The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

WHICH CHOICE HAVE YOU MADE? (Acts 13:40 to 14:6)

The Bible teaches that every person must make a choice about Jesus Christ.  It is the most important decision that you will make in your entire life.  Will you accept the offer of salvation provided by Jesus, will you choose eternal life, or not?  The alternative is to reject Christ and perish in your sin.  

For such an important question, the natural response is to try find the absolute truths about sin and eternal life.  Yet, if you turn away from Jesus, where will you turn?  Where can you go for truth if not to Jesus?

One of the places people turn to is the emptiness of atheism.  When someone turns to atheism, they choose to believe that in the beginning, the heavens and the earth created themselves, and then created man.  Now, this just doesn’t make sense at all, and anyone who tells you it does, is just not being intelligent.  

Another place people turn to is the buttery cloud of philosophy.  Do you remember your philosophy classes in school?  Did it seem like they provided answers, real truths about life or eternity, or did they just raise more questions than answers?

The next place that people turn to is the futility of materialism.  Do you think you can find absolute truths in the riches of the world?  The sad truth is that materialism can never satisfy the deepest longing of your heart.  God made you for Himself, and even if you have material things, you will still find your heart and life empty without Him.  

The next place people look for truth is the dead end of false religions.  Many turn away from Christ to another religion.  But remember what Peter said to Jesus: “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”  You can go to another religion, but it is Christ alone that has the words of eternal life.  

So, who can you turn to for the words of truth and eternal life?  Nowhere, but Jesus.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the choice about Jesus Christ that every person must make.  

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

Amen.

ISRAELS MOMENT (Acts 13:30-43)

In today’s lesson, the Apostle Paul will present the nation Israel with a choice, a moment, when they must choose or reject the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  Paul is telling the Jews what the resurrection of Jesus meant to them.  It was an opportunity for salvation.  

This is the good news of the gospel message of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  The best news this world has ever heard came from a graveyard just outside Jerusalem: “He is not here … he is risen” (Matthew 28:6).

The gospel is good news. The bad news is that we are sinners.  Sinners by birth, sinners by nature, sinners by choice, sinners by practice, and sinners under condemnation. All of us, without the Lord Jesus Christ, are in debt to God, defiled by sin, and sin has dominion over us.  That is the bad news about sin.

So, what is the good news that obliterates the bad news?  The Good news is that Jesus died for our sins. Jesus died because of our sins, and for our sins. It was our sins that were the nails that held Him to the cross. Our hard hearts were the hammers that drove those nails into His quivering palms and feet. He died for our sin.

When Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), that literally means “it is paid in full.” Jesus paid it all. The sin debt is blotted out by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus also deals with the defilement of sin. It is not enough to be pardoned from our sins, for there is still that defilement, that sentence of death in our body.  Jesus, by His sacrifice, not only pays our sin debt, but Jesus also deals with our sin defilement.  And then, by His resurrection, Jesus conquers death, and sin no longer has dominion over us, and we will have eternal life with Jesus in Heaven.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you will believe it, and receive it, then you will be saved. There is no other way that you can be saved apart from the gospel.  

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

Amen.

THE DEVIL'S RELIGION (Acts 8:5-25)

THE DEVIL’S RELIGION (Acts 8:5-25)

In today’s lesson, we will be talking about false religion.  The title of the lesson is The Devil’s Religion” for the simple reason that all false religion comes from the Devil.  

I want you to recall that the general heading of our study of the book of Acts is “That Old-Time Religion.” For that is exactly what we are learning about, that Old-Time Religion that so many of our parents, and grandparents, and great grandparents worshipped in.  However, in many churches, that Old-Time Religion has not been carried forward into the worship services of today.  Today, progressivism and social ethics have infected many of our churches and denominations.  

So, what do I mean when I use the term “Old-Time Religion?”  I mean a religion that is based on the inerrant and infallible Word of God.  Where the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, and the bodily, physical, resurrection of our Lord, and what it means to us, is preached regularly.  That Jesus is the Son of God, and that salvation can only by obtained through Jesus Christ, and your sins are forgiven because God sent His only begotten Son to die on a cross so that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  That your sins are redeemed by the washing of the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  That salvation is given by grace and grace alone, not by works.  Now, I could go on, but that is the general idea of what I mean when I talk about that Old-Time Religion that so many churches have pushed to the wayside in favor of the Devil’s religion, which is based on selective parts of the Bible, ignoring the parts they don’t like, and being deceitful about the parts they do like.  You see, if you don’t teach the whole Word of God, then what you teach is a false religion, or the Devil’s Religion.  

Click on the link below to hear a message where we ask the question, Do you know God? I’m not asking you, are you a member of this church or any other church. I’m not asking you how religious or upstanding you are. Simon the sorcerer was religious, and he was in bondage, and in bitterness. He didn’t know Jesus.

If you want to live a victorious Christian life, then beware of the devil’s religion, and come find the truth of God’s Word and promises found in that Old-Time Religion, that Bible religion.

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

Amen.

DISCERNING BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN (Acts 5:12-42)

DISCERNING BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN (Acts 5:12-42)

Today’s lesson is about choices. The choice of following God, or of following Satan.  Now, you would probably say, “Well Keith, of course I will always make the choice of following God.”  But in reality, is it always that clear cut and that easy to determine which church we ought to attend, and which pastor is truly preaching God’s Word, or which gospel ministry we should support with our money?  

To recognize the works and will of God requires three things:

The first is that you must have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master.  You cannot find God’s will until you do that first.

Second, you must know God’s Word.  To discern truth from evil, requires that you have constantly studied and applied God’s Word to your life.  This is important because God will never ask you to do something that is against His revealed Word.  

And then third, you must have fully surrendered your life to God.  God does not speak to a Christ follower that is in rebellion to Him in any part of his life.  Why should He tell you more, if you don’t obey Him with the things that you already know are His will?  

To hear the Holy Spirit speak and guide you to the things of God, requires that you be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.  If the Holy Spirit is locked away in some deep, dark, closet that you only let out on Sunday, then you will not be able to discern the works and will of God, from those of Satan.

Satan is walking among us like a roaring lion, looking for those that he might devour.  Satan’s greatest tool is deception and in today’s world we see this manifested in the occult.  The occult is active on our college campuses today and in the best sections of our cities. People are given over to witchcraft today. It is amazing how many people will buy their daily horoscope, which they will then follow. Many people carry amulets, good luck pieces, charms, little dolls, and patron saints of this or that. This is growing by leaps and bounds in a materialistic age and culture such as ours.  

For what is the gospel?  It is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living and true God.  Do you have Him today? You either do, or you don’t. You either trust Him, or you do not trust Him. Either He is your Savior, or you do not have a Savior. That is the message. The apostles did not cease to teach and to preach Jesus Christ.

Click on the link below to hear a message to learn how you can make sure that you do not miss the signs and miracles of a gracious God in your life.  Do not be deceived by Satan, the master of lies.  Find God’s will and surrender to it.

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

Amen.

LYING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT (Acts 5:1-11)

LYING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT (Acts 5:1-11)

Let me begin by saying that, as a follower of Christ, the Holy Spirit is your very best friend, and the Holy Spirit is Jesus in you.  He is the one who makes manifest the life of the Lord Jesus in your mortal flesh. What a wonderful, wonderful, friend the Holy Spirit is.

In the passage of Scripture that I’m going to read to you today, we find a phrase about lying to the Holy Ghost.  Let me say this, all lies are serious.  Let me repeat that, all lies are serious.  Sometimes we tell little lies, we exaggerate a little bit, and we think that is not quite so serious.  For example, men, when your wife asks you if an outfit makes her look fat, do you tell the truth?  Of course, you do.

Some lies we think are whimsical and maybe even humorous. But, a lie is a very serious thing.  The Bible tells us that Jesus is known as the truth.  On the other hand, the Bible tells us that Satan is the father of all lies.  Therefore, when you tell the truth you give God an opportunity to work. When you tell a lie, you tell a lie because Satan has already been working in you.

God detests the sin of hypocrisy, the sin of pretense, the sin of saying we are one thing, but really being another. If you read about the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will find out that Jesus reserved his sternest words for hypocrites. There was one thing that Jesus Christ detested, and it was hypocrisy. 

Let me make four observations, and four pleas with you today.  Number one, if you are a child of God that sins among the saints it is more serious than sin among the lost.  And, sin when God is working in revival power, is the most dangerous of all sin. 

Number two, is that sin against the Holy Spirit is extremely serious. Do not tempt the Holy Spirit of God. Do not be a pretender. 

Number three, I urge you to be on guard against hypocrisy in your own life. It is far better not to be what you ought to be than to pretend that you are what you are not.

Preachers, and teachers, are often tempted to do that, to exaggerate, or to pretend devotion because we think that we are setting the example. In my estimation, I want my pastor, and my teacher, just to be honest and to tell it like it is in his heart. And, I want people to be honest. And, I believe when there is a spirit of honesty, even though there is a spirit of failure, God can work. 

Don’t pretend a devotion to Jesus Christ that you don’t have.  Don’t lie to the Holy Ghost. And, last of all, don’t let some hypocrite keep you from getting the best out of life.

Click on the link below to hear a message on what it means to lie to the Holy Spirit.

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

Amen.

JESUS IS OFFERED TO THE NATION (Acts 3:1-26)

JESUS IS OFFERED TO THE NATION (Acts 3:1-26)

The message today is about the rejection of Jesus Christ as the Messiah by the Jews.  As we talk about this, I want you to remember something.  The lesson focuses on the people of Jerusalem, because in the days immediately following the Day of Pentecost, that is where the church, the true body of believers, began. But this message is just as applicable to the people in the world today.  This message is about the rejection of Jesus Christ, and there are people all around us who have made the decision to do exactly that, to reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The Jews had bullied Pilate into crucifying the Son of the living God, even though they had Jesus walking among them, performing miracles, and still they rejected Him.  Yet, it is my sin that forced Jesus to go the cross.  The lost people of today, when they look upon a surrendered believer, they can see the light of Jesus Christ walking among them, and yet they reject the Prince of Life who is the author of the miracle of the new creation which is that believer.   

It is important that you understand that nothing that I am going to say today should make you feel in some way less responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  For it was your sin and mine that Jesus willingly went to the cross to die for.  He willingly chose to lay down His life for a lost and hopeless world.  Each one of us is just as responsible for the death of Jesus Christ as the Jews who were standing in front of Peter.

The events of Pentecost would have been the talk of all of Jerusalem.  There were people speaking in tongues, and a peasant fisherman preaching with power the word of God.  They had to be asking themselves, “How could this be happening?  What does it mean?  Is it true, as some have said, that we killed the Messiah?  No, that is not possible.”  The Holy Spirit has planted the seed of questions, and now He seeks them out to place a decision about Jesus Christ before them.  

Click on the play button to hear a message on how the choice between eternal life with Jesus Christ in heaven, and an eternity in the Lake of Fire without God, depends on the decision you make about accepting or rejecting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. 

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

Amen.

CONVICTION AND REPENTANCE (Acts 2:37-47)

CONVICTION AND REPENTANCE (Acts 2:37-47)

Conviction is the Holy Spirit’s first work in a human heart. For the person who does not know Jesus as their Lord and Master, the Holy Spirit’s message is a single message, a very simple message, yet it is such a difficult message to accept.  The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment to come. Then, the Holy Spirit convicts of the nature of sin, of the need for righteousness, and of the nearness of judgment.  

Next, the Holy Spirit makes people see their personal accountability before God for what they have done, and in particular their rejection of Jesus Christ.  This is important to understand because it is not the amount, or kind, of sin in our life that condemns us; it is the fact of sin in our life that condemns us.  But even more importantly, we will not be judged and sent to an eternity in hell because of our sin.  We will be judged and sent to an eternity in hell because of our rejection of Jesus Christ and the light of salvation that He has provided to us through the Holy Spirit.  

Man does not work toward salvation.  Salvation is the work of God. The choice of God was our salvation.  When we are born, we are hopelessly lost.  It was the choice of God to provide His Son as our only hope for salvation.  Our only decision, our only action, is to accept Jesus and the salvation that He has provided for us.  When a sinner repents of his sins and believes in Christ, it is because God has brought him to do so through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  Men do not turn from sin to God of their own initiative.  God must move them if they are ever to do so.  This includes the work of all of the good “agencies”, the church, the Christian witness, evangelism, and the social environment God has chosen to put us in, like being born of a Christian family, and in a Christian nation, but most of all it includes the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit.  

It is the Holy Spirit that convicts the lost person of the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ.  It is not true that a sinner in and of himself repents and believes, and then God enters into the process in forgiveness.  God seeks the sinner.  God was in the process from the beginning, He established the plan of salvation, and then He works to bring about repentance and faith.  Our decision is to yield to a God who draws us to Himself, or reject Him.  We seek Him because He first sought us.

Click on the play button to hear a message on the work of the Holy Spirit of God in bringing salvation and eternal life to whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.

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

Amen.

JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE MESSIAH (Acts 2:25-36)

JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE MESSIAH (Acts 2:25-36)

In our message today, we continue listening to the first sermon of the new church age.  It was preached by a Holy Spirit filled and anointed Peter whose purpose was to convict the Jewish people of the terrible crime that they had committed.  For they had rejected and crucified the promised Christ, the Messiah that they had been waiting on for so long.  Now, Peter was offering them an opportunity to come to that Messiah for repentance and forgiveness.  Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, in front of thousands of Jews from all over the world.  The Jews had just witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the 120 disciples speaking in the various tongues of their homelands.  They had come to celebrate the feast of Pentecost and instead they had witnessed a miracle.  Their reaction was one of confusion and mockery.  As he stood up to begin his sermon, Peter responds to the questions of the Jews by using Scripture.  Something they were very familiar with.  He proclaims that they should not be surprised by these events, as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is similar to those events prophesied by Joel that will take place in “The day of The Lord,” which refers to the Great Tribulation and Millennial Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then, Peter starts to build his case for the proof that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah:  First, he proclaims that Jesus was a recognizable Messiah.  Jesus had performed miracles unlike anything ever seen before in the history of the world.  This was evidence that He had been approved of by God.  He was the one who had fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets.

Next, Peter proclaims that Jesus was a rejected Messiah.  The crucifixion of Christ had been foreknown by God from the foundation of time.  When God acted in creation, He had also acted in redemption.  But this did not excuse the rejection of the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, by God’s people.  

Then, Peter proclaimed the best news of all, that Jesus was the resurrected Messiah.  Jesus was alive, He could not be left in the grave.  Peter declared that it was impossible for God to have left Jesus in the grave. Jesus died for our sins, but He was sinless.  He arose in victory. 

Click on the play button to hear a message on the wonderful truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

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

Amen.

HOW TO SHARE YOUR TESTIMONY (Ephesians 2:1-10)

HOW TO SHARE YOUR TESTIMONY (EPHESIANS 2:1-10)

Today’s message includes one of the most recited pair of verses in the Bible, for it is the foundation God’s promise of salvation by grace and not of works.  

Eph 2:8-9
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.
KJV

And when you add the rest of verses 1-10, it is also a guidebook for the believer “How to Share Your Testimony.”  We should never ever underestimate the power of a Christian testimony. We are called to be witnesses and not lawyers. A witness is somebody who tells what he’s seen and heard. A lawyer is somebody who argues a case. We are witnesses of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Without a doubt, a Christian with a glowing testimony is worth a library full of arguments.

Now, you don’t have to be a theologian to be able to give your testimony. Remember the man who was born blind, and Jesus healed him, and then the Pharisees jumped on his case? Oh, they were angry because this man had been healed, and they got him and backed him into a corner, and they started to ask him all kinds of theological questions. The man just said, “Well, I’m sorry. I can’t answer all of those questions, but, one thing I know: once I was blind and now I see” (John 9:25). There is nothing theological about that fact, yet it is a great testimony to the power of the Lord Jesus.  “Once I was blind and now I see.” And a Christian with a testimony is never at the mercy of an infidel with an argument. Remember that.

Now, it’s important that we learn to share our testimony. Our testimony is the convincing thing when we witness and share the Lord Jesus Christ.  And so today, I want to give you an outline for sharing your testimony; and you can fill in the personal part, but I’m just going to give you the outline.  And listen, if you are saved, right here is your spiritual biography and your future history.

Click on the play button to hear a message on our past guilt, our present grace, and our future glory.  I want you to learn some wonderful things about what has happened to you, what is happening to you, and what will happen to you. 

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

Amen.

DYING GRACE (Genesis 47:28-29)

DYING GRACE (Genesis 47:28-29)

God gives us “living grace,” and “saving grace,” and God gives us “special grace.”  So, the God who saves us, and the God who keeps us, and the God who gives us rewards in heaven, is the God who will give to us “dying grace.”

The Bible is clear that there is coming a day that I am going to die, and there is a day that each one of you will die.  It is a fact that we all must die, with the one exception: should the Lord Jesus Christ come first, then we will not die, and we’ll not go to heaven by route of the graveyard, but we’ll go another way.

But before we talk about dying grace, I need to ask you this question, Have you been born again? Listen, if you haven’t been saved, then you’re not ready to die. You are also not ready to live, unless you’ve been saved. Now, you cannot have dying grace unless you’ve experienced saving grace.  That is the first thing that you need to get done.

Now, Jacob had twelve sons, and they were mean as snakes—rascals, and rebellious. They were hard to deal with. But he kept on. He prayed for those boys. He lived before those boys. He witnessed to those boys. He admonished those boys. And he brought those boys to a faith in his God. And he left behind him a spiritual blessing for his children. And I want to tell you, that’s a good way to die, isn’t it? To leave a family behind you that, because you were their daddy, because you were their mother, they know God in a better way.

I know that with my own children, I prayed to God and said, “God, I want to be a good father. I want to live so that my children will know the Lord. I want them to believe in their father’s God.”  You know, I’d rather die than betray my God before my children. And my children know that their father hasn’t been perfect, but my children know that their father loves God. They know that. And they know that their mother loves God. And I’m so glad that one of these days when I lie down to die, not only will I have a forgiving Lord with me, and I trust a fruitful life behind me, but I will have a family legacy after me. I want to leave something besides things to my children. I want to leave some spiritual vitality to my children.  

Click on the play button to hear a message on what it means to have dying grace.

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

Amen.