The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SIN? (Romans 6:6-10)

What value is a promise made to you if you do not believe it and appropriate it in your life?

God has said in His Word that believers have victory over sin and death.  This is God’s promise.  But what good is that promise if we do not believe it and appropriate it in our lives?

The problem is that many of us do not feel like we have died to sin.  Sin is still a problem in our lives.  We are still allowing sin to dominate our lives.  We feel like we are alive to sin.

How we feel is important to us, for it can make a real difference in our performance.  For example, God has given me the task of speaking in front of various groups of people, on both secular and Biblical issues.  When I feel confident about the subject I am going to be speaking about, I perform better, I am more relaxed, I am not worried about making a fool out of myself.  My voice projects, it is stronger, and my whole attitude is one of confidence in what I am speaking about.  In other words, I am victorious in performing the tasks that God has given me.  

However, if I were to get up and speak on something that I know nothing about, and that I have had no time to prepare my thoughts, then I would feel nervous, my words would be halting, and the word “UH” would be repeated over and over.  When I feel less confident, then I am likely to fail in the tasks that God has given me.  My feelings impact how I conduct myself.  

Now somebody might say, Well the Bible says that if God asks you to do something, He will empower you to do it. 

And I would say precisely.  I am allowing my feelings to impact my performance in my obedience to God.  God tells me in His Word that He will provide, but when I allow my feelings to guide me, I am saying that I don’t believe God.  

The same thing applies to how we deal with sin.  If we are confident in our knowledge of the Word of God, then we are victorious in dealing with sin.  Paul has said that we are dead to sin, and that we are to be totally unresponsive to it, but how can we do that?

By putting our feelings aside, and believing what God tells us and applying it in our lives.  This is what our lesson is about today.  Knowing that not only have we died to sin, but that we have also been raised to walk in the newness of life, victorious over sin and death.

HOW CAN YOU DEFEAT SIN? (Romans 6:1-5)

As a believer, would you say that you are in a constant battle with sin in your life?  

Every Christian should answer yes to this question, for Satan has never given up on destroying you, especially once you became a Christian.  But the wonderful good news that God has for us is that each believer has the power of the Holy Spirit of God to defeat sin in their life.  They can be victorious against sin.  

The process of sanctification is the ability of God to make sinners, whom He has declared righteous, actually righteous.  Paul will tell us that the justified sinner cannot continue in sin because he died and rose again in Christ.  This does not mean the believer will not sin, but it does mean that they will not continue live in sin.

To continue in sin leads to slavery.  Believers have been freed from the slavery of sin.  There is no reason for them to go back to it.  The believer has a new nature now, and he is to obey God.  

Union with Christ in His death and resurrection means that He is now our Lord and our Master.  He gives us freedom, but that freedom is not a license to live in sin.

Today, we are going to begin a series of lessons that talk about the power that we have, as Christians, to be freed from slavery.  The slavery that a lost person has to Satan and sin.  We are going to see how the power of God frees a believer from the dominance of sin in their lives and empowers them to live a victorious Christian life.

TO CARE FOR EACH OTHER (James 5:12-20)

When you think of your local church what do you think of?

In this last lesson of our study of the book of James, we learn how to care for each other.  Without question, Jesus wants our churches to be a hospital for those in need. When a Christian brother or sister is facing a trial, they should find support in the fellowship of the church.  When a person needs to find Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they should be able to find Him in our churches.  

This is the challenge that James has put before us.  We are to care for each other.  It should be evident to the world that believers care for those in need.  It should be what makes us different from the world whose main focus is to take care of themselves.  

James closes this letter with an appeal for patience as we wait upon the coming of the Lord, instruction on how to care for each other, and how the believer is to protect their witness before the world.  

TO KNOW GOOD (James 4:15-17)

If we are to know what is good in the sight of God, then we must understand what God’s will is for our lives.  

Now, it is easy to say that we are to seek God’s will in all that we do, but how do you really do that?  How do you communicate with God on such a basic level that you can determine what His will is for your next moment?

We do this by fellowshipping with God.  This is God’s desire, to fellowship with us.  When we pray to God and God responds, that is fellowship.  It is through this fellowship that we discover God’s will for us.  It is through constant fellowship with God that we discover God’s will for the next moment, the next day, and so forth.

As believers, we have the awesome capability of fellowshipping with the almighty Creator of all things.  Yet, even as a believer we must deal with the sin in our lives or that sin will cause our communication line with God to be blocked.  Sin separates us from God. 

If you want to know good, then you must fellowship with God.  If you want to fellowship with God, then you must deal with the sin in your life.  

Listen to this podcast to learn how fellowshipping with the almighty Creator of all things is possible for you.

HOW GOD'S WISDOM SHINES THROUGH YOU (James 3:17-18)

If you were to list the characteristics of Jesus as He lived on the earth you would probably use words like, peacemaker, gentle, easy to approach, merciful, pure, unbiased, and without hypocrisy.  These are the characteristics of God’s wisdom, and they are the characteristics that a true Christian is to exhibit as they deal with those around them.  

When someone makes Jesus Christ their Lord and Master, they are reborn and regenerated, they become a new person, and with the power of the Holy Spirit working through them these characteristics become the way a believer will behave.  It is the evidence that a revolution has occurred in that person’s life, and that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Master.  

Being a Christian is more than just saying a prayer and mumbling some words.   We are saved by God’s grace, we do not work for our salvation, but our lives must show the evidence of the transformation that has occurred in our life.  The words we say, the works that we produce, the way we control our tongue, and the way we deal with those around us are the evidence of the salvation that has occurred within our lives and they identify the Master of our hearts.  

Listen to this podcast to learn how God’s wisdom is to shine through the life of a believer to such a degree that the world sees a positive difference in their lives.  Your behavior is your trademark as a Christian.

WHERE DOES WISDOM COME FROM? (James 3:13-16)

When you need wisdom, where do you go to find it?

Your family, your friends, your mentors, your teachers, the internet, or maybe even some TV or radio show host?

There is certainly some merit in going to someone who has experienced what you are going through to give you guidance on how to handle some problem that you may be facing.  If we were to look back over man’s history we would find that man has discovered many great things and overcome many difficult challenges using the knowledge and wisdom that is available to him.  Think of the advances in science, medicine, psychology, and even religion, that have occurred in just the last 100 years.  

Yet, when you consider how much more knowledge there is for man to discover, and then compare that to what we already know, you begin to realize how little we truly know today.  It would be a bold man that declared that he knows even 10% of all the knowledge that is out there to be discovered.  And with each new discovery, man must rethink everything that he knows to put it into context with what he has just discovered.  It can be an exciting and humbling experience.  

So as you go to other people in your search for wisdom, the first thing you must realize is that everyone you are talking to is giving you answers from that 10% of knowledge that man knows, and they are ignoring all of the answers that could be found in the 90% that man knows nothing about.  If you were to go to a doctor and ask him what was wrong with you, and he told you that he could tell you, but that he only knows 10% of what he needs to know to be a doctor, you would probably be skeptical of the answer, as you should be.  

So, if you don’t go to other men to find wisdom, who can you go to that can provide you with answers from all of the knowledge that man will ever be able to discover, and all of the knowledge that man can never know?

Listen to this podcast to discover that there are two kinds of wisdom; human wisdom, and God’s wisdom.  Human wisdom comes from man’s limited knowledge.  God’s wisdom comes from the infinite knowledge of the Creator of all things, the omniscient, the omnipotent, and the omnipresent, living God. 

IS IT POSSIBLE TO CONTROL YOUR TONGUE? (James 3:6-12)

Is it possible to control what we say?

We usually want to say the right thing, so why don’t we?  Most of us will find ourselves having to apologize for saying something that hurt someone else on a regular basis.  Is there no way to control what our tongue says?

The tongue is powerful enough to impact all of the circumstances of life.  

It is destructive enough to affect the whole realm of human activity.  

And it is vile enough to contaminate the whole sphere of our earthly life.

The tongue can ignite all of our worst passions of lust, envy, hatred, malice, and murder and the fallout is all kinds of evil.

When our political leaders use their words to lie to us, to mislead us, to defraud us, and to stir up feelings of class envy, of class warfare, and of racial hatred, the fallout affects everyone in this country and of those around the world.  It affects the circumstances that we live in.

  

James tells us that no man can tame his own tongue.  We can tame the wild beasts, but we cannot tame our tongue even when we use our best efforts.  The words we say can bless those around us, and they can curse the same people.  They can sing praises in harmony one moment, and then explode in profanity the next.  

But there is a way for you to control your tongue.  Listen to this podcast to learn that God can tame your tongue.  It is when the Holy Spirit of God is in control of the heart of a believer that God can use the words that come from your tongue for His work.  

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY (James 3:1-6)

Be careful what you say.

Have you ever considered how you would feel if you knew that someone was recording every word that you said or wrote somewhere?  And if you knew your words were judged each day by someone to determine if those words were good or evil?

How would that impact the words that you allowed your tongue to say?  Would you filter them more closely?

In our world today we get very concerned when the government intrudes on our privacy, such as with the NSA listening in on our phone conversations.  We have the concept of presumed privacy in our lives.  In countries such as the U.S. that right of privacy is protected, but with technology as it is today, any real privacy is a myth.

Listen to this podcast to learn that God has always been listening in on all of your conversations.  God has the sovereign right to bug your conversations, and He has recorded every word that you have ever said.  

James tells us that the words used by a person identify who they are.  Your tongue gives you away.  It tells where you came from. It tells whether you are ignorant or educated, cultured or crude, whether you are clean or unclean, whether you are vulgar or refined, whether you are a believer or a blasphemer, whether you are a Christian or a non–Christian, whether you are guilty or not guilty. 

What has your tongue said about you today?

A TEST OF YOUR FAITH (James 2:14-20)

What is the test of your love?

   

Valentine’s Day has just passed and most of us demonstrated our love for that special someone in our life by buying a gift, candy, flowers, or a special meal of some kind.  This custom is so ingrained in our society that to fail to do something leads to being called a callous, worthless, uncaring, bum, by your recently past, not-so-special anymore, loved one in your life. There are those that see this as an actual test of their spouse’s love.

It is not enough that you say that you love them, for the word love is an often used word that can have various levels of intensity.  

It is not enough that you believe that you love them, for how many times have you really believed that you loved someone, just to find out that it was more of a physical attraction, instead of real love?

There must be more, there must be a demonstration of that love, or your spouse will consider your love dead, or missing, or simply a mental assent to the concept of love, but it must not really reach down into your heart.  

In other words, love without works is dead.  You can tell your wife that you love her, and then she will probably look at you and tell you how nice that is, but that she shows you her love by her works.  

Therefore, the test of your love for your spouse is your works.  

It doesn’t mean that you do not love her if you do not have works.  You can be married without works, but if you truly love your wife, or your husband, there will be works that are the natural result of that love.  They will come from the emotional, heartfelt, desire, to do things for your spouse that will demonstrate your love for them.  Those works will be the fruit of your love.  

You will do things for your spouse all of the time, not just on Valentine’s Day, not just because you want to pass a test, or a judgment to come, but because to love someone in the manner that God has intended for a man and a women to love each other, means that what they want and need is much more important than your own wants and needs.  

Now, if you can understand this concept, then you will be able to understand one of the most widely misinterpreted, and misunderstood, sections of the Bible as we study it today.  Listen to this podcast and learn what the Book of James says about a test of your faith, and how a faith without works is dead.  

THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY (James 2:8-13)

What is the perfect law of liberty?

Have you ever considered what it would be like to go someplace where there were no laws, and no police officers to enforce those laws?  To be totally free to do whatever you wanted, for as long as you wanted, and in any way that you wanted to do it?

Sounds pretty good doesn't it?  If I don’t want to get up in the morning, I don’t have to.  If I want to drive my car as fast as it will go, then I can.  

This is pretty much what it was like for the early pioneers who opened up the western part of the United States.  When they stepped out into that wilderness, they were free from the laws and those that would enforce it.  They lived by their wits, their strength, and their courage, for even though there were no societal laws, there were always the laws of nature, and the laws of the strongest shall prevail.  

So the question is, are you truly free when you step out of the boundaries of the laws of a civil society?  Is this true liberty?

Without laws, is there such a thing as criminal behavior?  To be a lawbreaker there must be a law to break.

God, as our Creator, knew that man needed laws to establish the absolute truths about right and wrong, so He gave us His Word that we call the Bible.  It contains the Mosaic Law, The Sermon on the Mount, and it contains Christ’s Law, which is the perfect law of liberty.  These laws identify what is sin for man.  They let man know that he has broken those laws, that the penalty of that sin is death, and that man needs a Savior.  The very Savior named Jesus Christ who died on a cross to pay the penalty for man’s sin.  

As a believer we are no longer under the Mosaic Laws, but our behavior is to be controlled by two commandments.  

The first is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.  This is a believer’s responsibility to God.  

The second is, To love thy neighbor as thyself.  This is a believer’s responsibility to others.

How do we find perfect liberty?  Listen to this podcast to learn that the answer is to be redeemed, released, and ruled by Christ.