The Only Good Ghost Story [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. His face took on a whole new countenance, and everyone knew it was something that was otherworldly, and they were afraid of Moses. And so Moses would put the veil down when he talked to the people. But then when we would go back and meet with God, he'd lift up the veil. He met with God with an unveiled face, as if to say, Whatever glory you have, I want to take it in.

The people can't handle it, but Moses said, I want to take all I can handle. 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 Higher Power, as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout our entire program today, 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 today's special offer. Contact us at Pastor Alan dot org. That's Pastor Alan dot o r g or call 877-544-4860, 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. Conservation from God is glorious, and he is a consuming fire who is glorious and powerful. The problem of that glory of the old covenant was that though it came with glory, the old covenant itself did not have one shred of power for the people of God to be able to keep it. So the law is good, but the law brings no power to those who seek to keep it. It only points out your inadequacy to be able to keep it.

The law wasn't bad. It came in glory, but no one was able to keep it. Moses pleads with the Lord, lest the Lord annihilate the people so God spares them. And in Exodus 33, after the Lord has said, I'll just send an angel with you to go to the promised land.

I'm not even going to get that close to you anymore. Moses said at Exodus 33 15, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. He said, I don't want the promised land unless I have your presence.

I'd rather be in a wilderness with your presence. And verse 17, the Lord said to Moses, this very thing that you've spoken, I will do for you have found favor in my sight. So why is the Lord going to let Moses behold more of his presence? Because you have found favor in my sight. That word in the New Testament favor is the word Keras, which is the word grace.

It won't be long. It will be reading the familiar story of an angel that comes to a peasant Nazarene woman named Mary who trembles before the angel and that angel says, do not be afraid. Mary, you have found favor with God and that word is grace. You've been graced. So keep that in mind because here is the whisper of God to us saying, you will encounter my glory, but it will not be because you kept up your end of the bargain. It will be my by grace. And Moses says, verse 18, please show me your glory.

When Moses came down and saw the golden calf, he threw down the tablets and broke them. God spared to the people and invited Moses to come back to meet with him again. It's what my wife calls a whisper. I like that God whispering.

Notice this for future reference. When my people break my covenant, I have the capacity to give them a whole new, better covenant. And Moses went back on the mountain and he met with God and he beheld the glory of God. And this is what we read at Exodus 34 29 when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand. Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses and behold, the skin of his face shone. It was brightly shining.

It was radiant. And they were afraid to come near him. They were afraid to listen to Moses because his face was so bright.

So here's what he did. Verse 33, Moses finished speaking with them. He put a veil over his face and whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses. The skin of Moses face was shining and Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with the Lord again. So get this image because Moses had gone into the cloud and come into the presence of this consuming, glorious God. He literally had a physical manifestation happening where his face took on a whole new countenance and everyone knew it was something that was otherworldly and they were afraid of Moses. And so Moses would put the veil down when he talked to the people, but then we would go back and meet with God. He lift up the veil. He met with God with unveiled face as if to say, whatever glory you have, I want to take it in. The people can't handle it, but Moses said, I want to take all I can handle. Now that is all the background to second Corinthians chapter three.

And we needed to see all of that. If you have any understanding of this magnificent text, because Paul is making a comparison, a contract contrast between the glory of the old and the glory of the new second Corinthians three verse three. And you show, speaking to the Corinthian church that you're a letter from Christ delivered by us written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God.

Now you're going to start noticing these contrasts. I underlined them not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, speaking of the 10 commandments that was representative of all the law, but on tablets of human hearts. He speaks of the sufficiency that they have as ministers from God. And it's not about their own righteousness, but he says at verse six, he who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit.

And listen to this remarkable thing he says here. It's just, I mean, it's just mind bending that a former Pharisee would say this, but this is what he says, the letter, which is a synonym for the old covenant for Moses, for the law, the letter kills, but the spirit gives life and comparing the old and the new and even more dramatic terms. He says at verse seven, if the ministry of death, he's speaking of the old covenant carved in letters of stone came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses face because of his glory, which was being brought to an end.

Will not the ministry of the spirit have even more glory? He just piles up the comparison further at verse nine for if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceeded in glory. Even more plainly, he says the glory of the one is so much greater than it completely overtakes it at verse 10. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory, the old covenant has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it.

It's like if you had a lantern in a dark room and you go, well, boy, there's some real light there, but then you take that little lantern out on the brightest noonday sun and hold it up and you can't even see it. So much greater is the glory of the new covenant that it's as if the old covenant that came in all that glory at Mount Sinai has no glory at all. And he says at verse 11, if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Let me, let me just spell this out for you.

The contrast here and put it up for you. The old covenant and the new covenant, the old was with ink, the new with the spirit of the living of God, the living God. So the other was just written down external code, but the new covenant is about the spirit of the living God. The old was on tablets of stone.

The new, the tablets of the human heart is within us. The old was of the letter and the new is of the spirit. The old was the ministry of death. Verse seven versus the ministry of the spirit. Verse eight.

He called the old, the ministry of condemnation and the new, the ministry of righteousness. He said the former, which once had glory became no glory and now has been replaced by the glory that surpassed it all and what was being brought to an end is replaced by what is permanent. The new covenant glory of God is permanent. He doesn't have to do any thing else for you to be able to encounter his glory and be filled with the power of his spirit.

We're not waiting on anything else. Hallelujah. The blood of Jesus is sufficient once and for all and his resurrection power is at work in you. Now we will one day be transported out of here into a glorious new heaven and new earth where we will with unveiled faces behold him directly. But what Paul is saying is that the new covenant has come. Christ has made the promises. Christ has kept the promises and we who are in Christ have become his righteousness. So what this means, brothers and sisters, is that wrap your mind around this. There was a cloud and a fire and an earthquake at Mount Sinai and Moses. Moses alone was allowed because God had shown him favor to come into that cloud and he bravely came into the presence of this consuming glorious God. And God is saying, Paul is saying, you beloved, you who are in Christ are in a far superior position than Moses ever was.

That's hard to wrap your mind around. That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Would you love a better marriage? You don't need more good advice.

You need more good news. Marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles. Marriages are changed by the gospel of grace. In six video sessions, Pastor Alan and his wife Anne lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace. You'll learn a simple grace-filled process that makes great communication easy. You'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration. You'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future.

To help you grow, when you order the video series, we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide. Whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health, you'll find powerful, transformational truth in good news for your marriage. Make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. 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. Because of what God's done for you and Jesus, you're in a whole new covenant. You're in a whole new covenant, which gives you unfettered, uninhibited, unimpeded welcome into the glorious presence of God. What we have, beloved, is what Adam and Eve had, but in a better way. Because Adam and Eve fell into sin, and we who are in Christ will never be removed from his presence, because though we have sinned and continue to sin, we do not stand in his presence by our own merits, but by the merits of our big brother Jesus, and therefore the glory will not be ever removed.

Hallelujah. So Paul says at verse 12, since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses who had put a veil over his face so the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end, but their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

Yes, listen to this. To this day, whenever Moses is read, whenever the law is read, whenever you have an old covenant mentality, that's what that means. If you read your Bible through an old covenant mentality, even a little bit saying, if I will be good, then God will bless me. If you do that, even a little bit, Paul is saying the veil returns, their minds were hardened. Let me read again, verse 14 for to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away.

Yes. To this day, whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. So what he's saying is that God has made you in Christ such that you who are always designed to experience his transcendence, you are welcomed into the presence of God. And when you're in a new covenant, it means that you're in the presence of God by the glories of the gift of Jesus Christ and his shed blood and his righteousness alone.

But there is a terrible temptation. The spirit of religion always seeks to come upon the heart and the mind of the believer to bring up old covenant notions that if you will be a little bit better than God will love you a little more. If you will be a little bit more religious, then God will bless you more that you can't really experience the Holy Spirit. You can't really have the power of God in your life because you're not good enough.

And that's really essentially what hell wants to do to the spirit of religion. And what Paul is saying is if you read your Bible like that, if you think like that, if you listen to a sermon and that's what you hear, if that's the way you think, once you do, it's like the veil comes back. It's not that you don't see God at all.

It's just you're not seeing him in his full glory. You're not experiencing new covenant reality. And so Paul is saying, don't put that veil back over. Why would we ever return to the ministry of death when the ministry of life has come?

Why would we ever go back to the letter of the law when the power of the Holy Spirit has come? Oh, hallelujah. It's, it's a little like, like the other, the other day, wife and I were, we were driving to Greensboro just to, well, we're going to the cheesecake factory.

All right. So I said, and I looked in the, in the, in the, in the distance behind me and I saw a police car lights began to flash. And you know what you feel when you see the lights flash?

What do you, what's the first thing you do? You look, you slow down. I don't care if you're already going five miles under the speed limit, you slow down just in case I was doing something wrong. It's a wonder we'd all get arrested for driving too slow. The police car lights flashing back there.

And the first thought was, I'm not, you know, I'm, my first thought is, is it me? You know, and I've checked my speed. And then he was kind of moving slow behind.

And then he got behind another car. I said, Oh, good. It's not me.

It's him, you know, and that's some Christian love. And then and then that car pulled over and he kept coming and I was like, Oh no, it's me. And and, and my wife and I, you know, we'd been having a nice conversation. Now the conversation stopped. Now we're just looking, waiting to see where, you know, who's the one going to get punished here?

You know what I'm talking about? And then he calls up in front of all of us and he does a zigzag, zigzag, zigzag, like this in front of all the cars. Now we're all slowing down. And then he stops on Wendover Avenue and blocks both, both lanes of traffic.

And we have to exit off on West Market Street. And I was like, what is going, what is going on here? And later, earlier that night, my wife was looking at the news and there had been a shooting incident in that block.

And so they were, they were, they were blocking off the street. But in the same way, as soon as you, as soon as you begin to see the blue lights flashing, as soon as you think maybe I've done something wrong and I'm in trouble, everything inside of you freezes up. Your conversation stops.

You can, you, you, your relationship changes. And that's, that's, that's what he's saying. God wants you to know that you can relate to him and experience him with an unimpeded, unveiled face. Verse 16, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord, he's speaking of Jesus Christ, is the Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus.

It's a triune God. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. You're not worried about blue lights flashing. You're not worried about whether you did it right. You're just thinking of God. You're just thinking of his love. You're just thinking of his goodness. You're not thinking of yourself anymore because you're out of the equation.

Oh, if you could get yourself out of the equation, get yourself out of it. It's not your righteousness anymore. It's Jesus' righteousness.

If Jesus is righteous, then you're in right standing before God when you trust in him. And he says the, therefore we, verse 18, with unveiled face are beholding the glory of God. And that is changing us. We are made this way. So somewhere today, somebody's telling ghost stories and somebody's doing something scary at their house and there are movies that are playing and you're wondering why do we want to watch something that we actually want to hide from?

It's because beloved, the human soul craves to experience the power and wonder and glory of God. But in the end, there's only one good ghost story and it's the story of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And that's the gospel. Alan Wright, our good news message today. I like this title, The Only Good Ghost Story.

It's from the series we're in, Higher Power. And Pastor Alan is back in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Would you love a better marriage? You don't need more good advice.

You need more good news. Marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles. Marriages are changed by the gospel of grace. In six video sessions, Pastor Alan and his wife and lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace. You'll learn a simple grace-filled process that makes great communication easy. You'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration. You'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future.

To help you grow, when you order the video series, we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide. Whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health, you'll find powerful transformational truth in good news for your marriage. Make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. 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. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's daily blessing.

It's free and just a click away at pastoralan.org. Back now with Pastor Alan in the studio with our closing thought for the day. You know, growing up, kids sometimes have a silly way of thinking of things. I grew up in the church and I thought maybe the well-to-do Christians referred to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit and the Christians that had dirt under their fingernails referred to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost. I said, you know, I think I like the Holy Ghost.

That has a nice ring to it. Well, I think that on the one hand, when I speak about the Holy Spirit, I like to remind people that he is the Spirit of Jesus. Paul calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Jesus.

He is personal. He is holy. He is God.

And so the Holy Spirit is not an it and he's not a ghost like an ethereal kind of vapor or something like that. But as we've been learning today, our new covenant, this covenant of grace rather than law, this new covenant has a glory that has come to us that Moses pleaded for. May I encounter your glory, may I experience your presence, a glory that the prophets spoke of and the angels have longed to look into. And now it's ours.

It's ours in Jesus Christ. And so what this means is that every Christian, this is what the invitation is to you. You have been given such glorious justification through Christ and His shed blood alone that all your sin is forgiven. And you've been declared to be the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ so that there needs to be no veil between you and God. And you get to experience God that powerfully and that up close. The Creator of the cosmos who dwells in and with the believer, that is the presence of the Holy Spirit. And that really is the only good ghost story. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.