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April 16, 2021 6:00 am
Alan White, pastor, Bible teacher and author of his latest book, the power to bless you my feel you don't deserve it and if so hearing good. You're right in the gospel when you are aware of how unmarried head. The favor of God is fitted in the and does not have to do with your own righteousness is not because of your own intrinsic loveliness, but something else has happened. Alan Wright to another message of good news that will help you see your life for no whole new light. I'm getting excited for you to hear the teaching today.
In the series belonging to God as presented at renewal the 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 industries 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 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright though most of your life been trying to be humble as a Christian and say things like, well, I'm no saint. Today's good news is that if you are in Christ.
You are a saint. That means a holy one.
You are one of God's holy wants in Christ everybody in Christ is a saint and is the way that Paul addresses the Christians that he writes to in the New Testament to look at just two of the greetings that Paul brings in the epistles of her son and first Corinthians, and then we'll look at the opening lines of Ephesians.
I want to just highlight for you how Paul calls all Christians call them Saints hug euros in the Greek it means holy wants first Corinthians chapter 1 verse one Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and our brother/the to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ with their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ is that is adverse to sanctified in Christ Jesus.
Again he speaking of something that has happened, how you were called to be. This saints together with those every place who call upon the name of Lord theirs is saying clearly every place in every person that calls upon the name of the Lord. They are rightly saints together with you and then at the opening verses of Ephesians Ephesians chapter 1 verse one Ephesians chapter 1 verse one Paul and apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. So saints who were chosen in him before the foundation of the wall of the world saints.
He said to the Corinthians in Christ Jesus, who have been sanctified and call into this.
That's what I want to show you today that links between what it means to be a holy one, or a saint in this whole idea being called and being chosen and how it's possible that though we still sin, we could be called saints. The problem for us as we all know how fallible we all are. So have a hard time thinking of ourselves as a condition to think saint is somebody who's especially virtuous and we know that we all mess up don't get a kick out of. When you see the bulletin bloopers that show up sometimes we try hard to not have typographical errors in bulletins but sometimes it happens in these are actual bulletin articles that have shown up. Not here. Thankfully I don't think sometimes and know in the bulletin. You don't have enough room in trade try to squeeze things in to the space you got. But be wary of of abbreviations they may not come out right this bulletin article said the ladies Bible study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the fellowship hall after the BS is done on every Bible study should not be abbreviated use of word to change the whole meaning I feel sorry for this church accident latest misspelled one word article said the outreach committee has enlisted 25 visitors to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church should be affiliated.
I think affiliative affiliated is a better word. Sometimes there's irony in something and we don't realize it until too late like the bulletin article that said, due to the pastor's illness. Wednesdays healing services will be discontinued until further notice could come across a tiny two letter word can mess things up like this article is and remember and prayer that many who are sick of our church and community.
In one Robles and arc is a potluck supper prayer and medication to follow this this article just left the G out of the word that messed it up badly. It said you don't have to be an experience vocalist to join the choir. Anyone who enjoys sinning is welcome to join our and my personal favorite one wrong letter is all can say can be the ruin of a staff member feel sorry for the sorry for this your secretary. The bulletin article said the pastor is on vacation. Massages can be given to the church secretary. We know where this is valid as anybody else because your Christian. It doesn't mean that suddenly you never send never make a mistake never grant never did that mean that right and so were sort of trained then to as part of our humility to acknowledge our our sin and we come to the Scriptures and we see that Paul even when writing to the Corinthian church which was a messed up church in a lot of ways it is a later in in first Corinthians.
If you read all the way through, but you rose his and have times. He is really calling them on some of the kinds of sin. That is going on there and calls out there kind of gossiping spirit in sexual immorality and drunkenness. He calls all that out. But even in regard to their worship life they had come into pride in excess and insensitivity to the unbelievers that were in their midst.
They had to correct them about that mean he does read first Corinthians, you might go. These these Christians are kind of a mess here and yet when he writes them he addresses them as saints. But how can you call some people that seem to be so messed up. How can you call them Saints and and how is it that we, knowing that we mess up could begin to see ourselves as saints or hug euros holy wants.
Paul says this over and over Romans 17 he says to all who are loved by God and called to be saints. He says also in second Corinthians 1 through the church of God that is a client with all the saints. Philippians chapter 1 verse one to all the saints in Christ Jesus. Colossians 1 verse one to the saints and faithful brothers and so want to show you today how the words of William Temple are true that there is no such thing as a Christian who isn't holy and there is no such thing as someone who is holy, this non-Christian according to the New Testament, it all has to do in the beginning with a sense of you being called and chosen by God. And when you get a real sense of what it is to be in that sense called and chosen in Christ what Paul says you can begin to wrap your mind around that mystery that at least for me has been the secret to help me learn to grow more more to see myself from God's perspective and do what was see is that when you live according to the identity that God is giving you, then you're going to be much more likely to live the life that God called you to live. They go hand-in-hand, but it begins with this process chosen in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless.
So the fact that your holy to God is related to what he said to the Corinthians, called to be holy, called to be a thing what he says in Ephesians chosen in him these things being chosen, of being called of belonging and being holy are all part of the same the same package. While we have had a scandal of sorts of the Dixie classic fair. Yes I perhaps you were heard in earlier message. The illustration I use my handcrafted pottery of the bear had that I've so masterfully created and Montreat looking out over 4 July and the pottery class. As I sat next to the instructor and I made sure each step away that it was absolute looking like a North Carolina black bear and so I entered mine into the fair.
My daughter also as a freshman in college now. She entered hers into the fare as well and minute not to in any way boast or to put my daughter's handicraft bed down but there's there's a problem. The snout on her semi-and it was just very long to load down and is is just resist it, was that I affectionately called my my bare smoking bear and I called hers, Pinocchio, the bear, and so they were entered into pottery craft part of the explants affair felt sure that there be a blue ribbon on on my we got word on Friday nights affair open it because I might take a picture and were no ribbons on them without well we went in on Saturday or to go see for ourselves this travesty and we got in there and Abigail's bear has 1/3 place ribbon on it and mine has nine sort of travesty justice has taken place researching now whether there is an appeals committee or anything within the fare like they do. I surely whoever was judging. This has never seen a real bear before Pinocchio has won a ribbon and I'm high and dry with no ribbon on daughters never go live a live that it is bands that were furthermore wondering it was not a ribbon there Friday night had one get there on Saturday, that's for scandal by slowly over the week. I've been gradually trying to accept the fact that Abigail's bear got a ribbon and was judged to be better than my bare, it was judged to be 1/3 place winner. Mom was not in on his head except that, because in the end, here's my point, and that he had if the judge put a ribbon on her prayers 1/3 place winner there but when I her bear was judged to be terribly hey to be a holy one to be at St. means in God's eyes. You have been judged to be so. It means it has been declared on your life right and you might feel misshapen and disfigured or you might feel you don't deserve it and if so hearing good is your right into gospel when you are aware of how unmerited favor of God is that in the end does not have to do with your own righteousness is not because of your own intrinsic loveliness.
Something else has happened to Helen right will have more teaching moment from today's important series marking for 99 days in a row. Someone tells you, I love you my letter for site when you feel cherished. The what would happen if I'm hundred seen person sad that showing a cut enough for me to measure up on the Colletti anymore. When that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 99 days when 1% of conditional love poison. The other 99% will just 1% of lies enough to spoil grace instead of locking introducing unlimited capacity for fear if I don't measure up. When my having rejected when the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church a pass. Apollo is outraged and read a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why am I snapping mixed with any form of Alan Reitz 12 message idea series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free, and empower you with pure grace. It's called Galatians and asked the gospel discover the purity and power the grace of God. When you make your gift to Alan Wright ministry said I will send you pastor's messages in an attractive CDR pump with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor and dialect.
Today's teaching now continues here once again is something else has happened that the Scripture very clearly portrays as sort of legal transaction AA is something that has happened in the spirit by God wherein he is justified in blessing you and he has always wanted for himself a holy people. So what you see in the Old Testament is saying that now the one hand it seems so scandalous that God would choose out of all the peoples.
This one people and through this one man Abraham make a nation and declare this is my holy people and he made a covenant with Israel through Moses, but if they would obey everything he said. Then they would be his treasured possession and they would be like a kingdom of priests unto the Lord, but they never could obey.
So what you saw prefigured in the shadow of the Old Testament in the shadow of the people of God of Israel was something that was really pointing to the reality that was in a common Christ.
The God was and have a greater mediator and the man Jesus Christ was also God who would mediate a much better covenant and the point of this covenant was that God would have for himself a people that he could call his holy people he must know the in in his choosing of Israel. It was never ever ever ever depicted in the Old Testament that is because Israel was somehow lovelier than other people always somehow better than other people. Instead what he was doing was he was putting on display the power of his sovereign grace. It was never ever ever to say that God doesn't love all people, but to obtain a shadow on the landscape of history so that when you see what's happened in Christ you could grasp hold of that God is always with people unto himself rightly. His holy people because God is holy anyone to people who are holy.
But the problem is that people couldn't make themselves. Holy couldn't keep the company couldn't obey his laws and so God who is holy, didn't have a people who could rightly be judged as holy because they did live holy lives so Christ came and what Paul is speaking in Ephesians is a mystery so beautiful and so profound you could spend all eternity. Thinking on this. You yes if you're a Christian, you have chosen to follow Christ, but you only so because God from the beginning of time as it is I own you.
There has been a whole that is gone you that has been effective.
There is a way in which you can in your heart, embrace this mystery. Yes you've chosen to follow Christ, but you only done so because of the magnificence of the predeath spinning the love of God was set on you before you ever knew how to love him and the reason that this is important is because I don't see how you could ever see yourself is holy unto God, and less. You could see in the context of a radical ultimate grace which means that you have not brought any of your own goodness to bear upon God's grace being poured out into your life is. I think what happens I was so long in my Christian life every time I hear about predestination like Paul talks about in Romans chapter 8 are here in Ephesians 1 right.
See the word chosen on the idea of the elect and all that sub was so odious to me, it was just so objectionable to me that I would just sort of coffin move onto the next Scripture just seemed like that on the one hand to say your chosen would feel so presumptuous and prideful in an insane something negative about other people who were amongst the chosen or what bother him even more was. It seemed to take away from the dignity of free human will, like God is just. Somehow for dating some people to heaven, and some to have no that caricature of Calvinism that can be this idea of severe double predestination.
You know I God just in the beginning it is like the audio technology that one flip after Chris compared to the children's game� Goose you know you around� Goose in the goose chase around and he said this a way some people do their theology is like� Damn you know like God was just somehow just in the beginning just capricious about how ridiculous to view the notion of being chosen in Christ. In such simplistic terms that go beyond anything the Scripture ever says so if you go to grasp this, I suggest you not think of it in wooden terms. We are not robots and God is not a machine who's pulling names out by the lottery God the father wears children right. That's a good word. It's from our teaching when the Saints go marching in from the series belonging to God. Alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life in our final word today announcing for 99 days in a row. Someone tells you, I love you my letter for site when you feel cherished.
The what would happen if I'm hungry today that same person. Sad that sugar get enough for me to measure on the Colletti anymore. When that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 99 days when 1% of conditional love poison.
The other 99% will just 1% of lies enough to spoil grace instead of locking introducing unlimited capacity for fear if I don't measure up.
When my having rejected when the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church. They pass Apollo is outraged and read a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why it must not be mixed with any form of Alan Wright's 12 message idea series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free, and empower you with pure grace. It's called Galatians and asked the gospel discover the purity and power the grace of God.
When you make your get to Alan Wright Ministries today since you pastor's message is an attractive CD album with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor out.like I like what you said there to put a bookmark that we are not robots and God is not a machine to hear more about this in our next installment. We are children of God in the idea of being set apart unto him or chosen in Christ is not this caricature. Daniel, the people have no some kind of double predestination and everything's fate and so forth that just I think we can understand this more in relationship and so when we have our children. There's a real sense because I will, yes, they are choosing us because they they recognize I belong to these parents and therefore all of them and I choose them and I choose to take the food that they provide for me so. But our choosing them are wanting them long before I think that that's where we are where we are headed. And I think that if the if our hearts can become more more convinced of this, then there's a certainty. The confidence that can emerge of how much God wanted us and therefore how much God is done for us and therefore how much we belong to him. Today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries