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Just Like Elijah [Part 2]

Alan Wright Ministries / Alan Wright
The Truth Network Radio
June 7, 2023 6:00 am

Just Like Elijah [Part 2]

Alan Wright Ministries / Alan Wright

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Alan Wright Ministries
Alan Wright

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. You have been made a co-heir with Jesus. You have been adopted into the assembly of saints of all time, made a part of the living body of Christ on the earth, a member of it.

You are God's child. 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, Miracle Man, as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I'd like 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.

So 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. More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here's Alan Wright. When you are in a community that is laden with the gospel, soaked in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, where there is not endorsement of sin, but there is love of one another, what happens? I'll tell you what happens. It becomes an environment where people feel safe enough to talk to others about their problems. To me, I wanted this for Reynolda Church as much as I wanted anything.

I wanted to be a healthy family where as much as is possible by the grace of God, to be a shame-free environment. A place that knows what is right and what is wrong and what is true and what is false, but of so much grace that as people are struggling, they wouldn't be ashamed to talk to one another. Because here's what happens, usually. When people are at their worst, they clam up, they isolate themselves from others, and remove themselves from the very place where they could receive help.

I've seen it over and over and over and over again. But if there is a place where there is so much grace that people know that even if I share some of my problems, I'm not going to be rejected, then they can begin to open up. I'm not talking about stand up in front of the whole church and tell every sin in your life.

I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about you've got to have a few friends that know and love Jesus and know and love you. You can say, can I tell you I'm struggling with something? Can I tell you that I've been really afraid of something? Can I tell you that I've been stumbling into sin and it's just wrecking me? That I've got some doubts about such and such. I need to talk to you about this.

Will you pray for me? Wow, I'm just saying, in that kind of environment, a lot of healing takes place. I had a friend, Dr. Bill Wilson, who once was the head of psychiatry at Duke Hospital. He later went on and had his own ministry and his own practice after a radical conversion to Christ. He told a story I heard him tell one time and I'll never forget.

It's first hand from this renowned psychiatrist, Bill Wilson, who's in heaven now. But he said years ago, he went into a hospital room to meet with a patient who was plagued with several physical illnesses and mental illness, anxiety and depression and the man was nearing death because of it all. And he was very sick.

He was sick unto death. And Dr. Wilson went in to talk to him. And in the course of their conversation, the man opened up and it might have been, I can't remember for sure, it might have been that he told Dr. Wilson this story the first time he ever confessed it to anybody. That when he was a soldier in Vietnam, he had become so calloused by the brutality, so seared in his conscience by numbing himself to all the violence, that one day in the distance he saw some figures that he knew were not the enemy, they were just civilians.

And he took target practice on them and shot them. And he told Dr. Wilson this as the man lay there dying. And Bill looked at him and said, has it ever occurred to you, you could be forgiven?

And the man said no. And he told this patient about the love of God in Jesus Christ and that forgiveness was available even for the most heinous of sin. And the man received forgiveness and I heard this from Bill himself. And he was healed and he lived. Be in an environment James is saying where you know you could call in this community for help and you can confess your sins to one another.

A lot of healing is going to take place and there's another thing he mentions that I think is often misunderstood. Verse 16 he says the prayer of a righteous person has great power. And I think many Christians have assumed because we tend to disqualify ourselves have assumed that this is talking about somebody else. Someone who is more morally upright than I am that God honors those prayers. But you have to consider this that even Elijah the superhero that James is mentioning.

In 1 Kings 18 he's a hero and 1 Kings 19 he is experiencing the perhaps greatest abyss of sin and that is he is suicidal. And yet he is being hearkened unto as our example. The great heroes of prayer in the Bible wasn't that they were more morally upright than other people. And again what a slippery slope it is to say that God will only honor your prayer if you are morally upright in every way. Is it a wonderful thing to be morally upright? Absolutely. Does God delight in that?

Absolutely. But I don't think what James is saying here by righteousness is he's referencing those that have intrinsic or personal righteousness. Otherwise this would be a fairly hopeless text and we could just say well that just doesn't apply to me. No I think what James is talking about is the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ that is imputed to every single Christian believer. It's fascinating if you would take time sometime and do this and just study Romans chapter 4, 5, well really Romans 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. That section of scripture just looking for what Paul is saying about righteousness.

He starts this in Romans 4 verse 1. What then shall we say was gained by Abraham our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works he has something to boast about but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Now to the one who works his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. What's Paul saying? He's very logical about this. He's saying that in the Old Testament we see that when Abraham believed God, when God said you're going to be the father of a nation and you're going to have a son in your old age. When he believed that the Bible says it was credited to Abraham as righteousness.

What does he meant? Abraham himself was not perfectly righteous. This is the man who on one occasion lied to Egyptian authorities and said Sarah wasn't his wife because he was afraid of them. I couldn't get away with that.

I guarantee you that. He wasn't righteous because he was perfectly moral. It was credited to him as righteousness. Now this is in the Old Covenant but Paul is looking at this and saying look at this as your example. Abraham believed God it was counted to him as righteousness.

If somebody works and they get paid, that's not a gift, that's payment. If you think that you're going to work by your works, your personal righteousness, God's going to pay you by honoring your prayers, that's payment, not a gift. And what Paul says to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Goes on in chapter 5 verse 18 to say, Therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification in life for all. For as by one man's disobedience, he's talking about the first Adam who disobeyed. The many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. So in the same way that we are all born in sin because of the first Adam, when you are born again as a Christian you're in the second Adam, you're in Jesus. And so now you're born into his righteousness.

What this means is staggering at every level. It means that not only did Jesus become your sin but when you accept him you become his righteousness. Now you know that you're not personally morally righteous and so you resist this notion. But you have been according to the gospel regarded by God as if you have lived a righteous life. Now God knows that you personally have sinned and he knows all of that.

And James talked about the importance of talking about our problems to one another and to the Lord. But theologically, powerfully, mystically God imputes to you or reckons you or regards you, treats you as if you were as righteous as Jesus. Which means that not only is your sin forgiven, which means you don't need to be punished, but it means that you're credited with meritorious living that you haven't lived. Which means you can be rewarded. You see if we were only forgiven it would be wonderful to not be punished for all eternity.

But it wouldn't mean we merit heaven. To merit the blessings of God and for God to be propitious or favorable towards us, Jesus did both things. And in a great exchange he who knew no sin became your sin and you became his righteousness.

It's incredible. through the stories of Elijah and his successor, Elisha, that include daily devotionals from Pastor Alan, questions for reflection, space for journaling, and a daily prayer of faith. This beautiful spiral-bound book is the perfect tool to get you into the Word and to build your faith day by day. When you make a gift this month, we'll send you Allen Wright's new devotional journal, Everyday Miracles, as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Also, free digital access to all the Elijah messages currently airing. So please make your gift today and start looking for miracles all around you. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen 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 Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAllen.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Allen Wright. Several years ago I was on a jury and the man that was on trial had been accused of trafficking, of selling drugs. He had a lesser misdemeanor charge also, but the main thing was does this man sell drugs? And there was not, in my opinion, enough evidence to convict the man. And the rest of the jury, we eventually all saw it the same way. And so we came back to the judge, we said not guilty. And so we said not guilty, and so that man can't be tried for selling drugs. In that particular accusation, again, it's gone. He's innocent of that. The judge has announced it, we announced it, the jury's announced it, it's done.

Right? So in that sense, he's justified. It's just as if he'd never even been accused of it. Because that's where he stands now with regard to the law. But what we didn't do is then turn around and say, and furthermore, your honor, we think he's lived a very meritorious life.

And like for the court to award him $10,000 just for being a good guy. Well, you don't do that. That's not the way the thing works. And yet as a Christian, this is the way it works. Paul said we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.

Why? Because every Christian has been clothed with the righteousness of God and Jesus Christ. That's why you can be blessed for all eternity. And that's why James says the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

I think this is what James is saying. If you can find a Christian community where there's this loving spiritual oversight and clear connection of the body of Christ, and there is such a shame-free environment that people are able to talk about their problems to one another freely without fear of being rejected. And a place where all of the saints are increasingly understanding themselves to be the righteousness of Christ.

In that kind of environment, a whole lot of healing is going to take place. Can I tell you one miracle story? I just, as we're talking about Elijah, I want to just tell some miracle stories that are up close and personal. I love hearing miracle stories no matter where they are.

Another continent, missionaries and others. But I love these stories that I saw them firsthand. I've seen a lot.

Not every day, but I've seen a lot. And I want to tell you about a woman in our congregation who four years ago was dead for 30 minutes. The initial brain scans looked absolutely horrible. She came back to life and in a matter of days she began to have functioning in her brain. And now she's alive and well living with her daughter in California. The story of Berta Kroll's healing actually began by a series of things that in the world's eyes you'd say were coincidences, but you look back on it and you marvel. And I tell this story because it's one of the best examples of a healing supernatural event that takes place because of this type of Christian community.

Dr. Tom Wolf, who is a hospitalist, who works at Forsyth Memorial Hospital many years. He and his wife Mary had gone to pick up Mary's mother, June Michael, who we call Junebug, because there had been a snowstorm. And it was Adam Lawson's birthday, Pastor Chris's little boy. And so June, the great grandmother, wanted to come to the birthday party, but she couldn't get out in the snow. So Tom and Mary Wolf went to pick her up. The reason that's important is if there hadn't been a snow and there hadn't been a birthday party, Tom would not have overheard what he overheard, which ended up being instrumental in Berta's healing. While they were driving along, he overheard June talking to Berta, who was her good friend on the phone, and realized that Berta had been very sick, nauseous, and not able to keep food down, and Berta had wanted to go to the urgent care, but she couldn't get out because of the snow. And so instead she was home, probably dehydrated, and Tom overheard all of this, right?

Just kind of registered somewhere in his mind. Well, it turned out that Berta continued to be quite sick, and she did eventually go to the urgent care, and while she was there, she collapsed. And the ambulance took her to Forsyth Hospital. And it so happened that the physician that attended to her at the emergency room is another beloved parishioner here, elder in our church, Dr. Rich Montgomery. Worked at the emergency room at Forsyth for many, many years.

Leads many of our Jamaica mission trips. And so he's an excellent doctor, and it's wonderful that he was attending to her. Well, at the same time that Dr. Montgomery and his team are trying to revive Berta, who has no heartbeat, and is completely coded and flat-lined. There's no life there. It so happened Dr. Wolf had promised a student that he would allow her to shadow him to look around the hospital and see what he does as a hospitalist, and he said, let's go by the emergency room.

Perhaps there's something eventful that's happening there you could learn from. They went down to the emergency room and immediately realized that there was a call out, that there was someone who was coded, and so they went into the room, and there it was. His friend, Dr. Montgomery, was the physician attending to the patient. And later, Dr. Montgomery would say that this was, I think he said, the longest that he'd ever tried to revive somebody.

It had been 30 minutes. And Dr. Wolf's just saying that he realizes it's Dr. Montgomery, and he's explaining to this student what's going on, and then he picks up the chart, and he looks at it, and he realizes this is Berta Kroll. Now Tom says he hasn't probably spoken more than 100 words to Berta, but he knew this was June's friend that she was talking to on the phone. So he had some information about her situation that Dr. Montgomery didn't have. Now to add to this, I can't remember if it was a couple days or a week or so before this, on the way to work one morning, Dr. Wolf decided to make a piece of toast. And while he had to wait one minute on the toaster, he picked up a medical journal that he normally throws away. But he picked it up, and he skimmed over an article about a case of cardiac arrest that had been induced by some problem with, I think, a potassium level, if I remember it correctly. And he saw what an EKG could look like in this particular type of cardiac arrest and what had happened, and he threw the journal away. But it was almost like something that Tom knew about, but it was almost like he said later, Lord, it's like dusted off the cobwebs of the brain about, oh yeah, that can happen. And he happened to have known the sickness that Berta had been through, and so all of a sudden he looks at Dr. Montgomery, he said, well, is there a chance that maybe it could be the potassium level? Dr. Montgomery says, well, we've tried everything else.

He said, it might as well. And so they gave the antidote, and immediately she came back to life. And she'd been dead for 30 minutes.

The initial brain scans looked awful. And the neurologist said she won't have any life in her brain. And two days later they took the tube out of her mouth and she began speaking and recognizing people. Dr. Wolf had said, because he's a man of faith, as is Dr. Montgomery, he said, Dr. Wolf said, you know, I just couldn't believe that God would save her life only to allow her to be brain dead. And so next thing you know, she was up, she was walking, she was remembering, she was active, and she's alive and well now here four years later. She came back, got to visit her Sunday school class at which she's a part, and everybody that prayed for her. And it's a miracle that took place right here in our midst by both a series of events and just the supernatural intervention of God through the prayers of the people of God.

My point is this, Elijah's just as human as you are. He prayed it wouldn't rain, it didn't rain. These doctors in these Sunday school class and others that pray for birds just as human as you are, and God brought a woman back to life and healed her brain. God still works miracles through the likes of you and me. That's the gospel. Allen Wright, and just like Elijah, the conclusion here of today's teaching in the series, Miracle Man.

Stick with us. Allen is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word. 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.org.

It's a great idea to start each day with a dose of good news, and we'd like to help. If you yearn to see more of God's power in your life, you'll love Pastor Alan's devotional journal, Everyday Miracles. It's a one-month journey through the stories of Elijah and his successor, Elisha, that include daily devotionals from Pastor Alan, questions for reflection, space for journaling, and a daily prayer of faith.

This beautiful spiral-bound book is the perfect tool to get you into the Word and to build your faith day by day. When you make a gift this month, we'll send you Allen Wright's new devotional journal, Everyday Miracles, as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Also, free digital access to all the Elijah messages currently airing, so please make your gift today and start looking for miracles all around you. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen 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 Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Allen, I think we all can find hope there, just like you and me, Miracle Man. Well, I think that we just so often think that the people we read stories about in the Bible are somehow different than us. And wouldn't it change everything if you started thinking instead, and this for every listener, wherever you are in your spiritual journey, started thinking like this, Elijah was no different than me, and God used him in a miraculous way. God could use me. And I think what it does, it just opens up your heart to possibilities you never dreamt of. Wow. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-06-20 23:22:36 / 2023-06-20 23:31:57 / 9

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