The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

TO BE CALEED A CHRISTIAN (Acts 11:1-30)

Today, we are going to study about what a Christian is and how you go about becoming one.  When you look up the word Christian in the dictionary you will find several meanings of the word, from a believer in Jesus Christ as Savior, to having something to do with a Christian organization, a church, or a nation.  

Although it is not true today, for much of our nation’s history, the world’s image of the U.S. was that of a Christian nation and anybody coming from it must be a Christian, just like anybody coming from an Islamic nation must be a Muslim.  This was something we treasured and took great honor in.  However, this view has not always been favorable in the eyes of the rest of the world, and there are many in our society who have succeeded in changing this image away from our Christian heritage.  The true meaning of the word Christian is quite different from that of the world’s definition.  In fact, Satan has been working hard to make the definition to be something generic, to be something that has no real special meaning or power behind it.  

So, what is a Christian?  The disciples were called Christians by God.  God gave this name to those who had received the Word of God in their hearts.  They received the gospel and were, therefore, born again through the power of the risen Christ in heaven.  They were Christians not because they lived in America, or attended a specific church, they were Christians because they belonged to Christ.  

In Cantonese, the word for Christian is “Yasu-yan.”  Yasu is their word for Jesus, and yan is the word for man.  A Christian is a Jesus-man in their language.  I like that name.  Jesus-man, because it means that we belong to Jesus.  We are made Christians by Christ.  As Christians we are given the light that is Jesus Christ to live within us.

Click on the link below to hear a message on what it means to be a Christian.

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

Amen.

LEARNING TO SHARE YOUR FAITH (Acts 10:34-48)

LEARNING TO SHARE YOUR FAITH (Acts 10:34-48)

Let me tell you something very important, the door to salvation and eternal life in heaven with God is very wide.  The Bible tells us that, “There is no respect of persons,” and best of all it says in Revelation 22:17: “Whosoever will may come.”  The Bible also says that if anyone will believe on Him, that person will “receive remission of sins.”  

So, I want you to say to yourself this morning, “I can be saved if I want to be saved.” God did not say that only some people can be saved, and other people cannot be saved, that some are in a select group. No, “there is no respect of persons with God,” none whatsoever. If you go to hell, a brokenhearted God will watch you drop into hell. It is not God’s plan that you die and go to hell. “The Lord is … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”(2 Peter 3:9) 

But, the second thing is, if you are going to be saved, then you are going to be saved by Jesus, or you are not going to be saved at all. Jesus is not a good way to go to heaven. Jesus is not the best way to go to heaven. Jesus is the only way to go to heaven. And, if Jesus is not the only way, then He is none of the ways. He is not just one of the ways; He is either the only way or none of the ways. 

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

Now, that is either true or false.  If it is true, then He is the only way. If it is false, then He is a liar and He is not any of the ways. So, you can’t just kind of tip your hat to Jesus; you have to bow your knee to Jesus.

And so, the door is very wide, but the way is very narrow.  Anybody can come through the door to Jesus, but the only way that you can come to God the Father is through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to share your faith and lead someone to that wide open door.

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

Amen.

HEARING AND DOING THE WILL OF GOD (Acts 9:1-27)

HEARING AND DOING THE WILL OF GOD (Acts 9:1-27)

I want to talk today about Hearing and Doing the Will of God.  Scripture tells us that we are all called to be missionaries.  However, not everyone is called to be a fulltime vocational missionary.  But, whether it is across the street, or around the world, we are all called to carry the light of Jesus Christ.  And I know that if you are a child of God, and understand the Bible, then you believe that.  

If I were to ask you, who is the world’s greatest missionary that has ever lived, I think we would all say that his name was Paul, a missionary named Paul. Without a doubt, without equivocation or contradiction, I believe that we would have to say that the Apostle Paul was the world’s greatest missionary, and what I want us to do today is to hear how God laid the missionary call on the heart of the Apostle Paul. Now, as we do that, it is going to speak to us because we are going to find some principles as to how God works and how God speaks.

Certainly, an important question that people have, who are sincere in their desire to serve God, is “How can I know the will of God for my life?” And, that is an excellent question, and there is a Biblical answer.  This question is important because, as servants of God, we must know the will of God for our lives. Success in life is not necessarily making a lot of money or being famous, but it is the progressive realization of the will of God for your life. That is success. And, who doesn’t want to be successful?

Click on the link below to hear a message on Hearing and Doing the Will of God in your life.

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

Amen.

THE MARKS OF A MAN MADE NEW (Acts 9:17-22)

THE MARKS OF A MAN MADE NEW (Acts 9:17-22)

When we make Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, we become a new creation.  We are made new.  A great preacher once said, “Nature forms us. Sin deforms us. School informs us. Prison reforms us. But, only Christ transforms us.” 

In Christ, we become new. A Christian is not just somebody who has become nice; he has become new. He doesn’t just turn over a new leaf; he receives a new life. A Christian is not like a tadpole that has become a frog, which has gone through a series of changes, but basically, it is the same creature. No, a Christian is more like a frog that has received the kiss of grace and has become a prince.  That is what we are. We are changed radically and dramatically.  We are a new creature.

When Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus on that road to Damascus, Saul asked the two greatest questions that anybody in this world could ever ask: “Who art thou, Lord?” and “Lord, what [would you] have me to do?”  Somebody has said that the Apostle Paul spent the rest of his life finding the answer to those two questions: “Who art thou, Lord?” and “Lord, what [would you] have me to do?”  They truly are wonderful questions! I would to God that everyone in the whole wide world would sincerely ask those questions: Who is Jesus, and what does Jesus want me to do?  

As you study the Bible, you will see that the Bible doesn’t put the emphasis upon receiving Christ as Savior.  The Bible puts the emphasis upon making Jesus Lord. And, when you make Jesus Christ Lord, He is, therefore, your Savior. Now, I’m not saying that He doesn’t save.  Indeed, He does save.  But, while the Bible mentions Him as Savior 24 times, it mentions Him as Lord 433 times. When they spoke of the Lord Jesus, they called Him “the Lord Jesus.” Nobody is saved, who has not made Jesus Lord.  Listen, you cannot have what He gives—salvation—unless you receive what He is—and that is Lord.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the marks of a man made new in Christ.

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

Amen.

FINDING SALVATION AT THE FEET OF THE SAVIOR (Acts 8;30-9:8)

FINDING SALVATION AT THE FEET OF THE SAVIOR (Acts 8:30-9:8)

For it is at the feet of the Savior, Jesus Christ, that everyone’s salvation takes place.  It is by no other name in heaven above, or on the earth, or below the earth, that salvation can occur.  It is only by the blood of Jesus Christ that our salvation can be purchased. 

In today’s message we will see that in every conversion there are three ingredients that are brought to bear to create that conversion.

First, there is the work of the Holy Spirit: The Spirit of God goes ahead to prepare the heart of the lost person, and also to prepare the messenger.  This leading of the Spirit of God is absolutely essential.  Unfortunately, in many cases, we get ahead of the Holy Spirit and barge forward before He has set the stage for us.  We ought to make it a matter of definite prayer before we talk to anyone. We should talk to the Lord about that person, before, we talk to them about the Lord. It is not simply that we need the Holy Spirit to lead us. What we need is for the Spirit of God to go ahead of us and prepare the way, then to call us up to where He is. 

The second ingredient that is brought to bear is The Word of God:  The Word of God is absolutely essential. The Holy Spirit will take the things of Christ and will reveal them to an individual. It is the Spirit of God, using the Word of God, that brings the knowledge of God, and the faith in God.  For it is in the Word of God that the very basis of our faith is found.  Without the promises of the Word of God, our faith is empty and without merit.  

The third ingredient is the man of God:  When God gets ready to save somebody, He uses human instrumentality. God doesn’t reach out of Heaven and simply convict, convert, and save a person without human instrumentality being involved someway. That is the plan of God.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit of God is primarily a ministry of cooperation. He will not do it without you, and you cannot do it without Him.  Now, it doesn’t have to be a preacher, or a missionary, it could simply be a friend or a stranger, that brings to that person the Word of God.  It could be by how they live their lives that causes them to ask questions, or by direct witness.  I believe that the Spirit of God, uses the man of God, who delivers the Word of God, to produce a son of God, one who is born again. 

Click on the link below to hear a message on how salvation can be found at the feet of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

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

Amen.

BELIEVERS BAPTISM (Acts 8:35-39)

BELIEVER’S BAPTISM (Acts 8:35-39)

In today’s message I want to show you what the Bible has to say about Believer’s Baptism. I want you to understand the importance of the ordinance of Believer’s Baptism, because we dare not minimize it. Baptism has a message in it, and it speaks primarily of three things.  

First, it speaks of our past redemption. What I mean by that is, baptism is a portrayal of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

Second, it pictures my present regeneration. Because, I have died to the old way, and I have been raised to walk in a new life. I died with Him. I was buried with Him. I rose with Him. I am now living in the power of His resurrection.

Third, it pictures my prospective resurrection.  One day I will die, and they’ll carry my dead, empty, body out to some cemetery, and they will put me beneath the ground.  And one of these days, our Lord Jesus is going to “[come] in the glory of [the] Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38) And, there will come “the voice of the archangel, and … the trump of God: and the dead in Christ [will] rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) And, just as I came up out of that water when I was baptized, I am going to come up out of this ground. I am going to be raised with the Lord Jesus in a glorified body, and that glorified body is going to meet up with my spirit and soul to be with Jesus forever and ever. That is what baptism is all about.

Baptism pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is a liquid tomb. And, when a person is baptized and he is put beneath the water, that symbolizes a burial. When he comes up out of the water, that symbolizes a resurrection. Now, it symbolizes primarily the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And every time a person is baptized, he is preaching that he believes what literally happened is that Jesus died, that Jesus was buried, and that Jesus rose again.

And, while baptism does not bring salvation, it is an answer of obedience to our Lord. And, when you obey our Lord, that is when the joy begins. If you are having trouble, difficulty, in your Christian life and you are not growing—you are saying, “What’s wrong with me?”—then why don’t you go back and do a check up—not just with the command to be baptized, but any command in the Word of God. And when you begin to obey, God begins to manifest Himself to you.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the meaning of Believer’s Baptism and why it is important to you.

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

Amen.

DON'T GO TO HEAVEN ALONE (Acts 8:26-35)

DON’T GO TO HEAVEN ALONE (Acts 8:26-35)

The title of today’s lesson is “Don’t Go to Heaven Alone.” Instead, take somebody with you. I want to talk to you about how to win men, women, boys, and girls to Jesus Christ.  Did you know that we have an ability, and a joy, that angels don’t have? That is to win souls. Did you know that angels can’t do what we can do? And did you know that winning a soul is something that we can do now, that we will not be able to do when we get to Heaven? There is something, there is a joy, that Earth has that Heaven knows nothing about, and that is the winning of souls. And my, how you ought to be interested—not only in going to Heaven, but in taking somebody with you!

The simple truth is that you are not fit to be a servant of God, if you are not willing to witness.  Amen? Every servant of God is to be filled with the Holy Spirit who can witness through you.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit of God is primarily a ministry of cooperation. He will not do it without you, and you cannot do it without Him.  It is His ability, and your availability. It is His power, and it is your personality. It is His work, but it is your witness. That is God’s plan—not God doing it all, not you doing it all, but God doing it through you. And, in a Christian, Christ lives again. The Church is the Body of Christ. And the Lord has said, “Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8).

We ought to be sharing the message of Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit is preparing somebody in your world.  And God the Holy Spirit wants to find somebody that He can use, somebody who will be insistent to the cause of the Spirit. That is the way God does it. Oh, it is time that we got excited about winning people to Jesus Christ!

What is it all about? Why did Jesus Christ hang naked on a cross in agony and blood? The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.  Getting souls saved is what it is all about. The Bible says, “He that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).  We all have members in our family who are lost. One day, the clods will fall on that casket, and every clod will say, “Lost, lost, lost.” You’ll say, “My God, why didn’t I witness?”  So, I want to tell you, that it is time we got excited about what excites God, and that is bringing people to Jesus Christ. 

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to be a soul winner for Christ, and don’t go to Heaven alone, take somebody with you. 

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

Amen.

THE DEVIL'S RELIGION (Acts 8:5-25)

THE DEVIL’S RELIGION (Acts 8:5-25)

In today’s lesson, we will be talking about false religion.  The title of the lesson is The Devil’s Religion” for the simple reason that all false religion comes from the Devil.  

I want you to recall that the general heading of our study of the book of Acts is “That Old-Time Religion.” For that is exactly what we are learning about, that Old-Time Religion that so many of our parents, and grandparents, and great grandparents worshipped in.  However, in many churches, that Old-Time Religion has not been carried forward into the worship services of today.  Today, progressivism and social ethics have infected many of our churches and denominations.  

So, what do I mean when I use the term “Old-Time Religion?”  I mean a religion that is based on the inerrant and infallible Word of God.  Where the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, and the bodily, physical, resurrection of our Lord, and what it means to us, is preached regularly.  That Jesus is the Son of God, and that salvation can only by obtained through Jesus Christ, and your sins are forgiven because God sent His only begotten Son to die on a cross so that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  That your sins are redeemed by the washing of the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  That salvation is given by grace and grace alone, not by works.  Now, I could go on, but that is the general idea of what I mean when I talk about that Old-Time Religion that so many churches have pushed to the wayside in favor of the Devil’s religion, which is based on selective parts of the Bible, ignoring the parts they don’t like, and being deceitful about the parts they do like.  You see, if you don’t teach the whole Word of God, then what you teach is a false religion, or the Devil’s Religion.  

Click on the link below to hear a message where we ask the question, Do you know God? I’m not asking you, are you a member of this church or any other church. I’m not asking you how religious or upstanding you are. Simon the sorcerer was religious, and he was in bondage, and in bitterness. He didn’t know Jesus.

If you want to live a victorious Christian life, then beware of the devil’s religion, and come find the truth of God’s Word and promises found in that Old-Time Religion, that Bible religion.

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

Amen.

THE GOSPEL REACHES OUT BEYOND JERUSALEM (Acts 8:1-17)

THE GOSPEL REACHES OUT BEYOND JERUSALEM (Acts 8:1-17)

With the death of Stephen, the intent, and purpose, of the religious leaders changes from keeping the church from being created, to destroying it and anyone who would dare to become a member. Saul of Tarsus was put in charge of this persecution.  It was religion without the Holy Spirit that blinded Saul’s eyes, as it has many others throughout history.  When you look back at the history of this world, a significant portion of the wars that have occurred were fought because of the blindness that religion without the Holy Spirit brings to people.  Religion without the Holy Spirit is one of the cruelest forces in the world.  

Click on the link below to hear a message that teaches us that being saved is much more than simply believing in Jesus.  Satan truly believes in Jesus, but he is not saved.  For a person to be saved they must Be convicted by the Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit that convicts the lost person of the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ.  It is not true that a sinner, in and of himself, repents and believes, and then God enters into the process in forgiveness.  God seeks the sinner. It is God that calls man unto salvation. 

Next, for a person to be saved, they must acknowledge and confess their sin before God.  Confession of sin on the part of the Christian is not a mere admission of that sin to God.  The act of confession includes the Christian coming into agreement with God in regard to his sin, of agreeing with God as to what He says about that sin, and what the Christian ought to do about it.  It requires the Christian to repent of that sin, meaning they have a change of heart about that sin.  It means stopping, turning around, and choosing to turn away from that sin and follow the will of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Confession of Christ means the public acknowledgment of Christ and all that He is and stands for. The act of confession implies that the one confessing, or professing, the Lord Jesus, has come to agree with the Bible's estimate of Jesus. To confess Him means much more than to make a statement with the lips. It also means to back up that statement with the life.  It is one thing to say, "Jesus Christ is Lord," and quite another thing to surrender to Him and obey His will. The walk and the talk must go together.

God desires that all men are to be saved, but that salvation requires all three elements, conviction, confession, and repentance.  And most of all it requires the cleansing power of the precious blood of Christ.   

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

Amen.

WHERE DOES GOD LIVE? (Acts 7:47-49)

WHERE DOES GOD LIVE? (Acts 7:47-49)

The title of our lesson today is “Where Does God Live?”  I don’t know of any subject that excites me more than the answer to the question “Where Does God Live?”  And, I can tell you that if you will learn what I have to say today, not because I say it, but because of the truth of it, it will radically, dramatically, and eternally change your life. 

So many of us think of God as sort of an absentee landholder.  That somehow, we are down here on earth, and He has saved us, forgiven our sins, and then given us a shove, and said, “Do the best you can.”  And He is up there in heaven peering down through the clouds, and every now and then, we are sending prayers up to Him and saying, “O God, as you sit at master control up there, do something to help me down here because I am in great, great difficulty.” And when we don’t see a response from God, we sometimes pray and say, “You know, I pray, and my prayers never got above the light bulbs.” If that is what you think, do you know what your problem is?  It is because you think God is way up there above the light bulbs.  Listen, God is beneath the light bulbs, as well as above the light bulbs, and that is what we need to learn. We need to learn where God is and where God lives.

Let me ask a question, if you wanted to write God a letter, do you know His address? Do you have the zip code? Where does God live? Sometimes we say about the church we worship in, “Well, this is the house of God.” This is not the house of God. Now, it’s God’s house in the sense that He owns it, but “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” (1 Corinthians 10:26, 28) But, this is not God’s address. As a matter of fact, God has been living in a series of houses, and I want to talk to you about those houses today, because when you learn this lesson, you will learn a great, great, truth.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on where God lives, where God dwells.  God has moved into people. In the Old Testament, He had a temple for His people. In the New Testament, He has a people for a temple. We are the temple of God, and God lives in us.  That is the answer to the question “Where does God live?” The answer is God lives in us.  

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

Amen.