Real Truth Matters Sermon Podcast

The great doctrine of justification by faith should be understood by all Christians. But clarity on this truth is needed, even today. Many within our churches have only a vague idea about it. Most evangelicals today have a perverted viewpoint on what it means to be just before God. When the Apostle Paul wanted to explain justification to justified saints in Rome, he went back to the Old Testament character, Abraham. Abraham is God's illustration of what it means to be justified by faith alone.

In modern evangelicalism most think they know why Jesus died. His death has been reduced to merely a way to manage our sin problem. Such reductionism helps no one. In this message, Michael Durham explores a more complete motivation for the death our Lord.

If we are to maintain fellowship with God, we must learn the principle of courageous confession, keeping our confession of sin up-to-date. In this message, Michael Durham shares what biblical confession is and why it is important to our experience of our dear Savior.

Is fellowship with God possible? According the Apostle John it is possible. This is a matter that belongs to the test of faith. Do you believe that you can have the same kind of fellowship that John and the other apostles enjoyed? We pray that as you listen to this sermon, your faith will be encouraged to believe that such fellowship is very possible.

All Christians desire the touch of God on their lives. But there was a woman who would not wait for God's touch, but pressed in to touch the Lord. Can we do the same? Is it possible to break through all spiritual obstacles and receive the power of God and gain the answer we need? Yes, and it is this dear woman's example that serves as a model to us.

The 23rd Psalm is the most beloved and well-known psalm. Its timeless truths encourage saints from one generation to another. In this uplifting message, you will hear how good the Good Shepherd is to all His flock. We pray you are greatly edified as you listen.

David learned how to practice the presence of God. He developed a conscious awareness of God. This is a must for all Christians; we must renew the mind so that it is focused on the Lord. How do you do this? Please listen and put into practice this simple message.

Too often we are full and content with things or people, which leaves the soul empty of delight in God. Therefore, we need to learn the lost of art of developing a heart that is both satisfied and unsatisfied at the same time. Yes, we are to be content with what we are given, but we must never be content with our spiritual development. This kind of discontentment motivates us to hunger and thirst for more of Christ, and is very holy and necessary.

Christianity declares the sinner just before God, but justification is not the sum or totality of Christianity. There is so much more and the Apostle Paul tells us that God is the ultimate prize.

The church of Jesus Christ is supernatural. It is of supernatural origin and construction. So is every believer. The transformation of a sinner into a saint is a miracle and it is this miracle that serves as a rock upon which our Lord is building His church.

The work of the Gospel is to lead all men, saved or unsaved, to the place of humiliation. Our righteousness is sorely insufficient to please a perfectly righteous God. There is only one kind of righteousness that saves, it the righteousness of Jesus Christ. His righteousness is given freely to all who trust in Him and follow Him in loving devotion.

How does a Christian know if he or she has a real relationship with Christ? In this revival sermon, Michael Durham sheds light on how Christ manifests Himself to His genuine followers. Again, we apologize for the poor quality of audio, but it is still worth the listen.

This sermon was delivered to Living Hope Baptist Church in Hopkinsville, Ky during a week of special meetings. In this message, Michael Durham, shares with the congregation that true revival is a return to normal Christianity. Many churches have settled for a norm that is abnormal. This message will confront this mistake and hopefully call people to genuine repentance. (We apologize for the video and audio quality but opted to post because of the value of the content. After a few minutes the audio will improve.)

In the final message of Pastor Durham's ministry at Oak Grove Baptist Church, he reminds us that the Gospel was designed to work in a person by the supernatural power of God. The Christian life is the life of God in the soul, energizing with desire and power to do His will. Natural ability cannot perform what only God in can do in a person. The task of the Christian is by faith to cooperate with God's activity in him or her. With this sermon Michael Durham closes his pastoral ministry and begins an itinerate evangelistic ministry.

After the Apostle Paul told believers in chapter 6 of his epistle to the Romans that they were dead to the reign of sin, he proceeded in the seventh chapter to explain that they were also dead to the law. What does this mean? It means that the Christian no longer has to go through the law to get to God. Before Christ the only way to have relationship with God was by obedience to the Law. But no one could perfectly keep the Law until Christ came. He fulfilled the Law of God and died to it. Once raised from the dead, His relationship to God was no longer governed by the Law. The same it true for us. Unfortunately, most Christians are still trying in the power of their own abilities to keep the Law in order to retain God's blessings.

Sanctification is mostly seen as a matter of the soul and not the body. However, the Apostle Paul says our bodies and how we use them play in important role in our sanctification. We cannot sanctify ourselves but we can cooperate with the grace of God in us. In this message we will learn what role our bodies have in God's process of sanctifying us.

Although an unusual text for a Christmas sermon, Michael Durham shows how the Christmas story is incomplete by itself. The ultimate purpose of the Christ child is to die and triumph over death and sin. This message gets deeper into the glorious implications of His death and resurrection.

God's goal for all His children is that their faith grow, but faith does not grow without a struggle. It is often in the struggle that we fail to believe and we experience a faith failure. In this message we will learn how to fight the fight of faith and avoid faith failures and let cooperate with the Lord Jesus in the growth of our faith.

In this message on the subject of faith, Michael Durham explores the biblical source of faith and how it works in the lives of the believer. All Christians are to live a life of faith, but all to often many don't because they don't know how to listen to God or are too selective in what they hear. The key to a life of faith is a vital and vibrant relationship with Christ.

In today's message, we explore how you increase your faith. Many try to increase their faith using unbiblical methods. RTM speaker, Michael Durham, outlines the only way you can grow in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this second message on faith, we explore the components of faith. These components are the building blocks of faith. Without these four components, faith in God does not exist. But what many do not know is that if one does not have faith in God, he or she has faith in something. These four building blocks are working synergistically in all people as all men exercise faith daily even if it is not in God.

Peter believed he believed. He told the Lord Jesus that he would not deny Him but stand with Him. But in the hour of testing he did something differently and denied Christ. Faith sees and acts, but Peter was motivated by a faith that was not in Jesus but in himself. In this message, Michael Durham defines faith and shows how it works.

In this message, Michael Durham, pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church for the last 23 years, shares that his ministry is changing in focus and direction. Pastor Durham will after January 2017 be stepping down as senior pastor of OGBC and entering full-time evangelism/revival work. RTM has chosen to let you hear exactly what he shared with the church.

Christians rejoice that there is one Savior who is more than sufficient to make us right with God. The story of the Gospel is real and its power is real. There is no other message sent from heaven. This is the true good news that must be proclaimed if men and women are to be saved and have eternal life.

How do we arrive at a better self? The Apostle Paul outlines his desire to press on to perfection through the knowing of Christ. How do we know Christ better so that we can be better? We pray as you listen, you will discover the way to a more intimate relationship with Christ.

When Jesus saw the blind man of John chapter 9, He was drawn to him. A series of events began that changed the blind man. Jesus was attracted to the need the man had. He's attracted to us for many reasons, but one is our need of His love and mercy. When a person truly learns that God gravitates to needy people whose only trust is in Him, he or she will see God's activity.

One of the most important questions is how does one become a Christian. What is a Christian and what makes someone a Christian must be answered biblically. Too much is at stake with this question. Please listen, and discover what happens when one becomes a follower of Christ.

All Christians are familiar with the word grace, but how many of us understand grace? What it is? How does it work? The biggest question is does the grace of God eliminate our effort or does it enable effort? American Christianity has put such an emphasis on justification by grace through faith that many do not know that the grace that justifies is also the grace that sanctifies. The grace that sanctifies enables good works, "which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The death of Ezekiel's wife is a puzzlement to many. How could a good God not only take Ezekiel's wife in death but commanded that Ezekiel could not publicly mourn the loss of his wife? This message explains how we need to approach the unexplainable moments of life.

When we are physically showing symptoms of illness we usually resort to the medicine cabinet. No one likes being sick. But when it comes to our spiritual condition, we often neglect our spiritual health. This message, if you let it, will work like a physician's examination. We need to take spiritual inventory on a regular basis to maintain spiritual health.

A second message with this theme discusses God's hiddenness in His delays to answer prayer and fulfill promises. God may seem withdrawn because we have grieved the Holy Spirit.

It is a strange thing to hear that God hides Himself, but the Bible clearly presents this view of God. He is a God who initiates relationship with us but He is not intrusive. He desires to be desired and reveals Himself to those who want Him.

No more remarkable fact than that Jesus is in God's presence for us. We know He is in heaven because He is God and heaven is that is where the throne of God dwells. But the text says that Jesus appears in the presence of God for us. Listen and value how our High Priest performs His priestly duties for us now in the presence of God.

Every Christian is enrolled in the school of faith, and it is our Instructor's purpose to graduate us to a faith that rests. In the story of Jesus calming the storm, we learn how faith has to have an object. This elementary lesson must be learned if our faith is to strengthen to a faith that rests.

The story of the Gadarene demoniac is a remarkable picture of humanity without Christ. Mankind has been plunged into a captivity of darkness and all of man's attempts to free himself fail. This is a story that finds relevancy today almost 2000 years later as nations, societies, and cultures self-destruct.

The story of the battle of Jericho and Rahab's deliverance is a picture of the Gospel. In this message, Michael Durham unpacks the symbolism and takes a direct line to the great covenant of God with the Son and the His people.

We know God can do anything within the confines of His nature. However, when it comes to prayer and faith we struggle whether or not if God is willing to do what we ask of Him. The miracle of Jesus healing the leper tells us much about praying in faith. There is also a great illustration of God willingness to save in the leper's cleansing.

God has commanded parents, and fathers in particularly, to instill into their children the revelation of God and His truth. Unfortunately, many Christian parents have failed to do this, and the children have abandoned the Christian faith altogether. In this message, we look at what the Psalmist said was parental responsibility in very practical way. We must hold the Gospel rope for the future generation.

Sooner or later every Christian experiences the feeling of abandonment by God. It is not true that God abandons His children; He never does nor ever will do so. But He does test us and part of that test is the sense of the absence of God. In this message, Michael Durham focuses on this very kind of trial in the life of Joseph who had undergone many trials, but none as bad as the test of feeling forgotten by God.

James and John wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village because of their refusal to welcome Jesus into their town. But instead of Jesus being flattered by their defense of Him, He rebukes them and tells them their spirit is contrary to His. Anger is a problem we all deal with but often we feel justified for our anger. But anger, if even justifiable, must be dealt with quickly. Listen and discover how Jesus deals with those who offend Him. Rather than anger, He shows mercy.

In an amazing Gospel account of a Gentile woman seeking Jesus for her daughter's healing, we discover some major principles on faith, prayer, and experiencing God's fullness. Are we satisfied with crumbs when we could have a full meal?

Peter rashly stated to Jesus that he would not allow the Lord to wash his feet. Jesus' answer is sobering. Listen and learn that we can miss God in the small things as wall as the large.

Many linger in indecision and do not give their lives to Christ, or having given their lives to Christ do not fully follow Him. Michael Durham explains the motivation behind indecision and the only remedy.

The story of Thomas' doubt of the resurrection of Jesus teaches us much about the relationship of faith and empiricism. Empiricism is the belief that something can only be verifiable by means of experience and experimentation. Many today want to pit faith against empiricism, but it isn't that faith is against empirical data. Faith goes beyond the empirical to see the unobservable.

The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ surely sealed our redemption. However, the purpose of His death goes beyond the individual need to a global impact. The King and His Kingdom rests upon the event of the resurrection.

Jesus refused the popularity of the masses to do only what He could do—die for the sins of His people. Out of His death has come a life power that has regenerated millions. Learn how to enjoy the life of Christ by dying to the the strong desire of the flesh.

John the Baptist sat in a prison with questions about Jesus and His ministry. Often things don't go as planned and God doesn't perform as you want. Listen, and let your heart be encouraged to be blessed with whatever and wherever God's business turns.

Life has more than its share of problems. But those problems are part of God's plan to work out a beautiful conclusion. Also, each difficulty is God's way of reminding us the value of the spiritual. Learn how to develop a life plan that will help turn each negative into a Gospel positive.

The Christian faith is more than a rote religion where people go through the motions. Such superficiality will not make the difference because it misses God's objective. Listen to hear about a real faith that experiences a real God.

All of us stumble and fall; all of us fail at some point. But God has committed to cause us to stand. We are His workmanship. All of this seen in the lives of the Apostle Paul and Mark.

Life is not fair but no one said it would be. However, we find ourselves complaining and getting bitter about the injustices we face. No one face any greater inequity than Jesus. Listen and find out how to face life when it is unfair.