The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

HOW TO BE THANKFUL IN TOUGH TIMES (Ephesians 5:20)

HOW TO BE THANKFUL IN TOUGH TIMES (EPHESIANS 5:20)

In my opinion, today’s lesson is about the hardest commandment in all of the Bible to keep and to obey.  Yet, we are going to read about a commandment that if we do obey it, it will bring perhaps the biggest blessing of all. And here it is:

Eph 5:20
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
KJV

It would be relatively simple if that scripture said, “Giving thanks always,” because there is always something that we can be thankful for.  For example, breathing, or our heart beating, or the sun rising.  But it says, “Giving thanks always for all things.”  Notice the words, “all things.”  The hard part of this commandment is, what do you do when you don’t feel thankful?  How can you be thankful when you are faced with the tragedies and trials of life?

Basically, there are four levels of life when it comes to being thankful. First of all, there are some people who are not thankful for anything.  They are constantly complaining, constantly bickering, constantly griping, and we have all been around that kind of person.

A little bit higher than that are people who just simply are filled with ingratitude. They just don’t give thanks. They may not grumble all the time, but they are basically ungrateful people. They are like a hog under a tree eating acorns off the ground, never looking up to see where they came from. And many of us just consume the blessings of God without looking up to thank Him.

Next, there’s a third level. It’s a little higher than that, and these are the ones who are thankful for obvious blessings when they come. If it’s an obvious blessing for health, for prosperity, for friends, for family, for church, we thank God. And that is good; we ought to do that.

But the highest level of thanksgiving, and the one I want to talk about today, is giving thanks always, for all things, no matter what—continual, perpetual, thanksgiving unto God. Now, that is a wonderful principle, and I am saying that it will transform your life from monotonous to momentous.

Click on the play button to hear a message on how you can be thankful to God even in the tough times, even when the trials you are facing are terrible.  

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

Amen.

HOW TO HAVE A SPIRIT FILLED LIFE (Ephesians 5:18)

HOW TO HAVE A SPIRIT FILLED LIFE (EPHESIANS 5:18)

I want you to imagine a man who buys a car.  Now, this man has never owned a car before, and he doesn’t understand anything about a car. But finally, he gets enough money to buy a brand-new car. And so, he is very happy with this car. He shows it off to his friends. He shows them the beautiful paint job. He shows them the soft upholstery. He has them sit in the car and listen to the stereo music.  He shows them all of the amenities of this car. 

But there is one thing he doesn’t understand about it: he doesn’t understand that it has an engine in it.  And so, everywhere he goes, he has to push it. Now, every so often, he is going downhill so he can get in and coast, but that doesn’t thrill him too much because he knows he is going to have to push it up the next hill. And this car that is supposed to be a blessing to him has become a burden to him. And rather than it carrying him, he is pushing it. He is very proud of it, very grateful to have it—most of the time. But sometimes he wishes he didn’t have it at all.

And then, somebody says to him, “You know, there is something you don’t understand about this car,” and they show him a thing called the ignition button on the dash, and they say, “Push that button right there.” And he pushes it and hears this surge of power. He says, “What is that?” “Well, that is the engine. That is the motor. Now put it in drive, and push that pedal down there.” And when he does, it roars away in a surge of power. And he says, “Wow, this is wonderful! This is glorious! Why didn’t somebody tell me this sooner?”

You say, “Now, bro. Keith, really, that is kind of dumb. I mean, that is a stupid story. Nobody could be that dumb.” And you’re right, unless it is the Christian who does not understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  Now, when God saved you, God gave you a faith with an engine in it. And there are many people who are pushing their faith, rather than letting their faith carry them. And the faith—the salvation—that was meant to be a blessing, has almost become a burden to them. And they’re grateful they’re saved, but secretly, they think, “This being a Christian is such a difficult thing to do.”

Well, today, I want us to discover the ignition button to this thing called Christianity.

Click on the play button to hear a message on how the Bible teaches clearly that being filled with the Holy Spirit is a requirement for living a victorious Christian life.  

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

Amen.

THE OPPORTUNITY OF TIME (Ephesians 5:13-18)

THE OPPORTUNITY OF TIME (EPHESIANS 5:13-18)

The word “opportunity” implies there are things to lose or gain, and that is what our lesson is about today, “The Opportunity of Time.”

Paul writes, “Redeeming the time,” which speaks of the days, the hours, and the minutes.  But, more than that, it really speaks of the opportunities that we have.  Because, you need to see time, not just as something that is passing, but you need to see time as an incredible opportunity. And when you are redeeming time, what you are really redeeming is opportunity.

God has provided for you an opportunity. It is God who is the creator of time. God’s great gift to you, number one is Jesus, and number two is time. God has given you time to work, time to serve, time to love, time to laugh, time to labor. But, like any gift, how you use it, is really up to you. And we need to see every day, this day and every day, as a gift from God.  Time is something that God gave you today, and God will give you tomorrow. It is not something that you own. God is the creator, the possessor, of time.  Therefore, I am a steward of the time that God has given me. And one day I will have to answer to God for what I did with this day, and every day, that God has given me. Twenty-four hours in the day, 1,440 minutes in the day, 86,000 seconds in the day—and every one of them is a precious gift from God.  I want to show you from God’s Word how to take time, and use time, and maximize your time for God’s glory, as we face the road ahead. 

Click on the play button to hear a message on how to live in the eternal now. Cut yourself loose from yesterday. Last year, with its heartaches and its failures, is gone. Forget those things which are behind. Confess them to the Lord, and bury them in the grave of God’s forgetfulness. Tomorrow is a time nowhere but on the fool’s calendar. Stop saying, “If I had the time …” You do have the time; use it. And if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, the Bible says, “Behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) Now is the time to be saved.

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

Amen.

TAKE A WALK WITH GOD (Ephesians 5:1-17)

TAKE A WALK WITH GOD (EPHESIANS 5:1-17)

Is that something that you want in your life, to walk with God, step-by-step every day?  That is what Paul is writing about in these verses.

Paul says that we are to “walk worthy.”  Worthy of the work that the Lord has given us the spiritual gifts to accomplish. 

Paul tells us not to walk as an unbeliever does, “in the vanity of their mind.”  The word “vanity” as it used here means the emptiness and futility, of human life without God.

Paul says that we are to “walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,” we are to “walk as children of light,” and we are to “walk circumspectly.”  We are to walk worthy, in love, in light, and circumspectly.  Simple, but hard words to accomplish in our lives apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.

Man has learned to fly through the air in his airplanes like a bird. He has learned to swim through the sea in his submarines like a fish. But he has yet learned how to walk on earth like a man, like God wanted him to walk. The Christian life, being saved, is described in the Bible, and characterized, and illustrated, as a walk. The Bible says that the Lord Jesus Christ died for us, and He gave us an example that we should “walk … as he walked.” (1 John 2:6) And the Bible also says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.” (Colossians 2:6)

Why does the Bible describe the Christian life as a walk? Because it is lived one step at a time. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, and so we walk one step at a time by faith. Step-by-step-by-step we serve the Lord, walking in sunlight. We are to walk one step at a time with our Lord Jesus Christ.

The thing that is going to impress the lost people of this city is not the preaching in our churches.  It is going to be the way you walk this Monday morning.  It is your walk that will make the difference. You see, talk is cheap. We are not talking about talk; we are talking about walk. We are to walk as Jesus walks. And when there is a church full of people—who are holy in character, holy in conversation, and holy in conduct, the city is going to look around and say, “Jesus Christ is real.” 

May I submit to you that the greatest argument for Christianity, and the greatest argument against Christianity, is the life of a Christian. The thing that will put the lie to what I am saying quicker than anything else is for me not to walk as Jesus Christ walked. The thing that will put the yea and amen, and the truth and the seal of God, upon what I am saying more than anything else is for you to walk in holiness. 

Click on the play button to hear a message on how to take a walk with God.

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

Amen.

FINDING FREEDOM IN FORGIVENESS (Ephesians 4:31-32)

FINDING FREEDOM IN FORGIVENESS (EPHESIANS 4:31-32)

The overall theme of Paul’s message to the believers at Ephesus is about the power that is found when the church is unified in purpose and love.  In the local church there is to be unity, but most of all in the body of Christ, the body of true believers, there is great power and comfort in unity.  Both for the overall body, and the individual believer.  

There are two problems that do great psychological, emotional, and spiritual damage to anyone, and perhaps to you.  One is guilt, and the other is bitterness. Guilt imprisons us; bitterness poisons us. Forgiveness is the answer both to bitterness and to guilt. Guilt is the result of something we have done wrong. Bitterness is our reaction to someone else’s wrong, or our perception that someone else has wronged us. They both have us in a prison, and it is forgiveness—hallelujah—that sets the prisoner free from guilt, or from bitterness. God’s forgiveness of us sets us free from the prison of guilt, and our forgiveness of others sets us free from the prison of bitterness. 

In the message today, Paul is telling us that when you forgive someone, truly forgive them from your heart, you set two people free.  One, the person that you have forgiven, and the other is yourself.  Now, “to forgive” actually means “to pay a debt.”  You see, there are no bargain pardons. That is the reason our Lord taught us to pray in the Model Prayer: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) Sin is a debt that we owe. We have sinned against heaven, against the kingdom. We have been sued for damages, and it is a debt that we cannot pay. But God, in mercy and in love, has forgiven us and paid that debt. You see, there are no free pardons. When somebody is forgiven, somebody else has paid.

For example, if someone owes me a thousand dollars, and that person says, “Keith, I can’t pay,” and I say, “All right, I forgive you,” the moment I say that, it cost me what? A thousand dollars. You see, to forgive is to actually pay the debt. The word “forgive” comes from a root word that literally means “to bear the burden.”

Now, if that is true, and it is, then let me ask, when our Lord forgives us, does He pay a price? Paul says that the answer to that question is, yes, the Lord does pay a price when He forgives us.  Out of the riches of His grace, He paid the debt Himself and, therefore, cancelled that debt. That is the reason we call salvation “grace”—G-R-A-C-E: “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.”

Click on the play button to hear a message on the freedom that we can find in forgiveness.

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

Amen.

HOW TO BREAK SATAN'S STRONGHOLDS IN YOUR LIFE (Ephesians 4:22-31)

HOW TO BREAK SATAN’S STRONGHOLDS IN YOUR LIFE (EPHESIANS 4:22-31)

In last week’s message, we talked about what a difference God makes in the life of a true follower of Christ.  We contrasted a life without God, to a life full of God’s grace and power.  Yet, there are many believers who might say that they don’t feel all that different, that God is not working fully in their lives.  The Bible tells us that the reason for this is that we allow Satan to have strongholds in our lives.  If we want to experience the full measure of God’s grace and power in our lives, then we must remove the strongholds in our lives that Satan has dug in, and fortified, and is using to defeat us.  

It is a tragic fact that there are many believers who get strongholds in their lives.  And I believe that there are many people, who are listening to me today, who have in their heart, and in their mind, and in their life, a satanic stronghold.  The tragedy of this is that not only is it harming them and wrecking their spiritual life, but they also, themselves, are contaminating the life of their family and the life of their church, because the devil has found an unclean place in that person, and the devil has made a campground, a foul nest, a beachhead, a citadel, a stronghold, there. And he uses that stronghold to war against God and against the work of God.

You are never going to cease grieving the Holy Spirit, you are never going to expunge Satan and get him out of your life, until you take these three steps: repentance, resistance, and renewal.

Click on the play button to hear a message on what these three steps are, and how to apply them to your life.  How you shouldn’t try to repent until you are honest and face your sin. Don’t try to resist until you’ve repented. And don’t try to be filled until you resist—until you choose against Satan and yield to God’s blessed Holy Spirit.

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

Amen.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE GOD MAKES (Ephesians 4:17-27)

WHAT A DIFFERENCE GOD MAKES (EPHESIANS 4:17-27)

The Bible teaches us that the behavior of a true Christ follower is to be radically different from that of the person who does not know Christ as their Lord and Savior.  That difference is God.  That difference is the light, the strength, the presence, the comfort, and the wisdom, among many other things, that God provides to His children, to those who call Jesus Christ, Lord of their lives.  

In our message today, Paul reminds us of the blindness of lost people.  He reminds us that no follower of Christ should let such earthly minded, secular, and lost, people influence what they believe, or how they behave.  People who are outside of Christ simply cannot think straight on moral and spiritual issues. They may articulate the issues, but they leave out the spiritual dimensions because they are blind to them. Therefore, they cannot come to any true conclusions

Man was created to be inhabited by God. God intended for the human spirit to be inhabited by the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit was to enlighten the intellect, elevate the emotions, and energize the will.  As a result, the life of man would express, in human terms, the life of God. The fall ruined all that. Sin entered and the Holy Spirit left. Without the life of the indwelling Holy Spirit, the natural man is spiritually dead, “alienated from the life of God.”

The genius of the gospel is that when we accept Christ as Savior, we are cleansed by His blood and regenerated by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the human spirit, making it possible for the saved person to have fellowship with God.  They can now cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and begin to live the kind of life that God intended man to live—a life governed by the Spirit of God. 

The understanding of unsaved people is darkened because they are cut off from the life of God.  Their spirit is empty, and darkened, because the Holy Spirit does not live within their spirit.  As a result, they are ignorant of the things of God.  This is the cause of their deep-seated, inner blindness. It is a vicious circle. The darkness is self-perpetuating. The lost move from darkness to darkness in darkness.

Click on the play button to hear a message on the dramatic, radical, difference God can make in your life.

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

Amen.

TO BE FAITHFUL IN MINISTRY (Ephesians 4: 7 to 16)

TO BE FAITHFUL IN MINISTRY (EPHESIANS 4:7-16)

In today’s lesson we are going to talk about how you can be faithful in your work for God, in whatever ministry God has chosen for you to do.  God has a purpose for you in this world, and the Bible promises that God will give you the power, the spiritual gifts, that you need to accomplish that purpose.  

Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest, and most influential, Baptist preachers that has ever lived, told a story one time. He told of a woman who had been a member of his congregation.  This woman was very poor, and she lived in what they called “the poor house” in those days. And Spurgeon went to visit her to give her some comfort and some help. And when he was there in her room, he looked up on the wall, and there he saw framed a certificate, a piece of paper, and it was a legal document. And so, he went over and read it. And it was a document transferring great wealth to this woman. She didn’t know what it was. She had framed it and put it on her wall. What had happened is this: that she had served as a nurse and had taken care of an elderly man, and when he died, he left her his estate.  But, she couldn’t read so she didn’t know what it was. She was untaught, unlearned. When, finally, the bank learned about it, they said, “We wondered who the old gentlemen left his estate to.”

When the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, He left you an incredible giftedness.  And it may be that you have not yet discovered what you have in the Lord Jesus.  So, I want to talk to you today about your spiritual gift. Could it be that you have it framed as a motto on the wall, rather than having carried it to the bank to cash it and use it? Or could it be that you have left your gift under the tree, wrapped and unopened and, therefore, unappreciated? When God saved you, God saved you by His grace, but God did not save you to sit, soak, and sour; God saved you to serve. And you are saved by grace, and you serve by grace.  You are a gifted child of God.

Click on the play button to hear a message on how you can learn what your spiritual gift is, and how you can develop and display your gift.  If you are a born-again believer, then you are a person who has been gifted by grace,

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

Amen.

FAITH WITH LEGS ON IT (Ephesians 4:1-6)

FAITH WITH LEGS ON IT (EPHESIANS 4:1-6)

The Bible says that we are called to a vocation, and that vocation is “a worthy walk.’ We are called to walk worthy. That is, our faith is to have legs on it. It is not enough just to simply be seated with the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenlies. That is our faith, but we are called to have a faith with legs on it, or what the Holy Spirit calls “a worthy walk.”

The Christian life begins with resting. The very first thing that you need to do in order to be saved is to quit trying and start trusting.  To quit your struggling.  To quit trying to be good by doing.  Christianity is not spelled “d-o.”; it is spelled “d-o-n-e.”  The work of salvation is already finished.  When God created the world, God worked for six days, and God rested on the seventh day.  Not because He was tired, but because His work was completed.  But man was created on the sixth day, and man’s first day was a day of rest. God worked and then rested, God completed His work, that man might rest and then work. 

Man starts by resting, and then he works. God works and then rests, that man might rest and then work.  When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, He bowed His head and He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And you and I, by faith, enter into the finished work of Calvary. I don’t try to be saved by living a good life, keeping the Ten Commandments, getting baptized, going to church, and all of those things. They are all good, and they all have their place.  But, those things are works, and works cannot save. The only thing that saves us is when we by faith appropriate the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, first of all, the Christian life begins with sitting, resting in the completed work of Salvation of our Lord Jesus.  But then, after we have come to the faith rest, then, there is the practical outworking, where we start to walk. We are not told to leap. We are not told to run. We are not told to drift. But we are called to walk.

Click on the play button to hear a message on how a Christian is to live a life of faith, facing our day-to-day problems and trials, by walking one step at a time.  Walking with our eyes on Christ one step at a time.

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

Amen.

HOW TO PRAY FOR OUR LOVED ONES (Ephesians 3:8-21)

HOW TO PRAY FOR OUR LOVED ONES (EPHESIANS 3:8-21)

Today’s message is going to help us learn about intercession.  If you have loved ones, then certainly you want to learn the art of intercession, or prayer.  Let me tell you that I will use those two words, prayer and intercede, interchangeably.  Because that is what we are doing when we pray for somebody, we are interceding for them with God.  We are praying to God for them.   
There is nothing we can do for our friends, our children, our parents, our fellow members of the church, and even people we do not know personally, that is any nobler, any higher, any more wonderful, or any more effective, than to learn how to pray for them, how to intercede for them. 

As I was studying this week, there was a thought that hit me. It was so staggering that it almost consumed me. I mean, it almost drove me to my knees. It almost just overwhelmed me. I hesitate to tell you what the thought was because you’ll say, “Well, I knew that. You mean you’ve been teaching all these years and you just discovered that?” But, I want to tell you what the thought was. Now, don’t laugh when I tell you. Here’s what it was, and remember it was perhaps the most staggering thought I’ve ever had in my life: God answers prayer. Well, you say, “What’s the big deal?” Yeah, I knew it, too, but then I got to thinking, “Is that true?” I mean, is that more than just talk? Does God really answer prayer?

Now, if there is a God and He answers prayer—you think about it—that is staggering that I can touch the One who made the universe and bring Him into action through prayer. It just overwhelmed me, and I thought, “Oh God, knowing this is true, why don’t I pray more? Why don’t I learn to pray if God answers prayer?” What unmitigated fools we are if we don’t learn how to pray. And yet, there is a constant battle in my heart to pray more and a constant confession, “O God, have mercy on me. I’ve failed again in my prayer life.” 

Is that true about you sometimes?  If yes, then you will find something wonderful in this message.  Now, I pray, and I thank God for answered prayer.  I know that God hears my prayer and answers my prayer, but I am constantly condemned and constantly amazed that I don’t pray more and better than I do pray. I believe that when we get to heaven, one of the things that’s going to amaze us, and chagrin us, is that we prayed so poorly and prayed so little. 

Click on the play button to hear a message on how to pray for your loved ones.  

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

Amen.