Starting with verse one, and Jesus was saying to them, truly, I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and brought them up to the high mountain by themselves, and he was Transfigured before them. And his garments became radiant and exceedingly white as no longer on earth to whiten them. And Elijah appeared before them along with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. For he did not know what to answer, for they became terrified. Then a cloud formed overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud. This is my beloved son, listen to him. At all once they looked around, and they saw no one with them anymore except Jesus alone, and as they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man should rise from the dead. And they seized upon that statement discussing with one another what rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him saying, why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first? And he said, Elijah does come first and restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wish just as it is written of him. And when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them. And immediately when the entire crowd saw him, they were amazed and began running up to greet him. And he asked them, what are you discussing with them? One of the crowd answered, teacher, I brought you my son possessed with a spirit which makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him it dashes into the ground and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. And I told you disciples to cast it out and they could not do it. And he answered them and said, oh, unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long should I put up with you bring him to me? And they brought to boy to him. And when he saw him, he immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion and falling to the ground and began rolling about and foaming at the mouth. And he asked his father, how long has it been happening to him? And he said, from childhood, there's often thrown him both into the fire into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, if you can, all things are possible to him who believes and immediately boy's father cried out and began saying, I do believe, help my unbelief. And when Jesus saw that a crowd was wrapped at the gather and he rebuked the unclean spirit saying, you deft and dumb spirit, I command you come out of him and do not enter him again. And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out. And the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said he is dead but Jesus took him by the hand and raised him and he got up. And when he had come into the house, his disciples began questioning him privately, why could we not cast it out? And he said to them, this kind cannot come out by anything but prayer. Father, we're humbled by this account because we see our own unbelief in this passage, but we are encouraged because we see your power. Lord, may we walk away from this grace knowing that you are in charge and that you love us and that you really do know what you're doing. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Please be seated.
As we start our study of the transfiguration, let me give you a little bit of background. At the end of chapter 8, Jesus goes to the disciples and he tells them of the torment that he will have and eventually that he will die. And so he then says to the disciples that they can expect the very same thing. Now do you think they need a little bit of encouragement after they heard that? Well, let's first look at the ecstasy on the top of the mountain. Jesus, after telling his disciples that they are going to die in the very next sentence, he speaks of his coming kingdom. And he says that it will be some of you standing here today that will not die until you see the kingdom coming. Now let me give you a little bit of a theology lesson here. Jesus is eternal. Jesus has always existed. There is never a time when the sun did not exist. Before he came to earth, he enjoyed the fellowship of the Father and the Holy Spirit. They were in perfect unity and in perfect fellowship. But when the sun took on you and flesh and came to earth, he took on the limitations of the flesh as well. He felt hunger. He thirsted. He felt pain. In fact the Bible says that he was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin. Now compare the humanity of Christ with what's going on top of the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus at the top of this mountain is glorified. The Bible says that he is dazzling white clothing and a cloud envelopes him. In fact in Matthew's account of this same Transfiguration it says that Jesus' faith shone like the sun. It sounds a lot like Revelation chapter 19 at the second coming of Christ. It describes the return of Christ riding on a white horse and it says this. His eyes are a flame of fire and upon his head are many diadems. He is clothed with a road dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God and the armies which are in heaven clothed and fine linen white and clean are following him and from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he might smite the nation. He will rule them with a rod of iron and he treads the wine trace of the fierce wrath of our Lady God. When Jesus came to earth the first time they tortured him and spat upon him and hung him on a cross but that will never happen again because when he returns again he will return in glory. He will return as a mighty warrior and he will destroy his enemies. He will come and be victorious. I would ask a few questions this morning to maybe help us understand what's going on in the Transfiguration. First of all, what's with Moses and Elijah? Well the Bible doesn't really tell us why Moses and Elijah are there in this particular passage but here's what we do know. We know that Moses was the giver of the law as he gave the law to his people and we know that Elijah was representative of the prophets of God and so the giver of the law and the prophets are represented here on the top of the mountain and they are getting confirmation to the ministry of Christ. They are saying by their witness that Jesus is who he says he is and so the Father also points to Christ. Now what's the purpose of the Transfiguration? Well there are probably several purposes. There's probably many reasons why certainly too I would encourage the disciples. Again if Jesus tells you that you're going to die then you need a good reason to die and so on the top of this mountain of the Father confirms who Jesus is and reminds them that whatever sacrifice they've given up for Christ will be worth it. Secondly I think it is to show the power of God. Not too far along after the Transfiguration Jesus is about to die. Now put yourself in the shoes of the disciples. You had followed this man. You had given up your job. You had left your family and you are now going to watch the son of God who claims to a be God a diahorable death, a criminal death, death on a cross and so do you think you need to be reminded that God really is in charge that he really knows what he's doing. If this isn't just happening by chance but it's part of God's plan and so surely part of the Transfiguration is to encourage and to remind the disciples that Jesus is who he says he is. Second Peter chapter 1 states very clearly that Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father when the Father spoke and so Jesus is revealed as being both God and man at the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration really is a taste of glory that Jesus has in heaven right now. It's a glimps for the disciples of what is to come. Now what's the significance of what the Father said? Notice the Father says listen to my son. Years ago Conrad Hilton was interviewed on television. Conrad Hilton was the owner of all of those hotels and this was when television was first invented long before I was born and he was given the opportunity to say something to the American public. Now have you ever thought about what you would say to the American public if you had the chance? Perhaps you would cry out for world peace. Perhaps that to put it in the context of these last couple of weeks in our election and all of the litigation perhaps you would recite the sentiments of William Shakespeare and say kill all of the lawyers. I have to apologize to all the lawyers I'm just kidding here. Or perhaps maybe you would cry out that once again the Seminole has been victorious in their football pursuit. I would never do anything like that. I would never be that insensitive but some of you might do that. What did Hilton say? Now this is true. You're not going to believe me but he really said this. If you're going to take a shower in one of my hotels please put the shower curtain on the inside of the tub. He really said that. Now why? He owns all of these hotels and people are leaving a shower curtain outside and water is getting on the floor and he's getting damaged. So he asked the American public to please put the shower curtain on the inside. On top of the mountain God speaks. And so whatever he says should be something we should listen to. It's very very important. Why did God say this is my son listens to him? Perhaps because the disciples didn't listen very well. Perhaps we don't listen very well. I read this past week about a listening problem a husband had with his wife. He had gotten paid and for two days straight he went out and partied with the boys and so when he came home his wife was screaming and yelling and when she stopped she looked at him and she said how would you like it if you didn't see me for two days. The husband said that would be fine with him and so Monday came and he didn't see his wife. Tuesday and Wednesday came by and he did not see his wife finally on Thursday the swelling went down just enough that he could see her a little bit out of the corner of his eye. Forgive me for that one. The father says what? The father says listen to my son. Other until this point the disciples had not listened very well. In fact we find on the transfiguration the amount of transfiguration that they're told don't say anything about this until after the resurrection because then it will become clear to you. And so the father tells them to listen to my son. Now how do we do that today? There are all kinds of books written on how do we listen to God. Just rings of books. Pastor Neil Babcock was a pastor of a church and he wrote a book called a search for charismatic reality and he described their worship services. He says our worship service usually began with singing our songs were primarily scripture set to music. We clapped, we clapped, we sang with all of our hearts to the Lord after a song ended it often followed by spontaneous applause. Hands like flags proudly waving stretching toward heaven amidst shouts of joy. The crescendo of praise would peak in a moment of dramatic silence and then we would wait every heart expectant, every mind wondering finally some brave soul would process by. Pastor Babcock was describing in their church where people would stand up in the middle of the worship service and they would actually speak for God. They would get a message from God and then they would share it with the congregation. Well one thing bothered Pastor Babcock. He said this in his book that even though they didn't use the words just say it's a Lord everything that they said after everything that they stood up to prophesy was on the same authority level as the process of the Old Testament and even the authority of scripture itself. They were claiming added revelation from God. Well then he read a verse in the Old Testament that said this. This is what the sovereign Lord says. Woe to the foolish prophets who followed their own spirit and had seen nothing. In the Old Testament the prophets were also known as Sears because God gave them visions and so he was troubled because he said how do we know that these visions are from God? How do we know is this in just too much hamburgers and onions? How do we know that this is something that is subjective that just warns the cockles of our heart but how do we know that it's from God? Compare that with what's going on at the non-transformation. Something verifiable. Something objective is going on and so that the apostles can go and tell what happened on the top of this mountain. It wasn't just something that they felt it was something that they could observe. It was real. Friend of mine came to me several years ago and he asked me to pray for the pastor of his church. The pastor was very sick and they had put him in the hospital and so they organized prayer vigils, night long, day long prayer vigils. Well one night in one of their meetings they all stood up and proclaimed that God had told them that this pastor was going to be healed. Well a few days later he died and so my friend came to me and he was perplexed and upset and he said you know we were so sure that God told us that he was going to live and then he asked me a very telling question. He said who were we listening to? They weren't listening to God. How does God speak to us? How did he speak to us today? He speaks to us through his words. He speaks to us through the completed word of God. He speaks to us through the revelation that he handed down for us today and it is what we need. It is all that we need to know about God. God was pleased to reveal himself through his word so that we could learn all that we need to know about him. Those who say that we need added revelation from God have a very low view of Scripture. They wouldn't say that but it's true because what they're saying is that the word of God is not enough. We need something more today from God. The Bible isn't sufficient. In fact it is sufficient. Second Timothy 316 says all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training and righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. God speaks to us today through his words. It's all that we need. Now we're seeing the ecstasy of the transfiguration. Let's look at the agony of what lies at the foot of the mountain. Jesus, Peter, James and John all descend to the mountain. They have been held the glory of God at the top but now they come down and they see the work of the devil. They see blasphemy because down here is this void as possessed by this horrible demon. They go from glory all the way down to what lies before them. Possessed by a cruel and wicked demon is this poor boy. Now we don't know how old he is. The Bible doesn't really tell us but we're told that for years he had been tortured by this demon. The demon would throw him to the ground. The demon would throw him into the water to drown him or into the fire to burn him. The demon took away his speech and he's hearing the demon would cause him to go to the ground and to grind his teeth and to fold at the mouth and so he has been tortured for four years and so this poor, pathetic father goes to Jesus and so not only had the father had the boy been remoralized and tortured by this demon so had the father because the father goes to the disciples and says he'll my son and they can't do it and so he has no place else to turn until he goes to Jesus and he says some beautiful words notice what he says. He says have pay on us and help us. Notice how the father identifies with the pain of the sun. He doesn't say heal him. He says help us because he loves his son and wanted to see this demon gone. I want you to notice something. How does he ask Jesus? He says Jesus if you can do anything. Notice he's not questioning Jesus desire to help. He's questioning Jesus's ability to do anything. He's saying I'm not quite sure that you really can do this Jesus and so I'm asking you to do it. How much faith does this guy have? Not a whole lot of faith. Not a whole lot of faith and then he says Jesus rebukes them for their lack of faith and then he says look if you can all things are possible for him who believes and then and notice what he says. The father says I do believe help my unbelief. You know a lot of people go to verses in the Bible for life verses to encourage them that had changes in their life and many times people will go to John 3.16 for comfort. One of our students up here recited in John 3.16. Many times people will go to the 23rd Psalm for comfort. Well this is where I go for comfort. This is one of my life verses. You know why? Because Jesus doesn't squash this guy like a bug. That's why. He doesn't say don't you pun scum? How dare you come to me in your lack of faith and ask anything from me? How dare you question my ability? No he doesn't do that and not only does he listen to the father but he does what he asks. He heals the boy. This passage gives me comfort because my faith many times is like that of the father. I'm a Presbyterian. I understand the sovereignty of God. It is within my very being. It's all inside of me and I know that God is sovereign. I know that but when I question sometimes it's not God's ability but he's willingness to do what's good. The past couple of weeks I taught a class in Sunday school and I had to confess to my class that I had been talking with God about this election and then if I had been in charge things would have gone quite differently. If I had been in charge that every single pro-life candidate would have had a landslide victory there would be no recount there would be no question they would have gotten a clear mandate but then I had to confess to my class that I'm not in charge and that sometimes I don't know what's going on so I knew it up here but I didn't really know it here or what does God do. He's leaking the loan and stuff like this and so he started working on me and so what happens in the worship service is all these people are standing up here joining the church and I picked one of them up out of the crowd. Scott Lyon and you may not know Scott and I didn't know him before was a Christian but I'll not be nice to him and say that he had difficulty getting along with people. Well I know Scott Lyon's now I've talked with him when you drive by his place of business he has this marquee out front that has these Christians saying on it he's treating his employees with dignity now and he's telling them about Jesus and so it struck me maybe God's plan to change this world was not through this election as important as that is maybe God's plan is to change the world one person at a time to people like Scott Lyon or maybe it'll be through Jenna Nicole Winship you know she is she was the three-week-old daughter of Mike and Sue that was baptized last week maybe God will use us one person at a time that's a change this world he always hits straight with a crooked stick I can identify with the man in our scripture because he says Lord I believe but help my unbelief I know you know what's best I know that I know that you wrote to bless your people and and I know that I can't figure you out because you're sovereign and you're God and I'm not but Father I believe help my unbelief face and unbelief know it together that's who we are I'm so glad that he's patient Psalm 103 14 says this he himself knows our frame he is mindful that we are but God now let's look at how much face it gets it takes to get our prayers answered the disciples are trying to cast out this demon and they aren't able to do it and the reason they couldn't do it is because they just stopped praying they had done this so many times before it had just become commonplace to them and so Jesus rebukes them and tells them of their lack of faith and then he says this one comes out with prayer and they hadn't been praying and so there is a sense in which we must exercise faith to get our prayers answered we must do that but how much faith how much faith does it take let me tell you it takes asking faith that's how much faith asking faith when Johnny Erickson jumped into the Chesapeake Bay and became a quadriplegic many of her well-meaning friends came to her when she was in her wheelchair and told her that the reason that she was in that wheelchair was because she didn't have enough faith that she needed to confess her sin and go back to God and that it was her fault that she was in the chair and so they piled guilt on top of this poor girl who was hurting as a quadriplegic folks if you look in the New Testament example after example you see people coming to Jesus and asking him with no more faith and out of a grain of a mustard seed faith to ask faith to come and to know who's in charge faith to come to the Lord of Lord and King of Kings and to ask him here's a principle God's hands are not tied by the unbelief of the people let me say that again God's hands are not tied by the unbelief of the people he is sovereign and he does whatever he wants you don't pray he's going to accomplish his goals you don't ask he's going to accomplish his goal he is absolutely in control and we cannot stop the plan of God but God is pleased he is pleased to answer our prayers when we do them and say it is pleasing to God when we say God I don't doubt you I trust you and there is example after example of scripture where the disciples and we are rebuke because of our lack of faith and so God is pleased to answer them but his hands are not tied should we then be content with our little bit of faith because God is sovereign no we shouldn't be we should go to God and we should confess our sin of unbelief to him and I have to do that often I go to God and think God I really don't trust you that much and so when I do that I confess it but I don't stay there but then I remind myself that even though I don't have a whole lot of faith that my Heavenly Father still loves me he still cares for me that he still answers my prayers he still provides for me and gives me what I need and so when I come to that recognition I begin to grow in my faith because I begin to realize that I can really trust and believe and love this God who really cares for me and is for me and so my faith grows a real tiny bit at a time that's the process of growth and that's what we have to do is Christian so does that mean that everything we ask from God he gives us no it's not that way for John 5.14 says if we ask anything according to the will of God he hears us and so we always pray asking for God's will we don't always get what we ask for but we always get what our knowing loving kind Heavenly Father gives us in the end of our passage we see that Jesus does what to this boy he heals the boy verse 27 says that Jesus took him by the hand and he raised him and he got up Jesus gives him his mind back to give him his hearing and his speech and so that this boy can grow up and have a normal life now why would Jesus even bother to heal this boy Jesus was healing people all the time this boy was nothing more than a face than a crowd but Jesus heals him was it because of the great face that the Father had oh it wasn't because of that the Father didn't even believe that Jesus could do it so why would Jesus do this because he's compassionate because he's gracious because he loves to bless his people that's the kind of God that he is and so he raises this boy up and blesses him he cares for us he cares for you when you suffer he cares for you when you don't trust him he cares for you when you're perplexed or when you lose your job he cares for you because you've a wrong to him and he loves you he is the Almighty God the God of glory at the top of the mountain but he didn't stay there he came to earth and gave his life for us