And Peter [Part 2]

The only thing that separated Peter and Judas is that in his regret he hung himself, but Peter believed the gospel. 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 Allen Wright Ministries. So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you this special offer available today. Contact us at PastorAllen.org. That's PastorAllen.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 Allen Wright. You want to just find a way to deny it even happen. You want to find a way to fluff it up and dress it up and put it back in the pen. You want to do something, anything except for feeling that gnawing regret and the anxiety that accompanies it. It's what shame feels like.

And so, in order to understand the good news of the gospel today, I need you to put yourself in Peter's place and think about how deep his denial was of the Lord and how he felt when the cock crowed. You can become hopeless. You can condemn yourself. You can sabotage yourself. You can try to punish yourself.

Or you can just rebel and say, I don't care. But somewhere deep down, we all have that dirty dead rabbit in our past. And it feels terrible. And part of the problem is not just that maybe you've made some big mistakes in your life. Times where you've made a promise and you didn't keep it. And you look back and you wonder how you'll ever get over, how much you messed up in that marriage or how much you messed up in that parenting moment or how much you messed up at work and what that cost you or whatever it might be, all those regrets that are there.

And even if you don't have something big that's haunting you like that, the problem with us in our sin nature is that we also have this tendency to have a form of regret that just essentially says, I could have always done more. And it leaves us completely discontent. So some of the people that look the most successful in all the world actually have the same seed. Some years ago, I was fascinated to read an interview with Tom Brady, who is a four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, the New England Patriots. In 2010, he signed a $72 million contract extension with the Patriots, at that time making him the highest paid player ever in the NFL. But if he runs short on money, he's all right because he is married to the highest paid supermodel in the world.

And he and his Brazilian supermodel wife and their children have a $20 million mansion in California, a $14 million condo in New York. And in 2005, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Croft interviewed the football superstar and was surprised at Brady's candor about how empty his life actually seemed. Here's what Tom Brady said. He said, Well, I put incredible amounts of pressure on myself. When you feel like you're ultimately responsible for everyone and everything, even though you have no control over it, you still blame yourself if things don't go right. I mean, there's a lot of pressure.

A lot of times I think I get frustrated and introverted, and there are times in which I'm not the person that I want to be. And then he said this, Why do I have three Super Bowl rings, now it's four, and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, Hey, man, this is what it is. I reached my goal, my dream, my life, but me, Brady said, I think God, it's got to be more than this. I mean, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be.

I mean, I've done it, I'm 27, and what else is there for me? And the interviewer Croft said, What's the answer? And Brady said, I wish I knew.

He repeated himself, I wish that I knew. Peter had a bundle of regret for every time he'd sunk down, for every time he'd fallen asleep on the job, and for every time he denied Jesus. And when the angel spoke to these ladies and said, Here's what I want you to go back and tell everyone.

Did you notice something interesting here? Verse 7, But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he's going before you to Galilee. Why did the angel single out Peter? I think, I don't know this, but I think because the angel means messenger, so they're a messenger of God, and I think what happened is that Jesus rose from the dead.

Isn't that just me guessing? And there's an angel there, and as Jesus is leaving, and he knows the women are going to come, he says, Here's exactly what I want you to say. Tell the disciples, and be sure, and tell Peter that I've risen, and I'm looking forward to meeting you in Galilee. And Peter, tell the one who denied me, tell the one who failed me, tell the one who is most full of regret and remorse in his life, and Peter. Let Peter know, I'm looking forward to seeing him in Galilee. Let Peter know he's not disqualified. Let Peter know that I love him still. Let Peter know that when everybody comes to see and meet me in Galilee and we celebrate together, I want him in that party. Tell the disciples, and Peter. One of the things that's so fascinating about what the angel says here is that the message is, Tell Peter, tell them all, and Peter, he's going before you to Galilee, and there you'll see him just as he told you. That the message that Jesus wanted to pass along to the disciples, and especially to Peter, is to remind them of the promise that he had made to them.

Three times in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells them point blank. I'm going to suffer, I'm going to die, I'm going to rise on the third day. I'm going to suffer, I'm going to die, I'm going to rise on the third day.

I'm going to suffer, I'm going to die, I'm going to rise on the third day. Three times he told them. And what he wants to remind them of now is I told you so. I want you to remember my promise to you. And this would have been a perfect moment if Jesus had wanted to shame Peter for him to remind Peter of what Peter had promised to him. I remember how you said you wouldn't ever fall away from me, Peter.

We saw how that didn't last. I remember how you said you were gonna walk on the water. We saw how you sank. I remember how you said you're gonna pray for me, but you couldn't even stay awake. All those things could have been on Jesus's lip, but that was the farthest thing from his mind because what he wanted to emphasize was the promise of Christ to Peter, because there's no power in the promise of Peter to Jesus Christ, but there's all the power in heaven and earth in the word of God that stands forever. So go and tell them, tell them all and tell Peter. And can you imagine what it must've felt like when Peter got the news and somebody told him, oh, and by the way, Peter, he singled you out. He said, be sure and tell Peter. He wanted you especially to know that he's alive, that he loves you, that he's looking forward to seeing you.

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. Now these are the final days this offer is being made available to you this month. 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 here's what I love about Peter. When they met in Galilee, there he was, there was Peter. There's another man, of course, who denied and betrayed Jesus. His name was Judas.

And in his remorse, he hung himself. But Peter got a word that the Lord was ready to meet with him again and have fellowship with him again. And Peter showed up in Galilee. I wonder, I don't know for sure, but I wonder if it was partly because of what happened in Luke 22, for in Luke's gospel describing the betrayal of Jesus, that right after Peter denies Jesus for the third time, and while he was speaking, the rooster crowed, and this is what Luke 22 has to say, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he said to him, before the rooster crows today, you'll deny me three times. They caught eye contact right at the moment that Peter denied him for the third time. And when Peter looked at Jesus, what did he see? I believe what he saw was he saw Jesus who was being unjustly tried and was on his way to be scourged, beaten and crucified. And he looked and he saw in the eyes of Jesus and what he saw was love.

Beloved, it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance. And so it was that Peter got word that the message of the good news of the resurrection was also for him, and he took him up on it and met in Galilee. Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story that has early on a story of a father who is unable to find his wayward son Paco, Paco had been rebellious.

There had been differences between the two of them and they become estranged. And so the father wants to find him, but he's in the huge city of Madrid. So instead of trying to wander the streets of Madrid, the father put an advertisement in the local newspaper, El Liberal, and the advertisement read, Paco, meet me at Hotel Montagna, noon Tuesday, all is forgiven, love Papa.

And at noon on Tuesday, as the story goes, there were police on hand to control the crowd because 800 young men named Paco were there waiting to meet their father. What the gospel is, is an announcement that Jesus died for you and Jesus has been raised for you. And no matter what regrets you have in your life, the invitation is to meet with him and to hear him say, all is forgiven, enjoy my fellowship. And so it was, there was not one shred of righteousness that Peter could present to Jesus, but there was 100% pure righteousness that Jesus could present to Peter.

Not one of Peter's promises to Jesus had held true, but every one of Jesus's promises to Peter was solid forever and forever. And what happens when you get forgiven like that? People often think that, oh, if you just talk about the grace of God and people can just be forgiven like that, and even though they've done terrible things in our life, they can just be forgiven by God. You're just glossing over their sin and you're just making it possible for people to get lazy and so forth and people will just get lazy.

That's not what happens. Because what happens is the more that you know how much you've been forgiven, the more you love. There's a story in the gospels in which a woman who's called a sinful woman comes and she, she comes into a Pharisee's house where Jesus is having dinner and anoints his feet and weeps. And the Pharisees are muttering to themselves and think is that if this man were really a prophet, he'd know what sort of woman this is and who it is that's washing your feet. And Jesus reads their thoughts and he says to this Pharisee named Simon, he said, let me ask you a question. Said, if there's somebody and I'll put it in today's term, if there's somebody that owed a man $5 million and there's somebody else that owed him $50 and both of the men were forgiven their debt by the wealthy man, who would be more grateful? And the Pharisee said, well, of course, the man who owed him $5 million would be far more grateful.

And he said, that's the way it is. Those who have been forgiven much love much. It changes everything when you understand what's been done for you. And so what must Peter have been feeling? He felt hope rising up in his heart. Jesus was alive and instead of condemning him had said a word and include Peter in this good news.

And I'll meet you in Galilee because something changes and gets energized inside you when you know the love of God. It was January 1st, 1929 and it was the Rose Bowl. During that day, it was the only bowl game. Not like today where there's so many bowl games, you don't even know what to call them all. There was one bowl game, the Rose Bowl, and there was no professional football. So all attention was put on the Rose Bowl.

70,000 fans were there. It was the University of California and Cal was playing Georgia Tech and the game was zero zero until there was a fumble and the University of California Star Center, Roy Regals picked up the fumble, took two steps, got bumped and disoriented and started running in the wrong direction. He ran 65 yards towards the wrong end zone. When he got to the one yard line, one of his teammates finally caught up with him and grabbed him and said, no wrong end zone. And Roy turned around just in time to be tackled at the one yard line and a few plays later, the punt they attempted was blocked and then there was a safety and it cost him two points.

And eventually the game was lost, I think, by one point due to wrong way Roy Regals who became famous for this. And the thing that's most interesting about the story though is halftime after he had run 65 yards in the wrong direction in front of 70,000 screaming fans. And normally the coach would give a big pep talk at halftime but instead they said it was just quiet in there for a long time and they sat on the bench. And before the next half all the coach did was he stood up and he said, all right, same team that started start the second half.

And Roy said, he just hung a towel over his head and he just wept. And he said, coach, I can't do it. He said, I've ruined it for the team. I've ruined it for myself.

I just don't know how I could ever get out there and face him. And the coach looked at him, he said, this game has got another half a football. And I said, same team that started start the next half.

And they say that wrong way Roy Regals went out there and played the best half a football he ever played. Played both offensive and defensive center, blocked a punt, was a star that day, was made captain of the football team the next year, because I'll tell you what, if something could happen in your life, which instead of being obsessed with the regrets that you have, you started becoming amazed at the forgiveness that has been given you, what happens is it brings at hope and energy and a life into your very being. And this beloved is the gospel, is that on that first day of the week, as the resurrection power of God raised Jesus up from the dead, and he just left a message with the angel to tell the women, let the disciples and Peter know that I have risen just like I've told them, and I'm going before them to meet them in Galilee. The good news of the gospel is that you get to put your name in there if you want to. You can put your name in there and tell the disciples and Alan, have you done unspeakable things? Have you done unspeakable things?

Put your name in there. Unless you've denied Jesus and cursed his name and swore you never knew him, even as you just about looked him in the eye, you hadn't done something worse than Peter, put your name in there. The only thing that separated Peter and Judas is that in his regret, he hung himself, but Peter believed the gospel and met in Galilee and became filled with the Holy Spirit and preached the sermon at Pentecost, and God used him to change the world.

I guess everybody's got some dirty dead rabbit in their past, you don't have to fluff it up, you don't have to dress it up, you don't have to think about it anymore. When you say yes to the saving work of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven and you are made as white as snow and there is no more place for regret, no more place for shame and self-condemnation because Jesus died and was raised from that grave. You can have fellowship with him forevermore and that's the gospel. Alan Wright, and there's good news today for all of our lives, it's the message of Easter, it's the message of the gospel, and it's in the Life of Peter series today on Sharing the Light. Alan will be back in a moment with additional insight on this and other things that are going on inside on This For Your Life, and a final word. 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. Now these are the final days this offer is being made available to you this month. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, pastoralan.org. Alan, reminding everyone this was a message that was delivered on an Easter Sunday morning. And boy, that becomes the highlight of the year for so many of us because that was the moment where Christ saved us. But on a day like today, to be reminded of that good news and that story again, and to see how Peter's life was woven into this is simply amazing. All of our listeners, at some point, I'm sure you can identify with Peter in some form of his mistake.

I know I can. This man who walked on the water for a little while and sank, this man who thought that he was going to be so faithful to Jesus and yet denied him, broke his vows that he promised God, probably by this time wallowing in his sense of self-condemnation and the isolation that comes with that shame. And how good is God to speak through this angel, go and tell his disciples he's risen, but to add one disciple's name, personalize it and say, and Peter. Tell all of them, and Peter, put your name in there. Tell the disciples the good news is for them and Alan. And I just say, Daniel, just to our listeners, just put your name in there because that's what the message is, that the gospel is for you. No matter what you've been through or what you've done, it's for you. Say yes to Jesus today. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.