Forward in the Fight [Part 2]

Pastor, author and Bible teacher Alan Wright, there may not tell you all the details about the next struggle that you are the world might face, but he has gone to extraordinary supernatural infinitely sacrificial links you can know for sure that he's excited for you. Hear the teaching today. In the series forward is presented in an old church in North Carolina.

If you're not able to stay with us throughout our entire program today I want to make sure you know how to get our special source 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@pastor.org that's pastor at an.large E or call 877-544-4860 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 resist the devil, writes James and he will flee from you. Life with Jesus can be an exhilarating and reassuring experience of constant triumph over evil forces, but the battle never ends.

And the sooner you accept that the more peace you're going to have the Canaanites, the Hittites that he divides the parasite that Greg is shy to Amorites the Jebusites doesn't and and that's okay because what you can know what you can know as a Christian when God destines for you to know in your spirit eclipses when you can't know. In other words, the certainties of the gospel by the assurances of the Holy Spirit and the promises of God's work. Those certainties are much higher and better than the uncertainties of the world and the key to peace and joy in this world is not to try to take all the uncertainties of life and get all the circumstances worked out so you don't have to worry about anything know the key is to be so saturated in the certainties of God and the Holy Spirit that that trumps all of the uncertainties that's God's plan. Notice this verse seven.

Again, the Lord said to Joshua today.

I'll begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, why they may know that I was with Moses, and I'll be with you this same phrase occurred at verse four, which we didn't rebut preceded that there shall be a distance between you and the ark of the covenant. About 2000 cubits in length do not come near it. That is the arc in order that you may know, the way you shall go look universe. 10 Joshua said here is how you shall know uncertainty creates anxiety but knowing assurances creates peace and faith. And early in my Christian life I just I miss understood some things about faith almost for an earlier season of my life I what is told to much God loves faith in you need to have more faith in both her statements are true, but what it led me to believe was that faith was sort of this hard thing that required a lot of mental assent, maybe even some mental gymnastics to overcome all of my doubts and sort of prove myself to God that I will trust him even though the evidence is against the stuffy is not. It is all instead if you look at the big story of the Bible you realize is that God is a father and he loves faith loves it. Without faith, the writer of Hebrews is impossible to please God. This is what pleases God.

You having lots of faith is so God the father, who so pleased when he sees that you have faith rather than fear. He hates it when you're anxious. He loves it when you have lots of trust and you're at peace in this world. He loves that as of this father has gone to extraordinary lengths to help you know for sure that he loves you and to know for sure that he's fighting for you to know for sure that in Christ.

You're his forever. Think about the story. In the beginning God's fellow shipping with Adam and Eve in an uninterrupted intimacy and joy Adam and Eve sinned, they bell directly against God, and what does God do when humanity has rejected him. Verse eight of Genesis 3, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day didn't run away from them when they send Eddie the man and his wife continuing verse eight. They hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden God didn't hide from them. They hid from him and the Lord God. Verse nine called to the man and said where are you he hasn't run off in his anger against them. He has come towards them and pleaded with them to quit hiding.

Think of the call of the father of the people of God.

Abram called about the Chaldees and we know that Abraham's faith was reckoned as righteousness to him. But the honest reading of the story is that Abram requires a lot of reassurances.

In fact, though he's called in Genesis 12 he is needing reassurance by chapter 15 he says, verse eight, Lord God, how I do know that I shall possess it. And so God had him covenant it was to take an innocent animal slaughter it. Take the carcass and put it like a gauntlet so that normally both parties would pass through and make vows to each other but instead of Abram making a vow to God. God put Abram into a deep trance in a blazing fire pot passed through the blind, the symbol of the Holy Spirit's present passed through the sacrifice while in verse 13 the Lord said to Abraham, listen to this.

No force certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not the hairs know this. What about when he called Moses he appeared to him in a burning bush that will get your attention, he began to receive.

Moses says skeptical questions. Moses set in the Lord said, I'm going to be with you and he said will I tell them send me a said tell them Yahweh and for the first time ever, God revealed his personal name.

Tell them I am who I am. Since you how when they believe me put that stick of yours onto the ground and it became a snake to get back up.

It became a stick again, stick your hand in your cloak. It became leprosy pulled it out back and it was healed again. He said I'll turn the Nile to blood. What about the fact that I'm not eloquent, I'm going to send your brother with you when you know for sure to do what I promised Alan Wright will have more teaching moment from today's important series the better marriage you don't need more good and nice you need more good news marriages like people are changed by human effort or even principles change by the gospel of grace sessions is my thing and lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with God's grace. Sinful grayscale process that makes great communication easy to discover the freedom of forgiveness, shower and celebration to learn how to pray for your last one another with ground when you're in the video series losses and companies marriages going through some special challenges find powerful transformational tree is for your marriage. The grace of God gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today. We will send you a special offer. We are happy to send this to you as I thanked him Alan Wright Ministries.

Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor out and got work. Today's teaching now can you once again is that David is the youngest in the field.

It was forgotten, he wasn't considered when Samuel, the great prophet came to anoint the new king of Israel and the Lord said to Samuel is not of these older brothers and so Samuel said, is there no one else. And so it was for David, who was just a shepherd youngster in the field they came in and Samuel verse 13 disperse Imo 16 took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers and look at this and this unit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward when Jesus came to, he took these unreliable disciples, and he spent every day with them so they would have a front seat all his miraculous power and he would interpret and teach and fellowship with them so that they could no that he was the Messiah and when he was resurrected. Acts one. Verse three says he presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs. Another translation says by many convincing evidence when he was going to depart and he was telling his disciples ahead of time. Did he say to them it's might be sorta easy for you to believe now, but when I leave, it's going to get real hard as you won't go to see and touch me anymore and so right now faith is easier but is going to be really hard and so the father can be really testing your faith can be like this tightly said.

John 1670 said I tell you the truth it's to your advantage that I go away forever.

Do not go away, the helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you and at Pentecost when Peter preached the message while the Holy Spirit is being so powerfully poured out that people of every kind of nation are speaking and other languages and proclaiming the glories of God and Peter in the midst of that preaches and says it verse 33 being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit is poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. Look at verse 36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ. God doesn't get us born again and then say now believing is going be really hard and will put you through a fiery trial to see if you can trust me that's not the father's heart instead Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel, your salvation, and believed in him you were sealed in the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. I go through all of this to convince you father may not tell you all the details about the next struggle that you are the world might face, but he has gone to extraordinary supernatural infinitely sacrificial links that you could know for sure that he's with you, and that's with the stories about God being with you because when they are going to cross over through the Jordan, the Lord commanded the priest to carry the ark verse eight of Joshua three is for you.

Command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant when you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, so the priests are to take the ark because only the priests in the old covenant could handle the holy things, you know, the ark of the covenant that contained the tablets of the law and Aaron's rod that had blossomed and a little container of manna and was gilded all over and the golden atonement cover, where the high priest on the day of atonement would sprinkle the blood of the Lamb that was overshadowed by Golden cherubim's. We's and this are represented the holy manifest presence of God. They knew that God was everywhere. The psalmist had proclaimed it. Where can I ever go from your pleasant presence. You are there, but the manifest presence of God assuring that his glorious victory was always at hand they would carry it into the Jordan. And then the Jordan would part, not simply the raising of a staff like at the Red Sea where the waters part is a sign and a wonder, but instead the presence of God would be in the midst of their trouble.

The presence of God would be in the midst of the barrier to the promised land and then as the priest stood there with the ark and 12 representatives, one from each tribe of Israel came and stood there, they would be assured I will most certainly be with you and drive out the enemies one battle after the you have become.

According to Peter, a royal priesthood, you're the priest and every single one of you in Christ is 100% authorized to enthrone God and in a very real sense wherever you go, God is going because the Holy Spirit is with you always, in the midst of your troubles, the bliss of the promised land. In the end.

Therefore, though their battles is no different than the bliss of heaven itself because what makes heaven heaven is the presence of God. Sometimes we talk so much about heaven is the place where we have no more struggles and no more tears and no more sickness and no more misunderstandings no more hatred and all that's wonderful. But that's not what makes heaven wonderful heavens, wonderful because of God's presence.

John Piper has written a book called God is the gospel in which he writes when I say that God is the gospel. I mean that our highest best final decisive good of the gospel without which no other gifts would be good is the glory of God in the face of Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment. The saving love of God is God's commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying. Namely himself since we are sinners and have no right, no desire to be enthralled with God. Therefore God's love enacted a plan of redemption to provide that right and that desire the supreme demonstration of God's love was the sending of his son to die for our sins and to rise again so that sinners might have the right to approach God and might have the pleasure of his presence forever. God himself is the gospel. In other words, if you could have heaven meaning no more worries. No more struggles no more battles no more tears or more sickness, but Christ wasn't there. Would you take that, of course not. What is higher and better is the presence of Christ.

So life is got its battles and there's a little part of me when it gets tough I be honest with you I'm just trying to find that moment on the bleachers with Andy Roenick again and then I shake it off and go that's not really this world is it and when you're facing a big battle in the big struggle and you feel that temptation like the answer to my life is to just get to that place where there are no more battles then just remember this that they would face the Canaanites to Jebusites.

The his eyes.

They had types that geared to Shiites pounding the hood gear is sites are. I just know it's one battle after the other is with you and that's the gospel.

Esther Allen right or good news message from the series forward.

It's forward in the fight. Please stay with his past relatives back in the studio during a sporting good news thought for the day in just a moment, the better marriage you don't need more good and nice you need more good news.

Marriages like people are changed by human effort or even principles changed by the gospel of grace sessions and lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with God's grace is sinful grayscale process that makes great communication easy to discover the freedom of forgiveness shower of celebration to learn how to pray for your snacks not to bless one another with Jerry Brown when you're in the video series losses and gives you copies of the company is going through some special challenges find powerful transformational tree is for your marriage. Marriage the grace of God gospel is shared when you get Allen right ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you get today we look for a special offer.

We are happy to send this to you as I thanked him. Allen right ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website past Rowan.org blessing your life grayscale vision for your reading grace and encouragement. Allen writes a daily blessing is free. Pastor Alan got away. But we can certainly agree that if I with some of his last word you said that battle after battle fight after fight, and I hope we can hold on to the fact that God is with us, just as surely as remember that the name Joshua, the leader Moses his assistant who is the one who leads the people in the conquest of the promised land. Just remember that name Joshua. That's actually Jesus's name in Hebrew is Yeshua, so there can be a clearer picture than this, that when you think of being in a spiritual battle you must think of being in the spiritual army of Yeshua and he is the head of it and so whatever he wins aware of the steps and all of it all is yours as well and so you can keep that in mind and every battle that you fight in the spirit you're finding it in the resources of Yeshua in Christ soaked yeah the battleground is also promised land.

The promise is also battleground but you are every step of the way guaranteed that Jesus is going to secure the victory.

So that's our confidence to work where worlds were unusual. People know this, people of faith, we fight battles that we already know are one but we still fight the fight.

It was lovely fight with prayer, we fight in the word fight about, but on the whole armor of God every day promised Lanza battleground and you are guaranteed victory in Christ only called 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@pastorout.org that's Pastor out.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production Allen right ministries