ and not for ourselves in order to please the Lord in all we do. In verse 20, we are also reminded that all believers are ambassadors for Christ, that is, messengers of the Word, a critical responsibility that accompanies our salvation.

Since our salvation through faith in Christ, by God's amazing and undeserved grace, requires full and total surrender to God's will, we must be good stewards of the Word, serving as God's called and commissioned messengers. We must assume the same posture towards the Gospel as Paul had, as described in Rom. 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." When our priorities are aligned properly and we honor God through our spiritual service, we can be completely confident in the power of the Gospel to accomplish the salvation of sinners. We should never be ashamed of the Word, but always sharing it with others. Sharing the Word is most important because the Word has the power, not us. So, let's proclaim the Word of God unashamedly! Remember, it's never about us, it's always about Christ - His love constrains us!

04/25/2026

Written by pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our page to receive Biblical messages regularly.

"But evil men and seducers shall wax (become) worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them," (2 Tim. 3:13-14) One thing is certain according to the Bible, conditions in this world will continue to decline as evil people and deceivers get better and better and more successful at promoting wickedness and sinfulness, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. God said in Matt. 7:13-14 that unbelievers on the way to death and destruction are in the majority, and that believers destined for eternal life with God through faith in Christ Jesus are in the minority.

These Biblical facts are descriptive of the future in this world, evil will continue to increase in proportion to those living righteously. So we should be fully aware that not everyone who claims to be saved are genuinely saved, only those with genuine faith in Christ (Matt. 7:21-23). True believers do the will of God, their righteous works will evidence their salvation (Jam. 2:17-20). So, godly living in this world requires full commitment to please the Lord, and Him alone. God gives us the prescription to do just that, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain for the Lord." (1 Cor. 15:58)

04/22/2026

Written by pastor Steve Wiseman. Like our page to receive Biblical messages regularly.

"And we have confidence in the Lord (concerning) you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you." (2 Thess. 3:4) There is a growing trend among professing believers to regard "commands" as negative. These professing believers only want to focus on things that are positive, thinking there is no room in a Christian walk for the negativity associated with commands. They ignore many exhortations in the New Testament to follow very strict precepts which the Lord requires to be obedient believers. The thrust of this popularized approach to modern Christianity is focused on avoiding negative thoughts and words while ensuring friendships and associations with others are not tainted by negativity so as not to jeopardize their relationships with others. It appears these relationships with others are more important to them than a mandated strict conformance and compliance with the Word of God. Many so-called "worship" services support this position with a heavy focus on uplifting music which consumes most if not practically all of many modern day worship services.

The focus of worship is to give reverence to the Lord and His Word, which contains hundreds of commands and which, in it's entirety, focuses on presenting a clear standard for righteous living. God told Joshua in no uncertain terms not to deviate from His Word, but to meditate on it day and night so that he would be able to observe to do according to all that was written therein (Josh. 1:6-9). Rom. 6:17 speaks of the requirement to obey the Word from the heart. Obedience to the Word of God is mandatory, no optional. As an example, Eph. 5 contains many commands to imitate God as dear children and avoid living like the world. Then, God makes it very clear a few passages that believers are to rebuke others concerning deviations from obeying the Word (i.e. Luke 17:3, 1 Tim. 5:20, 2 Tim. 4:2 and Titus 1:13 & 2:15.) Lastly, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus told his disciples that they are the light of the world, and we know that light is representative of righteousness, and the purpose of the light in believers is to expose the sins of the world. So, we will not be able to be obedient believers unless we obey the commands of the Lord and use the Word of God to speak truth to others, even if it is considered negative. When the apostles Peter and John were told not to teach in the name of Jesus again, they said they must obey God rather than man. And, remember the regular exposing of evil that characterized Jesus' life, even calling the self-righteous religious leaders of that day hypocrites, vipers and even children of the devil. True believers will welcome the truth of God's Word, they will obey it and use it to glorify God in their testimony and witness. The need to focus on the positive is of the devil, not from the Word of God.

Address

331 Ash Avenue
Pewee Valley, KY
40056

Website

http://LoveTheTruthMedia.com/, http://facebook.com/Steve.Wiseman.583

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