From Shifting Sand to Solid Rock [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. If you just are to read the stories of Peter through the Gospels and the Book of Acts, and you just read all about Peter, I think you like him. He was the life of the party. He was gregarious and expressive and emotional, impulsive.

He was one of those guys, I think, that when you get around him, you're just ready to fly to the moon with him. 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 the series, Life of Peter, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire broadcast, 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 Ministries. So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you this special offer available today. Contact us at pastoralan.org. That's pastoralan.org, or call 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program.

But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. Beloved, are you ready for some good news? Blessed are you, for God shows you spiritual treasures that He reveals to you by the Spirit, things that flesh and blood could never discern. You're blessed when you see things in the Spirit that God has shown you. And as you see Jesus more and more this coming year, you'll see yourself more and more.

As you understand His identity and who He really is, then you'll understand more and more who you really are. We have a blessing for you in this new year. It essentially says to you that you are a rock, a living stone. That's what 1 Peter says, a living stone in the unstoppable church of God, which means you're a victor.

Promises that the gates of hell cannot prevail against you. And you're a bearer of keys, the keys of the kingdom, Jesus says. And it's because you're filled with the grace of God. And that's the grace that opens up heaven's doors. You're a representative of God. You re-present God on the earth, bold with spiritual authority.

This is who God says that you are. It's big. It's magnificent.

It is mind-bending. But this is, I believe, the blessing of God for us this year. Well, I hope that your new year is off to a rousing start. I read in the paper this morning that over half of Americans will have made a resolution to lose some weight and get more fit this year.

That's over half of us. And I was at the breakfast table with my daughter, Abby, who's quite the snarky one on things. She says, well, at least we understand what our problem is. And we always have kind of a comical episode with New Year's resolutions in our house.

It all kind of started years ago when one morning at New Year's, I was asking the kids if they had some goals for the coming year. And Abigail was little at the time. She had been reading the old, old novel set, the Bobsy Twin Stories. And she thought about it for a while.

And finally, she said, well, you know, I've been reading these Bobsy Twin books. And in their family, after every meal, they have a really nice dessert. She said, no, nice things, homemade cakes and pies and things like that. And she declared her New Year's resolution was to have a nice dessert after every meal. And the coming year, my wife chimed in and she said, as I remember from a child reading those stories, the Bobsy Twin family also had a personal cook that lived with them. And so my wife declared that her New Year's resolution was that she wanted to have a personal cook to come in and make all of these nice desserts at the end of the meal. And we've never been able to recover ever since about our New Year's resolution. So this past week was no different. I asked the kids, do you have some goals for the new year?

And they said nothing. And finally, Abby said, well, you know, we went to see the new Star Wars movie the night before New Year's Eve. And she said that was good and all, she said. But she had really wanted to see the new Pixar animated film, The Good Dinosaur. And she finally chimed in and said, my New Year's resolution, I want to see The Good Dinosaur. And I'm just laughing. I say, we don't have resolutions. We got bucket lists.

This is what it's supposed to be all about. I looked at Bennett. I said, Bennett, have you got any New Year's goals at all? And he just couldn't come up with a single thing. So finally I said, well, how about I suggest a few? And then it turned into us trying to suggest New Year's resolutions for one another. I just want to say to any of the married couples, don't do that. Honey, I've got a few things I think would be good resolutions for you this year.

Just some areas of, I wouldn't do that. We stopped really kind of having any kind of New Year's resolutions years ago when I started realizing from the gospel that New Year's resolutions, the reason they don't work is for the same reason that Paul says that the law doesn't work. That trying to live under a system of law of any type where what you're empowering yourself with is nothing more than your own commitment to try harder. It not only has no power, but Paul said to the Romans that the law actually incites sin.

How could that happen? How could it be that wanting to do better and pledging to do better and making a solemn resolution to do better, how could it be that that actually could make things worse? But that's essentially what Paul was saying. He was referring to the system of the law. And so there's two systems by which you can live your life and they are represented in the Word of God. The first system is a system that we might call the system of works or law that's represented in the old Mosaic covenant. And the law was good and holy and right and true.

And it was a wonderful thing that God would reveal to the people how it is that their lives should be lived and reveal to them what holiness is all about so that they could clearly see this is how I've designed you and this is who I am and this is who you're supposed to be. But the covenant said essentially this, if you will keep my law, then it'll go really well for you. And the problem is that no one could keep the law. And when you're under a system of the law, essentially what happens is that you're building your motivation on fear. What if I don't measure up?

What if I don't keep the law? So let's just say, for example, that if I got decided to get really public and say, okay, my resolution, I want to lose 10 pounds this year. I'm going to lose 10 pounds and I'm going to start exercising regularly every week.

And I want you guys to know that because I'm really going to do it and you're welcome to hold me accountable to that and so forth. Well, you might see me next week and say, how's it going? I say, well, I exercise three times this week and I've already lost a pound.

And you go, okay, way to go. And then next week you come back and see me. I said, well, I've gained two pounds. Didn't exercise any this week. And you'll say, tisk, tisk, tisk.

Try harder this next week. Well, in a lighthearted way, I bring up to say that what would happen is every time that I see you then, I'm just not wanting to disappoint you. And that becomes a motivational force that I don't want to have to face that sense of other people being disappointed in me, me being disappointed in myself or God being disappointed in me. In other words, the law is a system that Paul refers to as a system of living.

The law is good, but the system by which you try to keep the law is legalism. And when you try in your life to be able to muster the kind of resolve that it takes to live by that, you'll find yourself ever increasingly frustrated. But not only frustrated, it can't be that this is God's way of empowering us because it's ultimately a system of fear. It's ultimately a system in which what is motivating you is you're afraid of being punished. You're afraid of not being blessed.

You're afraid of not being accepted. And God cannot have ever wanted a system like that to be ultimately how we are fueled in life because 365 times in His word He says, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid.

Do not be afraid. In fact, Paul says that when you get into the life of the Spirit, what you realize is God has not given us a spirit of slavery that leads us back into fear. It's for freedom that you've been set free, that the whole design of God for your life is that you are going to live by faith, not by fear.

We don't live by fear. We live by faith. And so the life of grace in contrast to the life of law is the life of appreciating a gift that has been given to you.

And the transformational power of grace is because when you see and discover the gift of God to you in Jesus Christ, you begin to discover what your life is all about and you become filled with hope, confidence, and faith. And that's what changes your life. See, in the end, people don't change because they say, you know, I'm going to feel really bad about myself if I don't lose this 10 pounds. Instead, there's some greater hope or faith that takes over that in a real sense that you are living out an identity. You know, all the self-help gurus and all, they say things like, just believe in yourself and get a vision. Don't try to go out and lose weight for somebody else's sake. Don't try to please somebody.

You need to do this for you. Well, there's a real piece of God's truth in that, actually. There really is because essentially what those self-help gurus are saying is that there's got to be a different motivation that comes in your life, and that is because you begin to see yourself differently. All truth is God's truth, and that piece of it really is the grace of God at work. And so every new year, instead of me standing up and preaching like I've heard so many sermons where people say, oh, it's the new year, and I want to challenge you this year to basically be better Christians, and I'll challenge you to pray more, I'll challenge you to read your word more, challenge you in your spiritual distance, challenge you to give more this year, and let's make some commitments together and try harder this coming year. I mean, you know, we don't say it exactly like that. We say it in more inspirational terms, but I'm sick of that kind of thing.

It doesn't work. And so instead, at the beginning of the new year, what we do here at Rinaldo Church is instead of saying, can you try harder to be a better person this year, we announce a vision, a blessing over one another's lives that is consistent with the Word of God and appropriate to the season as the Spirit has led us. Here's what the power of blessing is all about. It's not merely a compliment.

It's not merely encouragement. It is the very release of visionary faith when spoken by people who love you and are speaking in accord with God's Word, saying, this is how God sees you. This is how God has made you.

This is who you really are. It has a prophetic vision for your life. And in this, there is something so powerful that when Jacob came in and stole his brother's blessing, Esau, and Esau came in and spoke to their father, Isaac, and he said, Father, you bless the wrong son. Can you not bless me also that Isaac, the Bible said, tremble violently and said, I've blessed your brother. And indeed, he will be blessed.

Why? Because the blessing of God, like every word that proceeds from the mouth, does not fall empty to the ground. And you can't take back those words and swallow them. And when blessing goes forth, it has with it a power that is irrevocable. And that's how strongly we believe in this. And we've raised our kids this way. And this is the way that I preach. And this is the way that we believe all of life should revolve is that we come under the sound of the announcement of who we are in Christ. And that changes everything.

That's Alan Wright. And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Ever feel like the pressure's always on?

Do you find it hard to say no, worried that you'll disappoint someone? The Bible tells us only one thing about Adam and Eve's relationship in paradise. They were naked and felt no shame. But as soon as sin entered the world, they became anxious, plagued with a gnawing question. What must I do to be accepted? There is only one solution, the grace of God that lifts our shame. In a new six-week video masterclass, Pastor Alan exposes the dynamics of shame and shows the path to freedom. Whether as an individual or in a small group, the video series is sure to bring healing and hope. When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month, we'll send you the digital masterclass videos and study guides as our way of saying thanks for your partnership.

In a world so quick to say shame on you, it's time to let God's grace take the shame off you. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. And I'm excited to be able to start out with a blessing that Jesus gave to Simon Peter. Peter, originally his name is Simon, and Jesus calls him Peter, which means rock. I think if you had met him, you'd really like him.

I really do. If you just were to read the stories of Peter through the gospels and the book of Acts, and you just read all about Peter, I think you'd like him. He was the life of the party. He was gregarious and expressive and emotional, impulsive. He was one of those guys, I think, that when you get around him, you're just ready to fly to the moon with him.

You know that kind of person? Like you talk to him for a while, and he is so certain of where he's going, and he's so confident, so confident of what he's going to be able to do. And you're just like, I'm going to do it with you.

And you're like, I'll fly to the moon with you. And yet he's one of those people that if you're in a real relationship with him, probably within a few weeks, you'll be just as disappointed as you were inspired earlier. You know, that kind of person, just like, Oh, I just, I just love being around this person.

And then a week later, like, I can't believe I have anything to do with this person. He was like that. He was both, he was both full of faith and full of fear, almost at the same time. This is a man who was very, he was very certain of just what he'd be able to do, and then he would be very uncertain. He's the one who said to Jesus, call me to you while Jesus was walking on the water. And he took some steps. He walked on the water for just a little bit.

And he sank. He's the one who said, I'll never leave you though others may fall away. Never watch Jesus, Jesus. He's like, Peter, you're going to deny me three times before the rooster crows in the morning.

And he did. He's the one who, when they're trying to arrest Jesus, he's going to pull out his sword and chop off somebody's ear. I mean, he is, I'm going to defend you to the very end. And yet when Jesus is crucified, Peter goes into hiding for fear of the Jews.

This is Peter. He is a denier of Jesus and a follower of Jesus. He is a doubter and also a believer.

He's a brother and a friend. And yet he also is a betrayer. He is all these things, emotional, impulsive, capricious, lovable, frustrating, Peter. And you could say all those things about Peter. And if you were to think of all the words that might describe Peter, I mean, any of those words that you might, you might describe him as likable. You might describe him as frustrating. You might describe him as inspiring. You might describe him as unstable, unreliable.

You could use any of those words. But if you were to come up with the last word that you probably would ever apply to Peter's life, just reading the stories, it would probably be the word rock, something that is steady, something that is solid, something that does not move, something you can really build on. That's not how you would describe Peter's life. And yet when they came to Caesarea Philippi and Jesus was asking them, who do you say that I am? And Peter in Matthew 16 makes a confession of who Christ really is. Jesus calls him Peter, the rock. It's Matthew chapter 16.

It is one of the most powerful blessings spoken anywhere in the scripture. And it is a blessing that I speak over your life this year because I believe that it is Peter representing all of the believers in Christ. Peter was a leader for the disciples. And when he spoke, he was really speaking for all of them, but he was the one who spoke first.

And so there's something, there's a word here for all of us. It's Matthew chapter 16 and it's verse 13, Matthew 16, verse 13. Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And he said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you're the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you Simon Barjona for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter.

And on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Jesus was just excited when Peter saw this because what he realized is that Peter was seeing what only the spirit can perceive. Blessed are you Simon Barjona for this is not something that has been revealed to you by flesh and blood. This is something that has come by the Father's revelation. This is spiritual insight. One of the greatest blessings imaginable in this world is very simply to be able to hear from God, to be able to have spiritual revelation instead of simply natural insights.

There's not a thing in the world wrong with natural insights and thank God for our intellect and the things that we can figure out and things that we can see with our natural mind. But the New Testament clearly teaches that when you're a Christian you are born anew. There's a way in which your spirit is made alive again and there's some part of you that had been shut off from God that now is alive to God and deep calls to deep. And you spiritually can commune with God and there are things that you can understand from God that you could not understand with your mind. This explains why Paul often says things like I pray that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened so that you would know what is the hope of your calling. That you would know what your glorious inheritance in the same that you would be able to perceive the power of God in your life. That he prays at one place I pray that you would be able to know the unknowable. That's exactly what he says. How long, how wide, how deep, how high is the love of God.

Why? Because love is not something that you merely intellectualize is it? It's something that you experience. It is a heart experience. And this is what Jesus is excited about. He's like Peter, oh I'm so excited about you. I almost could just see Jesus looking up to heaven like oh so this is how you're going to do it father. You're going to start showing them things by the spirit like this and it was a little prelude of what would come when the spirit had come in fullness at Pentecost.

It is a wonderful thing if you begin to have spiritual revelations in your life. We went to the new Star Wars movie and no spoiler here but no big surprise like so many many movies it revolves around getting the map. The pieces of the map and fitting it together. The map you know it's like so many it's like it's like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

They always have a treasure map right who gets the map because the map is going to be able to show you where the treasure is. And this is one of the big themes of literature in one way or another is finding out what you didn't know about because if you can the treasure's there the idea is the treasure's there but you just can't see it yet. And this is this is what this is what Jesus is excited about for Peter. He's like this is treasure that my father is showing you flesh and blood did not reveal this to you and because of this he's very excited that there's a blessing that's being poured out in Peter's life.

Alan Wright today's teaching from shifting sand to solid rock. Stay with us Alan we'll be back here in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word in this series The Life of Peter. Ever feel like the pressure is always on?

Do you find it hard to say no worried that you'll disappoint someone? The Bible tells us only one thing about Adam and Eve's relationship in paradise. They were naked and felt no shame but as soon as sin entered the world they became anxious, plagued with a gnawing question.

What must I do to be accepted? There is only one solution the grace of God that lifts our shame. In a new six-week video masterclass Pastor Alan exposes the dynamics of shame and shows the path to freedom. Whether as an individual or in a small group the video series is sure to bring healing and hope. When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month we'll send you the digital masterclass videos and study guides as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. In a world so quick to say shame on you it's time to let God's grace take the shame off you. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries.

Call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastoralan.org. Alan it's just like the message title of today's teaching says from shifting sand to solid rock we saw that transformation in Peter. There is some assurance in knowing our identity in Christ now.

Peter is a is a guy who is one of those guys I just think you'd like him you know if you met him and yet you'd be so frustrated with him and so he's so real and I think we just find so many points of connection and when we see how his life is transformed by Jesus giving him his true identity it points us to how our lives could be transformed if we really know who we are in Christ. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastoralan.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 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 pastoralan.org that's pastoralan.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.