Really? [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

And so what it means to be justified is in the first place, it's just as if I'd never sinned. But secondly, and this is the part that's almost harder to believe, it's just as if I'd lived a perfectly meritorious life like Jesus himself. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Galatians as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month made to Alan Wright Ministries.

So as you listen to today's message, you can go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.

877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. This is my faith. But we tend to think that we somehow are going to get motivated or motivated other people by getting them a little bit afraid that maybe they hadn't quite done enough and then they'll try harder. But in fact and matter, isn't it true that when you get afraid, whatever it is that you're trying to do, you can't do it as well?

I mean, in fact, the fear sabotages you. I got stuck watching the Weather Channel this past week. I wanted to check the weather, but the Weather Channel doesn't report the weather anymore. It's documentaries about weather. But anyway, I got stuck watching about flash floods. And boy, they milked this story for too long.

And I didn't even get to see the end of it. But the story was of a flash flood that happened. A woman's car got swept in this flash flood. You can't drive through water. Water starts moving. I've seen this on Weather Channel.

Get out of the car and don't try to drive through. The water started carrying your car and carried it into a tunnel in a big city. And then the tunnel started filling up with water. I mean, really filling up with water. And the woman couldn't swim. Her car was sinking, submerging.

They're telling this whole story really dramatically and recreating all of it. And the woman is up on the top of her car that's mostly submerged. And the water's rising in the tunnel.

And pretty soon it's going to fill. Her head's getting closer to the top of the tunnel. And she can't swim. As the providence of God would have it, and as the Weather Channel was glad to report, there was a firefighter off duty in the area who had, in his military service, been a rescue swimmer and diver. And this was good news because he was confident to go and save the woman.

But he had no flotation device with him. And so he had to swim against the heavy current of the rising waters and go next to the sinking vehicle and tread water as she is sitting on top hysterical. And I just loved what he did first.

The first thing that he did was he shouted out to the woman. And he said, you are not going to die today. And I thought, now that's it. That's gospel.

That's good. That's what she needed to hear right at that moment. Because I've never tried to rescue a drowning person. But I've read that it is very hard to do because the main obstacle in rescuing a person that's drowning is for the person you're rescuing to let you rescue them. Because if you're drowning and a person comes out there, you just begin to attack them and climb on top of them and push them under the water and claw at them. And there have been stories of lifeguards that just have to knock you out, just have to absolutely knock you into hit or something to get you to the top or else we're both going to drown. I've tried to rescue you, but you're trying so hard to save yourself. I can't rescue you. And so the story went on.

You're not going to die today. And the fact of the matter is the best thing that she could do to make progress in her life was to let herself rest in the arms of her rescuer. This is part of what Paul is trying to say here. I saw you receive the Holy Spirit when you became Christians, Paul said. You began with the Spirit. Do you think that now you're going to make progress by thrashing about and trying to save yourselves in some new way? I saw miracles in your midst. Did you really see any of those miracles come about because you had practiced rituals of circumcision or dietary loss?

No. There is a rest in the Lord. A Sabbath rest in Jesus, Hebrews says, that is for today.

You see, I don't have time to go into this in great detail, but I will anyway. God, after six days of creation, He rested from His labor and He said His complete is very good. He rested because He finished His work. And there's no mention of Sabbath until God gives the law to Moses and He says, you know, you tell the people on the seventh day you need to rest from all your labor from the work because God rested. I want you to be in the same rest that is God's rest.

I want you to experience that. But it was just a shadow. It was just a shadow of what would find its reality in Christ. Understand the old covenant is described by the new as shadows of that which is to come. It's like a shadow.

It gives you a very good idea of what a person, there's a person there and you may see movements and you may see, but as of no comparison to when you have the person Himself. So Jesus is the person Himself. And what we find in Hebrews is a looking back to this idea of Sabbath, saying this never really was about just this one day a week or about you being Pharisaically keeping this 24-hour period and not doing any work. This was all a shadow that was pointing to the way that God really has always wanted you to be able to live your life. Resting from your labor to try to save yourself. And instead every moment, every day, not just one day a week, in Jesus Christ we have Sabbath.

Why? Because He did for us what we can't do for ourselves. And the people that learn to walk in the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, every Christian has the Holy Spirit, and those that learn to live a life that is increasingly empowered by the Holy Spirit, it's not really because they have more of the Holy Spirit, it's really because they have yielded and rested more in the promises and assurances of God's work in Jesus Christ so that they can rest in His arms and receive the empowerment. What Paul is saying, in other words, is that you might be allured into thinking that there are things, Galatians, that you could do that would somehow make you more sanctified or you more Spirit-filled, but the fact of the matter is those very things that you want to mix into the gospel, they are not only non-essential, they are poisonous to the gospel because once you start taking a self-improvement plan of your own, that's where you forget what it means to rest in the Lord. And the spiritual battle is at this point. You ever thought it was so interesting that the promised land that the people of God fought to take, their battle was to go into the promised land which God called the place of rest. It was like a picture of the real battle is whether we're going to live in the rest in the Sabbath of the gospel or whether we're going to live with the fear and the angst that comes with a mixed gospel of grace and law.

It comes with a sense of guilt and curse with it. Oh, that's the real point of the spiritual battle. So much so that Hebrews says, interesting paradox, if you're going to labor, labor to enter into the rest because the spiritual battle is really at this point. And this is why Paul says, who has bewitched to? When he says who, he uses the pronoun in the singular form because he's not really talking about the Judaizers here. He's really talking about the spiritual enemy. He's really talking about the accuser, the one that's called Satan. He's talking about the essence of the spiritual battle is to bewitch us and cause us to think that we need to strive in order to get God to bless us. God fills us with His Holy Spirit because of the guarantee of His love that we receive by His grace through faith alone and nothing else. Anything other than that gospel actually doesn't lead to life.

It leads to death. We had a precious opportunity to do some ministry down at the Bethesda Center, one of the places in town that has ministry for the homeless and good ministry and along with Larry Reva's ministries and our outreach ministry, we just had simple time and people were feeding them hot dogs and they had some medical screening. We just had a couple tents set up just to pray with people and it was just a beautiful time and I dropped by and I got an opportunity to meet a man and his fiancee.

I hope that sometime they'll come to church. I invited him and I'll just call him Jimmy and I just began to talk to him a little bit and then Jimmy began to cry and he said he was really confused. He's heard a lot of different preachers, he's heard a lot of different things and in the story he began to tell me that his mother had died of cancer and he'd heard some people say that God will take away the things that are most precious from you and he didn't understand that and he was living for 10 years with kind of this haunting sense that did God give my mother cancer and take her away because of the sin in my life. This is kind of what he's living with and he said he was so confused. I said, well let's just sit down and let's talk and I talked to him and I talked to his fiancee. He was a sweet man and this is the story he told me. He said that he was working in a car body shop. He had a good job but he said I just felt like I could never be enough for my dad. My father never told me he loved me.

He said it was just his way and he said I always wanted him to. He said that his father was always comparing. He said so he compares salaries.

I wouldn't make enough money. He said but then I started doing good in the body shop and I was actually making more money and he was there for a period of time and we were always comparing. Then it got to where he got a promotion in his company and so he was making more than I was and I couldn't make any more in the body shop and we were still comparing. He said so that's why I just decided I'd start making money illegally. That's where the trouble began and it led down a path to where he said it now and he wept. He said I'm homeless.

I've never been homeless before. He said that ten years ago, on his birthday Jimmy, his dad pulled him in the garage and said son brace yourself like a man. He said I know it's your birthday. He said but I gotta tell you. He said your mother's got cancer. Happy birthday and he walked out. He said that's all he said. That was my birthday present.

That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Imagine for 99 days in a row someone tells you I love you I'll never forsake you. Wouldn't you feel cherished? But what would happen if on the hundredth day that same person said I'm not sure you're good enough for me. If you don't measure up I don't think I'll love you anymore.

Wouldn't that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 99 days? Wouldn't 1% of conditional love poison the other 99%? Well just 1% of law is enough to spoil grace. The tiniest bit of law can introduce an unlimited capacity for fear. What if I don't measure up?

When might I be rejected? When the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church the Apostle Paul was outraged and wrote a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why it must not be mixed with any form of law. Alan Wright's 12 message audio series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free and empower you with pure grace. It's called Galatians and that's the gospel. Discover the purity and power of the grace of God. When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today we'll send you pastor Alan's messages in an attractive CD album or through digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor alan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. You know what that dad's thinking? Dad is thinking if I really want my son to be something better than I am I need to point out how low he is so that he'll be afraid that he's not measuring up and then he'll try harder in order to measure up. That's what that dad's thinking and he just you want to just stop for a moment just let's just think about the logic of that.

You think your son is going to be a more prosperous person by you pointing out how much of a failure he is? Really? Who's bewitched you? Who has bewitched you into thinking it you're going to produce character and faith by instilling fear through lack of acceptance? Who could convince you of that? Really?

Really? So what Paul's saying is that the gospel he's been saying this to chapter 1 and chapter 2 and he said the gospel is the power of God unto salvation and the gospel is an announcement of God's unconditional love that the way that God enables you to change and to grow is by assuring you of his love not by withholding his love. I said Jimmy I said you must understand that the way that you experienced your father this is not to put down your dad or anybody else's dad but to say but God is exactly the opposite of that. His love for you does not depend about whether you've sinned or not. He loved you while you were in your worst sin. He loves you just as much today. He loves you.

He loves you and you can't earn his love and you don't have to try to earn his love. You just accept his love. That's the gospel. You can see a man it doesn't matter whether he's the head CEO of a prosperous company or a homeless man on the street every man has the same longing the same need to know God loves me and I can change and that the love came first.

God loves you. Those are three most hopeful words I know and a close second is you can change but beloved keep the order right. The truth of the gospel is that you can change.

You can grow. You can become more and more righteous in your living. You can become more obedient.

There's more for you to do. You have a destiny. God is using you. You can be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. You can have more and more abundant fruit of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be used of God. You can grow. You can change. You can impact the world but none of that will ever add to or take away from the love of God. Such is the good news of the gospel and in fact of matter what Paul is saying is stop and think about it the miracles that you have seen whether they be the miracles of transformation in your life or whether it be miracles of healing that you've seen through the body of Christ any of the glorious things whatever you've seen he says at verse 5 does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of law about hearing with faith and the answer is the power of God moves in your life not because of your obedience but because of the goodness of God I'm saying is the good things that God does in your life he does because God is good therefore yield your life to him surrender yourself to him let him continually fill you with his presence don't fight against him by your own self-improvement plan it'll never add it'll never add a single blessing to your life and be assured I said to Jimmy and I would say to any Jimmy God did not give your mother cancer and take her away from you because you're sinful we are all sinful and fallen short of the glory of God we live in a world that has trouble and we don't understand everything that has happened God wants you to be free of that guilt it's the haunting guilt and its associated fears that keep us from coming boldly to the throne of grace Alec Holden received $50,000 on the day he turned 100 British man I think the reason he received it was because when he was 90 he found out of a betting company that would take wagers because the odds they had placed were 250 to one that he would live to be a hundred and so Alec put down $200 believing that he'd lived to be a hundred and when he turned 100 he collected his 50,000 I really liked the quote that the paper had and it said that Alec said I do have to confess that on the last days before my birthday I was living rather cautiously and an even better line he said and regularly reminding myself to breathe I say this to tell you that it is not the people who think that they're cursed and are going to die that are the ones that live their life to the full it is those that are convinced that they are going to live and beloved the good news of the gospel is that in Jesus Christ you are going to live forever more therefore you can count on it and live your life boldly courageously and obediently really really and that's the gospel Alan Wright and today's teaching breaking the spell of legalism embracing the power of the Spirit it's from our series on Galatians Alan is in the studio back here in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word please stay with us unlock the power of blessing your life discover God's grace filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing if you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement get Alan Wright's daily blessing it's free and just a click away at pastor Alan org imagine for 99 days in a row someone tells you I love you I'll never forsake you when you feel cherished but what would happen if on the hundredth day that same person said I'm not sure you're good enough for me if you don't measure up I don't think I'll love you anymore wouldn't that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 99 days wouldn't one percent of conditional love poison the other 99 percent well just one percent of law is enough to spoil grace the tiniest bit of law can introduce an unlimited capacity for fear what if I don't measure up when might I be rejected when the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian Church the Apostle Paul was outraged and wrote a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why it must not be mixed with any form of law Alan Wright's 12 message audio series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free and empower you with pure grace it's called Galatians and that's the gospel discover the purity and power of the grace of God when you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today we'll send you pastor Alan's messages in an attractive CD album or through digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty that's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty or come to our website pastor Alan org so Alan if someone's listening right now and boy they really feel like they have been living maybe a life or part of their life under legalism I don't think anybody sets out to say okay I am a legalist I'm going to be legalistic about these things but it creeps in doesn't it it does I was talking to somebody just yesterday Daniel who had grown up in a whole lot of legalism and now has come out and has seen it and you know as there may be some listeners that have grown up in in or been taught in such a legalistic shame-based kind of atmosphere that it really would be amazing the kinds of restrictions and real feeling of slavery that it can almost feel like you were caught up in some sort of almost cult like environment but I think for most of us it's more of this mixture you know of okay we you know we hear about grace but then we also the message ends up saying yeah but you know here's what you ought to do and here's what you ought to be and so it begins to rob the the gospel of its power and when you when you begin to hear this message there is a breaking free that takes place and I just encourage every listener just let it be like the dawning of a light that just begins to shine in your heart and it will expose I think more and more those places where well Paul used the word bewitched it's like you can be under a spell and we go and then and later you look back go why would I even why would we attracted to to that that kind of message but sometimes because we are our hearts are tainted with sin and we're broken and we know that we we sin we gravitate I think sometimes to the message of the law and it seems like it should be right it seems like that that it should be right but it's just that the gospel so so good and so wonderful that sometimes it seems too good to be true but it is true and God loves you and God has done the extraordinary and Christ Jesus he's paid the whole price today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries