Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing—a biblical, faith-filled vision for your life. I bless you to be as Manasseh, forgotten troubles. The name means you are not defined by the pain of the past, but by the plans of God. Though Joseph's first thirty years were riddled with sorrow and disappointment. God's triumphant providential plan for him eclipsed the adversities of home and of Egypt.
God may not plan for you to govern a nation like Joseph, but He's always intended for you to, as Paul said in Romans five, reign in life through Jesus Christ. You can forget what lies behind, and as Paul said in Philippians three, press on toward the goal of the prize in Christ Jesus. Yesterday is over, but the rubble of your past shall not be wasted, beloved. You are a Manasseh. Troubles of your past do not define you; they refine you.
Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Allen Wright. It's such good news.
So we need to. Remember that it's good news. We need to remember that without it, there's only bad news. We need to focus in on just how good the good news is, and we need to remember God with His open arms to all. 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 this series, "The Loved," a study of Romans chapters nine through eleven, is 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. It 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. Just contact us at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org, or call eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven Five four four forty eight sixty. More on this later in the program, but now let's get started with today's teaching.
Here is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news? The word gospel means good news, and sharing the gospel, therefore, is simply sharing good news.
So. If you know how good the good news is, then it becomes almost impossible not to want. To share it, we're in Romans ten in our long unhurried study of Romans. Zig Ziglar once said, "Don't go around telling everybody about all your problems." He said because ninety percent of the people don't care, and the other ten percent are sort of glad you've got them. It's it's funny the old Ziglar saying because yeah, people don't respond much to bad news, but boy oh boy, people.
Do respond to good news, and there's something inside of us that if you like people at all, if you care about anybody at all, then there's a great joy in being able to share good news. I don't know anybody who loves sharing good news more than my wife. My wife, she is, she will, she'll just about interrupt you to share the good news punchline. She just loves seeing people be. Happy, and this started when she was a little girl.
And one of my favorite stories is how excited she was one Christmas because she knew that her dad was giving her mom a beautiful painting that her mother had loved seeing at the local art gallery of daisies and the gilded frame, and how much she wanted. But it was kind of pricey for them in those days, raising three girls, and and yet, yet. Anne and her sisters—they knew that her dad had gotten it for her mom, and how excited her mother was going to be about this painting of these daisies.
Well, Anne was just beside herself. Come Christmas morning, it was wrapped up there, and and I don't know—it's hard to wrap something in a big frame. Maybe her mom already knew what it was, but from a little girl's perspective, she just couldn't wait. She just couldn't wait till her mother opened up that gift.
So they're going around the room and said, "Well, whose turn is it next?" And they said, "All right." It's it's mom's turn, and Ann started bouncing up and down, and she was first saying, "Mom, open your present, open your present, open your present." But she said that as she was bouncing and dancing around, that she heard herself then saying, "Open the painting, open the painting, open the painting," because there's something inside of us that if you know there's good news for someone else of a gift. That they would love. There's a part of us that's hard to contain ourselves. That's something that Paul is talking about here when he talks about the sharing of the gospel. We have learned through Romans about the predicament.
How much we have such a problem of sin! How Jesus has answered it through His sacrifice, and we've seen in Romans chapter eight this glorious, glorious sort of crescendo that assures us who are in Christ of the love of God. And then in chapters nine and ten, Paul has been dealing with the issues of the unbelief of Israel and how those that are in Christ are grafted into the true Israel and. Here in our text today, in the second part of this text, which we won't spend time really dealing with, he talks about again Israel's unbelief. But in the part that leads up to this, there is this pearl, this familiar text that is appealing to us to share the gospel far and wide.
And he says, "How beautiful are the feet of the one who shares the good news?" It's a quote from Isaiah. Fifty-two, and it is a wonderful picture of just how glorious and delightful it is when someone brings you a glad message.
So. To think about sharing the gospel, to think about evangelism, to think about the missionary zeal, to think about just sharing gospel with your own children or your own best friend or your neighbor—it just it just boils down to this. It's such good news, so we need to. Remember that it's good news. We need to remember that without it, there's only bad news.
We need to focus in on just how good the good news is, and we need to remember God with His open arms to all. I want to talk to you about such beautiful feet that carry the message of the gospel. Be in touch first and foremost, Paul. Saying with just how good the gospel is, so instead of Paul. Highlighting the mandate of us sharing the gospel, although there most certainly is a mandate, Christ Himself gave it.
Go make disciples. Instead of Him putting a sense of heavy weight upon His Roman recipients of this letter by saying, "Hey, it's all up to you," and you know that kind of thing, like if you don't share the gospel, nobody will, and and almost as if God's hands are tied. It doesn't talk about that. Way instead, he starts with just logic, and and he's saying, as he said in verse thirteen. All you have to do is call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
He said, "But how can anybody call unless they believe? And how can anybody believe if they haven't heard? And how can anybody hear unless they've been told? And how can anybody be told unless they are sent?" And so it's just following this progression, and it's leading up first with this logic to this quote from Isaiah: "How beautiful are the feet of the one who brings the good news!" And in the midst of this, he highlights this word. We're going to a little bit later look at more closely the the evangelion or those who share that good news.
The word is evangelizumai, and How beautiful it is! That's where the that's where the impetus. That's where you will find yourself hardly able to contain yourself from telling people about your experience of the love of God. It's good news. I think one of the ways to Be in touch with this would be just to ask you think with me for a moment of a time in your life that you receive great news.
I mean, I'm not you know apart from Jesus. I mean, think of a time. Just do this with me. Think when did you just get a wonderful announcement that. Really changed things because it was so good.
There is so many in my life. One I've shared before, I'm sure, but came to mind. It was my birthday week in 1994 in January. We were going to celebrate the birthday on a Monday after having preached on Sunday. Sunday night, sometimes I'm so tired.
Just the joy of preaching, the joy of immersing myself in ministry, but your your body and your mind get tired, and I'm just ready to close my eyes. And my wife. She said, "Could you just open one present tonight?" And I'm like, "No, honey." I said, "I appreciate that. I I know you get me good stuff, and and but I'll enjoy it so much more tomorrow if I just get a little bit of sleep." And so I close my eyes, and then she she she grabbed my shoulder again. She said, "How about just one present tonight?" I said, "Oh, please, sweetie.
I don't even know if I can fully appreciate it tonight." She said, "I need you to open one present." Tonight, so I sat up and opened up this present, and we had been for a long time trying to conceive a child, and we were we were in that unique pain that anybody that's ever experienced any infertility struggles was beginning to feel, and uncertainty and all of that. And I opened up this package, and inside was a pair of little baby booties. Little baby socks or something, and I just stared at it, and I said, "Are you telling me?" And she smiled and she said, "Yes, we're going to have a baby." Well, I'm wide awake then. Good news that just comes to you like that is so. Powerful because it is replacing the bad news.
So, I think to have this. Wondrous desire to be those feet that share the good news. What Paul's saying here is remember and be in touch with just the fact that gospel is good news, but at the same time, we are remembering that it is replacing or displacing so much of the bad news. And I'm not just talking about the bad news that surrounds us in this world. Although, aren't we weary of just constant Bad news.
And and part of what's engulfed us in this modern generation is that we hear about bad news in a second.
Something terrible can happen on the other side of the world. We hear it instantly, so we are riddled with bad news. But the the bad news that Paul has been addressing in Romans is much deeper than that. A problem that runs so deep that is to our very core, and it is that. The bad news of our own sin nature.
When I was in tenth grade, I tried out for the soccer team. All my friends thought I was a shoe in. I'd been playing soccer since I was a kid, and everybody said I was a decent soccer player. I was fairly quick. I had a decently strong right foot and pretty good ball handling skills.
And I tried out, gave it my all, thought that I'd done pretty well in the tryouts, and there came this this important. Day, where coach would post the list outside of his classroom door of all the people who made the team. I'll never forget that morning at Page High School, huddled around that sheet of paper on that wall and looking up to see my name there, and scanning down quickly, not seeing it, going down slower and looking and not seeing it, and other guys around me, my friends, saying, "Yes, you know, they made the team." And by the time I looked the third time and realized my name wasn't on. It and I just hung my head and people were patting me on the back saying I'm so sorry, Alan. I don't know why you didn't make the team, man.
And just went home just with the bad news. And I remember being just so sad about it. And the phone rang that night. And mom said it's for you, and I went and picked up the phone. He said, "Alan, this Coach Osborne." I said, "Hey, Coach." He said, "There was a mistake, and by error, your name was left off of the list today.
I'm so sorry." He said, "It was supposed to be on there. You've definitely made the team." And he said, "I hope that you will come join us this fall for the soccer team." And I said, "Oh, absolutely, Coach. Thank you so much." And got off, and just felt like I could float around the house. Because you see, good news is only good when it is understood in contrast, or in replacement of, or displacing of the bad news. And so, remember what Paul has been teaching us: Romans three ten, none is righteous, no, not one.
No one understands. No one seeks God. The problem, the bad news, is that we. In order to be in the presence of the Holy God, we need to be in right standing with God, and nobody is. Everybody's sin, and part of the problem is that we can't do a single thing to save ourselves.
Remember Romans three twenty: For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since the law through comes through the knowledge of nobody can be good enough.
So the problem is sin, and we're not in right. Standing, and no matter how hard we try, we cannot put ourselves in the right standing, and so it leaves us in a condition of sin that Paul says is like slavery Romans six twenty. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
So the deepest problem is that people are not in right standing with God, and therefore don't have peace in their heart with God, and therefore no real peace in their lives, and their lives. Are engulfed, are are are are swarmed by the by the the the destruction that comes with chronically being under the slavery of sin and selfishness. And so, when you think about the goodness of the gospel, you are simultaneously thinking about the sadness and brokenness of humanity without the gospel.
So, think about. The gospel—that means good news—and think about the bad news, but then think about the gospel again, and think about what good news it is, and what makes it so good.
So here's where Paul quotes Isaiah fifty two seven. Let's look at that passage from Isaiah. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns. And when Paul brings this over into Romans and quotes at how beautiful the mount, or upon the mountains, are the feet of him who brings good news. That phrase, "who brings good news," is in Greek a verb that is absolutely beautiful.
Eangelizo. And it is the announcement of the evangelion, and so this comes from two. Two Greek ideas, EU, which you recognize that prefix, U, like in eulogy, which to speak well of someone, or even euphemism, which is to say we're going to try to say in a good way something that's bad.
So EU means good, and from the Greek angelos, which is sometimes translated angel, but is actually in meaning messenger. And so, you angetion is a good message, and that's what gospel means. And to preach the gospel is to proclaim that message. That's what it means to to preach. That's what the word is here.
It is a a frequent word in the New Testament. Let me give you a couple of examples. Luke chapter two, verse ten. You know this verse well. And the angel said to them, to the shepherds, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.
That is, you angelizo, I bring you this good news." And Jesus takes this and applies it to his own life and the ministry that has been entrusted to him as the Son of God, Luke four eighteen, and he is referencing a passage from Isaiah also and says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He's anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
So He's anointed me to." Preach or proclaim or share. This is euangelizo. It is to share the gospel. This gospel that we share is so good. Gospel, good news.
That it's everything within us should be at all times feeling like Anne is a little girl. Open the painting. Open the painting. Open the painting, like if you had some huge, huge prize that you were able to give to somebody you love. That's the way.
That's the way this word conveys. It's this glorious news, and the picture is of a herald or a courier carrying a message, perhaps from the king to his battle troops. That says there's been a peace treaty that's been reached, cease fighting, or it could be that it is a herald that runs from the battle to the king and says the victory has been won. In this case of Isaiah, it is a picture of the time that would arrive when there would be a herald, someone that would run with the message and tell the exiles in Babylon that their suffering was over and that restoration was at hand, and they would be returning. To their homeland, this is the kind of joy, the kind of nature of the message of the Eunagelion that is being talked about by Paul.
It is so good, and I just think that instead of like saying ourselves, "Oh, we need to witness more." Oh, what we need is we need more awareness and delight in the savor and the beauty and the wonder of how good this gospel is. Alan Wright, today's good news message. Such beautiful feet in our series, Beloved: A Study of Romans. And Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio as he shares his parting good news thought for the day. Just a moment.
Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Allen Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Allen Wright's daily blessing. It's free and just a click away at PastorAllen dot org. Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day, and placing a bookmark here at such beautiful feet.
I remember being in the bedside of my grandmother before she passed not long ago, and rubbing her feet. And I mentioned to my uncle who was in there, I said, "Such beautiful feet," because she's the one who led me to Jesus, and and I love this passage, and I love. Our good news thought here, Pastor Alan. Yeah, well, you know, we begin every message with the same question: Are you ready for some good news? And end every message with the same statement, and that's the gospel, which means, and that's the good news.
And and Daniel, I like to start by asking, Are you ready for good news? And end with saying, Ah, that's good news, because through and through. Every page of the Bible, in one way or another, it's pointing to the good news of what God's done for us in Christ Jesus. And I just like to say, people need good news. There's a lot of bad news in the world.
We can't ignore it, and we can't put our heads in the sand. But when you really understand how good the gospel is, it's hard to contain. It is hard to contain. Good news, and so I'm praying it'll spill out of our listeners into somebody else's life. It's beautiful.
Feet are beautiful of those that are carrying good news message. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. 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.
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