The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

HOW TO HAVE YOUR PRAYERS ANSWERED-PART I (John 14:4-6)

In today’s message, we are going to cover a topic that I believe is vitally important to any believer who wants to live a victorious Christian life. It is a subject that we need to continuously hear about and something that we need to be constantly re-applying in our lives. It is the matter of prayer.

Now, one of the greatest privileges that we have is the privilege of prayer. However, one of the greatest failures that we have is in the area of prayer. We need to understand that prayer is so powerful because prayer can do anything that God can do. Prayer is unlimited in its power because prayer brings God into action. I don't have a failure in my life that is not in some way a prayer failure. There is not a sin in my life that proper prayer would not have helped me to avoid it. There is not a need in my life that if I learned how to pray, and knew how to pray, that need would be met.

I want to be clear that this is not about name it-claim it prayers. That is not Biblical. We do not have the almighty God of all creation at our beckon call. We cannot command Him to do anything. He commands us. This is about finding out what God wants for you, and then praying for that. The prayer that is answered, is the prayer that begins in heaven.

John 14:6
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
KJV

This is one of those verses that we use all of the time. Many of you will have it memorized, and you use it to witness to others about salvation, and how there are not many ways to get to heaven, there is but one way. Through Jesus Christ. I firmly believe that is one of the messages of this verse, but I also believe there are other things that we must do in the power of, and through, our Lord Jesus. Prayer is one of those things. For this to make sense, we need to understand that when we come to God in prayer, we're coming to the Father, and the only way we can come to the Father in prayer is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, this verse makes it very clear and very plain, that the reason many people don't have their prayers answered is that they have never been born again. Why is that? Well, if you are not born again, then you cannot pray in Jesus' name. Why? Because, if you are not born again, then you do not have Jesus Christ in your heart. And, if you don't have Christ in your heart, then you do not have Jesus to bring you to the Father. Jesus is the only way. You must have Jesus in your heart.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the six keys to answered prayer.

JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD (John 8:12-24)

When Bible talks about Jesus being the light of the world it has several meanings, but essentially it means that Jesus is God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the light of the world? If not, then how long have you been rejecting Jesus as the light of the world? How many times do you believe that the Holy Spirit will stand knocking on the door of your heart asking to come in? Everyone wants to believe they have forever to decide about Jesus, but the truth is, that there comes a time in everyone’s life when their refusal to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, becomes final, and the Holy Spirit walks away never to return. When this happens, the eternal destiny of that person is sealed forever.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how Jesus is the light of the world, and how the rejection of that truth will cause God to leave you to die in your sins.

Amen.

ARE YOU THIRSTY? PART 1 (John 37-39)

Let me start by asking a question, how important is religion in your life? You see, I would say that religion is really only a small part of my life. I come to church on Sunday and participate in the form and the structure of a typical Protestant church. Certainly, there are differences in the religious rituals that are performed between the different Christian religions, but there are some basic similarities as well. Now, I am no expert on all Christian religions, but there is generally a sanctuary where everyone meets, there will be some music, some Bible verses read, and some preaching of one kind or another. The music may be contemporary, or it may be traditional hymns. It could be lively, with a bunch of dancing and shouting, or it could be almost silent whispers. The preaching may be fire and brimstone, or much more formal. It could be topical in nature, or it could be expository in nature. It could be entertaining, or it could be a real snoozer. Hopefully, it is someplace in the middle, but I have to admit that I have slept through a good share of the services I have been in. While there are differences, the basic building blocks of a worship service are all there in one form or another.

So, let me ask that question again, but just a little differently, how important is the style of the religion to you? How important are the traditions that created that style to you? How important are the rituals that are performed in that service to you?

Now, most people don't need more religion. We've got enough religion. What we need is a personal, vital relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What we need is true salvation with joy. We need to draw water from the wells of salvation.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how we should stop enduring religion. You need to ask yourself, why do you come to church on Sunday? Do you come to be blessed, or do you come to bless others? The importance of that answer is critical to your attitude as you walk into the doors of your church. Are you coming as a taker, or as a giver? Are you coming to check the box of obedience, or are you coming as a servant?

Are you thirsty?

Amen.

THE SOURCE OF POWER IN A CHRISTIAN LIFE (1 Peter 1:22-25)

Have you ever been told by someone in authority that you are to go do something that you don’t believe is within your capability to do?  At my workplace, we move people around to different roles a lot.  With a large part of the employees, they are moving to a different role about every two years.  This means that they have to quickly learn how to do a particular role, and then just when they get a basic understanding of how to do it, they move on to another role.  

Quite often they will move a very young, inexperienced, person into a position of greater responsibility and expect them to sink or swim.  I often hear people say that they were intimidated by the responsibility of the new role, and that they did not feel capable of doing it.  However, the company philosophy is one of if you have the right virtues, talents, and philosophies, then they can put you just about anywhere, and you will succeed.  It can be a bit daunting at times.  

The one thing the company does do is provide the right tools to help a person who is humble enough to ask for the help.  I have watched as a person will try to succeed by his own wit and knowledge, and almost always, you will see them fail, many times quite miserably.  I have watched others who were humble enough to ask for help and they can often succeed.  The corporate world can be a real meat grinder of people.  The proud can rise, but they can also fall quite hard.   

The demand that God puts on us as believers is very similar to this.  You take a brand new Christian, and you immediately give them the elevated standing of an ambassador to the almighty Creator of all things.  You then tell them all of the things that God has done for them to provide them with eternal life and redemption, much as Peter has been doing over the last several weeks, and then you tell them all of the things that this new standing, or position, requires of them.  

They are to hate sin, they are to live a life that is uniquely different from the life they led before, and the life of the lost people all around them.  They are to tell people about the gospel message of Christ, but more than that because words can be hollow, they are to live a life that is a testimony to the Christ they serve.  They are to be a light in the darkness drawing people to them so that they can lead them to the cross of Jesus.  

It is easy to be intimidated by this requirement of a holy life.  Yet, God formed His plan of redemption for us from the foundation of time.  That plan included the tools and resources that the new-born Christian could depend on to accomplish the task that God had given them.  They just have to be humble enough to ask for the help.  It is absolutely impossible to live a holy life that is acceptable to God under your own wit and knowledge.  You simply cannot do it on your own.  You must use the power and tools that God is offering you, or you will fail, and fail miserably.  

Those tools and resources are the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, and the living, indestructible, incorruptible, and eternal, Word of God.  It is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God who are the true source of power in a Christian life.  God has provided them as part of His plan of redemption, you just have to be humble enough to seek them out and use them.  This is what our lesson is about today.  Listen to this podcast to learn the true source of power for the Christian to live a holy life.   

OUR SANCTIFICATION BY GOD (1 Peter 1:2b)

God is both an exterior and an interior decorator.  He is an exterior decorator in that He enables us to stand before Him because He has paid the penalty and removed the guilt of sin from us.  But He is also an interior decorator.  As the Holy Spirit, He moves into our hearts and lives there.  It is by the power and work of the Holy Spirit that He make us the kind of Christians we should be.  God does not leave us in sin when He saves us.  He doesn’t walk away saying well I hope things turn out right for you.  Instead, He moves into our heart and He empowers us to become the Christian that He wants us to be.  

Justification declares the sinner righteous.  It is our position in Christ, we are justified in Christ.  When Christ died on the cross for our sins, God was able to look at sinful, hopelessly lost, man and declare him righteous through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Not because we had earned it, but because God declared us to be righteous.  

Sanctification makes the sinner righteous.  When we are saved the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and begins the lifelong work of sanctification, or the process of making us more like Christ.  We are purified by the trials that we face.  We are tempered by the persecution that we face.  We are sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit who makes us righteous.

Justification removes the guilt and penalty of sin.

Sanctification removes the growth and the power of sin.

This work of the Holy Spirit in a human heart begins with conviction.  Before sanctification can occur we must be born again and that begins with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  Once we are properly convicted of our need for salvation, He then moves on to our regeneration.  After the Holy Spirit completes our regeneration, He begins the process of our sanctification, and then the climax is our ultimate glorification.

Listen to this podcast to learn how the Holy Spirit of God performs the work of sanctification in our lives.

THE YEARNINGS AND THE HOPES OF THE BELIEVER (Romans 8:23-27)

Think about the things that you yearn for.  These are the things that start as a desire deep in your soul and well up into your heart and mind.  These are not our simple wants, but the things that are so passionately desired by our soul that we groan for them.  Now think about how you could ever go about obtaining these things.  Are they even within your power to obtain?

Next, think about the things that you hope for.  Are they the same things that you yearn for?  To hope for something is to look forward to something that you have not seen or realized yet.  Do you hope for a body that is free from disease and pain?  Do you hope for an end to loneliness?  Now think about how you could go about obtaining these things that you hope for.  Are they even within your power to obtain them?

Our lesson today is about the yearnings and the hopes of the believer.  What are the things that a believer wants so badly that they well up from the bottom of their soul?  And what are the hopes of a Christian?  Are they different from a person who has rejected Christ as their Savior?  And best of all, what is the solution for how a believer goes about obtaining these things.  

TO BE A CHILD OF GOD (Romans 8:15-22)

When I think of the dreams of a child that lives in an orphanage, I think of the loneliness they must feel because they are alone in this world without parents to care for them.  They don’t understand why they don’t have parents.  They just know that they are different from other kids.  They see other children with their families and they want to be like them.  They want what they have.  They want a close personal relationship with their parents.  They want to be able to call someone Daddy, or Father.   They want to feel secure in the arms of a father who will protect them and love them.  They want to feel confident as they face the world because they have parents who will support them.

These same feelings exist within many people who are not a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God.  They look at a true Christian and they notice a difference in them.  They don’t know what it is, but they see the Christian handle the problems and trials in their lives in a more confident way.  So the non-believer will ask the Christian how they can face trouble with more confidence, and their reply is that it’s because they are a member of the family of God.  They have a close personal relationship with God.  They have the authority to call our heavenly Father, Abba, Father.  The word Abba is an Aramaic word that is the equivalent of the English word Daddy, or Papa.  It speaks of the close emotional relationship that a believer has with God.  They know that God loves them and will provide for them.  They feel secure in the arms of the almighty God.  This is their confidence.  This is how they face adversity in their lives.  

If you are looking for a close personal relationship with God, then listen to this podcast to learn what it means to be a true child of God.

TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD (Romans 8:9-14)

Are you a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God?

Romans 8:9

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

KJV

That is the real test.  Paul states very clearly if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  The true mark of a born again believer and a genuine Christian is that he is indwelt by the Spirit of God.  A believer is a new creation.  Paul is telling us that if you are truly saved you will answer yes to these questions.  Do you love God?  Do you want to serve Him?  Are these things uppermost in your mind and heart?  

If you are a true believer then you will have the indwelling Spirit of God empowering you to want the things of God. A believer has been granted a new law which liberates him from sin. He has been granted a new Lord who is none other than the third Person of the Triune Godhead.

It is a basic truth of the gospel that a person must be born again before he can be viewed as a child of God.  

John 1:11-13

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

KJV

Paul tells us that it is the Holy Spirit that places the believer as an adult son, with all of the privileges of an adult son, into the family of God.  

Romans 8:14

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

KJV

One evidence of the believer’s sonship in the divine family of God is the cooperation of the believer with the guiding and leading ministry of the Spirit of God.  Those that are led by God’s Spirit are the sons of God.  The phrase, sons of God, appears in the New Testament as a name for people who are in a covenant relationship with God.  The process is described as one of adoption, by which the believer becomes a child of God, and thus an heir of God, a joint-heir with Christ.  Listen to this podcast to learn what it means to know that you are a child of God.

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BELIEVER (Romans 8:5-9)

How do you know, that you know, that you are a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God?

You went down at the time of the invitation and you said the prayers the preacher asked you to say.  The preacher told you that you were saved, yet sin still plaques you.  You try as hard as you can to do what you think God wants you to do, yet your desires to do the things of this world are still there in your body.  So are you really saved?  Are you really born again?  How do you know? 

First, to be saved there must be more than just mumbling a few prayers at the direction of the preacher.  Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord requires more than a mere mental prayer, there must be a true desire in your heart to turn away from the sin that is in your life and turn towards Jesus Christ.

There must be a change in your heart.  You are walking down the path of the world, Satan is your master.  In order to be saved from an eternity in hell, you must stop, turn around, and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and begin to follow Him.  The Bible doesn’t say make Jesus your Savior, although He becomes that, it says make Jesus Christ your Lord.  This is what it takes to become a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God.  But how do you know if you have done this?

First and foremost, you know that you are saved because the Word of God tells you it is so.  It is not about signs, or feelings.  You know that you are saved because God tells you that you are in His Word.

John 5:24

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

KJV

This verse, and many others with the same message, are your rock solid birth certificate as a born again Christian.  Your knowledge that you have been saved comes from the very Word of God.  

The second answer is what our lesson is about today.  You know that you are saved because the Holy Spirit has made known to you that He is indwelling in your heart.  How do you know this?  Listen to this podcast and find out.  

THE GREATEST POWER OF ALL (Romans 8:1-4)

When you look at the world around us, what would you say is the greatest untapped source of power in the entire world?

Is it nuclear?  Is it hydrogen with all of the water on the earth? 

For the vast majority of believers and non-believers alike, the Holy Spirit of God is without question the greatest untapped source of power in the world. 

For the non-believer, or the lost person, the Holy Spirit is outside of their ability to tap for power.  The one role of the Holy Spirit with the lost person is to convict them of their need for a Savior.  The lost person cannot turn to the Holy Spirit for power.  You must be a born again child of God to have this power.

For the believer, the Holy Spirit is indwelling in their heart, waiting on the believer to turn to Him for power.  The sad fact is that most Christians do not know how to, or simply choose not to, tap into the power of the Holy Spirit to live a victorious Christian life.  We find that joy and peace are to be given to the child of God in this life.  We are to live for God in the very presence of sin.  Sin is not to dictate our life’s program.  

Paul has already shown us that there is nothing in the justified sinner that can produce this ideal state.  We have seen that even though we have a new nature, that new nature has no power of its own to do the things of God, and our old nature has no good in it at all.  We simply cannot live for God under our own efforts.  

The obvious question is then how is a child of God to live for God? 

Paul cried out for someone’s help, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24).  In other words, who is going to enable me to live for God?

Paul concluded chapter 7 by saying, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” 

Now chapter 8 will give us the modus operandi; that is, the means by which the victory for the Christian is secured.  Listen to this podcast as we begin a series of lessons on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.