The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

A PRAYER FOR BELIEVERS (Ephesians 1:15 to 23)

A PRAYER FOR BELIEVERS (EPHESIANS 1:15-23)

In today’s lesson, we will be talking about Paul’s prayer for believers.  Paul rarely prayed for the things that make up most of our prayers.  Things like better health, more money, job conditions, family problems, and world crises.  I am not saying these are not important, but Paul prayed that people might know God better, that they might become better acquainted with Jesus.  It is when we are closer to Christ, and know Him more, that many of these problems we face on earth are less important.  For our trust is in Christ to deal with our needs, as He has promised to do.

God has revealed Himself in two ways, in the inspired Word and the incarnate Word. He has said what He is like in the one, and He has shown what He is like in the other. Our responsibility is to get to know Him by getting to know the Scriptures and the Savior. There is no greater, or more important, occupation that we can have here on earth.

Paul prayed that his fellow believers might have a spirit of wisdom and revelation and that they might be occupied in gaining knowledge of God. “Get to know Him” is Paul’s basic answer to all of life’s problems and questions. Knowing God would solve most of the present-day problems that cause people to run to the psychologist or the family counselor. Knowing God would affect how people cope with all areas of life, for the Almighty God of all Creation has an abundant supply of wisdom, power, and answers for all of our needs, trials, and tribulations.  Best of all, is that He wants to share them with us.

Click on the play button to hear a message where Paul describes what he most desires for the believer to know and understand about God.  

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

Amen.

WHAT WE HAVE IN JESUS (Ephesians 1:4-14)

WHAT WE HAVE IN JESUS (EPHESIANS 1:4-14)

The verses that we are going to review today are about you. This is your life. Here, the Lord is just giving your biography: from grace to glory; from eternity past to eternity future. Now, if you’re not interested in what you have in the Lord Jesus, and you’re not interested in your own personal spiritual welfare, then what on earth would you be interested in? What on earth could you be interested in?  

Did you know that God chose you, that God purposed your salvation, before He laid the foundations of the earth?  Now, you want to talk about some old-time religion, well you can’t get any older than this.  I mean, this was before there were any trees and mountains and birds and bees and fleas. Now, that’s before there was anything. God, way back in eternity past, chose you, and God chose me. 

You know, when we were kids playing football, or basketball, we would choose teams from among the group of kids.  And there is always somebody who wonders if he is going to be chosen at all. Now, isn’t it wonderful to know that God chose us so far back? You see, God is love, and what good is it to be a God of love if there’s no one to love? Love, by its very nature, cannot dwell by itself.  And so, since God’s nature is love, God created people like us, and chose us, that He might love us.

Listen, God does not love us because we are valuable, we are valuable because God loves us.  You are somebody because God chose you by His grace. And by His sovereign will, God chose to bestow His love upon you. I like what Charles Haddon Spurgeon had to say about it. He said this: “God certainly must have chosen me before I came into this world, or He never would have chosen me afterward.”  Now, isn’t it wonderful to know that even before we got here God looked down and said, “I see who he’s going to be, and I choose him”?

Most importantly, that means I can’t take any credit for my salvation. Because, it wasn’t, primarily, that I chose God.  He chose me first.  I love Him because He first loved me. 

Click on the play button below to hear a message on what we have in Jesus.  

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

Amen.

A BOX OF BONES (Genesis 50:22-26)

A BOX OF BONES (Genesis 50:22-26)

Today, we close out our study of the book of Genesis.  It has certainly been a good study about the power of God, and the faith of each of the people we have encountered.  We have studied about the wonderful creation of all things by the mighty power of God, and the destruction of The Flood as God’s judgment of evil man.  Then, we have studied about the faith of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  Each man giving us an example of how to live a life of faith in spite of the trials and tribulations that faced them.  In fact, our closing lesson is going to be another example of the faith of Joseph.  The title of our lesson today is, “A Box of Bones.” 

The very last words of the book of Genesis are “a coffin in Egypt.”  Now, that’s a strange way for a book to end.  It begins with creation, and it ends in a coffin. The devil said to Eve at the beginning of creation, “Ye shall not surely die; that you can sin with impunity.” But, the fact is the devil lied, because we have had one funeral after another. And so, the book that begins with a blaze of glory ends with a grave. The book that begins with the vastness of eternity, ends with the shortness of time. The book that begins in a garden, ends in a coffin. And the book that begins with a blaze of brightness, ends with a box of bones, the bones of Joseph.

Did you know that the bones of Joseph are mentioned not only in the book of Genesis, but in the book of Hebrews, as well? And not only in the book of Hebrews, but in the book of Exodus? And not only in the book of Exodus, but in the book of Joshua? God tells us about those bones, and then He tells us about them three more times.  Now, what have we said about what we need to do when God repeats something multiple times in the Bible?  We need to pay real close attention because God repeats the things that He feels are very important for us to understand.  

Click on the play button to hear a message on how the faith of Joseph can be found in a box of bones.

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

Amen.

THE KINGDOM REVEALED (Genesis 46:26 to 47:26)

THE KINGDOM REVEALED (Genesis 46:26 to 47:26)

Our lessons over the last several weeks have used the story of Joseph and his brothers to present the picture of Christ and His relationship with the people of Israel.  

We have seen that with the rejection of Joseph by his brothers, It has described the Jews rejection of Jesus as their Messiah.  

Then, with the suffering and persecution of Joseph and his ultimate placement at the right hand of the throne of Pharaoh, It has described the suffering of Jesus, His resurrection, and His placement at the right hand of God,  

We have also seen that the very same Joseph that the brothers had sold into the slow death of slavery now stood before them in all glory and power. This illustrates the very same Jesus, that the Jews had the Gentiles crucify, will stand before them in all glory and power.  

With the brothers’ confession of their sin against Joseph, This has described the Jewish people’s confession of their sin when Christ returns to set up His Kingdom. 

Through the grace of forgiveness that Joseph bestowed on His brothers when they recognized him as their brother, It has described the grace of forgiveness that will be bestowed on the Jews when they see Christ and instantly recognize Him as Lord and Master. 

And in today’s lesson, as we describe the kingdom that Joseph establishes, and the role that the Hebrews will play in that kingdom, it will describe the Kingdom and rule of Jesus that will be established when Christ returns and the role of the Jews in that Kingdom.  

This whole dramatic and beautiful story of Joseph is a story about the grace of God.  It is a story about Jesus.  It is also a synopsis of the rest of the Bible as it also tells of the relationship that we as believers have with our Lord and Master as joint heirs in the promises of the Jewish people.  

Click on the play button to hear a message on God’s grace, and God’s purposes being fulfilled.  It is a story of illustration of the things to come as Christ comes again to rule for ever and ever.

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

Amen.

THE REVELATION OF GOD'S WILL (Genesis 45:9 to 46:7)

THE REVELATION OF GOD’S WILL (Genesis 45:9 to 46:7)

Does God have a purpose in the events of this world? Does God have a purpose for your life?  If the answer to those two questions is “Yes”, and it is, then the better question is do you know the purpose of God for your life?  If not, how do you go about discerning the purpose, or the will, of God in your life?  This is what our lesson is about today.  I want to speak to you about The Revelation of God’s Will.

Your great desire ought to be to know His will.  Your great delight will be to do His will.  Your great danger is to refuse His will.  Nothing is right for you, if it is not God’s will.

It may sound simplistic, but the will of God for you is Jesus, just Jesus.  Jesus is the head of the church, and the church is the body.  What is the will of my body? My head.  What is the will of the church of the body of believers? Jesus, the head of the church.  The will of God for your life is Jesus.  He is your Lord.  Know Him, know the will of God.

Here are three principles about the will of God.

First, The will of God is for your welfare.  It is not something you have to do; it is something you get to do.  

Second, The will of God will never take you where the power of God and the grace of God cannot enable and keep you.

Third, You are free to choose.  God will never force His will upon you.  You are free to choose His will.  You are not free not to choose.  When you say, “Well, I just won’t choose.” You just made a choice.  You are free to choose, you are not free not to choose—and pay attention, you are not free to choose the consequences of your choice.  You make a choice to follow God’s will or not, and that choice chooses the consequences for you.  

So, what should we do to know the will of God? Ask the same questions that Jacob did.

Lord, who are you?  Do you know that Jesus is the Son of God? Do you know Him as your personal Lord and Saviour? Do you have an intimate relationship with Him?  Is your mind conformed to the mind of Christ?

Lord, what do you want me to do? Are you willing to do whatever God will enable you to do?  Are you surrendered to God?

Click on the play button to hear a message on how to know the will of God for your life.

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

Amen.

THE FRAMEWORK OF SALVATION (Genesis 45: 1 to 28)

THE FRAMEWORK OF SALVATION (Genesis 45:1-28)

There is something that I want you to know beyond the shadow of any doubt, and that is God wants you to be saved.  There is an old hymn entitled “BLESSED BE THE NAME” with the words, 

“I never shall forget the day,
Blessed be the name of the Lord!
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
—CHARLES WESLEY

And I wonder how many people might be singing that song, but they are like iron fountains in the park. You see a lion statue as a fountain, and there is water spewing out of his mouth, but he never tastes a drop of it. And I am wondering if there are those of you who have that song coming out of your mouth without tasting a drop of it.

Was there a time, was there a day, when you said, “Praise God, bless God, hallelujah, I know, that I know, that I know, that I have met Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord.  I have a day to be remembered.”  If not, do you know what my prayer is? My prayer is that this day will be the day that you will be able to sing those words and taste every drop of every word.  The Lord wants you to be saved, and only Jesus can save you. The problem is sin. 

Rom 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
KJV

And there’s only one thing that can be done with sin, and that is to bring that sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us and make us pure and make us clean.  So, you need to pay attention to the message that God has for us in this story.

Click on the play button so that you can listen to what God has to say about how you can know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord.

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

Amen.

WHAT WAS ONCE HIDDEN, BECOMES KNOWN (Genesis 41:53 to 42:28)

WHAT WAS ONCE HIDDEN, BECOMES KNOWN (Genesis 41:53 to 42:28)

Have you ever had a sin that you buried in your past and never dealt with God about it?  No matter how hard you tried to forget it, did it just keep coming up from your subconscious mind to your conscious mind?  During the day when I have lots of other things to keep my mind focused on, I do okay, I can forget about them for a while.  But, whenever I get someplace away from all of the hustle and bustle of the day, like when I am in bed trying to go to sleep, that is when all those things that I have kept buried all day long come out as things I need to worry about.  

Now, as a believer, the devil will try to accuse you of sins that have already been forgiven.  He does it just to make you feel guilty.  Yet, the Bible tells us it is wrong to feel guilty about something you have already been forgiven for, and have had that sin cleansed by the blood of Jesus.  But there is a difference between the accusations of the devil and the convictions of the Holy Spirit of God.  

Conviction is the Holy Spirit saying, “This and this and this you have done,” and like a good doctor, He’ll put his finger right on the sore spot, and He will push.  He will call it by name and want you to confess it and be cleansed.  And once it is cleansed, it is so wonderful.  You will know the conviction of the Holy Spirit because He will be specific in His convictions of your heart.  

Did you know that if you are child of God and you sin, spiritually you’re going to feel dirty?  And if you don’t feel dirty when you sin, then you need to ask yourself if you’ve ever been saved.  If you have ever truly asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, and made Him you Lord and Savior.  No pig has ever said, “Woe is me, I’m dirty.”  For a pig has no concept of being dirty because that is his element.  The child of God realizes that he is dirty when he sins, because he knows what it is to be clean.  If you are a child of God, and you’ve sinned, then you have felt that.  I want to say this again, just so there is no mistake, if you can sin and don’t feel dirty and grimy, spiritually, you need to ask yourself: “Have I ever been saved? Do I really know the Lord”

Click on the play button below to hear a message on the consequences of sin in the life of a believer.

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

Amen.

GOD'S PLAN UNFOLDS (Genesis 41:1-53)

GOD’S PLAN UNFOLDS (Genesis 41:1-53)

I just love it when a good plan unfolds and it goes just like it was supposed to happen from the very beginning.  Now, that doesn’t happen very often for me, but it always happens when God plans something.

Last week, we left Joseph in prison, forgotten by his family, forgotten by Potiphar, and forgotten by the butler who had promised to tell Pharaoh about his plight.  Almost every person that Joseph had come to depend on had forgotten him.  But Joseph’s faith was not in man, it was in God.  While everyone else may have forgotten Joseph, God had not.  God had a plan and a purpose for Joseph’s life, and He was making it come true.  

This is the reason that God gives us the story of Joseph.  As believers, we know that God has promised to be with us every step of our lives.  Through hardships and trials, as well as the good times of our lives, God is with us.  Our strength does not come from men, or the world.  Our strength lives within us.  God has placed His Holy Spirit in our hearts to be our strength, and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that God gives us the power to endure any trial that is placed before us.  

Click on the play button to hear a tremendous message about the power of God’s working in the lives of those who love Him.  Joseph faced tremendous trials in his life, yet God was there with him each step of the way.  Yet this only happened because Joseph fully and completely surrendered his life to the will of God.  God would have handled it anyway without Joseph, but just look at the blessings that Joseph would have missed in his life if he had not been obedient to the call of God in his life.  

Just imagine the blessings that you have missed in your life, simply because you have not been obedient to the call of God in your life.  God used an obedient Joseph to perform great works in His name.  What works can God use you for, if you will be obedient?

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

Amen.

WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG (Genesis 39:20-23)

WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG (Genesis 39:20-23)

Have you ever had one of those days when everything goes wrong? Have you ever had one of those years when everything goes wrong? There are some years like that, when everything seems to go wrong. What do you do?

I’ve always been amazed at the advice that people give to other people. It sometimes seems like good advice. For example, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Tell that to a person who’s really hurting. Or here’s another one that will really bless your heart: “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” Now, doesn’t that just bless your soul? Can you see a guy dangling over a cliff, trying to tie a knot. It takes two hands to do that.  If you try that, then you will fall.  Or here’s one that’s really sweet: “Grin and bear it.”  Now, really, that’s what the world tells us to help us in our times of loss, to help us to understand why these bad times are happening. Or you’ll be really hurting. I mean, you’ll be in darkness and consternation. One of your friends will come along and put his arm around your shoulder and say, “Cheer up! It could get worse.” Well now, that’s a lot of comfort: “Could be worse.”  One person said in response, “Yeah, I cheered up, and it got worse.” He was right. 

Now that, really, is what the world does when the world cannot understand.  Listen, there are times when you, as a child of God, will find yourself in difficulty, and darkness, and consternation.

Click on the play button to hear a message on one of the greatest testimonies that we can share with the world is how we face tragedy and loss.  How we deal with events when it seems like everything is going wrong in our lives is the difference between a life of hope, and a life without hope.  It is that hope, based on the absolutely certain promises of God, in our lives that gives us the strength to face whatever it is that God allows in our lives.  

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

Amen.

THE FAITH OF JOSEPH (Genesis 39:1 to 40:23)

THE FAITH OF JOSEPH (Genesis 39:1 to 40:23) 

In today’s message we will discover that Joseph is a very different person than his brothers were.  The single biggest difference in Joseph’s life is that he is a man of faith.  Joseph distinguishes himself as something in the world, but different from the world.  When people see him, they notice something different about him, and they are drawn to him.  People are not drawn to failure, or to those who are walking around with despair hanging like a cloud above them.  To be an effective witness for God you have to have something that people want; they see your ability to handle trials in your life, your calmness in a storm, and your faith in the promises of God.  They see something that they do not have, they see something different in you.

Joseph had every reason to just give up in despair; to simply hide in a corner and weep.  Joseph was sold into slavery because of the hatred and animosity of his brothers.  And to be a slave in a foreign country is a life that is described as a slow death.  It was certainly a bleak prospect for a seventeen–year–old boy.  Joseph would have had to look hard to find anything to bring encouragement to his heart.  

There is no person in the Old Testament in whose life the purpose of God is more clearly seen than Joseph. The providence of God is manifest in every detail of his life.  The hand of God is upon him and the leading of the Lord is evident.

The question of why God allows trials in our lives, is one of the hardest lessons we face as believers, but it is also the thing that strengthens our faith in the power, and protection, of an almighty God that loves us and is gracious to us.  

Click on the play button below to hear a message on how each step of Joseph’s life prepared him for the role that God had for him.  If we are the children of God, in the will of God, then we can have the assurance of God, that nothing comes to us without His permission. 

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

Amen.