Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah.
It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah,
either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all,
would you pray for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like
yourself? The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian,
we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the
Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We
will do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're
a non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't
hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the
types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless.
Father, sometimes, Father, we have to be sort of un-Canadian as we read your Word. Father, we don't
like being un-Canadian, but we confess before you that unless we sort of are un-Canadian, we can't
sometimes really hear what your Word is saying to us. And we thank you, Father, that your Word reveals
us as we really are in the real world, as it reveals your Son, the real Savior, who has come to die for
the real us, each of us. So we ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would come into our hearts gently but
deeply so that your Word might come gently but deeply into our hearts and that you might speak and
rule in the very center of who we are. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.
Amen. Please be seated.
So if, I think this is going to have a sermon title and you will see if you go online later on. I think
the title is going to be Heaven, Demons, and Jesus. Heaven, Demons, and Jesus. It's one story and two parts.
And as I begin this sermon, I'm going to, you might have picked up something in the prayer, those of you
who were, you know, listening to the words rather than just praying your own prayers, which is
perfectly good. I'm about to do something which is very un-Canadian and most Canadians would say is rude.
And so I guess I'm just going to ask that you give me a little bit of grace. And for those of you watching online,
that within the next minute or two, you don't turn it off in anger. And those of you who are here who are maybe
offended by what I'm about to say, that you don't just tune me out, but just give me some grace.
And the reason I'm going to do something which is a little bit un-Canadian, which is, and sort of generally Canadians would view,
is just sort of not right, a bit rude, is because the problem that we have when we come to the Bible
is that we basically think that our own views are better. And it's not necessarily, I mean,
sometimes it's because we've thought very deeply about it, but in many cases, it's just,
these are my views and my views are better. This is my truth and my truth is better. I mean,
your truth is fine, but frankly, I like my truth better. And that sort of can end up being a bit of a
barrier for us to actually hear what the Bible has to say. But the other thing about it is,
as we all know, one of the ways to insult a Canadian is to say that they're thoughtless.
Like, if you say to anybody, you're thoughtless, you never think, you just follow the crowd,
like they'll be offended. It doesn't matter if that's actually what they're like, or if that's
how you are, but we'll be offended. So just in giving me some grace, let's just walk towards
something which we Canadians generally say to each other all the time at funerals. And when we've met
somebody who's just lost a loved one, they've lost their husband or their wife, one of their children
or their best friends, what is it that they say? They've gone to a better place.
They've gone to a better place.
If your loved one, maybe they've had a sister or a very good friend who's died before them,
we'll say they've gone to a better place, and now they're with Sue.
That's who they are. And then we might add that they're looking down on us or that they're with us
or some type of thing like that. But that's a very, very common thing.
You know, Bob has died. He's gone to a better place, and now he's with Sue.
And now he's also with Fred and a couple of other of his buddies.
And then we might make a joke, you know, they're up there having a beer or a good laugh or whatever,
but they've gone to a better place, and then they're usually with some loved one.
Now, it's rude for Canadians to question this, and that's what I'm going to do.
So first of all, so Bob dies, and he goes to a better place,
and he goes to be with Sue and Fred and some of his drinking buddies.
We also know that Bob had two ex-wives, and they've both died.
Are his ex-wives with him?
His ex-wives despised him, and he hated them.
So is Bob with his ex-wives and with Sue?
And would Bob think it was a better place to be stuck forever with his two ex-wives and Sue?
And what about the fact that Bob was really mean to his youngest sister,
like really, really mean, which you don't bring up at the funeral,
but his younger sister's also died, so is he with the younger sister?
And would that be a better place for any of them?
Would the younger sister say, oh, goody, here comes Bob.
I get to spend eternity with Bob in a better place.
So if they're not in a better place, like if that younger sister and the two ex-wives
aren't in a better place, where are you saying that they are?
See why this is a very rude thing to say to Canadians.
Where are those other people?
Where did the two ex-wives go?
Like, are they in hell?
Well, now here some wags might be tempted to say yes,
but that would be very un-Canadian as well.
Are they just in non-existence?
You see, here's the problem.
Our conception, this is a separate thing from just how it is that we think that,
given that, you know, evolution is, naturalistic evolution is true
and all of that type of stuff,
that there could be some type of a spiritual place that,
like, apart from all of that,
here's the thing.
Your better place is made up of people you like and approve of.
The better place is made up of people that you like and approve of.
To which I have to say,
who made you the center of the universe
and the determiner of who goes to heaven and hell?
Who made you the center of the universe
and the determiner of who goes to heaven and hell?
Who made you the center of the universe?
In fact, doesn't that sound narcissistic and arrogant?
Now, I've really offended you, some of you,
because, of course, none of you intend this.
Like, none of you intend this.
You see, in fact,
and here, by the way,
I'm not pointing a finger.
I love the analogy that when you point a finger at somebody,
there's three fingers pointing back at you.
And, you see, what the thing reveals
is a little bit of just about the way we naturally think.
And part of the thing it reveals
is that we just naturally think
in self-centered terms.
It's just natural to us.
It's so natural to us
that we're not often even aware of the fact that...
But, really, like, every person at the funeral
has just said,
I am the center of the universe.
I get to determine who goes to heaven and hell
and non-existence.
That's what they've just said.
But we don't...
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I don't mean that.
But then, well, there's nothing that we mean.
That's the problem.
So, I say that because, you see,
if we look at the text,
which we're going to start reading in about a minute,
if you read the text thinking,
well, that's all very interesting,
that's all very, you know, religious,
but I prefer my way,
I just wanted to say
there's a problem with your way.
And I want to suggest
that actually,
if you start to realize
that there's a problem with your way
and you actually start to hear the Bible,
you realize
that the Bible solves
the deep longings of your heart.
You see, here's the thing.
The good thing about that statement,
they've gone to a better place,
the good thing about that
is despite all philosophy
and all science,
despite all of the bright people
who are in the elites of Canada,
you refuse to believe
that death is the final thing
about a human being.
You refuse to accept it,
that death wins.
That's the good that you're saying.
And the Bible is good news
to that good longing
and that good insight
that you have.
It's very interesting,
but you see,
you don't get it until you,
you see,
I only said this
because the Bible's
going to talk about it.
It's very funny.
I was just,
I was telling somebody,
I think last Sunday,
I just finished,
I don't read that many
Stephen King novels,
but I read a Stephen King novel
just recently,
and you know,
he's such a weird,
like an odd guy,
but in the course of the book,
like the hero of the book,
says this,
the Bible is relentless
in puncturing our self-deceptions.
Doesn't that sound like something
that G.K. Chesterton
or C.S. Lewis would say?
That's Stephen King.
I don't know where it comes from.
The Bible is relentless
in puncturing our self-deception.
So let's look
at what the Bible actually says.
So it begins like this.
If you have your Bibles,
turn in them to Mark 9,
verse 2.
We're beginning the second half
of the Gospel of Mark.
What's just happened before this
has been that Jesus is revealed
for the first time
that he's going to be going to Jerusalem.
He's going to die.
He's going to be captured
by the authorities.
He's going to be put to death
on a cross,
and he's going to rise from the dead.
He's revealed it for the first time.
And the disciples,
especially Peter,
Peter says,
no way, Jose,
that's not going to happen to you.
And Jesus rebukes Peter
and says,
you're thinking like the devil.
You're not thinking
the way you should.
And then Jesus says,
listen,
anybody who wants to follow me
has to pick up their cross
and follow me.
And that's sort of where we go.
And now it's six days after that.
This is how the text goes.
In this ancient biography of Jesus,
it goes like this,
verse 2 of chapter 9,
and after six days,
Jesus took with him
Peter and James and John
and led them up a high mountain
by themselves,
and he was transfigured
before them.
And I'll explain
what that means in a moment.
And his clothes became radiant,
intensely white,
as no one,
and actually the word one there
in the original language
is a technical word
for an expert launderer.
So it's saying that,
and they don't translate it that way,
but that's actually a technical word,
not one,
but expert launderer,
that no expert launderer
on earth could bleach them.
Verse 4,
and there appeared to them,
that is Peter, James, John, and Jesus,
and there appeared to them
Elijah with Moses,
and they were talking with Jesus.
And Peter said to Jesus,
Rabbi, it is good that we are here.
Let us make three tents,
one for you and one for Moses
and one for Elijah.
For Peter did not know what to say,
for he and the other two
were terrified.
And a cloud overshadowed them,
and a voice came out of the cloud,
this is my beloved son,
listen to him.
And suddenly looking around,
they no longer saw anyone with them,
but Jesus only.
So what's happening here a little bit?
Those of you who come to the church
a few times,
you know that I'm always plumbing
the depths of the great tradition
of history,
of the philosophers and literature
of the past.
And so, you know,
out of my deep delving
into that great history,
the best way to understand
the transfiguration
is if you've watched
Chris Pratt's movie,
The Tomorrow War,
which of course is part of that great,
that was a joke,
it really went over flat.
If you've watched the movie,
The Tomorrow War,
this isn't a spoiler
because it happens
about six minutes into the movie,
what happens,
and it's just the most recent
movie of things like this
that happened all the time,
people are watching
the final of the World Cup
in soccer.
And right towards the end
of the game,
all of a sudden,
there's all these flashing lights
and all of this other type of stuff.
And then out of the flashing lights
come this group of people
and they announce
that they've come,
I think it's from 37 years
in the future.
And they've come from 37 years
in the future into the past
and then that's what gets
the rest of the movie.
Basically, they're trying to,
all the people in the future
are dying against aliens
and they want to get new people
from the past
to fight the aliens
and that's the rest of the movie.
But the point is
that that gives you
a bit of an insight
about what's happening here.
It's as if the Christians believe
that there will come a day
when Jesus will return.
And when Jesus returns,
he will come with angels
and archangels.
He will come with the company
of heaven.
And this created order
will come to an end,
but we will see Jesus return
with the saints
so to speak.
And what we see
is that which is in the future
and we don't know
if that's 10 minutes from now
or a thousand years from now.
But that future event
for a moment,
we see it come into the past
and we see Jesus now
with Moses
and with Elijah.
So that's sort of
what's happening to it.
The other thing is
what happens to Jesus
is what you really are seeing
is that,
and the words
in the original language
are passive.
So it's not that Jesus
like flicks a switch
and does something,
but God does something.
And actually,
there's a bit of an issue.
Nobody knows why
Moses and Elijah were chosen.
The text doesn't give
an answer to that.
One group of scholars
and thinkers
wonder if the reason
it was Moses and Elijah
was that they are
the only two people
in the Old Testament,
what our Jewish friends
call the Tanakh,
who actually see
the back of God
at this opportunity
where for a moment,
Peter and James and John,
it's as if
there's a pinprick.
God makes a pinprick
in the veil
that hides
the true glory
of God,
the Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ
from human eyes.
and for one brief moment,
God makes a bit
of a pinprick,
just the tiniest pinprick.
And even with that
tiniest pinprick,
you see the glory
of Jesus.
You see the glory
of Jesus.
You see,
Christians believe
that God,
the Son of God,
without stopping
being God,
sets aside
his glory
and his prerogatives
and his majesty
and his splendor,
sets all of those
things aside,
but remaining fully God,
but setting those
things aside,
takes into himself
our human nature
and walks amongst us.
And he becomes
both fully God
and fully human,
but he's one person.
And for this brief moment,
God takes away
that,
in a sense,
that setting aside,
and Peter and James
and John
get to see
that Jesus
is glorified,
he's transfigured.
And what happens
is that not only
is that Jesus
glorified and transfigured,
but it even changes
the clothing
that he's wearing
so that they,
that that is glorified.
And the other thing
it sees here,
and this is really important,
you see,
Peter and James
and John,
they have been trained
their entire life
to understand
that there's only one God.
But when Peter
sees Jesus,
Moses,
and Elijah,
and Moses and Elijah
are also
glorious,
and they're so glorious
that for a moment
Peter forgets
that he's a monotheist
and wants to build
three tents
because it looks
as if there's three gods
who are there.
Now,
this is very,
very,
very significant
to us
in several ways.
You see,
the work,
what God intends
for his children
when they come
to faith in Christ
is not that you will
vanish into the ocean
of God,
and it's not that you
will just become
something spiritual
and ethereal
and a better place,
losing your body,
but that you will be you
in all of who you are,
and you will be
completely,
massively,
glorified,
so glorified
that if some of us
were to see you
in the new heaven
and the new earth,
we would think you
were a God
and feel compelled
to worship you.
This is the destiny
that God has
for his children.
Now,
if you understand
that that's the destiny
that God has
for his children,
you realize
that that means
if I have to get
from me
to what this is going
to be in the future,
well,
no amount of prayer
is going to do that.
No amount of giving
my money to charity,
my generosity,
the church,
is going to do that.
No amount of exercise.
no amount of reading
John Maxwell books
on leadership
and attitude management.
Like,
nothing that I can do
will accomplish that.
And how do I know
that empirically?
Well,
because when I die,
I die,
I lose it all.
Unless God does something,
I can never get
from here
to here.
only God
can do something
to get me,
this me,
to here.
You and I
are completely
and utterly helpless
unless God does it.
And actually,
you see here as well
something else
which is really
important,
that
if the me
who's here
still has the evil
that is within me,
my narcissism,
my self-centeredness,
my besetting sins,
if that
ends up having
the glory of this,
then this is not
something that you
would feel like
worshiping,
but that you
would flee from.
I would be
a great evil.
And unless
God,
in getting me
from here
to here,
also deals
with those parts
of me
that are far
from God
and narcissistic,
I cannot
get there.
One other thing
which is very
important about
this story,
I mean,
there's more than one,
but just for now.
One of the things,
the only reason
we read this
ancient biography
of Jesus
based on either
direct eyewitness
testimony or other
eyewitness testimony,
and this ancient
biography was written
when there were
literally hundreds
and thousands
of people
who were eyewitnesses.
So when we're
reading this,
I mean,
it looks all fancy now,
but if you go
to some museums,
you'll see scrolls
and papyrus,
and you'll realize
that's exactly
what this was originally,
that this fellow
by the name of Mark
wrote this ancient
eyewitness biography,
and it's been recorded.
And the only reason
we know this
and read this
is ultimately
because Jesus
actually did die
as he predicted,
and he actually
did rise from the dead.
And if that hadn't happened,
then we wouldn't read
about this
and know about it
because this would just
be all make-believe language.
The language
in the original Greek
is the language
of the newspaper,
of just recounting facts.
It's not the language
of mythology
or story
or parable,
but the language
of the same language
which is being used
to talk about
the death of the queen
and her funeral
and all of that
type of stuff.
It's the same type
of fact language
which is being used.
And so one of the things
that the disciples
had up until now,
they had a problem.
If Jesus,
they saw Jesus
stop storms.
They saw Jesus
raise,
they've seen Jesus
heal the sick.
They've seen Jesus
walk on water.
And so the question
they would have had
is how on earth
could somebody
who could do that
actually die on a cross?
Like,
a week or two ago,
I don't know
if it happened downtown,
but where I was,
there was a storm
and there were hail pellets
this big.
And it was so,
the hail came down
so hard
that you couldn't
actually see,
like I couldn't see
the car
just like 40,
50 feet away.
I could hardly see it.
That's how heavy
the hail was coming down
in waves.
And Jesus could
just stop that.
He stopped the story.
He just stops it.
So you could see
and understand,
people would say,
Jesus,
Peter would say,
Jesus,
how on earth
could you possibly die
when you can do
things like that?
Like that,
it just,
no way,
it's not going to happen.
It's impossible.
And now they have
another reason to think
that Jesus isn't going
to die because
they've seen Jesus
in his glory.
And here's the thing,
and our Muslim friends
perfectly articulate this,
and what they articulate
is the natural human
understanding of how
the universe works.
And in the universe,
the way the universe works
is the glorious,
the godlike,
does not die for schmucks.
That makes no sense.
It goes against reason.
It goes against the natural
habits of our imagination.
It goes against our daydreaming.
It goes against all of that
type of stuff,
that some being
of great power or glory
would die for schmucks,
that would die for the unworthy.
It just is not the way
the world works.
And so Peter and James and John,
they've seen Jesus,
and now there's going to be
another reason why they believe
that Jesus can't possibly
die on a cross,
because it just goes
against the way,
you know,
our Muslim friends
will say for us,
it is inconceivable
that Allah would die
for you folks
and me.
It is just inconceivable,
it is unimaginable,
it is not the way
the universe works.
Therefore,
your religion is wrong
and incorrect,
and you must come
to the true teaching
of Muhammad
about Allah.
But here we see
something radically
different
that goes against
natural
imagination.
Now I have,
so what we're going
to see here
is the story continues
in two different parts.
And just as an aside,
one of the things
which is so important,
you know,
one of the things
which is so beautiful
about the Bible
is it both gives you stories
and it gives you ideas.
It gives you things
which are a bit abstract,
but they help each other.
The stories form us
in a deep,
unconscious way
that abstract ideas
make sense.
And that's what we're
going to see right here.
If you read
Philippians chapter 2
verses 5 and 11,
5 to 11,
it talks about God's
inside his glory
and coming down
and all.
It's all abstract,
but we see that actually
enacted right here
in the story.
Look what happens
beginning at verse 9.
They come down
the mountain.
Verse 9,
And as they were
coming down the mountain,
Jesus charged them
to tell no one
what they had seen
until the Son of Man
had risen from the dead.
This is another prediction
of his death
and his rising from the dead.
So they kept the matter
to themselves,
questioning what this
rising from the dead
might mean.
And they asked him,
Why do the scribes
say that first Elijah
must come?
And Jesus said to them,
Elijah does come first
to restore all things.
But then he says,
Here's a question.
How is it written
that the Son of Man
that he should suffer
many things
and be treated
with contempt?
But I tell you
that Elijah has come
and they did to him
whatever they pleased
as it is written of him.
And there's three
different ancient biographies.
There's four ancient
biographies of Jesus
and three of them
tell this story.
And I think two
of the other ones
mention that Jesus
is referring to
John the Baptist.
But here's the thing.
What Jesus is wanting
to say to the disciples
is when you read
what our Jewish friends
call the Tanakh
and what we now
called the Old Testament
and they would have
just known as the Bible.
You have to understand
that you're reading it
within the lens
of natural human
imagination and reason.
But if you actually
go back
and read
the Tanakh,
you will see
that it's telling you
of a very,
very,
very different God,
the true God
that actually exists.
the God
who didn't create
human beings
as slaves
or food
or didn't create
human beings
for his ego
or for his lack,
didn't create
human beings
as some type
of divine tragedy
whereby somehow
or another
beings got created
when God
didn't intend it,
but that God
created human beings
to be his friends,
to be his children,
and that human beings
turned from God
and brought evil
and death
into the world
and that even
when human beings
had turned from God
and bringing evil
and death
into the world,
that God made
the promise
that he would
rescue them
and do for them
what they could not
do for themselves
and that you would
in fact see
at the very heart
of reality
that God
will die
to make
his children
right with him
because they cannot
make themselves
right with him
by themselves.
And this gets
enacted very powerfully.
If you go back
earlier in Mark,
Jesus is introduced
as Emmanuel,
God with us.
And here we see
breaking down
the natural habit
of how our minds work,
we see that Jesus
revealed in his majesty
coming down the mountain
and he comes down
the mountain
to be amongst us.
He comes into
an argument,
he comes into
religion,
he comes into
human powerlessness,
he comes to
the demonic,
he comes to
sickness,
he comes to
chaos,
he comes amongst us.
Look what happens,
verse 14.
And when they came
to the disciples,
they saw a great
crowd around them
and the scribes,
those are sort of
like experts,
they'd be like
in Canadian terms,
they'd be a combination
of professors
professors at elite
universities
and public intellectuals
sort of at the same
time.
And as well as that,
they would be sort of
viewed as an expert
on spirituality.
So if you could sort of
view Oprah,
a public intellectual,
and a U of T
or U of O
or Carleton prof
or Université de Montréal
prof,
that's sort of
what a scribe is,
all rolled up
into one.
So they,
verse 14 again,
and when they came
to the disciples,
they saw a great
crowd around them
and scribes
arguing with them
and immediately
all the crowd,
so that's Oprah's
arguing with them,
Jordan Peterson's,
you know,
Oprah and Jordan Peterson
in the same sentence
doesn't make any sense,
but Oprah's arguing,
Jordan Peterson's arguing
and your favorite,
you know,
the most elite professor
at your university
is arguing with them
and immediately,
verse 15,
all the crowd,
when they saw Jesus,
were greatly amazed
and ran up
and greeted him
and Jesus asked them,
what are you arguing
about with my disciples?
And 17,
someone from the crowd
said,
teacher,
I brought my son to you
for he has a spirit
that makes him mute
and whenever the spirit
seizes my son,
it throws my son down
and my son foams
and grinds his teeth
and becomes rigid,
so I asked your disciples
to cast out the demon
and they were not able.
And verse 19,
and Jesus answered them,
O faithless generation,
how long am I to be with you?
How long am I to bear with you?
Bring him to me.
And they brought the boy
to Jesus
and when the spirit,
the evil spirit,
saw Jesus,
immediately it convulsed the boy
and the boy fell on the ground
and rolled about
foaming at the mouth.
And Jesus asked his father,
how long has this been happening
to him?
And Jesus said,
from childhood
and it has often cast him
into fire
and into water
to destroy him.
But if you can do anything,
have compassion on us
and help us.
Just sort of pause there
for a second.
It's very significant
that we read this story
on the day of the baptism
of that young baby
who's temporarily quiet.
There's this really old
Christian writer
who said,
if the devil takes
an interest in your children
when they're very young,
you should teach them
when they're very young.
Isn't that just brilliant?
If the devil seeks out children
when they're very young,
then you,
if you're a Christian parent,
should be instructing
your child
at a very young age.
That's why ministries
like our Sunday school
is really important.
Like if you're doing,
if you volunteer
and become part
of the Sunday school roster
or help with nursery,
you're doing something
really precious
to help form
disciples of Jesus.
But let's get back
to the story.
So he says,
so the dad says,
verse 22,
if you have compassion
on us and help us.
And Jesus,
verse 23,
said to him,
if you can,
all things are possible
for one who believes.
And here it means
believes in him,
in Jesus,
not just have some,
like,
belief emotion,
but believes in Jesus.
And then the dad
is so brilliant.
Look at what he says.
The dad is so brilliant
in verse 24.
Immediately,
when Jesus says,
you know,
if you believe in me,
you can do anything.
And verse 24,
immediately the father
of the child
cried out and said,
I believe,
help my unbelief.
that,
friends,
that,
friends,
if you pray that prayer,
you're praying something
the Bible said you can pray.
Like,
if you're struggling
with unbelief,
and maybe you don't even
want to share it
with people,
like,
some of you who've heard
many of my sermons,
I've shared with you
the different times
when I've almost walked away
from the Christian faith,
sort of in the first decade
or so of my Christian faith.
And,
but here,
Jesus gives us permission
to pray,
Lord,
I believe,
help my unbelief.
And here's another takeaway
which is really important.
Often we Christians
say that what marks you,
a Christian,
is their peace in Christ.
And that's true.
But it's not all
of the story.
The other part of the story
is that what marks
a Christian
is their inner
spiritual warfare.
what marks a Christian
is not just
their inner peace in Christ,
but their inner
spiritual warfare
as they struggle
with those ways
whereby,
you know,
there's an old hymn
that goes in the,
the things of earth
will grow strangely dim.
And that's true.
But in many ways,
the problem for us
as Christians
is that the things of Christ
grow strangely dim.
We have a moment
of conviction
in the church
or listening to music
or something like that
and then we go away
and there's cars
and there's buses
and we're hungry
and we have bills to pay
and we're worried
about the Queen
and King Charles
and we're worried
about Pierre Polivare
or whatever it is
that we're worried about
and the things of Christ
grow strangely dim.
And what marks a Christian
is not just
their inner peace
but their inner
spiritual warfare
that we believe
while dealing
with those things
which encourage unbelief.
And when verse 25,
and when Jesus saw
that a crowd
came running together,
he rebuked
the unclean spirit
saying to it,
you mute
and deaf spirit,
I command you
come out of him
and never enter him again.
And after crying out
and convulsing him terribly,
it came out
and the boy
was like a corpse
so that most of them
said he is dead.
But Jesus took him
by the hand
and lifted him up
and he arose.
And when he had entered
the house,
that is Jesus,
when Jesus had entered
the house,
the disciples asked him
privately,
why could we not
cast it out?
And Jesus said to them,
this kind cannot be
driven out
by anything but prayer.
It's the first place
in Merck's Gospel
where Jesus tells us
to pray.
Now here's the thing,
just wrapping it up.
You see here perfectly,
Peter wants to stay
in the mountain
and worship.
Jesus goes right down
to where the argument is,
the demon is,
the demons are,
where the religious experts are,
where sickness is,
and he comes amongst us.
And he comes amongst us
to heal.
You know,
there's a very,
very brief type
of picture here
of what the whole cross
is about
and the Christian life
is about.
And what our human destiny is.
You see,
we all need,
at different times
in our life,
healing.
And it's beyond the scope
of my time
of this sermon.
But I think the Bible
teaches that there really
are demons
and that they can affect
human beings
and they do affect
human beings.
They can oppress us
and we need deliverance.
just so you know,
one of the things
I do while I'm singing
over there
is I take a pause
from singing
and every Sunday
I ask the Lord
to cast all demons
far from us.
That's what I do.
I believe it.
I believe that's what
the Bible teaches.
I'm not embarrassed by it.
It's what the Bible teaches.
And Jesus comes
to defeat the devil,
to defeat death,
to defeat sin.
He comes to bring
the true and greater
healing of our bodies,
which will only happen
when we see him
in the new heaven
and the new earth
and that we are like him.
And if our bodies,
and if who we are,
all we are,
not just the spiritual
or emotional part
that will go up
into some better place,
but if all of who we are
matters to God
and our destiny
is to have all
of who we are redeemed,
that means that
the evil within us,
not necessarily
that there's demons
within us,
but that there is evil
within us,
that that has been
atoned for
by Jesus' death
upon the cross,
that it is removed,
that we receive
new life,
and the direction,
the destiny
for human beings
is a new resurrected
body of glory
in a new heaven
and a new earth,
and rather than that
leading us to think
that if that's the case,
the things of earth
should grow strangely dim,
the fact of the matter
is is that Jesus said
as you're gripped
by the gospel,
you walk to the mess,
and you pray deliverance,
and you pray for healing,
and you start hospitals,
and you start schools,
and you get clean water,
and you start businesses
that can employ people,
and you dream up songs
and dances
to make life worth living,
because that's all
in the direction
of where Christ is going
when he dies on the cross
and rises from the dead,
and invites you
to be his child
by adoption and grace
when you put your faith
and trust in him,
and as the gospel grips you,
as Christ grips you,
that's where you walk to,
and for those of you,
those of us
who struggle with feeling
like we're in the right,
the real body,
if they're struggling
with feeling like
we're in the right body,
Christ will make you
at home with your body.
That's the direction
of which he will move,
because you're going to
have a redeemed body
for all eternity,
and that is a good thing.
That is the deep longing.
Woody Allen famously said,
when I die,
I don't want to live
in somebody's memory.
I want to live
in my apartment,
because we don't want
to live without a body,
and only the Christian gospel
describes how that might happen,
and gives substance
and depth
to the longings
of our heart.
Please stand.
Bow our heads in prayer.
Father, if there are
any of us here
who, some of us,
maybe we've,
we wouldn't say
that we've ever been
a Christian.
Father,
if we ask that
your Holy Spirit
would speak
and move in them,
and I ask,
now this isn't a prayer,
but I'm speaking,
Father, to those people,
if you feel that pressure
to turn to Christ,
I just ask that you
just stop listening
to my prayer,
and you just turn to Christ,
and open the door,
and let Christ come
into your heart
to be your Savior and Lord.
And if you're here,
and maybe you don't know
where you are with Christ,
but you know you've been
away from Him
for a long time,
this is your opportunity
to know once again
that you are His,
and live like that,
because He pardons
your offenses
and gives you new life.
But for all of us,
we pray,
Father, thank you so much
that Jesus is the Savior
of the world.
Thank you so much
that He came
to defeat the devil
and all hellish
and fell powers
and principalities
in this world,
that He came
to defeat death
and sin,
which is the result,
the cause of death,
that He has accomplished
that in His life
and death
and resurrection.
And we ask, Lord,
that you make us disciples
of Jesus who are gripped
by the gospel,
longing for that day
when He will return.
And while we long
for His return, Lord,
that you might equip us
and strengthen us
to walk towards
those dark places
and those empty places
and those broken
and despairing places
of the world,
to be used by you
to bring light
and life
and love
and joy
and wholeness
and healing,
all bearing witness
to Jesus,
the one who brings us
the true
and greater joy
and true
and greater healing.
So we ask, Father,
that your Holy Spirit
would do that work
in through us
to your great glory,
not to ours.
And we ask this
in the name of Jesus
and all God's people said,
Amen.