Pilgrim Baptist Church

Ephesians 4:31 — Hurting from what someone did to you isn't bitterness. That's grief. And scripture never confuses the two. This teaching addresses one of the most misunderstood pain points in the Christian life: the difference between bitterness and grief — and how spiritual abuse hides behind a twisted use of Hebrews 12:15. If you've ever been told your continued hurt proves you haven't forgiven, or that someone's position excuses them from repenting, this message from Ephesians 4:31 was taught for you. Forgiveness is commanded of every believer toward every person, without exception, and it doesn't wait on the other person's repentance. But letting go of hatred is not the same thing as trusting someone again — and it is not the same thing as staying silent about what happened. Truthtelling isn't bitterness, and covering for someone's sin isn't forgiveness. This message walks through Ephesians 4:31, Ephesians 5:11 & 13, Mark 11:25-26, Hebrews 12:15, and Job 42:7 to answer a question a lot of hurting Christians have never heard answered clearly: am I bitter, or am I grieving? This teaching covers: - The difference between releasing hatred (owed to everyone, always) and rebuilding trust (which must be earned) - Why a parent's or a pastor's position never exempts them from repenting when they've sinned against someone - Truthtelling isn't bitterness — and covering sin isn't forgiveness - What Mark 11:25-26 actually teaches about forgiveness and prayer — not about justification - How Hebrews 12:15 gets twisted to blame every hardship on "hidden bitterness" - The biblical difference between bitterness (wanting someone to pay) and grief (simply remembering what happened)

1 John 5:18-21 — Satan cannot lay a finger on a child of God without a permission slip signed in heaven. These are the five closing certainties of 1 John. This expository preaching message closes our verse-by-verse series through the book of 1 John, working through five certainties packed into the final four verses: we don't live in sin, we are kept, we know whose side we're on, we know the Son has come, and we know Him that is true. If you've ever wondered about your assurance of salvation — if guilt has convinced you that one bad week disqualifies you, or fear has convinced you that Satan can do whatever he wants to you — this message settles both. Your standing is sealed. Your walk is still your own to guard. This is verse-by-verse exposition, not topical commentary. The text moves from what "sinneth not" actually means, into the doctrine of eternal security versus self-keeping, into Satan's limits under God's permission, and finally into the highest declaration made about Jesus Christ anywhere in the letter — "This is the true God and eternal life." This expository preaching message through 1 John explains: - What "born of God sinneth not" really means (it's not sinless perfection) - The difference between being kept by God and keeping your own walk - Why Satan cannot touch a believer without permission (Job 1-2) - What it means that "the whole world lieth in wickedness" - Four things Christ's coming gave every believer - Why the least-lettered believer has understanding the world's wisest don't - The highest title given to Jesus Christ in the entire letter - The closing warning: "keep yourselves from idols"

Proverbs 7:10-20 — She wasn't a woman with no religion. She'd just left the altar, peace offering still in her hand — and turned the leftovers into bait. This expository preaching message through Proverbs 7:10-20 warns young men — and everyone raising young men — about a danger that doesn't look like danger. Not every threat to your walk with God announces itself. Some of the most dangerous voices we'll ever hear don't blaspheme God's name — they quote His word. If you've been searching for how to discern manipulation dressed up as spirituality, or how to raise sons and daughters who can tell the difference between real devotion and a counterfeit, this verse-by-verse teaching lays it out plainly. This message unpacks the "strange woman" of Proverbs 7 — not as a caricature, but as a skilled hunter who studies what a man already wants and dresses herself to match it. She uses vows, peace offerings, and even the language of Song of Solomon to disguise a trap as an appointment from God. It's the same pattern Cain shows at the altar: clean hands, unclean heart. Solomon's warning is as much about training the heart as it is about training the eye. This expository sermon through Proverbs 7:10-20 explains: - Why "attire of an harlot" describes an intentional costume, not an accident - What "loud and stubborn" reveals about a rebellious, restless heart (1 Samuel 15) - Why looking away with your eyes means nothing if your heart still loves what it saw - How she uses testimony language — peace offerings, paid vows — as bait - The connection between Cain's altar and hers: clean hands, unclean heart - Why sin doesn't invent new language — it steals and counterfeits it (SoS 4)

John 10:11-18 — For thousands of years, the sheep died so the man could live. In John 10, that pattern gets turned inside out. This expository preaching message walks through John 10:11-18 and connects it to Micah 3, Acts 20:28, Exodus 30, 2 Samuel 24, Ephesians 2, and Galatians 2:20 to answer one question: what actually separates a hireling from a shepherd? Not what he knows or what he can do — what he's willing to pay when the wolf shows up. This message also unpacks a key KJV textual point in verse 14 — why the period the King James Bible places at the end of that verse matters doctrinally, and what changes when modern versions replace it with a comma or dash. If you've ever wondered how to tell a hireling from a true shepherd — in ministry, in leadership, or in your own motives for showing up on Sunday — this verse-by-verse exposition lays it out plainly. Every generation gets its own hirelings. Some carry a microphone. Some have a link in their bio. This expository sermon through John 10:11-18 explains: - Why the hireling flees and the shepherd stays - What "ownership" reveals about a man when it costs him something - How sheep get scattered — and why the scattering does more damage than the wolf's bite - Why sheep "nibble their way lost" instead of running away all at once - The KJV's period at the end of verse 14 — and why it matters doctrinally - Why "for the sheep" means in place of, not merely alongside - How the Old Testament sacrificial pattern gets reversed in Christ - What Exodus 30 and 2 Samuel 24 reveal about David as an imperfect substitute - Why John 10:16's "other sheep" points to Jew and Gentile becoming one new flock

Genesis 50:20 — Someone hurt you years ago. They're not carrying it anymore. So why are you still lugging that bucket around? Sunday School — "Under the Good Shepherd's Care" — Joseph Forgives This family integrated church Sunday school lesson walks kids and parents through Genesis 42, 44, 45, and 50 to teach what biblical forgiveness actually looks like — not a feeling, but a decision to stop carrying weight that was never yours to hold. If you've been searching for how to let go of bitterness or forgive someone who hurt you, this lesson breaks it down in a way even a child can grasp — and apply. Joseph tested his brothers before he ever revealed himself to them. He needed to see whether their hearts had truly changed. And when he finally forgave them, he didn't just say the words — he protected them, provided for them, and refused to get even. That's the whole picture of biblical forgiveness: it releases the offender AND it frees you. The lesson closes with a live object lesson: kids carry a bucket that gets heavier with every labeled rock — "They laughed at me," "My brother hit me," "She left me out," "They lied about me" — until they're told to put it down. Because the truth is simple: if it's not hurting them anymore, it's only hurting you. This lesson walks through Genesis 42, 44, 45, and 50, explaining: - Why Joseph tested his brothers before trusting them again - How guilt, memory, and conscience surface under pressure - Judah's offer to be a substitute for Benjamin - Why Joseph waited to reveal himself until he saw real change - The difference between empty words and true repentance - Why unforgiveness only punishes the one holding the grudge

Proverbs 7:6-9 — He didn't fall into sin. He knew exactly which corner, which house, and which door he was walking toward. This message confronts one of the most searched struggles for parents and young people alike: how small, willing compromises — not sudden ambush — lead to devastating sin. Watching a young man "void of understanding" through Solomon's own window in Proverbs 7:6-9, this sermon rejects the excuse that people simply "fall into sin," showing instead that every step toward ruin is a choice made in twilight, then evening, then the black and dark night. If you're a parent trying to help your teenager understand why certain music, shows, friendships, or late-night conversations are dangerous — or if you're a young person wondering why the small compromises matter — this expository preaching message walks through exactly how temptation actually works, and why God is still watching from the window, ready to provide a way of escape. This verse-by-verse exposition of Proverbs 7:6-9 covers: - Why the young man is called "simple" and "void of understanding" — not wicked, but empty - Why "he fell into sin" is a dangerous, dishonest cliché - The three stages of the walk toward sin: twilight, evening, black and dark night - Why standing idle near temptation always costs something (Eve, David) - How flattering speech and modern media do the same work as the woman at the corner - Why technology hasn't created new sin, only made the corner easier to find - God's window of watching mercy, and the way of escape He always provides

John 10:7-10 — Out in the hills, a shepherd's fold had no gate. So the shepherd laid his own body across the gap. That's the door Jesus says He is. This expository preaching message unpacks the second of three "doors" in John 10:1-10 — moving from Christ as the shepherd who enters correctly, to Christ as the door itself. Using the countryside sheepfold, where a shepherd's own body became the literal gate against wolves and thieves, this sermon traces the "I AM" claim of Jesus back to the burning bush and forward into the promise of abundant life. If you've ever been told your assurance of salvation depends on your performance, your tradition, or a preacher's approval, this message speaks directly to that spiritual abuse. The sermon names the "thieves and robbers" of Matthew 23 — religious systems that devour the defenseless — and contrasts them with the Good Shepherd, who gave everything rather than take anything. This verse-by-verse exposition of John 10:7-10 covers: - The three different doors in John 10:1-10, and why conflating them causes confusion - The countryside sheepfold where the shepherd himself was the only door - How Bethlehem's shepherds "abiding in the field" connect to this image - Why salvation comes one individual at a time, not by family or nation - The danger of traditions that replace the door as the way of salvation - Why giving to get a blessing is not biblical giving - The "I AM" statements of John and their roots in Exodus 3 - What "life more abundantly" does and does not promise

Genesis 37, 41-42 — A safe grown-up never asks a child to keep secrets from their parents. Four simple rules every family needs to know. This family integrated church Sunday School lesson equips parents and children together with four clear, memorable rules for protecting children from abuse: real strength protects and never scares, the strongest people are gentle with the weak, a child can always tell if a grown-up's strength scares them, and a safe grown-up never asks a child to keep secrets from their parents. If you've ever wondered how to talk to your children about child safety in a way that's biblical, age-appropriate, and not frightening — this lesson gives you the language. Using Joseph's story in Genesis 37-42, Pastor Fortunato teaches children and parents together to tell the difference between real strength and control, and why gentleness alone is never proof of safety. This teaching walks through Genesis 37 (Joseph sold into slavery), Genesis 41 (Joseph exalted in Egypt), Genesis 42 (Joseph tests his brothers before trusting them), Matthew 10:16 (wise as serpents, harmless as doves), and Proverbs 22:3 (a prudent man foreseeth evil), covering: - Why real strength protects and never scares - Why the strongest people are gentle with those smaller and weaker - What to teach children about appropriate vs. inappropriate touch - Why trust must be earned and proven, like Joseph proved his brothers - Why a safe grown-up never asks a child to keep a secret from their parents - Why gentleness by itself is not proof of safety - How to be "wise as a serpent" — discerning, watchful, hard to deceive

1 John 5:13-16 — Confidence in prayer is real. But confidence is not control. There is a sin that will cost a believer his life, not his soul. This expository preaching message walks verse by verse through 1 John 5:13-16, moving from the believer's confidence in prayer into John's hardest statement in the letter: "There is a sin unto death." This sermon works through what that sin is not — it is not the unpardonable blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and it is not the loss of salvation — before showing from 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 11, Acts 5, 1 Kings 13, and Numbers 20 what it is: the chastening hand of God, taking a believer home early because his life down here has stopped bearing fruit for the Lord. If you've ever wondered whether a true child of God can sin his way out of salvation, or wrestled with hard providences in the lives of believers who died before their time, this verse-by-verse teaching through 1 John was preached for you. It is honest about the tension in the text and honest about what the Bible actually says. This is expository preaching in the fullest sense — not a topical survey of "the sin unto death," but a careful walk through the whole counsel of Scripture on the subject, letting Mark, Galatians, James, 1 Corinthians, Acts, 1 Kings, Numbers, and Deuteronomy interpret 1 John rather than human opinion. This expository sermon walks through 1 John 5:13-16 and related Scripture, explaining: • The confidence a believer has that God hears prayer according to His will • Why an ordinary brother caught in sin should be carried to God in prayer, not gossip • What "he shall give him life" means for a believer who has backslidden

Proverbs 7:1-5 — Nobody breaks into your house to steal your Bible. All a thief has to do is steal your attention, one day at a time, until it sits unopened on the shelf. This message addresses resisting temptation and guarding your heart from sin, walking verse-by-verse through Proverbs 7:1-5 — the father's charge to his son before the young man ever meets the strange woman waiting later in the chapter. The real question this sermon raises isn't "how does a man resist temptation" but "what would make a man want to resist it in the first place" — and the answer isn't a rule. It's a family. This is also a family integrated church message at its core: a father teaching his son to call wisdom "sister" and understanding "kinswoman" — giving the boy belonging instead of a list of don'ts, so when temptation shows up, there's already something more beautiful sitting in the room. This sermon walks through Proverbs 7:1-5, explaining: - Why "keep my words" in verse 1 and "keep thee" in verse 5 are the same word turned around - What it means to "lay up" God's commandments the way a mother lays up clothes for a grandchild not yet born - Why guarding the word like "the apple of thine eye" means guarding it like an automatic reflex, not a decision - Why writing the word on the heart leaves an impression that outlasts even memory loss - Why Solomon gives his son a family — "sister" and "kinswoman" — instead of a fence of prohibitions - Why the real question isn't how to resist temptation, but what makes a man want to - Why wisdom keeps a man by outshining temptation, not by out-arguing it - How a household built on belonging protects a young man before he ever reaches the corner

John 10:1-6 — Sheep don't study doctrine. They know a voice. Jesus draws the line between a shepherd who enters by the door and a thief who climbs the wall in the dark. This expository preaching message walks verse-by-verse through John 10:1-6, tracing the picture of a first-century sheepfold — one door, one porter, many flocks pressed together in the dark — to show how the religious leaders of John 9 fit the profile of the thief and robber Jesus describes. This is a message about knowing God's voice: not by argument, not by proof, but by recognition. The sheep aren't theologians. They just know the shepherd's voice when they hear it — and they know a stranger's voice just as fast. Drawing on Numbers 27, Jeremiah 23 and 50, Ezekiel 14 and 34, and the contrast between John 9's blind man and the Pharisees who cast him out, this expository preaching sermon asks a simple, searching question: when the true voice called, did you follow it — or have you been following a false shepherd without even knowing his name? This sermon walks through John 10:1-6, explaining: - Why there is "no door" between John chapters 9 and 10 — same men, same moment - The difference between a thief (stealth) and a robber (force) — and why John uses both words on purpose - Why the sheepfold in this parable is Israel, not heaven and not the church - How Jeremiah 50 describes shepherds who dry up and starve their own flock - Why legitimacy is structural, not self-declared — "he that entereth by the door" - How the blind man of John 9 responds to a voice before he ever has eyes to see - Why the shepherd leads sheep out, while the Pharisees only ever cast people out

1 John 5:14-15 — Sometimes God's answer to your prayer is "no." That doesn't mean He didn't hear you. It means He heard you perfectly. This sermon on confidence in prayer walks verse by verse through 1 John 5:14-15 to answer one of the most searched questions among believers: why does God say no to sincere, faith-filled prayer? If you have struggled with unanswered prayer and wondered whether it was somehow your own fault, this expository message was preached for you. Maybe you've been on your knees for years over the same request — a wayward child, a marriage, a diagnosis, a thorn that will not leave. This message offers no easy formulas and no blank checks. Instead, it walks through what it actually means to pray "according to his will," and shows — from Paul's thorn in the flesh and Christ's own prayer in Gethsemane — that a "no" from God can be every bit as much an answered prayer as a "yes." Preached verse by verse from 1 John 5:14-15, this expository message cross- references Matthew 6-7, 1 John 3, Romans 8, Luke 22, Psalm 37, Isaiah 59, James 4, Philippians 4, Hebrews 5, 2 Corinthians 12, and Luke 18 to build a full biblical theology of confident, will-aligned prayer — without ever turning it into a moral checklist. This expository sermon walks through 1 John 5:14-15 and related scriptures, explaining: - True confidence in prayer rests in Christ, not in the length, volume, or sincerity of our words - "According to his will" means walking in obedience, not reciting a formula (1 John 3:22) - The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don't even know what to pray (Romans 8:26-27) - Verse 14 gives the process — verse 15 gives the possession

Proverbs 6:30-35 — A thief can pay sevenfold and walk out with a closed account. An adulterer has no number at all. There is no ransom. This expository preaching message closes out our series through Proverbs 6 by tracing one of the chapter's sharpest contrasts: a starving thief has a motive, a mercy, and a number he can pay — sevenfold, steep as it is, has a bottom. But the man who commits adultery has none of that. If you've wrestled with the consequences of sexual sin, or wondered how forgiveness and consequence can both be true at the same time, this verse-by-verse teaching addresses it directly. This message doesn't soften the text. It works through the wound that "shall not be wiped away," the rage that jealousy produces, and the sobering reality — proven out in the life of David himself — that God's forgiveness and a broken household are not contradictions. God forgave David completely. The sword still never left his house. Working through Proverbs 6:30-35 alongside Exodus 22, Genesis 34, and 2 Samuel 12, this expository sermon lays out why every other snare in Proverbs 6 has a door out of it — and why this one doesn't. This expository preaching message through Proverbs 6 covers: - Why the thief in verse 30 is shown mercy but the adulterer is not - The meaning behind Solomon's number: sevenfold, a debt that can be finished - "He destroyeth his own soul" — why this man is not a victim - Spiritual adultery — what false god has taken the place of devotion to God - Genesis 34 — Dinah, and what rage drives men to do - Why "a wound and dishonor" is a description, not a threat - 2 Samuel 12 — David, forgiven by God, and the sword that never left his house

John 9:39-41 — Jesus never drags anybody to the light. He gave a blind man sight and left proud men free to say no — and saying no is what put their eyes out. This expository preaching message through John 9:39-41 closes out the courtroom motif that's run through two full chapters: the blind beggar the Pharisees interrogated and cast out, now standing in front of the true Judge who never had to call a single witness against them. If you've wrestled with spiritual pride — the quiet, respectable kind that never gets called sin — this verse-by-verse teaching was preached for you. There are two kinds of blindness in this text. One a man is born into, with no guilt attached — the kind Christ can heal in an afternoon with nothing but clay and spit. The other a man chooses, defends, and boasts about — and that's the kind he carries to his grave with his eyes wide open. This message draws that line carefully, and asks which side of it you're standing on. Working through John 9:38-41 alongside John 8:12-59, John 3:18-20, John 5:40-44, and a word study connecting "remaineth" to 1 John 3, this expository sermon shows that no one blinds the proud — they love the darkness they're standing in more than the light in front of them. This expository preaching message through John 9 covers: - Why the same light gets stoned in chapter 8 and worshiped in chapter 9 - "Are we blind also?" — reading the sneer underneath the Pharisees' question - The shift from "we know" to "we see" — a claim about the Book vs. a claim about themselves - The illustration of the man who reads in the fading light and refuses the lamp - The two kinds of blindness — one born, one chosen

Daniel 6 — Daniel didn't panic, and he didn't stay silent. He prayed first — then he gave the king a calm, respectful no. This is how we teach that to our kids. This family integrated church lesson walks parents through how to teach children real biblical courage — from Daniel's stand against King Darius to a hands-on lesson in stranger safety done right there with the kids. If you've been looking for a family integrated approach to biblical parenting, or for how to teach kids to say no to an adult who's asking them to do something wrong, this lesson was built for exactly that. Most parents assume their child already understands the difference between ordinary obedience and standing firm against a wrong instruction. They don't — not until it's practiced out loud, at home, more than once. This lesson gives you the words to put in your child's mouth and a physical response to go with them. Working through Daniel 6, Acts 5:27-29, and Joshua 24:15, this teaching lays out the only three biblical reasons a Christian has the right to disobey civil authority, then puts children through the "brave no" framework: say no, then tell a trusted adult. Pastor Fortunato also leads the children through a hands-on child-safety demonstration — practical, physical steps for what to do if an adult crosses a boundary. This family integrated Sunday school lesson covers: - The story of Daniel 6 and the den of real lions - Why Daniel prayed instead of panicking when the decree was signed - The only three biblical reasons a Christian may disobey civil government - Acts 5:27-29 — "We ought to obey God rather than man" - The "brave no" framework: say no, then tell a trusted adult

1 John 5:9-13 — It didn't matter whose door was next to yours in Egypt. Unless the blood was on your own doorpost, you had no standing. This is assurance of salvation, verse by verse. This expository preaching message walks through 1 John 5:9-13 using the courtroom language of the passage itself — witnesses, testimony, record, and verdict — to answer one question: can a believer actually know he has eternal life? If you've ever struggled with assurance of salvation, waiting for a feeling to confirm what God has already declared, this verse-by-verse teaching is for you. This message doesn't let the listener hide behind family faith. Young people who assume they're saved because their parents are saved, church members coasting on proximity to sound preaching instead of possessing Christ themselves — this sermon draws that line directly from the text: proximity isn't possession. Assurance of salvation isn't a feeling to chase down. It's a record God has already signed. Working from 1 John 5:9-13, this exposition connects the witness of God to Exodus 12's Passover lamb, Romans 8's witness of the Spirit, and 1 John 2:25's promise of eternal life — showing that God's testimony about His Son stands complete, unrepeated, and never withdrawn. This expository sermon walks through 1 John 5:9-13, explaining: - Why the witness of men still matters even though it's imperfect - The five tests every witness must meet — and how the New Testament writers met them - Why unbelief is not neutral but a verdict against God's own character - What the "witness in himself" is, and what it is not - Why "this is the record" is present tense, not a pending case

Proverbs 6:25-29 — The crime scene isn't the motel room. Solomon says it happens months, years earlier — in the heart.

John 9:35-38 — They cast him out of the synagogue. They never went looking for him again. But Jesus did. This expository preaching message walks through John 9:35-38, the hinge moment where the blind man Jesus healed is cast out of the synagogue — and Jesus goes and finds him. This verse-by-verse teaching traces the difference between being cast out, spewed out, and coming out (John 16:2, Revelation 3:16, 2 Corinthians 6:17), then unpacks why the title "Son of God" reaches all the way back to Daniel 3:25 and the furnace in Babylon. If you've ever been pushed out of a system — a church, a group, a place you thought you belonged — this message asks you to sit in that wreckage a little longer before you rush past it. Getting thrown out of a system is not the same thing as getting lost to the Savior. Sometimes the worst day is the one God uses to clear you out of a room you got too comfortable in. This is systematic, verse-by-verse Bible exposition connecting John 9:35-38 to Daniel 3:25, Matthew 8:5-10, and John 20:31 to answer one question: what does it actually mean to believe on the Son of God? This expository preaching message walks through John 9:35-38, explaining: - The three ways a man can be put out in Scripture: cast out, spewed out, come out - Why "they cast him out" is the hinge of the entire chapter - Why Jesus went looking for the one man nobody else went looking for - The single question Jesus asks — and everything He refuses to ask - Where the title "Son of God" first appears in the Old Testament (Daniel 3:25) - Why this blind man's faith goes further than the Roman centurion's in Matthew 8 - Why Jesus alone, of everyone worshiped by accident in Scripture,

1 John 5:6-8 — In 484 AD, 400 bishops faced a king with an army at his back. They reached for this verse anyway — and some paid for it with their tongues. This KJV sermon puts the Johannine Comma — 1 John 5:7, "the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" — on trial. If you've ever been told this verse is a forgery that doesn't belong in your Bible, this KJV defense walks the actual evidence: Old Latin manuscripts, the Council of Carthage, Priscillian, Isaac Newton's objection, and a Greek grammar argument most modern critics never mention. This isn't a sermon that hides from the hard question. It admits up front what the critics are right about — no early Greek manuscript has verse 7 — and then calls the witnesses that still make the case: three centuries of Old Latin copies, a 5th-century martyr who quoted it as he went to his death, 400 bishops who signed their names to it in front of a Trinity-denying king, and a Greek grammar rule that the passage can't work without it. Using a courtroom framework, this verse-by-verse exposition of 1 John 5:6-8 argues that heaven and earth both testify to who Jesus Christ is — and that the case for the Johannine Comma, and for Christ's own deity, was closed long before anyone alive today started arguing about it. This KJV sermon on 1 John 5:6-8 covers: - Why "water and blood" appears both at Christ's birth and at the cross - The three sets of three witnesses in verses 6, 7, and 8 - Isaac Newton's Arian objection to verse 7 - The Old Latin manuscript trail: the Freisinger fragment, the Leon manuscript, the Speculum - The 484 AD Council of Carthage and King Huneric's persecution of the bishops

Proverbs 6:20-24 — There's a woman coming down the road ahead of your son. Solomon won't say her name yet. First, he arms him. This family integrated church sermon walks through Proverbs 6:20-24, where Solomon — writing as a father to his son — builds a case for arming a young man with the word before ever naming the danger waiting for him. Pastor Fortunato traces how a father's commandment and a mother's law bind, lead, keep, and light a son's path — all before the "evil woman" of verse 24 is even identified. If you're raising sons and want to know how to prepare them before temptation arrives, not after, this verse-by-verse message through Proverbs 6 is for you. Have you been keeping your faith private — believed in the back room, but quiet in public? This message confronts that directly: "the secret Christian is the vulnerable Christian." If you've let your walk with God become something hidden rather than worn, this sermon speaks straight to that. This is expository preaching in its fullest sense — Solomon's structure in Proverbs 6:20-24 unpacked triad by triad: the word leads you when you walk, keeps you when you sleep, and talks with you when you wake, all before the "evil woman" of verse 24 is even named. Pastor Fortunato ties this straight back to family discipleship — a father's commandment and a mother's law working together to arm a son long before the test comes. This sermon walks through Proverbs 6:20-24, explaining: - Why unobeyed instruction is only information, not instruction - The two-parent voice of Proverbs — why both father and mother are named - "Bind them continually" — why private conviction can't stay private

John 9:24-34 — They surrounded him with pressure, a snare, and an insult. He had no argument. He had one thing — a testimony — and he wouldn't trade it away. This expository preaching message walks through John 9:24-34, where the healed beggar stands alone before the full council of Israel's religious establishment. Pastor Fortunato traces the legal "confession formula" back to Joshua 7 to show that the council has no transgression and no transgressor — only a man's unbending testimony they cannot dismantle. This verse-by-verse exposition through John's gospel is for anyone who has ever felt pressured to soften, qualify, or bury their own testimony to keep the peace. Have you ever been offered the trade — just stay quiet, and none of this will be brought up again? This sermon speaks directly to that moment. The beggar in John 9 was offered his old life back in exchange for one sentence. He wouldn't take the trade. If you've been holding back your own testimony to avoid conflict, this message will confront that silence. This is expository preaching through John 9:24-34 in its fullest sense — Pastor Fortunato connects the council's demand ("Give God the praise") to Achan's confession in Joshua 7, then contrasts the beggar's public boldness at noon with Nicodemus's private confession by night in John 3. The text builds toward one conclusion: pressure failed, a snare failed, insult failed, and the only thing left standing in the room was a testimony — "whereas I was blind, now I see."

Acts 13:48 — Every doctrine gets built like a Jenga tower — stack enough man-made pieces on a good foundation and eventually the whole thing topples. Time to check Irresistible Grace against the foundation itself: God's Word. This topical Bible message examines "Irresistible Grace" — the "I" in the Calvinist TULIP doctrine — and asks whether Scripture actually teaches an inward, effectual call that cannot be resisted, or whether God offers grace to all mankind and gives every person a real choice to respond by faith. This study on Calvinism and free will walks through Isaiah 46 and 55, Jeremiah 32, and five chapters of Acts to see the actual pattern of salvation in the early church. If you've ever been told you have no free will in salvation — or told that you do — this message won't ask you to trust a theological system. It asks you to trust the text. This verse-by-verse look at conversion in Acts traces the pattern from Pentecost (Acts 2) through the healing at the temple gate (Acts 3-4), Saul's conversion on the Damascus road (Acts 9), the Philippian jailer (Acts 16), and finally Acts 13:48 itself — including a look at how the NIV's "appointed" differs from the KJV's "ordained," and why that distinction matters. This message walks through Isaiah 46, Isaiah 55, Jeremiah 32, and Acts 2-16, explaining: - Why theological systems are dangerous to build on top of each other like a Jenga tower - What Isaiah 55:8-11 teaches about God's word never returning void - Jeremiah 32:35 and what it means that something "never came into God's mind" - The pattern of salvation at Pentecost (Acts 2) - The healing of the lame man and its evangelistic purpose (Acts 3-4)

1 John 5:1-5 — You cannot defeat what God has begotten. You can't extinguish what God has lit. You can't bury what God has raised from the dead. This expository preaching message through 1 John 5:1-5 traces John's doctrinal chain from belief to new birth to love to obedience to overcoming the world — showing that every born-again believer is already an overcomer, not because of willpower, but because of who their Father is. If you've been fighting to feel like a winner in the Christian life instead of standing on the victory you already have, this verse-by-verse teaching through 1 John is for you. Too many Christians are exhausted because they're fighting toward victory instead of from it. This message walks through the doctrine of the new birth — what it means to overcome the world, why the commandments of God are not grievous to a transformed nature, and why the same faith that saved you is the same faith that conquers for you every day. This sermon unpacks 1 John 5:1-5 verse by verse, connecting it to 1 John 2:4, 1 John 4:4, John 16:33, and Psalm 119:97 to show the full shape of what it means to be born of God. This expository preaching walks through 1 John 5:1-5, explaining: - Why belief, not behavior, is the doorway of the new birth - The difference between modified behavior and a transformed nature - Why loving the brethren is evidence, not achievement - Why God's commandments are not grievous to those born of God - What "the world" actually is — and why it's not a location - Why the born-again believer fights from victory, not toward it - How Christ declared "I have overcome the world" before the cross - Why the birth "holds" under every kind of pressure

⛪ Preached at Pilgrim Baptist Church • Cookeville, TN • Kids Takeover Service This is our Kids Takeover Service, where Pilgrim youth conduct our entire afternoon church service. The entire service as based off the memory verses and lessons that they learned during our Family Sunday School lesson series on the 7 Judgments of God: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY4JkL_xiDq57ghN7N9Zz8ZsFXXtnIY6c&si=k4eYJUFmAi7YJs_4 ⛪ About Pilgrim Baptist Church: We're a family integrated church in Cookeville, Tennessee where families worship together under verse-by-verse expository preaching from the King James Bible. At Pilgrim, we believe in serious teaching for strong families built on biblical authority. Families worship together. No entertainment. No shortcuts. Just faithful Bible teaching that transforms families — including the next generation stepping up to teach it themselves.

Proverbs 6:12-19 — He's never caught saying the thing. But he sure is doing it. Solomon draws the portrait of a man who has built a second language — and his victims don't speak it. This expository preaching series through Proverbs 6 moves from the sluggard to something darker. The sluggard is a fool — but he only ruins himself. The man in Proverbs 6:12-19 proselitizes. He recruits. He plants. He coordinates without a meeting. He winks suspicion into existence. He can nod away good names. And he's never caught saying the thing, but he sure is doing it. If you've ever watched someone operate this way in a church, a family, or a workplace and wondered why nothing can be proven — Solomon names it here. This message on discord in the church walks through one of the most surgical passages in Proverbs. The froward mouth doesn't curse — it sounds reasonable. The wink, the foot signal, the shoulder shrug, the finger gesture — it's a second language that accomplices speak fluently and victims cannot. He has learned to slander without a transcript. And God has a file on every seed of discord planted in a conversation or a text message. The list in Proverbs 6:16-19 doesn't introduce seven new subjects — it shows what God sees when he looks at the man already described in verses 12-15. And the list ends not with a behavior but a person. Every other item on the list is something somebody does. The seventh — he that soweth discord among the brethren — is someone God hates. And it's placed last because it's worst. It's bad in a neighborhood. It's worse in a family. It's worst in the body of Christ.

1 John 4:1–4 • God gave the church a test for false prophets. Most Christians have never used it. Nobody gets deceived by a wolf that looks like a wolf. They get deceived by a wolf that has learned to bleat like a sheep. The devil isn't sending drunkards into pulpits — he's sending preachers. Right words. Right tone. Right tears. Wrong doctrine. Wrong spirit. In this verse-by-verse exposition of 1 John 4:1–4, Pastor Fortunato walks through the exact test the Apostle John gave the early church for identifying false prophets — and shows why feelings, crowds, signs, and wonders are not the test. The doctrine of the incarnation is. Every cult, every counterfeit gospel, every false Christ fails at the same point: who is Jesus Christ? Did God actually enter human flesh, or didn't he? From Genesis 3 to Deuteronomy 13 to 2 Peter 1, the Bible builds a consistent warning: the spirit of Antichrist doesn't come breathing fire. It comes breathing Scripture. And if you can't identify it by doctrine, you will not identify it at all. This verse-by-verse exposition walks through 1 John 4:1–4 and connected passages, explaining: • Why "believe not every spirit" is a command for every church member, not just discernment specialists • Why feelings, crowds, and signs and wonders cannot be your test for a true man of God • What Deuteronomy 13 says about prophets whose signs actually come to pass — but whose doctrine is wrong • Why the written Word of God outranks even the audible voice Peter heard on the Mount of Transfiguration (2 Peter 1:18–19) • What it means that Jesus Christ "is come" in the flesh — and why the present tense matters for the resurrection

Isaiah 14 & Ezekiel 28 • This expository preaching through two Old Testament texts uncovers why Lucifer lost everything — not because he was bad, but because he fell in love with being good. He was the anointed cherub that covereth — stationed at the throne of God, draped in nine precious stones and gold, filled with wisdom, perfect in beauty, the very instrument of heaven's worship. God gave him everything. And that's exactly what destroyed him. Five times in Isaiah 14, Lucifer says the same two words: I will. Not once. Not twice. Five times — as if God didn't hear him the first time. And in those five declarations, the greatest created being who ever existed sealed his own damnation. He fell not because he was wicked. He fell because he was glorious — and he loved himself for it. This expository message walks through Isaiah 14:12–15 and Ezekiel 28:12–17, revealing: • Where Lucifer started — heaven itself, not a fallen state • The five "I wills" that made self-exaltation his religion • His original role as the anointed cherub that covereth — making the invisible God visible • His endowment: wisdom, beauty, precious stones, gold, and music built into his very being • Why he fell — not because of something bad, but because he loved the gifts more than the Giver • The mirror illustration: what it means to reflect God's glory vs. turn away from it • The dopamine culture connection — why self-exaltation is the oldest addiction on earth • The warning for every gift God has given you: Do you love the stuff or the One who gave it?