The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

FAITH WITH LEGS ON IT (Ephesians 4:1-6)

FAITH WITH LEGS ON IT (EPHESIANS 4:1-6)

The Bible says that we are called to a vocation, and that vocation is “a worthy walk.’ We are called to walk worthy. That is, our faith is to have legs on it. It is not enough just to simply be seated with the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenlies. That is our faith, but we are called to have a faith with legs on it, or what the Holy Spirit calls “a worthy walk.”

The Christian life begins with resting. The very first thing that you need to do in order to be saved is to quit trying and start trusting.  To quit your struggling.  To quit trying to be good by doing.  Christianity is not spelled “d-o.”; it is spelled “d-o-n-e.”  The work of salvation is already finished.  When God created the world, God worked for six days, and God rested on the seventh day.  Not because He was tired, but because His work was completed.  But man was created on the sixth day, and man’s first day was a day of rest. God worked and then rested, God completed His work, that man might rest and then work. 

Man starts by resting, and then he works. God works and then rests, that man might rest and then work.  When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, He bowed His head and He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And you and I, by faith, enter into the finished work of Calvary. I don’t try to be saved by living a good life, keeping the Ten Commandments, getting baptized, going to church, and all of those things. They are all good, and they all have their place.  But, those things are works, and works cannot save. The only thing that saves us is when we by faith appropriate the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, first of all, the Christian life begins with sitting, resting in the completed work of Salvation of our Lord Jesus.  But then, after we have come to the faith rest, then, there is the practical outworking, where we start to walk. We are not told to leap. We are not told to run. We are not told to drift. But we are called to walk.

Click on the play button to hear a message on how a Christian is to live a life of faith, facing our day-to-day problems and trials, by walking one step at a time.  Walking with our eyes on Christ one step at a time.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

NEW WORLD, SAME OLD SIN (Genesis 9:18 to 10:10)

NEW WORLD, SAME OLD SIN (Genesis 9:18 to 10:10)

When the Flood was completed, eight people came out of that ark.  All the people who had turned away from God had now been destroyed by the judgment waters of God.  The earth was fresh and new.  Noah had been given a new covenant relationship with God.  Noah had sanctified the earth with a burnt offering in gratitude to God, for providing salvation to himself and his family.  So, now everything should be perfect, there should be no sin, and everybody should live happily ever after.  Right?  Well, what is obvious from this portion of Scripture is that even though this is a new beginning in a new world, it is the same old sin that is still there.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how we are to deal with sin that occurs in our brothers and sisters in Christ.  It is important to understand that hatred, discontent, and anger in a church will destroy the effectiveness of the Spirit of God in that church.  Self-righteous pride about the failing of another brother will quench the Spirit of God in that church.  You cannot be in the will of God and be harboring hatred or disdain toward one another.  

No matter what this Christian has done, if we want this church to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit, we cannot harbor discontent, hatred, or anger, toward someone within our own church, or to another Christian. We are instead to have a fervent charity, or an agape love for one another.  The word fervent means that it is to be at full strength.  We are to have a biblical agape love, at full strength, for our brothers and sisters in Christ.  

Why should we have this fervent charity? Peter tells us, “for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” The purpose of this fervent love is to build a spirit of unity within the church.  When we love one another, we look past each other’s faults.  

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

IS IT NICE TO BE NARROW-MINDED PART 2 (Revelation 2:18-29)

One of the greatest lies that Satan has put in the minds of Christians is that it is not right to stand up for the absolute truths that are found in the Bible. Satan, and the world, say that it is not nice to narrow-minded in our beliefs, for we might offend someone. They ask how can you, as a Christian, possibly be so sure that you are right, that you would take such an offensive stance as to say that another person’s religious beliefs are wrong? Are there not many ways to please God and have eternal life?

I am here to tell you today, that there is only one way to find eternal life and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. God tells us in His Word that it is ok for us to confront error in the church when it raises it head. In fact, He commands it and that we commit a sin when we fail to do so. Now, it must be done Biblically, and lovingly, and firmly, but it must be done.

Click on the link below to hear the second part of a sermon about a church which thought it was nice to be broad-minded about their faith, and what the Lord had to say about that. What the Son of God says about being tolerant of those who would teach something other than what is in the Scripture.

DEALING WITH FALSE TEACHERS (Romans 16:17-18)

How do you deal with those who deliberately, not accidentally, teach a doctrine that is different from what is found in the Bible?

When a Jehovah’s Witness comes to your door, what do you do?  Do you engage in a debate with them, or do you shut the door?

How do you identify what is true and what is false in the teachings of people who profess to be Bible believing Christians?  They may even be in the leadership of the church as the pastor, or a deacon, or a Bible teacher.  How do you know when they begin to teach something that is false?

Many of these people will use the same words that we use, but they use a different dictionary to define them.  They say they believe in Jesus as the Christ, but they mean a Christ who was not the Son of God.  They say they believe in the resurrection, but they mean a spiritual resurrection, not the physical, bodily resurrection that the Bible declares occurred.  

The subtlety of these teachings is that they use a paraphrased truth from the Bible and then mix it with a lie, for the very best lies are based on a fragment of truth.  Just enough truth to seduce you, but filled with the lies of a false religion.  

Our lesson today is on how to deal with false teachers in the church and on your doorstep.  Today, as Christians we have two weapons to combat Satan and his disciples which are sufficient for our victory in spiritual warfare: the Spirit of God and the Word of God.  Filled with the Spirit, we can unsheath the Word of God to answer every devilish challenge that Satan and his demons can make.  All the craft and subtlety that Satan can muster is useless if the believer can began every statement with the words “Thus saith the Lord”.  

If there comes among you a teacher who knowingly and willfully does not teach the truth about Jesus Christ as He is defined in the Bible, then Paul says that we are to mark them, to shun them, and to avoid them.  We are to correct them under the leading of the Holy Spirit, but if that fails, then they are to be removed from the body of believers just as you would a ravening wolf that was prowling among you.

THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS (2 Cor. 2:5-13)

Do you know how to discern God's will and then apply it to your life?  In this verse-by-verse study of 2 Cor. 2:5-13 Paul describes how the Holy Spirit leads us.   How He leads us in dealing with those believers that have strayed from the will of God.   How the Holy Spirit works in conviction of the fallen brother, and how He leads us in our efforts to reconcile that fallen brother.   How He leads us in the path that we are to travel.   How He leads us as He opens doors for our lives and He closes doors for our lives.  Listen and learn how to discern God's will for your life.

THE SILENCE RULE (1 Cor. 14:26-40)

God is a God of order.  Paul tells the Corinthians, and the modern day tongues movement, that if there is chaos and confusion while the gift of tongues is exercised, then it is not of God.   He then establishes the rules that are to govern the use of the spiritual gifts.   Listen to what the Word of God has to say about the practice of tongues and discover the history of the modern day tongues movement in this verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 14:26-40.

THE REASON FOR TONGUES (1 Cor. 14:7-25)

Why would God create the gift of tongues and then have Paul spend so much time talking about what a poor gift it is?  Paul answers this question by first talking about the limitations of speaking in tongues, and then he establishes the reason for the gift of tongues.   Listen and learn what the Word of God has to say about this spiritual gift that is so abused and misused in our world today in a verse-by-verse study of 1 Cor. 14:7-25.

THE CASE FOR LOVE AND PROPHECY (1 Cor. 13:8 to 14:6)

In this lesson Paul completes his description of agape love, and then he compares it and the gift of prophecy to the gift of tongues.   He tells us of the permanence of agape love and how tongues fail.  He tells us of the supremacy of prophecy over tongues.  He tells us to desire that which is permanent and that which is of more value to the body of Christ.  Here what Paul has to say in this verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 13:8 to 14:6.  Listen and be blessed by the Word of God as we learn a description of Jesus Christ.

THE GIFT OF LOVE (1 Cor. 13:1-7)

Paul describes the gift of love as the more excellent way.  But this kind of love is more than an emotion.  It is an act of will.  Love involves the heart, the mind, and the will.  Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Although we are to covet earnestly the best gifts, they are to be exercised in love, and only the Spirit of God can do that.  Love is the thing that needs to be added to every gift of the Spirit.  Without love your gift is worthless.  Paul describes this wonderful gift in a verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 13:1-7.  Listen to how the Word of God describes agape love and be blessed.

GIFTS AND UNITY OF THE BODY (1 Cor. 12:14-31)

The spiritual gifts are designed by God to edify the body of Christ.  Just as the various parts of the human body work together to accomplish the goals of the body, the members of the body of Christ are to utilize their various spiritual gifts to accomplish the goals of Christ for His church.  Each gift is to work in unity with the other gifts.  Paul explains how this harmony is to work in a verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 12:14-31.  Listen to the blessing that the Word of God has for you in this study.