The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

GOD'S JUDGEMENT OF PERVASIVE SIN (Genesis 19:1-29)

There are those who believe that you can become a child of God and continue on in sin. God says that is impossible.  You cannot do that. Paul asks the question, 

Romans 6:1-2
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
KJV

The idea that you can be a Christian and go on living in sin, or support and condone the sin of those around you, is a tremendous mistake.  Don’t tell me that the book of Genesis describes a primitive view of God, and that we have a better, more enlightened one today. Don’t argue that, after all, Jesus received sinners.  That is absolutely true, He certainly did, but when He got through with them, He had changed them.  The harlot who came to Him was no longer in that business. When she came to God, she changed.  A tax collector named Matthew came to Jesus, and he gave up that which was crooked when he came to the Lord. If you have come to Christ, you will be changed. 

Many people try to explain that we are living in a new day and that we need to wake up. That is true, we are living in a new day, but it just happens to be the same old sin.  Today, it is the same for us as Christians.  The world has a lot of attractions.  Many people want to have one foot in the world and the other living in God’s will.  But it doesn’t work that way.  In order to become saved, we are commanded to repent of our sins.  The word repent is an expression that always has been given to God’s people as a challenge to turn around, to stop what they are doing.  The word repent can be defined as walking down the road in one direction, stopping, and turning back to go in the opposite direction, never looking or going back the way you were going. This word is much more than just saying you are sorry, it is agreeing with God that what you did was wrong and committing not to do it again.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on how God will bring judgement on pervasive sin. As Christians, our love cannot be of the things of this world.  Our home is no longer here on this earth.  We are pilgrims on this earth.  We are here for one purpose only, to bring others to a saving knowledge of Christ.  

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

Amen.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SIN? (Proverbs 6:16-19)

In today’s message I want us to look at the way we think about sin, and how we rank sin, from little sins that everybody accepts as ok and it is no big deal, to the really bad sins.  I want you to ask yourself what are the really bad sins that people can commit, and how does that compare to the way that God thinks about our sin.

You see, we set a standard of the sins that we think are really bad, and those that are not so bad.  We would say that pride is a sin that is not good, but murder is much worse.  We would say that gossiping is just what people do, but a person who steals is much worse.  Yet, that is not what the Bible tells us about how God thinks of these things.  In fact, we have been studying over the last couple of weeks that pride makes the top of the list of things that God hates, and gossiping can be described as someone that "speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren," which is also in the list of seven sins that God hates.

Prov 6:16-19
16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
KJV

Now, I believe that the Bible says that God hates all sins, and we are required to repent of any sin, and there are no sins that we can just ignore.  But, the Bible does tell us how God feels about different sins.  For example, we know that God hates pride, and He hates it because pride is the sin that leads to all of the other sins.  It is the sin that started it all with the fall of Satan and the fall of the human race.  Pride is the root sin of all the others because it starts by saying God, I don’t need you.  When you think you can say that God doesn’t matter, then all of the other sins are not really sins anymore because you get to decide what is right and what is wrong.  That is the problem with pride, it is a deceitful sin.  Anyone who thinks they can ignore God has a judgment day, and a place in hell, waiting for them.  Because God will not be ignored.  

I believe that what we have in these verses is a look into the mind of God and how He looks at sin.  I believe God hates all sin, and that we need to look into our own hearts to determine if we agree with God.  Are there some sins that we think are ok, some that we like and want to hang onto in our lives?  Are there others that we believe are far worse when we look at the sin in other people’s lives?  The truth is that sin is sin, and God hates all sin.  Until we come to the place where we agree with God about all the sin in our lives, we will never live a victorious Christian life, and we will never be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how God thinks about sin.

Amen.

THE TRAGIC COST OF SIN (2 Samuel 11:27 - 12:3)

The story of David and Bathsheba is a story that is a challenge to each of us as believers, for if a man as great as David could fall into sin, then so could each of us.  It is also a tragic story, because of the tremendous cost of David’s sin.  There will always be consequences when we sin against God. Not just on what we might call the “big” sins, but any sin.  Too many times we get complacent with our sin, because we have rationalized them as “little” sins, or “socially acceptable sins,” and we do not realize the full extent of the cost of that sin in our relationship with God.  There is always a tragic cost of our sin, and that is what I want us to see in our message today.  

But there is also hope.  We can have our relationship with God restored, and that is what I want you to know today, there is hope for us when we fail, even when we fail greatly.  

If you’re living in sin and God is not dealing with you, then do you know what you need to do? You need to get saved.  You need to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior.  

If you’re living in sin and God is dealing with you, then do you know what you need to do? You need to get right with God.  You need to repent of the sin that is in your life and let God forgive you, and restore you.  

God is serious about your life. He wants you to live a righteous and a holy life.  God loves you and He wants you to be in fellowship with Him.  What is the hope for the child of God who has sinned?  God’s never-ending love for you.  God told David, that “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”  God tells you the same thing, 

1 John 4:10
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
KJV

1 John 4:16
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
KJV

1 John 4:19
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
KJV

Do you want to restore your relationship with God?  Do you want to once again “dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him?”  Then you must repent of your sins and find forgiveness in God’s love for you.

1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
KJV

The promise that God “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” is our hope as believers.  

If this message is for you, if you are now walking in sin, it doesn’t even have to be a great big one, like adultery, but any sin, then that sin is impacting your relationship with God.  You need to repent of that sin.  This message is for people who want to live once again in the full love of God.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on the cost of sin, and the hope that the believer has in restoring their relationship with God. 

Amen.

SAUL, THE MAN WHO HAD IT ALL (1 Samuel 26:21)

When I look at the life of Saul, it gives me pause, and it challenges me, because what happened to Saul could happen to me, and it could happen to you or anyone.  Today, we are going to talk about the folly of disobedience. We need to learn that fools are not born, they are made, and generally, they are self-made.

Saul, was a man who had it all.  In fact, no man ever had a better start than the man named Saul, and nobody ever had a sadder finish than the man named Saul. When we first meet Saul in the Bible, he was Israel's first king, he is handsome, he is courteous, he is thoughtful, he is humble, he is young, and he is vital, virile, and vivacious.  Yet, when you look at this same man when he becomes older, you see him as a bitter, murderous, envious, wicked, and desperate old man.  You look at him and say, "How could it be? How could someone who started out so well, end so poorly?”

Click on the link below to learn that there can be no success without obedience. Saul failed to obey the Word of God. No matter how much you know; no matter how much you have; no matter how much influence and authority you have, if you do not obey God, then you are going down, because you are practicing witchcraft.  “God says that Disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft.”  

The song says that we are to trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

As I have gotten older, and God has made it plain that I have a lot fewer days ahead of me than I do behind me.  Do you know what my prayer is for me? I want to end well.  I would not be honest with you if I did not tell you that I believe that God has had His hand on my life, and I bless Him for it. I bless Him for these years.  I regret the years that I spent not doing what God wanted me to do, but I rejoice in the days that God has let me teach His Holy Word.  So, my prayer is now that God will let me end well.  

No one is immune to the deceiving and deadening power of sin if he becomes self-willed rather than Spirit-filled.  We will never be over the power of sin in our lives until we are under the power of the Holy Spirit of God.  We cannot defeat sin without God in our hearts.

I don’t care who you are, or what you’ve achieved. I pray God that every one of us will have enough sense not to play the fool. Never a man had a better start, and never did a man end more tragically, than Saul, the man who had it all.

Amen.

IS IT NICE TO BE NARROW-MINDED PART 1 (Revelation 2:18-29)

Is it nice to be narrow-minded? Is it ever nice to be intolerant? I looked up the definition of the term narrow-minded, and it was not willing to listen to or tolerate other people’s views. The opposite of narrow-minded would be broad-minded, which surprisingly is defined as tolerant or liberal in one’s views and reactions. It actually used the example of a broad-minded approach to religion. Certainly, in today’s politically correct society, being a conservative and being narrow-minded about things like politics, morality, the meanings of the words found in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the right to life, and your religion is a good way to find yourself the target of a bunch of intolerant, socialist, progressives who feel it is just fine to be narrow-minded about the things they believe in. But, is it a good thing to be narrow-minded?

I would say that we would prefer our doctor to be narrow-minded in the prescriptions that he writes for us. If we went in and we said we were hurting all over, and the doctor, said well, Ok, what color of pills would you like today, the pink, the blue, or the purple ones? I think we would all tell the doctor that we wanted him/her to be more narrow-minded in their treatment of us. When I get on an airplane, I want the pilot to be narrow-minded about who he lets fly the plane. If he came back and just picked a passenger at random to fly the plane, in the spirit of being broad-minded, I would likely find a way to get off that plane. Most of you know that I handle firearms quite a bit. I shoot at ranges, at competitions, in practice, and in training. I will tell you that I am very narrow-minded about how the people around me are handling their firearms. I will even speak up and get on to somebody when they are doing something I think is dangerous. So, I am narrow-minded in that situation, and I believe it is a good thing to do.

So, there are certainly times when it is nice to be narrow-minded. How about in our church? Should we be narrow-minded in our church?

What if a member accepted the position of a Bible study teacher and began teaching a doctrine that was different than one of our core doctrines. I don’t mean something like eschatology, we can disagree on eschatology, but what if they were teaching the doctrine of salvation by faith and works, instead of salvation by grace and not works? Should we be narrow-minded or broad-minded about that? Should we stop the teaching of that doctrine, or allow it in the spirit of being open-minded, or broad-minded in our approach to our faith? If you believe we should stop it, whose job would it be to stop it?

Click on the link below to hear a sermon about a church which thought it was nice to be broad-minded about their faith, and what the Lord had to say about that. What the Son of God says about being tolerant of those who would teach something other than what is in the Scripture.

HOW DO YOU REACT TO SIN? (James 4:9-12)

In our politically correct society, what is the proper reaction that is expected of someone who has offended someone else?  Is it to laugh about what was said?  Not likely.  Is it to ignore it as something inconsequential?  A great number of politicians have learned the folly of this reaction.  The accepted, and expected, reaction is for the person to publically, sincerely, apologize and promise to never do it again.  It is interesting that our society demands this type of reaction even when the offended person is totally unknown to the person who made the insensitive statement.      

Contrast this to what most people consider the proper reaction that is expected of someone who has committed a sin against God.  The world celebrates these people, praising them for their courage, and condemning those who would point out that this act was indeed a sin against God, and that God is offended by this sin.  Not just this sin, but any sin.  

The world laughs at the idea of calling something a sin.  Our churches today are calling as good and proper what was once called sin.  They not only tolerate sin in the church, but they declare their own open-mindedness because they accept sin as normal and accepted.  As a result, church members are not dealing with sin in their lives, even though the Bible teaches that sin of any kind offends God. 

In this lesson, James describes how the believer is to react to sin that has been identified in their lives.  We are to mourn that sin.  We are to ask God for forgiveness of that sin, in other words we are to apologize to God.  We are then expected to repent of that sin, which means that we are promising God that we will never do it again.  

God expects, and as our Creator deserves, a better reaction than we give to someone, whom we do not even know, that we have offended.   

The Danger of Tolerated Sin (1 Cor. 5:5-13)

Our churches, afraid of confrontation, have chosen to tolerate the flagrant, willful sin of its members. Why do we do this?  The Bible is certainly clear that we are not to tolerate it, so why do we do this? Paul answers this question in this verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 5:6-13.