Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.
He's talking about a weariness that comes, a kind of exhaustion that comes when you've been sowing into the Spirit, not living by the flesh, doing things God's way, the biblical way, and you haven't reaped yet. 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, Increase, as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now available to you 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. More on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching.
Here is Alan Wright. If I could, if I had the stamina to go play today, I could play a few good points. I actually think you could put a tennis racket in my hand, and I don't play at all, never practice. And I probably, from the very first swing of that racket, am probably a better tennis player than I am as a golfer when I try to play all the time. It's my brain's wired for it. It's just wired for it.
Isn't this wonderful? Think about this. God made everything to reproduce after its own kind, and He also made it that what you do over and over again, you get good at. Your brain goes, oh, hitting a tennis ball, that must be really important.
Let's get good at that. It's a wonderful thing, because it means you could get really good at hitting a tennis ball, or doing a certain surgical procedure, or you could get really good at interpreting a verse of Scripture in a Christocentric fashion. You can get really good at almost anything by doing it over and over again. It also means you can get really good at being resentful. Your brain can get really wired. Some people got brains that have been wired for this, and they're just fantastic.
They can just go to the negative without any problem whatsoever. You can get really good at not forgiving people. You can get really, really good at lashing out in anger. What you keep doing, you get good at.
Study after study after study has proven this. So at the simplest level, that's what's meant. You sow into the things of the flesh. You sow into legalistic, humanistic, moralistic efforts at self-fulfillment, and that's what you're going to be wired towards, but you sow into the things of the Spirit, and you're going to get better and better at that and reap more and more from that, but there's something deeper than that because the principle of sowing and reaping is mystical. In many ways, it's mystical and mysterious to think of what happens to a seed. It goes in the ground. It ceases to become a seed.
It dies to the fact that it's a seed so that then it can germinate, and it can come up as a little sprout and a little sprout that then could become the biggest oak tree that you'd ever seen. There's a way in which there is a releasing of something that then in some mysterious way becomes something much bigger, and this is true in the Spirit, and beloved, your life is like that. It's a mystery of a seed. You're always sowing.
You're always sowing. Every thought, every action, every word, it's a seed. It's a seed. It's a seed.
It's another seed. You're always sowing. You're never not sowing. You're sowing, and you're sowing either to the flesh or sowing to the Spirit.
That's what he's saying. If you're sowing to the flesh, fallen in the trap of thinking that you, by what you do, can make yourself more blessed, either by religion or rebellion, then you're missing the gospel. The gospel is the glorious announcement that Christ has finished the work, that the Holy Spirit has come, and when you live like that, and you sow like that, and you're sowing, and you're thinking like that, and you're thinking like the Word of God thinks, and you're thinking like God, and you're speaking like God, and you're sowing like God, then your life becomes like that, and blessing begets blessing, and kindness reaps kindness, and love produces more love.
The only problem is it doesn't do so instantaneously. Now we're starting to get at what Paul's encouragement is to us. Verse nine, let us not grow weary of doing good.
If you need to have a felt need so that your listeners will really perk up and listen, well, here it is. Everybody's tired. Everybody's weary. Everywhere you go, everybody's tired. Everybody looks tired. Everybody talks about being tired.
Anne and I tell each other we're tired, but even telling each other we're tired, but it's just a world. We're just tired, and people are weary, but he's talking here about a specific kind of weariness. There's a kind of weariness that a good nap will cure, but there's a kind of weariness that a good nap won't cure, and that's the one he's talking about here. He's talking about a weariness that comes, a kind of exhaustion that comes when you've been sowing into the Spirit, not living by the flesh, doing things God's way, the biblical way, and you haven't reaped yet. That's the weariness he's talking about.
And anybody who walks in the Spirit's going to experience this. He's not talking about don't ever quit just anything. Listen, y'all, there are some things that if you weren't supposed to be doing it or it's up, the time's up, you need to quit it.
I don't know. I was thinking when I got this check. I was thinking about my mom and my brother Mark when he was young. They signed up to take guitar lessons. This is before I ever started playing guitar, and guitar is kind of hard early on, and neither of them really liked it that much, and after about the third lesson, my brother came to mom and said, Mom, if I save up my allowance and I pay for the rest of the lessons, could I quit?
She said, you don't have to pay because I'm going to quit, too. Just because there's something that you try, it doesn't mean, Paul's not talking about never quit anything. He's not saying that. He's saying when it comes to sowing into the Spirit, never get weary on this, and you're going to get tempted to believe that you should try a different way, but you can't upturn things here. God's not going to be mocked. You're not going to be able to change the order of the principles of God that He set in motion, so let's not grow weary in this particular thing.
That's what He's talking about, and it's the most important. series called Made for More. You'll discover the power of your lasting legacy as He leads you through a simple process to clarify your family core values and God-given purpose in the world. Pastor Alan will also help you dream to imagine your 100-year impact.
The video series is accompanied by a practical study guide with templates and worksheets. You'll also receive the full-length preaching series Increase that exposes the biblical principle of generational blessing. Make your gift to the ministry today and get your Made for More audio video bundle as our thank you for your partnership. Contact us today and discover the power of your lasting legacy. 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. Don't ever give up on grace.
Don't ever give up on the way of the Spirit. Because he says that there is a season in which we'll reap. The word here is kairos. There are two Greek words for time, kronos and kairos.
Kronos, like the word chronology, minute after minute, hour after hour, sequential time. But the word kairos is a great word because it means the right time, the opportune time, the right season, the right moment. Kairos. And kairos at the right season, at the right time, we will reap. And that's what we want.
We want it at the right time. If you're here a few weeks ago, I was talking about, I was a kid, I decided I wanted to grow watermelon. And I got a watermelon vine growing and one little watermelon came up on it. And it was just so cute and I just loved it with all my heart and I just couldn't stand it.
It was the only one. And I went out there and one day I petted it and it fell off the vine and that was the end of it. And that was the only watermelon I ever grew.
You don't pet your watermelons. You want it at the kairos moment. We don't want the baby born at six months, we want the baby born at 9 months. We don't want the baby born at 14 months, we want the baby born at nine months. We want the baby right moment. We don't want the fruit at the wrong time. We don't want the fruit at the wrong time. We don't want the fruit at the wrong time. Just don't grow weary waiting on the fruit. We will reap a kairos. We will. We will reap. But I'm telling you the serpent will slither in when you have been sowing and you hadn't yet reaped.
That's when the liar comes and that's when hell has its day. Look at you. You tried God's way. It's not working.
Isn't it time to try something else? Obviously grace doesn't work. You need to try some shame. Obviously forgiveness doesn't work.
You need to try some resentment. This is the Son of God hanging on a cross and every demon in hell having a few moments to do what they would and you can see it on display in the voices, the venom of those who stood nearby. Look he saved others. He can't save himself.
If you are the Son of God come down from there. All those things you said must not be true because look at you now in the in between time of sowing and reaping comes the temptation. Don't be surprised by it and don't fall for it is what Paul's saying. This is about those times in life where you've tried forgiving and forgiven and doesn't seem to be bringing any change in the offender. This is about the single person who's been leaning into God for his companionship to experience him as adequacy. The devil comes to highlight the loneliness in the right moment.
The flesh is screaming that lust not love is the answer. This is about the wife whose husband is distant and she has been sowing patience and trying the biblical route of winning him with a gentle and quiet spirit but he hasn't drawn near yet and the flesh wants to give up and try pulling away and letting him have a taste of his own medicine. I'm talking about when we get weary we start thinking the way the spirit doesn't work and that the flesh might but we can remember the warning of God do not be deceived. Do not let the devil dupe you. There is no such thing as sowing an apple seed and reaping an orange.
Everything reproduces according to its own kind. Don't get weary of doing life God's way. Don't get weary of grace. Don't get weary of loving. Don't get weary and tempted to give up. Let us not grow weary. Now how can we be energized for that?
Knowing it and seeing it helps but this is where it really gets good. Verse 9 second part, in due season we will reap. We will reap. We will reap. We will reap.
Say it with me. We will reap, not we might reap, not that we'll sometimes we'll reap. We will reap.
Notice this. It is the guarantee of the harvest that energizes us. Doubt this well, sear it into your heart, fix your consciousness on it. Never doubt it. Here it is, energy for living, perseverance in the face of challenge and joy in the journey comes not by the fear of loss of blessedness but by the inward assurance of blessedness.
Let me just say it again. Put this in your heart. Never doubt it. Energy, perseverance, joy comes never by the fear of loss of blessedness but by the deepening assurance of blessedness. This is why the New Testament is consumed with teaching the Christian who you are in Christ. This is why Paul ultimately comes to Ephesians chapter 1 and just begins to just shout it to us to convince us that we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, that we've been seated in the heavenlies with Christ, that we are His. This is why John in the little epistles that he writes over and over just keeps saying, be assured of the love of God.
His love for you is perfect. It can't be diminished. It can't be altered.
It can't be changed. He said, let us have confidence for judgment day. This is the writer of Hebrews saying, let us draw near in that time of need to the throne of grace because you can be sure that grace is yours.
This is Paul saying, my grace, God says, is sufficient for you. This is the gospel. This is the energy. This is our life. This is where we're energized. This is how we don't give up. We know in Christ we will reap.
You only take a promised land that you believe you can take. The moment you think you're going to lose is when you quit. We don't quit when we think we're going to win. We don't quit when we're sure that we can take the territory. We don't stop unless we think it's futile.
Why do it if we're going to just lose anyway? So why would anybody want to take a text like this or anything of the beautiful gospel and turn it into a moralistic, religious shaming exercise that would suggest that God would dangle His love and acceptance in front of you and say, if you'll be a better Christian then I'll bless you more. That's what makes us weary. But the gospel, the good news, the glorious riches of what God's done for us in Jesus, the assurances of the Holy Spirit, that energizes us. This is why the Holy Spirit, the Bible says, is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance in the saints. We don't live good and righteous lives and sow into the Spirit in hope that we might get heaven. We live according to the Spirit and do righteous things and sow into the Spirit because we're guaranteed heaven in Jesus.
What this means is pretty clear. The gospel never says be on guard or you might lose it all. That is the voice of hell and it is wearisome. That's what the Pharisees essentially did. Jesus said, you tie up heavy burdens on people. You search the world over for a convert and then you make them twice the son of hell that you are by putting a heavy burden on top of them and they're weary under it.
Jesus said, I came to give you life and freedom and joy. So if no one gives up when they feel like they're on the edge of winning, go to the book that keeps telling you that you win in Jesus. And if you want more energy, you don't need more self will.
You don't just need Ruben Gonzalez or Winston Churchill or even Claude Harris, as nice as it may be, you need more gospel. If you want more energy, get more good news. If you want more perseverance, get more good news. If you want to keep going and not quit in the things of the Spirit, immerse yourself, baptize yourself in the glorious riches of the gospel of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if you don't give up, you're already in the top 10% and when you have the Holy Spirit of the living God in you, it's better than that. Let us not grow weary in doing good and sowing into the Spirit because in due season we will reap.
And that's the gospel. All right, today's good news message, don't give up now in our series Increase. Well, Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio sharing his part in good news thought for the day in just a moment.
Stay with us. You're made for more than your span of years on this earth. What might happen if you start taking the long view of your impact? We need to know what matters most to us so we can pass down our values on purpose. In Pastor Alan Wright's brand new six-week video series called Made for More, you'll discover the power of your lasting legacy as he leads you through a simple process to clarify your family core values and God-given purpose in the world. Pastor Alan will also help you dream to imagine your 100-year impact.
The video series is accompanied by a practical study guide with templates and worksheets. You'll also receive the full length preaching series Increase that exposes the biblical principle of generational blessing. Make your gift to the ministry today and get your Made for More audio video bundle as our thank you for your partnership. Contact us today and discover the power of your lasting legacy. 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. Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day. And I love how even in this teaching, some of the verses that I think sometimes we just kind of breeze over. It's like we're on a journey trying to get maybe just at the end of the chapter, you know, but we skip over just a few little words. And that happened a couple of times for me hearing in this teaching, especially the one about about reaping the exact seed or the exact fruit of the seed you sowed, it's good. We will reap in due season if we don't give up. And there is no such thing as sowing an orange seed and reaping an apple. And aren't we glad, you know, aren't we glad that's consistent. There are a lot of things in life that feel unpredictable.
I'm sure glad that we don't have to worry about whether we'll put a watermelon seed in the ground, whether we're going to get watermelons versus pineapples. I mean, well, so it is in the spirit, right? And so, you know, take heart with this, that if you know what you'd like to see produced, let's say it's a parent and you've got a child that's having anger problems. You know, you want them to have peace and gentleness rather than anger. Well, you know what kind of seed you need to sow then you sow gentleness, like you'll never reap gentleness from a child by not by being rough with them or angry with them. Right. So it gives us a predictable, a principle to live by and in due season, in due season, at the right moment, at the right time, that's when we, that's when we need the fruit. We need the baby born at nine months, not four months, not 14 months. And God's got a season for each of us.
So take heart, in due season we will reap. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860. 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 pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.
