Faith and Works [Part 3]

Pastor, author and Bible teacher Alan Wright.

Abraham believed God was able to raise the dead. Whatever he was going on in his mind what was not going on is my Abraham had no notion come back down off Mariah with a dead son. You know why because he believed God's pastor come to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm excited for you to hear the teaching today. In this series word and spirit of unity of balance as presented it were an old church in North Carolina that you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special source.

Right now it can be worse for your nation this month to Alan Wright mysteries. So as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you this resource. Today's special offer. Contact us@pastor.org that's pastor out.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright they see mountains move Jesus himself was the one who died in our place and did the work in our behalf and sleeping is actually if you read James more carefully and you look at James chapter 1 verse 21 James says therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word receive a revelation, he sent receive the word of God and look what he says about the word of God, which is able to save yourselves nothing your worksite using the word of God which comes in is by that word of faith comes our lives.

James also says in chapter 2 whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

So James is making it clear that you had every work of righteousness. But you failed at one point you build guilty of the whole law you read it more carefully.

You realize that even when James says in chapter 4. There's only one logout giver and judge.

He who is able to save and to destroy will save ourselves. James knows it and he knows it full well what he's saying is that if you look at faith from one angle and you see the gift that faith celebrates then you can see from this side that faith is the receiving of a gift. And so it has nothing to do with human activity, but if you were to look at it from the other side. You could see that faith the real faith is by its very nature going to act or else it wasn't faith. He saying that faith and activity faith and works faith in the demonstration of faith are so closely connected that on the one hand, they seem to be. I am metrically opposed opposite of faith and works. Yet what he's saying is that you actually look at it.

It's one and the same.

We are all suspicious of these timeshare deals way off your promotional and I give you something free if you come in and listen to the spiel and I did one in Orlando Florida. One time, and we were going to be given a festive luau. That night, it was neither festive Northeast and you have these things happen for the funniest one. My father-in-law talks about that years ago. He and his wife, the law I went up to look at something in the mountains and they took them up the hill. These beautiful units in a beautiful big Cadillac and they gave him the spiel and they declined. They said see you later, and they so how do we get back down the mountain is that we walk walk back down the mountain so you get something that tells you, you've won $1 million.

July yeah sure sure, let's say I just say you got phone call and it sounded legitimate summer said that you have won $1 million. All you have to do is go to lawyers office tomorrow sign some papers and receive the cashier's check which got well you would go if you believed it unless you got so much money that the million dollar debt, meaning they do, in which case please see me after church I want to have few things but you go if you believe that right. This is so you could say people that were down there signing and receiving their check, you could look at it from one angle and say there signing for it and their activity of coming down here to get it is what got them the check but on the other side you say that didn't have anything to do with it. It was a free gift. And so it was just their faith that believed it.

But if you look at another site yeah but the reason you know that they believed it was.

I went down there and they signed the check I sent the check so you can vote once I said not just about anybody that didn't come down and sign the check they didn't get it yet but, in other words, action of going and signing for it was so much evidence of the faith that if you didn't sign for it. You have to say you didn't believe it. It was the faith but that action the work.

It was the demonstration that that faith was real. If somebody said all I believe that million dollars is for me, but they don't go down there and sign for it and get it you not say you don't believe it is what James is saying faith in you really believe something ends up getting demonstrated and what you do in fact the matter. I think what he saying is that when you really believe something, it just shows quite naturally you can just say all I love people I love God's face urgently. I believe they got it in you and you meet somebody and you have this compassion for them and you feel the love of God bursting in your heart towards them and you have provisioned and available means to help them and to say okay, off you go be warm, be fed and I know if you if you've got.

If you've got a faith in you. There's a mission that's in you also.

And it just starts working like you can't. You can even hide it if you try. If it's real things you believe in you feel strongly about. You can't hide it you can try but you it will come out it'll squirt out some years ago. It just so happened that the final game the national championship game NCAA basketball tournament fell on a weekend that I was in my family are the beach my brother and his family to the beach and my father-in-law was there and my father-in-law's the Duke fan and Duke was playing in the national championship. Now if I mentioned this before, but I'm I'm not at the Duke Fannie Mae Carolina fan. Tara ever mentioned that before and my brother went to Carolina and so I'm a little embarrassed to say this because you know ACC conference should pull for ACC conference and all that and Carolina and Duke only 2025 minutes apart from each other in Chapel Hill, in turn, were so closely knit we should pull for each other. But maybe if you're from around here.

You notice we don't pull for Chuck so we are in this quandary where we don't watch the national championship game and grandma follows Kelly now are you guys going to be pulling for. Do you know here are you going to be polite about this and were like oh yeah sure we are day we just can't wait for Duke to win another national championship and hear about it all year long. Yet we can't wait for that will pull do little devils and so dutifully throughout the whole game. We were like no Duke would score like a nice good move. There is very good and we were polite that we are about five minutes left in the day they called a Fallone member who Duke was playing in the ginger going to call to file. On the other team and just forgetting himself. My brother leaps up off the couch, on a raft that they said I just mean, you know, Monica, Natalia, was a what he done was Wade watched the whole game nearly nearly 35 minutes is whole basketball game. We get LSI.

He just revealed that the whole thing was a lie that the whole time he sit there like with Lucy and he is helping Alan Ryan will have more teaching moment from today's important series being filled with the Holy Spirit shutting off your mind hearing for a wonderful surprise God's word and spirit were never meant to be separated spirit always belong together to keep your abundant life in Christ knowing your Bible.

The secret is being filled with the spirit, the answer is both word and spirit. When you make a gift to support this month will send you Alan Wright's newest album on CD or digital download word and spirit Airlines embrace the fullness of God's word and his spirit can grow like never before with wording spirit realm. Helping someone else grow as well.

And remember, when you partner with Alan Wright Ministries to be broadcasting the love of God to every day we are in our final days of offering the special product 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor.like today's teaching now continues here once again is what's in the heart eventually gets exposed and I think that's part of what James is saying here call at six without faith. When we can't see it at all. You say your pulling for Duke. But you're mad that the ref called a Fallone. The other team know you just your action expose what you really believe so faith is so closely connected with its activity that James is saying faith without this is dad is not even real alley saying that were not say through our faith is just saying here's what saving faith actually looks like, and its manifest in your life. It changes everything inside of you changes your priorities. If fuels are sense of mission and it is therefore something that is much more than mental assent. The Christian faith is not intellectual assent to biblical doctrines.

What James is saying is that biblical faith real faith is a trust relationship that changes everything. He says even the demons believe.

Again, the prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon said it well is that I have no doubt devils are very orthodox and get this line. I do not know which church they belong to. Though there are some in all churches there was one in Christchurch when he was on earth, for he said, speaking of Judas.

One was filled with devils. He said believe all the facts of Revelation. I do not believe I have a doubt they have suffered too much from the hand of God to doubt his existence. They have felt too much. The terror of his wrath to doubt the righteousness of his government. They are stern believers but they are not saved as is James saying let me to what faith is. Faith is not so I can check off and tell you intellectually believe these things get all my doctrines right now is something so it's at heart and is demonstrated in the life of the famous story. One of my favorite illustrations of such of a circus performer who went to a busy downtown area, and he took a tight rope in a stretcher between two buildings, couple stories high, and the crowd began to gather beneath him, and he hollered out of the crowd. Is that how you believe I can walk across to the other side and they said yes.

We believe it so he will to the other side and on the other side of the top of that other building there was a wheelbarrow he had put fair and he took the wheel bearing his hands. He said how many of you believe the crowd began to grow. Many believe that I could push the wheelbarrow across to the other side and outstanding as we believe we believe we believe go now and he pushed the wheelbarrow across the undersigned and then the crowd had really grown in numbers. Now he cried down to them it is and how many of you believe that I can actually take a person put them in the wheelbarrow push it across to the other side and the huge crowds that we go visit okay one of the believers, not getting the wheelbarrow crowd dispersed. You find out what you believe is not mental assent is not saying the right thing is something deeper than this would James say means that faith really means in the end you take the balance of your life. The weight of your being, and you trust God. I trust you God for my salvation. I trust in you for what you've done for me in Christ yield to you trust in you. I gladly given the wheelbarrow faith is.

Faith is not a work but faith were signs for the check because it believes it, it demonstrates it out of the heart because that's where its affections lie gets into the wheelbarrow because that's we trust were six so when James references this mysterious, disturbing and marvelous story in Genesis chapter 22 where Abraham is told by God. I want you to take your son, your only son, whom you love. Sound familiar, your son, your only son, whom you love, and go up to the Mount Moriah and their want to offer him upon the altar and in this breathtaking act of obedience, Abraham gathers up wood puts the wood on his son so that Isaac is carrying the wood of the hill unfamiliar and on the way.

Isaac, who was the son of promise. He was the promised son. The miracle that was the living fulfillment of the promise that Abraham gave that God gave to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, and that there would be a nation that would be born through them.

This boy Isaac. He looked his dad and he said that he said I would get the fire we got the wood but where is the Lamb and Abraham said the most powerful prophetic verses in all of the Old Testament. He said God will provide himself. People read that story number preachers preach that story like this was the God tested Abraham and Abraham was willing to give up the thing that was most precious to him. Are you willing to give up the things that are most precious to you, God might come and asked and take something away from you.

This precious and demonstrate some of the stories about all because Abraham said to his servant, he said, my son are going to go up and worship and will return the writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 11 in the hall of faith fame is that it Abraham believe that God was able to raise the dead. Whatever he was going on in his mind to what was not going on his mind. Abraham had no notion that he was a come back down off Moriah with a dead son. You know why because he believed God, he believed God, and that's why the Scripture says he believed God. It was credited to him as righteousness is why Paul echoed this he said it was Abraham's faith. It was his belief that justified him. He was credited with the righteous is what did he believe he believed the promise of God. God had said I was to make you into a nation look Abraham into the stars of the heaven, if you could count them, so numerous will all your descendents be in your old age.

You will have this child.

Abraham if you could count the sands of the beach is so will your people be and Abraham and Isaac is only son. He was a son of promise.

He was the means to which God was fulfilling all of his promises to Abraham and Abraham believed God, and therefore he believed that he would go up on the mountain with Isaac come down from the mountain with Isaac, and the only thing he knew to say, was God himself will provide a lamb and sure enough they got up there and the Angels stopped.

His hands showed him the mercies of God, and there was a ram in the thicket wrestling around it became the center of the sacrifice and they worship God and returned lives. James referencing this is he saying Abraham went inside for the check he believed God irony the story if Abram hadn't believed God's promise I will think you have gone up on that mountain was not about to kill his son, child sacrifice was an abomination in Israel. In other words, his faith worked the still story about faith which angle are you looking at it from a few weeks we will family will keep a custom and the lights will damage the Stephen center and Tchaikovsky's music will begin and we will watch once again the story and dance across the stage for little Clara, who is recipient of a gift from uncle Russell Meyer, mysterious uncle of a wooden soldier little nutcracker just a toy wooden in animate objects until there's a great dream and a little magic. Sprinkle and you realize that the soldier comes to life and he fights against the king of the mice and he is glorious and there is joy and everything changes. James two is here to say to you, you are not an in animate wooden toy. You're not a wooden soldier, you're alive, princes and princesses in the kingdom warriors with the sword of the Spirit. You got faith, and your face works right at the conclusion of not only today's teaching of faith and works, but the conclusion of the entire series to date. The beauty of balance, Hallett is back here in a moment with additional insights on what we've been taught in a final word for today in the series being filled with the Holy Spirit shutting off your mind hearing for a wonderful surprise God's word and God's spirit never meant to be separated spirit always belonged to gather the key to abundant life in Christ knowing your Bible, the secret of being filled with the spirit, the answer is both word and spirit simulations emphasize studying Scripture, and some traditions emphasize the spirit to real Christian growth is both word and spirit as someone once said Pollard spirit you dry all spirit. No word both word and spirit umbrella. You make a gift to support this man will send you Alan Wright's newest album on CD or digital download word and spirit clients embrace the fullness of God's word and his spirit realm like never before with wording spirit realm up helping someone else grow as well. And remember, when you partner with Alan Wright Ministries to be broadcasting the love of God to every day we are in our final days of offering the special product, six 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website past Rowan.like beauty of balance faith and works. What a great way to end this in the thinking of that story of Abraham I think is a very appropriate way that we can take and say okay I see I like the light switch illustration.

You've also used in this when you have faith. This was try to remember this like when you have faith that faith acts without even you don't have to think about and so so many times we we look at scriptures like the story of Abraham and the call for him to sacrifice Isaac and ended these these techs almost be scary to us because like a whole boy you know that I would never will.

When we see it rightly as we have today we start understanding what James means that what happens when you have a faith that is, by the gospel. You see what God is done in Jesus Christ. And so it arouses faith belief confidence trust in God and his saving work for you what the more that you see that the more you have faith the more you live your life that way and that what and so is a very natural thing. I hope that's what we've been seeing and all throughout the whole series, Daniel, just a the beauty of balance is to say that these things that might seem in conflict whether it be celebration and contemplation.

Whether it be faith and works. What were really saying is that it's an is the beauty of God. And there's balance in God and there's balance in his church balance in his people, and that's how we soar through life is through really to wings and we spread them wide and we live this life of grace and truth.

Today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries