The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD

Today we are celebrating Easter Sunday.  This is a holiday that most of the western world has celebrated for centuries.  However, for most people the day is simply another holiday, it has no real meaning other than the Easter bunny, egg hunts, and candy for the kids.  

To some, it is a time to go to church for a religious ceremony of some type.  Many of us have memories of attending Easter services in crowded churches, with everyone dressed in new Easter, Sunday-go-to-meeting, clothes.  The women were dressed in hats and gloves, and the men in suits and ties.  The church was crowded with people attending for the one and only time all year that they came to church.  Yet, if you were to ask most of them why they came, why the day was important, many of them could not tell you.  

Why is Easter Sunday an important holiday to celebrate?  It is because on Easter, we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  If you are a believer, if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Master, then Easter should be every bit as important to you as the celebration of the birth of our Savior on Christmas.  

The resurrection of Jesus Christ means that we have A master to confess. It provides us with a living Jesus Christ sitting on the right hand of God the Father.  He is sitting because He has accomplished all that God has asked Him to do.  

It also means that we have A message to convey. The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides us with a message to tell others About Eternal life.  About Power over sin in our lives.  About The hand of the One who will bring us into the presence of God when we enter Heaven’s Gate.  Where we can stand clothed in the robe of righteousness purchased with His Holy blood.  Christ wields absolute authority and power in Heaven and on Earth.  Angels and Cherubim of heaven, and Principalities and rulers of this world’s darkness, wicked spirits, demons, and Satan himself are held in check by the power and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ.  No kingdom, empire, or nation exists outside of the Lord’s permissive will.  The message of the resurrection is that Jesus is on the throne, wielding all power and authority on earth as in heaven.  This is the message we are to convey.

It also means that we have A mandate to complete.  Jesus has commanded us to go out into the world and preach the gospel of His death, burial, and resurrection, baptizing them in the name of the Lord.  

Praise God that Jesus was willing to be obedient to God’s will, and Praise God that from the foundations of time, the triune God has had our salvation in mind.  God sent His Son that we might have everlasting life, and the power of God raised Him from the grave so that we might walk as a new creation in the newness of life.

Click on the link below to hear a message on why this Easter holiday is so important to us as believers.  Jesus Christ is alive, and we are going to be with Him for all of eternity.

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

Amen.

WHAT A MIGHTY GOD (Genesis 1_1)

WHAT A MIGHTY GOD (Genesis 1:1)

In today’s message, I want to spend time settling the question of who God is and does He exist.  For you see, if you believe in God, then all of the questions you have about the Creation are answered.  If you do not believe in God, then you will never have the answers to your questions about how this universe came in to being.

Have you ever thought about the fact that the Bible just presents God? There He is in the very first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning God.”  He is simply presented. The fact of God is never explained in the Bible. The existence of God is never argued in the Bible. The Bible does not try to teach against atheism. God is simply presented. Now God, therefore, must be accepted by faith. Sometimes a skeptic will come and say to you, “Prove there is a God.” Don’t try, because you can’t prove that God exists, for the finite can never prove the infinite.  But not to worry. After he says, “Prove that God exists,” you say simply with a smile on your face and much confidence in your heart, “I can’t. Now, sir, will you prove that God does not exist?” And he can’t do that either.

If a person does not believe in God, it is not that he cannot believe; it is that he will not believe. He chooses not to believe. All people are believers. Some believe there is a God; some believe there is no God. 

The Bible says that “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.” He’s presented. Now, in the beginning God did what? He created, and what mighty power is seen in His creation! Only God has creative power. 

Click on the play button to hear a message on why the almighty God created all things. He did it for His pleasure.  He did it for His praise, and He did for you. This is our mighty God. He loves you and He wants to save you and give you everlasting life. 

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

Amen.

THE MEANING OF LIGHT AND DAY (Genesis 1:1-5)

THE MEANING OF LIGHT AND DAY (Genesis 1:1-5)

Today’s message is on the meaning of the words “light” and “day” as they are used in the Bible’s account of creation.  Two very simple words, that we use all of the time, but so many people have a hard time understanding when it comes to what God says about the creation of all things.  

In the book of Genesis, God said “let there be light.”  The word “light” stands for and performs so many different functions and things in the Scriptures.  The concept of light is described throughout the Bible, and it is first used here in Genesis.  Light truly is a unique creation.  The Holy Spirit chose light as a metaphor for God throughout the Scripture.  Like God, light is mysterious but glorious.

Light by its nature, just like our Lord, is constant.  The speed and the nature of light never change.  The speed of the light that leaves our sun millions of miles away is traveling at the exact same speed as when it reaches us as we stand outside and let it fall on us to warm and comfort us.  The light of our Lord is the same.  It is the same today as it was on creation day, and as it will be when He comes for us to take us home.  Satan and his kingdom must bow before God and the majesty of His light.  When God’s light comes, Satan’s darkness must go.  

It also means that there is only one way to get rid of Satan’s darkness, and that is the light of the Word of God.  We have victory in Jesus because no force on the earth, or below the earth, can stand against the mighty majesty of His light.  When our lives are filled with sin, it is the light of the Word of God that will give you victory over that sin in your life.  In fact, it is the only light that will give you victory over Satan and sin.  You cannot live the Christian life without the power and light of the Holy Spirit in your heart.

Click on the play button at the top of the post to hear a message on the meaning of the words “light” and “day” as they are used in the creation story found in the first few verses of the Bible.

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

Amen.

OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST-PART III (Hebrews 7:7 to 8:2)

As Christ followers, we believe in the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer.  That just means that each believer is a priest with direct access to God.  We have no need of an earthly priest because we already have direct access to God.  This doctrine of the priesthood of the believer is clearly taught in the New Testament.

1 Peter 2:5
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
KJV

This position of “royal priesthood” for the believer is made possible by the completed work of salvation of Christ at Calvary.  Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection abolished the need of earthly priests and their sacrifices, for Christ became the sacrifice for all.  As believers, the Bible tells us that we have full, unfettered, access to God.  Yet, it is true that, like Job, we all have needs and we need someone to help us approach God.  Listen, if the idea of boldly approaching the very throne of The Almighty God, so that you can speak to Him, does not intimidate you, then I am not sure you fully understand who God really is.  Jesus Christ is that Mediator, that High Priest that brings God to us, and us to God.

There is a man in heaven, and His name is Jesus Christ. This is the place of His ministry. He is there at the right hand of the Father, co-equal, co-eternal with God the Father, and the place of His ministry is the place of His majesty, at the right hand of God forevermore.

Click on the link below to learn what a Savior we have! He is King. He is priest. He is the King of Righteousness. He is the Prince of Peace. And I’ll tell you, if you’ll make Him your King, you’ll know righteousness and you will know peace. I promise you on the authority of the Word of God that is true. And you will have a high priest, someone who will bring God to you, and someone who will intercede for you before the Father.

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

Amen.

OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST-PART II (Hebrew 5:5-6; 7:1-8)

OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST-PART II (Hebrews 5:5-6; 7:1-8)

Sometimes, people say that Protestant denominations like Baptists, or Methodists, or Presbyterians don’t believe in priests.  Oh, but we do! We have a great high priest, and His name is Jesus.

Now, God wants us to learn, and so God gives us His Word, the Bible. The Bible is a great book in many ways, and it has many figures, pictures, and illustrations to help us learn about God.  One such illustration of Jesus as our high priest is a man named Melchizedek, and he has a lot to do with you.  He is a shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament that pictured and prophesied our Savior in the New Testament and for ever and ever.  I say, he pictures Jesus, however, he may indeed have been Jesus. Some expositors believe that Melchizedek was just another name for a pre-incarnate appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ when Jesus came to earth and appeared for a little while and then went back to heaven before His birth at Bethlehem. Now, whether or not Melchizedek was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus, or whether he was just an incredible, wonderful illustration and picture of the Lord Jesus, the truth is there that when we learn about Melchizedek, we’re going to learn about our High Priest, Jesus Christ.

Now, you may feel that you don’t need a high priest, but you do. A high priest is a mediator. You see, a priest is someone who can bring God to you and someone who can go to God for you. Now isn’t that what you need? Don’t you need somebody who will bring God, and make Him real to you, and mediate Him to you? And don’t you need somebody who can plead your case for you? Well, that is a priest. That is our great high priest, the Lord Jesus.

Click on the link to hear a message on how we protestants find out that we do have a priest, and He is so much better than any earthly priest.  Better than Aaron, and better than any other local priest at a church.

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

Amen.

THE MARVELOUS TRUTH OF HIS COMING (Hebrews 2:9-18)

We have been talking about the purpose and the reasons behind Jesus coming to earth as a Man. Why He would care so much about us that He would even do such a thing, and the wonderful blessings that His coming means for us now and throughout eternity.  Just think, if you choose Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you will spend eternity with the Son of the Living God, the Almighty Creator of all things, in a place in Heaven that He has especially prepared for you. 

So, why would Jesus do this?  Because Christ alone could redeem man, and He could do it only by dying on the Cross.  It was the only way.  Jesus was and is man.  Jesus was and is God, Jehovah, and the second person of the Godhead.  Jesus stood as the Perfect and Ideal Man before God.  This meant that as the Ideal and Perfect Man, whatever Christ did would stand for, and apply to man, or in other words, it would cover for man. 

•When Christ died, His death would free man from ever having to die in judgment for our sins.
•When He arose, His resurrection would assure man that he, too, would arise and live eternally.
•When He was exalted into Heaven, His exaltation would make it possible for man to be exalted into heaven and to rule and reign over the universe with Christ.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how Christ made it possible for man to be restored to his destined glory and dominion.  Christ has made it possible for man to live eternally with God, and to fulfill his purpose for God.

Amen.

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

WHAT IS MAN THAT GOD WOULD CARE? (Hebrews 2:5-9)

The only way we can truly understand what man is, is to understand what the Bible says about man.  It is from the Word of God that we learn the truth of how God views man.  How God answers the question, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou [didst visit] him?”  From a biblical perspective, the key question that we need to consider is why do all the worlds of space exist?  What is their purpose?  Has God any pleasure in dead matter? Is He not the God of the living? Can inanimate matter praise Him, the Lord of all life?  No, they cannot, and so there is man.  

When God made man, God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living, eternal, soul.  It is your soul that makes you of infinite worth.  Your soul will be in existence when the sun, and the moon, and the stars have turned to cinders. Your soul will go on endless, timeless, dateless, measureless, for God breathed into you the breath of life.  Man was created in the image of God, and you could no more cease to exist than God Himself could cease to exist.  

God is mindful of you. He sees you now—He’s looking at you right now. He desires you; He loves you. God doesn’t love us because we are valuable; we are valuable because He loves us. The dignity of man is that God is mindful of man, that God desires man.

Click on the link below to hear a message on why God loves you so much that He would send His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross to pay the penalty of your sin. 

Amen.

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

OUR SUPERLATIVE SAVIOR - PART II (Hebrews 1:4-12)

Heb 1:8
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
KJV

I want you to notice something very important here, God the Father calls God the Son, God. Now, the eternal claim of Jesus is that He is God. Jesus is forevermore God. A billion, billion years from now, He still will be God. Look at this verse: “Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever and ever and ever.”  Jesus will still be King forever more.  

A basic truth of our created universe is that things change.  All created things change.  This universe is going to wear itself out. This universe is going to run down, the second law of thermodynamics tells us that it’s on its way down. It is burning out.  Another basic truth is that anything that moves makes friction, and anything that makes friction wears, and anything that wears, disintegrates. And that’s the reason that this universe that is moving and pulsating is wearing down, it is wearing down like a garment that wears out. It’s going to wear out. But Jesus is from everlasting to everlasting. A billion years from now Jesus is the same from age to age;

Click on the link below to hear a message on Jesus Christ, our Superlative Savior.

Amen.

 

OUR SUPERLATIVE SAVIOR-PART I (Hebrews 1:1-3)

“You may learn to love Jesus better, but you can never love anything better than Jesus.  He is our superlative Savior.”  

H. G. Wells, wrote in his outlines of history the 10 greatest men of all history, and number one on his list was Jesus Christ.  But, the truth is, that Jesus Christ does not belong on anybody’s list.  Why? Because, He is God’s unique, only begotten Son. He is our singular Savior. He is our superior Savior. He is our superlative Savior.

Jesus is unique in comparison to all of the other religious leaders. Buddha was a religious leader. Mohammed was a religious leader. Confucius was a religious leader. But let me tell you what all of these have in common. You can take them out of their teachings and still have their teachings. You can take Buddha out of Buddhism and still have Buddhism. You can take Mohammed out of Islam and still have Islam. You can take Confucius out of Confucianism and still have that system of thought. You just follow the deeds, the teachings, the precepts, the creeds of those particular faiths, and you have it. 

But you can’t take Christ out of Christianity and still have Christianity, because Christianity is not a code, not a cause, not a creed, not a church, but Christ. It is a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you tried to take Jesus out of Christianity, that would be like taking the notes out of music. That would be like taking the water out of a well. That would be like taking numbers out of mathematics. If you take Jesus out of Christianity, you don’t have anything left, because Christ and Christianity are the same.

Christianity is not just believing some thing; it is receiving someone. And this is the difference between Christianity and any other religion: Christianity is a vital relationship with a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. He is alive and well and living in me today.  If we are to be Christ followers, born again believers in Jesus Christ, then we need to understand that Jesus Christ is our singular Savior, and therefore He is our superlative Savior.

Click on the link below to hear a message on Jesus Christ, our Superlative Savior.

Amen.

 

A MIRACULOUS BIRTH (Luke 1:30; 2:8-14)

Now, I’m aware that the world laughs at the idea of a virgin birth. They think of it as some sort of primitive, medieval superstition or something. They laugh, they mock, at the idea of the virgin birth. I can tell you furthermore, the devil hates the idea of the virgin birth, because it teaches both the humanity and the deity of his nemesis, and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But worse than the mockery of this world, and worse than the hatred of Satan, is the ignorance of many so-called Christians concerning the virgin birth. Many of them doubt it. Some don’t believe it at all. And others think that it is incidental. 

One of the most frequent challenges about the virgin birth of Christ is that Jesus Christ is not the Son of God.  They will state, “You say that Jesus Christ is the Son of God because He was born of a virgin, and that He didn’t have an earthly father.  Well, Adam didn’t have a father or a mother. Wouldn’t that make Adam more a Son of God than Jesus?”  The answer to that question is found at the very root of our knowledge about who Jesus Christ is.  The answer that the Word of God gives us is that Jesus was not the Son of God because He was born of a virgin.  Instead, He was born of a virgin because He was the Son of God.  

What the other faiths do not understand is that Jesus did not have His start in Bethlehem. Jesus Christ has been the Son of God from before the foundations of time.  In other words, He was the Son of God before Bethlehem, and He chose to step out of the glory to become God incarnate in man, and He did so by being born of a virgin.

Click on the podcast below to hear a message on why the virgin birth is so important to our faith.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of a virgin that we might be born again. He came to earth that we might go to heaven. He became the Son of man that we might become the sons and daughters of God. That’s what it’s all about. That is why we have the virgin birth.

Amen.