The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

HOW TO MEND A BROKEN FAITH-PART II (Gensis 12:1 to 13:4)

I want you to imagine yourself being in the Biblical school of faith, and that’s a wonderful school, and if the truth were told, many of us have been in that school for a very long time.  The fact is that we often have to go back for some remedial training.  There are also times when God has decided to hold us back for a grade or two.  In fact, I am not too sure that I will ever officially graduate from the school of faith.  Amen?

Now, why is that?  It is because sometimes we don’t make very good grades. And I want to talk to you today about “How to Mend a Broken Faith,” because there are just times that we don’t do all that good in God’s school of faith.  Yet, this faith is so important for us to have in order to be successful in living the victorious Christian life.  

Ask yourself, did you once walk with God, but now you wonder why you’re even in church on Sunday morning because you’re so far away from God? Do you remember how it was when God was real to you? 

Ask yourself another question.  Was there ever a time where God was nearer, dearer, and sweeter, to you than He is right now? If so, you’re backslidden. Just remember what it was like, how sweet it was, when you walked with the Lord. Let God bring you back to His house. You say, “Bro. Keith, how can I get right with God? Where can I find God?” You’ll find him right where you left Him.  You don’t have to guess at it. You get on your knees, on your face, and God will show you. Go back to your first love.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to mend your broken faith.  First, there must be repentance, then remembrance, and then restoration.  If you want to mend your faith, just gave it all back to Jesus, and the Lord will cleanse you and restore your faith.

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

Amen.

HOW TO MEND A BROKEN FAITH-PART I (Genesis 12:1-10)

One of the great reoccurring lessons in the Bible is the need for the Christian believer to have faith.  Not a hope-so faith, but a know-so faith based on the promises found in God’s Word.  This know-so faith is absolutely required for the believer to live a victorious Christian life.  

Abraham is called “the father of all them that believe” (Romans 4:11).  When we think of Abraham, we think of faith, and we can learn some incredible lessons about faith as we study how he struggled to become this great man of faith. And, by the way, when I’m talking to you about faith, I’m not talking to you about something insignificant like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I’m talking to you about something that is so important that I can hardly think of an adjective to describe the importance of faith. It is of monumental, inestimable, importance.

Once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, how are you going to live the Christian life? By trying? No. By trusting. The Christian life is lived by faith. Four times, the Bible says, “The just shall live by faith.”  God says it one, two, three, four times.  Now, do you think He’s trying to tell us something really important? I’m telling you, the way to live the Christian life is by faith.

Click on the link below to hear a message about the school of faith, and that’s a wonderful school, but sometimes we don’t make very good grades. And I want to talk to you about “How to Mend a Broken Faith,” because there are just times that we don’t do all that good in God’s school of faith.  Now, life is the classroom in the school of faith. Obviously, the Bible is the textbook in the school of faith. The faculty includes the prophets and the apostles. But the dean of the school of faith would have to be Abraham.  

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

Amen.

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM (Genesis11:10 to 12:8)

Chapters 11 and 12 of the Book of Genesis mark an important turning point in the Scriptures.  Up to this point, the story has been that of the whole Adamic race.  There has been neither Jew nor Gentile.  All have been one in “the first Adam.”  

From this point forward in the Scriptures, the human race must be seen as a great river from which God, in the call of Abraham, and the creation of the nation of Israel, draws off a small stream through which He may at last purify the great river itself.  Israel is the tool through which God chose to bring a Savior to the world.  It is important for us to note that neither Abraham, nor Israel, were perfect, they didn’t do anything special to deserve this.  In fact, as we will see today, Abraham was far from perfect.  But, when God spoke to him, Abraham responded, and that is exactly what God was looking for.  It was by grace that God chose Abraham, and the nation Israel, to bring revelation and salvation to the world.  It was through the faith of Abraham that the nation Israel would be called.

Click on the play button to hear a message on how our obedience to God comes after we have stopped telling God what we want to do, and listen to what He wants us to do.  Let me illustrate that with a question, how much of your prayer time do you spend telling God what you want, rather than being quiet and listening to what He wants to tell you?  That is a measure of how much you harken/obey God, for you cannot obey God until you know what He wants you to do.  Abraham was obedient to God because he listened, and then transformed what he heard into action.

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

Amen.

THE FLOOD-PART II (Genesis 7:2 to 9:17)

As part of the story of The Flood, the Scripture tells us about the patience and long-suffering of God.  It says that once Noah and all the animals were in the ark, God waited for a full week, and nothing happened.  No doubt the crowds outside the ark were having a great time making fun of the whole thing.  Their hearts were already hardened.  Even after years of having God’s prophets warning man of the coming doom, God showed man a final measure of grace by waiting a full week before the flood began.  

This means that for a full seven days they still had the opportunity to accept God’s offer of salvation, yet they abused His long-suffering, His patience, and His kindness for the last time.  That extra week of grace was offered to bring them to repentance, and instead they condemned Noah and His God.  Without a doubt, the people of the time of Noah had “treasurest up unto” themselves “wrath against the day of wrath” and were ready for the “revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

Click on the play button to hear a message on how God’s final judgment was delivered on a world that had turned away from the Almighty God of all creation.

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

Amen.

THE FLOOD (Genesis 6:17 to 8:5)

God could have destroyed all mankind by any method He chose, He could have used the sword of an angel, as He did when He destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians, and the camp of the Assyrians.  If God had chosen that as His method, then there would only have needed to be a mark set upon Noah and his family for their preservation. 

But God chose to do it by a flood of waters, which would drown the whole world.  God chooses the rod with which he will correct us, His children, just as he chooses the sword with which he will cut off his enemies.  Notice also that this was not an accident, or the result of global warming, God is in control, He chose the method of judgment.  

Then, notice the expression, “I, even I, do bring a flood.” God is saying, “I am infinite in power, and therefore, I can do it.  I am infinite in justice, and therefore, I will do it.”  These are powerful words that speak of the deity of God and the sovereign right He has to condemn and judge all of creation.  God created man, therefore, He has the sovereign right to destroy man.

Yet “the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou.”  God was already in the ark.  Salvation was simply the shutting in of all the saved with Him.  What it meant for Noah to be “in the ark” with God is what it means today for the believer to be “in Christ.”  It means that between the saved and the storm were the judgment proof timbers of the ark.  It also means that between the believer and God’s wrath is Christ.  Christ bears the storm for all those who now find their safety in Him.

Noah and his family had to take one step of faith.  They had to make a total commitment of themselves to the salvation that had been procured for them at the cost of God’s only Son’s life.  Apart from that act, salvation would have been offered in vain.  

This invitation is extended by God to man.  It is extended to everybody, not just a select few.  It urges man to avail himself of the perfect provision God has made for his preservation.  The story of the flood tells us that this invitation of God is also given in a time of overwhelming judgment and doom.

Click on the play button to hear a message on the Flood, and where God said Come! And Noah responded by saying “Just as I am, I come.”  

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

Amen.

NOAH’S ARK (Genesis 6_12 to 7:1)

Today, we are going to be talking about Noah’s ark, which is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the gospel message of salvation. Now, don’t think for any moment that the story of Noah’s ark is a fable or a legend.  No, it is a true story. If you are a student of history, you will find out that all of the great civilizations have a flood story. Of course, the one in the Bible, given by divine inspiration, is the true story and the accurate record. But the fact that all civilizations have a flood story tells us that this roots back to fact. But, the truth is that we don’t need what any other civilization has to say, if we have the Bible.

The ark, just as our baptism, is a type of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This ark, here in the Old Testament, pictures and portrays the Lord Jesus Christ, because it is a reminder that all of the Bible is about Jesus, all of it, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus is the hero of the Bible.

Click on the play button above to hear a message on how Noah’s ark tells the gospel message of salvation.  It tells us that we are saved by grace, through faith, unto good works.

By grace. It wasn’t in the goodness of Noah, but in the grace of God. Salvation is not in the merit of man, but the mercy of God.  Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty.

Through faith. It is not faith that saves us; it is grace that saves us.  It is faith that brings us in contact with that grace. By grace, through faith. Noah was saved because he committed himself to that ark.

Unto good works. We work not for salvation, but from salvation. It is by, through, and unto—unto good works. And indeed, Noah served the Lord. He did all of these things, but not in order to be saved, but because he was saved.

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

Amen.

THE FAITH OF NOAH (Genesis 5:25 to 6:10)

In our message today, we begin a section of verses that describes The Flood and the reasons that God brought destruction to His creation.  From the time that God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden, God had blessed man, and man had been fruitful and multiplied.  In a relatively short period of time man had populated the whole earth.  Yet, instead of recognizing the God that created him, man had turned away from God, and reveled in his own abilities and knowledge.  And as happens every time man turns away from God, man had degenerated into total depravity.

What was the condition on the earth before the Flood? What caused God to bring the judgment of the Flood?  

Genesis 6:5
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
KJV

But as we see throughout the Bible, there was a remnant, someone left who still believed in God.  Noah “found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”  The Bible tells us that grace is the unmerited favor of God; it is getting something we do not deserve.  Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  But it goes beyond that, why did Noah find grace in the eyes of the Lord?  It is because “Noah walked with God.”  It wasn’t because he deserved it; it wasn’t because his good works outweighed his bad; it was because Noah walked with God.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the faith of Noah, and man who preached righteousness for a period of 120 years without a convert, other than his family, and witnessed to the grace of God.  

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

Amen.

THE LINE OF SETH (Genesis 4:25 to 5:32)

The descendants of Seth are described in the Bible as the godly line.  And as the world of the ungodly began to take shape right from the beginning, so did the world of the godly.  God never leaves Himself without a witness, so from generation to generation, step-by-step with the generations of the wicked, the generations of the faithful to God flowed through the days before the flood. 

As we study this line of Seth, there are only two things recorded, neither of which are recorded of the line of Cain.  The first is that they lived.  It is stated twice for most of them.  The reason God doesn’t say that the Cainites lived is because, to God, they were “dead in trespasses and sin.”  Yet for the line of Seth, the Scripture tells us that they lived, and Jesus tells us that they had life abundantly.

John 10:10
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
KJV

The second thing that is recorded of the Sethites is that they died.  Once again, God did not record the death of the Cainites for heaven had no interest in their deaths.  But for the Sethites, it is recorded that each one died and how old they were when they died.  All that is except for Enoch, which is another story.  

God said to Adam in Gen 2:17, “… For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” and they all died who were the sons of Adam. But, on the other hand, it was a day of jubilee.  As each man dies, God proves Satan a liar, for Satan had said “thou shalt not surely die.”  Yet each man died.  God took note of each death and recorded it.  The death of each saint was a jubilee day in heaven.

Psalms 116:15
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
KJV

Death for them was not the end, but the beginning.  

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

Amen.

A LIFE WITHOUT FEAR (Hebrews 13:5-6)

A LIFE WITHOUT FEAR (Hebrews 13:5-6)

When the old mapmakers were drawing ancient maps, they did not know what we know today. They didn’t have global positioning satellites. They could not see the world from outer space, and they would make maps of what they knew. But there was much that they did not know, and when they would come to the edge of their knowledge, they would often write something like this: “Beyond this, there may be dragons.” And, if you will look at some of the old maps, you will see the sea monster in the ocean right alongside those words.  This is because man has an innate fear of the future, and of the unknown.  The fear of the future is a foe that we all face.  Whether we are young or old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, we wonder about what is going to happen. Fear has no racial bias. It’s endemic to all people.  

There is a fear of where our country is heading.  There is a fear of the persecution of Christians that is occurring as our country, and world, move further and further away from the Biblical values of God, and God Himself.  There is fear of the violence that is occurring all around us.  There is a fear of financial loss and the inability to pay the bills that are sitting on your table at home.  There is a fear of disease and failing health in a world filled with cancer and pandemics.  These are just a few of the things that we face in an uncertain future, and yet, God wants us to have a future without fear. As a matter of fact, God has not only admonished us, but God has commanded us, not to fear.

Click on the play button to hear a message that will teach you how to live a life free of fear.  

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

Amen.

CHASTENED BY A LOVING GOD (Hebrews 12:5-15)

Sometimes we are chastened by God. The word chastening is a Bible word that means child discipline. God loves you enough to discipline you. Now, you may not appreciate it now, but according to the Scripture, the time will come when you will bless the Lord that He loved you enough to chastise you.

God’s chastisement comes when we disobey the Lord, and as a result, we get into trouble because of our disobedience.  Many times, when this chastisement comes, we fail to remember the exhortation that God has given us in both the Old and the New Testament, which says, “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.”

Did you know that God is more interested in you being holy than He is you being healthy? Did you know that God is more interested in you being holy than He is you being happy? God is more interested in you being holy than He is you being wealthy. 

God’s plan for you, primarily, is not even to take you to heaven.  Now, I’m going to heaven, but that’s a fringe benefit. God’s plan is for you to be holy. Do you have a desire to be holy? If not, He may carry you to the woodshed and develop that desire in you, and that will be for your profit.

Click on the play button above to hear a message on how a loving God chastises those who are His.

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

Amen.