The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

WHY DID JESUS CHOOSE JUDAS (John 6:70-71)

When you think about it, it may be hard to understand why Jesus would choose Judas to be in the select group of men that were to represent Him to the world. Was Jesus fooled by Judas? Was Jesus surprised by His betrayal by Judas? Does this mean that Jesus was a bad judge of character? Did Jesus make a mistake? Absolutely not, Jesus never made a single mistake in His whole life. The Bible says he doeth all things well. He knew exactly what he was doing when he chose Judas.

So, the question is why did Jesus choose Judas? Why would Jesus choose to have a man like this knowing that He would be betrayed? Well, let me ask you why Jesus did anything during His earthly ministry? So that the will of His Father might be fully accomplished, and so that we might know that Jesus was the Son of God. We also know that everything Jesus did was to be a lesson for us as believers in how we are to live the life of a victorious Christian.

Click on the link below to hear a message concerning religious hypocrisy, a message concerning the divine sovereignty of God, a message concerning our personal responsibility and the tragedy of sin, and a message concerning the security of the believer. Those are the four reasons to explain why Jesus chose Judas, and those are the four lessons that Jesus would have us learn from that choice.

Amen.

THERE IS WONDER WORKING POWER IN THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THE LAMB (John 6:63)

I know a lot of Christian people who are living painful lives because they have let toxins build up in their lives. They have let the sins of worry, envy, jealousy, fear, pride, bitterness, and doubt, build up in their lives. They build up more and more of these toxins in their lives. If you don't allow the blood of Christ to be constantly cleansing you, then you are going to be living a life of pain. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Now, you may be saved and on your way to heaven, but you're miserable, you're miserable because you are not letting the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse you, and so you're just miserable. You see, not only is there the constant provision of the blood, there is the cleansing property of the blood. It is the body’s blood that cleanses us in the physical world, and it is the blood of Christ that cleanses us in the spiritual world.

This is the reason that many Christians are failing. They are not living in victory because while they understand the saving blood, they have never understood that everything that I need to live the Christian life is in Jesus.

Click on the link below and you will hear a message on how the wonder-working power of the precious blood of the Lamb can give you victory as you walk with Christ. Listen as God tells us in His Word that Anything Jesus has overcome, we can overcome, and Everything that I need to live the Christian life is in Jesus, and Jesus is already in me.

There is power, wonder-working power, in the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

THERE IS LIFE IN THE BLOOD (John 6:52-53)

Are you in the secret service? I know a lot of Christians who are in the secret service. Now, they may be saved, but you would never know it by looking at them and the way they talk, the way they walk, the way they act, and the way they live. They do not have that power that God wants them to have. The life of Jesus Christ is not evidenced in them, and the difference is that they have never discovered the power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ gave Himself for us in order that He might give Himself to us. He wants to share the power and life that is in His blood with us.

This is why we are failing to walk victoriously in Christ. We can be going to heaven, and we can thank God for the shed blood, which is saving blood, but there is more to it. He gave Himself for us, that He might give Himself to us, that we may eat of His flesh, and drink of His blood. Jesus is saying that we are to do this so His life might be in you.

Click on the link below to hear a message on what it means to find life in the blood of Jesus. Just as in my human body everything that my body needs to exist is delivered to me by my blood, so everything I need to live the victorious Christian life is in Jesus. There is life, and there is power, in the blood. The life of Christ is in that blood, life everlasting, and there is power in that blood for you and me to walk victoriously in our work for the Lord.

Amen.

JESUS IS GOD'S ANSWER TO MAN'S DESPAIR (John 6:15-21)

Each of us face times of great trouble and despair. Maybe you're not there right now. Maybe everything is fine for you. Maybe it is smooth sailing for you right now. If so, just wait, just wait, sooner or later you're going to find the wind is going to begin to blow and things are going to seem to reverse on you. If you're having smooth sailing now, I'm grateful. I want you to enjoy it. But, the day will come when you face a time of despair.

The Bible says that you will have trouble in this life. You will have tears and heartaches. But, if the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior, then I'm going to promise you something on the authority of the word of God. You are predestined to be like Jesus. Paul tells us in the book of Romans "all things will work together for good to those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." One of these days your destiny will be fulfilled. For the Bible says in Philippians one six, "he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it." If you're in trouble right now, God’s eyes are on you. He's praying for you. He will come to you and I can promise you this, He is going to see you through. God does not promise you a life of smooth sailing, but He does promise you a safe landing. God said in His Word, "I will never leave thee or forsake thee." He will see you through to a safe landing.

Click on the link below to hear a message about six anchors for your soul that will help you to ride out the storm. When the storm comes, these are six things for you to learn so you can say with real meaning that Jesus is God's answer to man's despair.

Amen.

TRUST IN JESUS (John 6:25-36)

Have you been looking for true happiness, true joy, true peace, and just not been able to find it? It is because you are looking for the wrong things in the wrong places. If you want true happiness, and joy, and peace, then trust in Jesus Christ.

Happiness, joy, blessedness, and satisfaction, are never things that you find by searching for them. They are the things that you stumble over when you serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You are to seek Him preeminently. It is Jesus that you need, and it is in Jesus that you will find all that you have been searching for.

The people of this world want fame. They want fortune. They want friends. They want fashion, and they want fitness. Jesus tells us that they are seeking after the wrong things. Yet, these are the things that most people want. They are what they seek most of all in their lives. Jesus tells us that they are looking for satisfaction in the wrong places. Listen now, none of these are wrong in themselves. Fame and food and fashion and fitness and friends, they're all fine in their place, as long as that place is second place.

Matt 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
KJV

Jesus tells us to seek God first, seek God preeminently, and all the things that God has planned for you shall be added unto you.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to find the satisfaction, the happiness and joy, that you have been searching for. Most people today are working hard at changing their lives, trying to make them better using the things of the secular world, but all they are doing is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. All they are interested in is making the world a better place to go to hell from. What our Lord Jesus Christ is offering, is everlasting life. He is talking about getting a person saved. Jesus is spiritual bread that gives everlasting life.

It is in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone, that you will find what you are looking for.

Amen.

JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE (John 6:8-36)

Are you willing for God to use you? If you are, then ask yourself, have you given everything to Jesus Christ? Some might say, “Whoa, wait a minute, That's absurd! I need some for myself. I have a family to take care of.” Well, if that is your response, then I have to tell you that you have got a real problem. If you want God to use you, then you need to give everything, I mean everything, I mean totally, one hundred percent of all that you have, all that you are, your family, your friends, your reputation, totally to Jesus Christ.

Matt 16:25-26
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
KJV

One of my favorite quotes from Adrian Rogers is, “If Jesus Christ is not Lord of your all, then He is not your Lord at all.” Do you believe that? Really, truly, believe that? Do you live your life with that as a truth in your life? Let me tell you something, Jesus already owns everything you have, whether you believe that or not. It is all His, but we don’t act like that is true. Yet, when we live our lives like it is true, then you don’t bargain with God about how much you tithe, when you tithe, or whether you tithe at all. When that is true, you don’t go places and do things that God would not have you do. When that is true, you love your neighbor as you love yourself, because, the very first thing that you did was to love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul. You love God with all of you and all that you have. If Jesus Christ is not Lord of your all, then He is not your Lord at all. Put that in your heart, and live your life with it.

Click on the link below to hear a message how Jesus is the bread of life. You are hungry for more than fish and bread. You are hungry for Jesus. Whether you know it or not, Jesus is life's hidden hunger. What you really need, the only thing that will satisfy the deepest longing of your heart and your soul, is Jesus Christ. Men are searching everywhere for satisfaction, but they will never find it until they find it in the Lord Jesus!

Amen.

JESUS FEEDS YOUR DEEPEST HUNGER (John 6:1-14)

Our message today is about the miracle where Jesus fed the 5,000 using just five loaves of bread and two little fishes. We will see that Jesus performed a miracle, and it was a miracle of feeding physical bodies. However, if all you learn from this message is that Jesus can miraculously feed 5,000 people with five loaves and a few fishes, then you have missed the whole point of the message God has for us today. What I want you to do as we talk about this miracle is to look beyond the miracle and on to Jesus. Jesus did not come to this earth as God incarnate in man in order to feed you physically. Jesus did not come to heal you physically. Jesus did not come to solve all of your physical, material, problems. He is a Savior. He came to save you from sin, and you need to look beyond these miracles and on to Jesus. We need to believe in miracles, but trust in Jesus.

Down in your heart, down in the deepest part of your being, there is a hunger that only God can satisfy. Pascal once said, "In every man's heart there is a God-shaped vacuum that God alone can fill through His Son Jesus Christ." And that is the hunger that I want to talk to you about today, not the physical hunger that we have.

Click on the link below and learn how there is never a problem too big for Jesus to solve. In every problem you face, God already knows about the problem and He has a plan to solve it. So many times, we have a problem in our lives that we're trying to solve. We are using all of our strength, at least so we think, but there is a heavenly Father who is ready to help us with His strength in order to solve our problem. The moral of the story is, there is never a problem too big for Jesus to solve, you just need to ask Him.

Amen.

JESUS IS GOD'S ANSWER TO MAN'S DISABILITY (John 6:6-16)

Many of us do not even realize that we are spiritually disabled. We live a good life, a moral life, so we do not recognize that our weakness is that we don't have the strength to be godly. Not good, not moral, but godly. We are without strength, and so Christ died for the ungodly. You see, I have a need to be godly in my life. What is God's plan for me? What is God's plan for you? God's plan for all of us is that we be godly. Yet, we don't have the strength to be godly. Without the power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we cannot be godly on our own. What does it mean to be godly? To live our lives as God would have us do, to do the things that God wants us to do, and to accomplish God’s work, and purposes, in this world. We cannot be godly without God in our heart.

So, if you are to have spiritual strength, then you must validate your weakness by acknowledging the primary source of your weakness is sin, you must recognize the paralyzing force of your weakness, and you must stop the persistent course of your weakness.

The second thing that you must do to gain spiritual strength is you must activate your will. You have to choose to accept the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Master. You have to choose to accept salvation by grace.

And then the third thing is that you must initiate your walk. You need to hear the Word of God, and then obey the Word of God. Salvation comes first, salvation by the grace of God, but then you must Rise, take up your bed and walk.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can have the inner spiritual strength to be godly. Jesus is God’s answer to your spiritual disability.

Amen.

HAVING SPIRITUAL STRENGTH (John 5:1-6)

Our physical bodies are ultimately going to fail. You could be the strongest person in the world, but if Jesus doesn't come beforehand, you are going to die as well, no matter how much strength you have.

Isa 40:30
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
KJV

Since we know our bodies are going to fail, our great problem is not what is going to happen to our bodies. It is, do we have that inner strength that God wants us to have in order that we might live our lives for Christ? Why would we need spiritual strength? Because, by our nature, we are spiritually paralyzed and without strength. Yet, in Christ, we have power for living. Why do we need power for living? Because God has a greater plan for us.

The Bible describes every person who is without Christ as being without strength. The primary source of that weakness is sin. When we are without strength, we are unable to be godly. We do not have the strength to be godly. We all have a need to be godly in our lives. Yet, we don't have the strength to be godly. I don't care how hard you try to be godly, you don't have what it takes to be godly. Yet, there is an answer for your weakness, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Rom 5:6
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
KJV

If you wish to have spiritual strength, the strength to be godly, the strength to be holy, then Christ died and rose again for you. The longer a person is physically paralyzed, the weaker their body gets. It is the same for a person without Christ. The longer they live without Christ, the worse their spiritual condition gets. That is the reason that no man should put off giving his or her heart to Jesus Christ. If you need to be saved, then you ought to be saved today because tomorrow you will only have more sin to repent of and less time to repent in.

Click on the link below to learn how to have spiritual strength in this life, and life everlasting.

Amen.

A STRONG, SAVING, FAITH (John 4:48-54)

Why do we Follow Christ? Think about your answer to that question, why do you follow Christ?

Do we follow Christ because of promised healing? No, that is not the reason we follow Christ, because Christians get sick and die just like everyone else.

Do we follow Christ because of protection from disaster or accidents? I see no evidence that Christians escape disaster and accidents more often than others. A bullet makes no detour around the body of a believer.

Do we follow Christ for promised prosperity? Again, I see no evidence that Christians are particularly favored with wealth and success in the world.

Do we follow Christ because of a promise of stronger personalities or fewer neuroses than non-believers? I have watched Christians suffer emotional and mental disabilities, just like non-believers.

So, why do we follow Christ? Why become a disciple of Jesus when life may become more complicated as He so often warned us it would?

For one reason alone. In Jesus we behold the face of God. He is the truth, the everlasting truth. I trust in Him and His promises. He is the one certain thing in an uncertain world. He is to be worshiped, not so something will happen to me or to the world, something already has happened to me and the world, but because He is God, who through Christ has reconciled the world to Himself. He saves me. He is my justification. He is the center that holds. We offer our lives to Him because He alone has claim upon us."

Don’t base your faith in Jesus Christ based on signs and wonders. Jesus is the Savior. He suffered, lived, bled, and died for you, rose from the dead, and if you'll trust Him, I promise you, according to His Word, He will save you and He will keep you, and one day we'll be gathered around the throne to give Him praise forever and ever and ever. Believe in miracles, but trust in Jesus, and you go from a superficial faith, to a strong faith, to a saving faith. That's what matters.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to progress from a superficial faith based on signs and wonders, to a strong, saving, faith in Jesus Christ.

Amen.