The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

REJECTING THE SON OF GOD (John 19:16-30)

There is no hour in the history of the human race that is darker than when Jew and Gentile alike hung the Son of the Almighty God on a cross to die. Before time began, when God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit chose to act in creation, they also decided to act in redemption. Before the first breath of life was placed into the body of a man, God knew that Jesus Christ would have to come to this earth to die for the sins of the world. God knew the hatred and rejection that Jesus Christ would face, and yet He still created man. God knew the pain and torture that Jesus Christ would face on the cross, and yet He still created man. Jesus Christ came to this earth to redeem fallen man. He died on the cross, He was buried in a tomb, and then three days later He rose from the grave to bring eternal life to every person that would accept Him as the Son of God and the free gift of salvation that He offered. He did this because He loved each of us and wanted us to have everlasting life.

John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
KJV

In return for this sacrifice that was freely given, the vast majority of the human race has spent every day since Jesus Christ came denying that He existed. Denying that He was the Son of God, and denying that He ever rose from the grave. They have chosen the darkness of sin over the light of truth and eternal life that Christ is. They chose to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 19:30
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
KJV

Notice that Jesus was in complete control. He determined that “It is finished.” Every jot and tittle of the law, every word and deed, all that he had been given to do while on earth, was finished. Then, still sovereignly in charge of the situation, he bowed his head and dismissed his spirit. That triumphant word, finished, has been echoing down the centuries. All the work of salvation is finished. It is accomplished. No one can add to a finished work. We can add nothing to the saving work of Christ. Yet, we can accept the free gift of salvation that the Lord has provided for us by the shedding of His precious blood on the cross of Calvary.

Amen.

TO TRY AN INNOCENT MAN (John 18:12-40)

Satan inspired, false religion, has been the reason behind much of the world’s evil. It has caused men to be deceitful, greedy, and power hungry. It has caused violence, war, and the torture and deaths of millions upon millions of people throughout the history of mankind. Jesus Christ came to this earth as God incarnate in man to put an end to false religion and to give the human race the gospel of Jesus Christ. A gospel of divine love, eternal life, forgiveness, mercy, and salvation. He sealed that gospel with His own blood on the cross at Calvary. Jesus did not come to start a new religion. He came to bring redemption to those who would accept God’s free gift of eternal life. The gospel of Christ is not a religion, it is a relationship with Christ. It is not ritual, it is not a building, it is not a denomination, it is a personal relationship with the Son of God as your Lord and Savior.

The Jewish religious establishment had corrupted the religion of Judaism given by God to His chosen people. They rejected the Word of God as being incomplete and wrote their own laws, and then they created endless rituals to support it. When Jesus came and spoke against this corruption, He had to be stopped. The Jewish religious establishment conspired to murder the Son of God and they did not care how much they had to lie, cheat, and bribe, in order to accomplish this goal.

Click on this link to hear a message on how the two governing bodies in Judea at that time, the Jewish religious establishment and the Roman system, determined that Jesus was guilty of a crime that warranted He be hung on a cross and crucified. They chose to try an innocent man and condemn Him to death or the sake of false religion.

Amen.

A LAST ATTEMPT (John 12:23-36)

Have you ever had an event or an experience that you knew was going to be really, really, bad in front of you? You knew it needed to be done, people were depending on you, but you had a few days that you had to get through before it would begin? The waiting, the dreading, the sheer horribleness of it playing on your mind. I can think of things like watching my mother’s last few days on the earth, and the suffering she was dealing with. I knew her death was imminent. I knew it would happen in the next few days. I knew she would be in heaven soon, but I had to steel myself for the emotions that would come.

A soldier facing some kind of really tough battle. He knows the chances were slim that he was going to make it, but he couldn’t let his brothers in arms down. These were men he depended on, and they were the ones who depended on him, so he prepared himself to deal with it.

This is what our next few messages are going to be about for Jesus. He knew this was the reason that He had come to earth. His whole life had been about this coming hour. The entire human race depended on Him completing the work of salvation. He knew that He was about to carry the burden of every sin that had ever been committed and would ever be committed. He knew the ugliness of the world’s worst sins was about to be thrust upon Him and He would have to die as punishment for that sin. He dreaded the hour, but He knew the whole world depended on Him, and so He prepared Himself. There was so much He needed to do before that hour came, but His disciples needed to hear what He had to say. These next several weeks are going to be a study in how much Jesus loved each and every one of us, even the Jews and the Romans who would crucify Him.

Click on the link below to hear a message on what is likely the Lord’s last attempt to convince the Jews that He was the Son of God, the Promised Messiah.

Amen.

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST-PART I (Mark 15:38 to 16:6)

Do you have any core beliefs that you will not compromise on, that you cannot be dissuaded from, and that you will stand up and proclaim no matter the audience, no matter the danger, and no matter the consequences to you?

Such beliefs must be important to you personally for them to have such meaning.  They must be things like your integrity, your belief in the inherent rights of the individual to life, liberty, and their ability to choose how they will exercise that liberty.  For many they include the right to worship God freely in the manner they choose without interference from the government or others.  

These core beliefs are what define you as an individual.  They define how you will react in a given situation, what you stand for, what you will tolerate from others, and what you will choose to put your life at risk for.  They are what drive a young lady to stand when a cowardly man with a gun in his hand demands that all Christians are to stand up.

Every true believer in the gospel message of Jesus Christ has at their foundation two such beliefs:

(1) The death of Christ.  Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins.  It is the blood of Jesus that was shed on the Cross that makes our salvation possible.

(2) The resurrection of Christ.  Christ rose bodily from the dead.  He conquered death and sin with His resurrection, and because of this, we can have eternal life in heaven with Jesus.

The gospel declares that Jesus was made sin for us, (this means that He took on our sin, He paid the penalty for our sin,) that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, (our ability to stand before God, clothed in the righteousness of God, is only because Jesus died for us and was raised again for our justification.)

The unique fact of the gospel is the Resurrection. All other religions record the death of their leader. Only the Christian faith records the Resurrection of its Founder. 

All other religious leaders are dead. 

Only Jesus is alive.  Listen to this podcast to learn why this is absolutely important and imperative for you to know and believe.

WHY JESUS HAD TO DIE (Mark 15:33-37)

Have you ever asked the question, Did Jesus really die on a cross or is that just some story from the Bible?

And if Jesus did die on a cross, What does that have to do with the things that I may have done during my life?  How can something that Jesus did have any effect on me and my eternal life?  

These are the basic questions that form the foundation of the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  The answers to these questions are told, retold, and symbolized over and over again, in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

God specifically provided an inerrant and infallible book, called the Bible, so that man could know and understand what the life, death, burial, and resurrection, of Jesus Christ means to each of us.  

Each of us has come short of the mark of absolute perfection demanded by a holy, perfect, God.  The penalty for that failure is death.  

As a just God, God must condemn those that have failed to meet this mark of absolute perfection.  

As a loving God, God sent His Son to pay the penalty of death that we deserve.  Jesus willingly took our punishment for us.  

Listen to this podcast to learn Why Jesus had to die.  Jesus tells us that Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  Listen and learn just how much Jesus loves you.

ATTITUDES THAT CAUSED JESUS TO BE CRUCIFIED-PART II (Mark 15:16-32)

Over the last several weeks our politicians have demonstrated the power of a person’s attitude to do things to hurt others and our nation.  We have seen self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and cowardly compromise, on full display by people who are elected to represent the needs of the people rather than their own enrichment.  We have also seen the courage of a few to demand changes, even in the face of overwhelming condemnation from those in their own party.  

A person’s attitude can also be used to draw people to you, or drive them away.  It is the same in politics as it is in matters of faith.  If your message of faith is positive, affirming, and compassionate, then it will draw people to you.  On the other hand, if your message is negative, condemning, and filled with words of anger and hate, it will drive most people away from you.  Most of all, your attitude must be matched by the way you live your life.  Hypocrisy is in every area of life, and it is easy to spot.  The most dangerous part of hypocrisy is what it does to those around you.  Many people will walk away from the gospel message of Christ because of what they see in counterfeit Christian.  

Listen to this podcast to hear the second part of a lesson on how the attitudes of those around Jesus caused the Creator of all things to be rejected and crucified on a cross.

ATTITUDES THAT CAUSED JESUS TO BE CRUCIFIED (Mark 14:66 to 15:15)

A person’s attitude is a powerful thing.  It has a great deal to do with how we act while we are doing a task, how we think about that task, and how we speak about it.  A simple example is how we approach our job, if our attitude is one of enjoyment, or one of passion for that job, it makes the days go quicker, and we have a true feeling of accomplishment about our job.  You feel good about yourself and who you are.  

On the other hand if our attitude is one of dreading our job, or it is just a thing we do to pay the bills, it creates stress in our lives which has an effect on our health, the days drag on and on, and we are just looking forward to quitting time so we can go and do something we love.

But our attitude about something is even more powerful than that, for it can be used to drive us to do things that we would not ordinarily be capable of.  Consider the attitude a person would need to have in order to knowingly condemn a man to die a horrible, painful, death for a sin that He did not commit.

Listen to this podcast to learn the seven attitudes that lived in the hearts of the people responsible for the death of Jesus Christ.  As you listen, look for these same attitudes in your own heart.  

THE OBEDIENCE OF THE LAMB (Mark 14:37-65)

On a human level it is very hard for us to willingly take the blame for what somebody else has done.  Our natural reaction is to defend ourselves, to make sure that everyone knows who is rightfully to blame, especially when the punishment for the crime carries with it a heavy penalty, such as years in prison, or even death.  It would take a great deal of love for one person, who was innocent, to willingly take the blame for a crime they did not commit to save another from facing that penalty.    

Yet this is what Jesus Christ did for each of us.  

Listen to this podcast to learn why Jesus stood silent before His accusers when He was falsely accused of crimes He did not commit.  Learn why Jesus would allow a mob of men to take Him to be crucified without putting up a fight to resist them.

Jesus did all of this, including dying on a cross, so that you could have everlasting life.  Jesus died in your place. He took your punishment.  He suffered so that you would not have to.  Jesus did all of this because He loves you.    

THE LORD'S SUPPER (Mark 14:22-24)

When was the last time that you participated in taking the Lord’s Supper? 

How did you go about preparing yourself to participate?

Why is the Lord’s Supper an important part of the believer’s life?

Listen to this podcast to find out what the Bible says about the Lord’s Supper.  Jesus instituted this ordinance of the church for us to remember what He has done for us.  Later, Paul tells us that we are to be serious, and not casual or flippant, in our preparation and participation is this very important ceremony.   

This is to be a time of remembrance of the love that God has for us, and it is to be a time of self-assessment and repentance. 

Don’t miss the wonderful message that is to be found in the believer’s heart as they remember the finished work of salvation that Jesus has done for you.

HOW JESUS SUFFERED (Mark 14:25-36)

Life often places us in situations where we have a loved one who is suffering in great pain, or emotionally from a loss.  Our natural desire is to be able to reach out and remove that suffering from them and place it on ourselves. We want to take their place, and let us handle the pain.

I remember watching my mother as she suffered in pain from terminal cancer.  There was nothing more that I wanted to do than take that pain away from her and let me bear it.  I wanted to do this because I loved her enough that I was willing to take her place, even if it meant that I would die.  

If we as people are capable of this kind of love, how much more so is a holy God capable of this kind of love?  It is because of God’s love for us that He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross so that we could avoid the suffering and pain of an eternity spent burning in the Lake of Fire.  Jesus took on our suffering so that we could choose not to.  God loves each of us so much that He desires that none of us should perish.

Listen to this podcast to learn how Jesus suffered great pain on the cross.  How Jesus suffered emotionally on the cross. How Jesus suffered at the hands of a holy God on the cross, and Jesus suffered at the hand of Satan while He was on the cross.  

Most of all, hear why Jesus had to suffer.