The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

ARE YOU TOO BAD TO BE SAVED? (Romans 4:6-15)

Many of us have lived lives where we have done things that we regret today.  Things that have had terrible consequences to our own life, and the lives of those around us.  Prison, a ruined marriage, a lost career, and personal finances that were wasted.  The question that comes to mind when you are confronted with religion, salvation, eternal life, heaven, or hell, is have I been too bad to be accepted by God?

Are there things that a person could do that would be just too bad, too ugly, or too horrific, that would make them unacceptable for God’s plan of salvation?  

What about a murderer?  Is murder the unpardonable sin?  Can a person who has committed a vicious act of murder ever hope to be saved?  

What about suicide?  Can a Christian commit suicide and still go to heaven? 

How about someone who commits adultery?  A man and a woman have been married for years and the man decides to look for a younger woman.  Can he be saved?

Can a drunk, or a thief, or name the worst sin that you can think of, can they be accepted by God?

Many of the people that I converse with on my web-pages argue that justification by faith makes no sense at all if it allows really bad people to be saved.  Are they right?

The Bible tells me that a career thief who hung on cross next to Jesus was able to join Jesus in heaven.  The Bible also tells me that there is no act of murder which is too great.  There is no act of adultery which is too awful.  There is no unpardonable act of sin, not even suicide.  

The key to your salvation is not what type of sin, or how much sin you have committed.  The key to your salvation is what you do with Jesus Christ.  If you make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, then you can be saved.  I am not going to say that people whose hearts have been so seared by evil can do this easily, or would even want to do this, but God says that by the power of the Holy Spirit, it can be done.

God’s plan of salvation says that we must have faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God in order to be saved.  It requires that we accept the fact that we are hopelessly guilty of sin against God.  It requires that we repent of those sins by agreeing with God that it was wrong and then choosing to change our lives, to never do those things again, and then make Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives.

If we do this, if a person who has committed murder can actually do this, then I believe that the Bible is clear when it says that Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  The Bible does not say Whosoever has not done evil, or Whosoever has done more good than bad, it says Whosoever, meaning anyone who accepts God’s plan of salvation by calling upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.  

Listen to this podcast to learn that the only unpardonable sin that a man can commit is to reject the completed work of Christ for your salvation and to reject Jesus as the Son of God.   

THE PATH TO REJECTING GOD (Romans 1:21-32)

As a believer, the fact that there is a God, that He is my Creator, and that He alone determines the absolute truths about right and wrong, are so clear and so obvious to me that I have a hard time understanding how someone could not see the same thing.  Forget about all of the theology, the religious ordinances, I am just talking about the fact that God exists and that I have an obligation to recognize that.

The simple fact that we exist screams out to me that there is a Creator.  To believe otherwise requires so much faith in the feeble knowledge of man that it becomes a religion of its own.  It is a religion born out of the desire to feel good about living a life that you know is against the will of God.  There can be no other reason for rejecting what is so obvious.  It certainly is not based on objective science.

So how did man fall so far from worshiping God and what are the consequences of that rejection?  That is the topic of our lesson today.

HOW GOD IS REVEALED (Romans 1:17-20)

Abraham Lincoln once said, “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”

I don’t know how anyone could look at the rings of Saturn, or the moons of Jupiter, and not feel in awe of the power of God to create these things for us.  The idea that all of these stars, all of these individual galaxies, black holes, quasars, and the sheer unfathomable distances of space, could be in existence just by happenstance, is the epitome of man’s ideological arrogance.       

It takes an incredible amount of assumptions based on theories that are derived from the miniscule amount of knowledge that man has about the universe and how it works for us to deny the existence of an all powerful Creator.  Yet, man makes these assumptions, calls them facts, and then proudly proclaims that there is no God.

Romans 1:20 declares 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: 

Listen to this podcast to learn how God continuously reveals Himself to man, and how man has intentionally, with forethought and deliberate effort, walked away from that revelation and began to worship pagan idols and his own greatness.  

We will discuss that man is lost in sin, that he needs a Savior, and that God has revealed Himself to man so that there can be no excuse for man to turn away from God.

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF GOD (Romans 1:2-7)

Each of us make important decisions that will have an impact on the direction that our lives take.  For example, the career path that you choose determines what kind of training, education, and work that you will do.  

Your choice of career determines your financial position in society, how you will spend your work day, whether it is on a construction site, in a hospital, or in an office for the next 40 years of your life.  

Choosing the person whom you will spend the rest of your life married to is an important decision as well. Choosing the mate that God has for you will lead to a relationship that is only excelled by our relationship with Jesus.  

On the other hand, choosing the mate that satisfies your earthly desires will lead to a life full of sorrow and pain. When you are ready to dedicate the rest of your life to being one with another person, you must consider that choice very carefully.

But the single most important decision that each one of us will make is what we will do about Jesus Christ.  All of the other decisions that you make, career, marriage, or education, will have an impact on your life here on earth, that brief period of about 70 years that you live.  

The decision you make about what to do with Jesus Christ will impact your life for all of eternity.  It will decide where you will spend eternity, either heaven or hell.  It will decide whether you will spend eternity either with God, or separated from God.  

The decision of whether you will spend eternity in heaven or hell has nothing to do with how good or bad you are.  It rests solely on your acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ as your Savior.  The penalty of sin is death.  We are all sinners and we are all going to die, unless the Lord comes first.  However, not all of us are going to heaven.  In fact, many more are going to hell.

Jesus tells us 

Matt 7:13-14

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

KJV

The critical decision that determines which gate you will go through, and therefore, where you will spend eternity must be made while you are still alive.  God has given you a finite time to make your choice about Jesus Christ.  

This is the gospel message of God.  It tells you that you must make a decision about Jesus Christ.  

HOW TO DRAW NEAR TO GOD (James 4:4-8)

When I was a small child, I always wanted to be near my Father, because I knew that he loved me, and that he would protect me.  When I put my small hand into his big hand and we walked somewhere, I always felt secure and safe.  When he hugged me I knew all was right with the world.  

Now that I am a child of God, I want God to be so close that I can feel the warmth of His embrace.   I want God to be so close that I can put my small hand into His infinite hand and I want to walk and talk with Him.   

What is so amazing about our God is that He wants to be close to us as well.  He wants to walk and talk with us in the cool of the afternoon as He did with Adam and Eve.  The Bible tells us that there is a great gulf fixed between man and God, yet God has taken the initiative on this side of the grave.  In an act of infinite compassion God has come looking for us because we are lost.  God has sent His Son Jesus Christ to be the bridge that can bring us to God.  

God has come as far as He can.  He stops short of violating the human will.  He stands at the edge of the bridge with arms outstretched and says Come! Come! Come!

In our lesson today, James tells us how to draw near to God.  How it is possible to have a personal, up-close, relationship with the almighty Creator of all things.  

CAN YOU WAIT TOO LONG? (Mark 6:14-29)

We live in a society that promotes acting now before it is too late. Items that we want go on sale so we rush down to the store to beat the crowd. Ads proclaim buy now while supplies last. There is so much noise, so many offers, that we become desensitized to the messages. When companies call us on the phone we screen our calls using caller ID. We don't answer the phone hoping that they will stop calling. God is knocking on the heart of the unbeliever. God wants everyone to be saved. Not just some elect group of people, but all people. God loves you and He wants you to have eternal life. So God knocks, and God waits. He never barges down your door. He never forces His will upon you. He just knocks and He waits. The question is how long will God wait? Can you wait too long before God stops knocking and walks away? Listen to this podcast to find out if a person can pass that invisible line of God's mercy to God's wrath. Can it ever be too late to accept Jesus as your Savior?

TO REJECT JESUS CHRIST (Mark 6:1-13)

The single most important decision you will ever make in your life will be to accept or reject Jesus Christ.  

The single most important prayer you will ever pray will be to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Master.    

It is not the sin in your life that will determine what happens to you after you die.  It is has nothing to do with the scales of good and bad that you have done.  

To have eternal life requires that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master.  To reject Jesus will condemn you to eternal separation from God and torment in Hell.  Nothing else matters.  Nothing, and no one, else has the power to save you, but Jesus Christ. 

Listen to this podcast to learn why people want to reject Christ and what the consequence of that rejection is.     

THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO SAVE (Mark 5:21-34)

When we need something done that we cannot do for ourselves, then we begin to search for someone with the power to meet that need. When my car needs repaired, when something in my home needs repaired, I begin a search for someone with the power to meet that need. When my need becomes a desperate need, I look for someone with the power to save me. Listen to this podcast to find the One with the power to meet the most desperate need in each of our lives. Listen and discover that Jesus Christ is the only One with the power to save you. If you are lost in a dark world, then Jesus Christ is the answer to that need. Jesus Christ has the power to save you.

TO BE CALLED UNTO JESUS (Mark 3:13-30)

Jesus is calling you to come unto Him. How are you going to respond?  For those who respond to the call of Jesus and make Him their Savior, there is a lifetime of trials, persecution, and heartache.  But through it all there is His Spirit in your heart, His wisdom, His comfort, His strength, and most of all eternal life with Jesus in heaven. For those who reject the call of Jesus, there is a lifetime of trials, persecution, and heartache.  But through it all you are alone.  Your friends cannot be there with you every moment you need.  You must face these trials alone, and most of all you have chosen to spend eternity separated from God. Listen to this podcast to find out what it means to respond to the call of Jesus.  Jesus is calling, what is your response?

THE SPIRIT REVEALS (1 Cor. 2:9-16)

How does God reveal Himself to man?  Man perceives the world around him through his eyes, ears, and mind.  Man sees the world around him, yet the Scripture tells us that since the beginning of the world our eye hath not seen certain things.  We have not seen the spiritual things that God has for us.  Man hears the world around him, yet the Scripture tells us that since the beginning of the world our ear hath not heard certain things.  We have not heard the spiritual things that God has for us.  Man's mind is limited by what he can conceive of, prove by experimentation, or hypothesize about, yet the Scripture tells us that since the beginning of the world that our heart has not solved certain things.  We have not solved the mysteries of the spiritual things that God has for us.  Therefore, God uses the presence of the Holy Spirit within the heart of the believer to reveal Himself.  Listen to the attached podcast and rejoice as Paul describes how God reveals Himself to man.