The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE FAITH THAT CANNOT BE TESTED, CANNOT BE TRUSTED (Genesis 22:1-18)

In today’s message, I want to talk to you about your faith.  The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 16:13 to be strong in faith.  I want us to think about our faith, and I want us to look at our faith. I want us to examine our faith. I want us to test our faith, because, you see, the faith that cannot be tested, cannot be trusted.

How do you know that your faith is real and strong? Well, would you like to fly on an airplane that had never been tested?  Would you like for it to be built, but never once put to any test?  Would you want to get on it and commit your life to that airplane, and it had never been tested?  I don’t think so, right?  Would you like for a doctor to do surgery on you who went through medical school without a test?  He just got a diploma as a participation trophy?

Do you want to put your faith, and your confidence, in something that hasn’t been tested? Again, the faith that cannot be tested, cannot be trusted.

If you were to measure faith, how would you measure it? Well, you could measure it with the dimensions of faith. You could measure it by its depth. You could measure it by its height. You could measure it by its length. Or you could measure it by its wideness.  And that is exactly how we are going to measure faith today.  We are going to study how God tells us in His Word how Abraham’s faith was measured.  He is going to tell us how it was qualified.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how our faith is measured by the depth of its devotion, the height of its sacrifice, the length of its obedience, and the wideness of confidence.

Let me ask that the next time you pray to your Heavenly Father, pray these words, “Lord, increase my faith. And, Lord, when the test comes, when you ask of me something—to go somewhere, to give something, to sacrifice something—Lord, help me to obey. May my obedience be quick, intentional, instantaneous, impassioned, intelligent.” You don’t have to think up things to sacrifice. You just have to say, “Lord, all that I am, all that I have, belongs to you.”

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

Amen.

ABRAM’S VICTORY (Genesis 14:1 to 15:5)

In today’s message we will discuss a meeting between Abram and Melchizedek, the King of Salem, and then we will see a particularly seductive temptation of Abram when the meeting between Abram and the king of Sodom occurs.  God will always prepare us for the temptations or trails that we will face, and in this case, He brings Melchizedek out to meet Abram first.  

As I read these verses, several questions just jump right out at me. To begin with, where did this man Melchizedek come from? He just walks out onto the page of Scripture with bread and wine, he blesses Abram, and then he walks off the page of Scripture.  It makes me want to know where he came from, then I wonder where he is going, and I wonder what his business is when he is not out greeting Abram.

The Scripture tells us that he is the king of Salem, but it also tells us that he is a priest of the most high God. Which brings up another question:  How did he find out about “the most high God”?  Melchizedek describes God as the most high God, which means the Creator of heaven and earth.  In other words, the living God, the God of Genesis 1, the God of Noah, and the God of Enoch. This is the One true God that this king, named Melchizedek, is the priest of. 

Click on the link below to hear a message that gives us the answers to these questions.  Learn that the Bible describes Melchizedek as a type of Christ, or an illustration of Christ.  Melchizedek compares to Christ in that the Lord Jesus comes out of eternity, and He moves into eternity.  He has no beginning and no end.  He is the beginning.  He is the end.  You can’t go beyond Christ in the past, and you can’t go beyond Him in the future.  He encompasses all of time, and all of eternity.  

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

Amen.

TEMPTATIONS: WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? (James 1:12-15)

Life is full of temptations.  Good food is a temptation.  Sweet drinks are a temptation.  Sex is a temptation.  The perfect life that is presented to us in the media involves fast cars, fast women, and an even faster lifestyle and it represents the ultimate temptation for many. 

Have you ever wondered where these temptations come from?  Does God tempt man to do evil? Does Satan tempt man to do evil in order to destroy him?  Do we create our own temptations?

A basic Biblical truth that we need to keep in mind is that God will never entice you to do evil.

God wants only what is good for you, and Satan wants only what is bad for you.  

God will never lead you into sin.  Yet, that is all Satan will ever do.

God wants to grow you spiritually.  Satan wants to destroy your spirit. 

God will test you to grow your faith.  Satan will tempt you to destroy your faith. 

So the question becomes, how do you know which is which?  

Listen to this podcast to learn that for the believer the answer comes from the Holy Spirit that lives within your heart. 

DID SATAN HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO OFFER A KINDGOM? (Mark 1:14-15)

Did Satan have the authority to offer Jesus the kingdoms and the glory of the world during the temptation of Jesus?  If yes, does he still have that authority?    As a believer, what can you do to combat such a powerful foe?  What was the purpose of Jesus, the Son of God, coming to this earth in the form of a man?   Listen to this podcast to find the answers to these critically important questions for the believer.

JESUS IS ANOINTED AND TESTED (Mark 1:9-13)

Why would Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, need to be baptized?  Did He need to repent of anything?  Did He need to turn from religion to faith?  For that matter, why would Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things, need to be tempted by one His own creations, Satan?  Did Jesus, the last Adam, fall in this temptation, just as the first Adam did in the Garden of Eden?  These are compelling questions with significant answers to all those who call Jesus, Lord and Master.  Listen to this podcast and learn what the Word of God says about these questions that are the foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ.

THE TRUE GOSPEL (2 Cor. 11:1-7)

How do you decide what is true and what is false?  When it comes to salvation, how do you know the true gospel from a false gospel?  When Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden he was described as being subtle, or crafty.  There are many teachers who proclaim to be from God.  They cry out that they provide a gospel message of salvation.  Yet these false teachers have taken the Word of God and subtly changed it to meet their own form of religion.   They apply rules to a free gift of God.  They apply religious ritual to God's gift of grace.  They apply legalism to the gospel message of Christ that frees man from the burden of the law.   Eve faced the temptation from Satan with two weapons, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God.  Satan attacked those weapons by creating doubt about the authority of the Word of God, then he denied the accuracy of the Word of God, then he created delusion about the acceptability of the Word of God.  Satan uses these same tactics today.  Listen to this podcast and find out how to determine the true gospel message of God.  Learn how Satan is currently working in our world and how to combat him.

TO ESCAPE TEMPTATION (1 Cor. 10:10-14)

We have all heard and quoted to ourselves and others the Scripture that says but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.  And that verse continues by saying... But will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. This means that God always provides a way to escape temptation. Paul provides us with instructions on how to find that way of escape in a verse by verse study of 1 Cor. 10:10-14.