Speaking Like God [Part 3]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. Grace and truth together release the glory of 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. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, The Power to Bless, taken from Pastor Alan's book of the same title and as presented at Reynolda 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 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 or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. Jesus, He's not just 50% grace and 50% truth. He's 100% grace and 100% truth. Grace means gift and the ultimate gift in a mysterious way really is when you give somebody the truth. So there's a real sense in which grace is truth and truth is grace, right?

If someone had a life threatening disease and a doctor says, I have a study that reveals a particular antibiotic, one antibiotic that is effective against this disease and I'm going to give you the antibiotic and it's going to cure you. That truth of this one specific antibiotic is the greatest grace to that patient. Truth is grace and grace is truth.

They're inseparable and yet they seem so different. I was sitting with a friend and having breakfast and he was just, this was many, many years ago and he said, I think of Renolda and he said, I think of grace and truth. He said, not many churches are like that. And he said, really this is the aspiration of the Christian life. We should be full of grace. And so he doodled this on a napkin.

I want to just show you how this works. So first he just put it at the top. He said, Jesus is full of grace and He is full of truth. And he said, what's a word for the opposite of grace? And he drew an arrow over. And I said, well, I would say legalism. And he said, yeah, okay. So what's the opposite of truth? And we drew an arrow over. He drew an arrow. And I said, well, I would, I would call that deception or falsehood, something like that.

He said, sure. He said, the problem is that whereas Jesus was a hundred percent grace and a hundred percent truth, most of us lean in one way or the other. And oftentimes there's a rift that comes right down the middle of this. And so the problem with it is that if we're all grace and we don't have any truth, look what it leads to. And it leads to a life of deception, right?

I mean, just think about that. If, if all you, all you are is just lovely and gracious and kind, but you don't care about the truth or are filled with the truth, what are you going to wind up with? Some people that seem really nice that are really lost, just lost.

I often say to people like this, they will people that don't believe in narrow truth. Well, just let them ask somebody for directions. What if somebody wants to direct us to my house? Well, far be it from me to tell you any specific way to get there.

Always lead to my house. That's just what people could be wandering around lost, right? People need specific truth, but if you have truth and you have no grace, look what you wind up with, legalism. And I could use some other words for this. You could refer also to legalism as a moralism. I like to think of moralism as you care about right and wrong way more than relationship. Moralism, if you will like a transaction, then God will.

If you will be better. Moralism likes to interpret every story in the Bible as if it's about how you ought to be a better person so that God will bless you more. So if you read the story of David and Goliath, we teach them in Sunday school moralistically. Look at David. He was brave. Now you ought to be brave like David. Face all your Goliaths.

Be brave. Have you ever noticed that telling somebody just to be brave doesn't make them brave? But I'll tell you what will make you brave is if you're one of the cowardly soldiers of Israel, trembling day after day at Goliath's taunts and then one day a mediator, an unlikely candidate from Bethlehem comes onto the scene and says I'll fight the giant.

And he runs out there with his sling and smooth stones and slays the enemy on behalf of the whole army. I tell you what will make you brave is when you see that happen, when you see what your champion's done for you, when you see what David's done, when you see what the son of David has done, when you see what is possible, all of a sudden that cowardly army is brave and they chase them down for seven miles, routing the Philistines as they go. Moralism just tells you what you ought to be and doesn't give you any power to be it. But there's another side to this, and I've used this word on the side of deception, that's amoralism. Not anti-morality, but just amoral, which means no morality.

And this, David, is the spirit of the age, isn't it? To say that there's no real right or wrong, let's just get along and let's just be kind to everybody, that's the greatest good is to not try to talk about truth as if it's specific so as to be offensive to anybody and this idea that there's no real absolute right or wrong. I understand how we arrived there, I'm just going to be honest about that, because we had too long of religious moralism crammed down through Sunday school and every other way into people like it's all pharisaical about how you ought to be better and we are better than you and all of that. And I think that our country just said we've had it with that and they just went over to the other side of the diagram and said we're just going to say there is no right or wrong. And the problem of course if someone says there is no absolute right or wrong is you can always look at them and say are you absolutely sure? Somebody says there's no absolute truth, are you absolutely sure about that? I don't believe at all that anybody believes that there's no such thing as right or wrong.

It's nonsensical and all you've got to do is break in line in front of them to find out. The blessing that Ms. Harper gave to Mickey that day was full of grace. Mickey, this is not the vision I have for your life. You haven't proven yourself yet, Mickey, she's saying, but I'm offering a kind and merciful and hopeful vision that's not related to your past performance but to my faith for your life. That's grace. That's grace. I'm not withholding my affirming vision of your life until you prove yourself.

I'm affirming you before you've proven yourself. That's grace. The grade, Mickey, doesn't warrant my affirmation of your intelligence but I see you beyond this Latin quiz.

I see who you can be. That's grace. But truth, authentic discernment, that is because she's a gifted teacher who could recognize intelligence and academic potential. She had faith because it was rooted in rock solid truth. She knew what was possible.

She knew his nature. So as I thought about this over the idea of thinking and writing about blessing, I saw in my mind something that became revelatory for me and I want to show you this and then encourage you, get in one of our groups, we're going to talk about this in more detail. I think you can think of grace and truth as continuance. So let's imagine a vertical line and we'll call this the line of grace and as you go up it's more grace and as you go downward less grace. And then imagine another line that we'll call truth that runs horizontal and it's a continuum also that if you go further and further to the right let's say this is more truth and as you go further to the left there's less truth. So it leaves us with really four quadrants that are built on these continuance of grace and truth, grace and truth quadrants here. And if you think about therefore any particular quadrant that it means up here in this right hand side you've got grace and truth and down here you've got truth but you don't have grace because you're going. And if you go to lower left there's no there's no there's no grace or truth and upper left lots of grace and no truth.

So here's the way I would look at there. Blessing is a form of speech that is full of grace and truth and it's not blessing unless it is grace and truth. If you have no grace no positive vision for the future no hopeful word to say but only doom and you have no real truth to offer instead it's all deception and darkness that is what we call curse and that's the currency of hell. That's what hell wants most to release in the world. Your past sin condemns you so that there is no future for you and you should just give up.

Ultimately what hell would like to do is have everyone kill themselves either literally or figuratively over time because of zero hope that is rooted in there being no grace or truth that is offered. But there are other forms of speech so if you have a lot of truth but you don't have grace with it you've got moralism. This is what the Pharisees trafficked in. It wasn't so much that they were saying things that were wrong when they spoke about the law. Remember Jesus said it come to abolish the law.

He didn't say they're wrong for bringing up the law he said they were wrong because the way they brought up the law just tied a heavy burden around people. He said you search the world over for a convert you finally find one and make him twice the son of hell that you are. So what was Jesus saying? He was saying that language that's curse is a little bit more obvious about how it's hellish but he's saying that moralism is also hellish. And I'm telling you right now anybody ever just grows up in a household of nothing but moralism any child that knows the weight of a constant pressure pressure pressure be better be better performer else your love that you're going to receive is dependent upon how well you do. Anyone who grows up under that knows that is hellish. Anybody's ever going to a church like that knows it's hellish too even though you're in church you walk out feeling worse than you did before you went in more hopeless.

You imagine that. And there's another form of speech that has lots of grace and no truth and it is equally impotent to change our lives. But it is equally dangerous.

It is dangerous. It sounds like blessing but it is not. There's so many things on a daily basis just raised up like our son Bennett and Abby in the sound of blessing.

And it was rooted in authentic discernment that as a parent I had day in day out. And so I would affirm to Bennett the things the gifts and the things I saw. And he was a good golfer and he'd go play golf tournaments and I'd bless him before he go. I said you got this in you and I believe you're going to do well in this tournament and you can go far with your golf game. What I never did say to him is man you are some kind of basketball player I think you'll be an NBA star one day.

He just wasn't that good and he just wasn't that tall. So it would be a misdirection for his life to try to steer him down that path wouldn't it? Truth matters. It's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement get Alan Wright's daily blessing. It's free and just a click away at PastorAlan.org. Embark on a journey of transformation with our free yourself be yourself resource bundle. Find a shame-free life no more self-condemnation no more inward angst wondering if you measure up as you soak in the message of healing grace this empowering bundle includes Pastor Alan's landmark book free yourself be yourself plus an accompanying resource guide and access to the exclusive companion video series act now support Alan Wright Ministries with your donation and step into the abundant life God has awaiting you as we send you this limited time resource bundle as our thanks this month. 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. If Mrs. Harper had said Mickey you've made another bad grade you obviously are not smart and you're not going to go very far in your education and I just don't see life working out well for you. That's a curse. If she had said Mickey there you are having made a bad grade and I'm ashamed of you. And unless you start bringing up your grades and studying harder than you're studying and applying yourself it's not going to go well for you. Well it's mainly true what she's saying it's just no grace in it and he'd have been crushed. But if she had said Mickey thick pen grades don't matter boys will be boys enjoy life. The main thing is are you having a good time? Do whatever feels good to you Mickey.

That's amoral it sounds mighty nice but he'd be just as lost. I love what my wife used to say to our kids when they were acting up and you do something you've just everything within you the sin nature wants you to just call it dumb and we're like no no our kids are smart we don't want to ever call them dumb so she'd say God gave you a great brain I expect you to use it. See even in our correction even in our discipline even when God corrects us it comes full of grace and discernment and power because it's also truth. Hal would like to teach every tongue to curse but would be happy if it would just take us into moralism or amoralism. And curse is easier to recognize isn't it?

Which is why probably most people their speech habits fall into moralism or amoralism. And God came to bless our lives and to show us the glories of who he really is. So Jesus came full of grace and truth. In the fullness of time he went to the cross. Why Good Friday? Why the cross? Because truth and grace had to meet there. The truth is the wages of sin is death. That's the truth.

It's not popular to say. But a life of rebellion against God is death. The truth is that God said that those who keep the law will be blessed and no one's been able to keep it except one man. One man named Jesus who never once disobeyed his father never once caved into temptation. We lived a sinless life and so we're left wondering how could it be that God could at the same time be grace and truth? How could it be that God whose steadfast love endures forevermore?

Whose covenantal love goes on from generation to generation? Who loves to forgive iniquity? Who is in his very nature mercy and loving kindness and yet is just and holy and righteous and in no way ever violating the principle of justice in the world. In no way ever going back on his own word. Never in any way saying that what he spoke earlier about justice in the world and about the problem of sin and about the wages of sin being death.

He would never go back on that. So how can he be both kind and just? How can he be both grace and truth?

How could he be this towards us? Jesus the perfect man of grace and truth went to the cross and there mercy and wrath met and God didn't overlook my sin or yours but he put that sin upon Jesus and crucified that sin. He crucified your sin in the person of Jesus. He judged your sin. He fulfilled his word.

He kept the truth in the person of Jesus and in so doing he released the power of unlimited grace so that anyone who would receive him would have the right to become a child of God and if a child of God that an heir and a co-heir seated with Christ in the heavenlies dwelling with him forever and ruling with him in a new heaven and a new earth the heart of God is seen in the beauty of the cross. Grace and truth together release the glory of God and that's the gospel. Alan Wright today's good news message speaking like God. It's from the series the power to bless Pastor Alan's book by the same title and you can get that at PastorAlan.org find out more on how to get a copy of your own.

Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement get Alan Wright's daily blessing. It's free and just a click away at PastorAlan.org. Embark on a journey of transformation with our free yourself be yourself resource bundle.

Imagine a shame free life no more self-condemnation no more inward angst wondering if you measure up as you soak in the message of healing grace. This empowering bundle includes Pastor Alan's landmark book free yourself be yourself plus an accompanying resource guide and access to the exclusive companion video series act now support Alan Wright Ministries with your donation and step into the abundant life God has awaiting you as we send you this limited time resource bundle as our thanks this month. 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. Or come to our website PastorAlan.org back here with Pastor Alan and sharing our parting good news thought for the day and and really this is the conclusion of this teaching the power to bless the conclusion of this particular teaching as well. And here at the end you ended in a in kind of a like manner of beginning it at you began this whole series getting real personal about your own life and and your relationship with your father. And then here as a parent and as you're preaching a message on balance even admitting you didn't always get it right. There were some days you were Mr. Grace other days you're Mr. Truth and it wasn't always perfectly balanced. How do we live? We want to be balanced but I guess it's okay to admit there are some days we'll fall short always the laugh is like you know if I'm a vacation dad I'm all grace man you know yeah anybody want ice cream yeah sure want some more yeah sure can we go and do this stay up late yes absolutely you know and there are other times where I've just felt like after a long busy week I'm tired and everything else it was just all truth can we do this dad no can we stay up a little no can we get some ice cream no you know you can find yourself kind of swaying back and forth and I think as long as we're in this world we're not going to get it perfectly because only Jesus did but we have the mind of Christ and we have the very presence of Jesus in us by the Holy Spirit so the one who is grace and truth lives with us and in us and I think we part of discipleship is is letting it be disciple and I think if you ask God I think the Holy Spirit will help you to recognize when you're speaking grace and truth and when you're not and I think that if you read the scriptures this way and you understand that you take it in deep that the gospel is transforming you so it's it's both I think Daniel a work of the Spirit and a concerted effort to say this is worth training myself and you know that it will transform your marriage transform the way you parent transform your relationships if you have co-workers or people that you help at work or supervise or if you teach or you coach or anybody that you ever want to help this is so important learn to speak life learn to bless and it is an expression of grace and truth read all about it in the book. 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.