Greg Laurie - Only Jesus!

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There's a story now before I read some Mark chapter nine, when Peter definitely said the wrong thing at the wrong time this happened. When Jesus was transfigured, where he shined like the sun with Moses on one side and Elijah on the other this happened on the mountaintop and then they had to descend down to a valley for a rude awakening. And I think if we would have our, way as Christians we would always, live on the mountaintop we would always be in a state of perpetual blessing in good times and perfect health and no conflict. But those times on the mountaintops prepare us, for what is awaiting in the valley.

And when I say the valley. I'm talking about the hardships of life, the reality of life and we're gonna talk about that now in this text, let's look at Mark chapter nine, I'm reading from the new living translation and here's what we see. Jesus went on his head, tell you the truth. Some standing here right now will not die before they see the kingdom of God, arrive in great power six days later, Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them a high mountain to be alone. As the men watch Jesus was transformed. His clothes became dazzling white far whiter than any earthly bleeds could make them. And then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter explained, it's good that we are here.

Let's make three shelters as memorials. One for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Don't miss this first, He said this because he really didn't know what else to say for they were all terrified. Then a cloud over shouted them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my dearly beloved son listen to him," suddenly when they looked around. Moses and Elijah were gone and they saw only Jesus with them, you might underline those two words only Jesus. And they went back down the mountain and he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept it to themselves but they often ask each other what it meant when he said rising from the dead.

This transfiguration, this moment where Jesus shined like the sun is at a significant point in his earthly ministry it's at the half way, point of a very difficult journey. So Jesus came back to the cradle and he's looking forward to the cross. And he's giving to Peter, James and John a glimpse of glory or a taste of heaven. We could call it a preview of coming attractions. Like here, what he says, verse one, I tell you the truth some standing here right now will not die before they see the kingdom of God, arriving in great power. So the transfiguration was a sneak peek of what is to come for all of humanity.

When Christ returns one day as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, it's sort of like what we used to see when we went to movies remember when we actually went to theaters? And they would play all those trailers for all the upcoming films. And a lot of times the best bits were in the trailer. Sometimes it trailer was better than the film itself. Now there are some trailers set I've seen that I knew were not only bad trailers but the film itself was bad. I don't wanna name names but "Cats" anyway, we'll move on and it's interesting, it's a film about cats. Cause you know, I don't love cats, all that much, I don't hate them. I just think dogs are better. We all know that's true. Don't we? Anyway, moving on.

So here is Jesus being transfigured before them and Moses and Elijah, are right next to him. Now, this is the amazing thing he's shining. So brightly have you ever looked directly at the sun? I highly recommend you do not do that but who would not be amazed at such a display of glory and if that wasn't enough to see shining like that. They have Moses and Elijah show up. But listen to this we think the miracle is Jesus shined like the sun. That's not the miracle, the miracle is Jesus did not shine like the sun all the time. Remember he was God, God walking among us. And when he walked among us, he did not void his deity but he did veil it as the Christmas song says veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, hail incarnate deity, Jesus never ceased to be God. He always was God but he sort of restrained that glory from showing. I mean, it would have been kind of hard to hang out with him if he was shining like the sun all of the time because it's hard to hide light. Isn't it?

Going back to movie theaters. If someone pulls out a cell phone and they're checking their messages or looking at their social media feed when the movie's playing your eyes are immediately drawn from this screen to the phone because you're drawn to light. It's hard to hide light. And Jesus is just shining. Like the sun, he could have done that at will. When they came to arrest him in the garden of Gethsemane, he could just turn on the light and their faces would have melted like that scene from "Raiders of the lost ark". Remember that scene, but no, he didn't do that. He bailed that light from showing.

So the miracle is not that he shined like the sun. The miracle is that he didn't shine like the sun all the time and who is with him it's Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus, now Moses and Elijah occupy unique positions in the old Testament. The Bible speaks of the law and the prophets. You couldn't find a better representative of the law than Moses. The great law-giver who received the 10 commandments from God on Mount Sinai. And you couldn't find a better representative of the prophets than Elijah, the miracle working prophet who called fire down from heaven and stopped it from raining. And they're having a discussion.

Now here's an interesting thing. How did Peter, James and John know it was Moses and Elijah was Moses standing there with 10 commandments and was Elijah calling fire down. I don't think so, did they have little name tags? Like you get when you go to an event and you don't have to write your name? Hi, my name is Moses. No, I don't think so. But somehow Peter, James and John were able to recognize that that was Moses and Elijah on each side of Jesus, which shows that in glory we're gonna recognize each other.

Sometimes people ask the question when we get to heaven will we know one another? And my response is: do you think you'll be more stupid in heaven than you are on earth? You'll know more in heaven, not less. And so the answer is yes you will know one another in heaven. And here's also a reminder that the Bible teaches there will be a bodily resurrection. What does that mean? It means that our body, our personality everything that we are we'll live again, that means that you will see your loved ones who have died in faith and have gotten into heaven before you again but there'll be in a perfect state and you'll pick up where you last left off, when Jesus was crucified. And then he rose again from the dead. He greeted the disciples with the words, peace be with you almost like, Hey guys, how's it going? Whoa! You're Jesus risen. But he sort of picked up where he last left off.

And that's how it will be when you see your loved ones again, because they're not only a part of your past they're also a part of your future. What an amazing sight. This must have been considered this fact. Moses at this moment have been dead for around 1400 years. And Elijah had been gone for around 900 years but here they are together. And they're having a discussion. What were they talking about? Luke's gospel fills in the detail here about their conversation. Luke chapter nine verse 31 says, "They were speaking about his exodus from this world which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem".

I'm sure Moses had quite a few things to say about an exodus because when we go to the book of Exodus, which means departure. It's a story of how God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of the of the bondage of Egypt, through the wilderness, through the parted red sea and into the promise land. And you remember as a part of that story God's judgment came upon the firstborn of Egypt. And the Lord told Moses to instruct the Jewish people to take a lamb, slay the lamb, and apply the blood on the top and on the sides of their doorposts. And God's judgment would pass over. And that is still celebrated today, as the Passover feast.

And so this is all gonna be fulfilled now because everything that Passover lamb was pointing to is fulfilled in Christ, Christ was gonna go die for the sin of the world. He would fulfill the fact that he would be the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world and his blood would be shed for the sin of all of humanity. Remember he brought this topic up earlier at a place called Caesarea Philippi and Peter thought he had lost his mind. And Peter began to rebuke Jesus. When he talked about his impending death saying, that's crazy you can't do that.

But here's someone now that will listen to Jesus and understand it. Moses understood as did Elijah, as they spoke of these incredible things that were about to happen for this is the reason Jesus came. He was born in a manger and we love to celebrate that the beautiful little baby there, but don't forget he came with a purpose and that purpose was to go to the cross and die for the sin of all of the world.

So this is an amazing moment. You don't wanna miss this Jesus shining like the sun Moses and Elijah on each side talking about his crucifixion. And what did the disciples do? What did Peter, James and John do? Well, they basically fell asleep, again Luke fills in a detail here, Luke 9:32 says, Peter and those, who were with them were heavy with sleep. And then when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men that stood with him, by the way that's not the only inappropriate time that Peter James and John fell asleep. They also fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is that moment that Jesus went into the garden and prayed.

And according to Doctor Luke, sweat as it were great drops of blood and some doctors believe that was a first century description of what we now call hematidrosis. And that's a condition that when you're under intense pressure, you perspire blood, not pure blood but your blood and your perspiration are mixed together. So maybe that's what Doctor Luke was talking about. But Jesus had a request for Peter, James and John which was basically stay with me, just be with me.

You know, sometimes when a person is suffering they don't need a sermon. They just need a friend and that's all the Lord ask or just just be with me and yeah, we're with you Lord. And then he said to them the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. And he comes back to them after this anguish after this suffering, after this prayer to the father and they fell asleep, you know sometimes we fall asleep as well, heard about a burglar who was robbing the house and he heard a cop car go by. So he took cover on the floor and then he fell asleep. And the homeowner got up that morning and saw this burglar asleep on his floor and called the cops. And they came and woke the guy up and said, buddy this is your wake up call.

And I wonder if sometimes in the church we need a wake up call. I wonder if some of you watching me right now, need a wake up call spiritually because you're spiritually asleep. That is why in Romans 12, via Paul, excuse me, Romans 13 the Apostle Paul says, it's high time to awake out of our sleep because the night is far spent. The day is at hand, let's be Christ men from head to foot and give no chance for the flesh to have its fling. Wake up, it's a wake up call. Well, they wake up and there, they see Moses and Elijah. And of course Jesus and now Peter says the wrong thing at the wrong time, Verse six. It's good, we are here and I love this detail. That's added, he said this because he really didn't know what else to say.

When you don't know what to say, don't say anything. There's an old verb, not a biblical one but it has some truth which goes as follows. "Better to be silent and thought a fool than do open your mouth and dispel all doubt". But Peter says, it's good we are here. That's the operative word here. Hey Lord, this is blessing central. We love hanging out with you and Moses and Elijah basking in your glory. Let's forget all this crazy talk about going to Jerusalem and dying. Let's stay here and now Peter gets a rebuke, not from Jesus but from the father in heaven.

Look at verse seven, then a cloud over shadowed them. And a voice from the cloud said this is my dearly loved son listen to him. Suddenly when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone and they saw only Jesus with them. The father steps into the conversation and effectively says, "Peter, if my son says he's gonna go to Jerusalem to suffer and die that that's what's gonna happen and you need to believe him and if he tells you to take up your cross and follow him, you need to do it".

Now, Moses and Elijah are gone and there's just Jesus. And that's all we need, only Jesus. It's not Jesus and the law and the prophets you see animal sacrifices are no longer needed. We don't need a high priest to step in and represent us to God any longer. Jesus is our high priest. Jesus is the lamb of God. And because of the death and resurrection of Jesus you and I have opened access to the father 24/7. You can approach him through Christ. It's an amazing thing, it's Jesus only, who's gonna save you.

Now Jesus pledged plus church tradition or Jesus plus moral living. Not that you should have immoral living, but my point is Jesus is the one who saves you. He does work and then there's a way of honoring him and thanking him. We want to respond by living a godly life, but it's only Jesus, Jesus only because sometimes frankly, friends will disappoint you, sometimes even family will disappoint you. But the Bible says in Proverbs 18:24 there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. And that friend is Jesus. Listen, friends, come and go. But Jesus comes and stays. And if you've asked him into your life he's not gonna leave you. And he's not gonna forsake you. You have his word on that because only Jesus can heal a broken heart. Only Jesus can give you the strength to go on when it's getting hard.

As David wrote in Psalm 23, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for you are with me. That's how we get through the valleys of life. That's how we get through the storms of life. That's how we get through the hardships of life. We realize we're not alone and God is walking with us through it, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego discovered that as they walked through their fiery furnace and there was a fourth person with them that the King said looked like the son of God. I believe Jesus was walking with those three young teenage Hebrew boys. And when it's all said and done, it's only Jesus. When you're on your death bed, it's only Jesus who will save you. And it's only Jesus that you will stand before.

So now they're descending from this mountain top this place of mega blessings to face a crisis to face a conflict in the valley. If you will and they're gonna realize that not only Jesus can save them, but only Jesus can overcome. The devil go back to Mark chapter nine and I'm gonna read verses 20 to 24. So there was a father who had a demon possessed boy. He brought his boy to the disciples asking for some help but then we're not able to help this man or this boy.

So our story picks up in Mark chapter nine, verse 20 they brought the boy to Jesus. The demon saw Jesus in a once held the boy in his power and the boy fell to the ground was spit running from his mouth. Jesus asked the boy's father. "How long has he been like this"? The father said, "Well from the time he was a child many times it throws him into the fire and into the water to kill him. If you can do anything to help us take pity on us". And Jesus said, "why do you ask me that the one who has faith can do all things". At once some father cried out and said with tears in his eyes, "Lord I have faith help my unbelief".

Powerful story, now we've come from the mountaintop to the valley and crisis hits often after the mountaintop there is the valley going back to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. When did that happen? That happened after the father spoke another time remember Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river by his cousin, John, the baptizer, and the father said, "this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased," and the Spirit of came upon Jesus in the form of a dove and we read immediately. He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

So after the dove came the devil and a lot of times after the blessing comes the challenge after the blessing comes the temptation. So we should not be surprised when those things happen. Notice that as Jesus approaches this demon possessed boy the devil, effectively tightens his grip verse 20. It says the demon saw Jesus. And at once held the boy in his power. Listen to this when you seek to share the gospel with someone, expect satanic opposition, you're entering into a time of a spiritual warfare.

Remembering the parable of the sower. Jesus said the sower went out to sow seeds, some seed fell on the roadside and the birds ate it. And he said, these are they, that hear the word of God, and Satan comes immediately to take it away. So the devil attacks when we're trying to reach people. So this boy was coming closer to Jesus and the devil wants to stop him from coming his poor father. He said his wood sand. And he says to Jesus in verse 22, if you can do anything to help us take pity on us. And the Lord has a very strong reaction to this a good verse, 23, Jesus says. "Why do you ask me that, the one who has faith can do all things". Effectively Jesus is saying, what do you mean if I can help you?

Of course I can don't forget, I was just transfigured with Moses and Elijah, don't forget I walked on water and I healed a blind man and I raised a person from the dead. If I can of course I can handle this but here's what he's saying. You need to have faith right now. It's a very good idea for us to remember God's faithfulness to us in the past when we're facing trouble in the moment, because it will say, Oh, God's forgotten about me. God's abandoned me. No, he hasn't, I love how, when you read Psalm 107 it reflects on the faithfulness of God, to the nation Israel and it talks about how the Lord delivered them from the of Pharaoh, how the Lord fed them in the wilderness with manna, how the Lord brought them through the Red Sea.

And then the refrain that is stated over and over again is, oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness. And his wonderful works to the children of men. So they wrote it down, I encourage you keep a journal and write down how God has answered your prayers. And then the next time when you're facing that challenge reflect back on God's faithfulness to you in the past, which will remind you. He will also be faithful to you in the present and in the future because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

See this man's faith was weak because he put his eyes on his problem. Instead of putting them on the Lord, the same happens to us. When we forget God's word to us you see the way you build your faith is by reading the word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, then you apply it. So that's why we need to know the scripture and memorize this scripture. And then Jesus says in verse 23, anything is possible if a person believes. A man have faith right now. And I love the honesty of this man statement in verse 24 with tears in his eyes, he says, Lord, I have faith, help my unbelief.

That's an honest prayer, isn't it? To just say, Lord, I believe but my faith is not perfect. And I have unbelief at times and we all have unbelief at times, we all have lapses of faith at times we all have momentary doubts but this man was honest and guess what? Jesus met him more than halfway. And he answered the man's prayer and he healed the child. Yeah, it would be nice if we could stay on mountaintops wouldn't no more problems no more troubles, but we all have to come and live in the valley of life, the reality of life. But God will be with us in those times because really those mountaintops are preparing us for reality, it's not necessarily more mountaintops we need in the Christian life. It's more day-to-day obedience where we're walking by faith and not by feeling there is coming a day in the future.

When there will be no more temptation no more devil, no more suffering. And this is sort of a sneak preview of things to come but Christ will return to this earth and establish his kingdom. Remember when Jesus was born in that manger it was so he could die on that cross for your sin because we're separated from the Lord by our sin. Remember Moses and Elijah were having an in-depth discussion with Jesus about his death and why that was so important. And they were encouraging him. No doubt on that day for him to go through with this think how hard it was for Jesus to take the cross and carry it to the streets of Jerusalem. After he had already had his back ripped open with a Roman whip and even more think how hard it was for Jesus bear, all the sins of the world.

See that is what he was contemplating in the Garden of Gethsemane being God. He knew what was ahead. He knew he would have to dig all the corruption all the sin upon himself, and he did not wanna do it. And that is why he said to the father, if it is possible let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done, but he did it. He went on with it and he accomplished it. It died on that cross for your sin and Rose again from the dead.

Thanks for watching our TV program. And I wonder if you yourself have accepted Jesus Christ. You know, a lot of times people tune into programs like this weren't believers and that kind of checking it out. Maybe you're laughing at it at first. Maybe you think it's not real but something that's happened. And maybe something that's been said you've suddenly discovered you need Jesus Christ. You know, the day I accepted Jesus, let me tell you. It was the last thing I planned on doing. I didn't plan on becoming a Christian that day but that was the day that was appointed any eternity for me to believe in Jesus.

I wonder if this is not that day for you. You've been eavesdropping. You've been checking it out, but now God's speaking right to your heart and you realize you need Jesus Christ. Would you like to have your sin forgiven? Would you like a second chance in life? Would you like to go to heaven when you die? Would you like your guilt removed? Let's send, it can all happen because Jesus Christ went to a cross and died for your sin and then rose again three days later and he'll come into your life right now and be your savior and your Lord and the best friend you've ever had. Let's pray together. Pray this after me:

Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner but I believe you died on the cross for my sin. And I'm sorry for that sin. And I turned from it now and I asked you to come into my life and be my savior and be my Lord and be my God, be my friend. I choose to follow you from this moment forward in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer I want you to know on the authority of God's word that Christ himself has come to live inside of you. The Bible says these things we write to you that believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. But let me say God bless you and welcome to God's family.