📖 Proverbs 4:14-17 • A father gives his son six commands — not suggestions — about a road that will take you farther than you meant to go and keep you longer than you planned to stay. ⛪ Preached at Pilgrim Baptist Church • Cookeville, TN • March 22, 2026. There's a question every young person asks — and every parent dreads: "How far down that road is too far?" The very question is the trap. This message from Proverbs 4:14-17 exposes the most dangerous word at the entrance to the wrong path — the word "fun" — and shows why the father of Proverbs doesn't say "don't go too far." He says "Enter not." Done deal. The wicked don't rest until somebody falls. They aren't selling wickedness — they're selling fun. And they are more consistent at pulling people down than most Christians are at lifting people up. This verse-by-verse exposition through Proverbs 4:14-17 covers: • Why the father repeats himself six times in two verses — and why all six are necessary • Why the entrance to the wrong path is its most dangerous point • What "negotiating distance" really means — and why you've already started walking when you do it • The difference between biblical separation and isolationism (Jesus ate with sinners without sinning with them) • The dark truth of verse 16: the wicked can't sleep until someone falls • Why Isaiah 48:22 and Proverbs 4:16 say two completely different things about wicked people and rest • The economy of wickedness: bread earned by it, wine bought by violence • Why some dangers aren't to be reasoned with — they're to be run from

📖 John 8:1–6 • Everybody has a guess. Nobody goes to Numbers 5. This is the answer the Bible actually gives — and it changes everything about this passage. The scribes and Pharisees walked into the temple that morning thinking they had the perfect trap. A woman. A law. A crowd. Two jaws, one snare. What they didn't know was that the name they were about to challenge had been carrying a sermon inside it for 1,400 years — Jehovah saves — and they were about to watch it happen in front of them. This expository message traces the name of Jesus from Numbers 13 (where Moses renamed Hoshea) through Nehemiah 8, Hebrews 4:8, and Acts 7:45, showing how the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and English forms all carry the same name and the same promise. The King James Bible preserves a connection in Hebrews 4 and Acts 7 that every modern translation erased — and there's a reason the Holy Spirit put it there. Then it lands in John 8: same name, same pattern, same grace. Joshua spared the harlot in Jericho (Joshua 6:25). Jesus spares the harlot in the temple. And the finger that wrote the Ten Commandments on stone at Sinai (Exodus 31:18) stoops down and writes in the dust of the tabernacle floor — the exact ritual prescribed in Numbers 5 for this exact situation. They quoted the wrong law. He performed the right one. This verse-by-verse message walks through John 8:1–10 and shows: • Why Jesus had no house to sleep in the night before — and why it matters • The linguistic journey of the name Yeshua from Numbers 13 to the first century • Why the KJV correctly reads "Jesus" in Hebrews 4:8 and Acts 7:45 — and why modern versions are wrong

📖 Matthew 24:1-21 • Is Matthew 24 a warning for Christians today — or for someone else entirely? Most believers never see the distinction that changes everything. There are TWO "last days" in your Bible — and confusing them will cost you clarity on prophecy, the tribulation, Israel, and the church's role in end times. In this lesson, Pastor Jimmy walks through Matthew 24:1-21, showing why this passage was written for the Jewish remnant during the tribulation period — not the church age believer — and what that means for how you read your Bible. This expository lesson walks through Matthew 24 and 2 Timothy 3, explaining: • Why Matthew 24 opens with a question about the "end of the world system," not the physical earth • How 2 Timothy 3 describes the last days of the church — entirely spiritual in nature • Why Matthew 24's last days are physical: literal wars, earthquakes, famines, and persecutions • The critical left-hand/right-hand distinction: last days of the church vs. last days of Israel • Who "they" are in Matthew 24:9 — the unbelieving nations going after the Jewish people • The 144,000 male virgin Jewish witnesses and the gospel of the kingdom • Daniel 9:27's direct connection to the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15 • Why verse 13's "endure unto the end" has nothing to do with a Christian's salvation • Why Jewish families fleeing to physical mountains in the tribulation makes perfect literal sense • The Sabbath day travel problem: Nehemiah 13 and why gates are shut

📖 1 John 2:24-27 • What happens when men who once walked with you, broke bread with you, and taught you the Bible walk out — and then come back trying to sell you something better than what you have? False teachers don't win by out-arguing you in the Bible. They win by making the truth too costly for you to keep. More people. More money. More respect from a world that used to hate what you preached. That's how the drift happens — not suddenly, but one careful restatement at a time. John saw it coming. That's why he parks the promise of eternal life right between the call to abide and the warning about seducers. If you already hold the deed to the land, no salesman can sell it to you. You can't sell a man what he already owns. In this expository message through 1 John 2:24-27, we examine three defenses God gave every believer against spiritual seduction: the Word abiding in you, the promise of eternal life securing you, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit teaching you. Together, these don't just help you survive false teachers — they make you unattractive to them. This verse-by-verse exposition walks through 1 John 2:24-27, connecting: • Why John anchors truth in what you heard from the beginning (v. 24) • The difference between knowing something is wrong and loving truth enough to stay with it when it costs you • How denominations go liberal — not by getting better arguments, but by getting better offers • Why the promise of eternal life (v. 25) is strategically placed between seduction warnings • The correct context of "ye need not that any man teach you" — and the pretext it's been turned into

📖 John 7:46-53 • When the officers said "Never man spake like this man," the Pharisees didn't ask what He said. They attacked the men who said it. The officers returned from their failed attempt to arrest Jesus and said something that stunned the room: "Never man spake like this man." The Pharisees didn't ask what He said. They had no interest in investigation. What followed was a masterclass in how institutional religion defends itself — not with Scripture, not with argument, but with three weapons: credentials, class, and geography. Nicodemus steps into that hostile room with something the Pharisees didn't expect. He had been doing his homework. Armed with four texts from Deuteronomy they were supposed to know, he asked the one question nobody in that room could honestly answer. And in doing so, he followed the exact pattern Jesus modeled earlier in John 7 — expose the hypocrisy with their own law. This message traces Nicodemus's slow but steady movement toward the cross — from John 3's darkened conversation to John 7's risky stand, to John 19's 100 pounds of burial spices. It shows how God honors partial obedience. It shows what judicial blindness really is. And it ends where the chapter ends — every man going to his own house, no guilt, no sleepless night — which is the most disturbing line in the passage. This verse-by-verse exposition walks through John 7:46-53 and connects: • Why "Never man spake like this man" was the beginning of the Pharisees' crisis, not a victory • What was really underneath all that fury — and why fear never stays hidden long • The three weapons religious elitism uses when it can't answer the argument: credentials, class, and geography

📖 Proverbs 4:10–13 • The most important work you'll ever do isn't at the office — it's passing wisdom to the face looking up at you. Somebody showed you the right path. There's a face attached to that — a parent, a preacher, a Sunday school teacher whose name nobody outside those four walls ever knew. That's how wisdom works. It moves from one person to another through instruction and example. Not by accident. Not by osmosis. In Proverbs 4, a father pulls his son close and says: I have taught thee. I have led thee. And now I'm telling you — don't let it go. The grip matters. Because wisdom doesn't slip dramatically. It loosens quietly, slowly, until one day you're holding something else entirely. This sermon walks through Proverbs 4:10–13 and unpacks what it means to receive wisdom, what it costs to keep it, and why the next generation is watching what you do with it right now. This expository message walks through Proverbs 4:10–13, explaining: • Why the path of wisdom offers room to walk — not a tightrope • The KJV word "straightened" (strait, not straight) and what Solomon is actually promising • How Jesus preaches the same sermon in Matthew 7:13 • Why looking down at every pitfall is a miserable and dangerous way to live • The three stacked commands in verse 13 — and why God says it three times • How wisdom slips: not dramatically, but slowly and quietly • What Solomon's own wreckage in Ecclesiastes teaches us about loosening your grip • Why it's never too late to get your hands back on wisdom

📖 1 John 2:18–23 • How do you know if a teacher is real or a counterfeit? John gives the church a doctrinal test — not an emotional one. False teachers are not going to announce themselves. They don't stand up and say "I am the Antichrist." What they do is quietly move into the place that belongs to Jesus Christ — speaking His name, using His authority, offering a counterfeit anointing. And they're banking on the fact that you won't read the book for yourself. John writes to a church that is shaken. People they shared pews with walked out the door. And the Apostle's answer isn't emotional reassurance — it's doctrine. He shows them the test: what does this teacher say about the Son? The answer to that question exposes everything. This exposition walks through 1 John 2:18–23, explaining: • The three levels of the Antichrist spirit — a spirit, many antichrists, and the coming Man of Sin • Why apostasy is not evidence God lost control — it's evidence He told the truth • What it really means when people leave a doctrinally sound church • Why their leaving exposed a condition that already existed • Why heresies must come (1 Corinthians 11:19) — and why that's actually God's plan • The unction from the Holy One — and why you already have what you need • The two instruments God gave you to detect any counterfeit • Why "anti" means in place of — and why that's more dangerous than against

📖 Proverbs 4:1-9 • Solomon looks back at his boyhood and realizes — his father's love got in the door before the teaching ever did. And the clay was still soft. There's a moment in Proverbs 4 that stops you cold. Solomon — the wisest man who ever lived — switches seats mid-sermon. One verse he's the father at the head of the table. The next, he's the boy again, hearing daddy's voice. He didn't get his wisdom from his throne. He got it when he was tender. And that window doesn't stay open forever. Clay is easy to shape when it's wet. Leave it alone and it hardens. Your eight-year-old is moldable in ways your eighteen-year-old may not be. Solomon knew this. David knew this. And God chose Abraham — not for his faith alone — but because he would command his household. This sermon walks through Proverbs 4:1-9, showing fathers what it actually means to pass something down — not theories, not lectures, but wisdom earned through surviving your own messes and handing it to the next generation before the clay sets. This expository message walks through Proverbs 4:1-9, explaining: • Why Solomon switches from father to son mid-sermon (and what it means for dads) • The difference between a child being present and a child listening • Why love must come before teaching — or the teaching won't land • How David qualified to teach Solomon because of his failures, not in spite of them • The "tender clay" principle — why the parenting window closes earlier than you think • Abraham as God's picture of a man who commands his household • Why multi-generational faithfulness (2 Timothy 2:2) is the chain every father is either a link in or a break in

📖 Zechariah 13:8-9 • Daniel 9:27 • Two-thirds of the Jewish people will perish in the Tribulation — but the remnant will be refined as silver, call on God's name, and finally say: The LORD is my God. What does it mean for God to refine a nation? In this expository message, Pastor Fortunato walks through one of the most sobering prophecies in all of Scripture — the purification of Israel through the Great Tribulation. Two out of every three people with Jewish heritage will be cut off. The remnant will be brought through a fire so intense it will strip away every form of pride, religious tradition, and self-sufficiency — until all that remains is a people who simply cry out to the living God. This is not a comfortable message. But it is a necessary one. The tribulation is not random cruelty — it is divine refining. God's name is at stake. His covenant is at stake. And when Israel finally says "The LORD is my God" from a pure heart, history will have reached one of its great turning points. This expository sermon walks through Daniel 9:27, Zechariah 13:7-9, Numbers 31, Isaiah 43, Isaiah 48, and 2 Timothy 2, showing: • Why the Antichrist's peace covenant with Israel will shatter at 3½ years • The staggering population numbers — up to 40 million people with Jewish heritage • How Zechariah prophesies two-thirds cut off, one-third refined • What the silversmithing process reveals about God's purpose in suffering • How Numbers 31 previews the reward that survives the fire • Isaiah's promise: "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned" • Why God's name — not just Israel's survival — is what's ultimately at stake • The remnant's final cry

📖 John 7:40–46 • The crowd fractured. Three groups heard the same sermon and walked away with three different verdicts. Then the officers came back empty-handed — and gave the most powerful testimony to Jesus Christ in all four gospels. What does it mean that "never man spake like this man"? These words weren't spoken by a disciple. They weren't spoken by someone Jesus healed. They were spoken by men who were paid to silence him — Levitical temple officers sent with a direct order to arrest Jesus. They walked in to bind him and walked out testifying about him. This expository message works through John 7:40–46, examining the three distinct crowd responses to Jesus and what they reveal about how people still respond to Christ today. Group one filed him in the right folder and closed the drawer. Group two went all the way and called him the Messiah. Group three weaponized scripture against the very Lord the scripture was written about. And then there's a fourth group — the officers — who weren't planning on what happened to them. The sermon then unpacks what "never man spake like this man" actually means: no errors, no guile, no borrowed authority, infinite compassion, and a simplicity a child can grasp that a scholar cannot exhaust. This message walks through John 7:40–46 and connects: • The three crowd responses and what they still look like in churches today • Deuteronomy 18 and the prophet Moses promised — the right category with the wrong conclusion • Micah 5:2 and the crowd that weaponized scripture to avoid investigating Jesus • The sovereignty of Christ — why no man could lay hands on him before his hour