The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

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.

THE PROBLEM OF IMMORALITY-PART II (Proverbs 7:16-27)

I believe that God wants us to understand this problem because of the devastating impact the sins of immorality will have on our lives.  God loves us, and He wants what is best for us, and so in His Word He warns us about the dangers of immorality.  He then commands us to not commit those sins.  Then, He follows that up with the story of the flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah, where He shows us the consequences of His judgment on those who ignore His warnings, ignore His commandments, and choose to commit the sins of immorality.  

Now, the wonderful thing about God is that He doesn’t just command us not to do something without providing us the wisdom that we need to avoid committing those sins.  God tells us in His Word,

Prov 7:1-2
1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
KJV

Our news media never tires of exposing the scandals of mighty men.  The headlines tell of the fall of religious leaders, politicians, and celebrities, and it doesn’t matter if happened yesterday or 20 years ago.  We also see that most people have a double standard. They expect a much higher moral profile in those they elect to public office than they expect from themselves, and woe betide the person who lets them down. Many a promising career has suddenly been shipwrecked because of a past immorality. 

This warning may sound overly dramatic, especially in the times that we live in today, with its acceptance of all things evil as good.  But, this is God’s warning, and it is a warning that is to be taken literally.  God will judge those who commit the sin of immorality. 

There is also a spiritual application in these words for us.  So far, we have been talking about committing physical adultery and immorality.  However, the Scriptures also have a great deal to say about spiritual adultery.  That is what God called it when His people left Him and went after idols.  They departed from the living and true God. They were to be joined to Him, but they had separated from Him. They were actually playing the harlot; they were being unfaithful and untrue to Him. That is spiritual adultery.

Today we have many cults and “isms” and all types of false religions around us.  For example, someone will say that “You don’t need to follow Christ any longer as you are following Him.  There are many ways to heaven.  What you need to do is join our group and do what we do, act as we act, and worship who we worship, and you can earn your way to salvation.”

Yet, the Bible is clear that we are saved by the grace of God alone.  

Eph 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
KJV

Paul is telling us that “Faith plus nothing equals salvation.” We are to be absolutely, utterly cast upon Jesus Christ as our Savior. Yet, many people cannot accept a salvation that they did not earn.  

God’s answer to this is that the believer is joined to Christ. A person who has been saved by grace, and grace alone, is joined to Christ.  Then, once saved, Christ has said that we are to keep His commandments if we love Him, and His commandments are not grievous. We are to love one another. We are to be filled with the spirit of God. We are to witness to the world. Those are His commandments today. We are joined to a living Christ; we live on a higher plane. The fruit of the Spirit should be evident in our hearts and lives.

Today there are isms and cults all dressed up like a woman of the street.  They are flattering and they are calling men and women. Yet, God tells us that to follow them is like an ox going to slaughter. It is like a fool going to the correction of the stocks.  God is reminding us that we cannot settle for anything less than the person of Jesus Christ!

Amen.

THE PROBLEM OF IMMORALITY (Proverbs 7:1-15)

Here are a couple of questions for you.  What type of sin caused God to destroy the world with the flood?  Immorality.  What type of sin caused God to bring fire from heaven to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah?  Immorality.  So, some of the most dramatic and seriously devastating judgements from God have been caused when man allowed immorality to consume their lives.

Gen 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 

When we think of the sin of immorality, we often think of the sins of pornography, adultery, fornication, or any sexual act that takes place outside of the bonds of Holy Matrimony as it is defined by God.  However, immorality is more than just sexual sins, it includes those sins, but it also includes sins that violate the moral standards established by God as right and wrong.  Words like evil, wickedness, promiscuity, sexual deviation, are all associated with the sin of immorality.  But make no mistake about it, sexual sins are the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about immorality as it is discussed in the Bible.  

The fact that God has reserved some of His most severe judgments upon man because of the sins of immorality should tell us a great deal about how God feels about the sins of immorality.  I believe it is important to God because of the devastating impact the sins of immorality will have on our lives.  God loves us, and He wants what is best for us, and so in His Word He warns us about the dangers of immorality.  He then commands us to not commit those sins.  Then, through the story of the flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah, He shows us the consequences of His judgment on those who ignore His warnings, ignore His commandments, and choose to commit the sins of immorality.  

God is speaking to His children, to you and I as believers, and the overriding message that He repeats over, and over, and over again is to keep His commandments and to bind them in our hearts.  God’s wisdom is found in His commandments, and the solution to every problem that we have in our lives can be found right here in God’s Word.  All we have to do is follow them and bind them in our hearts.  Amen?

Click on the link below if you want to hear a message on how to stop immorality in your life.  There is only one way, you have to deal with it in your heart using God’s Word.  Although the irresistible logic of God’s Word may be clearly understood and accepted in the head, the irrepressible love of God’s Word in the heart is what holds tight the fortress walls of the soul against the full force of the foe. 

Amen.

WHAT IS THE COST OF INFIDELITY? (1 Cor. 6:16-20)

In today's lesson we are going to talk about what occurs when either a believer, or a lost person, chooses to have a sexual relationship with another person outside of the bounds of marriage. How many people do you think are involved when two unmarried people begin a sexual relationship? How many people are involved when one, or both, of the partners are married to someone else?In this verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 6:16-20, Paul is going to answer these questions in our lesson today, and he is going to do it by showing us the cost of our infidelity to God and to our spouses.

WHAT IS GOD'S PURPOSE FOR OUR BODY? (1 Corinthians 6:9-15)

Have you ever asked yourself what God's purpose was in giving us a body?  Why did He not just leave us as spiritual beings? Why did He make us unique in all of creation by giving us three parts: body, soul, and spirit? Could it be that from the very foundations of the universe God has had a particular purpose in mind for us? The answer is yes, God does have a purpose for us and our bodies.  Not only in this life, right now, but for all of eternity.  This is the lesson that Paul wants the Corinthians to understand, that they are tools that God intends to use to serve His purposes, and for them to fulfill that purpose they must keep their bodies pure. This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 6:9-15.