Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical faith-filled vision for your life. Ew. are God's masterpiece.
So I bless you. To be as Ephraim and Manasseh, because once adopted by Jacob, they knew they belonged forever, heirs who could never be disowned. God made you. and then he adopted you. It means you are his.
For good. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. Just don't worry about who's going to tap you on the shoulder and say that's not your seat, because it is your seat. Amen. Been bought and paid for.
He said, just walk in a manner worthy. Your princes? and your princesses.
So walk in a noble manner. 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 am Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in our series, Empowered, as presented at Renolda 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. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. or call 877-544-4860.
More on this later in the program. But now let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Pastor Alan Wright.
So to be a Christian is to move from one realm into another. And when you start in that new realm, And you start reading about who you are, there's a part of you that goes, who me? And the process of Growing up as a Christian. Is like the Chronicles of Narnia of moving in the direction of accepting your place of royalty in the kingdom of God. And knowing who you are, So that you can sit in that right seat and then walk it out.
And take your stand. Yes. Watch my knees. Classic book on spiritual authority by that title: Sit, Walk, Stand. And he's pointing to these three texts from Ephesians, back to Ephesians.
Chapter 2, look at this. Verse 4 again, but God, who is rich in mercy. Because of his great love with which he loved us. This is why God's done all of this for you. Because he is so deeply merciful and he has so much love for you.
That's why. That even when we were dead, in our trespasses. made us alive together with Christ. By grace you've been saved. And verse 6, and raised us up together.
And made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
So you see that. All of this is in connection with Jesus. Like this togetherness he's talking about is. is you, the body of Christ, with Jesus. We were Figuratively dead.
He was dead in the tomb. We were spiritually dead. We were shut off from God. And God, by his grace, Raised you up with Jesus, made you alive again. And then he raised you up together with Jesus.
So that's, you see the image is like... Waking up from the dead and then being raised up to a new place and then. made us sit together in the heavenly places. Seated with him. Made us alive, raised us up, made us sit.
So We once were dead. We now are alive. We once were just low, we got raised up, and we were given a whole new position in the cosmos. Wow.
So Washman Neese says Plainly, Christianity does not begin with walking, it begins with sitting. We get the order reversed. He says most Christians make the mistake of trying to walk in order to be able to sit. But that's a reversal of the true order. Our natural reason says if we do not walk, how can we ever reach the goal?
What can we attain without effort? Then Ni explains something has been finished work stops and we sit It's paradoxical but true. We only advance in the Christian life as we learn, first of all, to sit down. To sit means to trust the full weight of your being onto whatever you're sitting on. You know, you sit down on a chair.
It's going to support me fully. Sit there on the couch, sitting there in that pew. If you don't think it's going to support your weight, you don't sit. The full way to your salvation. The full weight of all blessedness in your life, the fullness of all that, you just...
You said. The Christian life is not about you perform, then you get your position. The Christian life, and this is why the gospel is so good, is you get your position given to you.
so that then you can perform it all the way God wants you to. You don't walk worthy. And then God says, okay, I'm going to put you in a good position. He puts you, he says, seated with Christ. This is now you can walk worthy.
So you take your seat. It's a tough thing to accept. When you feel like you're an ordinary kid from England where nobody paid attention to you and suddenly you're a narnia. And everybody's telling you the prophecies are about you, and about these thrones, and about you're the ones going to defeat the white witch. You're like, what?
This is why you got to stay in the Word of God. That tells you like 1 Peter 2, 9, you're a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. And we were going, who me? But the whole narrative of Narnia moves towards this Day in which they make their way to their thrones amid deafening shouts of long live King Peter and long live Queen Susan, long live King Edmund, long live Queen Lucy. I like at the end of the story, it just says of them: so they lived in great joy.
And if they ever remembered their life in this world, it was only as one remembers a dream. As you take your seat. And you'd find out who you are in Christ. And then that becomes the way you think and the way you feel. It's why I just can never, ever, ever, ever get away from.
Every single chance I have to be with you, talk to you about your identity in Christ. This is who you are. This is what God's done for you. This is your identity. All of the Christian life starts with the seat that you've been given, and it's a seat.
In the cosmos, in the heavenlies, with Christ. God raised him up and put Jesus at his right hand where he's seated. And then you, figuratively, mystically, are connected to Jesus, and in him, you've been given the new seat. Mm. It's a position of authority.
And the kingdom.
So you sit. And then You can walk. Look at Ephesians 4. Verse 1. I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you.
to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called. What does that look like with all humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace? Walk in a manner worthy of the calling. to which you've been called. Think of it this way.
Walk in a way that is fitting. to who you are in Christ. That's the message. You sit Say it again with me. Sit?
Then Walk. Don't try to walk before you are seated with Christ. Walks used eight times in Ephesians, places like 4:17. I say and testify in the Lord, you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. Or, like in Ephesians 5:2, walk in love.
Or, like in Ephesians 5:a, at one time you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Do you see what he's saying? The walk is the way you live your life. The walk is the way you think.
The walk is the way you talk. The walk is all of the expression, the outward expression of your life. Walk in a manner worthy of the life to which you've been called. Sit down and accept your new authority and your new place, believe it, accept your identity, and then walk that way. They they walk that way.
What happens is that you have been seated with Christ, and so then as you began to walk that way, you walk as one who is very much like Christ. You gotta kind of get used to your seat. Before you can Be comfortable with it.
So if you're new to the Lord, And you're like, what is he even talking about?
Well, just... Sit in that seat? Just sit in that seat next to Jesus. Just sit there. And then after a while, you're going to be like, okay, it's my seat.
I'm one of those guys that like I go to the basketball game I'm way too cheap to pay for the good tickets I just can't do it. I can't do it. They're just, I mean, I just can't, whatever it is, I cannot pay for the good seats. And I go immediately thinking. Can I move down?
Yeah. We get the cheap seats, and my wife's not like that. She likes, buy the good seats. And I'm like, no, we're getting the cheap seats. And then we get there.
And as soon as we get there, I'm like, I lean over her 10 minutes, and five minutes in the camera, there's seats down below. We're up on the second from the top, you know? And she's like, I'm not moving. No, I'm not.
Somebody might come, and like the moment that they come and tap you on the shoulder and say, excuse me. You're in my seat, you usurper. Trespasser. Yeah. So, but every now and then I'll go with a buddy who doesn't mind moving down.
Last year we went. We went to the Dean Dome last year to watch Carolina play a lesser team, and it wasn't that crowded. And our seats were a second row from the top. I mean, literally a second row from the top. I was sweating by the time I got up there.
Couldn't breathe, nose was bleeding. But we weren't up there long. I mean, five minutes to it. I'm looking at him like, you up for moving down? I was like, Yeah, we're going to move down.
Mm-hmm.
So, you know, at first we like, we moved down lower in the upper deck, and I'm like, this is a lot better. This is a lot better. And we're looking down in the lower deck, and we're like, You know, sometimes they'll guard the lower deck. They won't even let you get in there unless you got a ticket. And I'm like, yeah, but today, They need us down there.
I said, the players would rather have us down there. They could hear us cheering for them down there. We've got a duty to go down.
So we go down to the lower deck and sneak into the lower deck. And then we got into the lower deck, and I looked at him, and I just, I don't know what spirit of boldness came over in me, but I said, look down there. He said, what? And I said, There's some seats on the first row. And he's even he was like Really?
And I'm like.
Well, what's the worst thing can happen to us, you know? They throw us out for being trespassers. I don't know. But so we crept down there. Yeah.
and sat right behind the commentators who were on the floor. right behind West Durham and the combinators calling the game. And for the first, you know, 10 minutes or 15 minutes, we're sitting there and we're like, Just sitting. Yeah. Like, I don't want the television, and we're all gonna be all on TV.
You know, the TV's panning, we're like. We're not. Yeah. You know, just waiting for that moment where some Rams Club bigwig is going to come and tap me on the shoulder and go. You're a preacher.
I know you're supposed to be up to... But we just sat there, just sit in the seat for a while, you know? Nobody came. Nobody kicked us out. We just kept sitting, clapping.
First time I'm like this, and then we start standing up. Come on, others. I realize the players can hear us. Come on, let's watch. Good shot, tremble.
You know, I mean, I'm like this, like this, you know. And then we start yelling at the refs. They can hear us. That wasn't a charge. What are you talking about?
We're front row. We're all on TV and everything, and after a while, I'm like, this is my seat. Yeah, halftime. I'm sitting there behind West Durham. Woody Durham Sons.
The Carolina fans all knew Woody Durham. We used to, Woody Durham was at WFNY-TV where my dad worked his whole career. They worked together. And so finally they had a commercial break one time. I tapped Wes on the shoulder.
I said, Wes. I said, I want to introduce myself. I said, I'm Alan Wright. Our dads worked together. He said, Well, your dad, Dave Wright.
I said, Yeah, Dave Wright said, Are you a kid? And I said, No, I said, We're just hanging out there on the sun. I said, Hanging out? And I'm sure he's sitting there thinking.
Well, it's only fitting that he's got seats on the first row. He doesn't know. I came down from the top, baby. I'm down there talking to the TV guy. And we just, you know, like that.
Just sit in your seat with Jesus. Just sit in it. You don't feel comfortable in it. Just sit there until you do. Just get up in the morning and just say, I've been seated with Jesus.
Yes. No. Don't Just don't worry about who's going to tap you on the shoulder and say that's not your seat, because it is your seat. Are you doing it? Been bought and paid for.
He said, this walk in a manner worthy. Your princes? And you're princesses.
So walk in a noble manner. How does royalty walk around? I don't know. Right. They're a little more dignified.
Walk like that. Yeah. You're spiritually rich, so Walk generously. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Put away poverty.
Put away scarcity mentalities, put away Mm-hmm. You've been given Strength and authority.
So walk? With confidence. Boldness. But because you're so strong. You can walk quietly.
It's a quiet confidence. It's like if you're the strongest dude in the room. You don't need to pick a fight with some... Scroney guy. I was preaching this morning, I was trying to think of that guy, you know, the rock.
What's his name? You know the... Wayne, doing, you know, I mean, that guy, when he's in a room. He doesn't need to prove that he's stronger than the Pip squeak guy that's At the other end of the bar or whatever, he just like, that guy's like a flea. Like a flea other people like fleas you just You just walk, you know.
You don't need to go yelling and rebuking and scrapping and. You just. Yeah. I'm the strong guy in the room. I'm an authority in Jesus.
This is the way it is in the kingdom. I'm talking about in the kingdom. I'm not talking about when you walk into a restaurant and you're like, I'm the strongest one. I'm talking about you. And the kingdom of God.
You're greatly loved. You're beloved.
So walk in love. You're a recipient of Mercy.
So have mercy. God's been kind to you.
So walk in kindness. The children of Narnia, they First, in the story, they just continue to bicker with each other like they're just ordinary kids. But once they get their thrones. And they start wearing their royal raiment. They start talking different.
Lewis writes, they made good laws and kept the peace and saved good trees from being unnecessarily cut down. They're good and bad trees in the story then. you know that. liberated young dwarfs, Generally, he stopped busy bodies and interferes and encouraged ordinary people who wanted to live and let live. They drove back the fierce giants.
entered into friendship and alliance with countries beyond the seas, paid them visits of state, received visits of state from them, and they themselves grew. and changed as the years passed over them. and Peter became a tall and deep-chested man and a great warrior. And he was called Peter, King Peter the Magnificent. Susan grew into a tall and gracious woman.
with black hair that fell almost to her feet, and the kings of the countries beyond the sea began to send ambassadors asking for her hand in marriage, and she was called Susan the Gentle. Edmund was a graver and quieter man than Peter, and great in counsel and judgment. He was called King Edmund the Just. But as for Lucy, she was always golden haired and all Princes in those parts desired her to be their queen, and her own people called her queen Lucy. The Valiant.
Mm sit. Then walk. Then Stand. Pastor Alan Wright, our good news message: Sit, walk, stand from the series Empowered. Hey, stay with us, Pastor Alan, as back here in the studio, sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment.
Do you ever feel stuck? Stuck in old fears, old failures, old patterns, or the feeling that you're never quite measuring up? Many Christians know God has called them to something greater, but they wonder if they'll ever have the power to live it out. The good news is that God doesn't just give instructions for Christian living. He gives power for Christian living.
Right now, our featured resource from Pastor Alan is the Empowered Bundle, Living in the Power of the Promise. This digital download includes a complete study guide along with full uninterrupted audio messages from the Empowered Teaching series. You'll discover that the power of God isn't something you have to earn or achieve. Jesus has already paid the price. Through the Holy Spirit, you can receive freedom from guilt and shame, victory over strongholds, and confidence to walk in the fullness of God's promises.
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Call us at 877-4525-2525-252. 544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Back here now with Pastor Alan for our parting, our closing good news thought for the day.
Sit, walk, stand as we place the bookmark here. We are coming close to the end of the Empowered Series, but Pastor Alan, right here, what's our closing thought at this moment?
Well, as Watchman Nee has said, a lot of Christians make the mistake of trying to walk in order to be able to sit. But the order is not that. It's you understand yourself to be seated with Christ. And what that means is that even though you're not in heaven and you're not in the new heaven and new earth where you'll reign with Christ, you already are metaphorically and in a real sense spiritually seated with Christ, meaning he took a place of victory and authority over evil. and you've already become a co-heir with him.
It's not just that one day you'll be a co-heir. You already have the spiritual riches that He purchased for you. They're already being shared with you.
So understanding your seat. Is the thing that enables you to walk and eventually to stand against the devil. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860.
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