From Distraction to Hope [Part 2]

What if all the distractions and all the things that you thought were necessary for your peace, joy, and life abundant, if all of that could grow quiet and be Jesus only? We're excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, Life of Peter, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina.

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. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what was commanded, the people would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining, and Moses put the veil over his face. So Moses has this temporary glowing, this resplendent type of glow on him after being in the glory of God.

You notice all those similarities. Elijah also is an Old Testament figure who was known for the time he went up on the mountain. If you want to look, this is in 1 Kings, it's chapter 18. And this is the famous story of Elijah going to defeat 450 prophets of the pagan deity Ba'al.

Now this primary Ba'al deity of the pagans had been a real source of competition for the attention of the Israelites. And Elijah challenges them essentially to a showdown on the mountain. And he says, we'll each erect an altar and put a sacrifice on it, and we'll call upon our God to come down and consume the altar and fire. And whoever God comes and consumes the sacrifice and fire, we'll say is the true God.

And they say, yes, that's a great contest. And so they go up top of the mountain. And what we read about in 1 Kings chapter 18 is that the prophets of Ba'al call upon him, call upon him, Ba'al, Ba'al, Ba'al. And nothing happens.

Nothing happens. And at noon, verse 27, Elijah mocked them. I don't recommend this necessarily, but he did. And he said, cry aloud, for he is a God. Either he's musing or he's relieving himself or he's on a journey. Or perhaps he's asleep and must be awakened. Call upon him. Call upon him. Maybe he's going to the bathroom or maybe he's just asleep.

But if you call louder, I'm sure you'll wake him up. And what's interesting is that the prophets of Ba'al did just that. They called louder and louder, Ba'al, Ba'al. And then they started lacerating themselves. And they thought that somehow they were going to get in the mood.

Nothing happened. And so then it becomes Elijah's turn in this incredible scene. He tells them not only to set up the altar, but then he says at verse 33, put the wood in order, cut the bowl in pieces and lay it on the wood. And he said, fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And they poured it on there. And he does this a second time and he does it a third time so that the altar is just saturated with water.

So that they know that there's not going to be like an accidental spark that lights up some dry wood. This is a wet, soaked altar. It's got to be supernatural if anything happens. And here we come at verse 36. At the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant.

And then I've done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord. Answer me that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God and that you've turned their hearts back. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, The Lord, He is God.

The Lord, He is God. And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape. And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook of Kishon and slaughtered them there. Elijah was a mighty man of God, a prophet of God, through whom the fire of God came down. And it wasn't the only place where the fire of God came down upon Elijah's call. In fact, in Second Kings Chapter one, there was a king who sent to Elijah a captain of 50 men with his 50. And he went up to Elijah. This is Second Kings one nine, went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of the hill and said to him, O man of God, the king says, Come down. But Elijah answered the captain of 50. If I'm a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50.

And then the fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50. Elijah was a man who knew how to call the fire down on somebody. So Elijah and Moses. Moses represents the law. In fact, sometimes people would just say, you know, you've read Moses.

But what they mean is you, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Moses, his name means the law. He's a symbol of the law. In the same way, Elijah became a symbol of the fiery prophet of God, of the ones who not only call the fire down and miracles will be wrought to them, but could cause people's heart to be awakened with faith or repentance as he spoke forth the word of God. So Elijah is the prophets and Moses. And it was an oft repeated phrase, the law and the prophets. And so what was symbolized there was the law and the prophets, Moses and Elijah.

And all three of these had had mountaintop experiences associated with fire, associated with trembling and fear amongst the people. Moses had a shining face. Elijah and Moses both used for miracles.

And here's where it becomes really important. Moses and Elijah were instruments of the judgment of God against evil. Moses was used by God to bring judgment against Egypt and Pharaoh, who had enslaved the people of God mercilessly for hundreds of years. And Elijah was the instrument of judgment against the people who were worshipping Baal and had devoted their lives to idolatry and had turned away from the living God. And so both of them were used by God for his fiery judgment. And also in all three of these scenes there is like smoke or a cloud and God speaking.

So you see the similarities. And it's immediately Peter, James and John see this from the time they were Jewish boys. They knew law and the prophets.

They knew vessels of judgment against evil and the mighty workers of miracles. They saw all of this, but there's such distinctions here because Jesus is the one who's transfigured. He is in resplendent light and Moses and Elijah are not.

They're just seen talking to him. And unlike Moses whose face could be veiled, Jesus in this scene is not only in his face as bright as the sun, but so are his clothes. There is no stopping the force of the light of glory. It is different altogether than Moses because Moses's was a reflected glory. But Jesus's was a radiating glory that came from within. And then this interesting, interesting word from the father says, This is my son in whom I'm well pleased.

Which you remember is the very phrase that God spoke at Jesus's baptism when Jesus was baptized. This is my son in whom I'm well pleased. We've seen in a previous episode of the life of Peter that that phrase, My son in whom I'm well pleased, draws upon both Psalm 2 which speaks of the messianic king, my son, but also the phrase, In whom my soul delights, in whom I'm well pleased, comes from the prophet Isaiah that speaks of the suffering servant. So he puts together the kingship and the suffering servant. This is my son in whom I'm well pleased. But here at the transfiguration, the father also says, Listen to him.

This is something I've thought about all week. I've been praying about it all week. What is it? I mean, of course we're supposed to listen to Jesus. Does he need to go up on a mountaintop to be transfigured for God to tell the disciples, listen to tell these three men, listen to Jesus?

What is it? And then one morning I heard the words differently in my mind. I said, Listen to him. This is the way I heard the father saying it.

This is my son in whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him. Not Moses, not Elijah, not the many other distractions or voices in your life. Listen to him.

Don't listen to the law. Don't listen to the prophets. Listen to the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. To listen carries biblically the idea to obey.

And it carries more than that. The idea, build your whole life upon what you're hearing. See, to listen, to listen means not just that you hear it with your ears, but it becomes a part of you. If you tell a child to go and clean up his room, and you say, Do you hear me? He says, Yes, but then you come in the later room.

It's not been cleaned. You say, But you didn't listen to me. So listening is not just a matter of hearing. It is about how do you organize your life? What do you build your life on? What is it that is the foundation of your life?

What is it that you are heating by? What is it that's shaping you? What is it that is moving you?

What is it that's causing you to act? Listen to him. Listen to the savior of the world. Listen to the one who came to fulfill the law of Moses, and the one who came to fulfill all the prophets and all of their prophecies and all of the promises, because all of the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ.

And we are so drawn to want to build our lives on little snippets of the law, so designed to steer us toward Christ, but never to empower us to overcome our sin. We're so drawn to give me a list of things to do. Just tell me what to do. Give me my little instructions.

I'll try to do it. And God has come in the person of Jesus Christ to give us a new covenant of grace where he has fulfilled the law. And we're so prone to look at the prophecies and to speak of the coming of the kingdom.

And just like they were, Peter and James and John were like, Well, that's some time in the future. And Jesus said, No, the kingdom is at hand. And these things that the prophets have spoken of, the suffering servant, the glorious king, the atonement for sin, the washing of your sin as white as snow, all of this has come to pass. So when Jesus is on the cross and he said, It is finished, he is saying that finally a human being has come who's kept the law. A human being has come who has fulfilled the prophets. Everything that has been pointing to Jesus has been fulfilled, he's saying.

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.

When the world's 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. Do not think I've come to abolish the law or the prophets, Matthew 5.17 in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

To fill them full, complete them. Jesus fulfills the law not by saying that what you do doesn't matter, but by keeping the law that you could never keep. His life filled the law full.

It also means he completed it on your behalf. Spurgeon put it this way. This is not what Paul understands by the glory of law. The glory of the law. He makes the glory of that which was abolished to be abolished the glory of the ceremonial law to lie in its end. The end of the law for righteousness is Christ. The law is given to point us to Christ, to drive us to Christ, to be our schoolmaster, to whip us to Christ, to convince us of our need of Christ and to shut us out from every other hope, but that which begins and ends with Christ. The glory of the law is Christ. There was a law of the Sabbath.

It's a good thing to take a day off. Meticulously the Pharisees trying to keep the law of the Sabbath and write up all these extra instructions about what you could do and you couldn't do. Jesus came, he said, this is crazy. He said, the Sabbath was made for men, not men for the Sabbath.

This is supposed to be a gift to you. And then the writer of Hebrews says, there now is a Sabbath that remains for us who are in Christ. And what was always pointing to was pointing to Christ himself because what was pointing to is you don't have to work for your salvation. You don't have to work for your peace. You don't have to work for your joy.

You don't have to work for life everlasting. You can rest in the thought that Jesus has died for you. You can be filled with the Holy Spirit right now where you are, not because of any contribution of your own. You can just be still and know that he is God.

You can rest in the glorious victory of God. Christ is our Sabbath. There was a Passover. You're supposed to slaughter a lamb. You're supposed to eat his flesh. You're supposed to eat bitter herbs.

You're supposed to keep it in the spring of the year. But Jesus came and the Bible said he is our Passover lamb. We don't need any other sacrifices and we don't need an altar because Jesus himself is the lamb of God and he has sprinkled his blood in the heavenlies, figuratively, metaphorically, once and for all, and never again, neither be a sacrifice. He's my Sabbath. He's my Passover lamb. He has kept all the commandments for me.

If I'm in Christ, then I am in the righteousness that I could never keep by my own efforts. Glory to God. And the prophets all pointed to Jesus. Jesus is still to come.

There are prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled, but even those are all fulfilled in the person of Christ. So here's what happens is that Peter and James and John are sitting there and Peter doesn't know. Peter, bless his heart.

You got to love the man, but he's just seen the glory of God. And he said, it's good that we're here. We'll build three shrines for you. That's a whole different message, but man, we are so drawn to make something religious, some artifact, some ceremony, some... We will make a little tabernacle for you.

It turns out you're really awesome. So here's what we got to do. How about not do anything, but just be still and know that I'm God.

How about just receive my glory? How about just be filled with faith? They fell down on their faces in worship and then Jesus came and he touched them. I just want you to imagine that moment.

They are trembling on their faces and all of a sudden, hey, here I am up close. I'm real. You didn't see an apparition. It was not merely a vision.

It is really I. He touched them. Just like he would after the resurrection. Here, touch, feel. Put your hand in my side, in my hands.

Feel the wounds. It is I. He's real, I tell you. They looked up and it was Jesus only. I wish I had time to preach. Man, Jesus only.

What if all the distractions and all the things that you thought were necessary for your peace, joy, and life abundant, if all of that could grow quiet, it would be Jesus only. Jesus only. There's an interesting, interesting story in Luke chapter 9 where they go on to a village of the Samaritans and the text says, but the people did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?

They're remembering Elijah. They're like, we're the disciples now. These people aren't accepting Jesus.

We'll tell the fire to come down. And Jesus rebuked them. And then a couple chapters later in Luke 12, Jesus says something very interesting. He says, I came to cast fire on the earth and wood that had already were kindled.

And I have a baptism to be baptized with and how great is my distress until it's accomplished. It's a strange thing because over and over the text also tells us that the son of man came not to condemn, but to save. Jesus says, I came to save. I came to forgive.

I came to love. But then he turned around and says, I came to cast fire on the earth. How could it be both? How could it be both? Either he came to cast fire or he came to love and show mercy.

Which was it? Tim Keller makes the important observation. Jesus had already been baptized with water. So when he said, I have a baptism to be baptized with, what was he talking about? He's talking about his suffering. He was talking about experiencing the cross and what happened on the cross? What happened on the cross was that Jesus experienced the judgment that should have come against you and me. What happened on the cross is that he experienced the wrath of God that you and I should have experienced. The reason that the fire didn't come down on the Samaritans is the same reason that the fire didn't come down on you or on me or anyone who's in Christ. And that is because the fire fell on Jesus.

The reason that Jesus said, I came to save and I came to show mercy and not condemn. But he also said, I came to cast down fire is because he came to show his love by allowing the fire of God to land upon him on the cross. That's how it's true that God is both just and justifier. Moses was an instrument of God's judgment against Egypt.

Elijah, an instrument of God's judgment against Ahab, Jezebel and the prophets of Baal. But Jesus was an instrument of God's judgment against himself on behalf of all humanity. And so therefore the father says, listen to him, the one who died for you. They lifted up their eyes and it was Jesus only because Jesus is all that you need. Jesus is all that God has provided. He is the all sufficient one.

He is all together glorious and he has taken the punishment that you should have taken and died the death that you should have died so that you could be resurrected with him and one day be glorified as he is. And that beloved is the gospel. All right, then I don't know about you, but every now and then I just need to be reminded of the good news. It's part of our mission. It's our teaching today here on sharing the light and today's teaching from distraction to hope. Stick with us. Sal is back in a moment with a final word for today. 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, pledged 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. So Allen, as we've said so often throughout this series on the life of Peter, and we see it yet here again in this teaching where there's a distraction in how often we can have this moment of even spiritual ADD, where we run and look at something else that doesn't matter, but we recenter it, and God is growing us in this through Christ, and we've learned this today. Peter wants to set up a little tent for everybody that was there during the transfiguration. A little tabernacle set up, a little memorial or something.

I mean, to give him credit, he wants to do something. You know, something powerful has been revealed in front of his very eyes, and then this voice that comes from heaven, and then all of a sudden, it's Jesus only, no Moses, no Elijah, no law, no judgment, Jesus. And I just say to our listeners, this is what God is inviting to you today. Whatever you're facing in your life, look to Jesus only. Yeah, yeah, he's all you need, and he really is there. Today's Good News message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.