So join me as I read to you Mark chapter 9 verses 1 through 13.
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 he did not know what to say, for they 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.
And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen
until the Son of Man had risen 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 he said to them, Elijah does come first to restore all things.
And how is it written of 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.
This is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and for our good.
We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
Let's pray together.
Father God, we are always at all times in desperate need of you.
But Father, it's in times like this that I feel that most.
And I need you.
I desperately need you to come and to help me preach the word of God accurately and poignantly this day.
And Father, we all need you to work by your Spirit to apply your word to us to our hearts,
that they might be changed from one degree of glory to another.
Father, this day do not neglect your people.
Make us in greater degrees into the image of Christ that we might glorify your name.
And we pray this in Jesus Christ's name.
Amen.
So, we've come to a rather exciting part of Mark's Gospel account.
In fact, the beginning of eight and a half chapters really kind of seem to be an introduction
to where we've arrived so far as we came to verse 29,
excuse me, yep, 29,
where Jesus asks the question of the disciples,
but who do you say that I am?
And Peter answers him with this massive proclamation,
you are the Christ, the anointed one of God,
the prophet, priest, and king who reigns forever.
But we see very quickly that he had a misunderstanding.
In fact, we're going to see a couple of other passion predictions on Jesus' part.
We find those in the following, verse 31 and verse 32.
And there's always a misunderstanding response on the behalf of the disciples.
But we begin the great teaching period as Jesus is making his journey toward Jerusalem.
We're about six months out from the crucifixion at this point,
and he's spent quite a few years now with the disciples.
And they're just now starting to grasp who he is and what the kingdom of God will look like.
We see the misunderstanding on Peter's part in verse 32 as he takes him aside and rebukes him
to say to him,
how could it possibly be that you are the Christ and that you will suffer and die?
May it never be.
Peter had yet to understand what the kingdom was really going to look like,
that was coming in spirit for now,
not in the physical realm,
but in the spiritual realm for this period of time.
And Jesus' response to him is a scathing one.
He says to him,
get behind me, Satan,
for you are not setting your mind on the things of God,
but on the things of man.
And he goes on, as we spoke last week,
to raise the bar for what discipleship would look like.
He says to them,
if anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself,
take up his cross,
and follow me.
That is,
deny himself,
set aside his self-governing,
his very being,
in order to follow Jesus.
Verse 35,
whoever would save his life,
will lose it.
Whatever loses his life for my sake and the gospels,
will save it.
He's beginning to explain to the disciples,
and I hope that we're seeing very clearly,
the way in which he came to serve the world.
This apparent paradox that seems to exist,
that he would come and reign by first becoming a servant,
by emptying himself,
and dying on behalf of the church.
It's incredible.
Absolutely incredible.
And we see on the heels of Peter's great proclamation,
you are the Christ.
We have not followed you in vain.
You are the anointed one.
You are going to come,
and you are going to reign.
And then Jesus says to him,
but first,
I'm going to die.
And if you want to follow me,
you're going to do the same.
You're also going to suffer and die.
Jesus,
in his great compassion,
brings along a beautiful encouragement to the disciples.
And he says this to them in verse 1 of chapter 9.
Truly I say to you,
there are some standing here,
those who he was speaking to,
who will not taste death
until they see the kingdom of God
after it has come with power.
And there's a lot of different opinions
about what Jesus meant.
All of them,
save the right opinion,
seem crazy to me.
Because then,
something happens.
Immediately following this statement,
six days later,
but after this,
the record is,
the transfiguration occurred.
So he's saying to the disciples,
some of you,
who are standing here,
are going to get to see me transfigured.
You're going to get to get a glimpse of my glory.
You're going to get to see the kingdom
in its power
before you die.
This was a great act of encouragement to them.
To take some of the disciples up onto the mountain
and say,
see,
it's worth following me.
I am God's visible glory.
Watch this.
He's said things to them now.
Now he's going to show them something.
Something that they can hold on to
and they can take
through the next six months
and the years that would follow
to their very own deaths
in pursuit of the gospel
of the kingdom of God.
It's a beautiful,
precious thing
that Jesus does for them there
in this
incredible miracle.
This is by far
the greatest miracle
he's performed so far
and you probably will never see this
in a list of
Jesus' miracles
but the transfiguration
is amazing.
Next to only maybe
the resurrection itself,
this is the greatest,
it could be argued,
of miracles.
But before we get into
the particulars
of the transfiguration itself,
I first want to deal with
verses 11,
12,
and 13.
So if you'll allow me,
we're going to jump to the end
of our text for the day,
look at 11,
12,
and 13
and we'll back back up
to verse 2.
So they're coming down the mountain
having seen this
miraculous transfiguration,
this conversation
that takes place
between Jesus,
Elijah,
and Moses,
having God cover them
with a cloud
and speak out of heaven
to them.
And they're coming down
the mountain
and they say,
why do the scribes say
that first Elijah must come?
And then Jesus gives
explanation to that.
He gives some explanation
to the fact that
Elijah has in fact come.
Rightly,
the scribes,
which were the religious elite,
the studious religious
of that day,
say that Elijah must come first
and they get this
from Malachi chapter 4,
the last of the prophets
before God goes silent
for 400 years.
Malachi said in chapter 4,
verse 5 and 6,
Behold,
I will send you Elijah,
the prophet,
before the great and awesome
day of the Lord comes.
And he will turn the hearts
of fathers to their children
and the hearts of children
to their fathers,
lest I come and strike the land
with the decree
of utter destruction.
So they believed
that Elijah was going to come
reincarnate.
He was going to come
back to life.
In fact,
one of the great differences
between the Pharisees
and the Sadducees
is that the Pharisees
believed in the resurrection
of the dead.
This was part of that reason.
They were waiting for Elijah
to be resurrected
and to come back
and do this,
be the heralder of Jesus,
the Lord who would come
and reign,
the Christ.
Mark records that a number
of people thought
that Jesus was Elijah,
that it was possible
that he was the forerunner
of the Christ.
We see that in Mark 6,
15 and 8,
28.
The prophecy that Elijah
would precede Jesus
is fulfilled by John the Baptizer.
Look at Mark's introductory statements
concerning John the Baptizer
in chapter 1, verse 2
from Isaiah.
They're incredibly similar
to a previous prophecy
of Malachi in chapter 3
where he says,
Behold, I send my messenger
and he will prepare the way
before me.
How do we know for sure
that Jesus was saying
that John the Baptizer
was the predicted Elijah?
How can we know that for sure?
The Bible tells us for sure.
In the same account,
Matthew chapter 17,
verse 13,
Matthew records,
Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them
of John the Baptist.
So John the Baptist
is the Elijah
that they're speaking of.
He is the forerunner.
He is the fulfillment
of the Old Testament
prophecy of Malachi.
Therefore,
Jesus is
the Christ.
Isn't it incredible
as we look at the lives
of these disciples
that they have spent
all this time
with Jesus,
we see his words,
we read them,
and their response,
the faithlessness
on their part.
And I just want to remind you
as we walk through
these next couple of chapters together,
the reason that Mark records
the healing of the blind man
at Bethsaida,
we find that in verse 20 through to 26,
is to show us
that Jesus is the Lord
over spiritual,
excuse me,
physical sight
as well as spiritual sight.
So we saw a miracle
where he healed a man
of his physical blindness
in degrees,
and now we're seeing him
do the same
in degrees
with the disciples.
It's beyond me.
Sometimes you read this
and you go,
how could you not get this?
How can you not understand?
But the spiritual scales
were being lifted
from their eyes.
It was being unfolded for them.
They were getting it in part
and they would get it
more completely
as Jesus' death
and resurrection occurs.
So back to verse 2.
Jump back up there
to verse 2.
Now remember that they have
traveled from Bethsaida
to the region of Caesarea Philippi.
There's been some teaching
happening here
and then there's this statement,
truly I say to you,
there's some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the kingdom of God
after it's come with power
and then six days.
Six days happens.
We don't know exactly
where they went to.
I'm going to tell you
a bit about the high mountain
and where I believe
they headed off to.
But we see a record
that six days has passed.
If you study this further later,
you also will note
that in Luke,
Luke records that eight days
have passed.
And I don't want you
to think at this point
that the scripture
has failed to be inerrant.
It was common in this day
to measure time
in two different ways.
Here we see in Matthew
and in Mark,
they started counting
on the next day
and they counted the days
up to the day prior
to the transfiguration.
Six days.
Luke instead
counted the day
he said it
as well as the day
the transfiguration happened.
Therefore,
eight days.
Very common.
And interchangeable
in that way.
So six or eight,
whichever way
you want to count it.
I might even count that
as seven personally.
Roughly a week later,
they take a bit
of a retreat.
And he goes away
with some closer buddies.
This was kind of
the inner circle
in Jesus' day.
In his humanity,
he had a limited capacity
for personal relationship.
He had his twelve
and within his twelve
he had three.
And we see this consistently.
These are the ones
that went and prayed
with him in the Garden
of Gethsemane
before his crucifixion.
Peter and James and John,
the brothers,
James and John,
the sons of Zebedee.
And he leads them up
onto a high mountain
by themselves.
Now the high mountain
tradition holds
that the mountain
is Mount Tabor,
which is down
on the western side
of the Sea of Galilee.
Could have been traveled to.
A lot of the speculation
is because of the days
that had passed.
They may have been
traveling in those days
and traveled to
Mount Tabor.
Although,
the record is that
it's a high mountain
and Mount Tabor
is not all that much taller
than the other mountains
in the region.
It's not really a high mountain.
It's just a mountain.
If you look at pictures of it,
it looks really more
like a hill.
It's 1,800 feet
above sea level.
More likely,
I would say to you,
that the high mountain
is Mount Hermon,
which is just north
of the region
of Caesarea Philippi.
In fact,
it would have taken
quite some time
to climb
because it's 9,200 feet
above sea level.
It has snow on it
much of the year
in this region.
Either way,
it doesn't really matter.
They're up on a high mountain
by themselves
and they go up there
in order
to pray.
Luke 9, 28
states that they went up
on the mountain
to pray.
And in verse 32,
it says that they were
heavy with sleep.
They were heavy
with sleep.
It's likely
in Luke's account
that as they went up
there to pray together,
just like they did
in the Garden of Gethsemane,
they fell asleep.
And in our Garden of Gethsemane
account,
they're asleep
with sorrow.
Have you ever been
in such a sorrowful situation,
lamenting something
that's happened
in your life
that all you want
to do
is go to sleep?
I have.
Seems to be a bit
of a salve
for the tender heart.
Forget about
the troubles
of the day
and just go to sleep.
And so it's likely
that as he takes them
up onto the mountain
that they're sorrowful.
They have followed him,
they have recognized him
to be the Christ,
but they have also seen
that he's going
to suffer and die
and that they're going
to as well
if they're going
to continue
to follow him.
And then we see
this miracle.
He was
transfigured
before them.
Mark, to this point,
has been so brief,
so punchy,
moved us along
so quickly,
and I believe
that he's doing so
to get us to this point,
to get us to the last
half of chapter 8
and get us into chapter 9.
This is kind of
the watershed moment.
He's pumped everything
up to this point.
Now everything flows away
from this point
in his record here,
and he says to us,
and he was
transfigured
before them.
It's a simple,
punchy statement.
Come on, Mark.
It's a little more.
What actually
happened here?
We don't really know.
In fact,
Matthew and Luke
don't give us
a lot more detail.
The word transfigured
in the Greek
is metamorpho.
It's where we get
metamorphosis from.
It means literally
changed in figure.
His character,
his essence,
his being didn't change,
but the way he looked
changed.
The account in Mark
is his clothes
became radiant,
intensely white,
as no one on earth
could bleach them.
There were people
in this day
that bleached clothing.
No one could have
accomplished this.
It was a supernatural thing.
His clothes,
radiant,
intensely white.
Matthew 17, 2
says his face
shone like the sun
and his clothes
became white,
as light.
And Luke 9, 22
says the appearance
of his face
was altered
and his clothing
became dazzling white.
And that's our explanation
of what the transfiguration
looked like.
But,
you have to note
these words,
radiant,
intensely white,
whiter than anybody
could bleat them,
face like the sun,
white as light.
Clothing became
dazzling white.
Jesus' radiance here
is very key.
The way in which
he was transfigured
was very key
to the encouragement
of the disciples
because
whenever God appears
to his people
in the Old Testament,
he appears in some sort
of light phenomenon,
some sort of appearance
of light.
His disciples were Jews.
They knew this.
They knew their Old Testament.
They knew that when God
showed up,
this was how
he showed up.
A couple of examples
of that.
At the initiation
of the priestly service
in Leviticus 9,
God appears as light.
In Exodus 24,
God appears to Moses
as light.
In Exodus 40,
verses 34 and 35,
the tabernacle
is completed
and God begins
to dwell there
as light,
just above
the Ark of the Covenant.
We know this
as God's
Shekinah glory,
which just means
dwelling,
the Shekinah glory
of God.
It dwelt
in the tabernacle.
In Ezekiel,
we can see where
God's Shekinah glory
leaves the temple,
travels up to a hill
and departs
to heaven.
So it's very key
that Jesus showed up
in light.
He transfigures
in that way.
It was a message
to them that he is
in fact who he says
he was.
All the miracles,
all the things
that he's performed
up to this point
had yet to give them
the faith they needed
to persevere.
And here he shows up
as God himself.
He's radiant
with light.
Hebrews 1, 3a
says he is the radiance
of the glory
of God.
2 Corinthians 4, 6
Paul writes,
God who said
let light shine out
of darkness
has shown in our hearts
to give the light
of the knowledge
of the glory of God
in the face
of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ
is often called
the glory
of God.
The way that we
can witness
the glory
of God.
Moses asked
to see God's glory
as they were
in the desert
and God showed
him his back.
We get to behold
Jesus,
the Christ.
We get to see him
fully for who he is.
We have record
and account
and we get to hold
this in our hands.
They got to stand
on the mountain
with him
and see him
transfigured,
see him shine
as light.
As I said before,
the brief account
of this is a bit
frustrating to me.
I believe that
the word of God
is inspired
and therefore
it was told this way
for this reason.
I want more.
I want to know
a little bit more
of what was going on.
We've got a couple
of other clues to it.
Not much.
John in his gospel,
chapter 1,
verse 4 says,
in him was life
and the life
was the light
of men.
2 Peter,
chapter 1,
verses 16 through 18,
Peter records,
for we did not follow
cleverly devised myths
when we made known
to you the power
and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But we were witnesses
of his majesty.
He's speaking here
of the transfiguration.
For when he received
honor and glory
from God the Father
and the voice
was born to him
by the majestic glory,
this is my beloved son
with whom I am well pleased,
we ourselves heard
this very voice
born from heaven
for we were with him
on the holy mountain.
And those are the accounts
that we get
of this amazing thing
that happened
in history.
And it seems to me
that they tend
to relegate
the miracle
in order to exalt
the person.
That they wanted
to set aside
the fact that he was
this shiny being,
that he becomes
something different
in vision
in order to exalt
him and the message
that he came
to preach.
Remember Mark,
chapter 1,
verse 15,
Jesus says,
the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom
of God is at hand.
Repent and believe
in the gospel.
And here we see,
rather than becoming
very mystical
and focusing on
this amazing thing,
it must have been
incredible to witness,
they want to drive us
back to the message.
Repent and believe
in the gospel.
Jesus is who he says he is.
He is the son of God,
the one who's come
to take away
the sins of the world,
the one who's come
to make remission
of sins for many.
Repent and believe
in the gospel.
So they relegate
the miracle
in order to exalt
the person
and the message.
In addition to
him transfiguring,
we see some other people
show up in glory.
They are Elijah
and Moses.
We see this in
verse 4.
And they were
talking with Jesus.
And why do you
suppose they showed up?
Why do we need
a couple of people
to show up?
Let me say to you
it's because,
consistently through
the scriptures,
two or three witnesses
were necessary
to give credence
to something,
to make something
final and true.
Deuteronomy 19.15,
the second half,
says only on the evidence
of two witnesses
or of three witnesses
shall a charge
be established.
Matthew 18.16
says that dealing
with sins
in the church,
that we should do so
with two or three witnesses.
Paul tells the church
at Corinth
in his second letter
that he will bring
charges by the evidence
of two or three witnesses.
1 Timothy 5.19
says,
Do not admit
to charge
against an elder
except on the evidence
of two or three witnesses.
This was very common
of the day.
This was the way
in which you brought
charges against
or for
an individual.
And so Jesus
is joined
by two great witnesses,
Moses and Elijah.
Moses was,
arguably,
I believe,
Israel's greatest leader.
Led them out of captivity,
away from this symbolic
captivity to sin,
out of Egypt,
and into,
eventually,
with all the obstacles
that came in the way,
at least to the border
of the promised land.
It was Moses
who gave the law.
He was the
arbiter of that.
God gave it to him
and he gave it to Israel.
Elijah,
again,
arguably,
but Elijah,
I think,
was Israel's
greatest prophet.
As Moses gave the law,
Elijah guarded the law.
Elijah said
to the people of God
over and over
and over again,
keep the commandments
of God.
And now they're
in a conversation
with Jesus
who came and fulfilled
the law.
They were talking
with Jesus.
What were they
talking about?
What were they
talking about?
They were talking
about the crucifixion.
Again,
how do we know this?
The Bible tells us
what they were talking about.
In a different account,
Luke chapter 9,
verse 30 and 31,
And behold,
two men were talking
with him,
Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory
and spoke
of his departure.
which he was about
to accomplish
at Jerusalem.
This is what
they were talking about.
They were talking
about the very thing
that Jesus had said
was going to happen.
They're giving witness
to the fact
that as he's appearing,
transfigured,
he is the visible
glory of God.
The disciples can see this.
They're having
a conversation
about the fact
that he was going
to suffer and die
at the hands
of the scribes
and the Pharisees.
They're giving
account to the fact
that what Jesus said
was going to happen
is going to happen.
Elijah and Moses
join with him
in affirming
this great reality.
And then Peter
butts in.
If Jesus and Elijah
and Moses
showed up today,
please don't interrupt
the conversation
that they're having.
Peter,
always the spokesman,
says to Jesus,
Rabbi,
it's good
that we are here.
Let us make
three tents,
one for you
and one for Moses,
one for Elijah,
for he did not know
what to say,
for they were terrified.
A good record
that you shouldn't
say anything at all.
At all.
However,
Peter was,
even though he was
a simple man,
he had his theology right.
He had his theology right.
The transfiguration
happened in the month
of Tishri,
which as I've said before,
was six months
before Passover.
And there was
something happening
at the very time
in Jerusalem
that they're up
on the mountain
and this is happening.
There was something
happening.
It's called the Feast
of Tabernacles.
And it was a feast
that came and happened
to commemorate
the Exodus.
Being led out of
one kingdom
to be free
in another kingdom.
This was the very thing
that they were doing.
But Peter's
desire to build
for them
Tabernacles
was to celebrate that.
He's now seeing
Christ
exalted,
transfigured,
shining in glory.
And Moses
and Elijah are there
and he's saying
it's time.
It's time to go.
It's time to get out
of this world
and go to the next world.
It's time for the kingdom
to come.
Can't you see
the misunderstanding
on this part?
It was not yet
the time.
Peter, James, and John
wanted to exit the world.
They wanted to
be spared the suffering
that Jesus had talked about.
They said,
we have the Christ,
we have Moses,
we have Elijah.
Let's get the glorious
kingdom started.
They wanted glory
without suffering.
They wanted exaltation
without humiliation.
They wanted Jesus
to be crowned king
without the cross.
This is not something
that could happen.
God's ordained plan
go all the way back
to the end of verse 33.
For you are not
setting your mind
on the things of God
but on the things of man.
The plan of God
was for Jesus
to go to the cross.
I'm glad he did it.
I hope you are too.
And as they say this,
a theologically informed
but wrong statement,
as they say this,
a third witness shows up.
Elijah and Moses,
one and two witnesses.
And now look who shows up.
A cloud overshadows them
and a voice came out
of the cloud.
This is my beloved son.
Listen to him.
The almighty shows up
and combines in chorus
with Elijah and with Moses
to give account
to the things that Jesus
has said.
I love the record of it
in Matthew chapter 17
verses 5 and 6.
It says,
verse 5,
speaking of Peter,
he was still speaking.
So I love that
because Peter's still talking
and then God comes
and shuts him down.
He's interrupted
by the divine.
When, behold,
a bright cloud
overshadowed them.
Again, you see the bright cloud
overshadowed them.
Shows up in a light phenomenon.
And a voice from the cloud said,
this is my beloved son
with whom I am well pleased.
Listen to him.
And I love verse 6.
When the disciples heard this,
they fell on their faces
and were terrified.
You better be
when you're interrupted
by the divine
and corrected.
The very thing that happened.
Jesus has spoken to you.
He has told you
what will come to pass.
And now you're trying
to establish a kingdom
by another way?
This is my beloved son.
Listen to him.
Right?
He knows the way of God.
Follow him in that way.
Even if it leads
to your own death.
Take up your cross.
Follow him.
And then suddenly,
verse 8,
suddenly,
looking around,
the whole scene vanished.
The kingdom preview,
this glimpse they got
of the coming glory of God
was gone.
And then plain old Jesus Christ
was standing before them
once again.
And he charged them
to tell no one
what they had seen,
verse 9,
until the Son of Man
had been risen from the dead.
And here we see again
they just don't seem to get it.
So they kept the matter
to themselves.
Until they recorded it later
for all of us to read.
Questioning what this
rising from the dead
might mean.
They just didn't get it.
The light is dawning
in their hearts and minds.
But it's yet to fully arrive.
They're starting to get it.
And they certainly would
one day.
We're going to see them
come to a greater realization
of this.
They would one day preach
Christ crucified and risen
in their messages.
Think of Peter's sermon
on the day of Pentecost
found in Acts chapter 2
verse 23 and 24.
He says,
This Jesus
delivered up according
to the definite plan
and foreknowledge of God,
you crucified and killed
by the hands of lawless men.
God raised him up,
loosing the pangs of death
because it was not possible
for him to be held
by it.
Christ crucified
and risen.
John devotes all
of chapter 19
and the first half
of chapter 20
of his gospel account
to the death
and resurrection
of Christ.
Later stating in
chapter 20
verse 30 and 31,
Now Jesus did many
other signs in the presence
of the disciples
which are not written
in this book,
but these are written
so that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God,
and that by believing
you may have
life in his name.
They preached Christ,
crucified and risen.
What happened to James?
James was the first martyr.
He was martyred in 44 AD.
He was pierced with swords
for preaching Christ
crucifies and raised
by Herod.
These men would someday
come to fully understand
what the transfiguration
meant for them.
But what does it mean for us?
Three men privy to this vision.
We didn't get to see it.
We get a kind of
a paltry record of it.
Not a lot of detail
going on here.
What does it mean for us?
And so three lessons
for today quickly
as we close.
Number one,
life is found
in the power
of the cross.
Life is found
in the power
of the cross.
Mark 8.35,
For whoever would save
his life will lose it,
but whoever loses
his life for my sake
and the gospels
will save it.
And this is following
him talking about
his death and resurrection.
His death on the cross,
his resurrection
three days later.
This apparent paradox
that we must follow him
in the same way
in order to gain
our lives.
1 Corinthians 1.18-24,
Paul says,
For the word of the cross
is folly
to those who are perishing.
But to us
who are being saved,
it is the power of God.
For it is written,
this is Isaiah 29.14,
I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise
and the discernment
of the discerning
I will thwart.
Where is the one
who is wise?
Where is the scribe?
Where is the debater
of this age?
Has not God
made foolish
the wisdom
of the world?
For since
in the wisdom of God
the world did not know
God through wisdom,
it pleased God
through the folly
of what we preach
to save those
who believe.
The folly being
that a king came
to reign
by suffering
and dying.
Verse 22,
For Jews demand signs
and Greeks seek wisdom,
but we preach
Christ crucified,
a stumbling block
to Jews
and folly to Gentiles,
but to those
who are called
both Jews and Greeks,
Christ,
the power of God
and the wisdom
of God.
1 Corinthians 2,
1-2
Paul says,
And I,
when I came to you,
brothers,
did not come
proclaiming to you
the testimony of God
with lofty speech
or wisdom,
for I decided
to do nothing
among you
except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified.
Life is found
in the power
of the cross.
Secondly,
the power of the cross
is transmitted to us
by the Scriptures.
The power of the cross
is transmitted to us
by the Scriptures.
Beloved,
do you realize
how precious
the book you hold
in your laps is?
This language
inspired by God
translated for us
into our English language,
the one in which
we have so many
copies of,
both physical
and digital,
that we have
so many resources.
We can search it
and we can search it
and we can know it.
There is unending
resources at our
fingertips
to know
the Word of God
to us.
It is the way
in which the power
of the cross
comes to us.
2 Peter 1,
16-21,
I read to you
the first three verses.
I'm going to read
those again
and then read the rest
of what Peter
has to say.
This blows my mind.
First time I read this,
I just,
I wanted to fall down.
I didn't,
but I wanted to.
For we did not
follow cleverly
devised myths
when we made known
to you the power
and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we were
eyewitnesses
of His majesty.
Would you like to
have been in their
shoes,
been there on the
mountain?
For when He received
honor and glory
from God the Father
and the voice
was born to Him
by the majestic glory,
this is my beloved
Son with whom
I am well pleased,
we ourselves
heard this very
voice born from
heaven,
for we were with
Him on the
holy mountain.
Oh,
to have been there.
How great that
would have been.
But listen to what
Peter says to us.
Verse 19,
And we have
the prophetic
word
more fully
confirmed.
Catch that?
It's better
to have this.
It's more
fully confirmed.
We have seen
the promises
of God
carried out
from the
scriptures.
We have it.
It's more sure.
It's a thing
that we can trust.
It's greater
than being present
at the
transfiguration.
To which you
will do well
to pay attention
as to a lamp
shining in a
dark place
that we see
light again
until the day
dawns and the
morning star
rises in your
hearts.
Knowing this
first of all,
that no prophecy
of scripture
comes from
someone's own
interpretation,
for no prophecy
was ever produced
by the will of man,
but men
spoke from God
as they were
carried along
by the Holy Spirit.
This book
is precious.
The power
of the cross
is transmitted
to us
by it.
Beloved,
we are a people
of words.
Words have
power.
Thirdly,
we are to be
transformed
by the power
of the cross.
We're not to
stay the same.
We're to be
transformed.
This is this
imagery he's
giving us.
If we would
follow him,
we have to
deny ourselves.
Stop being
you.
Pick up your
cross and
follow me.
Become me.
Look to me.
I'm your
example.
Paul writes,
Galatians 2.20,
I have been
crucified with
Christ.
It is no longer
I who live,
but Christ
who lives in me.
In the life
I now live in the
flesh,
I live by faith
in the Son of God
who loved me
and gave
himself for me.
We operate
from faith
to look like
Christ,
to pursue him
in all that we
are.
The derogatory
phrase given to
us,
Christian,
means little
Christ.
What a far
gap there is
between the way
we live and
the way Christ
lived.
Beloved,
pursue,
pursue the
example given
to us by him.
Hear me.
we hold the
sovereignty of
God so
precious here.
It's in our
closed fist.
Oh,
God is sovereign
over all things.
He ordains
all things.
He stands
over all
things.
But beloved,
grace is not
an enemy
of effort.
Grace fuels
our effort.
Grace is only
an enemy of
any merit
earned by
our effort.
We are to
work out
our salvation
with fear
and trembling
for it's God
who works
in us
to will
and to
work for
his good
pleasure.
Get busy
following
Christ.
You have
been given
the power
of the
cross
if you've
believed in
him.
This great
verse in
2 Corinthians
3.18
Paul says,
And we all
with unveiled
face,
beholding the
glory of the
Lord,
are being
transformed to
the same
image from
one degree
of glory
to another.
For this
comes from
the Lord
who is
the Spirit.
So what
do we
learn from
the
transfiguration,
from beholding
this?
Jesus is
the Christ
and we
must,
if he is,
if we believe
that he is,
we must
follow him.
We must
follow him
to the
point of
death as
all of
the
apostles
did,
all except
for John
who died
in exile
of old age.
They all
followed him
to the
point of
death.
Believe
the words,
follow him.
Life is
found in
the power
of the
cross.
The power
of the
cross is
transmitted to
us by the
scriptures and
we are to be
transformed by
the power
of the
cross.
Let's pray
together.
Amen.