Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical faith-filled vision for your life. Every day for 40 years they ate it. The same white flaky stuff day after day for 40 years. They didn't need an omelette or French toast or a protein shake. Just Mana.
Always mana. What's the blessing and the sameness of the bread of heaven? Here it is, it's a picture of Jesus. It's a picture of the one answer you need every day. for every situation.
Need some peace. Have some of the bread of heaven. You need some healing? Have some bread of heaven. need some hope.
Have some bread of heaven. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And he's all you'll ever need. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. The fellowship with Jesus and suffering.
is when essentially we say, Jesus, they picked on me. And he says, I understand. They picked on me too. 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 Abide, taken from John 14 through 17, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire broadcast today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now, which can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries.
So, as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. At any point, contact us at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860.
More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here. is Alan Wright. When you had a really hard test, you'd come out of it and you'd be like, I just hope there's a good curve because that was a hard test.
And that freshman year, I overstudied for everything. I overstudy it throughout my whole college career. Because guess what? I made good grades and then. Nobody cared.
I became a pastor. They don't even know. And I didn't need it to get into med school or law school or anything. I should have loafed my way through. I blew it.
But anyway, I overstudied. I was perfectionistic. And I don't want you to think like I'm really smart. I'm pretty good at studying and taking tests. I'm pretty good at a multiple choice test.
And so I studied like crazy for that first exam in Poli Sci 41. And I knew the material. I mean, like, I'd like memorized the chapters, memorized all my notes. I mean, I was like, I dare him to ask a question I don't know. And I went in 100 questions.
It didn't take me very long. I filled them out, and I pretty much walked down and thought, I think I got most of those right. You know. And the next week, you know, all the kids on my hallway, they're all talking about how hard that test was. It wasn't fair, it was so hard.
And I was thinking, it wasn't that hard. You know, you guys have been playing way too much Pac-Man and poker. Which they did. They did. I had guys flunk out because Pac-Man had just come out and there was a Pac-Man game next to our dorm and they were over there for hours.
But anyway, oh, this was so hard, you know, I it better be a big curve on this. And so we got back our exams, and the guys on the hallway, everybody was taking this class. It was kind of an introductory class people took if they're going to be a business major, all these things. And so everybody's looking at their tests, and the guys had made a 62, 71, you know, some guy made 78, and they're like, they think, man, we're failing out of this thing, we can get going. They say, well, you know, there's going to be a big curve, hopefully.
And then one guy looks and he goes, Oh no, said some joker had made a 98 on this thing. I never told him what I made on that test. The dude that made a 98 just proved. It's possible to make a 98 on this, so everybody else is going to have to be quiet. You can't very well say, unfair, unfair, because no, somebody made a 98.
R. C. Sproll said, Jesus Christ was a curvebreaker. The supreme curve buster. The ultimate supercompetent.
The outcasts of society loved him. because he paid attention to them. But those who held the seats of honor and power could not tolerate Christ. There's something about flawless goodness. that exposes us.
And it either draws us in or makes us hate it. Years ago, a pro golfer played a practice round. with President Gerald Ford, Jack Nicklaus and Billy Graham. What a great forsome to be a part of. And the pro played poorly, and at the end, he was huffing around the locker room.
And another golfer said to him, Well what, did did you not have a good time? And he said, I don't need Billy Graham stuffing religion down my throat. The golfer said, really? He was hard on you out there? The golfer said, Well, No, he didn't really say anything about God, but I just played really bad.
The mere presence of the holiness of Jesus. is convicting. And the Holy Spirit wants to convict in such a way. that he draws you in irretrievably. to the love of God.
But for those who do not know him. They can just be mad about it. We're talking about discerning how you could be. mistreated by someone. And you don't have any idea why.
I want to come back to this. Can we please? please not needlessly bring on the persecution that we don't need to have. In other words, remember Tim Cowler, if you're always being insulted and nobody's ever drawn to the Jesus in you, it could be that you're just being needlessly antagonistic. Please don't.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. When he there uses the word world, he means the people of the world. Every human being. and the planet itself he loves. That's why he came.
But here when it says you're not of this world He's speaking of the world's systems. The ideologies of the world that are under demonic influence and deception and are antichrist.
So keep that distinction.
Okay, but The posture of the Christian. It's love. and looking for all that you can appreciate. and bless in the people around you. That's our mentality.
I am so tender. having been with our precious team in Jamaica. And watching our medical team and our students who went to minister to orphans there, and thinking over the 30-plus years our church has been investing there. I'm just still very tender, and it draws you to Jesus. I would that everyone could go on a mission trip.
You can't explain it. Until you do it. Until you see the people that might be seeming the least of these and recognize The infinite value of every human being in the eyes of God and love people. And do acts of kindness in utter obscurity that no one but that person and Jesus would ever know about. It will change your life.
And so I'm still in the afterglow of that. And on the way back, I came back earlier than the team in order to preach last weekend. And so I traveled by myself and I was coming through the Montego Bay Airport late Friday. And by Friday late afternoon, honestly, I was hungry. I so appreciative.
They fed us well, they were preparing good food, but I was trying to do more low-carb stuff in my life right now, and it wasn't a lot of that. And I was like, I just wanted a lot of meat, you know. And like, one night we had curried goat, and Until you get somebody explaining to you, goat's more expensive than beef or chicken in Jamaica. I don't know why, but... It is.
And we don't eat goat, right? And so that's kind of like goat, really. But it's considered a prized dinner. And the chef cookie explained, he said it was bony. He said, but understand, this is, you know, they were saying we're trying to treat you to something nice.
And so the curried goat, I mean, it tastes fine, but it's hard to get much meat off the bone, you know? And it's like, I want some meat.
So I got into that airport and I was like, I hope they've got a good restaurant here. I'm starving. And I got a long day in front of me, you know, to get back to Charlotte and then back home. And this is going to be my meal. And like, they did.
It was a nice, nice airport. They had a nice Bob Marley restaurant in there. I went in there and I sat down at the table. I had my own table, opened up a thing, and Alex said, Can I get you something to drink? I said, you know, I'd really love some iced tea.
And they had iced tea, I mean, with ice in it. Ice. And it was tea. It didn't taste like our tea, but it was iced tea. And I was like, oh, that is so good.
And refills on iced tea. I was just like, that's it. And I ordered the jerk chicken. And they brought me out a half a chicken. Like a rotisserie chicken prepared Jamaican jerk style, which I love.
I mean, it was more meat than I could eat. I was just like, oh, this is so good. And I'm in a total afterglow of being on a mission trip.
So I'm just telling this server, I love this chicken. I love, this is the best chicken I've ever had. And I love you. I love. I love, I love this.
I told her, I said, you have a nice airport here. This is really nice. She's like, what kind of tourist is this? And midway through my meal, a couple came and sat down at a table next to me, and I suppose they're American, and they were just fresh off of their vacation in Montego Bay. They were just rude.
You know. And I hear him, you know, at one point he said, I want a cup of coffee, and she said, We don't have coffee. He said, you are kidding me. Are you telling me there's not a decent cup of coffee in this whole airport? And he said it like, What a rinky-dink airport and a rinky-dink place and a backward people.
That's the way he said it. I wanted to go over there and wring his neck. And I wanted to say to the server, he does not represent me or America or any such thing. And I also wanted to say, man, if you walk around the corner, there's a Starbucks in this airport right around over there. Because just because you're a foreigner And not of a place?
is not an invitation to be rude to its inhabitants. The bigger invitation is to appreciate all that you can appreciate. You're not of this world. but it's not an invitation to be rude to this world. Hold people in honor.
Don't bring persecution on yourself needlessly. Don't be a person who's needlessly antagonistic. I can't say that enough. And don't think that just because you you know, somebody's mistreating you, that That's a demon, and I'm righteous. No, now you've just gone into the thing that we're trying to get away from.
So go home. Your wife said, Trash needs to go out. That's a demon, I'm telling you. Don't do that, don't do that. All right.
Where is the good news in this text that I kind of would have rather avoided this week, but it's right here and we couldn't. Why was this so important to Jesus? While he's talking about attachment, love, and friendship, and how connected we are with him, why was this so important? that this made it into the final discourse. of the upper room on the night before he would be crucified.
I think I can tell you. And it relates to the Promise that he made in the Beatitudes: Blessed are those that are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom. and it's related to what Paul came to understand. In Philippians three. At verse 8, he said, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.
Do you hear what he's saying? He's saying that intimacy with Jesus and friendship with Jesus. is so much more important. that everything else pales in comparison. including whether the world lauds me and honors me.
or mistreats me. Those things might matter, but they're low level compared to this, knowing Jesus. He said, For his sake I've suffered the loss of all things. and count them as rubbish. in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.
This is a guy who'd been greatly honored as a Pharisee of Pharisees, and had been greatly maligned, and he's saying all of that. does not compare to gaining Christ and being found in Him. Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law. but that which comes through faith in Christ. the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
And here's what he says: that I may know him. and the power of his resurrection. Do you see what matters to Paul? Knowing Jesus. and the power of Jesus.
and may share his sufferings. Because like him, becoming like him in his death. That by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. He knows he's going to be raised from the dead. What is he saying?
He sang. The treasure is being connected to Jesus. The treasure is not Being honored. versus maligned. I'd rather be honored than maligned.
I don't want to be persecuted. I don't want you to be persecuted. But the treasure is not whether or not people like you or hate you. The treasure is the connection with Jesus. And when he says to share in his sufferings, The word he uses here for sharing.
is one of the most important and beautiful words in the New Testament. It's the same word that is used to describe. the gathering fellowship of the people of God, Koinonia. He speaks of the experience of being reviled by others, is a koinonia with Jesus. He's saying there is a blessing.
If people should hate you wrongly. There's an intimacy with God in that. that is a treasure that's greater Than what any worldly honor could ever bring you. Do you understand? I'm not saying run away from worldly honors.
I pray favor over your life. And remember, Jesus was extremely favored. He was so popular he couldn't find a minute to himself. We're talking about the minority that hated him. and the minority that will hate the Jesus in you.
The image the Lord gave me this week was A third grade girl comes home from school. and cries And her mother says, what's wrong? And she says, They picked on me today. And a mother not in a hurry. sits down Next to her little girl, holds her.
and says, I understand. I remember when they picked on me too. The fellowship with Jesus and suffering. is when essentially we say, Jesus, they picked on me. And he says, I understand.
They picked on me too. And you have in that Koino Neo. Life. is there. This must Megu.
That when he said, Blessed are those that are persecuted for righteousness. He's saying The kingdom is opened up to you because you and I are united in that. It means beloved. that when you walk through a valley When you are misunderstood, maligned, mistreated, When someone even hates the Jesus in you, and you don't know why. This does not point to the absence of Jesus in your life, but the presence.
And it's okay. It's okay. You don't need to respond with your flesh. Just draw near to Jesus. Life with Jesus is just out of this world.
And I would rather talk about out of this world peace and out of this world joy. But it also means that he came to take us out of this world. out of its systems. out of its way of being, out of its ideologies, out of rebellion, out of religion. Out of all of that.
And sometimes, beloved, because you're not of this world, the world will misunderstand or even revile you. And it's okay. There's Koinonia. Uh With Jesus. And that's the gospel.
Pastor Alan Wright in our good news message, Out of This World, from the series Abide. I encourage you to stay with us because Pastor Alan is back here in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. 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.
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Back here now with Pastor Alan at the conclusion of Out of This World. It's from the teaching abide, which we have been saying is the parting words of Jesus. And we're discovering that, you know, imagining. being there with the disciples in these final moments with their teacher and realizing this is a cosmic battle, spiritual battle. And Jesus didn't just leave his words, he left his Holy Spirit.
There is a fellowship of suffering with Christ, and the Holy Spirit in this way is granting to us A A koinonia, that's the New Testament word for fellowship. with Jesus when we're in these sufferings. And anyone who's ever experienced that knows what I'm talking about. you would never choose that suffering that you're going through. Yeah.
But because of the sweetness of fellowship that you will have with Jesus who has experienced what you experience. And that sometimes you're experiencing maybe even a rejection, and it's not about you. It's about the Jesus who's in you. But you're very close to Jesus when you're walking through that. And so Thus beautiful.
And you can learn. to not only appreciate that fellowship, but to draw near to him. And so let your life be a witness. Let your life shine. God's with you.
And that's why there's good news, and there can even be a blessing for those that are persecuted. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free.
Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastoralan.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
