Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical, faith-filled vision for your life. You are God's vessel for the impossible. Alone, you can't. With God, you can. When confronted with glory and impossible promises, Mary worried, it can't be.
How could it be? She was yet married. She was too poor. She was too obscure. She was too young.
She was too. We know our limits too well. But today, I bless the eyes of your heart to see what God sees. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, be created by the Creator. to see what can be conquered by the victor.
To see what can be healed by the healer. You, like Mary, are a vessel for the holy purposes of God. Alone you can't with God. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light.
Being murdered. I'm Daniel Britton. Excited for you to see you. Technology is a standalone. And when he saw Jesus, just what Jesus did from the cross.
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. Dear friends, are you ready for some good news? Jesus never intended to give us a lot of hard commands or amazing invitations to all kinds of wonderful ways to bear fruit in the gospel. He never intended to give us that without also giving us the power to do it.
The Christian life is not empowered by human willpower. Human initiative. Or human Virtue. It is empowered. By the Holy Spirit Himself.
We're in a series called Simply Empowered. Dunamis, the word for power, occurs 119 times in the New Testament. more even than the word for agape, for God's kind of love.
So power is something very important. to understanding the whole of the Christian life. There were some nuns that finished their nursing shift and they were on the way back to the convent and unfortunately they ran out of gas. Pulled over to the side of the road on the shoulder, and thankfully, there was a gas station at the next exit. But they had no gas can.
So one of the nuns suggested that she just take a bed pan and go fill it up with some gas.
So she did, and she went up to that exit, came back with the bedpan full of gas. And there she was in her full clerical garb, standing on the side of the road, dumping the contents of the bedpan into the gas tank. Whereupon a passerby slowed down, rolled down the window, and said, Sister, now that's faith. Cars are meant to run on gas and Christians are meant to be fueled by the very power of the Holy Spirit Himself. And I want to pray today and hope that you'll open your heart to receiving from God.
That any of the things in our life that maybe we're trying to live by our own power, that today might be a day of relinquishment. where we get the sweet liberty of entrusting Our lives to God in new and fresh ways for His power in our lives. And I'm praying that perhaps if some of this talk about the power of God is new to you, Much like we're going to see in this story of the Samaritans, that it would open you eagerly to asking God for more of his power. All of that. We come to this really intriguing story in Acts chapter 8.
That, as we'll see today, is intriguing for a couple of reasons. One, there are these Samaritans that eagerly receive Jesus. but evidently had not been empowered by the Holy Spirit. As soon as Stephen was martyred, Philip and others began to scatter, and Philip went from Judea into Samaria, this area that kind of stylistically you see here between Judea and Galilee, that was a source of so much friction between Jews and Samaritans. Often they would just avoid going through altogether, but instead Philip goes to preach the gospel in Samaria.
And all of these signs and wonders are happening. People are being set free, and people are being healed, and there's great joy everywhere. And there are two things that then become very intriguing that we're going to look at in this story in Acts chapter 8. And one is that while many of those Samaritans were eager. to receive Jesus, believe on his name, and be baptized.
that until Peter and John came and recognized that Those new Christians in Samaria were not flowing in the power of the Holy Spirit. And they told them about it and laid hands on them, and they began to flow in a new power of the Holy Spirit.
So that's something that's a very unique. Instant, and we must look at that. And secondly, there is this figure in the middle of it named Simon. And he is a magician. And he's not like one of our modern day illusionists who everybody knows it's just you're putting on a show.
I mean, just in the sense of he was telling people he could do magic things by supernatural means. And people were really amazed by Simon. And we'll see in the story. is that Simon himself seems to become a Christian. At least we think so.
And yet Simon really, really misunderstands About the nature of the Holy Spirit and about the power of God. And in seeing Simon, he's what in literature we would call a foil, meaning a contrast to the real.
So you can kind of see in Simon What It's not.
so that you can see what it really is. As we ourselves want to be continually filled with the power and presence of God. Let's just start here at verse 4. Those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
So what has happened? is that Stephen was one of the first deacons. these seven that were set apart to Serve and care for the poor and the widows, so the apostles could be focused on teaching and prayer. And Stephen. is stoned to death.
this horrible, gruesome martyrdom. of of of Stephen. But one of the things that happened, and this is one of the things that the persecution of the church did in the New Testament times. was it caused the Christians to start spreading out. You know, as Christians, when you love God and you love the people of God, you really like to clump together.
And sometimes it takes something before we're willing to go spread out. And so all this persecution from hell God nonetheless used to help spread out the Christians, and this is part of the way the Great Commission got fulfilled. was people like Philip. Began fulfilling what Jesus had said: You'll be my witnesses, first in Jerusalem, in Judea, and then Samaria, and then the end of the earth. And so this has started happening, and so Philip, he's gone to Samaria.
And this is what we pick up reading at verse 5. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. It's something you see in the New Testament over and over and over. Paul later says: He said, I.
I didn't try to come to you with persuasive speech, but with the very power of God. And this is what Mark Suggestion to us is let's hunger together for the power of God because the world today. maybe as much or more than the first century is pluralistic and so many different viewpoints that Apart from seeing the power of God and seeing that He's real, I'm not sure how we reach this world.
So, this is what was happening. Verse 7: Unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them. And many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. This is incredible. powerful stuff that's going on.
Philip. Is the one who is being used by God for this. Philip was one of those seven. That was mentioned in Acts chapter 6 of those that were the early deacons that were set apart to wait on the tables and serve the poor and all that.
So, this is not Philip the Apostle. This is Philip. He's sometimes called Philip the Evangelist, mainly because of this chapter.
So Philip, could we just say this was just... It wasn't Peter or John, it wasn't Paul, it was just Philip. Philip the deacon, so you could say he was ordinary. I want to just see this: that Philip was just basically an ordinary early Christian. who just went to Samaria and started telling people about Jesus.
and assumed that as he did, that also people would be healed. and set free and they were. Everybody's paying attention because They're seeing that something's happening. And I love this at verse 8.
So there was much joy in that city. What a wonderful, wonderful picture. Just Don't let this... moment in time go by without just recognizing that Yeah. This is what Christianity is.
Despite what anything that the world around us in modern times would say. This is what Christianity is. Think about it. Philip. One of the seven chosen alongside of Stephen, good friends of Stephen.
And Stephen was Stoned to death. because he talked of Jesus. And it's one of the worst ways to die. It's not instant, it's awful, it's gruesome. And while he was being murdered.
He saw a vision of Jesus. You saw Jesus standing up as if to receive him. And when he saw Jesus, He said, Forgive them. Just the way Jesus did from the cross. This is so extraordinary.
All of the things that we're going to talk about today that we see, and by way of these supernatural signs and wonders that are accompanying Philip's preaching, nothing compares to this, that someone like Stephen. could actually pray that the people That were murdering him would be forgiven. This is Christianity. This is the power of the gospel at work. And what I want you to see is that the very first thing that happens for Philip.
when his dear friend has been martyred. Is that instead of turning in anger and trying to rally the troops to somehow Get back at those that had just killed Stephen. He went into enemy territory in Samaria. and started speaking of the love of Christ. and the love of God.
That's part of the opportunity, I think, for the witness of Christ and the. uh grief of Charlie Kirk's death. And there's already, I've seen some beautiful, beautiful statements where. I was watching the Governor of Utah saying we're We're not burning up buildings and looting and revolting in in the streets. That's not what we're doing.
We're all grieving, he says, but So here is Here is Philip in grief. ministering the love of God in Samaria. And God starts moving. This is Christianity. It's love.
And The text, I love it, verse 8: There was so much joy in that city. Because this, if you know the mark of an authentic revival that's going on, is that. It begins to touch everywhere, and there's just joy with it. What this means is that there were dads. That got saved.
and met Jesus. and found out they were forgiven and their shame began to lift and they were coming home and they were playing with their kids and the kids were saying, who is dad? Did I love this new dad? This is This is husbands loving their wives and wives loving their husbands. This is people in the marketplace.
Who are not trying to take advantage of someone else. And so they have joy and they have something in their heart to give. And next thing you know, the whole town is being impacted. This is Christianity. This is Christianity.
It made me think of Jonathan Edwards, the preacher of what we call the Great Awakenings, who in the 1730s was preaching in Northampton, Massachusetts. And as that great awakening began to happen, that whole town of Northampton was impacted. He wrote a famous work called A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God. He wrote it in 1737, reflecting on What happened in Northampton, and these are the words of Jonathan Edwards: the town seemed to be full of the presence of God. It never was so full of love nor of joy.
and yet so full of distress as it was then. There were remarkable tokens of God's presence in almost every house. It was a time of joy and families on account of salvation being brought unto them. He's saying that even though it was a distressful time in the natural sense and the things that they were facing and their economic lives and their health issues and on and on, that there was just so much joy. The whole town was a buzz.
The whole town was changed. It was like everywhere you went that it was transformed. This is what was happening in the city of Samaria as Philip was preaching the gospel. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
is possible. Verse 9, there was a man named Simon. Who previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest, saying, This man has a power of God that is called great. and they paid attention to him for because a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
Let me say a few things about magic. This is different than our common understanding of showmanship that we would call someone who's an illusionist. These people that were There were actually Either pretending or had demonic inspiration for it, to be able to have some sort of supernatural or spiritual element to be able to do amazing things that would amaze the superstitious people. Simon was doing this. And the Bible just warns, by the way, about magic in that sense of the word.
Um over and over. Because I think at least two reasons, and one is that Anything that has to do with magic or trying to summon some spirit, all these things can just be open windows to the demonic. And God just doesn't want you to have Anything anywhere near that which could open an inroad of the demonic into your life. And the second reason the Bible just so roundly condemns magic and all kinds of witchcraft and all that. is because it's so antithetical to the gospel.
So, like, just over and over and over, I won't read them all, but you remember, like, it was highlighted in the story of the Exodus where Moses comes and God starts using Moses to do all these signs and wonders. And then Pharaoh's magicians try to imitate, and they do a kind of good job of doing the false version of them. But there's just so many statements like Leviticus chapter 19: you shall not practice divination or soothsaying, do not turn to mediums and necromancers. This is saying, like, any and all, in case you don't know this, any and all. of that kind of stuff like Ouija boards and seances and astrology and even like reading a horoscope and any of those kinds of things, right?
are potential inroads to the demonic. But they're also the antithesis of the gospel. Because the gospel of Jesus Christ says this. Recognize your powerlessness. To save yourself.
are to change the world. and recognize that God can. and that grace is the free gift of God. And you, in submission to God, receive from Him His saving grace and be used by God. in a way that you always point back to God.
And always remember that it was not by your own works, but by his grace, all to his glory. Witchcraft is the opposite. Witchcraft is saying, do these certain things, and then you will be able to manipulate the forces around you. It's the exact opposite of the gospel. Alan Wright, our good news message, power beyond price, from the series Empowered.
Please stay with us. Pastor Alan is back joining me in the studio, sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Allen Wright Ministries is more than just a daily radio broadcast. Here are Daniel and Pastor Alan explaining another layer. You know, Pastor Alan, through this radio ministry, it's often been said that this is a friend, a friend in time of need.
It's a friendly voice. It's that encouragement I needed to hear, and the Lord used this ministry.
Well, how about your email inbox? Do you think there's ministry there? The daily blessing is such an encouragement. The daily blessing is a positive vision. It's rooted in scripture, so it's full of truth.
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The world's got all of its negative messages. And Daniel, we need to fill ourselves with God's truth and God's plan. And blessing is in the Bible. A mystical kind of power, really, a thread that weaves together so much of the whole narrative of scripture. And it's much neglected.
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Click on to pastorallen.org today to learn more and take advantage of this opportunity. Again, that's pastorallen.org. Back here now in the studio with Pastor Alan, and our parting good news thought for the day: power beyond price as we place the bookmark here.
Well, I meant for that title to be sort of a pun, a double meaning. The power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, you can't put a price on that. Because it is his presence is of infinite value. Like the Bring the power to do what only God can do that is of infinite value to us.
So, power beyond price, but it's also power. beyond price and that you can't buy it. Right. And that was the problem that we see in Acts chapter. At about a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic, and he saw the power of the Holy Spirit.
flowing through those early disciples and so he thought he could buy it. And it didn't go well for him to try to buy What cannot be bought.
So, the Holy Spirit is God's presence, the very person of Jesus in us. and His presence and His power cannot be bought. and yet it is a presence that is of infinite value. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860.
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