The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE PROBLEM OF IMMORALITY-PART II (Proverbs 7:16-27)

I believe that God wants us to understand this problem because of the devastating impact the sins of immorality will have on our lives.  God loves us, and He wants what is best for us, and so in His Word He warns us about the dangers of immorality.  He then commands us to not commit those sins.  Then, He follows that up with the story of the flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah, where He shows us the consequences of His judgment on those who ignore His warnings, ignore His commandments, and choose to commit the sins of immorality.  

Now, the wonderful thing about God is that He doesn’t just command us not to do something without providing us the wisdom that we need to avoid committing those sins.  God tells us in His Word,

Prov 7:1-2
1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
KJV

Our news media never tires of exposing the scandals of mighty men.  The headlines tell of the fall of religious leaders, politicians, and celebrities, and it doesn’t matter if happened yesterday or 20 years ago.  We also see that most people have a double standard. They expect a much higher moral profile in those they elect to public office than they expect from themselves, and woe betide the person who lets them down. Many a promising career has suddenly been shipwrecked because of a past immorality. 

This warning may sound overly dramatic, especially in the times that we live in today, with its acceptance of all things evil as good.  But, this is God’s warning, and it is a warning that is to be taken literally.  God will judge those who commit the sin of immorality. 

There is also a spiritual application in these words for us.  So far, we have been talking about committing physical adultery and immorality.  However, the Scriptures also have a great deal to say about spiritual adultery.  That is what God called it when His people left Him and went after idols.  They departed from the living and true God. They were to be joined to Him, but they had separated from Him. They were actually playing the harlot; they were being unfaithful and untrue to Him. That is spiritual adultery.

Today we have many cults and “isms” and all types of false religions around us.  For example, someone will say that “You don’t need to follow Christ any longer as you are following Him.  There are many ways to heaven.  What you need to do is join our group and do what we do, act as we act, and worship who we worship, and you can earn your way to salvation.”

Yet, the Bible is clear that we are saved by the grace of God alone.  

Eph 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
KJV

Paul is telling us that “Faith plus nothing equals salvation.” We are to be absolutely, utterly cast upon Jesus Christ as our Savior. Yet, many people cannot accept a salvation that they did not earn.  

God’s answer to this is that the believer is joined to Christ. A person who has been saved by grace, and grace alone, is joined to Christ.  Then, once saved, Christ has said that we are to keep His commandments if we love Him, and His commandments are not grievous. We are to love one another. We are to be filled with the spirit of God. We are to witness to the world. Those are His commandments today. We are joined to a living Christ; we live on a higher plane. The fruit of the Spirit should be evident in our hearts and lives.

Today there are isms and cults all dressed up like a woman of the street.  They are flattering and they are calling men and women. Yet, God tells us that to follow them is like an ox going to slaughter. It is like a fool going to the correction of the stocks.  God is reminding us that we cannot settle for anything less than the person of Jesus Christ!

Amen.

THE PROBLEM OF IMMORALITY (Proverbs 7:1-15)

Here are a couple of questions for you.  What type of sin caused God to destroy the world with the flood?  Immorality.  What type of sin caused God to bring fire from heaven to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah?  Immorality.  So, some of the most dramatic and seriously devastating judgements from God have been caused when man allowed immorality to consume their lives.

Gen 6:5
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
KJV 

When we think of the sin of immorality, we often think of the sins of pornography, adultery, fornication, or any sexual act that takes place outside of the bonds of Holy Matrimony as it is defined by God.  However, immorality is more than just sexual sins, it includes those sins, but it also includes sins that violate the moral standards established by God as right and wrong.  Words like evil, wickedness, promiscuity, sexual deviation, are all associated with the sin of immorality.  But make no mistake about it, sexual sins are the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about immorality as it is discussed in the Bible.  

The fact that God has reserved some of His most severe judgments upon man because of the sins of immorality should tell us a great deal about how God feels about the sins of immorality.  I believe it is important to God because of the devastating impact the sins of immorality will have on our lives.  God loves us, and He wants what is best for us, and so in His Word He warns us about the dangers of immorality.  He then commands us to not commit those sins.  Then, through the story of the flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah, He shows us the consequences of His judgment on those who ignore His warnings, ignore His commandments, and choose to commit the sins of immorality.  

God is speaking to His children, to you and I as believers, and the overriding message that He repeats over, and over, and over again is to keep His commandments and to bind them in our hearts.  God’s wisdom is found in His commandments, and the solution to every problem that we have in our lives can be found right here in God’s Word.  All we have to do is follow them and bind them in our hearts.  Amen?

Click on the link below if you want to hear a message on how to stop immorality in your life.  There is only one way, you have to deal with it in your heart using God’s Word.  Although the irresistible logic of God’s Word may be clearly understood and accepted in the head, the irrepressible love of God’s Word in the heart is what holds tight the fortress walls of the soul against the full force of the foe. 

Amen.

THE COST OF ADULTERY (Proverbs 6:20-35)

Our lesson today is about a sin that is destructive to the lives of so many people in our world today.  It is the sin of adultery.  Adultery destroys marriages, families, and our relationship with God.  Adultery is a sin, like so many others, where the person puts their own lusts and desires ahead of the needs of their spouse, their family, and their duty to God.  It is a self-centered sin, and it is a sin that will destroy your life, both physically and spiritually.  If you repent of it, God will forgive you of the sin of adultery, but the consequences of that sin will spread far beyond your own life, and even God’s forgiveness does not usually change that.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the high cost of adultery.  God reminds us of these consequences, and then, as always, He tells us how to avoid it.

Prov 6:20-21
20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
KJV

As the children of God, we are told to hear and to heed our parent’s commandments, and most of all, we are to hear and to heed God’s commandments.

Amen.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SIN? (Proverbs 6:16-19)

In today’s message I want us to look at the way we think about sin, and how we rank sin, from little sins that everybody accepts as ok and it is no big deal, to the really bad sins.  I want you to ask yourself what are the really bad sins that people can commit, and how does that compare to the way that God thinks about our sin.

You see, we set a standard of the sins that we think are really bad, and those that are not so bad.  We would say that pride is a sin that is not good, but murder is much worse.  We would say that gossiping is just what people do, but a person who steals is much worse.  Yet, that is not what the Bible tells us about how God thinks of these things.  In fact, we have been studying over the last couple of weeks that pride makes the top of the list of things that God hates, and gossiping can be described as someone that "speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren," which is also in the list of seven sins that God hates.

Prov 6:16-19
16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
KJV

Now, I believe that the Bible says that God hates all sins, and we are required to repent of any sin, and there are no sins that we can just ignore.  But, the Bible does tell us how God feels about different sins.  For example, we know that God hates pride, and He hates it because pride is the sin that leads to all of the other sins.  It is the sin that started it all with the fall of Satan and the fall of the human race.  Pride is the root sin of all the others because it starts by saying God, I don’t need you.  When you think you can say that God doesn’t matter, then all of the other sins are not really sins anymore because you get to decide what is right and what is wrong.  That is the problem with pride, it is a deceitful sin.  Anyone who thinks they can ignore God has a judgment day, and a place in hell, waiting for them.  Because God will not be ignored.  

I believe that what we have in these verses is a look into the mind of God and how He looks at sin.  I believe God hates all sin, and that we need to look into our own hearts to determine if we agree with God.  Are there some sins that we think are ok, some that we like and want to hang onto in our lives?  Are there others that we believe are far worse when we look at the sin in other people’s lives?  The truth is that sin is sin, and God hates all sin.  Until we come to the place where we agree with God about all the sin in our lives, we will never live a victorious Christian life, and we will never be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how God thinks about sin.

Amen.

THE PROBLEM OF PRIDE-PART II (Proverbs 6:16-19)

The problem with pride is that it is a spirit of independence from God, it is a spirit of a lack of gratefulness, it is a spirit of competition that causes us to think of ourselves as somehow better than somebody else. It is a spirit that makes God your adversary.  It angers God.  The Bible says that you provoke God to anger when there is pride in your heart. It is not just that God will not help you; God literally becomes your adversary. This means that God stands and brings the whole universe against the proud man.  That man has God for an adversary.

Pride will produce domestic ruin. Homes become battlegrounds because of pride. Pride produces financial ruin. Do you know why many people are in financial bondage? Because of pride. They are buying things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, to impress people they don’t like. The reason we get in trouble is because our neighbors keep buying things we can’t afford, and we are trying to keep up. It is wanting more than somebody else. Pride produces financial ruin. 

Do you know what else pride will do? It will ruin you emotionally, because it will make you a slave to the opinions of other people.  Pride says that you’ve got to have the right symbol on your shirt. You’ve got to have the right emblem sewed on the hip pocket of your jeans.  That is a form of slavery that will never be satisfied, and it will ruin you emotionally. 

Pride also brings eternal ruin, because the devil is going to say to you, “Keep your dignity. Don’t admit your need of the Lord.” But until you admit your need of the Lord, you will never be saved. “Well,” you say, “I’m not all that bad.” Pride is a matter of the heart. Stop comparing yourself with other people and compare yourself with the Lord Jesus. There is none so bad that he cannot be saved; there is none so good that he need not be saved. The worst form of badness is human goodness when that human goodness becomes a substitute for the new birth. The reason that some people are destroyed, and destroyed forever, is because of pride.  Pride will sit down in the seat beside a person and say, “Don’t you go down there and make a fool of yourself. Don’t you admit your need. Do not confess that you need the Lord.” But the Bible says, “God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)

Click on the link below to hear a message that tells us what we need today is God’s grace, for pride precedes destruction. It is pride, not unbelief, that keeps many from coming to the gospel. Don’t be that person who would let pride sentence them to an eternity in hell.  Come and find Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Put your pride aside, repent of your sins, and put Christ on the throne of your life.  

Amen.

THE PROBLEM OF PRIDE (Proverbs 6:16-19)

Every one of us, everyone, wrestles with pride, and pride is a dangerous sin. I don’t know of anything that is doing more to hold back revival, doing more to ruin our nation, doing more to break up homes, doing more to blast lives, doing more to steal power from Christians, doing more to populate and fill that place called hell, than the sin of pride. It is a damaging, destroying sin. But it is also such a deceptive sin. The people who are the proudest are the least likely ones to admit that they are the proudest. And many people think that they don’t need to hear a lesson on pride. They say, “Well, my goodness! If there is one thing I don’t need, it is a message on pride.” As a matter of fact, they are quite proud of their humility. And many of us have pride that is well hidden, but it is right there.

Now, when the Bible condemns pride, it is not talking about self-respect.  It is not talking about taking pride in how you work and dress.  It is not talking about giving or receiving honor when honor is due to be given, or honor is due to be received.  However, the type of pride that the Bible does condemn is an attitude of independence from God.  It is when we say, “God, I don’t need you; I can do it myself.” This attitude of independence from God is what the Bible calls “pride.”

Click on the link below to hear a message on the problem of pride.  How, pride is the basic sin. It is the sin that leads to all other sins. It is the sin of independence against God. It is wrapped up in not believing God.  Countless people will spend eternity in Hell because they shook their fist in the face of God, and said “God, I don’t need you,” and God will turn His back on them and say, “as you wish.”  

Amen.

GOD‘S BUSINESS ADVICE (Proverbs 6:1-15)

In today’s message God gives us some advice that is good for anyone in the business world today, for Christians or non–Christians. These are simply some good business principles.  It is interesting that God has given us a lot of good advice for all mankind, the saved as well as the unsaved.

So, if I were to ask you what are the keys to running a successful business, what would you say the main ones are?  Making sure you have a product that people want, right?  That it sells for an amount that people are willing to give up their hard-earned money for.  Good customer service, both before and after the sale.  When it comes to choosing who you are going to buy from, customer service will usually win the ties.  Price is generally first, but if it is a tie, or close to it, customer service can win out.  Having good employees.  Being innovative with your product, always improving it.  Being able to manage your finances well, like when to borrow money, and just plain hard work, right?  

Now, these are the things that you can learn from any business training class.  Well, God has some pretty good advice for the business person in our lesson today on the topics of loans, hard work, and the kind of people you need to be careful around.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on God sharing His wisdom on how to handle our business life, and our moral life.  He tells us to beware of borrowing or co-signing on a loan, then He tells us that it takes hard work to succeed in anything that we need to do, most of all in completing the work that God has for us to do.  In other words, don’t be a sluggard, and then we are to beware of the wicked person who has no other intention than to harm us.  These seem like pretty common-sense pieces of advice, the question is, are we smart enough to listen and apply it to our lives?

Amen.

DON‘T MISS GOD‘S SPECIAL BLESSING (Proverbs 5:1-23)

This week my wife and I celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary, and if you add the years that we dated before we got married, it has been 47 years.  At the age of 16, I fell in love with a young lady that I met in church, and then we happened to go to the same high school as well.  She was the first girl I ever dated, in fact, she has been the only girl I have ever dated, and the only girl I have ever wanted to date.  There has been no other in my heart, but her.  God’s special blessing has been on our relationship from the very beginning.  

The topics of love, and romance, and marriage, and all of the things associated with them, are subjects that everybody is interested in. At least, you ought to be interested.  It is a universal subject, no matter who you are, or where you live; and you never really outgrow it. Now, the girls get interested a little bit before the boys because they mature a little earlier.  This means that the girls start thinking about the boys before the boys start thinking about the girls.  That is a good thing because the girls need a head start before the hormones start raging in the boys.  But, it is not long before the boys are catching up with the girls, and from then on it is “neck and neck.”

Love, romance, and marriage, are very wonderful things, and we need to find out what God has to say about them, because God has some very definite wisdom on the idea of romance and love, and how to be blessed by your marriage.  Now, contrary to popular belief, God is not some kind of “cosmic killjoy.” Don’t get the idea that God is against love and romance and marriage. He is not.  Yet, when God says, “Flee fornication, and “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” God is not trying to keep sex from us. He’s trying to keep sex for us.  Because it is a wonderful gift of God.  

God has a special blessing for you when you allow God to choose your mate.  God wants you to be fulfilled. God wants you to have sexual fulfillment. God wants you to have real joy. God doesn’t want you to miss His best.  Don’t miss God’s special blessing for your life.

When God says, “Thou shalt not,” what He is really saying is, “Don’t hurt yourself.” When God says, “Thou shalt,” He’s saying, “Help yourself to happiness.” God wants you to have satisfaction. God wants you to have joy.  This is God’s plan. This is the design that we should follow.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can receive this special blessing by finding the right spouse, and then how to keep from destroying, or ruining, this wonderful gift of God.  

Amen.

TO LIVE A VICTORIOUS LIFE (Proverbs 4:14-27)

This message is about a task that God has given to every born-again believer.  That task is to allow the light of Jesus to shine through us to reach a dark world full of people who need to hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  What makes this challenging is that we must live our lives in such a way that brings glory to our Lord, and still avoid the sin that is around us.  I believe that is one of the reasons that God has given us the book of Proverbs.  To show us how to live a victorious Christian life, in a world full of sin.

God’s wisdom is the key to living in this dark world that is full of evil.  Satan would like nothing better than to destroy the witness of a child of God.  The world likes nothing better than to see a righteous man fall.  This chapter of Proverbs is giving us the instructions from our Creator to live a victorious Christian life so that we can bring people to Christ and eternal life.

Click on the link below to hear a message on God’s instruction manual for living a life that honors God.

Amen.

A PARENT‘S ADVICE (Proverbs 4:1-13)

When your children were growing up, did you have certain lessons in life that you wanted to share with them?  Perhaps, it was a work ethic, the value of morals and integrity, to be kind, yet strong, and to have the convictions of their faith.  Most of all, a love for God that surpasses all other things.  A parent shares with their children the things they value the most.  Our love of God is what we should value the most, and it is that love that we need to share with our children.

The book of Proverbs is God giving parental advice to His children. He is sharing with us the things that He wants us to value the most, wisdom, humility, honor, integrity, a kind and gentle spirit, a love for others, and most of all to know how much He loves us.

Click on the link to below to hear a message on the value of holding tight to God’s wisdom that He shares with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  God has told us that there is nothing that compares to His wisdom, and that if we will put Christ first in our lives and hold onto His wisdom, then God will bless our lives as we work for His purposes.  

Amen.