From Self-Agenda to Divine-Agenda [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. If Jesus hadn't gone, he wouldn't have died. And if he hadn't died, there would have been no resurrection.

And if there's no resurrection, then you and I would never share in a resurrection. 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. If you were to make the drawbridge metaphor true, then you'd have to alter the story so dramatically that it would become unimaginable. The father would have had to tell the son to go and play amongst the gears and tell him what was going to happen, that soon he was going to lower them and crush them so that many people would be saved. And the reason that we can't imagine such a scenario and the reason that we have such a hard time really believing the gospel is that we have a hard time ever seeing how wide, how deep, how long, how high is the love of God. The reason that it was necessary that Jesus go is not just because it was written and God could not be made out to be a liar but because the love of God constrained Jesus and his love for Peter was the thing that made him say no to Peter.

His love for you is the very reason that he went to Jerusalem. And what it means therefore is that Jesus was saying to Peter, for me to save you there is an inevitability, a necessity of my suffering. And in many ways, if you could ever rightly understand this and there is so much misunderstanding about suffering and so many people that blame God for things that God's not doing that the devil's doing, but if you could understand that there is a place of suffering that you would understand the words of Jesus that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains alone but if it dies it bears much fruit. There's something about the mystery of life that there is in the letting go of what you're not supposed to hold on to. The dying of the seed is the birth of the tree. That there's a way in which the greatest blessings in life come when we, just as Scott Peck said, instead of trying to avoid the difficulty of it, we go right through it and we just let go of what we can't hold on to and therein is where we discover life. In just a few verses if we had time to go on Jesus would say whoever wants to hold on to his life will lose it but whoever loses it will find it.

It's a paradox. It's a mystery and it is the way of life because there will be a time that will come in which you will be nearing the end and there is your body. Everything within it is trying to breathe because it wants to hold on to this mortal frame but then eventually you will let go and when you do you will go into a glory that you could have never conceived and as you see Jesus face to face and as you experience what it is to have a new spiritual body and life everlasting and everything that you ever longed for you will realize that you would have been much quicker to let go had you known it was going to be so wonderful. There's something within us that wants to hold on but there's a process of life of letting go and Jesus had to go to Jerusalem and he had to let go. He had to be put on a cross. He had to be put in a tomb so that he would be raised from the dead. It's a stumbling block to the Jews. The Jewish encyclopedia quotes Psalm 22 in debunking the notion of a crucified God.

This is a Jewish encyclopedia quoting my God my God why have you forsaken me and this is the words that's in the Jewish encyclopedia. This final utterance was in all its implications itself a disprove of the exaggerated claims made for Jesus after his death by his disciples. No real Messiah could suffer such a death. It is an impossible article of belief which detracts from God's sovereignty and absolute otherness that would sum up what was going on in Peter's Jewish mind. He had been taught from his childhood of the son that would come. He would have known of Psalm 2.

I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me you are my son and today I've begotten you ask of me and I'll make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession and you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. There was forecast that there would be a son who would come and he would reign and Peter knew that this son would be the son of David and just as David had secured the borders of Israel and defeated their enemies and established his throne so it would be for the son that would come. So how could it be Peter's thinking in his mind that I've just confessed that Jesus is the son. He's the son of the living God. He is the fulfillment of Psalm 2. How could it be then that Jesus right after this turns around and tells me that he's going to go and he's going to suffer and die.

It cannot be Peter is saying. It's a ridiculous thought that a sovereign God who is utterly free and utterly powerful and destined to rule all things would go and suffer and die. It's a stumbling block to the Jews the Bible says. It's a stumbling block.

It's understandable. But see there's another image in the Old Testament of this one who would be anointed to come the Messiah and that's the suffering servant. Isaiah 42 behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen in whom my soul delights I've put my spirit upon him it'll bring forth justice to the nations he'll not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street a bruise read he'll not break a flickering flame he'll not snuff out. It's like in Isaiah 53 that speaks of one who will suffer in our place one who had no beauty that we should look upon him he was esteemed not. So there are these two images all the way through the old covenant one prophesying the son the king king who will reign in glory and the other is a suffering servant. And what people had not understood is it was one in the same person Jesus Christ. Tim Keller has made the brilliant observation that Psalm 2 you are my son that tells of the king and Psalm and Isaiah 42 this is my servant whom I in whom my soul delights those two phrases this is the son and in whom my soul delights those two phrases are what are joined together at Jesus's baptism and the father says this is my son this is the son in whom my soul delights and whom I'm well pleased it's the exact words that are used in Isaiah 42 of the suffering servant he puts them together but Peter hadn't seen it together and so it is that Peter tempts Jesus with the greatest temptation that Jesus would ever face in order to understand this scene you have to go back and think about the original temptation scene of Jesus I invite you to turn back with me Matthew chapter 4 because it is seeing what happens in Matthew 4 that explains what happens in Matthew 16 after his baptism and the father has said this is my son Psalm 2 in whom my soul delights in whom I'm well pleased Isaiah 42 puts together the son and the suffering servant and this one son of God Jesus Christ then after his baptism he's led by the spirit out into the desert and he's he's on a 40-day fast so he's he's he's hungry and he's exhausted and he's hungry and exhausted the tempter came verse 3 Matthew 4 the tempter came and said to him if you are the son of God command these stones to become loaves of bread but he answered it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you are the son of God throw yourself down for it is written he will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone the devil quoting Psalm 91 to Jesus to tempt him and Jesus said to him again it is written you shall not put the Lord your God to the test again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed them all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to him all these I would give you if you'll fall down and worship me then Jesus said to him be gone Satan for it is written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve and then the devil left him and Luke's account adds here he left him until an opportune time and this moment in which Peter says no it shall never be Jesus this is an opportune time the moment that Jesus has been just so proud of Peter he just so thankful that he's seeing it happen that the Holy Spirit is revealing to his beloved disciple Peter this friend this this unstable uncertain man he sees in the spirit that Jesus is the son of the living God and so what a moment of elation for Jesus then only to share his destiny and what was essential for the salvation of the world to hear Peter say the exact kind of thing that the devil was saying to him at the beginning of Jesus's ministry. Phil Yancey deals with this brilliantly in his marvelous book The Jesus I Never Knew and everyone should read the chapter about the showdown in the desert and what is really happening in this wilderness because what he says is absolutely on target what is it that the devil is tempting Jesus toward. That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. 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 master class Pastor Alan exposes that 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 master class 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 pastorallen.org today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan Wright here once again is Alan Wright he's tempting him to be God but not be human to not be suffering the kind of hunger that ordinary humans do you can just turn stone into bread to not obey laws of gravity just throw yourself off of the temple don't experience what it is to be human and to not take a cross in order to get your crown I give it to you right now if you'll just bow down to me you see the great temptation for Jesus at every turn was going to be in one way or another a shortcut to glory and if he took a shortcut to glory if he were to come down from the cross as he was tempted to do as he were to call upon a legion of angels to come and slaughter those who were crucifying him and not die then his whole mission would have been aborted and you and I would still be in our sin and so what happens in Luke chapter 16 is that Peter is saying no it may never be it's a double negative in the Greek he's saying you can never do this no way will you be able to do this no way will this happen to you you're the messiah and so it's so ironic that here is Peter speaking out of love for Jesus and out of regard for the position of the Son of God is the King of all and he is saying to him may it never be because he is well intentioned and yet in his well intentioned plea to Jesus Peter has never been more aligned with the conspiracy of hell without realizing it and what Jesus says to him be gone Satan and what he says right in this moment is the exact language that Jesus speaks in Matthew chapter 4 when he says be gone Satan it is one strong Greek where a cup ago satana is the exact thing he says in Matthew 4 here's what happens is that Jesus wasn't really so tempted by some of the things that tempt ordinary men he was the writer of Hebrews said tempted in every way that we were and so it was that he experienced all that is real to be in a human being but he wasn't you don't see him being lured by prostitutes or the desire to become a thief or a tendency to become a liar the greatest point of attack against Jesus was to get him to be so much identified with his godness that he refused to be human and not go to the cross and so it was that the thing that made Jesus most upset and the strongest rebuke that would be stronger even the rebukes that he had for the Pharisees that this rebuke would come while he's looking at Peter is it while Peter is saying you must not suffer you must not go to the cross you must not die that when he hears that Jesus is essentially saying I recognize that voice that's the same voice that spoke to me after my 40-day fast in the wilderness and so what he did was he said the same thing that he said in Matthew chapter 4 who pago satana be gone Satan this is what I care about most and you've touched upon them the greatest temptation of my life it's the thing that's gonna make him sweat blood and get simony it's the thing that's gonna it's gonna gonna cause him the greatest anguish on the cross as they taunted him and said look he saved others he can't save himself when all the while he knew that he could easily turn stones to bread he could easily jump off a temple it could easily taken over all of the world without going to a cross but had he not gone to that cross had he listened to Peter that day he would never have known what it's like to be human and so the author of Hebrews would never have been able to say he's been tempted like us in every day and every way and I would never be able to say what I can definitely say to you today and that is Jesus understands you I'm just so thankful he said no to Peter because this is the way he was going to understand Peter and understand you and me he was human he was God he was human I'm so glad he said no to Peter because if he had said yes to Peter then Jesus might have rained and he might have been able to show his power and his glory he could have easily thwarted the Roman authorities he could have easily upended all of the Jewish aristocracy but had he not gone to Jerusalem there would be no payment for your sin or mine everybody that you'll ever meet no matter what they say is their world view or their philosophy or ideology everybody wants a just world and if you ever want to try to help somebody understand why Jesus had to go to Jerusalem you have to start at this point there's right and wrong and if someone says they don't believe in right and wrong and they don't believe that there needs to be a just God or a just world then just steal something of theirs and you'll find out everybody wants a just world right and so how could it be that if there is a just world and good is rewarded and sin is punished how could it be that any of us would ever be saved because none of us are good all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God Jesus went to Jerusalem because there's a just God and God's not a liar and he said that sin would be punished no one had envisioned what he would do though that he would punish the righteous one who would stand in our place sin had to be paid for so Jesus said be gone Satan and had he listened to Peter there'd be no justice in releasing blessing and spiritual inheritance to you or me because what God always had intended from the time he walked to fellowship with Adam and Eve and the cool of the day in the Garden of Eden was to give us the uninterrupted delight of his immediate presence and for us to enjoy all the goodness of his creation and to experience eternity with him he has an inheritance that he's always wanted to give but God could not be just and reward that which was bad any more than he could give that which is is bad to that which was good and so he brought about a great exchange and he became both just and justifier through the cross of Jesus wherein Jesus paid for our sin but here and this is the part I still struggle to believe but my soul must cling to it is that I have not only been forgiven you have not only been set free from your sin and have it cast as far as the east is from the west but when you accept Christ he reckons you as if you had been righteous he treats you as if you'd lived Jesus's meritorious life so God therefore is just in blessing you must understand this first John says if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us it's not just God's mercy that's at work but believe it or not as much as it beggars our belief now in Christ justice is on our side it is as if because we have been seated with Christ and washed by the blood of Jesus it's as if we deserve all these blessings we know that we don't but we have them and it is our inheritance and we must live in them and accept it that this is who we are in Christ the ones who've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ and we're gonna live with him forevermore and in a new heaven and a new earth we're gonna reign with Jesus forever and forever that's amazing I'm glad Jesus got mad at Peter and said no because he wanted to reign with Peter as his brother forever if Jesus hadn't gone he wouldn't have died and if he hadn't died there would have been no resurrection and if there's no resurrection then you and I would never share in the resurrection and if he had not gone if he had said yes to Peter all the promises and prophecies of God would have been rendered invalid and God would have been made to be a liar and the word of power that holds the whole cosmos together would have caused its disintegration because we are held together because God is truth all of this and so much more was at stake that Jesus said I recognize that voice that's the voice that spoke to me in the desert and the thing that made Jesus most mad was directly related to the central passion of his life and that was to save Peter I got to say no to you Peter I got to rebuke the enemy because this is tempting but I must go to Jerusalem because I love you so much you have to speak most strongly against that which tempts you most greatly and Jesus did that you're not Simon he said you're Peter a rock and I build my church on this rock but the moment that the rock started aligning himself with the mentality of hell Jesus said no I love you too much I'm gonna die for you so that together we will live in glory and that is gospel Alan Wright the conclusion of today's teaching from self agenda to divine agenda it's in the series we're in the middle of this series life of Peter hey stick with us Alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word 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 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 master class 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 master class 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 eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty that's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty or come to our website pastor alan.org Alan as you conclude every message with that's the gospel the good news and there really is a washing of our soul when we hear a message like this today what God has declared holy and righteous which is our life now through him boy that gives me hope and inspiration and a motivation like none other it is just so so powerful and I when you watch how Peter can be so misguided and then how he can be so transformed that even when Jesus has to absolutely distance himself from what Peter's saying that Jesus loves him intensely and so I just want to say to every every listener when you feel like that you have really missed it you just need to understand that Jesus is utterly for you yeah and you are on a pathway a journey like Peter's of transformation today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.