WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:46.040 --> 00:00:47.000 Well, good morning. 00:00:47.800 --> 00:00:52.040 Hey, glad you guys are here with us, whether you're here on campus or joining us online. 00:00:52.300 --> 00:00:55.760 Before we dive into our message this morning, though, let's go to the Lord in prayer. 00:00:57.100 --> 00:01:01.240 God, I thank you so much for this time and opportunity that we could be here in this 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:01.740 place. 00:01:03.160 --> 00:01:08.640 Lord, I thank you that, unlike a lot of areas right now in our country, Lord, I thank you 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:12.780 that we have an opportunity to gather, and we have power, and we have heed, and we have 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:14.640 some comfort in here this morning. 00:01:14.880 --> 00:01:18.520 So, Lord, at first, our hearts are drawn to thank you for that. 00:01:18.580 --> 00:01:23.760 But, Lord, we also lift up those who are without right now, those who are suffering, Lord, those 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:29.080 who are working to bring back power and water and all the different things that's been shattered 00:01:29.080 --> 00:01:30.140 with this cold storm. 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:35.020 Lord, I pray that you would just keep those first responders and workers safe as they travel 00:01:35.020 --> 00:01:37.740 and as they perform the jobs that they need to. 00:01:38.220 --> 00:01:43.700 God, I pray that as we open up your word this morning, that this may be a story, an encounter 00:01:43.700 --> 00:01:48.440 that many of us have heard, Lord, but that we could respond to the newness and the freshness 00:01:48.440 --> 00:01:50.500 or that your word is. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:55.780 And so, Lord, speak to our hearts, draw us closer to you, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:01:56.080 --> 00:01:56.400 Amen. 00:01:56.700 --> 00:02:02.440 Well, if you've got your Bibles with you, turn to Luke chapter 9 here in just a moment. 00:02:02.580 --> 00:02:09.180 We'll start reading verse 28 as we continue on in looking at the gospel of Luke, but we're 00:02:09.180 --> 00:02:14.860 kind of sandwiched in from last week to next week, this middle section of Luke chapter 9. 00:02:14.940 --> 00:02:19.440 We've been kind of moving pretty quickly, but we're pumping the brakes a little bit as 00:02:19.440 --> 00:02:26.760 we look at this chapter, which is so monumental in understanding the person of Jesus, but also 00:02:26.760 --> 00:02:28.980 the work and the ministry that he came to do. 00:02:29.220 --> 00:02:30.260 Now, I want to say this. 00:02:30.980 --> 00:02:36.000 In verses 28 through 36 that we're going to look at first, I don't know that there's anything 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:43.000 in our life, in the history of the world, that is ever exactly like this. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:48.540 But I want to, in the best that I can, in an illustration, try to explain to you a little 00:02:48.540 --> 00:02:52.460 bit of what's going to happen and kind of take place, all right? 00:02:52.580 --> 00:02:57.020 So I don't know if you're aware of it, but it's been cold and rainy here, right? 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:03.420 My wife told me the other day, she read on the news where 72% of the United States is covered 00:03:03.420 --> 00:03:09.680 in snow, and that was impressive, but 100% of South Carolina has been covered in mud for 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:10.540 the last week, right? 00:03:10.540 --> 00:03:13.600 Now, here's what's kind of happened with me with this. 00:03:13.760 --> 00:03:15.460 I love the cold. 00:03:16.200 --> 00:03:17.480 I don't mind the rain. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.260 I don't like the two of them together, all right? 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:26.740 Now, last weekend, my son and I, as we had the weekend to spend together, as Emma and Aaron 00:03:26.740 --> 00:03:29.540 were off skiing, we kind of hoped we could do some things, right? 00:03:29.660 --> 00:03:35.240 And then the rain came in, and the rain came in, and it kept on and kept on. 00:03:35.460 --> 00:03:37.720 And I'm the guy, like, before I go to bed, I check the weather. 00:03:37.720 --> 00:03:39.400 First thing I do when I wake up is check the weather. 00:03:39.760 --> 00:03:45.460 And I saw days last week where maybe we were going to get two days, right, where the rain 00:03:45.460 --> 00:03:47.300 was going to cease and sun. 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:52.400 And so it surprised me on spite of what my iPhone said, right? 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:57.480 God had different plans, and I would wake up in the morning, and it would be raining over 00:03:57.480 --> 00:03:58.300 and over again. 00:03:58.340 --> 00:03:59.000 It would be cold. 00:03:59.660 --> 00:04:01.820 But then yesterday happened, right? 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:07.460 And yesterday, I don't know if y'all saw it, but skies aren't always gray. 00:04:07.620 --> 00:04:08.920 They were blue, right? 00:04:09.420 --> 00:04:10.840 And the sun came out. 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:12.500 And I got in the backyard. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:17.480 I let all three of our dogs at the Bradbury Zoo kind of roam around the yard with me, and 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:21.100 I worked in the yard, and I built some things, and I did some stuff, and I didn't get cold, 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:23.360 and I had on a long-sleeved shirt. 00:04:23.440 --> 00:04:25.140 And I thought, this is good, right? 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:29.600 Like, this is what I remembered normal weather was like from the past. 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:35.300 And then it created in me a sense of, this is good, of what hopefully springtime can come, 00:04:35.440 --> 00:04:37.180 and I can have more days like this. 00:04:37.260 --> 00:04:43.980 But then God and His graciousness and His kindness toward a group of people that are suffering gave 00:04:43.980 --> 00:04:44.740 us something else. 00:04:44.820 --> 00:04:51.120 And I don't know if many of you saw this yesterday or not, but the University of South Carolina 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:55.220 played Dayton in baseball, and we won, right? 00:04:55.640 --> 00:04:58.960 Now, as a South Carolina fan, it's been a long time. 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:01.920 We won Friday night, and we won Saturday, right? 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:07.200 And regardless of the sports, other than our women's basketball season, it's been a long 00:05:07.200 --> 00:05:10.920 time coming in men's sports to put two W's back to back. 00:05:11.020 --> 00:05:18.300 So yesterday was just a phenomenal day, and I was taken to remember back of seasons where 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:19.760 it wasn't raining, right? 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:26.260 And I was taken back to remember seasons where it wasn't so cold outside, and then now where 00:05:26.260 --> 00:05:30.700 I'm at just personally is I'm looking forward to springtime. 00:05:30.700 --> 00:05:35.400 We got out, and we were working in our garden and doing some different things there, and 00:05:35.400 --> 00:05:38.580 so I look forward to what the future holds. 00:05:39.320 --> 00:05:42.140 But then this morning, I left my truck. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.680 I forgot to move it to the front, and I left my truck parked in the backyard because I take 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:50.740 some tools and supplies back there, and I come downstairs, and Erin's sitting in the kitchen 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:56.640 table with her coffee, and she says, you may need to plan on leaving a little bit earlier 00:05:56.640 --> 00:05:57.300 than normal. 00:05:57.420 --> 00:05:58.140 And I said, why? 00:05:58.140 --> 00:05:59.820 And she said, look at your truck. 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:05.980 And there was a frozen piece of ice, right, that was just all over the front of my truck. 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:09.100 And immediately, like, I was right back to where I was before. 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:10.420 I was like, you gotta be kidding me. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:16.340 From the experience we had yesterday to now, like, there's this thick layer of ice on my 00:06:16.340 --> 00:06:16.560 truck. 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:18.840 Now, here's why I kind of tell this story. 00:06:19.140 --> 00:06:23.320 What we're going to look at this morning in this section of Luke is going to be an encounter 00:06:23.320 --> 00:06:25.920 that yesterday does not do it justice. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:27.160 Like, don't hear me. 00:06:27.280 --> 00:06:28.600 Like, that's not what I'm saying. 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:33.760 But on the Mount Transfiguration, what we're going to see today is going to give those who 00:06:33.760 --> 00:06:36.660 were with Jesus a glimpse back into the past. 00:06:37.740 --> 00:06:41.360 They're going to be reminded of some things that have happened and that have taken place 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:42.680 as they encountered their present. 00:06:43.400 --> 00:06:49.760 But also through encountering their present, they're going to be told and reminded of some 00:06:49.760 --> 00:06:53.440 encouraging things as they're going to move forward in their life. 00:06:54.080 --> 00:07:00.380 Some things to look forward and to hope to build within them that not every day, right, 00:07:01.020 --> 00:07:03.420 is going to be as bad as the day that they're in right now. 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:11.920 But then when they step off of it, and the next day comes, they're reminded of the frailty 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:17.580 of the moment and the deepening faith that they need to have in Jesus. 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:23.140 And so let's jump in as we look at this, starting in Luke 9, verse 28. 00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:27.640 It says, now about eight days after these sayings. 00:07:27.700 --> 00:07:31.180 So let me pause here real quickly if you weren't with us last week. 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:35.540 So what are these sayings that are happening and take place? 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:41.720 Well, as we look back and look back at last week, the sayings begin, Peter declaring that 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:49.040 Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus coming and telling the disciples that he must suffer, die, be 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:50.160 resurrected, right? 00:07:50.260 --> 00:07:55.400 Like, I'm going to have to leave you and this is going to have to happen and take place. 00:07:55.400 --> 00:08:01.900 And then also Jesus telling them, like, look, in order to follow me, right, Jesus ups the 00:08:01.900 --> 00:08:02.740 game a little bit. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:06.140 It's not just about walking alongside of him. 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:11.140 It's not just about kind of standing in his shadow and watching him work and move. 00:08:11.420 --> 00:08:15.300 And it's going to be even a little bit more than what they'd experienced at the very beginning 00:08:15.300 --> 00:08:21.240 of chapter 9, right, where Jesus gives them power and authority to heal and to call out demons. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:23.680 Jesus says, it's going to be more than that. 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:29.060 Jesus says, in order to follow me, there's going to be a life of suffering as you take 00:08:29.060 --> 00:08:31.280 up your cross and as you follow after me. 00:08:31.980 --> 00:08:38.020 So scripture tells us now about eight days after these sayings, then this encounter begins 00:08:38.020 --> 00:08:38.480 to happen. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:45.380 And he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:53.460 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling 00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:54.180 white. 00:08:55.020 --> 00:09:02.040 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke 00:09:02.040 --> 00:09:06.800 of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 00:09:06.800 --> 00:09:11.800 Now, Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep. 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:17.600 But when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:24.860 And as they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good that we are here. 00:09:25.260 --> 00:09:32.040 Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah, not knowing what 00:09:32.040 --> 00:09:38.460 he said, and as he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them. 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:42.120 And they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 00:09:42.640 --> 00:09:48.760 A voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my son, my chosen one, listen to him. 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:57.040 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone and they kept silent and told no one in 00:09:57.040 --> 00:10:00.940 those days anything of what they had seen. 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:08.220 And so what we see here in this Mount of Transfiguration, right, is this encounter, like, let's be honest, 00:10:08.460 --> 00:10:12.240 this is nothing like you or I have ever experienced. 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:13.080 Right? 00:10:13.140 --> 00:10:17.380 We get these expressions and phrases a little bit from Scripture, right? 00:10:17.380 --> 00:10:23.700 Like the mountaintop experience of those connections where we go and we have such a deep, passionate 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:29.320 interaction with Jesus, it's not that it literally happened on a mountain for us, but it was at 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:34.980 this moment in our life, this spiritual thing happened, and we can trace it back through. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:40.680 A song that was led at a conference, a message that was spoken at a worship service, a point 00:10:40.680 --> 00:10:46.580 in time of serving on a mission trip, a conversation that happened between two individuals. 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:53.940 And we call these mountaintop experiences, and it's drawn from moments like these in Scripture 00:10:53.940 --> 00:11:00.500 that we see where there's just such a real encounter that an individual has with Jesus. 00:11:00.660 --> 00:11:04.640 But let's be honest, you and I, we ain't walked through nothing like this. 00:11:05.640 --> 00:11:08.780 Like, this is different than any mission trip we've ever been on. 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:12.720 This is different than any youth camp that we've ever attended. 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:19.680 This is different than any Bible study or any quiet time that has taken place as Peter, James, 00:11:19.680 --> 00:11:26.860 and John have this interaction with Jesus, but also, right, like with Moses and Elijah. 00:11:28.460 --> 00:11:33.900 And because we believe in the authority and the sufficiency of Scripture, like this isn't 00:11:33.900 --> 00:11:37.020 like some hallucination that's happening to them, right? 00:11:37.020 --> 00:11:41.960 This isn't some spell that they're under or some dream that is happening and that has taken 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:42.340 place. 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:45.700 In fact, Scripture speaks of the opposite, that they were heavy with sleep. 00:11:45.900 --> 00:11:49.100 I mean, they were asleep, but when they woke up, they saw that all of these things were happened 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:49.840 and taken place. 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:56.300 And so we see this encounter that happens with them, with Jesus on this mountain. 00:11:56.460 --> 00:12:02.820 And in a beautiful way, what God is drawing them to is as this reality that they could never 00:12:02.820 --> 00:12:08.420 fathom that happens and takes place in front of them, it's actually going to speak to in 00:12:08.420 --> 00:12:17.140 three different ways, two different realities to help them see and understand who Jesus is. 00:12:17.920 --> 00:12:24.120 And in order for them to see and understand the calling that Jesus has for their life, as 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.800 they have this encounter right here, the words are going to ring true for them when Jesus 00:12:28.800 --> 00:12:39.360 says the Son of Man must suffer, must be rejected, must die, but be raised again. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:47.920 As they have this encounter on the mountain with Him, their understanding of the depth of 00:12:47.920 --> 00:12:53.640 the call of what God has for them is going to ring truer and truer into their lives, especially 00:12:53.640 --> 00:12:57.880 when we see in a moment, when they come off the mountain. 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.720 And so we have three different things which point to two different realities that I want 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:03.760 us to look at and see. 00:13:04.060 --> 00:13:09.420 And the first is this of what happens and takes place is we see that there's two exoduses. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.800 That's a hard word to say that I've been practicing a lot this week. 00:13:13.880 --> 00:13:15.280 I hope I say it correctly. 00:13:15.420 --> 00:13:16.900 Look back at verse 31. 00:13:16.900 --> 00:13:21.320 It says this, who appeared in glory, right? 00:13:21.540 --> 00:13:27.600 This is Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and notice this, and spoke of his 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:31.940 departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 00:13:32.180 --> 00:13:33.120 So what are they talking about? 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:34.600 Jesus' departure. 00:13:35.520 --> 00:13:39.520 Remember, Jesus had told them, I'm going to have to leave you. 00:13:40.060 --> 00:13:48.640 And so what Jesus had said, now James and John and Peter are hearing them talk about it, right? 00:13:48.640 --> 00:13:52.120 You want to talk about the authority of the words of Christ for them, right? 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:57.340 Like in their full believing of who Jesus is, if there's an affirmation that it could be 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:00.020 given, it's a prophet Elijah sharing that. 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:03.900 But also Moses, right, is sharing this, like they're game planning. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:05.340 They're talking about this. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:07.400 They're working through this. 00:14:07.400 --> 00:14:13.820 And so there in the moment, it's the credibility of what Jesus had said, but they're going to 00:14:13.820 --> 00:14:20.980 use a word that's important, that when they speak and they say the word departure, the 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:24.960 word that they literally use is exodus. 00:14:26.040 --> 00:14:35.120 And so in verse 31, literally says that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah speak about the exodus of Jesus. 00:14:36.180 --> 00:14:38.960 And this would be huge for them, right? 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.540 These are Jewish men. 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:46.160 These are men raised in the Jewish faith, ethnically Jews. 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:51.540 They know when they hear the word exodus, they know what that means. 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:58.060 They know the importance of that word, that the word exodus would draw from them the foundational 00:14:58.060 --> 00:15:03.820 events and the forming of the Jewish nation of Israel as God's chosen people. 00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:06.920 They would begin to see the work of what's moving. 00:15:06.920 --> 00:15:12.380 When they hear the word exodus, they would be taken back to think of the time when their 00:15:12.380 --> 00:15:18.540 ancestors were enslaved by Egypt, but yet God sends Moses to Egypt to set them free. 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:24.560 It had been based on what so many of their religious customs and holidays that they celebrated 00:15:24.560 --> 00:15:25.920 were based off of. 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:32.020 When they hear that word exodus, like we hear Christmas or we hear Easter, right? 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:35.320 There's so much value and power in that word. 00:15:35.640 --> 00:15:42.020 And now as they're standing there, what they hear is this, Jesus, your exodus. 00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:44.420 Wow. 00:15:45.680 --> 00:15:49.400 So what does that mean as they've been beginning to draw through? 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:54.100 Well, the other exodus brought freedom. 00:15:55.180 --> 00:15:58.580 The other exodus set people free from bondage. 00:15:59.640 --> 00:16:09.420 The other exodus solidified this nation that God had promised and that God saw through and 00:16:09.420 --> 00:16:10.300 that God delivered. 00:16:11.300 --> 00:16:16.480 When they hear the word exodus, they know that freedom is coming. 00:16:17.680 --> 00:16:18.620 There's two exoduses. 00:16:19.640 --> 00:16:23.980 In the first exodus, God's people were enslaved by a country. 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:26.040 They were enslaved by a man, Pharaoh. 00:16:27.020 --> 00:16:32.500 What's remarkable about the first exodus is that they couldn't set themselves free, right? 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:35.020 They couldn't just revolt against. 00:16:35.800 --> 00:16:36.660 They were enslaved. 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:38.100 They were held captive. 00:16:38.260 --> 00:16:46.240 The weight of their slavery enabled them to not, restricted them to not be able to go out 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:47.200 and to set them free. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:49.800 They couldn't break their own chains. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.240 So God had to step in. 00:16:53.100 --> 00:16:57.720 The only way for them to experience that first exodus was by a work of the Lord. 00:16:57.800 --> 00:16:59.140 And so God does that. 00:16:59.660 --> 00:17:00.800 And how does God do that? 00:17:00.860 --> 00:17:02.880 Does God come in with a spirit? 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.380 Does God come in with natural disasters and create and cause this to happen? 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:08.040 No. 00:17:09.080 --> 00:17:09.940 God sent Moses. 00:17:10.940 --> 00:17:11.840 God sent a man. 00:17:12.560 --> 00:17:19.340 God sent a deliverer who would stand before Pharaoh, who would bring them out of bondage, 00:17:19.340 --> 00:17:24.120 and who would lead them to freedom, the first exodus. 00:17:25.120 --> 00:17:32.340 So now let's jump forward as they speak to Jesus' exodus about what would happen, right? 00:17:33.060 --> 00:17:39.060 You see, where we find ourselves in the life of Moses and we find ourselves in first century 00:17:39.060 --> 00:17:42.260 Jerusalem, the people were enslaved again. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:44.660 They're still enslaved. 00:17:44.660 --> 00:17:48.380 But not to a man or to a country, but to sin. 00:17:49.580 --> 00:17:54.260 Just as they couldn't set themselves free before, they can't set themselves free again. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:58.800 The rules and the religion and as much as they try to follow and try to practice, 00:17:58.980 --> 00:18:05.440 they can't create within themselves their own sense of freedom that they can cling to. 00:18:06.380 --> 00:18:08.440 And so they need someone else. 00:18:09.520 --> 00:18:14.260 And as God sent Moses, God sends Jesus. 00:18:15.740 --> 00:18:20.300 But this time, if you go back and read the story of Moses, there's tons of brokenness in Moses 00:18:20.300 --> 00:18:24.120 of his insufficiencies, of what he's not capable to do, 00:18:24.120 --> 00:18:31.160 that just as Moses is brilliant and is faithful in the lot that he does, like he's flawed. 00:18:32.560 --> 00:18:34.400 And so God doesn't send a Moses. 00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:36.280 Instead, he sends a perfect Moses. 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:44.060 He sends Jesus to be the deliverer, to set the people free and they can find. 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:49.400 And so in this very beginning, as we look at this, we see the two exodus, 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:55.840 the first one that set a people free, but who continued to wander in their sin 00:18:55.840 --> 00:19:01.600 and who find themselves back where they were so many times before finding themselves in captivity. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:03.740 But we see the second exodus. 00:19:04.540 --> 00:19:10.920 It's a physical and a spiritual exodus that brings life and hope and eternal. 00:19:12.540 --> 00:19:16.340 So we look to the past and we see the future and the current reality of where they are. 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:20.960 But also not only see two exodus, but we also see two mountains. 00:19:21.980 --> 00:19:22.580 It's right here. 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:29.100 And as they're there on this mountain with Jesus, they retreat to this place with him. 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:32.520 They go up onto the mountain to pray with him. 00:19:32.520 --> 00:19:36.140 They're going to be looking toward now something that's different. 00:19:36.820 --> 00:19:42.660 Something as they talk about the journey that will happen and that'll take place and that'll bring them to Israel. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:48.280 What we see on this mountain, on the Mount of Transfiguration, right? 00:19:48.280 --> 00:19:53.480 Like what they see about Jesus physically changes. 00:19:54.540 --> 00:19:59.380 What they see about their environment around them changes. 00:20:00.220 --> 00:20:08.940 And what we'll see is that this Mount of Transfiguration, in a lot of ways, will be the opposite of another mount that Jesus will climb. 00:20:10.280 --> 00:20:17.920 That what they experience on the highest of the highs of the Mount of Transfiguration will look different when Jesus climbs the Mount to Calvary. 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:25.720 As he carries his cross, as he dies in that moment. 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:32.200 On the Mount of Transfiguration, from Scripture, we see that his face was altered. 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:35.800 It's changed to reflect the glory of God. 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:39.600 That his clothes, Scripture tells us, they shone. 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:48.500 And I believe in John's account, I may be wrong on this, but in John's account, I think it says that his clothes were as bright as lightning, is what they see. 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:50.080 So imagine that. 00:20:50.140 --> 00:20:51.500 Imagine you're Jesus, right? 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:52.360 You're not wealthy. 00:20:52.620 --> 00:20:54.760 You're moving through the dusty roads. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:56.480 You've got dirt on your face. 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:58.400 You've got dirt all over your clothes. 00:20:58.600 --> 00:21:01.560 This is how people were as the sand was there, right? 00:21:01.660 --> 00:21:03.360 There's not a place to shower. 00:21:03.360 --> 00:21:09.500 I don't know about you, but if you ever hike to the top of the mountain, that's not stay clean and pretty as we get there, okay? 00:21:09.660 --> 00:21:15.240 And this is where they head to, and they wake up, and they see Jesus, and he's different than he was before. 00:21:17.300 --> 00:21:20.940 The way he looks and everything that they can see. 00:21:22.740 --> 00:21:24.400 Jesus has friends with him, right? 00:21:24.560 --> 00:21:25.540 He's got some guests. 00:21:25.760 --> 00:21:27.480 He's got Moses and Elijah. 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:29.040 They didn't make the journey with him. 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:33.600 They didn't head up there, but they find him there in that moment. 00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:38.720 And then there's a cloud of the presence of God. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:40.620 That surrounds them. 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:43.300 And then there in the moment. 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:46.300 And imagine being these guys, right? 00:21:46.860 --> 00:21:52.380 Imagine in your life, you've just experienced Jesus giving you the power to heal demons. 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.520 I'm sorry, to heal people and to call out demons. 00:21:56.520 --> 00:22:09.980 And now, just eight days later, nine days later, you hear the voice of God, the audible voice of God as he declares his delight in Christ. 00:22:10.980 --> 00:22:11.120 Right? 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:12.660 That experience. 00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:15.660 But it's going to point towards something. 00:22:16.780 --> 00:22:20.240 It's going to point toward a mount where things look different than they did here. 00:22:21.060 --> 00:22:24.700 But that within that mount, it's the mount that Jesus has been telling them about. 00:22:24.800 --> 00:22:26.720 The mount that Jesus is saying, this has to happen. 00:22:26.820 --> 00:22:28.040 This must take place. 00:22:28.260 --> 00:22:29.520 This is what I came to fulfill. 00:22:29.760 --> 00:22:30.740 This is what I came to do. 00:22:31.020 --> 00:22:33.280 This is who I am for you. 00:22:34.260 --> 00:22:35.540 It's going to be different than this. 00:22:36.520 --> 00:22:37.460 This will be Calvary. 00:22:38.420 --> 00:22:42.180 As we jump forward, as you look at Calvary, what would happen and take place? 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.720 There on Calvary, Jesus' face would be altered again. 00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:50.260 But this time, it would not be altered by the light of the glory of God. 00:22:50.340 --> 00:22:56.620 But instead, this time, Jesus' face would be altered by a crown of thorns that would be pressed down on his head. 00:22:56.620 --> 00:23:03.240 And it would not be the glory of the light of God, but it would be his blood that filled his eyes and that covered his face. 00:23:04.380 --> 00:23:11.400 That just as Jesus had his clothes altered on the Mount of Transfiguration, his clothes, too, would be altered on Calvary. 00:23:11.620 --> 00:23:16.980 They would be beaten as he was beaten and would be torn into shreds and would be covered in blood. 00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:29.100 And then in the last moment of trying to humiliate Jesus, they would be torn off of him so that he is left naked, hanging on the cross as soldiers gambled for his clothes. 00:23:30.280 --> 00:23:31.980 On one mount, Jesus was altered. 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:36.760 On another mount, he was as well, but in a different way. 00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:51.200 On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus would be surrounded by Moses and Elijah, two men of great faith that we see and that we read about. 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:54.480 But on the Mount of Calvary, right? 00:23:55.260 --> 00:24:04.320 Jesus is not surrounded by Moses and Elijah, prophets of old, but is instead hung in between two thieves who are on either side of him. 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:14.840 That on the Mount of Transfiguration, there would be not a cloud of light that would come, but darkness would cover the land. 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:29.340 That on the Mount of Transfiguration, where the voice of God is heard, instead, on Calvary, it's not the voice of God, but it's silence. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:39.400 And that the Son of God cries out, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:43.400 And we see the weight of both. 00:24:44.620 --> 00:24:56.220 And the depth of the sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice of the life Jesus came to live and what would culminate on the cross of Calvary. 00:24:57.020 --> 00:25:00.840 But the good news is that the hope that we have is it doesn't end here. 00:25:01.620 --> 00:25:07.080 That there's one more encounter of two different things that's going to happen here. 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:09.580 And what I want us to look at is two tabernacles. 00:25:10.580 --> 00:25:15.080 So imagine being Peter, James, and John, and this is what you are seeing. 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:18.560 This is what is happening and taking place before you. 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:23.200 You're probably thinking to yourself, man, no one is going to believe this. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:28.660 Like when Jesus was coming and asking me to pray, I never knew that it would end up like this. 00:25:28.820 --> 00:25:30.600 I wouldn't have fallen asleep if it did, right? 00:25:30.780 --> 00:25:34.140 But this is where he finds that where they find themselves. 00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:40.660 And as they see that this is going to begin to end, that it's going to, that this time together is going to cease. 00:25:41.040 --> 00:25:43.920 Peter speaks up and he says, hey, let's do something. 00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:49.880 Let's create something so that this moment does not have to stop. 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:55.220 And I don't know if you've ever had that like mountaintop experience with Jesus, but it's like that, right? 00:25:55.280 --> 00:25:58.700 Like, hey, there's a sincere heart of Peter that we've had before. 00:25:58.780 --> 00:26:01.300 Like, I don't want this to end. 00:26:01.580 --> 00:26:03.140 And so look back at verse 33. 00:26:04.080 --> 00:26:08.440 It says, and as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, 00:26:09.120 --> 00:26:11.720 Master, it is good that we are here. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:14.140 Let us make three tents. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:19.500 One for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. 00:26:19.800 --> 00:26:22.780 But here's what's key, not knowing what he said. 00:26:23.620 --> 00:26:27.480 Peter's just trying to practically solve a problem so that this doesn't end. 00:26:28.260 --> 00:26:37.600 But what he says in the declaration of that brings implications that remind us and bring us hope. 00:26:38.800 --> 00:26:44.380 That, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Peter, this isn't about establishing and building a tent so that they can stay here. 00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:46.280 But it's more than that. 00:26:47.360 --> 00:26:54.540 In fact, when Peter uses the word, when he has the suggestion that they'll build a tent, it's more significant than that. 00:26:54.780 --> 00:26:57.960 Because Peter says, let's build a tabernacle here. 00:26:58.840 --> 00:26:58.940 Right? 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:01.600 Tabernacle is another word from the Old Testament. 00:27:01.760 --> 00:27:05.460 In fact, in Exodus 40, we're not going to read there, but just give you a brief summation. 00:27:06.100 --> 00:27:11.280 God tasked Moses to build a tabernacle, which was a very elaborate tent. 00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:11.780 Right? 00:27:11.820 --> 00:27:18.400 And this is where people could go to be with God as they wandered in the wilderness. 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:24.720 And so the word that Peter uses here in Luke 9 is that same as that word in Exodus 40. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:32.880 He's like, hey, let's make sure that right here in this moment, we build the tabernacle so that we can come back to this place, 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:37.440 so that we can have this experience, because there's Jesus, and we know who he is. 00:27:37.540 --> 00:27:39.980 And there's Moses, and we know who he is. 00:27:40.040 --> 00:27:42.480 And there's Elijah, and we know who he is. 00:27:42.540 --> 00:27:44.620 So let's build a tabernacle here. 00:27:45.620 --> 00:27:48.700 Let's take care of this so that we can come back too. 00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:54.280 But Jesus, no, because the presence of God is not going to be found in the tent, 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:59.340 but in the man whom the tent would be built for. 00:28:00.060 --> 00:28:04.420 In John 1, 14, John opens up his gospel, and he says, 00:28:04.420 --> 00:28:16.540 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:28:16.760 --> 00:28:22.940 Now, as you read that, that word dwelt there, translated, it's tabernacled. 00:28:24.080 --> 00:28:29.820 So then the word became flesh and tabernacled among us. 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:38.320 You see, the experience of God, the connection of God, the person of God, the relationship of God, 00:28:38.320 --> 00:28:46.280 is not going to be found in a place, an ideology, an experience outside of this, but it's found in Jesus himself. 00:28:47.620 --> 00:28:51.960 And say, look, there's an exodus that must take place. 00:28:53.020 --> 00:28:55.480 There's a journey that he must go on. 00:28:56.340 --> 00:28:58.020 And then that's going to be found freedom. 00:28:59.300 --> 00:29:03.820 And in that journey, in that exodus, there's another mount that he will climb. 00:29:04.820 --> 00:29:09.860 And in that, you're going to see a different side in the same person of what he's come to do. 00:29:09.980 --> 00:29:15.940 In all of this, because he is divine, because his face shines with the glory of God, 00:29:16.180 --> 00:29:19.540 because he is his Son with who he is well pleased, 00:29:19.540 --> 00:29:25.700 in all of these things is what's going to qualify Jesus to climb Calvary and die. 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:34.460 Not because he's a thief or a sinner, but because the exact opposite, because he's not. 00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:39.680 And then within that, within just as he walked this earth, 00:29:39.800 --> 00:29:43.400 just as he was in community with Peter, James, and John here, 00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:46.020 just as he healed and interacted with others, 00:29:46.020 --> 00:29:49.000 so too as he tabernacles with us. 00:29:50.380 --> 00:29:54.960 So we don't have to find a place to experience God. 00:29:56.200 --> 00:29:59.900 We don't have to lean into an experience or an ideology, 00:29:59.900 --> 00:30:08.660 but the very Spirit of God rests in us for those who are known by him and who know him. 00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:13.720 And so it's the experience we begin to see that these three men have, 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:21.620 begin to shape their understanding in a great and powerful way of who Jesus is. 00:30:22.580 --> 00:30:25.780 And so imagine now you're them and you're coming off that mountain. 00:30:27.600 --> 00:30:30.400 This is what has happened, what has taken place. 00:30:31.300 --> 00:30:33.600 There's still the other group of the disciples who are down, 00:30:33.780 --> 00:30:35.080 and they're not going to know about this. 00:30:35.220 --> 00:30:36.620 They're not going to find out about this. 00:30:36.780 --> 00:30:41.040 But in all that happens, you're going literally from the mountaintop into the valley. 00:30:41.740 --> 00:30:44.560 And I don't know about you guys, but that's life. 00:30:45.360 --> 00:30:47.420 Here's a real quick practical application. 00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:51.220 As quick as you can be on the mountain is as quick as you can be in the valley. 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:56.720 And the areas of our life that you and I often focus in on are the lowest of the lows 00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:58.160 and the highest of the highs. 00:30:58.280 --> 00:31:04.120 But the truth is, where we spend most of our life is on the trail or the road that leads to one or the other. 00:31:05.340 --> 00:31:12.360 And so what we want to see in here is what does it look like to have faith on the mountain and faith in the valley? 00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:19.620 What's that going to be in the life of the believer as we encounter in those moments of the understanding of who Jesus is, 00:31:19.620 --> 00:31:26.620 but then walk right off of that mountain into the valley and find where real life exists, 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:32.580 where hurt and where pain and where struggle is real and is strong. 00:31:33.460 --> 00:31:34.740 Look at verse 37. 00:31:36.320 --> 00:31:36.540 It says, 00:31:36.540 --> 00:31:42.120 In the next day when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 00:31:43.180 --> 00:31:46.720 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, 00:31:47.360 --> 00:31:52.000 Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 00:31:52.060 --> 00:31:53.940 I want to pause here for a moment. 00:31:55.060 --> 00:32:00.140 What I want you to grasp here is the desperation of a parent. 00:32:01.800 --> 00:32:06.080 Now there's been a phrase that I love, that this phrase has been around. 00:32:06.260 --> 00:32:12.680 If you hear the words, if you're hiking in the woods, let me throw this out there to you. 00:32:12.920 --> 00:32:15.260 Not in South Carolina because we don't really have this problem. 00:32:15.520 --> 00:32:19.440 But let's say you're in, I don't know, Alaska, all right? 00:32:20.180 --> 00:32:24.160 And someone says, oh, watch out, there's a mama bear. 00:32:24.700 --> 00:32:26.180 Can I tell you what you need to do? 00:32:26.780 --> 00:32:28.180 You need to back up. 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:29.960 And here's why you need to back up. 00:32:30.300 --> 00:32:31.740 You know how we know she's a mama bear? 00:32:31.940 --> 00:32:33.080 Because there's cubs. 00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:37.840 And little baby bears, little cubs, here's what they'll do. 00:32:38.220 --> 00:32:39.320 They're kind of like our kids. 00:32:39.420 --> 00:32:40.140 They're curious. 00:32:41.120 --> 00:32:42.680 And they'll wander up to you. 00:32:43.080 --> 00:32:44.920 Not necessarily to eat you, right? 00:32:44.980 --> 00:32:46.240 Because they're curious. 00:32:46.900 --> 00:32:50.640 Well, guess what mama bears do when their cubs wander up to you? 00:32:50.980 --> 00:32:52.940 They take their cub and put them in time out. 00:32:53.780 --> 00:32:54.780 No, they don't do that, all right? 00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:57.760 What they do is they come at you. 00:32:58.840 --> 00:33:03.360 Why would you come at my cub, right? 00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:07.180 And so now this expression, and I love it for the ladies who you'll say this. 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:08.800 You're like, I'm a mama bear, right? 00:33:08.840 --> 00:33:10.080 Don't mess with my kid. 00:33:10.220 --> 00:33:17.680 And if you mess with my kid, if something happens, there's a desperation within me that you haven't seen before that you're not ready to see now. 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:19.380 So watch out for a moment, okay? 00:33:20.020 --> 00:33:40.040 And when we see this verse, what I want us to hear when it says a man from the crowd cried out, there is a level and depth of desperation where this man finds himself where it is not like every other parent who's out in the crowd. 00:33:41.100 --> 00:33:44.320 There's something different going on in his life. 00:33:45.040 --> 00:33:48.120 And so from the crowd, he cries out to Jesus. 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:49.340 Look at verse 39. 00:33:50.940 --> 00:34:00.980 He shared that to look at his son, for he's my only child, verse 39, and behold, a spirit seizes him and he suddenly cries out. 00:34:01.520 --> 00:34:08.800 It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth and shatters him and will hardly leave him. 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:14.140 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. 00:34:14.240 --> 00:34:17.720 All right, so let me explain to you what's going on with this boy. 00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:25.860 Theologians believe, Bible scholars believe, that there's actually two things that are going on with this child. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:29.140 One is a spiritual issue and one is a medical issue. 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:43.100 With the medical issue, most believe that this boy suffers from a severe battle with epilepsy, that his seizures that he has are the type of seizures that can kill someone. 00:34:44.180 --> 00:34:53.780 And so if you've ever had a seizure, my son's had one seizure in his life, he's about 18 months old. 00:34:54.140 --> 00:34:58.820 It was the most, it was the scariest moment of my life. 00:34:59.820 --> 00:35:01.080 I didn't know what to do. 00:35:01.080 --> 00:35:03.360 I couldn't stop it. 00:35:04.240 --> 00:35:05.420 And it was mild. 00:35:07.420 --> 00:35:10.040 But this boy's been suffering from this. 00:35:10.900 --> 00:35:15.760 So he's got a medical battle that mom and dad can't fix. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:18.820 But he's also got a spiritual battle. 00:35:20.020 --> 00:35:23.100 And the spiritual battle is theologians, and you'll see this from the words, right? 00:35:23.260 --> 00:35:27.480 And they affirm that he was possessed by demons. 00:35:28.460 --> 00:35:33.960 So you've got a medical issue that you can't fix and you've got a spiritual issue that you can't fix. 00:35:34.020 --> 00:35:47.040 Now, I don't know about you guys, but with those that I love, there's no more a crippling situation than when you love someone who's falling apart in front of your very eyes and you can't fix it. 00:35:47.040 --> 00:35:49.900 I know I'm not God, but I feel like I need to do something. 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:52.320 And that's how this dad feels. 00:35:53.520 --> 00:36:00.180 And he says here that he begged Jesus' disciples to cast it out, but they couldn't do it. 00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:05.660 Now, remember, Jesus before had been with the disciples, had given them the power to do what? 00:36:05.720 --> 00:36:08.720 To heal and to call out demons, right? 00:36:08.780 --> 00:36:12.060 And it doesn't tell us that he removed this power from them. 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:16.080 And so this man has more than likely heard this is what they can do. 00:36:16.080 --> 00:36:20.280 And so he gets his son to them, and they can't fix it. 00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:24.880 He's heard what they've done for others, but they can't do it for him. 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:28.220 He doesn't walk away bitter. 00:36:29.800 --> 00:36:31.260 He comes running to Jesus. 00:36:32.520 --> 00:36:33.400 Verse 41. 00:36:34.780 --> 00:36:35.700 And Jesus answered, 00:36:37.220 --> 00:36:42.720 Oh, faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? 00:36:43.140 --> 00:36:45.020 Bring your son here. 00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:50.160 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. 00:36:50.160 --> 00:36:57.960 But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy as both and gave him back to his father. 00:36:59.240 --> 00:37:02.240 And all were astonished at the majesty of God. 00:37:03.100 --> 00:37:10.000 Now, Jesus' words here look complicated and hard for us. 00:37:11.300 --> 00:37:16.760 You've got a dad who brings his son to you, and he says, 00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:19.960 This is what's been going on. 00:37:19.960 --> 00:37:20.300 I'm desperate. 00:37:20.740 --> 00:37:21.900 I need you. 00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:25.900 And Jesus' response is, Oh, faithless and twisted generation. 00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:32.220 Now, more than likely, these words aren't meant for the father, but for those who he sent. 00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:39.700 That what Jesus is dealing with is that in those who claim to know him, there's a weakness in something. 00:37:39.900 --> 00:37:46.200 And it's not the weakness and the power that Jesus has given them, but their weakness is what Jesus calls out. 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:47.660 It's their faith. 00:37:48.580 --> 00:37:49.380 It's their faith. 00:37:50.360 --> 00:37:59.040 In Mark chapter 9, we get a different account of some added details of what happens in this dialogue and in this conversation. 00:37:59.160 --> 00:37:59.920 I want to read it to you. 00:37:59.960 --> 00:38:03.000 Mark 9, starting in verse 21, it says, 00:38:03.120 --> 00:38:06.960 And Jesus asked his father, How long has this been happening to him? 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:09.320 And he said, From childhood. 00:38:10.820 --> 00:38:16.600 And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. 00:38:17.520 --> 00:38:23.500 But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. 00:38:24.300 --> 00:38:31.580 And Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible for one who believes. 00:38:32.580 --> 00:38:39.600 And immediately, the father of the child cried out and said, I believe. 00:38:40.300 --> 00:38:42.660 Help my unbelief. 00:38:46.940 --> 00:38:52.720 I want you to hear the desperation of what this dad is going through. 00:38:54.300 --> 00:39:00.460 I want you to hear the journey that he's been on with this boy. 00:39:02.420 --> 00:39:08.460 He says, Jesus, there's been times where we find him in the fire. 00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:16.040 Jesus, give me some liberty for here, okay, for a moment. 00:39:16.580 --> 00:39:21.260 But like, Jesus, there's been times we've pulled him out of the water because he's trying to drown himself. 00:39:24.300 --> 00:39:26.180 I mean, can you imagine? 00:39:28.200 --> 00:39:29.560 But you couldn't sleep at night. 00:39:31.560 --> 00:39:37.660 But it would be hard to go to work, to live life, to function, to find joy, and to find hope in this. 00:39:37.740 --> 00:39:43.460 As this is your every day, your child, your only boy, who you deeply love. 00:39:43.640 --> 00:39:45.600 That this is where you find yourself. 00:39:45.780 --> 00:39:47.620 And he's covered with scars. 00:39:50.760 --> 00:39:53.180 Because this is where he finds himself. 00:39:55.180 --> 00:40:01.180 And Jesus says, he asked Jesus, he says, can you help him have compassion on us? 00:40:01.380 --> 00:40:05.140 Jesus, if you can, all things are possible for the one who believes. 00:40:05.400 --> 00:40:08.440 And immediately, notice the words of the father. 00:40:08.820 --> 00:40:14.760 Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said, I believe. 00:40:15.040 --> 00:40:16.580 Help my unbelief. 00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:19.080 Jesus, I believe. 00:40:19.900 --> 00:40:25.680 And I don't know about you, but here's the journey that I've been on before and that sometimes I still find myself. 00:40:26.740 --> 00:40:28.200 Jesus, I believe in you. 00:40:28.980 --> 00:40:31.680 But I'm angry as I see and as I go through this. 00:40:33.060 --> 00:40:34.360 Jesus, I believe. 00:40:34.500 --> 00:40:37.800 But my faith is weakened in this moment of loss. 00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:39.900 Jesus, I believe. 00:40:40.040 --> 00:40:44.460 But I don't understand as all of this is going on around me. 00:40:44.460 --> 00:40:46.780 And Jesus, I believe. 00:40:48.140 --> 00:40:49.980 But help my unbelief. 00:40:52.640 --> 00:40:58.100 Help me when I can't see past the sickness. 00:40:59.740 --> 00:41:02.460 Help me when I can't see past the struggle. 00:41:04.160 --> 00:41:06.720 Help me when I can't see past the tears. 00:41:08.580 --> 00:41:11.360 Jesus, help me. 00:41:13.100 --> 00:41:14.020 And it's amazing. 00:41:15.520 --> 00:41:16.640 Jesus healed him. 00:41:18.420 --> 00:41:19.380 Spiritual battle. 00:41:20.760 --> 00:41:21.700 Physical battle. 00:41:21.700 --> 00:41:37.560 But in order for Jesus to heal his deepest need, to step into where he was, he needed the father to be truthful with Jesus about who he was. 00:41:40.420 --> 00:41:47.960 I feel like sometimes as Christians, we're not okay with being not okay. 00:41:50.040 --> 00:41:53.660 We're too quick to say, well, I've got faith. 00:41:53.740 --> 00:41:54.760 God's going to get us through. 00:41:56.340 --> 00:41:58.140 But inside, there's unbelief. 00:41:59.460 --> 00:42:01.900 We're quick to stand and say, no, I'm good. 00:42:02.040 --> 00:42:02.840 God's got this. 00:42:02.940 --> 00:42:03.900 God's got control. 00:42:04.160 --> 00:42:12.000 And as we leave our small group, as we go back to our house with a marriage falling apart, there's tears that are flowing down our face. 00:42:12.080 --> 00:42:13.480 And we're angry with God. 00:42:13.480 --> 00:42:14.760 We're frustrated with God. 00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:16.480 And we don't know what's going on. 00:42:16.700 --> 00:42:24.960 And we live in this cycle within our world because the truth is that we have faith but help our unbelief. 00:42:25.060 --> 00:42:27.160 But we won't cry out to God in that manner. 00:42:28.460 --> 00:42:36.560 We won't have the faith of the man that's willing to say, but I believe, but I struggle. 00:42:37.860 --> 00:42:39.680 But I believe, but I have anger. 00:42:40.620 --> 00:42:42.820 But I believe, but I have pride. 00:42:43.060 --> 00:42:45.840 But I believe, but I have selfishness. 00:42:46.080 --> 00:42:50.160 But I believe, Lord, and they continue to build, and they build, and they build. 00:42:52.520 --> 00:42:54.320 So we see it with Jesus. 00:42:56.300 --> 00:43:05.660 Today, we saw where the exodus of Jesus, where he comes from to set us free. 00:43:06.740 --> 00:43:09.280 The sin and the death that enslave us. 00:43:10.140 --> 00:43:17.840 We see the mount that Jesus would climb and face for you and I so we could experience that very same freedom. 00:43:18.800 --> 00:43:26.240 We see about the tabernacle, that Jesus came not to stay in a tabernacle, but he came to tabernacle amongst us 00:43:26.240 --> 00:43:29.540 so that we may know him and interact with him. 00:43:31.800 --> 00:43:38.740 And living in this reality is not found by making all the right statements and following all the right rules 00:43:38.740 --> 00:43:40.340 and getting it all right. 00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:50.680 Living in this reality is not found in you and I trying to achieve some false sense of perfection 00:43:50.680 --> 00:43:54.080 that we try to cling to in and of ourselves. 00:43:56.160 --> 00:43:59.840 It's found in being truthful with who we are. 00:44:01.220 --> 00:44:05.960 Because when I'm truthful in who I am, then I'm truthful in who he is. 00:44:07.260 --> 00:44:13.080 And then at my core, right, I'm just a sinner who's saved by grace. 00:44:13.920 --> 00:44:15.740 Who desperately needs God. 00:44:16.780 --> 00:44:23.280 Who I believe, but in so many areas of my life, there's still the unbelief. 00:44:24.120 --> 00:44:27.020 And then I need to bring Jesus into. 00:44:28.020 --> 00:44:29.900 So that I can walk in that exodus. 00:44:31.020 --> 00:44:33.440 So that I can live in the reality of Calvary. 00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:39.100 And so that I can know that Christ tabernacles with me. 00:44:40.020 --> 00:44:40.840 Would you pray with me? 00:44:45.780 --> 00:44:47.300 God, we come to you this morning. 00:44:49.780 --> 00:44:50.740 And we thank you. 00:44:54.160 --> 00:44:58.800 Jesus, you are God on the mountaintop, God in the valley, God on the road in between. 00:45:01.500 --> 00:45:06.360 Lord, I thank you for the journey to Jerusalem that you took. 00:45:08.520 --> 00:45:11.760 The exodus that was written for you. 00:45:14.480 --> 00:45:20.460 That you could set your people free from the sin and death that enslave us. 00:45:22.100 --> 00:45:25.440 Lord, I thank you that you were the perfect sacrifice. 00:45:26.320 --> 00:45:28.840 Who bore the punishment that we deserved. 00:45:29.640 --> 00:45:32.000 But that you faced it on Calvary. 00:45:33.880 --> 00:45:38.080 That it's through the blood of Christ that we find healing. 00:45:38.540 --> 00:45:39.640 And that we find hope. 00:45:40.140 --> 00:45:41.200 And that we find meaning. 00:45:41.620 --> 00:45:42.700 And that we find purpose. 00:45:43.800 --> 00:45:48.760 That your one act covers a multitude of sin. 00:45:50.180 --> 00:45:51.280 Of all creation. 00:45:53.060 --> 00:45:57.240 Lord, I thank you that you came and you dwelt among us. 00:45:58.840 --> 00:46:06.260 And that when you left, when you ascended, Lord, you left your spirit with us. 00:46:07.520 --> 00:46:13.240 So that right here, as we face the battles that we face, the journey that we're on. 00:46:14.360 --> 00:46:15.320 Lord, we're not alone. 00:46:16.800 --> 00:46:18.240 Lord, you're here with us. 00:46:19.820 --> 00:46:26.040 Lord, I pray that this morning, Lord, we could look at this dad. 00:46:27.900 --> 00:46:29.860 Number one, Lord, who knew that he was desperate. 00:46:31.780 --> 00:46:33.980 Who, number two, knew that he needed Jesus. 00:46:36.200 --> 00:46:43.480 And who, Lord, number three, knew that he, even as much as he believed, he was still incapable and needed you. 00:46:44.200 --> 00:46:54.920 So, Lord, from the heart of the individual who's lost, to the heart of the saint who's on this journey with you. 00:46:56.580 --> 00:47:02.380 Lord, I pray that you would reveal to us in the power of your spirit our desperation. 00:47:04.720 --> 00:47:07.040 Lord, we need you when we need you alone. 00:47:08.680 --> 00:47:13.200 We may trust you and lean into you and impress into you. 00:47:15.900 --> 00:47:23.300 Lord, today, could we worship you because of the exodus. 00:47:25.060 --> 00:47:29.440 Today, could we worship you because of Calvary. 00:47:31.040 --> 00:47:39.720 Lord, today, could we worship you because not only could a tent not withhold you, but neither could a tomb. 00:47:43.340 --> 00:47:45.840 Lord, you're here with us now. 00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:50.980 Jesus, we believe. 00:47:52.180 --> 00:47:54.860 Help our unbelief. 00:47:56.320 --> 00:47:57.420 It's your name we pray. 00:47:57.960 --> 00:47:58.220 Amen. 00:47:59.460 --> 00:48:02.320 In just a moment, we're going to stand and we're going to respond. 00:48:03.240 --> 00:48:04.700 The altar's open. 00:48:05.780 --> 00:48:09.300 I'll be down front here because I've got to come up at the end in just a moment. 00:48:10.280 --> 00:48:12.640 If you need to pray, we're here for you. 00:48:13.320 --> 00:48:16.680 If you can talk to somebody about a relationship with Christ, we want to talk about that with you. 00:48:16.820 --> 00:48:21.620 But more importantly, we want you to respond in how God's bringing you. 00:48:23.320 --> 00:48:24.520 So where's your desperation? 00:48:25.660 --> 00:48:26.520 Where's that moment? 00:48:27.180 --> 00:48:28.340 Where's your unbelief? 00:48:28.840 --> 00:48:30.700 Stop trying to hide it like he knows it. 00:48:31.700 --> 00:48:32.600 He knows it. 00:48:33.840 --> 00:48:35.240 Just lay it out before him. 00:48:36.540 --> 00:48:38.220 And see what God's going to do in your life. 00:48:39.300 --> 00:48:41.120 You stand as we worship him. 00:48:41.120 --> 00:48:59.260 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:48:59.760 --> 00:49:02.080 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:49:02.080 --> 00:49:11.140 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:49:11.140 --> 00:49:14.680 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram. 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:17.680 We'll see you next time. 00:49:17.680 --> 00:49:25.060 We'll see you next time.