The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

WHAT WE HAVE IN JESUS (Ephesians 1:4-14)

WHAT WE HAVE IN JESUS (EPHESIANS 1:4-14)

The verses that we are going to review today are about you. This is your life. Here, the Lord is just giving your biography: from grace to glory; from eternity past to eternity future. Now, if you’re not interested in what you have in the Lord Jesus, and you’re not interested in your own personal spiritual welfare, then what on earth would you be interested in? What on earth could you be interested in?  

Did you know that God chose you, that God purposed your salvation, before He laid the foundations of the earth?  Now, you want to talk about some old-time religion, well you can’t get any older than this.  I mean, this was before there were any trees and mountains and birds and bees and fleas. Now, that’s before there was anything. God, way back in eternity past, chose you, and God chose me. 

You know, when we were kids playing football, or basketball, we would choose teams from among the group of kids.  And there is always somebody who wonders if he is going to be chosen at all. Now, isn’t it wonderful to know that God chose us so far back? You see, God is love, and what good is it to be a God of love if there’s no one to love? Love, by its very nature, cannot dwell by itself.  And so, since God’s nature is love, God created people like us, and chose us, that He might love us.

Listen, God does not love us because we are valuable, we are valuable because God loves us.  You are somebody because God chose you by His grace. And by His sovereign will, God chose to bestow His love upon you. I like what Charles Haddon Spurgeon had to say about it. He said this: “God certainly must have chosen me before I came into this world, or He never would have chosen me afterward.”  Now, isn’t it wonderful to know that even before we got here God looked down and said, “I see who he’s going to be, and I choose him”?

Most importantly, that means I can’t take any credit for my salvation. Because, it wasn’t, primarily, that I chose God.  He chose me first.  I love Him because He first loved me. 

Click on the play button below to hear a message on what we have in Jesus.  

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

Amen.

HOW TO FIND GOD (Proverbs 8:27-36)

Gods’ wisdom is evident everywhere in God’s creation.  The promise of God’s Word is that if we seek Him, then we will find Him, and when we find Him, then we will obtain life everlasting.  

Deut 4:29
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
KJV

God is not hiding from us.  He can be seen in all the wonders of the world we live on.  

Rom 1:20
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
KJV

Then, when we find God, we find life everlasting.

Prov 8:35
35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.
KJV

There is a God sized hole in every individual.  We were created to have God living in us to fill that hole.  You can spend your entire life trying to fill that hole with the things of this world, but you will never be satisfied, you will never be complete, until you find God and make His Son, Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior.  Now, all you have to do to find God, is to seek Him with all of your heart.  

Where do you look for God?  God’s Wisdom tells us that God is all around us in the universe that He has created.  God’s Wisdom is available to be seen and found by whosoever chooses to love God and seek Him.  God promises that if we will love and seek Him, then we will find Him and find life.  

Amen.  

KNOWING THAT YOU ARE ETERNALLY SECURE (John 10:27-29)

Let me ask you a question. Is there something that could be better than knowing that you can be saved? Yes, there is. It is knowing that you can be certain that you're saved.

Well, is there anything more wonderful than knowing that you can be saved and knowing that you can be certain that you are saved. Yes, there is. It is knowing that you can be saved, knowing that you can be certain that you're saved, and knowing that once you're saved and certain you're saved, you can also know that you can never ever lose your salvation.

The title of today’s message is, “Knowing you are eternally secure.” If you don’t believe this can be true, I want you to listen to the scriptures that we are going to cover over the next 3-4 weeks. I want you to ignore for a little while, what makes logical sense to you, because God’s love and grace for you is beyond your ability to understand. I also want you to ignore what you have been taught before. I want your mind open, your heart open, and your ears open. No preconceived ideas or ideologies.

Instead of all of that stuff that man says, I want you to listen to what God has to say about this question. God wants you to know that you can be saved. He wants you to know that you can be certain of your salvation. But, most of all, God wants you to know, that once you are a child of God, an adopted member of His family, a joint-heir with Jesus Christ, saved to eternal life, that you can never ever lose that salvation. That father-child relationship can never be undone. You don’t drop in and out of God’s family. Once you are in, you are in for good. That is what the Bible says, and that is what we are going to talk about over the next few weeks. Jesus tells us this is true in the verses from the Gospel of John that are the focus of our lesson today.

John 10:27-29
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
KJV

Click on the link below to hear a message that is talking about something that is fundamental to our faith when we're talking about eternal security of the believer. How you can know that you are eternally secure.

Amen.

JESUS WAS SENT FROM HEAVEN (John 6:37-51)

When a person rejects Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are rejecting Him as the Son of God. They are rejecting Him being anything more than just a prophet, a teacher, or a good man. They are rejecting Christ as being sovereign. They are saying that He is nothing more than a man, that He was born as a baby, just like the rest of us. Therefore, He cannot be God, so He must be a man.

Yet, Jesus says “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” The Bible is clear that Jesus is the Son of God, and that His Father giveth Him people for salvation. There is no other path to salvation than through believing in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. He alone is the way, the truth, and the light.

John 6:47
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
KJV

Click on the link below to hear a message on how Jesus is the bread of everlasting life. Jesus tells us, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.”

Amen.

HAVING SPIRITUAL STRENGTH (John 5:1-6)

Our physical bodies are ultimately going to fail. You could be the strongest person in the world, but if Jesus doesn't come beforehand, you are going to die as well, no matter how much strength you have.

Isa 40:30
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
KJV

Since we know our bodies are going to fail, our great problem is not what is going to happen to our bodies. It is, do we have that inner strength that God wants us to have in order that we might live our lives for Christ? Why would we need spiritual strength? Because, by our nature, we are spiritually paralyzed and without strength. Yet, in Christ, we have power for living. Why do we need power for living? Because God has a greater plan for us.

The Bible describes every person who is without Christ as being without strength. The primary source of that weakness is sin. When we are without strength, we are unable to be godly. We do not have the strength to be godly. We all have a need to be godly in our lives. Yet, we don't have the strength to be godly. I don't care how hard you try to be godly, you don't have what it takes to be godly. Yet, there is an answer for your weakness, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Rom 5:6
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
KJV

If you wish to have spiritual strength, the strength to be godly, the strength to be holy, then Christ died and rose again for you. The longer a person is physically paralyzed, the weaker their body gets. It is the same for a person without Christ. The longer they live without Christ, the worse their spiritual condition gets. That is the reason that no man should put off giving his or her heart to Jesus Christ. If you need to be saved, then you ought to be saved today because tomorrow you will only have more sin to repent of and less time to repent in.

Click on the link below to learn how to have spiritual strength in this life, and life everlasting.

Amen.

IS THE HOLY SPIRIT KNOCKING? (John 3:8-16)

The Bible tells us that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I firmly believe that the word whosoever, means whosoever, or anybody. Not just somebody special, but anybody. If you want to be a part of the whosoever that are saved, then call upon the name of the Lord. But I also believe that man is saved because of the work of the Holy Spirit of God who convicts that person of their need to be saved. He comes knocking on the door of your heart to tell you of your need for salvation. In the message today, Jesus is telling each of us that when the Holy Spirit comes calling on your spirit, you must respond.

We do not know when the Holy Spirit will come calling on us. We do not know for how long the Holy Spirit will stand knocking at the door of our heart and soul, or how often the Holy Spirit will return to knock again. I believe firmly that God is patient with the lost person. However, I also believe that there comes a time in that person’s life when God sees what is in their heart, He knows what their reaction to His call will be, and when the time of His choosing comes, He walks away from them, perhaps forever. The message that Jesus has for each lost person is that it is imperative that when the Holy Spirit is visiting a soul, in convicting, converting, regenerating, and renewing power, that soul must respond while it still can.

Jesus says that He is standing at the door, knocking.

Rev 3:20
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
KJV

Yet, He also says that there is a time when He stops knocking and shuts the door, even when you start knocking.

Luke 13:25
25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
KJV

Listen to me carefully. I am not saying that anybody, anybody, cannot call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. But, I am saying that God, in His omniscience, knows His own.

2 Tim 2:19
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
KJV

The Lord knoweth them that are His. If you are His, then open the door, and depart from iniquity.

John 10:2-3
2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
KJV

Jesus is calling His sheep. He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. For Jesus to lead you out, then you must let Him in. You must respond to the calling of the Holy Spirit as He convicts your heart of your need to be twice born.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the need of each person to respond to the knocking of the Holy Spirit. If you wish to have eternal life in heaven with Jesus, then you must open the door of your heart and let the Holy Spirt of God in.

Amen.

THE LAST MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE (Revelation 22:14-21)

The last message of the Bible is choose Jesus. It really is that simple. The whole Bible was given to us so that we might choose Jesus. The last promise from our Lord is Surely, I come quickly. The last prayer of this book is Even so, come, Lord Jesus. In these last words, the Lord Jesus Christ makes a proposal to every person who is alive today. He asks you to choose Him as your Lord and Savior. He is asking you to spend eternity with Him in Heaven, instead of eternity without Him in Hell. Choose Jesus, that is the last message of the Bible.

Who cares if a sinner goes to hell? The Lord Jesus cares. Jesus said, "I sent a message with an angel, and I said to that angel, go to the churches and give them this message. I want them saved." The Lord Jesus cares if you go to Hell. That's why Jesus stepped out of the glories of heaven and walked the dusty shores of Galilee. That's why Jesus left heaven's love for earth's abuse. That's why Jesus was nailed to that horrible cross and died in agony and blood.

Why? With every drop of His blood, He is saying, "I love you and I want to save you." It is a Biblical truth that if you die and go to hell, you will have to climb over the battered, bruised, body of Jesus to get there. He's saying, "Stop! Don't go to hell."

Click on the link below to hear a message on how much Jesus Christ wants you to choose Him.

Amen.

BLESSED ASSURANCE (2 Peter 1:8-11)

There once was a blind lady by the name of Fanny Crosby who was one of the most prolific hymn writers to ever live.  A woman friend came to Fanny and said, Fanny would you listen to this melody and perhaps you could add the words to it.  So, Fanny listened to the melody for a while and then she said, oh that is easy, it says, Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine.  Do you have that blessed assurance that Jesus is yours?  I hope that you do. 

Over the last several weeks, we have been studying about the promises that God has given to us in order that we can live a victorious Christian life.  However, the very first thing that you must do is to make sure that you are truly saved, that your calling and election are sure.  A Christian should not be walking around like a question mark, he ought to be an exclamation point.  You shouldn’t be a doubting Christian, you should be a shouting Christian.  You shouldn’t be a hope-so Christian, you should be a know-so Christian.  You must make your calling and election sure.  

If you want to be sure that you are sure, then you must have a faith that knows, a faith that grows, and a faith that shows.  

To have a faith that knows, Peter has said that we are to have a faith that has a supernatural knowledge of Jesus Christ, this is a deep personal relationship with Christ.  When I get to heaven, I am not going to meet a stranger in the Lord, I am going to meet my best Friend.  I am not going to meet Someone I only know through reading a book, I am going to meet someone that I have a heart knowledge of.  Someone who I know better than anyone else in the world.  I am going to meet my Lord and Savior who has lived constantly within my heart from the day I was saved.  

Not only am I to have a supernatural knowledge of my Lord, I am to know what the Word of God says and how I can claim the promises of God for wisdom, courage, strength, and perseverance.  We don’t have to pray for these things to be added to our lives, for we already have all that we need that pertains to life and godliness.  They are in God, and God is in us, so we already have these things.  This type of knowledge is practical wisdom, knowledge that comes from the diligent study of the Word of God to show myself to be an approved workman for the Lord. 

Then I am to have a faith that grows.  Using both the supernatural and practical knowledge that I have gained, I am to give all diligence to add to my faith the seven graces of virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and agape love.  We are to grow our faith by making sure these things are added to our faith.  These graces come from the Holy Spirit that resides within us as we turn more and more of our lives over to Him.  They are the evidence of our faith.

When these graces are in our lives, then we will have A faith that shows.

2 Peter 1:8

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

KJV

We are to have a faith that knows, a faith that grows, and a faith that shows.  When this is the type of faith that we have, then we will have A faith that is sure.  

TO BE ELECTED BY GOD (1 Peter 1:1b to 2a)

The Bible emphatically teaches the doctrine of election, and this is a doctrine that has caused endless debates and disputes throughout the ages.  People will either go off the deep end into hyper-Calvinism with this doctrine, or they avoid it like the plague because they don’t understand it.  When it really is quite simple to understand.  Man complicates it by assuming that God cannot know anything that man does not know.  That really is the heart of the problem for man in understanding this doctrine.  

However, the truth is that man’s mind is limited, and God’s mind is unlimited.  Man’s capacity to know things is finite, and God’s knowledge is infinite.  Man’s knowledge is bounded by the constraints of time, it encompasses what has happened in the past and what is happening right now.  Man can only guess at the future.  

God created the concept of time so His knowledge is unconstrained by time.  He knows all things from before time began until well past the day when eternity makes time irrelevant, and He knows it all at the same time.  God cannot learn anything, since by definition He already knows it all.  

In today’s lesson, Peter gives us his own inspired insight into the subject.  He bluntly declares that our election is based on God’s foreknowledge.  Without hesitation, or qualification, Peter says that God has elected a certain company to become members of the royal family of heaven.  However, God does this and never violates our own volition, or our own right to choose.  God woos, He does not ravage.  He does not endow His creations with wills of their own, with the power of choice and personal accountability for their behavior, and then act as though they had no such thing.  

God’s election of certain members of the human family to become members of the royal family takes into account the response of each individual when confronted by the Holy Spirit with the offer of salvation.  While this may sound difficult to understand, the simple truth of it is that if you want to be a part of the elect of God, then choose Christ when the Holy Spirit presents salvation to you.  

Salvation boils down to one question, will you accept or reject Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master.  

If you say yes, then you will become part of the elect of God, and you will spend eternity in heaven with Christ.  

If you say no, then you will not be part of the elect of God, and you will spend eternity burning in the fires of Hell, forever without the light of God.  

Listen to this powerful Biblical doctrine of God’s foreknowledge and how it can bless you because God knows who you are, where you are, what you are going through, and He has a plan for you.  If you are believer, then God will empower you to deal with any persecution or trial that you may be going through.  He knew about this before it ever occurred and He has prepared you for it, and He is with you every step of the way.  

THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF GOD (Romans 9:14-18)

What does it mean when we say God’s sovereign will?

Does it mean that God, and God alone, determines the absolute truths about what is right and what is wrong, or does the concept of right and wrong depend on the social values established by man?

Does it mean that no matter what man does, God’s predetermined series of events, or God’s plan for the universe, will be completed?  In other words, will God’s will be done, no matter the choices that man makes?

Does it mean that God can show mercy to whom He chooses to show mercy to, and wrath to whom He chooses to show wrath to?  Do the actions of man determine whether they will receive God’s mercy, or God’s wrath?

God’s actions toward man are always just and righteous because God defines the meaning of the words just and righteous.  If this was not the case, and man decided what was just and righteous, then God would not be the sovereign God.

Does the creation have the right to question the actions of the Creator?  Can a potter make one vase cherished and special and the other vase ordinary and common?  Does the potter’s creations have the right to challenge the work of the potter?

These are the questions that Paul will answer in our lesson today.  Certainly the sovereignty of God is one of the more difficult concepts for a stiff-necked, willful, and arrogant, mankind to accept.  But God is sovereign, God is also merciful, and we have much to be thankful for that both of these facts are true.  

Listen to this podcast to learn about the sovereign will of God.