The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE MARKS OF A MAN MADE NEW (Acts 9:17-22)

THE MARKS OF A MAN MADE NEW (Acts 9:17-22)

When we make Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, we become a new creation.  We are made new.  A great preacher once said, “Nature forms us. Sin deforms us. School informs us. Prison reforms us. But, only Christ transforms us.” 

In Christ, we become new. A Christian is not just somebody who has become nice; he has become new. He doesn’t just turn over a new leaf; he receives a new life. A Christian is not like a tadpole that has become a frog, which has gone through a series of changes, but basically, it is the same creature. No, a Christian is more like a frog that has received the kiss of grace and has become a prince.  That is what we are. We are changed radically and dramatically.  We are a new creature.

When Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus on that road to Damascus, Saul asked the two greatest questions that anybody in this world could ever ask: “Who art thou, Lord?” and “Lord, what [would you] have me to do?”  Somebody has said that the Apostle Paul spent the rest of his life finding the answer to those two questions: “Who art thou, Lord?” and “Lord, what [would you] have me to do?”  They truly are wonderful questions! I would to God that everyone in the whole wide world would sincerely ask those questions: Who is Jesus, and what does Jesus want me to do?  

As you study the Bible, you will see that the Bible doesn’t put the emphasis upon receiving Christ as Savior.  The Bible puts the emphasis upon making Jesus Lord. And, when you make Jesus Christ Lord, He is, therefore, your Savior. Now, I’m not saying that He doesn’t save.  Indeed, He does save.  But, while the Bible mentions Him as Savior 24 times, it mentions Him as Lord 433 times. When they spoke of the Lord Jesus, they called Him “the Lord Jesus.” Nobody is saved, who has not made Jesus Lord.  Listen, you cannot have what He gives—salvation—unless you receive what He is—and that is Lord.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the marks of a man made new in Christ.

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

Amen.

SAUL'S COMMISSION (Acts 9:9-31)

SAUL’S COMMISSION (Acts 9:9-31)

As I prepared the lesson this week, I began to consider how it described the tremendous life changing effect that accepting Jesus as your Savior can have.  Statistics tell us that the vast majority of conversions take place when a person is young.  In fact, the older a person gets, the less likely they are to accept the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  This is why is it is so important that our children are taught the Word of God from an early age.  For an adult, accepting Christ may mean changing your friends, changing the way you spend your entertainment time, and changing what you watch on TV and social media.  It can mean being ridiculed by, or even ostracized from, your family.  

All of your preconceived notions about God that have been engrained in your mind from our public education system and the media, about the absolute moral truths that are found in the Bible, your ideas about the Bible itself, and about who Jesus is, and what He did for you, are suddenly changed.  For many new believers, there is a period of loneliness as they move away from old relationships and search for new ones.  

In today’s lesson we will see Saul go through this change, and then we will see Barnabas as he befriends the new Saul when no one else would, and then we will see the power of the Holy Spirit create a tremendous new warrior for Christ in Saul.  If nothing else, this lesson should challenge each of us to be open to welcoming new believers, mentoring them, and letting them know that they have a brand new family to be a part of.  

Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, was a chosen vessel, as we all are.  No two believers are alike.  We all have been prepared by God to do His will in this world.  Saul was the vessel chosen to carry the saving name of Jesus before the Gentiles, kings, and Israel, in that order.  He was to be more than anything else, an apostle to the Gentiles.  His training and his background prepared him in ways that not even Peter could match.  Nobody else within the new church had Paul’s intellect, and training, and God would use these tools to the good of His will.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on how Saul of Tarsus, the greatest enemy of the body of Christ, became the apostle Paul, the greatest missionary of the Gentile world.  

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

Amen.