From Trusting in Your Promises to Trusting in God's Promises [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. There is no power in your oath. The power of the Gospel is in God's oath to you, because he's the only one who's got integrity. He is the one who when he speaks, his word does not fall to the ground.

Every single promise of his is yes and amen in Christ Jesus. 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. Jesus acknowledges who He is, even though it means certain death. And Peter won't acknowledge who He is even to a servant girl who has no authority.

And it's because Jesus has full, complete integrity. The word integrity comes from the word integer. And you math people know that an integer is a whole number, not a fraction. So a number that's not a fraction is an integer, a whole number. And integer really comes from the idea of being untouched, not broken up, not made into a fraction.

Okay? That's what an integer is. And so what integrity is, is where there is wholeness to a person between word and action. When you have integrity, it means that what you say is what you do. And what you do matches what you say. And the problem is that we have such a hard time actually holding ourselves together in this type of integrity.

Because every single person that's ever lived has not lived a life in which what they did matched everything that they said. But to the extent that you do what you say, you have integrity. To the extent that you don't do what you say, you don't have integrity. You're not an integer.

Something is a fraction. You're only doing a fraction of what you say. And what happens is when you lose integrity, you lose power.

When you lose integrity, you lose power. I like to be on time to places and meetings. I didn't say I am on time.

I said I like to be on time. I used to be much worse at this. I'm much better now. I still have some struggles in this area, but I don't struggle as bad as I used to.

It used to be really bad, and now it's just sort of bad. But the problem is that once you're the leader of something and if you're not there on time, then other people start thinking you won't be on time. I mean, and my friends, my friends are cruel. And I have cruel friends. And so the people, some of the people closest to me, they're cruel. And what they did early on was after a while, they started lying to me about the times of meetings and telling me that the meeting started earlier than it did. And so I couldn't even trust what time the meeting was. And then once I got better about this and I wanted people to show up on time to something and I couldn't get them to show up on time because I maybe had lacked integrity on the matter.

And so this probably is the trickle down effect. While we can't get you to come to church on time and start on time and everything else started from this. But anyway, I won't go into that right now.

But where was I? Oh, yes, integer integrity that once you don't show up on time, you lose power to get other people to be there on time. Something very simple like that. But how much more so on the bigger things of life, right? Right. I'm saying that there is power. If you could find somebody of full integrity, there's going to be amazing power.

All right. And I'm not talking about just getting people to show up on time for a meeting. I'm talking about life stuff. And what would happen if there were a man who came to this earth who had full integrity and everything that he said he did and everything he did matched what he said and no word that he ever spoke ever would fall to the ground empty, but he would complete it. What would happen if you had a person like that? That person would have unbelievable power.

They could say, take up your mat and walk. Jesus is the man of perfect integrity and he is contrasted in this foil with Peter who is the picture of the lack of integrity. And so it accentuates the miserable, egregious nature of Peter's failure. In the first place, Peter's failure is accentuated because his pledge of obedience is so short-lived. It's comical how quickly this happens.

I have decided to follow. It's like singing, don't none go with me. And then walking out the door and denying Jesus. This is what happened to him. He couldn't make it a few hours.

It's so short-lived. And it's accentuated because he does it three times. You know, in the Hebrew culture, the number three is so important because it symbolizes the superlative of something.

So something might be holy, but if it's holy, holy, holy, it means it is the holiest. And so he denies him. He denies him. He denies him. If he just denied him one time, you might say, well, it was a fluke. It was just a glitch in his ordinary character. But no, it was three times. And we realized, no, this runs deep down into the core of who he is.

He is short-lived and he's so, so repetitive. And the ramping up of the denial is accentuated here. What happens is the first denial, he says, verse 70 in Matthew 26, he says, I don't know what you mean. What he's saying here literally is, I'm confused. He said, you were Jesus. He said, well, I don't know what you're talking about really.

I don't understand what this is about. But then the second time that he denies him, verse 72, it says, he denied it with an oath. I don't know the man.

I swear. And then the third time, the third time in verse 74, the text says, he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know the man. And what's disturbing about this is that a lot of scholars suggest that because the Greek verb that's used here is reflexive, it can mean, perhaps, Peter cursed himself, but it could also mean that he's cursing the man he says he doesn't know.

I think that's what he did. Because in order to exonerate himself, to look like there's no way that I had anything to do with Jesus, he does what no student would do of his rabbi. He does what no disciple would do of his Lord. He curses Jesus. To try to prove I didn't have anything to do with him, I'll even curse him. He swears, I don't know the man.

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. In our culture, we have this idea that somehow we are more reliable when we ramp up our oaths with grandeur and attach things to them.

And it's very much the way we become, even as Christians, we think that somehow we're going to get stronger by making our oath more strong. So years ago I thought of a situation with kids, probably boys at their little secret fort in the woods with their secret password or whatever, and imagine that little Billy's talking to little Johnny. And Billy says to Johnny, can you keep a secret? And Johnny says, yes. And Johnny says, yes.

And Billy's not sure that he can trust Johnny's word. So he says, do you promise? And Johnny says, yes, I promise.

But he's not sure if a promise is good enough. So he asked him to do what my mama said, never do. He says, Johnny, do you swear? And so Johnny says, yes, I swear I won't tell anybody. But he's not even sure if Johnny's swearing is good enough. And so he has to ramp that up to do what would never come out of my mouth the way my mama told me, but says to Johnny, Johnny, do you swear to God that you'll not tell anybody?

Johnny, okay, I swear to God. But if he's still not sure that that's going to hold him to his oath, he ramps it up one more time with the famous, Johnny, do you swear to God, cross your heart, hope to die. And now what you've done is you've invoked mortal punishment upon yourself if you should ever break your oath. It's like saying, I'm giving God an invitation to strike me down if I ever break this oath. That's the way that we tend to think in our culture. And it's so silly. And you don't realize how silly this is until you ever go into a courtroom or you're being deposed as a witness like I have been before, and they tell you to put your hand on the Bible.

The Bible that you can't take in the public schools or any other public arena, the Bible that is mocked at every level in our culture until somebody needs you to tell the truth, and they say, will you put your hand on the Bible and swear to God even though we don't believe in God anymore? You've got to do something to ramp up your oath to make sure you tell the truth because we know you're not going to tell the truth unless there's the possibility of mortal divine punishment that comes down on your head. It's just, what are we doing?

What are we doing? We have this idea that somehow there is power in that. Beloved, there is no power in little Johnny and little Billy sitting around talking about swearing to God. There is no power in your oath. The power of the gospel is in God's oath to you because He's the only one who's got integrity. He is the one who when He speaks, His word does not fall to the ground. Every single promise of His is yes and amen in Christ Jesus. I'm just saying, why would we want to build our life on our word to God when our word might fail us within an hour? I want to build my life on the word of God that though the grass withers and the flowers fade, His word will stand forever.

Wow. Change everything. We're praying this morning as we always do before the service and then we started praying and just started praising God and just started thanking Him for His word. Just started thanking Him for how faithful He is. Thank Him for what Jesus did for us. Thank Him for all His promises. Thank You for how true He is.

Thank Him that though we fail, He never does. Great is our faithfulness, O God. You start building your prayer life on that and watch miracles take place because you are linked now to the real power of the gospel.

Wow. If you boast primarily in your love for God, then you either fall into the sin of pride, look at me, though none go with me, I will fall out. Or you fall into rebellion, I said I'd do it, but I can't do it, so I might as well give up altogether. But when you boast in the commitment and love of God toward you, you are changed. You are changed.

Now look at this. This is the Peter who denied Jesus three times and I want to show you what happens in John chapter 21 very quickly. John chapter 21. After Jesus has been raised from the dead, He has appeared to the disciples. He has allowed Thomas to put His finger in His side and hands. And He comes and He appears to seven of the disciples, including Peter.

They have breakfast of fish. He's showing He's real. It's Jesus. And verse 15 of John 21, a very tender scene. When they finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?

Pause. Do you see what Jesus is doing? As soon as Jesus asked the question, do you love me more than these others? What is Peter going to remember the day that he said, I love you more than everybody else.

I'll follow you with others fall away. And Jesus has come back to him and said, do you love me more than these? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know, I love you. But notice what Peter doesn't say. He doesn't say, Lord, I love you more than everybody else.

He doesn't say I'm more committed to you than everybody else. He just says, I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my lambs. Verse 16, He said to him a second time, Simon son of John, do you love me? And he said to them the same thing, the same thing, yes, Lord, you know, I love you. And he said to him, tend my sheep. And then he said it a third time.

There's no mistaking this. Peter denied him three times. And now Jesus is asking him three times. And instead of calling him Peter, the rock, he calls him Simon.

He calls him by the name of his humility. Simon, son of John, do you love me? And Peter was grieved because he said it to him a third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything.

You know, I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. And one of the things that's fascinating about this encounter is it's one of those texts that is really impossible to understand if you don't understand what's happening in the Greek language here. Because we only have a word for love, love, but in the Greek language, there are really three common words. Eros, that refers to romantic love, and philos, that refers to friendship and brotherly love, and agape, which refers to God's supernatural kind of sacrificial covenantal love. Agape is what's described in 1 Corinthians 13, love is patient, love is kind, love is never self-seeking.

This is a love that only comes from God. And he says, Simon, son of John, verse 15, do you have agape for me? Do you agapa owe me? And what Peter says to him is, Lord, I phileo you.

I have philos for you. I can't say it's agape. I can't say that I have the kind of love for you that you have for me. So he asked him a second time. He says, Simon, son of John, do you agapa owe me?

Do you have agape for me? And a second time Peter says, Lord, you know what I really have for you is philos. I don't have the kind of love for you that you have for me. And so the third time Jesus changes his verb, and he says, Simon, son of John, do you phileo me?

Do you have philos for me? Are you saying that you don't have the kind of love for me that I have for you? And Peter says, Lord, you know everything. You know the limits of my love. I have philos.

I phileo you. And Jesus says, tend my sheep. It's the word that's used for shepherding. Remember what Zechariah had said about the shepherd would be struck down? The shepherd is the image of the ruler, of the king, of the leader. And when Peter recognizes that he doesn't have the capacity within himself to love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength the way that Jesus loved him.

And he's able to be forthright about that and said, this is who I actually am. I want to love you more. I have love for you.

But the love I have for you is obviously not the love that you have for me because I denied you and you died for me. And when he understood that reality, Jesus smiled and blessed him and said, be the leader of the sheep. Preach the gospel to the world.

Change the world. You will be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the Peter who has come now not to boast in his commitment to God, but to boast in the commitment of God to him. And you don't see Peter stand up on Pentecost and start preaching a message about, I have decided to follow Jesus.

Though none go with me, I will follow. And I've never denied Jesus and I've surrendered everything. Instead, he stands up and he says, this man Jesus was righteous. He was the son of God and he was crucified and he was dead and buried and he lives for us today.

He's preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified. Everything changed for Peter and it's got to change for us not to live out of a sense that we'll find power and boasting of our commitment to God, but you'll find faith and courage and obedience when you discover in a deeper way the love that God has for you. For this is the gospel, not that we loved God, but that God loved us. And when you realize how much God loves you, you'll find you can't help but love him more. And that is the gospel. Allen Wright and good news for today, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our teaching from trusting in your promises to trusting in God's promises in the life of Peter. Stay with us. Allen is back here in the studio in a moment with additional insight on this for your life. 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 it 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 Allen 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 Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, pastorallen.org.

Allen, when I look and often it simply plays out between maybe young men to old men or young women to older women. And it could just simply be a maturing, a growing, and it seems to be sometimes when we're young, we are so on fire and we're so declarative of this is what I will do, and this is who I am, and this is what I will be. And then as we age, it really becomes a simple thing of there's Jesus and Jesus only all along. Well, it's so noble to want to make great promises to God. But in the end, Daniel, this is what I want listeners to know and take away from this. When we make our vows to be obedient to God and we make them strong, it's not that there's something that's not noble about that, it's just not powerful.

It just doesn't work. Our resolutions are just that. They're resolutions, but they're void of real power to bear fruit. But God's promises to you, God's word to you never returns to Him void. God's word is true and powerful. So the mark of maturing in the Christian life is not that, oh, look how great your promises are to God, but that you have come to greater faith and how awesome His promises are to you. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.