So this morning, we're continuing the discussion we started last Sunday about the mountains of Scripture.
Last Sunday we noticed some of the mountains of the Old Testament Scripture.
We noticed a number of events that occurred on those mountains.
Well today, we're going to notice the mountains of Christ, because mountains play a significant role in the life of Christ.
And I don't know if you've ever considered just how many times mountains show up in the record of Christ's life, but we're gonna notice a few of these, not an exhaustive list
this morning, and notice some lessons we can learn from them.
The very first mountain that we find in the life of Christ is described in the events, and most of our time will be spent in the book of Matthew just for the sake of going through
Matthew as he records these events, but Matthew chapter 4.
Jesus finds John the Baptist and Jesus is baptized by John and then is sent out into the wilderness and fasts for 40 days and 40 nights.
is nearing the end of that time of fasting, Satan comes to him and tempts him, as is recorded in Matthew chapter 4.
These three different occasions, Satan comes to Jesus to tempt Jesus, but one of them, Satan takes Jesus to exceedingly high mountain, we're not told what mountain it is, but an
exceedingly high mountain and shows him all the nations of the earth.
And Satan tells Jesus, if you will just kneel down and worship me, I will give all of these nations to you.
All these things will be yours.
As you look there in Matthew chapter 4, and you consider what Satan is offering.
Consider first that something that isn't tempting isn't a temptation.
Satan comes to Jesus.
And Satan doesn't understand God's plan.
And I think that's important to realize.
Satan is not doing this with foresight that Jesus is going to have to be put on the cross and crucified.
I am firmly convinced that Satan does not know that when Jesus is put on the cross, he loses.
because he strove diligently to get him there.
So as you look at this, don't necessarily imagine what Satan is offering is an alternative to dying.
Rather, what Satan is offering is the natural opportunity of power.
The natural opportunity to reign with power that has seemingly no consequence.
The ability to just take what you want to do and make it possible for you to enact your will.
You know, it's sad.
that power corrupts.
and that ultimate power corrupts ultimately.
And what Satan is offering to Jesus is the same thing that king after king after king after world leader after world leader has sought.
the power to control everything.
the power to exert their will over everything they can touch.
And Satan offers that to Christ.
And yet, Jesus will make it clear.
That.
We are to worship God and Him alone.
on the height of this exceedingly high mountain.
Jesus doesn't argue with Satan over who's in control of the world.
Jesus doesn't argue with Satan over the fact that God puts in power whomever He chooses.
Jesus argues with Satan about who is worthy of worship.
and it's God and Him alone.
when we face the reality.
of coming to grips with the fact that there is no one who will ever walk this earth, who will ever be in power, who will ever sit in the seat of a head of state, who we should
hold alliance to and allegiance to above God.
And when we look in our lives and we realize there is nothing that the world can offer us, that anyone in this world can promise us, that is greater than being obedient to God.
and the promise of eternal life with Him.
You see, the test was, Jesus, will you trade eternity for this?
But Jesus would ask the question in another passage, what shall a man profit if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
here at the Mount of Temptation.
Jesus makes it clear.
There's nothing in this world
for which you should trade your soul.
but then consider Matthew chapter five.
As those temptations conclude and Satan departs from Jesus for a season, Jesus will go and begin to teach and assemble his disciples together in Matthew chapter five.
Jesus will go upon a mountain and his disciples will come to him and the crowds will come to him and they will listen to him teach.
And you find the mountain of doctrine.
Because in this passage you find that Jesus doesn't just teach.
Jesus corrects the Jews' understanding of doctrine.
All throughout Jesus' teaching in Matthew chapter 5 and Matthew chapter 6 and Matthew chapter 7, Jesus will use the phrase, you have heard that it was said, but I say unto you.
Jesus is not telling them about a new doctrine different from the old law of Moses that he was instituting as a new foundation of the New Testament faith.
That's not what he's doing.
He is correcting the mis-teachings of their teachers who have been abusing the law in order to teach what they want.
He is rather taking them back to the law and teaching them what the law actually taught them.
So consider what he says.
Matthew chapter 5 verse 17, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
assuredly I say to you till heaven and earth shall pass away one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus addresses these Jews and His disciples and He makes it clear you cannot abuse the doctrine of God for your own ends and expect God to welcome you into His kingdom.
and he addresses the fact that the scribes, the ones whose responsibility it was to literally copy the law.
were unwilling to teach the law based upon what they copied.
They were unwilling to teach what the law actually said.
the Pharisees, who would go around parading themselves with phylacteries on their head with all the scriptures that they'd memorized written down in them and would be resistant
to speaking to women in a public place and would follow all of these traditions and would make sure when they came in from the marketplace that they'd wash their hands ceremonially
to get the Gentiles off of them.
Pharisees wouldn't teach the law the way that it was written.
Why is that so important for us today?
Jesus addresses the problem of doctrine according to the law of Moses 1,600 years after it was given.
And the question might be asked, Jesus, why are you so worried about the old law?
It's so old.
And the answer is because Jesus says, one jot, not one tittle.
You gotta know a little bit about some old ancient languages, but those are the smallest markings in Hebrew.
Not one small accent of a mark will fall from the law until it's all fulfilled.
Jesus on that mount emphasizes what he concludes with Matthew chapter seven.
Therefore, verse 24, sorry, verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
Notice he hasn't changed topics.
He's still talking about who's going to enter the kingdom of heaven.
He's already said if your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you're not getting in.
But he now says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name, and then I will declare to them, I
never knew you.
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."
But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the
winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall." Jesus on the Mount declares that you will either build your life on sound doctrine
which means going back to what God says and what God alone says.
Or number one, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
And number two, when all the hardships of life come, when all the difficulties arise and you could have had your house, your life built on a solid foundation, you will find that
the foundation you've built it on will not stand up to the elements.
You want to build your life on something that will be around when you're dead and gone?
Don't build it on the teachings of men.
Build it on the doctrine of God.
But then consider on another occasion, Matthew chapter 14.
Matthew chapter 14.
Jesus has begun to teach in parables.
And in verse 13, down through verse 21, Jesus feeds 5,000.
And as he does so, he does so not with great parades and caravans of food.
but with five loaves and two fish.
He feeds 5,000 people until they're all full with five loaves and two fish.
And you'll notice verse 19, that he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass and he took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven he blessed and broke and
gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples gave to the multitudes so they all ate and were filled and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.
Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men besides women and children.
He feeds this multitude.
And when it's done, there's leftovers.
There's more leftovers left over than there was food to begin with.
Verse 22, immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
Now when evening came, he was alone there.
But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
Now on the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea.
As you picture this, picture something that occurs here but also occurs elsewhere in Scripture in Jesus' ministry.
Jesus will perform great miracles.
And instead of keeping the multitudes always with him, he pushes them away.
He sends them home.
And quite often you will find Jesus going to pray.
And quite often you will find, if He's in the region near Galilee, Jesus going up on the mountain to pray.
What did we learn?
Some might surmise that we could learn that prayers get to God faster when you start from a mountain, but I don't think that's it.
One of the things that you see is Jesus.
prioritizing prayer.
Jesus is described in similar passages as this, getting up early in the morning before dawn, before anybody else is awake, and going out to pray.
In this occasion you find Jesus going up at night after the crowds are set away, after the disciples are out on the boat, and He goes up and at night He prays.
What are we learning?
Number one, if prayer is going to be effective, we need to have time separated from others to pray.
When the people were around, there were thousands of them clamoring to get to Jesus.
Really hard to stop and have a quiet moment of communication with God with a few thousand people trying to get to you.
But even when the disciples were around, they had questions, they had needs, they had things that they needed to learn, they had wants, they had desires of Jesus, and all of
those things were a barrier to prayer.
We should learn that it is important for us to make space in our lives for prayer.
And that's not always going to mean that someone has the luxury of taking three or four days off and not having any work and not having anybody around to pray.
They might just have to lose a night or two of sleep.
But Jesus prioritized prayer.
Jesus focused on prayer.
Jesus taught His disciples how to pray.
And Jesus separated Himself from others for the purpose of prayer.
when you examine the events that follow from Jesus feeding the 5,000.
You're on the cusp of a time where many of His disciples turn back on Him and never follow Him again.
and they do that not because he didn't feed them.
They do that because in spite of the fact that He fed them, what He taught them was too hard for them to accept.
Sometimes we need to remember that prayer is important when we have to make a decision whether to be on God's side or men's side.
And you will find Jesus praying before many of those very difficult circumstances and very trying times.
But then consider as well Matthew chapter 17.
Just a few pages over Matthew chapter 17, you have the mountain of God's Son.
We often call this the Mount of Transfiguration, but I believe perhaps that focuses in its description on the wrong aspect of the event.
In Matthew chapter 17, now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, led them up a
up on a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them, his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.
Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here.
If you wish, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
Is this the mount where Jesus was transfigured?
Yes.
We could call this the mountain of the prophets, for Moses was a prophet and Elijah was a prophet and Jesus was a prophet.
We could call it the mountain of the prophets.
But the single greatest focus of what occurs here isn't the transfiguration.
And it isn't the conversation between Moses and Elijah and Jesus.
And it isn't the question that Peter asks.
And it isn't the fact that they're all prophets.
It is rather what we read in verse five.
While he was still speaking, who was speaking?
Peter.
Peter was saying to Jesus, it's good that we're here.
Let us build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah.
And while he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.
And suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased here.
Him.
God makes it clear on this mountain, Jesus, not Moses.
Jesus, not Elijah.
is his son.
and is his authority on earth.
God demonstrates viscerally for Peter, James, and John, who will be the nexus of the apostles.
that when it comes between Moses and Jesus, there's only one choice.
When it comes between Elijah and Jesus, there's only one choice.
They are to hear God's Son.
than in Matthew chapter 24.
all throughout the very last week of Jesus' ministry before he was betrayed and taken and put on a cross.
Jesus will come into Jerusalem during the day.
Jesus will leave Jerusalem at night.
Jesus has been in the temple teaching.
Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem and faced what we have termed the triumphal entry.
Sitting on the back of a donkey with people laying down palm leaves and crying hallelujah.
And yet as the week wears on.
leading up to Passover as the week wears on the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and others.
Put Jesus to the test over and over and over again looking for anything they can accuse Him of.
and failing every step of the way.
And so in Matthew chapter 23, Jesus pronounces a series of woes on the scribes and the Pharisees.
and then a judgment against Jerusalem.
You read in Matthew chapter 23 verse 37, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her.
How often I wanted to gather your children together as hens, gather her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
See, your house is left to you desolate.
For I say to you, you shall see me no more till you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple.
And Jesus said to them, do you not see all these things?
Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another.
that shall not be thrown down.
Jesus in this chapter will pass judgment on Jerusalem.
Jesus will make it clear in the message and the words of the Old Testament prophets that the nation of Israel was coming to an end, that God was washing His hands of Israel.
and the kingdom that they so desperately wanted and the king they so desperately expected to be waiting for.
The king who would throw off the shackles of Rome.
The king that would restore the grandeur of Israel.
The king that would once again rule to the greatest extent of the promised land.
All those expectations were wrong.
Because rather what they got was Jesus, who yes, He was King and would reign eternally, but He was not there to restore their land.
He was there to declare that they would be judged and not one stone would be left on another.
in AD 70.
The Roman armies will walk into Jerusalem.
and they will dismantle the temple.
and they will take every single stone apart because inlaid within the stones was gold.
And so they dismantled every single one in direct fulfillment of what Jesus said.
and in direct fulfillment of God's declaration that Israel as a nation no longer belonged to Him.
but that His people were those who would be obedient to Him in faith and in truth.
And they would come from every nation under heaven.
But then consider as well Matthew chapter 26 and the mountain of betrayal.
has already mentioned.
Jesus makes time to Jesus separates Himself to pray.
And Judas knew it.
So when Judas leaves the upper room where Jesus was there with his disciples, Judas knows where to find Jesus later that night.
for he finds him in Gethsemane on the mount praying.
Jesus!
knew that Judas would know where to find them.
But Jesus wasn't there anyway.
Jesus went on the mount.
left some of the disciples behind, took those same three with him that were there in Matthew chapter 17.
So Jesus, Peter, James, and John go a little further and Jesus tells them, with me while I go and pray.
So he leaves them there and he goes a little further and he prays to God.
for an hour.
What does he pray for?
If it is possible, let this cup pass from me.
not my will, but thine be done.
At the end of the hour he comes back to those three disciples.
and give them a little break.
They've probably been up for about 23 hours at this point.
They're asleep.
So he wakes them.
He says, could you not watch with me one hour?
He goes apart again to pray.
For another hour he prays.
What does he pray?
The exact same thing.
and he comes back and they're asleep again.
Jesus declares the statement that is most assuredly true.
Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
This time, as he goes to pray, he doesn't tell him to watch.
He's asleep.
He sets himself apart from them again and prays for an hour.
when he comes back.
comes back on the cusp of the sound of the temple soldiers and Judas.
coming to meet Him.
Judas had declared to those who were with Him, the one whom you see me greet with a kiss, He's the one.
the kiss of betrayal, the act of a friend.
turned into the mark of betrayal.
Jesus on this mount teaches us.
Sometimes the people who eat at our table, sometimes the people who seem to be friends, sometimes the people who we surround ourselves with the closest will do the greatest harm.
But beyond that, on this mountain, as these soldiers arrive, as they begin to take Jesus, Peter will pull his sword.
And he will cut off the ear of one of the guards.
Jesus will tell Peter, you put the sword away.
And he picks up the man's ear and reattaches it.
and we learn something else.
The weapons of this world's warfare are not the powerful weapons.
The weapons of Christ, the weapons of the Kingdom of Heaven, are not bombs and helicopters and fighter jets or swords or knives, but the Word of God.
And so, Paul will tell us to put on the whole armor of God.
And the armor is made up of character and righteousness and holiness and truth.
And to arm ourselves with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
And to stand for the truth.
because this world will not be conquered by might and we will not obtain victory through might.
Jesus will stand before Pilate and say, my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.
But my kingdom is not of this world.
We should strive diligently to remember that the betrayal that occurred on that mountain was for money that ultimately the person didn't even keep for three days.
and that sometimes the things that we fight for are all the wrong things.
But the things that we should fight for are the things of God.
then one more mount in Acts chapter 1.
after Jesus has been resurrected from the dead.
Jesus again takes his disciples up on the mount.
On the mount of Olivet, Jesus will stand before his disciples and say this.
Verse 6 of Acts chapter 1, therefore when they had come together they asked him saying, Lord will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight, and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he
went up.
Behold two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand, gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus who was taken up from you in the heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey." As you notice here on this mount outside Jerusalem,
Jesus ascends back to the Father in fulfillment of what Daniel had prophesied in Daniel, or the vision Daniel had seen in Daniel chapter 7.
He ascended back to His throne.
He ascended to sit at the right hand of the throne of God.
He ascended to return as the reigning King, as the victorious King, waiting only that the last of the enemies be vanquished.
And that last enemy, he had already summarily defeated, for the last enemy was death.
And Jesus went down into that tomb, and three days later, Jesus walked out of that tomb, never to die again.
and deaths hold on humanity ended.
And yes.
It wasn't over then.
It was only beginning.
In Daniel chapter 2, God tells Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel that in the days of the Roman Empire, he would set up a kingdom which would never be destroyed.
And Jesus told his disciples in Matthew chapter 13 that he came to establish his church, his kingdom, that the gates of Hades would not prevail against.
So on this mountain, we learn that it is possible, through the gospel message of Jesus Christ, through the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to be obedient to Christ.
knowing that yes, there's a time where we will face physical death, but there is also an assurance of a resurrection with Christ where we will never taste death again.
and certainly that we will not face the second death in hell.
If you're here this morning and you desire to be in a relationship with Christ that is going to be the assurance of eternal life, then you might wonder how that happens.
It happens, number one, by hearing the Word of God.
Remember what Jesus said, the one who hears these sayings of mine and does them.
So begins with hearing.
But in order to do them, you have to believe.
You have to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Jesus said in John chapter eight, verse 23, except you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.
You wanna miss that second death.
you must believe that he is the Son of God.
But that's not enough.
Jesus also said, except you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Luke chapter 13 verse 3 and verse 5, Jesus made it clear, you're not avoiding that death if repentance isn't part of what you do.
You also have to confess His name.
But in order to live, you have to die.
In order to live, you have to die to sin, you have to die to self.
You have to be buried in that watery grave of baptism and you have to be resurrected in newness of life, Romans chapter six, verses one through seven.
you're going to become a Christian, if you're going to be part of the kingdom of heaven, if your righteousness is going to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the
Pharisees, if you're going to be one of which, when this world is finished and judgment day comes, he says to you, not, depart from me, you workers of iniquity, but rather, enter
in.
You've gotta take the steps to become a child of God, to die to sin, to be resurrected in newness of life.
But then, you have to be faithful until death.
Paul will say, I've fought the good fight, I've finished the course, I've kept the faith.
Henceforth, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness that he will give me on that day, and not to me only, but to all those that love his appearing.
consider the mountains of Christ.
Consider the mountain of temptation, the mountain of doctrine, the mountain of prayer, the mountain of God's Son, the mountain of judgment, the mountain of betrayal, and the
mountain of ascension.
And consider what those mountains mean for your life.
If you have need of the invitation to put Christ on in baptism or to be restored back to a right relationship with Him, if you've wandered from the faith,
Why not take the opportunity this morning to do that now as we stand and as we