The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

GOD‘S MIRACLE MEDICINE (Proverbs 12:25; 15:13-15; 17:22)

We live in a world where a lot of people, including our Christian brothers and sisters, are living with a heavy heart.  The world has taken a pause this weekend to remember all of the of the people who were lost in the terrorist attack on 9/11.  The families of the soldiers and first responders who lost their lives responding to the attack over the last 20 years are dealing with the loss of their loved ones.  There is sorrow, worry, and stress that is weighing down on all of these people, and our lesson today is about God’s Miracle Medicine for people with heavy hearts.

Have you ever heard of a medical term called E.I.I?  E.I.I. stands for “emotionally induced illness.” That is, people are sick physically, but their emotions have made them ill.  Now, I had never heard of this term before, so of course, I went out on Google, the source of all untruth, and searched for articles on it, and there was quite the list.  Some described it as “A psychosomatic illness that originates from or is aggravated by emotional stress and manifests in the body as physical pain and other symptoms.”  Other articles just talked about the real physical effects of long-term stress on the body.  

In our message today, I want to give you a little G.M.M., or “God’s miracle medicine.”  I believe that God is leading me to teach us what God has to say about this idea of the impact our emotions can have, good or bad, on our health.  God tells us: 

Prov 17:22
22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
KJV

You see, right there in God’s Word, we learn that “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”  That is God’s Miracle Medicine.  A Christian without joy, a joyless Christian, is a contradiction in terms. Someone has well said, “A religion that wears grave clothes ought to be buried.” I say amen to that. 

Click on the link below to hear a message where God tells us in His Word that true joy is found in the Lord Jesus, and “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” I want to share it with you today. I want you to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And for all that E.I.I. that is weighing your heart down, I want you to take a good dose of G.M.M, God’s miracle medicine. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”

Amen.

A WISE MAN AND A FOOL (Proverbs 10:8-17)

The word "fool" is used 66 times in the King James Version of the Bible.  It appears 57 times in the Old Testament, and only 9 times in the New Testament.  37 out of those 66 times, it is used is in the book of Proverbs.  Suffice it to say that God was trying to get the message across about the consequences of being a fool.  

The word "fool" is translated from different Hebrew and Aramaic words that have various meanings.  Generally, it is speaking of someone who is perverse, morally deficient, a scoffer, and evil.  These are not just people who are slow-minded, as some might think.  No, these are people who have deliberately chosen to reject God’s Wisdom.  

They can be the intellectuals of the world who scoff at anyone who believes in God, to the corrupt businessman who steals from his customers.  They can be the friends in your social circle who try to get you to join them in the type of behavior that God has commanded that you do not participate in.  They will ridicule you for your moral and ethical values which are based on the Word of God, calling you Mr. Goody-two-shoes, kill-joy, and generally anything that means you are putting a damper on their fun, and that you are the simple-minded one because you refuse to party.  By-the-way, if this is what you close circle of friends are like, you need better friends.  It would be better to have no friends, than to have friends who would lead you away from what God wants you to do.  

Being careful about who you associate with is usually advice that we think of giving to younger people than to us older, wiser, people.  But, it is true of us as well.  Friends, even Christian friends, can lead you away from doing the things God wants you to do.  Satan, would like nothing better than to create division in the church from the gossip that happens out in the commons area before church or Bible Study begins, the false teachings from teachers and preachers, to the envy and jealousy over who gets to do what in the church.  Now, there is nothing wrong with good fellowship, which we ought to have.  But, there are wolves in sheep’s clothing among every church group. 

Click on the link below to hear a message about the contrast between living our lives applying God’s Wisdom and living it foolishly rejecting that wisdom.  One leads to eternal life, the other to eternal death.

Amen.  

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL (Proverbs 9:13-10:7)

For the last several weeks, we have been studying about the virtues of God’s Wisdom.  We have talked about the character of God’s Wisdom, the majesty of God’s Wisdom, how to find God’s Wisdom, and then last week we talked about how to apply God’s Wisdom to our lives.  I think it is safe to say that God intends for us to use His Wisdom as we do the work that He has for us to do.  God drives this point home in our message today where He contrasts the differences between good and evil.  A good example of this is the contrast between a wise son and a foolish son.

Proverbs 10:1
1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
KJV

Do you see the contrast here?  “A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.”  You have the wise son and the foolish son, and the impact they have on the family.  

Now, many parents have understood the truth of this proverb. It describes the experience of a loving set of parents when their son, who is likely in his teenage years, goes through a rebellious phase and, as a result, he goes seriously wrong.  The young man may have run away from home, experimented with alcohol and drugs, and he ends up getting arrested, and is likely headed to jail.  The young man has rebelled against parental discipline, chose his friends from a worldly crowd, and had no use for preachers who have their own faults, or the church full of hypocrites.  He especially does not want to hear the Wisdom of God’s Word.

Solomon says that such “a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.”  This means that the son’s actions drive the mother into a state of depression.  You can imagine the feelings of doom and gloom in the hearts of both of the son’s parents, but it especially impacts the mother.  Of course, the devil is having a heyday with all of this.  That is when the mother becomes convicted and asks the Lord for help, both for her and her wayward son.  She wears out the rug on her knees as she prays.  After perhaps months, or even years, of these nights spent in prayer with a broken heart, there comes a day, when late that night, the son comes stumbling into the house after a night of partying.  He sees his mother there, on her knees, talking to the Lord Jesus about her son.  He might even pause to listen to her cries for help, and see her tears fall down her cheeks.  

Sometimes, the son is impacted by this image of his mother praying over him, and other times it pushes them even further out.  But, I still believe there is nothing stronger than a mother’s prayer for her children.  Sometimes, that rebellious son will be so impacted by what he sees that he chooses to return and be saved.  It is then, that the foolish son becomes the wise son, and Solomon tells us, “A wise son maketh a glad father.”  A wise son is a blessing to both of his parents.

In this life one of two things happens to us. Either our sins get blotted out, or our names get blotted out. There can be no greater horror for a man than to wake up in a lost eternity to the terrible realization that his name is not written in the Lamb’s book of life.  If he had but chosen to make Jesus Christ his Lord and Savior, if he had been redeemed, then his name would have been written in the Lamb’s book of life to be remembered for Christ’s sake forever.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on God’s Wisdom of living an honorable life that is pleasing to God.

Amen.  

HOW TO APPLY GOD‘S WISDOM (Proverbs 9:1-12)

HOW TO APPLY GOD’S WISDOM (PROVERBS 9:1-12)

In today’s world, YouTube is a source of information of just about anything you want to know.  The problem is that 95% of it is done by people who think a lot more highly of themselves than they should.  In fact, most of it is just useless information.  If you are looking for the truth, it takes a lot of work to sort the wheat from the chaff, just to find a simple nugget of man’s wisdom. In fact, most times I walk away without an answer to my question.

However, my experience with the Bible, which is God’s Wisdom, has been quite different. The Bible is the bountiful table that Wisdom spreads. I find more help, insight, and instruction, and more practical, reliable, down-to-earth counsel in a half-dozen verses of the Word of God than in all the videos that can be found on YouTube put together. I never sit down to Wisdom’s table and come away feeling empty.

Wisdom and knowledge are by nature cumulative. We learn by adding to what we already know. For example, as a child we begin by learning the alphabet. Then we learn to recognize and pronounce simple words. After that we use complex words. We add words to our vocabulary. We put sentences together and learn laws of grammar. We learn to write and compose paragraphs.

In mathematics we learn to count, to add up simple sums, and then to figure more complex sums. We learn how to subtract, how to multiply, and how to divide. We learn how to handle fractions, decimals, and square roots. We go on to geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. Moreover, we learn from our mistakes. When a teacher marks answers as being wrong, we do not just shrug our shoulders; we rework the problems until we get them right.

People who refuse to learn from their mistakes not only continue to make the same mistakes; they compound them. People who are wise, accept instruction and increase in learning. They find out where they went wrong, what they did wrong, and why. The same principles that enable us to add to our knowledge in the secular world, enables us to add to our Wisdom when it comes to living the life that God wants us to live.  We continue to grow in God’s Wisdom as we live a life of faith in Jesus Christ.  We add to that Wisdom as we suffer through tragedy and God responds to our needs.  We add even more to that knowledge as we study the Word of God.  We choose to accept God’s Wisdom.

How do we apply God’s Wisdom in our lives?  We hear Wisdom’s call.  We receive God’s Wisdom into our hearts and apply it to every decision that we make, and we share that wisdom with those who the Holy Spirit leads us to.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on how we apply God’s Wisdom to our lives.

Amen.  

HOW TO FIND GOD (Proverbs 8:27-36)

Gods’ wisdom is evident everywhere in God’s creation.  The promise of God’s Word is that if we seek Him, then we will find Him, and when we find Him, then we will obtain life everlasting.  

Deut 4:29
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
KJV

God is not hiding from us.  He can be seen in all the wonders of the world we live on.  

Rom 1:20
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
KJV

Then, when we find God, we find life everlasting.

Prov 8:35
35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.
KJV

There is a God sized hole in every individual.  We were created to have God living in us to fill that hole.  You can spend your entire life trying to fill that hole with the things of this world, but you will never be satisfied, you will never be complete, until you find God and make His Son, Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior.  Now, all you have to do to find God, is to seek Him with all of your heart.  

Where do you look for God?  God’s Wisdom tells us that God is all around us in the universe that He has created.  God’s Wisdom is available to be seen and found by whosoever chooses to love God and seek Him.  God promises that if we will love and seek Him, then we will find Him and find life.  

Amen.  

THE MAJESTY OF GOD‘S WISDOM (Proverbs 8:14-26)

God’s Wisdom is available to us through the words that we find in the Bible, and the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit as He helps us to interpret God’s Words and apply them to our lives.  God’s Wisdom is not hard to find.  It cries out to us in every sermon given by a preacher who loves the Lord and is anointed by the Holy Spirit to teach God’s Word.  But the most important place we hear God’s Wisdom is when we let His Word, the God-breathed, divinely inspired, inerrant, infallible, and wholly dependable Word of God, speak to us and apply it to our lives.  

There is no other book available to man that holds the words of eternal life.  The Bible is unique because it contains a distillation of the wisdom of God concerning the children of men.  Such a book is a mystery to most because they are spiritually blind and deaf.  Yet, the meaning of these words is available to anyone.  There is no secret club that you must join.  No school tuition that must be paid.  God has promised to send His Spirit to speak to those who wish to learn who God is, what He has done for them, and then make Him their Lord and Savior.  

John 16:13
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
KJV

When a person makes Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior, then the Holy Spirit of God will come and live in the heart of that person.  It is then, that the person who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit has the capacity to understand the Word of God.  This is the Wisdom that we can apply in our lives, and we know that it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Prov 8:17
17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
KJV

This is one of the most profound and comforting messages in the Bible.  Right here in God’s Word, He promises that He “loves them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”  This says, if we love God, and we seek His wisdom, then we have the promise of the Word of God that we will find Him.  

The wisdom of God is seen in creation—and in redemption too. Before time began, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit planned both creation and redemption. 

In the wisdom of God, creation was to be the stage on which God would display His power. 

Rom 1:20
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
KJV

In the wisdom of God, redemption was to be the stage on which God would display His love.

Eph 2:4-6
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
KJV

Click on the link below to hear a message on how we see the majesty of God’s Wisdom in creation and redemption.  

Amen.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD‘S WISDOM (Proverbs 8:1-13)

Our message today is about the characteristics of God’s Wisdom.  The things about God’s Wisdom that makes it so beneficial and good for our lives.  

During the week as I work on these messages, I sit in an office at home that is mostly quiet.  My wife doesn’t make much noise, and there are no kids living with us anymore to make a racket.  The only real noisemakers are our dogs, and one in particular, that cannot stand to have people walking up and down the sidewalk in front of our house.  He especially can’t stand it when a package is delivered to the front door.  So, for most of the time that I am studying, it is real quiet.  Sometimes too quiet and I will turn on a selection of piano solos of hymns in the background to give a little bit of noise to focus my mind.  

I have learned that most of us can operate at two levels of thought, one of direct focus, and another in the background.  For example, most of us can have an instructor behind us walking us through how to do something while we concentrate on the task at hand. However, if a third person tries to talk at the same time, we cannot manage it.  For me, I can be focused on studying and composing the lessons with God speaking as my instructor, but in the background, the activity of the day wants to intrude on my mind and distract me.  So, I will play a selection of piano solos of the old hymns that I grew up with and love so much.  I don’t have to concentrate on them because I know them so well, and they don’t distract me, but they do help to shut out the events of the day that are trying to distract and take over my mind.  It is like having God speaking to me through His word and His music at that same time.  It fills up my two levels of thought and I can study.

Now, I study very differently than how my father did.  He used books and hand wrote everything.  I do all of my work on a computer.  I hand write very little.  All of my notes are on the computer.  I have 26 versions of the Bible on the computer.  I have all of my reference material, commentaries, inter-linear Bibles, sermons, Greek and Hebrew translations on the computer.  They are all available to me at the touch of a button.  Yet, that same computer puts at my disposal all the news of the day, entertainment, and connection with my friends and family via the airwaves and the internet.  All in a machine that I work on in my quiet office, in my quiet home.  Often the only sound is the clicking of the keys as I type.

It is all available to me, but as I type my lessons, I’m not even aware that all of that communication and entertainment is there. If the music gets too loud or distracting, I can turn the volume down, or up, or even off.   

Yet, I also have a different kind of receiver in my room. The highest and holiest wisdom is as close as that computer, but it is not on that computer.  This different receiver sits on a table right next to me and it is my old Bible.  The one my parents gave to me 40 years ago as a graduation gift.  It is still very special to me.  The Bibles on my computer are just study tools, there is nothing special about them, I never use them to really open my mind to God.  However, there is just something special about being able to reach out my hand and take up that Book of books, turn its pages, and open my heart and mind to the words of the Holy Spirit. The wisdom of the Word—the revealed and inspired wisdom of the living God—is right there in my room.  God’s Wisdom is never farther away than that Book.  It calls to each of us.  It says, “Unto you, O men, I call.”  God speaks to me when I listen to the words found in His book and apply them to my heart.

God’s Wisdom says that “All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.”  All the words of the God’s book are inspired by God, they are true, righteous, and nothing twisted can be found in them.  We may not understand all of the Bible, and we may not always interpret it properly. Nevertheless, every word of the Bible is God-breathed, divinely inspired, inerrant, infallible, and wholly dependable. All of God’s words are righteous. All of God’s words are right. We may not like them, and we may not want to obey them, but they are right.

The Scriptures contain unfathomable depths. How could it be otherwise when the words are those of an infinite God? A man can study the Bible all his life and still feel he has but touched the fringe of Inspiration’s garment. At the same time a little child can read and understand the Bible. It is that simple.

There is enough truth in the Word of God to save a soul and truth enough to occupy the sharpest mind for a lifetime.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the characteristics of God’s Word.

Amen.

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.