STANDING FIRM IN A PAGAN WORLD (Acts 17:16-34)

STANDING FIRM IN A PAGAN WORLD (Acts 17:16-34)

According to the Barna Research Institute, there is something happening in America and in our spiritual world that is frightening, even alarming. According to Mr. Barna, nearly two out of three American adults say that the choice of one’s faith is really irrelevant since all religions basically teach the same message. That is, it’s a smorgasbord; you can pick and choose which Biblical truths you like, or don’t like, and it really doesn’t make all that much difference what you believe.     Christ is just one of many options, and you can choose to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ if you want to.  We live in a day of pluralism. Now, what pluralism means is that we are all un-American if we don’t put our arms around them and say, “Your faith, your religion, is just as good as ours.” As a matter of fact, today even tolerance is passé. They say, “We don’t want to be tolerated. That infers we’ve done something wrong. We want to be accepted and affirmed, no matter what we practice or how we believe.”  Beyond just tolerating them, we are told that we have to affirm them, and even celebrate them.   Now, that is happening right here in America, and it is no longer just a left coast thing, it is a very real fact all across America. And, what I want to talk to you about today is “How to Stand Firm in An Unbelieving World,” and give you some support, and to give you some hope.  Because we don’t need to stutter or stammer when we talk about our faith.   We can understand what we believe, and why we believe it.  And we can hoist the flag of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ very high, and expect people to bow their knee to Jesus Christ. And, we have good reasons for believing what we believe. Click on the link below to hear a lesson on how you can stand firm in your faith. This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS. Amen.

GOD REVEALS HIMSELF (Acts 17:26 to 18:11)

Man was created to worship God, but his sin has placed him under Satan as his Master.  Man, by nature, wants to worship something, you can see that in all of the religions that are created.  There has been only one God given religion, and that was Judaism, which is no longer valid.  All other religions are created by man.  Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Yet, these man-made religions are created by Satan to deceive man from the worship of the one true living God. While man may not be searching specifically for the living and true God, he is searching for a god, and he is willing to put up an idol and worship it.  Man is also not searching for salvation, for it is not until the Holy Spirit convicts the heart of the lost person that he begins to realize his sin, his responsibility for that sin, and the punishment that he will ultimately face for that sin.   Paul says, “and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.” Paul was telling the Athenians that the God of Creation, the God revealed in nature, providence, and circumstance, was not far away.  He had revealed Himself in those things.  Indeed, nature is God’s oldest testament.  His eternal power and Godhead are revealed in His creation and in His providential dealings with man.   The next question is how has God shown Himself? Paul states that it is by the “the invisible things,” (love, goodness, power, judgment).  “From creation” (the very beginning) are “clearly seen,” and “understood,” by creation.  Has God revealed Himself to man? Have all men had a revelation of God, from God? YES! The Scriptures make it very clear that through many means God has revealed Himself to all men through creation, law, conscience, spirit, prophet, seasons, and on and on. He has done this “so they are without excuse.”   Click on the link below to hear a lesson on how God has revealed Himself to all of mankind. This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS. Amen.

TO KNOW JESUS AS GOD (Acts 16:35 to 17:25)

In today’s lesson, the apostle Paul tells us how we can know Jesus as God.  Many people know about God, and they may know a little about Jesus, but they do not know Jesus as God. Others, know a great deal about man-made gods, but they do not know the Creator, the true and living God, nor do they know Jesus as God.   They do not know the gospel message of the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  They do not know that Jesus Christ has provided them with the very thing they need most of all, a perfect, completed salvation, which is given only by the grace of God.   They do not know that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah, whom the whole creation is groaning for, waiting for, and looking for.  This is what today’s lesson is about.  Bringing the gospel message to a world that does not know Jesus as God.   Paul’s sermon takes place in Athens, which was the university city of the world.  Art, literature, philosophy, religion, mathematics, science, and democracy were all the stuff that Athens was made of.  When you think of the liberal theology and philosophy that exists in our universities today, this is what the entire city of Athens was like.  It was a place where the absolute truths of God’s Word had been replaced with the absolute chaos of man’s basest desires being met at his own whim.  For all its knowledge, Greek civilization was spiritually bankrupt.   God’s Word tells us that Jesus came to reveal to men the true God, and Paul had come to Athens to proclaim Him.  Paul wanted to tell them about Jesus as God.  Paul knew Him as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, as the rock of ages, the Shepherd of Israel, and the fountain of living water.  He knew Him to be the incarnate Word, God manifest in flesh, Jesus Christ the Lord.   Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can know Jesus as God. This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS. Amen.

THE SIMPLICITY OF SALVATION (Acts 16:23-31)

In today's lesson, I want to make the plan of salvation so plain and clear that we can share it with a world that is looking for something to fill that God-sized void in their lives.   In the Bible, God spells it out in a simple way because He wants people to be saved. He wants people to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, I want to give you a story in the Bible that makes it clear how a person can know, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that he or she has been saved and that they will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ. To be saved, you must realize that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that you have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the penalty of that sin is death.   Next, you must repent of your sin.  The word repent means that you agree with God that what you have done is wrong.  It means that you stop going the way you are living and turn 180 degrees around and head towards God.  You commit to God that you will not continue to live your life in sin. Then, you must choose to receive, or accept, that Christ died on the cross so that you would not have to pay the penalty for that sin.  That Christ died in your place.  That He paid your penalty in full.  That Christ died, that He was buried, and that He rose again from the grave so that you could receive the free gift of salvation provided by grace of God.  Your faith is on the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is His blood, and His blood alone, that washes your sin away and clothes you in His righteousness.   Your faith is on Christ, not your works, that is how you are saved, and the good news of the gospel is that this offer of grace is open to you.  The Bible teaches that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  That word “whosoever” means “whosoever,” it means even you. Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can spend eternity with God in heaven. This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS. Amen.

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? (Acts 16:11-34)

This question is asked by the Philippian jailer in our lesson today, but it has been asked by millions, upon millions, of lost people over the last two thousand years.  For it is the single most important question that a person must ask in their lifetime.  The answer to this all-important question is provided for us in God’s Word, and our response is what determines how we will spend eternity. It is important to understand that it is not the amount, or kind, of sin in our life that condemns us; it is the fact of sin in our life that condemns us.  Yet, we will not be judged and sent to an eternity in hell because of our sin.  We will be judged and sent to an eternity in hell because of our rejection of Jesus Christ and the light of salvation that He has provided to us through the Holy Spirit. Paul and Silas provided a two-part answer to the jailer.  The first part was “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” There is only one way to come to God, and that is by faith in Jesus Christ, and not works. Charles Spurgeon stated the following: “It is not thy hold on Christ that saves thee; it is Christ.  It is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee, it is Christ.  It is not even thy faith in Christ that saves thee, though that be the instrument.  It is Christ’s blood and merit.” It is Christ’s blood that saves us, faith just grabs hold of it for us—that is all.   The Word of God is the second part of the answer. The question for the jailer, and any lost person, becomes do you believe God or not?  Our faith comes from our heart.  It is by knowing that the Bible is the Word of God that our faith can be based on knowledge.  It is not some mystery that we cannot know. Click on the link below to hear a message that answers the question, “What must I do to be saved?” This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS. Amen.