SPEAKER_00: Alrighty, I'm gonna pray in just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: And there's lots of seats on the front row.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're in the back and you hate the being a back row Baptist and you want to move up front, uh love to have you.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got a Bible, open up to Mark chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 9, let me pray while you turn there.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, thank you for this church.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the people that are sitting here this morning listening to you.
SPEAKER_00: Uh people online listening, speak through me as a vessel for your glory, for our good.
SPEAKER_00: We pray all this in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this while you turn there.
SPEAKER_00: Where in life are you suffering the most right now?
SPEAKER_00: Uh what's the hardest burden maybe that you're having to bear?
SPEAKER_00: Whether that's more physical and tangible, something health-related, or maybe it's more spiritual and intangible, but still heavy on your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's a situation where you're having to wait for something and there seems to be no end in sight, no light at the end of the tunnel.
SPEAKER_00: You know, or maybe you're in one of those situations you're like, I think there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but I think it's a train that's about to run me over.
SPEAKER_00: That's what it feels like.
SPEAKER_00: Even our best days on planet Earth, there's hardening, there's hardship, there's pain.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, none of none of us living on planet earth today can say everything is perfect, everything is right.
SPEAKER_00: There's always a problem.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to look at a passage of scripture that I think helps us understand how to respond to those types of situations.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the context is this uh we're basically at the turning point of Mark.
SPEAKER_00: Last week, we kind of hit the middle part.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Jesus is trying to concentrate his time to spend more and more focused time with the 12, training them.
SPEAKER_00: And the main lesson number one was this I am the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: And it seems like they have gotten that.
SPEAKER_00: So now, in a sense, he is shifting into lesson number two, which is what kind of Messiah am I?
SPEAKER_00: Let me tear down all of your preconceived notions about who the Messiah was supposed to be, what he was supposed to do, and who I really am.
SPEAKER_00: And in some sense, what we're gonna see Jesus doing is he is simultaneously raising their conception of the anointed one that was supposed to come, but also lowering their expectation of what that man was going to have to do, what he was gonna have to suffer.
SPEAKER_00: And guys, their circuits had already been blown because as soon as Peter and the other 12 got it right, you're the Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Good job, you got it, and now let me explain to you, lesson two, I've got to die.
SPEAKER_00: And they they had they had no concept of a Messiah that would die.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna pick up right after that conversation, Mark chapter 9, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.
SPEAKER_00: 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 his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.
SPEAKER_00: And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good that we are here.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: This is my beloved son, listen to him.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly looking around, they no longer saw anyone but with them, but Jesus only.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.
SPEAKER_00: And they asked him, Why did the scribes say that Elijah must come?
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, Elijah does come first to restore all things.
SPEAKER_00: And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
SPEAKER_00: But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus says to the twelve, and probably the crowds were still there, some of you, before you die, you're gonna see God's kingdom start to come in power on earth.
SPEAKER_00: What you pray for in the Lord's Prayer, you're gonna get to taste some of it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is very interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this shows up in Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the exact same order.
SPEAKER_00: This teaching, Jesus says that, then the transfiguration happens that we're about to look at.
SPEAKER_00: But commentators really debate what exactly did Jesus mean.
SPEAKER_00: And some people say, well, the obvious thing is he's talking about the transfiguration that we're about to see.
SPEAKER_00: And other people say, no, it couldn't mean just that.
SPEAKER_00: It must mean more.
SPEAKER_00: It might, it maybe it refers to the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it refers to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out and Peter preached and 3,000 were saved.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it refers to the global expansion of the church that happened in the first few decades.
SPEAKER_00: And probably he means all of that.
SPEAKER_00: And then he takes the three up on the mountain to say, I'm going to give you three a little foretaste of glory divine, of who I am and what's coming.
SPEAKER_00: So he takes them up onto the mountain and he is transfigured.
SPEAKER_00: And literally, it's like he's a normal human man based on what you could see or touch.
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, in the Old Testament, sometimes it talks about God shows up and it's like a cloud or fire.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the Jews would talk about that as it's the Shekinah glory.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there was this luminous, bright display, and it's like all of a sudden that is radiating out of Jesus' body and clothes.
SPEAKER_00: And it's supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, I don't care how good laundry detergent you have, you could not get anything this white.
SPEAKER_00: It's like the sunshine started blazing right in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: This is glorious miracle.
SPEAKER_00: And then Moses and Elijah show up and are talking with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny, I used to teach a uh Christology class in a seminary, and a question I would always get on this passage would be this How do these guys know that this was Moses and Elijah?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: It's not like you had pictures back then.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Moses looks like, big beard.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: We don't know for sure.
SPEAKER_00: Probably they were overhearing the conversation.
SPEAKER_00: So based on what the conversation was saying, maybe even Jesus called them by name.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it was afterwards.
SPEAKER_00: They were like, Who are those guys?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus explained to them, Moses and Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: But Moses and Elijah physically show up standing there and just having a conversation with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now this is weird.
SPEAKER_00: Why these two?
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times when Jewish people wanted to refer to the Old Testament, the way they would do it, the shorthand was Moses and the prophets.
SPEAKER_00: Because Moses wrote the first five books, a lot of the other books were written by prophets.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah, he didn't write anything down that we know of, but he was the greatest of the Jewish prophets.
SPEAKER_00: So that's probably part of it to say, the Old Testament, you know what it was all about?
SPEAKER_00: You know what Moses and all the prophets were writing about?
SPEAKER_00: They're writing about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is what they had planned.
SPEAKER_00: Moses and Elijah were two of the great heroes of the Jewish faith.
SPEAKER_00: They had both had experiences where they had met God on a mountain.
SPEAKER_00: God had come close in a cloud and spoke audibly to Elijah, to Moses.
SPEAKER_00: And now this is happening again with the Lord Jesus Christ sitting there.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Peter, I wonder if any of you have a friend or a kid or yourself that your modus operandi is when in doubt, talk.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Peter's like.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody's talking to Peter.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter just feels like I gotta say something.
SPEAKER_00: So he's like, This is good.
SPEAKER_00: I like this God.
SPEAKER_00: Uh how about I build three tents and we just hang out?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, they're big dogs, they deserve a tent.
SPEAKER_00: The other three of us, we're just happy to be here.
SPEAKER_00: We'll sleep in the grass.
SPEAKER_00: But let's stay here forever.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, what's happening?
SPEAKER_00: This is the greatest of all time mountaintop experience.
SPEAKER_00: You know, people talk about I went to summer camp and had a mountaintop experience.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't trump this one.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter's like, I'd like to stay here forever, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: While he's talking, God the Father shows up in the cloud, the luminous cloud, and God speaks audibly.
SPEAKER_00: Again, he'd done this at the very beginning at Jesus' baptism, said something very simple, this is my beloved son, and he does it again.
SPEAKER_00: And it there's a little bit like, hey, Peter, you need to shut your mouth.
SPEAKER_00: This is the time to be listening, not talking.
SPEAKER_00: And God the Father, again, speaking of Christ, says, This is my one and only unique, very beloved Son.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to him.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what he is trying to teach you and tell you.
SPEAKER_00: They hide their faces.
SPEAKER_00: Later they peek up and notice.
SPEAKER_00: Cloud is gone, Elijah's gone, Moses is gone, the glory is gone.
SPEAKER_00: And there's this 30-something-year-old Jewish carpenter still standing there.
SPEAKER_00: Looks very normal again.
SPEAKER_00: They start walking down the mountain.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, Hey guys, don't tell anybody about this one until I rise from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: You know, and all through the gospel mark up this point, he's been telling people, don't tell anybody, and basically nobody listens to him.
SPEAKER_00: But it's like this time they get it.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, Yeah, we're not talking about this one.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe because, like, nobody believes us anyway.
SPEAKER_00: We got no proof.
SPEAKER_00: But it does say they hang on to this phrase until after you rise from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: What in the world does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: Again, they had no conception for it.
SPEAKER_00: So they're kind of debating it, but they're reading good.
SPEAKER_00: They're wrestling with what they knew about the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, we know the scribes teach there's this passage right in Malachi.
SPEAKER_00: You can go look at it later if you want to.
SPEAKER_00: Malachi chapter 4, verses 5 and 6.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, where the heck is Malachi?
SPEAKER_00: Go to Matthew and just go backwards, and you're in Malachi, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Malachi was the last prophet to preach and write something down before about 430 years of silence before John the Baptist came on the scene.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the very last things Malachi said is, before the Messiah comes, Elijah will come again.
SPEAKER_00: And so they're like, hey, we thought you were the Messiah, and we just saw Elijah, but we thought Elijah was supposed to come first.
SPEAKER_00: So they're doing that.
SPEAKER_00: They're wrestling with the scripture, they're talking to Jesus, they're asking questions, and Jesus says, Well, you're right, Elijah is supposed to come first.
SPEAKER_00: And he's referring to John the Baptist, who was a second type.
SPEAKER_00: It's not Elijah reincarnated or anything weird like that.
SPEAKER_00: It's just John the Baptist had a very similar ministry to Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: Now think about it with me for a second.
SPEAKER_00: If you remember the story of Elijah, Israel was basically apostate.
SPEAKER_00: You had a wicked king, a wicked queen, Ahab and Jezebel, and you had all these false prophets in Israel that are dominating, telling people to worship this false God called Baal.
SPEAKER_00: And Elijah has the showdown on the mountain.
SPEAKER_00: You remember this one?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, Baal prophets, all 450 of you.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all get over there and cry and scream, cut yourself, do whatever you want to do, and see if your God will answer by fire.
SPEAKER_00: And then little old me, all by myself, I'll just pray one prayer to Yahweh, and the fire will fall.
SPEAKER_00: And it does.
SPEAKER_00: And all the people, seemingly all the nation of Israel that had come out to watch this showdown, wouldn't you, if you'd heard this was going on?
SPEAKER_00: They fall down and they say, The Lord, He is God.
SPEAKER_00: Yahweh, He is the only one.
SPEAKER_00: There's a revival.
SPEAKER_00: Then they slaughter all the false prophets.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you get to do that kind of stuff in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: But do you remember this?
SPEAKER_00: Even when that happened, and listen, there had been no rain.
SPEAKER_00: There had been a drought for three and a half years in the Old Testament in the nation of Israel because Elijah had said, Ahab, Jezebel, y'all are so wicked, I'm shutting the whole economy down.
SPEAKER_00: And then after that, he says, It's gonna rain again.
SPEAKER_00: Ahab and Jezebel, the leaders, they still didn't believe.
SPEAKER_00: They still wanted to kill Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: And Elijah ran up on the mountain to talk to God because he was depressed and he's like, I'm just ready to die.
SPEAKER_00: Now, John the Baptist, very similar.
SPEAKER_00: Think about the similarities between Elijah and John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: John the Baptist comes on the scene.
SPEAKER_00: We saw this in Mark chapter 1, and he's preaching this like everybody from Judea was coming out to him and getting baptized and repenting.
SPEAKER_00: That was a national revival.
SPEAKER_00: But Herod, the king of the Jews, he didn't repent.
SPEAKER_00: Herodias, his wife, certainly didn't repent.
SPEAKER_00: They threw old John the Baptist in the dungeon.
SPEAKER_00: And he got, remember, John the Baptist had moments of doubt where he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to say, Are you really the one?
SPEAKER_00: Because I mean the whole revival bit was really cool.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that I got to lead that.
SPEAKER_00: The baptism, the dove, the voice, loved all that.
SPEAKER_00: This whole dying in a dungeon, I didn't know I was signing up for that.
SPEAKER_00: And he gets his head chopped off.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, guys, yeah, Elijah came, John the Baptist, and look what happened to him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what in the world is going on here?
SPEAKER_00: First thing is this life is a pattern of pain and power.
SPEAKER_00: Pain and power.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
SPEAKER_00: All human beings are created in the image of God.
SPEAKER_00: There is a sense of power.
SPEAKER_00: You may feel like the smallest, weakest, most vulnerable person sitting in this congregation this morning.
SPEAKER_00: But you are made in the image of God.
SPEAKER_00: There is power, there is significance.
SPEAKER_00: You are important.
SPEAKER_00: Something about you and your life and your body shows the glory of the one true God.
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: And yet we all, the happiest, the healthiest person, the richest person sitting in this room right now, we all got some kind of pain, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's a mixture.
SPEAKER_00: That is the world we live in.
SPEAKER_00: You can't get away from it.
SPEAKER_00: I heard John Piper one time, he referred to America as the Disneyland of the universe.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what he meant.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, basically, we we have so many blessings, so much prosperity, so much protection, so much health care, and on and on.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, that's not a bad thing.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: Don't feel guilty, feel glad.
SPEAKER_00: But here is the danger.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the danger.
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to get addicted to all this stuff, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: And to start to feel kind of entitled.
SPEAKER_00: And when some of them get taken away from us providentially, to get really angry.
SPEAKER_00: That's the danger.
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy the blessings of God when you have them, but don't be shocked when they're taken away.
SPEAKER_00: Guys, again, to some degree, we are always experiencing some of the goodness from God and some of the hardship of this life.
SPEAKER_00: And we have a choice in how we respond.
SPEAKER_00: I can choose to focus more on good things and thus be grateful to God, and I probably will have a glad, happy heart.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's a lot of secular psychologists that write about this.
SPEAKER_00: Just be thankful.
SPEAKER_00: Now they may not know to be thankful to, but focusing on the real blessings you have in your life, it will lead to more happiness.
SPEAKER_00: But we all have bad things.
SPEAKER_00: And if we choose to focus more on the bad things and the hard things in our life and become bitter, you probably are gonna be an angry person.
SPEAKER_00: And not many people are gonna like you, and you're probably not gonna like yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Much better to say, you know what, I may have 10 bad things, I may only have three good things right now.
SPEAKER_00: Focus on those, be glad, rejoice in them.
SPEAKER_00: Second thing I'd say is this experiences of glory in this life are short-lived.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are times where Jesus will bless his people in unusual ways.
SPEAKER_00: And when you get to experience some of those blessings in this life, guys, enjoy it.
SPEAKER_00: Drink them in deeply.
SPEAKER_00: God is such a kind, tender, patient, understanding, perfect Father.
SPEAKER_00: He loves to give good gifts to his kids, and we should enjoy them.
SPEAKER_00: But what are the purposes of experiences like this?
SPEAKER_00: Blessings to help us know and love him more and then to prepare and sustain us for the coming hardship.
SPEAKER_00: Because you may be on the mountaintop right now, as long as you're on planet Earth, it's just a matter of time before you're back in the valley.
SPEAKER_00: So drink in deeply whatever good things God may be doing for you, with you.
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy them so that when you might get into a future dark night of the soul, you're prepared to keep trusting Him, even when it seems like everything around you is falling apart because of what you saw, what you heard in the good times.
SPEAKER_00: Don't grasp on to them, don't demand them, but when you have them, enjoy them.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: God loves to do this.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, guys, this can happen.
SPEAKER_00: You sitting in your house at 5 a.m., drinking your coffee, reading your Bible, and sometimes it's like, today was different than most days.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, God showed up.
SPEAKER_00: I felt close to God.
SPEAKER_00: I feel like the spiritual taste buds of my heart were tasting and seeing something, glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: It might be you driving down the highway and there's a beautiful sunset, and I don't know, your favorite worship song comes on, you're listening to the corner room, and it's all of a sudden you're like, man, I felt like, I mean, I'm a Presbyterian, but I felt like the Holy Spirit was in the car with me.
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that happens sometimes on Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you come and take communion, and in a special way, there's a sense of God drawing near.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, pray for those experiences.
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy those experiences.
SPEAKER_00: Feed off of those experiences.
SPEAKER_00: But don't expect and demand that those experiences always last.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're just not going to in this life.
SPEAKER_00: Third thing.
SPEAKER_00: The way to thrive in the tension of life is through listening to God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Now here's where I really want us to really think together for just a second, okay?
SPEAKER_00: This is easier said than done.
SPEAKER_00: But we all, especially in the hard times of life, and I would also say in the boring and mundane times of life, those might be the most dangerous times of life for some of us.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Because when life is really maybe hard and painful and we can feel assaulted, sometimes it forces us to cling deeply to Christ and His Word, does it not?
SPEAKER_00: But what about when I'm not on a mountaintop experience and I'm not in the valley in the dark night, so I'm just in normal, everyday, boring, mundane, change diapers, wash dishes, go to work, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_00: It's very easy to get bored and numb and then to get into sin.
SPEAKER_00: And so in those times, I have to be doing what the disciples were doing listening, reading, thinking, wrestling with the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you are like, well, they didn't have a Bible, they weren't reading.
SPEAKER_00: What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00: Keep your finger here, we're coming back, but flip over near the end of the New Testament to 2 Peter.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Peter chapter 1.
SPEAKER_00: And while you turn there, I want you to think about this.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine if God spoke to you audibly.
SPEAKER_00: Again, you're like, I don't believe in that.
SPEAKER_00: Well, he did it anyway.
SPEAKER_00: He spoke to you audibly.
SPEAKER_00: He said, tomorrow morning at 3:30 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: in your living room, Jesus Christ is going to make a personal appearance.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to bring Moses and Elijah with him just for kicks and giggles.
SPEAKER_00: God the Father will make an appearance.
SPEAKER_00: You can't look at him, but cloud, glory, audible voice.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone think you'd miss that one?
SPEAKER_00: You're like, I'm a night owl, you know, three thirds.
SPEAKER_00: I don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: I think he might make an exception.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's this new Netflix show out.
SPEAKER_00: Me and my wife are binging it right now.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, can we postpone this to next?
SPEAKER_00: Let me get.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing would stand in your way.
SPEAKER_00: I want us to see, Peter, about 30 plus years later, probably right before he's gonna get crucified upside down, because he wouldn't quit preaching about this Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what he says when he thinks back on that experience three plus decades later.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: 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 to his majesty.
SPEAKER_00: For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
SPEAKER_00: We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.
SPEAKER_00: So he's talking about this experience.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the next verse.
SPEAKER_00: And we have something more sure.
SPEAKER_00: Guys, if you underline your Bible, underline that phrase.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't underline your Bible, throw it away, get a new one that you can underline in.
SPEAKER_00: And we have something more sure, the prophetic word to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: You hear what Peter's saying?
SPEAKER_00: If I told you this and didn't show you a verse, you should think I was crazy.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, we were on the mountain with Jesus and saw him glorified and heard the audible voice of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: It was awesome.
SPEAKER_00: I'm an eyewitness, I'm telling you.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: The prophetic word is more trustworthy than that supernatural experience.
SPEAKER_00: Now listen, I don't get up at 3:30 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: and I think probably most people that do, unless you have a really good reason, you're crazy.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to say that, but what I'm just trying to say, guys, every single Christian, what a privilege it is to have the Word of God in our own language and so accessible.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter says, this is more mature than an amazing, almost unbelievable supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: Every day, guys, we should be reading and wanting to commune with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in His Word.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what's going to get us through the good times, the bad times, the hard times, and the mundane times.
SPEAKER_00: Now, very, very practically, why is this so important?
SPEAKER_00: Why is this so important?
SPEAKER_00: Because all of us, myself included, we don't fully understand God yet.
SPEAKER_00: We don't fully understand Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: We don't fully understand the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care how many seminary degrees you got, we all still have some preconceived notions.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this quote by Tim Keller.
SPEAKER_00: It's a little bit long, but it's really good.
SPEAKER_00: Only relentless teaching on Jesus' part is going to make any dent in the prejudices of the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: They have a grid for how God's salvation will work.
SPEAKER_00: And no matter what he tells them, they listen to it through this grid.
SPEAKER_00: They discard or simply miss whatever Jesus says that doesn't fit into it.
SPEAKER_00: They are not truly listening to him.
SPEAKER_00: This means that we must not think that we have truly listened to Jesus just because we've acknowledged the principle of his authority.
SPEAKER_00: We must patiently study and listen to his teaching, always assuming that we are not getting it all.
SPEAKER_00: Every time you come to church, every time you go to Bible study, every time you read the Bible, even if you're the godliest person in the room and you're like, I've been doing this for 65 years, there's more for you.
SPEAKER_00: And you say, Lord, if I have any wrong preconceived notions, tear them down, help me get it.
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you a very practical uh illustration.
SPEAKER_00: I think you'll understand.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this this is a true story.
SPEAKER_00: Two of my friends, um, I'm gonna call one of them Ken, one of them Bob, older than me with campus outreach, and uh came through college together, good friends.
SPEAKER_00: They both go on staff with campus outreach, work together, and one of them moved to Brazil to start a brand new work.
SPEAKER_00: There was no campus outreach in Brazil, and he went down there and started a thing, Campus Outreach Brazil.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and one of his great friends, Bob, stayed here in America, was a national leader in America, and Bob was one of these guys that kind of had the view of missionaries like, hey, when you go to be a missionary, you pack your clothes in a coffin, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because you're only coming home when you're dead.
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of the way Bob fought.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Ken didn't necessarily think that way.
SPEAKER_00: Ken's in Brazil, I don't know, decade long or everything's going great.
SPEAKER_00: And at some point he starts told me, coming back home.
SPEAKER_00: Still work in ministry, but be back in America for various reasons.
SPEAKER_00: And he was talking about it.
SPEAKER_00: I was in meetings with these two guys where he would talk about when he was coming home and the new thing he was going to start.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about it all the time, talking about it very plainly.
SPEAKER_00: Bob will sit there and listen and nod.
SPEAKER_00: And then, like a year later, when it was time for Ken to finally get on a plane and come home, and Bob is like, no, you're just coming home for like six months, right?
SPEAKER_00: To help one of your kids get into college.
SPEAKER_00: And Ken's like, No, I've been, I'm coming home forever.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember just like Bob just sitting there, it's like, Ken, please don't leave Brazil.
SPEAKER_00: And it it would have been funny, it was funny to me a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't laugh out loud, because I was like, dude, I have been sitting in meetings with you every other month for a year now, where Ken has been saying very clearly, I am coming home forever.
SPEAKER_00: I'm done.
SPEAKER_00: But Bob had preconceived notions, he just wasn't getting the message.
SPEAKER_00: You understand?
SPEAKER_00: And we've probably all had examples of something like that happening in our life.
SPEAKER_00: How much more so when we're not talking about somebody's travel arrangements?
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about deep spiritual truths, and the Bible's very clear that there is a satanic being and demons, and their main job is to lie to us and confuse us.
SPEAKER_00: We have got to live in good biblical community, we have got to live in the word, and we have got to have humble hearts that say, God, wherever I have wrong prejudices, preconceived notions, grids that don't conform to the word of God, I'm not done yet.
SPEAKER_00: Please keep working on me.
SPEAKER_00: Speak to me.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes, guys, the way that he speaks the loudest and the clearest.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, C.S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis, for teaching this so well is through pain.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you going through a hard time?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, but maybe, maybe, God is trying to say something to you that you wouldn't hear otherwise.
SPEAKER_00: What is it God is trying to say to you right now?
SPEAKER_00: What grid of yours and mine is he trying to tear down?
SPEAKER_00: Where do I need to listen more carefully, more patiently?
SPEAKER_00: Fourth point.
SPEAKER_00: Experiencing a cross before the crown is always the Christian way.
SPEAKER_00: This may be the biggest lesson for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah was a great leader.
SPEAKER_00: He went through a lot of hardship before he saw the revival, and even afterwards.
SPEAKER_00: John the Baptist, Jesus said about John the Baptist, he was the greatest guy that ever lived up until this moment.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's a pretty big compliment.
SPEAKER_00: Saw a revival, then he got depressed, then he got his head chopped off.
SPEAKER_00: If it can happen to them, what could happen to us?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Elijah and John the Baptist both had ideas about here's the way I think my life's gonna go.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the way I think my ministry's gonna go.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the way I think my career is gonna go.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be one revival, another revival, and just revival, revival, revival.
SPEAKER_00: And the plan was like, no, one revival and then a depression.
SPEAKER_00: One revival, then a depression, then a dungeon, then your head chopped off.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't consult us about how we would like our life stories to go, he gives it to us.
SPEAKER_00: And we have to say, I trust you, like Job.
SPEAKER_00: I've quoted this before because it's so, though he slay me, yet will I trust him.
SPEAKER_00: So we may have a dream way that we wanted our marriage to go, our dating career to go.
SPEAKER_00: Our parenting path to go.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be surprised when God introduces some suffering into that path because that's just his normal way.
SPEAKER_00: Cross before the crown.
SPEAKER_00: One last passage I want us to look at, and we'll be done.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a very familiar passage.
SPEAKER_00: Middle of the New Testament, Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians chapter two, and some of you probably know where I'm going.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians chapter 2, let's start in verse five.
SPEAKER_00: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, God has highly exalted and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: The second person of Trinity is in heaven with all glory, and he laid it aside.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't demand his rights, he didn't grasp his rights.
SPEAKER_00: Didn't just submit to a hard life, to death, the worst kind of death, death on a cross, death under the wrath of God as judgment for sin.
SPEAKER_00: But notice what it says, guys, therefore, verse 9, because he was willing to do that, he's highly exalted.
SPEAKER_00: He's hyper exalted.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you got to be real careful how you preach this because you can accidentally say something blasphemous.
SPEAKER_00: But there's a sense in which now Jesus has double glory.
SPEAKER_00: He never lacked anything, he already had all the glory, but now it's like he has the same glory twice over as our creator and also as our redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: And one day, guys, one glorious day, he's gonna come back in all glory and power and victory and take his people home.
SPEAKER_00: But I love this, there will be a day when every single human being that has ever lived on planet Earth will get on their knees and will say, Jesus Christ is Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The pagans, the atheists, the Buddhists, the Hindus, and everybody in between.
SPEAKER_00: And if you wait till then to do it for the first time, how terrifying it will be.
SPEAKER_00: Don't wait.
SPEAKER_00: Confess him now and have his mercy eternally.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your humility.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that you were willing to lay down your glory, set it aside, your divine rights and privileges for us.
SPEAKER_00: Despise sinners so that one day we can partake of the divine nature?
SPEAKER_00: Peter said that.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your grace.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that by your word and spirit and sacrament that we can experience you and be transformed from one degree of glory to the next.
SPEAKER_00: By your grace in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.