WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:10.320 All right, well, if you want to open your Bibles now to Mark, Mark chapter 9 is where we're gonna be today, and uh picking things up there. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:18.879 Now, uh, I'm not sure about you, but uh I grew up on uh Don Cherry's rock'em sock'em videos, right? 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:21.679 We got any I hear some yeah in the house. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:30.879 Um yeah, and I I as far as I understand in my digging and stuff like that, I think uh number 29 there, I think that's the the newest one, I think, from what I could tell. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:40.240 Um but I I you know my brother and I, we grew up getting these videos every single year, like in our stocking at Christmas and stuff like that, and we would just wear them out, right? 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.719 We would just wear out those tapes because of course it was VHS, it wasn't Blu-ray or anything like that. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:45.439 And we loved it. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:48.240 We watched them like hundreds of times, it felt like. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:01:03.520 And we loved obviously the you know, the plays and all of the you know, the goals and the scoring and all of that, but obviously, I mean the title suggests you know this uh these these videos are all about hits and they're all about fights and they're all about that stuff. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.920 And my brother and I uh just loved it. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:16.319 You know, whether it was like the pot van Heckstall dust up or you know, Wendell Clark ending Bruce Bell's career behind the nets, you know, these are the things that that we thrived on and lived on. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:22.400 I'm even trying to disciple my own son in uh in the ways of these videos now through YouTube, of course. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.280 Um but loved, loved, loved these. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:38.239 Now, you could say uh that what we've been looking at over the last couple of weeks in our Exodus series, which is now done, was the glory of God rocking the Israelites, right? 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:39.359 Uh big time. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:51.439 Moses as well, as they came face to face uh with him, and what they experienced on that mountain at Sinai would forever impact them, wouldn't it? 00:01:52.239 --> 00:02:03.519 You simply don't go through something like that, which which they went through and come out on the other side of it uh unchanged and the same as you were before you went into it. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:09.599 Well, like we said, today we are uh jumping back into our Gospel of Mark series. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:12.719 Now we are halfway through this gospel, we're halfway through it. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:19.759 So if you are you know new to our church and you are you know have been coming out for the last couple of weeks or so, you are like, well, what about the first half of Mark? 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:26.319 Yeah, we went through all of that already in in the spring and ended off um just as the summer was getting started there. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:31.120 And so I would encourage you, if uh if you haven't heard those or you missed any of them, you can go online and listen to those. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:40.960 You can go out and jump on our podcast and get caught up so you know uh kind of where we've been coming from and uh and where we are uh where we are going. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:45.439 Um but that's that's really what we see here today. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:47.199 You know, what we saw in Exodus. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:55.840 And interestingly enough, you know, we were talking about that this week, John and I, and we're like, are you smart enough to plan a series where Mark seems to so seamlessly connect to Exodus? 00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:56.879 The answer is no, right? 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:58.800 I have no brilliance in me whatsoever. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:04.639 But we see what X what happened at Sinai in many ways uh happens here. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:16.479 Okay, Jesus brings his inner circle, these these three guys, up on a mountain to have this life-altering experience with his radiant glory. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:16.960 Right? 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:32.879 And and like them, um, the more you and I are rocked by the glory of Jesus Christ, the more that you and I see it and we taste it and we develop this hunger for uh for even more of it, the more our hearts transform. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:33.439 Right? 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:47.599 In fact, I would go so far to say is if you and I were not rocked by by the glory of God, we will not and even cannot change the way we talk about change being about, the way the Bible uh lays it out for us. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:57.520 And and to be quite frank, I think that's what's missing in too many North American churches and in and way too many people who would consider themselves Christians lives. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:03:58.080 Right? 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:09.840 And we we kind of just get stuck in a rut a little bit, and we know we wonder why we're not changing so much, and it's because we don't come face to face, we don't see and catch a glimpse of God's glory nearly uh enough. 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:15.280 And so as we get into this, just before we get into this, um, let's pray, right? 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:22.079 And let's ask the Lord to continue to do these things in us, to show us more of his glory here this morning. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:23.600 So join me as we pray. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:28.240 God, we thank you uh for this time together as your church again. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:41.360 And Lord, as we uh really in some ways pick up from uh where we left off last week, we're in a much different book, but a very similar uh mountaintop experience for these disciples, Lord. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.399 Only you could put something together uh like that, Lord. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:50.720 I would pray that you would continue to teach our hearts and instruct our hearts and give our hearts a hunger for the glory of God. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:55.839 I pray that we would see that more in our lives every time we open the scriptures and have conversations about what you're doing, Lord. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:04.560 I pray that we would absolutely see that every single Sunday that we gather as a church and sing praises to you and give an offering and build relationships, Lord. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:08.399 I pray that everything that we would do would be worshipful, of course, and your glory would be poured out. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:13.199 And so, God, help us in these things, Lord, as we are slow to learn, we know that. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:16.959 God have mercy on us, pour out more grace. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:19.839 We pray all of this in Jesus' name. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:20.800 Amen. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:21.680 Amen. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:28.160 Well, again, because we haven't been in the book of Mark for a while, do you feel like you could use a bit of a refresher? 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:29.519 I mean, that's how I felt this week. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:30.720 I'm like, where were we again? 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:31.839 Like, what have we just talked about? 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:33.439 And so I'm kind of diving into it. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.639 And so I'll try and bring us up to speed really quickly here on what we've seen. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.040 And of course, we've seen a lot already, right? 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.959 Jesus, of course, in the first chapter, he begins his earthly ministry. 00:05:43.120 --> 00:06:01.279 John the Baptist had paved the way for the coming of the Messiah, and Jesus begins his ministry, and and we see at his baptism, uh, the Father says, This is my son, in whom I am well pleased, and and and and basically, you know, charges him in his uh to begin his earthly ministry. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:10.720 He withstands the temptation of the devil and and jumps right into what his three-year uh earthly ministry would be all about. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:14.319 And we saw him, he's he's healed the sick, he's done that so many times. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:26.240 He's raised the dead miraculously, he's shown uh power and authority over demons and over creation itself, over nation, uh nature. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:33.759 He's he's miraculously fed a massive crowd of thousands of people twice, right? 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:35.519 He's done that twice, as we've seen. 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:50.399 He's been, of course, dealing with the growing animosity uh that's been developing out of the uh the religious system that uh growingly hates him and hates the message that he uh proclaims. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:51.920 Okay, what else have we seen him do? 00:06:52.079 --> 00:07:03.839 Well, we've seen him uh gather to himself and call to himself a bunch of just really regular Joe Blow fisherman types uh to be his uh disciples, right? 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:21.680 And he spends a ton of time with them and he's he's pouring into them and teaching them about the kingdom of God and and and what it means to follow him, and he's he's showing him uh very uh slowly but surely, showing them that he is in fact the Son of God and the promised Savior. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:33.839 Okay, now in the last message that we looked at a couple of months ago, I don't expect us to necessarily remember that, but what we saw in chapter eight is that the disciples, they they finally start to get it. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:34.399 Right? 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:46.399 We've seen how slow they are to realize some things, but they but they but they slowly get it, and and Peter he confesses on behalf of the disciples that Jesus, um you are the Christ, right? 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:48.480 Jesus is the Messiah. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:59.120 And so from that moment on, now into the message that we're gonna talk about today, and beyond all of that, okay, there's this turning point in the narrative. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:05.120 And it's kind of like Jesus just turns on the afterburners, and he's like, oh, it's on now. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:12.480 And now we're we're talking about what's what this is really all about, and and this is what the what this is what the Messiah has come to do. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.720 You know, the Jews were expecting him to come on some military conquest. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:17.759 That's what they were expecting. 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:23.040 The disciples were expecting that, but he says, No, I've come for a very different reason than that. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:28.560 He has, of course, come to suffer and to die for the sins of the people. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:45.759 And he says, on top of that, he's beginning to teach the disciples, on top of that, anyone who would follow after me, which you twelve are doing, okay, you must expect a life of sacrifice and a life of suffering for the sake of the gospel as well. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:57.440 Okay, and so for the disciples, and and this is our experience as well, okay, life as a as a follower of Christ is this, I think, process is the best way of looking at it. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:09.360 And let's be honest, it can be a messy process, it can be a it can be an ugly process, it can be quite the grind of uh of growing sort of realization in our minds and in our hearts, this understanding that happens over time. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:10.960 It doesn't all happen at once. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:27.600 And and with that understanding comes this deepening, I think, inner conviction, and and and it translates into an outward commitment to fully surrendering our our hearts and lives to the authority of Jesus Christ, his sovereign lordship. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:40.480 There are these moments along the way in the journey of being sanctified, be uh being made into the image of Jesus Christ, where we're uh where we're it's like we're hit by a truck, right? 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:43.759 We're we're rocked by by who Christ is. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:53.840 And and it's like we're smacked by by his glory, and we're convicted and at the same time inspired to change. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:59.360 It's what the disciples have been going through during their time with Jesus. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:05.120 And as we jump into chapter 9 now, we're gonna see that this continues to happen for them, and it's happening for us here. 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:07.279 We're absolutely hitting the ground running. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.440 So, two things here this morning, two points. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:15.519 Here's the first one as I'm rocked by Christ's glory, I will be compelled to obey every word he says. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:16.639 Every word. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:27.440 Since what? 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:32.320 Well, since Peter confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:39.600 This is a watershed moment for him and the disciples as like the light bulb kind of goes on. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:47.120 But as you're kind of noticing here in the text, and you maybe realize this for yourself too, it's not like when you walk into a dark room and you flip the switch and all of a sudden you're flooded with light. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.200 It's almost like it's on a dimmer switch for them. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.960 You notice that's like slowly kind of I'm gradually getting it. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:55.519 And oh, there's some light, and now I see. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:57.759 Okay, that's how it was for these guys. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:08.240 Okay, so six days after Peter and the disciples realize who Jesus really is, it says there, keep going, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:19.039 Okay, so these were like his, again, his inner circle, the three guys that he spent a lot of time with, and even within the twelve, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:24.799 Now, knowing the geography of that area, this was likely, uh most people would say this was likely Mount Hermon. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:30.240 And it says, and he was, this is Jesus, he was transfigured before them. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:33.279 Okay, that word transfigured literally means changed. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:42.960 Okay, he was he was changed, and his clothes, it says, became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:47.759 Okay, Luke chapter 9, verse 29 also adds that his face shone. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:55.600 Okay, now that understand, this does not mean that Jesus' nature or his character was transformed, transfigured. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:12:02.639 It's that his outward, visible appearance changed right in front of these three men. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:09.440 Okay, this should absolutely be reminding us of what we saw happen with Moses, right? 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:16.240 We saw this happen just last week on Sinai as he came face to face with God's glory. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:19.120 Okay, now speaking of Moses, take a look at verse 4. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:25.759 Okay, it says, and it appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking to Jesus. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:31.120 Okay, and Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good that we are here. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:37.279 Let us make three tents, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:40.559 For he did not, I love this, he did not know what to say, right? 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.480 For they were terrified. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:46.559 Now, Peter always gets torched, right, for just being Peter. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:51.440 He's the guy who always puts his foot in his mouth, and you know, I will never deny you. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:58.159 And then he's denying him three times, and you know, all of these types of things here, but but hey, listen, we we know this. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:09.200 We know that the Jews wanted God to um dwell with them or tabernacle with them uh once again as his as his as his people. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:19.200 And so if you wanted to, if we wanted to be a little bit more gracious to Peter than sometimes we are, uh you can give him a bit of a pass on his whole, you know, hey, let's set up a campsite um idea. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:19.759 Okay? 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:21.759 He wanted to preserve this moment. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:33.519 As much as he doesn't really understand it yet and and and what's going on, and and there's this mix of confusion and terror and and and this awe and wonder about the entire thing. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:35.519 You know, keep going, verse 7. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:40.240 It says, and a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:40.639 Again, right? 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:42.399 Sinai, this is Exodus. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:43.039 Right? 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.600 He says, This is my beloved son. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.240 Listen to him, it says. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:54.159 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. 00:13:55.759 --> 00:14:01.679 So it's safe to say that this is not like a like an everyday run-of-the-mill kind of moment for these guys. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:02.159 Right? 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:04.960 This is this is pretty wild, right? 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.399 They've just seen something incredible. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:23.360 Okay, the voice of God the Father Himself instructs these three disciples, right, who who we know, we have the benefit of knowing all of these years later and reading the book of Acts, these three guys and the others as well, they would go on to start the church, right? 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:25.360 To plant the very first ever churches. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:29.440 The book of Acts tells us flip the flip the world upside down, right? 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:39.519 But these these three guys here, the Lord shows up in power, God does, and he instructs them to do what? 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:40.639 What does it say? 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:42.799 Listen to him, right? 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:44.480 Listen to my son. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:45.840 Right? 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:51.120 They they knew that God has spoken to them. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:54.480 They know that God has spoken to them as a nation. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:55.120 How? 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.759 Well, through the law, right? 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:05.039 He spoke down through the Ten Commandments and the law that we see you know balked out in greater detail earlier in the first five books of the Bible. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:06.960 And and that's why Moses is there. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:10.240 Moses is a representation of the law. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:13.120 How else has God spoken to his people? 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:14.879 Well, through the prophets, right? 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:16.879 Through the prophets as well, after the law. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:24.960 And Elijah, his presence there in this moment is the representation of uh of the prophets. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:32.639 Okay, now God is saying, Hey, listen, I have spoken to you through the law, I've spoken to you through the through the prophets. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:33.679 Now, guess what? 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.879 I'm speaking to you through the Son. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:37.519 Right? 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:43.039 The Son, Jesus Christ, is the culmination of the law and the prophets. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:50.799 And he has the and his authority is to be listened to, as the Father says here, earnestly, intently. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:16:00.480 All of this punctuated, of course, by this heavy display of uh of God's Christ's glory being, you know, shining, that these guys are clearly rocked by. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:13.759 It's one of those moments that should have inspired awe and fear and this urge and this desire to obey every single word that that comes out of his mouth. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:18.399 And listen, I believe that some of that was their response. 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:19.840 I mean, how could it not be, right? 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:28.240 In this moment, but but interestingly enough, look where they get to really quickly in terms of the whole obeying Jesus thing. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:29.519 Verse 9, take a look. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.080 It says, as as they were coming down from the mountain. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:33.840 So we're not talking like years later. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:35.440 We're talking in the moments that followed. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:43.120 As they're coming down from the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:50.960 Now, interesting to note here, this is the final time that Jesus would command them to silence, showing that that things are getting real here, right? 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:58.720 And all of these things that I have told you to be quiet about, all of these things are coming out and they're they're gonna be revealed and on display uh publicly. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:04.319 And it's the only time that he's told them um that when these things would come about. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:06.319 He says, after the resurrection. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:10.400 So then in verse 10, it says that they kept the matter to themselves. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:13.039 But here's the word, think about this questioning. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:16.960 Okay, they kept it to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:18.079 We'll come back to that in a sec. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:25.920 In verse 11, it says, And they asked him, Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:30.640 And he said to them, Elijah does come first to restore all things. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:36.960 And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should, what does it say, suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:45.519 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.400 Now, again, back to verse 10 there, where it talks about their questioning of him. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:56.480 Now, the Greek really conveys the intent of these words a little bit better than the English does, actually. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:04.319 Okay, they these guys they weren't simply, you know, kind of like, I'm I'm at a loss here, and I'm and I'm wondering, and I would love to, you know, have some of the blanks filled in. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:06.960 I wonder what this what this really means here. 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:09.839 No, they they they've been taught about the resurrection. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:18.319 Christ has already taught them, even in chapter 8, that that he is is coming, he is he is gonna be dying, he is gonna be rising again in three days. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:23.039 Now they didn't have it all put together, but he has been teaching this all already. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:29.759 Okay, the issue here is not that they you know simply didn't understand from a knowledge standpoint, it's that they were resisting it. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:43.599 They had just seen Christ's glory revealed very clearly, very powerfully on Mount Hermon, yet they blindly, and you and you could even say stubbornly refused to listen to him. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:46.960 Right, as God, of course, had commanded them to. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:54.000 They could not accept that that Jesus came as a as a suffering servant. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:19:01.519 And yet this is what Jesus continues to over and over again press into them. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:08.079 And of course, we see all of that talk of Elijah there, and you know, we might be wondering what that's all about. 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:12.079 Well, this is really referring to a prophecy that we see in the book of Malachi. 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:19.759 In Malachi chapter 4, uh verses 5 and 6, it talks about how uh Elijah is coming. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:20.160 Right? 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:21.359 Elijah is coming. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:27.440 Now, Jesus helps us know what this is all about in in Luke's gospel in chapter 1, verse 17. 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:31.119 Jesus makes it really clear that this is referring to John the Baptist. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:42.079 And he says that that John the Baptist came in the in the spirit or power of Elijah, okay, to to prepare the way of uh of Christ. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:46.799 And and he says that John is going to suffer, which of course we know that he did. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:50.960 He was executed, just like Jesus ultimately would be. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:56.000 Again, something that the disciples, they they couldn't, they couldn't accept it. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:01.200 To the point of that the sense here is disobedience over these things. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:05.039 Okay, but God has, again, he's making it so crystal clear, right? 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:10.720 That that Christ has the authority to command obedience, right? 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:16.319 And his glory revealed, which was happening in that moment, compels us to it. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:18.480 Okay, that's that's the truth. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:42.480 So listen, as you and I are thinking about these things and we're observing what's happening in this text, in this scripture, and and the disciples' response to all of this and consider our own obedience to Jesus, uh, or maybe our lack thereof, I think it's really good for us to ask the question uh what's holding me back? 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:47.200 What's holding me back from obeying Christ in all things? 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:56.079 And so if you like jotting things down, we've got uh three possibilities here that uh might be one or more of these might be true uh in your life. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:57.279 What's holding me back here? 00:20:57.359 --> 00:20:58.240 Well, how about this one? 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.759 Not putting myself in the position to see his glory. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:02.319 Right? 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:06.480 You're wondering why why am I not why am I not obeying the Lord in all things? 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:08.480 Why is my obedience stale? 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:15.599 Why is my obedience lack heart, uh heart motive and desire to do this because of what Christ has done for me? 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:20.480 Well, well, straight up, maybe you're not putting yourself in the right paths for uh to see God's glory. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:23.039 Maybe it's as simple as I never read the Bible. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:29.920 Well, don't be surprised then if you're not experiencing God's gl experiencing God's glory showing up in your life. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:30.880 Right? 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:36.000 And maybe for for you it's it's just inconsistency in those things. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:43.119 Maybe it's inconsistency in in church attendance, maybe it's inconsistency in in small group. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:52.799 And you're like, I I come once in a while, I come when it's convenient, but you know, maybe all of that on earth, kind of where your heart is at and all of those things. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:59.759 And maybe you find yourself frustrated or or worse, you're kind of blind to the fact that I'm not really seeing Christ's glory in my life in a big way. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.480 But maybe it's because you're not putting yourself in the path. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:07.680 Like showing up to church puts you in the path for that. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:13.519 Or or opening up the scriptures puts you in the path to see Christ for who he is. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:19.839 Maybe for part a part of it for you is you're not intentionally preparing your heart for those moments. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:23.039 You open the Bible and you just read it and you close it and you move on. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:24.319 You forget what you just read. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:28.079 You're not praying, Lord, would you would you open my eyes to see these things? 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:29.920 Would you give me a heart for these things? 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:38.319 Maybe, maybe you're coming to church or you're coming to a small group, whatever it might be, and you haven't prepared your heart for what's supposed to take place there. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:43.920 And so you walk in like ultra cold and it takes me three or four songs to start singing and then it's over. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:46.400 And we've talked about this kind of thing before. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:49.279 You're not preparing your heart for this. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:57.759 But a lot of you would know, like we send out the you know, a greeting every Thursday where we talk about, hey, this is where the sermon's going on on Sunday. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:07.359 This is the passage, this is the kind of the big idea that we're gonna be uh uh wrestling with, and it's an opportunity for you to take that, to open up the Bible and to kind of get your heart ready in prayer. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:19.279 Lord, pray, Lord, would you prepare me for this, for what's gonna take place, or that I would see more of your glory at church, Lord, that you would pour your glory out in our time together as a church or as a small group. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:30.880 Maybe for you, and I think it's that time again, when it comes to you know that heart preparation, maybe it's just simply I'm I'm showing up late for church all the time. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:35.039 And let's be honest, we've got that itis in our church, right? 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:41.200 Some of us showing up five minutes, ten minutes, like honestly, sometimes 40 minutes late for church. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:47.839 No, I'm not talking about the one-off tire fire that happens in our life where you know we can't make it because something happens. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:53.200 And I understand that sometimes like the printer for you know, print out name tags that harvest kids is not working. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:54.960 And so that, you know, that causes us to be late. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:56.240 I'm not talking about all of those things. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:57.759 Sometimes those things do happen. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.240 But for some of us, it's like a chronic thing. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:06.960 And we're showing up late because we want to sit in the back or whatever, but we're we're coming in so ice cold. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:10.000 And we wonder why is there not more rapid growth happening? 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:12.880 Why am I not more fired up about the Lord and about obedience? 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:17.839 Because I'm not preparing myself for this, I'm not putting myself in the proper paths to see all of this thing happen. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:20.880 Remember, as we see Christ's glory, we will obey. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:22.480 We'll want to. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:24.880 It won't be like forcing us, this is the worst. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:25.519 I don't really want it. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:26.160 It won't be like that. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.759 We'll be like, I'm all in. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.680 Hey, what's holding me back from obeying Christ in all things? 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:32.160 How about this one? 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:34.720 Maybe it's just a lack of understanding or knowledge. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:38.400 There's nothing necessarily wrong with with this. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.960 If this if this is where you at, maybe you're maybe you're new. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:42.640 Okay, maybe you're a brand new Christian. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:44.240 Maybe you're maybe you're not even a Christian. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:49.119 You're kind of searching and you're wondering and you're you're trying to figure some of these things out, and that's that's so cool there. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:54.319 And I would I would encourage you, though, if you know, to get a Bible and start reading it and start start studying. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:25:02.319 Maybe it's getting a study Bible where there, you know, there are parts down at the bottom there that can kind of help explain what some of these verses mean and and and tie these things together for you. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:14.559 It's maybe getting some kind of uh commentary that helps you walk through the book of Mark as we're going through this together and can supplement and give you some understanding and some knowledge. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:17.680 Maybe for you, you're just like, I don't know how I'm supposed to obey the Lord. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:27.599 It's a lack of uh a lack of knowledge, and and that's okay, but but dig in, start to grow, start to learn, start to understand what the Lord would expect of you. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:34.319 There's all kinds of practical things you can put in place in your life so that you'll learn and understand how we're to obey. 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:37.039 Maybe it's sermon podcasts that you can listen to through the week. 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:42.240 There's all kinds of apps on your phone that can help you, help you study God's word. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:45.839 I've heard people say before, well, I'm just not much of a reader. 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:51.440 A lot of us, I think, when we say that, we just need to kind of like, can I just be a little bit firm with you? 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:53.119 Grow up and read. 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:53.680 Right? 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:54.799 Just do it. 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:55.200 Right? 00:25:55.279 --> 00:26:03.119 And if you're like, no, I I physically like I can't read very well, I would say, well, you there there's some amazing apps, some Bible apps where you could actually turn it on and listen to the audio of that. 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:04.720 And the guy's even got like a British voice. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:05.279 It's amazing. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:06.960 It's like the greatest thing ever, listening to that. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:11.839 You can plug that in your car and listen to tons of scripture every single day. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.680 There's different ways you can get creative so you can grow in your knowledge and understanding. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:17.920 That'll encourage you to obey. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:19.440 Absolutely, it will. 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:20.400 How about this one? 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:22.720 What's holding me back from obeying Christ in all things? 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:26.880 Maybe it's just this: a stiff-necked refusal to bow to his authority. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:33.039 A lot of us here, it's not the uh the issue is not that we don't know enough, it's just that we're not obeying what we do know. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:33.839 Right? 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:47.519 And we, in our pride, we've kind of rounded the corners of that and we've justified where we're at, and we tried to, you know, pretty up that ugly picture and and and know, well, it's more about what I went, you know, whatever, however it might be for you. 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:50.880 No, it's just it's it's it's refusal. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:53.200 You know what God expects of you. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:00.160 Don't be stiff-necked like we saw the Lord tell uh called the Israelites last week. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:02.559 So listen, if that's you, see it. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:06.160 Don't refuse to see it, don't refuse to face it. 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:08.799 Face it head on, repent of it, turn from it. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.319 If you're like, yeah, repentance is is easier said than done, trust me, I get it. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:17.440 Pray that the Lord would would give you a heart to repent, that he would grant you repentance. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:27.759 Pray that the Spirit of God would transform you and give you a desire to obey him in all these different ways that are very difficult for us in our pride and in our flesh. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:37.680 But you see how all of these things and more, this is why we pray, and this is why we as a church encourage you to pray for for more of his glory here. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:39.519 This is what we want to see. 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:52.720 Because the more that we see it, the more that you and I are rocked by it, it overrides our stubborn flesh, it overrides the you know, the bad you know, excuses that we've got, and it compels our obedience, right? 00:27:52.960 --> 00:28:04.000 Which, as we're sanctified, becomes more and more willing and more and more joyful and more and more thorough, reaching to all of those dark corners and areas of our heart and our life. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:11.759 As I'm rocked by Christ's glory, I'll be compelled to obey every word he says. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:13.039 And then here's the second one. 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:17.519 I'll see my faith grow from small to great, from small to great. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:25.440 Now pick it up in chapter 9, verses 14 here, and we're gonna read down to uh verse 29. 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:36.720 So they're coming down off the mountain, verse 14 says, When they came, um, and when they came to the disciples, so they meet up with the rest of them, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:47.920 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and they ran up to him and greeted him, and asked them, and he asked them, What are you arguing about with them? 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:56.480 And and someone from the crowd answered him, Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:58.799 So he can't speak, he's got a demon. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:06.160 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:09.920 So this is obviously a pretty awful situation. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:15.839 And then he says, So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:23.839 Verse 19, and he answered them, O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you, and how long am I to bear with you? 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:25.200 Bring him to me. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:35.359 And they brought the boy to him, and when the spirit saw him, that's Jesus, it immediately convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:38.559 And Jesus asked the father, How long has this been happening to him? 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:40.559 And he said, From childhood. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:46.160 And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:51.359 But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:57.279 And Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible for one who believes. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:02.960 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelief. 00:30:03.680 --> 00:30:05.839 Well, you better believe, we'll come back to that. 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:19.839 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You mute and deaf spirit, apparently he couldn't hear either, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:27.759 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's dead. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:32.559 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted it up, and he arose. 00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:40.799 And when they had entered the house, the disciples asked him privately, so it's just the just the disciples with Jesus again. 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:44.160 They asked, Why could we, why could we not cast it out? 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:49.680 And he said to them, This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. 00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:59.759 Now, one of the things that has, I think, so struck me throughout the gospel of Mark is just the sheer volume of this pattern. 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:00.480 You ready for this? 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:01.200 Have you seen this? 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:04.480 Okay, first of all, Jesus does something awesome, right? 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:06.079 He does something incredible. 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:12.480 Uh, the disciples, okay, number two, the disciples in the crowd are blown away by it, right? 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:14.000 We we see that for sure. 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:15.279 And then what happens? 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:20.880 They respond in a completely, you know, faithless way in the moments that follow. 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:21.359 Right? 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:22.319 Do you see that pattern? 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:25.039 We've seen it over and over uh again. 00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:31.440 Almost as though the the amazing thing that Jesus just did didn't happen at all. 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:34.160 It's like he just fed a crowd of 5,000. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.640 Now you're wondering how he's gonna do it with 4,000, right? 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:41.119 Like we see this happen over and over and over again. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:49.279 But are you noticing here at the same time that the disciples are slowly starting to get it? 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:49.680 Right? 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:52.880 The again, it's the dimmer switch a little bit here that's happening here. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:55.279 They're growing in this uh just a bit. 00:31:55.359 --> 00:32:01.200 And I mean, you can see it here in the in the father of this young boy's response. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:02.240 I said we'd get back to it. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:05.599 He says, I believe, help my unbelief. 00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:08.480 It's almost like he contradicts himself, but he but he's not. 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:26.799 He's he's acknowledging, okay, that that he has, I have some faith, okay, but but he's acknowledging that his faith is is small, it's it's it's insufficient, it it doesn't feel big, it doesn't feel great enough to overcome his doubts. 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:34.880 And so we ask the Lord for greater faith, for for deeper faith to overcome his unbelief. 00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:38.160 I mean, man, that that resonates so much with me. 00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:39.440 Does it resonate with you? 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:39.839 Right? 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:45.359 Is this how you feel sometimes in your in your own doubts and in your own fears? 00:32:45.759 --> 00:33:18.720 Or even as you face the idolatry that we were beginning to expose a little bit just last week, and and even as you're you know, you're getting rocked by by glory and and grace, it's amazing in this horrifying kind of way to realize that you and I we still lack the necessary depth of faith required to truly believe that Christ can and will do what he says he can and will do. 00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:29.039 But I think what the gospel of Mark has shown us and continues to show us is that's just quite simply the reality of our sanctification. 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:29.680 Right? 00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:30.400 It is. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:51.759 And so I think rather than despair about all of these things and and kind of smack ourselves awake about, you know, idiot, why why don't you, you know, the Lord was just doing some great things in your life like three days ago, and now you're now you're so disinterested and you don't care, and we kind of kick ourselves when we're down, and sometimes we can be hard on ourselves and all of that. 00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:55.759 I I don't I don't know that we necessarily need to be. 00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:02.880 I think, instead, I think we just need to accept that this is reality. 00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:03.680 Right? 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:17.760 We're slow to learn this, and and rather than despair or get angry about how painfully slow we are to grasp these things, instead, let's let's pull a page out of Paul's book in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:20.400 It says we can boast in our weaknesses. 00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:20.960 Right? 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:22.559 You and I are incredibly weak. 00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:23.920 We want to be strong, we're not. 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:25.760 Let's boast in our weaknesses instead. 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:26.239 Why? 00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:29.679 So that the power of Christ rests on us. 00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:35.199 The more we understand that, the more we pray for that, the more Christ's glory is going to be poured out. 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:43.840 Let's let's revel in the fact that God's grace is sufficient for us in our weakness, that his power is made perfect in our weakness. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:45.360 Let's do that instead. 00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:58.400 You know, as you and I, as we you know, understand, we start to peel back the layers of what's really going in our heart and we we see that it's ugly there, okay, instead of this despairing thing, let's be humbled by it and recognize that God's grace abounds. 00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:03.440 And he continues to pour out his spirit on us and show up in power and glory in our lives. 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:05.119 And he does this in our church. 00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:06.960 And listen, as he does that, guess what? 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:08.480 That's how we grow. 00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:18.320 From faith being kind of small and and and be and being weak and kind of sad and painfully shallow at times to great. 00:35:18.559 --> 00:35:18.800 Right? 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:24.880 So it's a rock solid, to able to uh move mountains type of faith. 00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:31.280