Energized! [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

Your status in this world before God and for eternity is that as your sin is not counted against you, it's as if it never happened, and it is as if you are the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And until you get that, you can't be claimed. 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 Unlimited, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I'm going to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

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

That's 877-544-4860. Now, more on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. He says, go ahead and get muddy. So he says, boy, put a little bit of mud on. He said, no, put more on. And he's like, look at him again, like, are you serious? And he had to keep convincing him to just get totally, completely muddy.

It seems so odd if your father, who normally would tell you don't get muddy, now is telling you get muddy. And Peter's sitting there going, what does this mean? I have my whole life obeyed the law that said don't eat pigs. And now you're putting it in front of me and saying rise and eat whatever I want.

It doesn't seem to make sense. Well, it's setting up a much bigger paradigm shift because to the same degree that Peter was taught don't have anything to do with pork or shrimp. He was also taught, don't have anything to do with Gentiles. We're the holy people. They're the unholy. You're to be clean and the Gentiles are unclean, stay distinct from them. If you want to understand how the faithful Jewish mind into the first century before knowing Christ felt about the Gentiles, then you could think about how hard it would be for a little boy to think I'm supposed to get muddy.

Or a man who never eaten pork to go get a barbecue sandwich. It just didn't at first make any sense to him. So God gave him this vision three times and said, Acts 10, 15, here's our focal point. What God has made clean, do not call common. Now the word common here is a synonym for unclean. So you could call this common and uncommon or you could say clean and unclean or you could say holy and unholy. It's all saying the same thing. But what God is saying is that there are two categories of things, holy and unholy, sacred and profane, of God and mundane.

The word mundane comes from the word, a Latin word for earth, for world, of the world, that which is of heaven, that was just of the world. So all these are parallel ways of saying that God has said there's the holy and the unholy. And this is God's definition of the way things are in the world. And if you want to understand what it means for something to be holy, then you just think about something that in your mind is separate from other things.

Think of something, for example, that you treasure and you set it apart. Well, so I read today from the Bible and the Bible every time you see it says Holy Bible. Well, the reason it's called Holy Bible is that we don't think this book is like other books.

This is separate from other kinds of books. So it's holy. It's set apart. That's what holy means. But I brought another Bible with me today that if a holy Bible could be even more holy by meaning even more precious to me and more set apart, there's this one. And my wife told me, she said, you can take it, but you can't let anybody else hold it.

And you can't do anything with it except bring it straight home. And why'd she say that? Well, she said this because this was Mama Bennett's Bible. Mama Bennett was her grandmother who was the godly matriarch of the whole Bennett clan. She raised eight kids and who all loved the Lord. And one of those was her son, Stanley Bennett, who was a real mentor to me.

And he's in heaven now, and I miss him every day. And Joella, his wife, still living. But Anne's mother was the youngest of eight, Bonnie Bennett.

But Stanley, well, we loved all the aunts and uncles in that family. And Mama Bennett, I met her before she died. She was a remarkable lady. Well, this is Mama Bennett's Bible. And I was looking through it, and she's written a few notes in here of deaths. But she wrote the note of some important deaths in the family and her personal thoughts about that. So it's a holy Bible, but it's even more holy because it's set apart because it's Mama Bennett's Bible.

So we take good care of it. But it's not just that it's Mama Bennett's Bible. It's also, this Bible is really important because on the opening page of this Bible, well, you could see this.

You can't really read this, but it says to Mr. and Mrs. C.P. Bennett, that was Mama Bennett's husband, C.P., may God bless you always, Billy Graham, Philippians 1, 6, Christmas 1959. So this Bible was given to Mama Bennett by Billy Graham. And the reason it was given to Mama Bennett by Billy Graham is that back in the fifties, amongst all of his different ministry assignments, for a period of years, Uncle Stanley was the pastor at the Montreat Presbyterian Church in Montreat, North Carolina. He was the Graham's pastor. And then he went on to be a missionary to Brazil. And while he was in Brazil in 1959, he'd just arrived.

Billy Graham came for a visit to Brazil, and he and Stanley met. And Billy said, and Billy said, anything you need me to do back home? He said, yeah, would you give my mother a Bible?

I'd like to give her one for Christmas. And so Billy Graham wrote the inscription to her and gave it to, they gave it to Mama Bennett for Christmas in 1959. And that's why my wife said, you can take it, but you need to not pass it around and just bring it right home. So I'm trying to give you an understanding here of what it means to be holy. So that's a Bible, and it's holy because it's God's word. And that's the main thing makes it holy. It's set apart. It's not like other things. And it's holy because it's Mama Bennett's Bible, but it's also holy because Billy Graham wrote it. So in other words, something that was holy, it's set apart and it's different.

It's unique. So you don't treat it like other things. So if there was a vessel that was supposed to be used only in the temple, then that vessel was holy. It didn't mean that it was intrinsically different. The same golden vessel that was in the temple being used for only holy things was not intrinsically different than a vessel that you might use in your house, but it was called holy. It was sacred because it was only used by the Lord, only used for service in the temple. That's what it meant to be holy.

And so God is saying, essentially, there's the common and there's the holy. And if something's common, then you don't hardly worry about what you're doing with it. If things are just common, well, you might be even careless with it. There are some things that I treasure and I never lose. And there are other things I lose all the time. For example, I'm terrible about losing ballpoint pens. I just can't seem to have one. I don't have one right now.

It's like, I'm that guy. Have you got a pen? You got a pen on you? There is some black hole that has Alan Wright's million ink pens that have been lost over a lifetime.

I don't know where that black hole is, but it just, and it seems like when I do have a pen, it doesn't write. Every now and then I like pens. And I like every now and then I'll get a fancy one, you know, and somebody would give me some reason, a fancy pen, which feels like it lasts for about 10 seconds.

And plus I'm scared I'm gonna lose it. And I have lost them. But I tell you, I never like, man, anybody got a pen?

I just can't seem to find a pen. But I'll tell you, in all the years of raising kids and they're always like, has anybody seen my kids? I hadn't seen them in a week or two. I don't know where they are.

I just can't seem to keep up with them. No, my kids are holy under me. And so I treasure them. So what you treasure, you protect and is yours. Now, the reason I say all this is this goes far to explain why for the apostle Paul, especially his favorite term for you, Christian, is holy one. That's what a Saint is when he writes to all the Saints. He wants us to know you're holy and you are not holy because of something intrinsic to you. You're not holy because there's something better about you. You're not holy because you're more righteous than other people. You're holy because something that God has done for you in Jesus Christ. You're holy because you belong to God. And you'll get far, far further in your spiritual growth by waking up in the morning and telling yourself I'm holy than you ever will by waking up in the morning saying, well, I'm just an old sinner.

I think if we think of our lives mainly as dirty and far from God, then we'll just think about that. And God doesn't want us living without an awareness that we still sin before him, but he doesn't want us living primarily with sin consciousness. He wants us living with a holiness consciousness. I'm a separate person unto God. He wants us to think and therefore I do holy things.

Now, let me just say something else about this. So first point, there's holy and there's unholy. Back to Acts 10 verse 15 again. And the voice came and said, what God has made clean do not call comment. What God has made clean. So holiness, cleanliness is something that God does. He's the source of our holiness. It means that holiness in our lives as Christians is not a goal to aspire toward nearly so much as it is a reality to adjust to.

That's Alan Wright. And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Need some inspiration and practical help to bless those you love in conjunction with the exciting release of Pastor Alan's new book, the power to bless. We put together some tools to get you started on the journey of speaking life and empowering the people you love. The toolkit includes an audio message of Pastor Alan's recent sermon on the mysterious blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh, the gateway to understanding the power of all blessing. Also included in the kit is a booklet with a list of scriptures that can be spoken directly as blessings. The blessing scriptures are categorized so you can easily access them for specific situations. When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month, we'll happily send you the power to bless toolkit as our way of saying thanks for your partnership.

The resources are available for immediate digital download or available in CD and booklet. Partner with us and be inspired and equipped to bless someone's life today. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. It means that no human being can make him or herself holy. I was thinking about the famous scene from Shakespeare's Macbeth, which tells the story of a brave general, a Scottish general Macbeth, whose wife eggs him on to kill the king of Scotland, King Duncan, so that Macbeth can take the throne. And so together they kill the king and the rest of the play is essentially about this stain of guilt on their consciences that eventually leads to their own madness and death. But in a famous scene by the time you get to act five, in one of the scenes there Macbeth's wife, Lady Macbeth, has been roaming and sleepwalking at night and she takes her hands and she rubs and scrubs them and she scrubs them like this. And that's where she has the famous, famous line where she says, out out damn spot.

And she's imagining a red spot of blood on her hands and she can't get it out. And it's brilliant because that's what the guilty conscience feels like. All of the sin of our lives, how can we possibly ever get washed clean? And there is no way to get clean in and of yourself. No amount of good deeds can ever make up for the bad because the bad is still there. There is no way that you can expunge yourself, clean yourself from all unrighteousness.

There's only one way that this can happen. Forgiveness. If you're in any kind of relationship and you have done wrong towards the other, there's only one way that there can be clean relationship again and that is forgiveness. And forgiveness is always costly. And so the only way to be holy, the only way to be clean is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Heidelberg catechism of the ancient catechisms has some of the most beautiful language, especially on this point.

Question number 60. How are you righteous before God? Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ. That is, though my conscience accused me that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God and kept none of them and am still inclined to all evil, yet God, without any merit of mine, of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never had nor committed any sin. And myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart. That's the gospel right there. That when you receive in faith what Christ has done for you, this is what you're receiving. You're receiving good news so astonishing that it means that every spot of blood on your hands is lifted because it's all gone to Christ. That every part of the guilt and all of the sin and all the shame that accompanies it has been put upon Christ your Savior who took it for you. And in this great exchange, likewise, His righteousness and perfect obedience is credited to you so that you, though have sinned so much and still prone to sin, though all that is true, that your status in this world before God and for eternity is that as your sin is not counted against you, it's as if it never happened and it is as if you are the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And until you get that, you can't be clean.

But when you get it, every stain is removed. What God has made clean, don't call uncommon. Don't call common. So let me make this final point about this text.

I need to move on. I'm excited about this verse. What God has made clean, do not call common.

I want to just focus on that word for just a moment, call. It matters to God what you call things. It matters to God what you call other people, and it matters to God what you call yourself. It matters to God what you call other people, and it matters to God what you call yourself. And whatever you do, Peter, don't call common that which God has made clean.

Why is he saying this? Because what Peter's getting ready to experience with his own eyes, and we're going to go into this next week, is he's going to see Cornelius and a bunch of Gentiles that he's all his life thought are the unclean. He's going to see them hear the gospel, and he's going to see the Holy Spirit fall on them, and they're going to begin speaking in tongues and have joy, and all of a sudden Peter's going to realize the Holy Spirit has fallen upon the Gentiles just like he fell upon us Jews at Pentecost, and I can't call them unclean anymore because God has made them clean. And so Peter's going to say, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't go ahead and baptize them.

Does anybody else? Everybody said, no, no, he was going to baptize them. It was a small thing for Peter to think about eating some pork compared to thinking about Gentiles becoming the inhabitation of the holy presence of the living God.

Don't call it what it's not because if you call common what God is calling holy, you will devalue it. Manuel Franco, 24-year-old Wisconsin man, bought $10 worth of Powerball tickets some years ago and discovered that one of his tickets had won $768 million. Can you imagine? You got a few scraps of paper, and on one of them is a number, and that number lines up to the Powerball winner. So that ticket, that little scrap of paper is worth $768 million. He said he put it in some safe place at home and went to work the next day. He said, but he just couldn't even work. He was sweating.

He was miserable. He was worried about that little piece of paper. Now, normally that little piece of paper was worth less than nothing. It was just a piece of trash, a little scrap of paper worth nothing. But this piece of paper was worth $768 million. So don't call this piece of paper nothing. If you call it a scrap piece of paper, you'll toss it out in the morning trash.

But if you call it the winning lottery ticket, you'll collect $768 million. So be careful what you call. Before God could do a work in the Gentiles, he needed a preacher who believed that God could do a work in the Gentiles. Before that person that you love that seems so far from God will ever receive the good news of the gospel, God needs you to believe that that person who's so far from God can come to Christ.

Before you can have healing in that relationship, the person who has hurt you, you're going to have to stop calling them simply the person who hurt you and start calling them the very creation of God made in the image of God a little lower than angels and therefore precious in His eyes and of infinite worth. And it is to say God wants you and I to call ourselves His holy treasures unique in this earth. There is so much at stake. Well, I'll never forget the shower in the highlands of Ucarumpa. It felt good after living three days slathered in mosquito repellent and sweating the night and day and just getting in the salty ocean and then sweating some more and finally getting under a cool shower. But I'm telling you, if you've ever had a really good bath, there is no bath like the bath of God's grace. God can make anyone clean. And that's the gospel. Alan Wright, today's good news message energized the difference between zeal for the Lord and zeal for the law. It's in our series titled Unlimited and Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day.

Stick with us. Need some inspiration and practical help to bless those you love? In conjunction with the exciting release of Pastor Alan's new book, The Power to Bless, we put together some tools to get you started on the journey of speaking life and empowering the people you love. The tool kit includes an audio message of Pastor Alan's recent sermon on the mysterious blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh, the gateway to understanding the power of all blessing. Also included in the kit is a booklet with a list of scriptures that can be spoken directly as blessings. The blessing scriptures are categorized so you can easily access them for specific situations. When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month, we'll happily send you the Power to Bless tool kit as our way of saying thanks for your partnership.

The resources are available for immediate digital download or available in CD and booklet. Partner with us and be inspired and equipped to bless someone's life today. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Back here now in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day, and this has energized the difference between zeal for the Lord and zeal for the law. And I like this illustration too of being cleansed in an amazing way.

And the illustration you point there, Pastor Alan, is incredible. Cleansed by the gospel. The scriptures themselves say of themselves that there's a cleansing with the word. And there's a cleansing of knowing what God's done for you in Jesus Christ. And I just, maybe there's a listener now and you feel like, you know, that describes where I am. I just feel like I'm unclean.

I feel like there's something that's sticking to me and I can't get off. And God's got good news for you today. The saving work of Jesus is for you.

And you can receive his forgiveness in full in faith right now and say, yes, Lord, I receive your forgiveness through Jesus Christ and you are made clean. 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 PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.