Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. If you just need a big dose of hope, hear what the Father said to this older brother.
He said, verse 31, ìSon, youíre always with Me, and all that is Mine is yours.î Thatís Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. Iím Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in this series, Increase, as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If youíre 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 todayís message, go deeper as we send you todayís special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. Thatís PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.
Thatís 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But right now, letís get started with todayís teaching.
Here is Alan Wright. Adam forfeited it, but God sent his son as a second Adam who could live the life that Adam didnít live and live a perfectly righteous life on your behalf and mine so that there has been a human being who never sinned. And that human being who never sinned then went to the cross, and he took upon himself the sin of the world so that anyone who would trust in him would not only be forgiven, but would be credited with his own righteousness. And this, this, this, and this alone is why you have been made, the Bible says, a co-heir with Christ himself, Romans 8 16. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that weíre children of God, and of children then heirs, and heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ.
You are, if you are in Christ, you are an heir of God. Paul says it in Galatians also, chapter 4 verse 6, ìAnd because your sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, ìAbba, Father!î So youíre no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. And God has always wanted his people to know themselves as heirs so that they would revel in the joy of their inheritance, so that they would appropriate what he has given to them, and so that they would take ownership in their stewardship of the mission that heís put before them. Weíre inspired to far greater heights when we know ourselves to be heirs than when we act and feel like slaves.
Right from the beginning, if you would just go through the Word of God, you just see it, like itís just, itís there, itís in, itís in relief, itís highlighted, itís bold for us to see. Over and over, God is saying, ìI want you to know yourself as an owner, as an heir.î So in the beginning, thatís what he says to Adam and Eve. He says, ìBe fruitful and multiply and fill this earth and have dominion and subdue it.î Take ownership of this place that Iíve put you in thatís so beautiful. Tend this garden. Watch over it.
Youíre an owner. To Abraham in Genesis 12 2, he says, ìIíll make of you a great nation, and Iíll bless you, and Iíll make your name great so youíll be a blessing. I want you to take ownership of this, Abraham.
You are going to have a nation.î Wow. He gave Moses the promise of a land right from the beginning when he was calling him to be the deliverer. Exodus 3 7, the Lord said, ìIíve surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters and know their suffering. Iíve come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.î So God has mercy and grace to deliver, but thatís not just all.
He delivers so that why? To bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. He doesnít just want to liberate the slaves.
He wants the slaves to own a new land that is there and then take ownership of it. So they come out of Egypt and even as theyíre being delivered a strange thing. The Lord ordered them to plunder the Egyptians. Exodus 12 35, the people of Israel had also done as Moses told them for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
Isnít that crazy? Theyíre in a haste to get out of Egypt and as they go theyíre like, ìHey, I like that silver goblet there. Can I have that?î ìYeah, sure, have that.î ìThatís a nice gold necklace there.
Can I have that?î ìYeah, have that.î And theyíre just giving them their stuff. What is happening here is a picture of when you are delivered, when you are saved. As soon as you are, God wants you to begin to understand that there is an inheritance for you.
And weíre not talking about money and physical things, material things, though there is that. Weíre talking about the spiritual riches of who you are in Christ. When He called Joshua to go and boldly lead the people into the promised land that the others had not believed was really theirs, now Joshua who believes it, God says to him in Joshua 1-3, ìEvery place that the sole of your foot would tread upon, Iíve given you.î Youíve got ownership of it. Itís yours. Itís yours.
All things are yours. Even the prophet Jeremiah gets a word from the Lord when the people are exiled in the worst time in their lives in history, exiled in Babylon. And theyíre in a faraway land, and yet the word of the Lord comes in Jeremiah 29, 4, the God of Israel to all the exiles whom Iíve sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ìBuild houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons. Give your daughters.
Multiply there. Do not decrease.î Even in their land of exile, Godís saying take some ownership here. All things are yours. But weíre in exile.
Weíre in Babylon. Ah, yes, but thatís temporary. All things are yours. Live like it.
Act like it. So what happens, and thatís what I want you to see, is that when you understand all things are yours, when you understand how much God has done for you and how much grace has been poured out towards you, and you begin to see yourself as an heir and a co-heir with Christ, what it does is the opposite of make you idle, lazy, and unmotivated. Thatís what people are afraid of. Theyíre like, ìWell, if we just believe that God gives us all things and weíll just be lazy and people take grace for granted.î Thatís not the way it happens. Instead itís the opposite, because isnít it true, whatever you feel ownership over, thatís what you care about.
Thatís where youíre energized the most. Thatís Alan Wright, and weíll have more teaching in a moment from todayís important series. Youíre 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 Wrightís brand new six-week video series called Made for More, youíll 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. Youíll 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 Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today, we will send you todayís special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. Thatís 877-544-4860.
Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Todayís teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. Iím going to try not to bemoan too much the problems we had since before Thanksgiving when the lower part of our house had a septic line back up and flood the bottom of our house and everything had to go out of the house into two storage pods in the driveway. Those pods, one of themís gone, one of themís still there after all this time because itís been so much work, you know.
Iíve been trying not to moan about it because nobody wants to hear about it. But let me tell you, this is the part that like, you know how sometimes a life where itís just like things feel a little bit tough right now and then you just think it canít be tougher and then all of a sudden it just got tougher. So, we had, this is a long story, but we had a problem in the lower part of our driveway where water seemed to be leaking through a crack in the driveway so I had it sealed up. But because itís sealed up, water can pool over in that lower part of the driveway.
It comes up against the little brick retaining wall and it can pool up, no big deal. But we got those two pods sitting out there with our possessions in them. And so one night, I canít remember exactly when this was, but it was cold and it was a Sunday night. Iím never more tired than I am on a Sunday night. And it got to be, it was about 1030 and Iím like all I can do is maybe go back there and crawl into bed. And it was raining like crazy and it was about 38 degrees. And I was getting ready to go to bed and just all of a sudden, and I think it was just the Holy Spirit, you know, all of a sudden I had this thought, oh no, this is so much water. It could be pooling back there and it could be about to flood one of those pods, which would then ruin all our stuff on top of everything else weíve been through, putting in the new floors and walls and painting and everything. And so I told Ann, I said, Iíve got to go out there and see if itís potentially flooding. And yíall, I went out and it was cold.
It was pouring rain. And I looked in that corner where that pod was and sure enough, the water was rising and it was about a half inch from the bottom of the floor of that pod, that storage unit with all our stuff in it. And I didnít know what to do. I had shoes on.
I just, I just had to go take the shoes off. I first got a big push broom and stood down in that water into 38 degrees and started pushing water up over the wall, over the wall. And then I got a bucket and I started bailing it over it. Meanwhile, itís raining and itís still collecting, but Iím out there.
Iím saving, Iím saving our stuff, you know, and, uh, and I spent about 40 minutes out there. I, I, I saw finally the rain let up and I felt like Iíd saved it. And I came back in and I just said, and I said, uh, how do you know if your toes are about to fall off? I canít, I canít feel them. I said, I donít know.
How do you, how do you know if theyíve been frostbitten or not? And I said, it was just like, if people could see me now, what a difference from the glory of the wonderful worship weíd had earlier that day. The reason I tell that story is thereís only one reason that Iím willing to go out there and stand down in the cold water and the rain and try to save the stuff. And itís because it was my stuff. I owned it. I mean, I care about other peopleís stuff, but honestly, somebody elseís stuff might be getting flooded that night and I, I wasnít able to do anything about it, but thatís mine.
Sitting out in my driveway and, and, and itís mine. Do you see how much just the sense of ownership will change everything? I remember years ago thinking about how Paul talks about the difference between slaves and heirs. And I had this thought, it is really true, isnít it, that the hired hand or the slave only works up until the bell rings and says, you can go home. Because really the slave is working for fear of punishment from the master. But the one who owns the farm doesnít think like that. Now the hired hand, the slave who doesnít have any ownership in it, is just thinking, what do I, whatís the minimum I need to do so I donít get hurt or punished?
And when do I get to stop? But when you own something, you feel differently about it, right? The owner might go, oh boy, we got a big storm coming and so we canít, I canít stop today at five.
We got to, we got to have to, we got to work the harvest by moonlight so otherwise itís going to get ravaged by a big storm, whatever it might be. So when you see yourself as an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ, it doesnít slow you down and make you idle. It energizes you because you start realizing all things are mine in Christ. And I feel a deeper sense of ownership and as an heir, it changes everything. Paul said in Galatians 4, 1, I mean that the heir, as long as heís a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. Listen to that again.
I mean that the heir, as long as heís a child, meaning immature and doesnít understand that heís an heir, is really no different than a slave, though heís the owner of everything. There it is again, the owner of everything. So this is, this is like Iíve said before, this is like when a child like our Bennett who was a picky eater when he was little and weíd say you need to eat your green beans and heíd say how many green beans? And weíd say well you can eat enough of them. And then heíd say well exactly how many?
So finally heíd say okay, nine. And itís like, itís like thatís what, thatís acting like a slave, right? Itís like youíre just a child and though youíre an heir of everything, you donít yet understand that youíre a steward of your body and youíre taking ownership of your body and so you want to eat the healthy things.
And that day we believe will come one day but right now we just have to tell you nine beans and then you can, and then youíre done. And so, so in a sense is what Paul is saying. Itís like if you, if all you can gravitate to is I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas or these are the rules that I keep or Iím in the circumcision crowd or I do the, youíre immature heís saying and you havenít yet grown into the awareness that youíre an heir. But once youíve grown into awareness that youíre an heir and you begin to take a sense of ownership, then all the pettiness and all the legalism and all of the divisions begin to melt away. Thatís why the antidote to that divisive and petty way of living is to hear the word of the Lord, all things are yours. Do you need relief from worry about the future? Then hear God say the future is yours.
Do you need help overcoming the anxieties that you feel about the disappointments of life that have left you feeling like things just havenít turned out well enough for you and it makes you feel small, it makes you feel disappointed? Then hear the word of the Lord, the world is yours. If you wonder whether or not thereís hope for you and whatís going to happen at the end of all things, then even hear him say this, not only is life yours but death is yours because God is at work through all of these things for your good. He is ultimately together, bringing together all these things for your good.
Oh, all things are yours. The kingdom of God is like a giant party. The heavens are spilling over with the smells and aromas of a banquet and the sound of laughter. Thatís why in maybe his most poignant parable, Jesus tells about a father who had two sons and one of them wandered off to a faraway land and spent all of his inheritance on wild living. He didnít have the maturity to understand what it meant to be his fatherís son, and so he wasted it. And when he came home, Jesusí listeners would have been stunned by this. No Jewish man ran in those days, but this father hiked up his robe and ran down this dusty road to go and grab hold of his prodigal son and began hugging him and kissing him with ring and robe and a fatted calf they celebrated and had this huge party. But the older brother who was on the outside resented it all, and this is what we read in Luke 15. He was angry and refused to go in, and his father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ìLook, these many years Iíve served you and Iíve never disobeyed your command.
This is what shame and legalism sounds like. Iíve slaved for you. Iíve served you. Iíve never disobeyed your command, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.
But when this son of yours came whoís devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him.î And listen to what the father said, and I want you to hear this. I want you to hear it if you are struggling with forgiving someone. I want you to hear it if you are embittered against someone. I want you to hear it if you are jealous over what someone else has. I want you to hear it if you feel worried about your future. I want you to hear it if you feel somehow disappointed and small.
I want you to hear it if you just need a big dose of hope. Hear what the father said to this older brother. He said, verse 31, ìSon, youíre always with me, and all that is mine is yours.î The only way the older brother would ever join the celebration would be to hear the father say, ìAll that is mine is yours.î The only way that he could forgive, the only way that he could join into the festivities, the only way that he could celebrate something good happening for another person would be to hear the father say, ìAll that is mine is yours.î I think itís the way that you may overcome finally that besetting sin.
It may be the secret to defeating that nagging addiction. It might be the answer to even your deepest depression, to hear the father say, ìAll that is mine is yours.î This is Godís heart. This is Godís message. This is Godís love, that He has made this beautiful world, put you in it, sent His Son to die in your place so that He then could say, ìEverything that I have made and everything that Jesus has restored, if you will take it, if you will trust in Me, it is all yours, every spiritual blessing, you are just as much as Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, a co-heir with Christ, all things, beloved, the world is yours. And if you know it and receive it and believe it, it will change everything.î And thatís the Gospel. Pastor Alan Wright, todayís good news message, ìThe World is Yours,î in our series Increase. Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day.
Stick with us. Youíre 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 Wrightís brand new six-week video series called Made for More, youíll 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. Youíll 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 Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you todayís special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
Thatís 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Back here in the studio sharing Pastor Alanís parting good news thought for the day and as we put the conclusion here, come to the end of this teaching, the world is yours. The more that you have a feeling of ownership, itís not just about the delight of the soul and the joy that you have of knowing that, that youíre an heir, but the more that you have ownership, the more you begin to take responsibility. You act like that, right? So we only take promised lands that we believe we can take.
In other words, that we really own as ours. So in the natural world, it doesnít look like weíre in charge of much sometimes, but in the ultimate kingdom perspective and the kingdom where the head, not the tail. So I think itís an invitation to live like that. Go and take the truth that the worldís yours and live with that kind of confidence that God made all this for you and He put you here to have spiritual authority. So thatís how we say no to the devil.
Itís how we stand strong in the face of temptation and itís how we take new territory in this invisible kingdom. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860. Thatís 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of todayís teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches todayís teaching, delivered right to your email inbox, free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. Thatís pastorallen.org. Todayís good news message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.
