The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE CHRISTIAN'S RESPONSIBILITIES TO OTHER CHRISTIANS (Romans 12:6-10)

If I were to ask you if you had a responsibility to meet the needs of your family, most of us would say, absolutely.  When our family is in need, we will respond.  

If I were to ask you if you had a responsibility to meet the needs of the world, most of us would say, that depends on what you mean by meeting their needs.  The world is a pretty needy place and it is unlikely that we have the means or the resources to meet the needs of the world.  

Somewhere in-between these two extremes there are other groups that we could point to and ask the question of whether or not we are responsible for meeting the needs of that group. Yet, even with most of these groups, I would expect your answer to be, it depends.  It might depend on how you feel about the various groups, or it might depend on the level of resources you have.

What if I were to change the question to, do you believe that God has mandated that you meet the needs of these various groups, what do you think the answer should be?  In my opinion, the answer is again, it depends, but this time the critical deciding factor for whether or not we march forward, is not what we decide is important, but what God has told us to do.  If it is God’s will that we do something, then resources and our feelings about that group do not matter.  We will have all of the resources we need.  

Our lesson today is about how we use the spiritual gifts that God has given to each of us to meet the needs of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters.  

WHY CAN'T CHRISTIANS GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER? (Romans 12:3-5)

WHY CAN’T CHRISTIANS GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER?

To be honest, this is a question that at first you might say, well of course we can.  We believe in the same God, and we all have Jesus as our Lord and Master, at least this is the case if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ.  The problems begin when you start talking about how you go about being saved, who can be saved, and then once you are saved whether or not you can lose your salvation, or even what the word saved really means.  

But let’s make it simpler than trying to make all of the various Christian religions get along, because that hasn’t happened in over a thousand years, and it is not likely to happen any time soon.  Let’s ask the question of whether or not members of the same church should be able to get along?  Now it is even more obvious that we should be able to get along with those who attend the same church that we do, but if you look at the statistics of how many churches split, we would have to say that getting along is not happening the way that it should.  

So the question is why?  Why can’t members of the same church get along?

The answer is really simple, but hard for people to do.  The reason people fail to get along is that they take their eyes off of what God wants them to do, and how God wants them to behave, and they begin to act as the world around them behaves, and they do the things that they think is right.  

Paul has given us the basic first steps for members to get along with each other in the first two verses of this chapter, surrender to God, and then let God transform you into the image of Christ.  It really is that basic, that simple, but so hard to do.  If we are all allowing Christ to show through us, then we will get along with each other.  

Listen to this podcast to learn the way Christians are supposed to relate to each other to complete the kingdom work of God.  

WHO ARE YOU CONTROLLED BY? (Romans 12:1)

If you were to ask the general population of this country, Who are you controlled by?  Many, if not most, would declare that nobody controls me, I control myself, for this is the land of the free and the home of the brave, right?  However, the truth of the matter is that there are likely a number of entities and people that we submit ourselves to be controlled by.  For example, the government bodies that we live under, both nationally and locally.  We submit ourselves to the authority of, and the rules and procedures of, these men and women who say they have the authority to rule us.  

There is your employer, you submit to their authority.  Your spouse.  Your peers.  Your religion.  Law enforcement.  So there are lots of entities and people we allow to control us.  We submit to their authority, and what they tell us to do, we do.  We are controlled by them.

Now, most Christians would immediately reply, Well Keith, obviously I am controlled by God.  And my reply would be, do your actions match your words?  Considering the way society’s shift in morals is moving at breakneck speed today, Christians are going to be faced with some difficult decisions.  For many years, in this country, the general moral and ethical principles of the country were based on Judeo-Christian values, so the Christian in this country had it fairly easy.  

Yet, we stand today at a crossroad in this country.  Nine men and women in black have decided that marriage is defined by what they say it is and that it is not defined by God.  Never mind that it has been defined by God as one man and one woman, and for almost all of history, and in almost every civilization, as one man and one woman.  Man’s definition is that marriage can be two women, or two men, or three women and men, or ten women or ten men, or in other words, anything goes.  For without the absolute truths of right and wrong as established by God, anything does indeed go.  

This decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has set the stage for the U.S. government to criminalize Christianity.  If you choose to say what the Word of God says about homosexuality, it will be deemed as hate speech.  The consequences of this will be that you can be fined, arrested, or have your business, your home, and your job taken away from you for stating what God says.  

If you are a Christian, you will then have a choice of submitting yourself to the authority of the government, or to God.  While the Bible is clear that we are to submit ourselves to local authorities, which are established and allowed by God, it is also clear that this obligation only goes until they dictate you violate God’s Word.  So this question of, who are you controlled by, will quickly transform from an intellectual exercise to a reality.  

Now, as for me and my family, our choice is that we are controlled by God, and no government, especially 9 people in black robes, is going to change that.  While I understand that those are brave words, and that they will very soon be tested, therefore, we are depending solely on God to empower us to live those words in our lives as we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, wholly controlled by Him.  

THE YEARNINGS AND THE HOPES OF THE BELIEVER (Romans 8:23-27)

Think about the things that you yearn for.  These are the things that start as a desire deep in your soul and well up into your heart and mind.  These are not our simple wants, but the things that are so passionately desired by our soul that we groan for them.  Now think about how you could ever go about obtaining these things.  Are they even within your power to obtain?

Next, think about the things that you hope for.  Are they the same things that you yearn for?  To hope for something is to look forward to something that you have not seen or realized yet.  Do you hope for a body that is free from disease and pain?  Do you hope for an end to loneliness?  Now think about how you could go about obtaining these things that you hope for.  Are they even within your power to obtain them?

Our lesson today is about the yearnings and the hopes of the believer.  What are the things that a believer wants so badly that they well up from the bottom of their soul?  And what are the hopes of a Christian?  Are they different from a person who has rejected Christ as their Savior?  And best of all, what is the solution for how a believer goes about obtaining these things.  

TO BE A CHILD OF GOD (Romans 8:15-22)

When I think of the dreams of a child that lives in an orphanage, I think of the loneliness they must feel because they are alone in this world without parents to care for them.  They don’t understand why they don’t have parents.  They just know that they are different from other kids.  They see other children with their families and they want to be like them.  They want what they have.  They want a close personal relationship with their parents.  They want to be able to call someone Daddy, or Father.   They want to feel secure in the arms of a father who will protect them and love them.  They want to feel confident as they face the world because they have parents who will support them.

These same feelings exist within many people who are not a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God.  They look at a true Christian and they notice a difference in them.  They don’t know what it is, but they see the Christian handle the problems and trials in their lives in a more confident way.  So the non-believer will ask the Christian how they can face trouble with more confidence, and their reply is that it’s because they are a member of the family of God.  They have a close personal relationship with God.  They have the authority to call our heavenly Father, Abba, Father.  The word Abba is an Aramaic word that is the equivalent of the English word Daddy, or Papa.  It speaks of the close emotional relationship that a believer has with God.  They know that God loves them and will provide for them.  They feel secure in the arms of the almighty God.  This is their confidence.  This is how they face adversity in their lives.  

If you are looking for a close personal relationship with God, then listen to this podcast to learn what it means to be a true child of God.

TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD (Romans 8:9-14)

Are you a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God?

Romans 8:9

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

KJV

That is the real test.  Paul states very clearly if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  The true mark of a born again believer and a genuine Christian is that he is indwelt by the Spirit of God.  A believer is a new creation.  Paul is telling us that if you are truly saved you will answer yes to these questions.  Do you love God?  Do you want to serve Him?  Are these things uppermost in your mind and heart?  

If you are a true believer then you will have the indwelling Spirit of God empowering you to want the things of God. A believer has been granted a new law which liberates him from sin. He has been granted a new Lord who is none other than the third Person of the Triune Godhead.

It is a basic truth of the gospel that a person must be born again before he can be viewed as a child of God.  

John 1:11-13

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

KJV

Paul tells us that it is the Holy Spirit that places the believer as an adult son, with all of the privileges of an adult son, into the family of God.  

Romans 8:14

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

KJV

One evidence of the believer’s sonship in the divine family of God is the cooperation of the believer with the guiding and leading ministry of the Spirit of God.  Those that are led by God’s Spirit are the sons of God.  The phrase, sons of God, appears in the New Testament as a name for people who are in a covenant relationship with God.  The process is described as one of adoption, by which the believer becomes a child of God, and thus an heir of God, a joint-heir with Christ.  Listen to this podcast to learn what it means to know that you are a child of God.

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BELIEVER (Romans 8:5-9)

How do you know, that you know, that you are a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God?

You went down at the time of the invitation and you said the prayers the preacher asked you to say.  The preacher told you that you were saved, yet sin still plaques you.  You try as hard as you can to do what you think God wants you to do, yet your desires to do the things of this world are still there in your body.  So are you really saved?  Are you really born again?  How do you know? 

First, to be saved there must be more than just mumbling a few prayers at the direction of the preacher.  Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord requires more than a mere mental prayer, there must be a true desire in your heart to turn away from the sin that is in your life and turn towards Jesus Christ.

There must be a change in your heart.  You are walking down the path of the world, Satan is your master.  In order to be saved from an eternity in hell, you must stop, turn around, and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and begin to follow Him.  The Bible doesn’t say make Jesus your Savior, although He becomes that, it says make Jesus Christ your Lord.  This is what it takes to become a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God.  But how do you know if you have done this?

First and foremost, you know that you are saved because the Word of God tells you it is so.  It is not about signs, or feelings.  You know that you are saved because God tells you that you are in His Word.

John 5:24

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

KJV

This verse, and many others with the same message, are your rock solid birth certificate as a born again Christian.  Your knowledge that you have been saved comes from the very Word of God.  

The second answer is what our lesson is about today.  You know that you are saved because the Holy Spirit has made known to you that He is indwelling in your heart.  How do you know this?  Listen to this podcast and find out.  

THE GREATEST POWER OF ALL (Romans 8:1-4)

When you look at the world around us, what would you say is the greatest untapped source of power in the entire world?

Is it nuclear?  Is it hydrogen with all of the water on the earth? 

For the vast majority of believers and non-believers alike, the Holy Spirit of God is without question the greatest untapped source of power in the world. 

For the non-believer, or the lost person, the Holy Spirit is outside of their ability to tap for power.  The one role of the Holy Spirit with the lost person is to convict them of their need for a Savior.  The lost person cannot turn to the Holy Spirit for power.  You must be a born again child of God to have this power.

For the believer, the Holy Spirit is indwelling in their heart, waiting on the believer to turn to Him for power.  The sad fact is that most Christians do not know how to, or simply choose not to, tap into the power of the Holy Spirit to live a victorious Christian life.  We find that joy and peace are to be given to the child of God in this life.  We are to live for God in the very presence of sin.  Sin is not to dictate our life’s program.  

Paul has already shown us that there is nothing in the justified sinner that can produce this ideal state.  We have seen that even though we have a new nature, that new nature has no power of its own to do the things of God, and our old nature has no good in it at all.  We simply cannot live for God under our own efforts.  

The obvious question is then how is a child of God to live for God? 

Paul cried out for someone’s help, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24).  In other words, who is going to enable me to live for God?

Paul concluded chapter 7 by saying, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” 

Now chapter 8 will give us the modus operandi; that is, the means by which the victory for the Christian is secured.  Listen to this podcast as we begin a series of lessons on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

USING GOD'S POWER TO DEFEAT SIN

In a break from our traditional Bible study lesson, here are three scenarios that will help you understand how the believer is dead to the power of sin in their lives.  If you can apply these concepts in your life, then the Holy Spirit can give you victory over any sin.  There is no sin too big for God to remove from your life.

CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE (Romans 6:14-18)

Certainly, one of the most frustrating parts of living the victorious Christian life is the sin that keeps showing up in our lives.  Whether it is the occasional sin, or one that has built a stronghold in our lives that we just cannot seem to get rid of, sin keeps showing up in our lives.  Why does it keep happening?  We know we shouldn't do it, but we do it anyway.  Why?  Is there any hope for us to stop?

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you have only one choice, come and make Jesus Christ your Lord and Master.  That is the only way.  You cannot defeat sin on your own.  You are a slave to sin and it is only the saving work of Jesus Christ that can provide for your freedom from the dominion of sin over you.

If you are a believer, then God’s Word says that you are dead to sin, that you are free from the dominion of sin over you, and so you must choose you this day whom you will serve, either God or sin.  God has declared that sin shall not have dominion over the life of the believer.  There is no sin in your life that God cannot break the power of, if you choose to turn it over to God.  But you must believe that God can do what He says in His Word and you must really want Him to break that sin.  It is not a matter of how hard you try to stop that sin, for you cannot do it on your own.  It is a matter of how obedient you want to be to God as your Master.  

Listen to this podcast to learn how you can choose God as your Master and become free from any sin in your life.  God wants to work in your life.  The question is do you really want Him to?