Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Almighty God, you welcome you. Hey there. If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to, so we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church and click on Contact. With all that said, we, we hope you enjoy the message.
[00:00:35] Before I get started, I have to share something sometimes, man. I feel like actually most Sundays in our front half of praise Time, man, it's been happening more and more regularly. But, like, I feel like God will put pretty significant impressions on my heart and on my mind, and I.
[00:00:57] I want to obey him. I'd rather be wrong than disobedient. It's kind of a life motto for me. And so I need to share something before I start my sermon and before I start my clock.
[00:01:09] I felt, like, really strongly that there's somebody here this morning. And you've been let down by a Christian fairly recently. And I'm not sure if it's like, the Christian leader thing or if it's just another Christmas.
[00:01:26] Like, you've been let down in a way that's been like, painful and hard for you. And I feel like you specifically, God has, like, he wants to do some. He wants to do some fathering with you this morning in a really, really beautiful way. And so if that's you, I'm excited for you. I think God's going to minister to you in a really beautiful way. And so I'm excited to see what happens with that. Now, that being said, I am going to get started. So many of you know, I just got back from South Africa a little over a week ago on a ministry trip. It was really, really good.
[00:01:55] I got to take my youngest, Vivian, on this trip. It was her first time to South Africa, which was really, really cool. Informative for her.
[00:02:01] I think it's. I'll say this, I think parents, as much as we can, in intentional ways, get our children out of this context. When I say this context, I mean this place. This place is beautiful. There's so much of God's kingdom that's able to operate here in this space. It's comfortable, it's beautiful, it's good. But I think it's so healthy for the formation of our children to help them see other contexts and the ways that God is moving in those Places and in the ways with which the kingdom of heaven is hindered into those places where they get to encounter and see some of the brokenness that is in the planet. So I got to take Vivian on this trip. It was really, really good. We were ministering with one of our sister churches and our family of churches, Harbor City, led by Jamie and Lisa Turnette. They're incredible leaders and guys, the trip was really, really fruitful.
[00:02:49] Very exhausting. If you've ever gone that part of the globe, you know that it is not just like one flight. If you're lucky, it's two, if not three. And all of those flights are very long.
[00:03:00] And there's something about airline seats. And I think they make airline seats for like 7 year olds because not only do you just not have any leg room, but you have this, like, I'm not a big guy, but. And I don't have the broadest shoulders in the world, but even me, I'm like sitting in this chair like this for like a day and a half in the air. It's just.
[00:03:21] It's not as romantic as it sounds. Okay. But nonetheless, the trip was wonderful. It was really, really good.
[00:03:28] Some profound things happened. I will say this, I'll give you a report on Harbor City. Harbor City is a church in Durban, South Africa. We love them dearly. Like I said, they're part of our family of churches.
[00:03:38] This church has been through a lot the last five to six years.
[00:03:43] I mean, like, a lot unrest in the city.
[00:03:47] If you're familiar with South Africa and the politics there, it's a bit of a mess. The poverty is off the charts.
[00:03:55] They've experienced a ton of natural disasters. A lot of things with COVID a lot of things with racial tension. Like, it is just. There's a lot. And so the church, as you can imagine, has been through a lot. But I am so thrilled to tell you, dude, Harbor City is thriving, guys. In the midst of all this stuff, like, they really are thriving. We got to make a really significant investment in them. What we basically did was me and Andy Rogers and Brad Sarian. Andy leads one of the churches down in San Diego, the first restored church, actually. And Brad, who leads la, our church in la, we came, we brought our daughters, and we basically did. If you've been to the summit or the retreat, the Family of Churches retreat, you will experience this. We basically did like a miniature version of that for their church.
[00:04:36] And it was wonderful. God showed up in some powerful ways. People were delivered. There was some really. Every time I go to Africa. I've been so many times at this point, but every time I go, I'm always struck by how much more maybe obvious the spiritual realm is there.
[00:04:59] I'll give you an example. So on this last trip, how many of you guys know Eric and Josel? Eric Fetdara? You guys know Eric. He's down in our. He's a leader in one of our churches down in South Bay, San Diego. And so he was doing. During our retreat, he did a breakout session. Him and his wife did a breakout session on, like, following Jesus in your singleness.
[00:05:22] And this woman who wasn't part of Harbor City, but just happened to be staying at this, like, camp, this, this area where we held the. The retreat, she shows up to his.
[00:05:33] His session and.
[00:05:36] And afterwards she talks to him and. And long story short, she tells him. She's like, yeah, like, I. I'm. I'm actually possessed by multiple demons.
[00:05:49] And. And I. And I encountered this woman. Like, you could see it in her eyes.
[00:05:57] It was wild. And she. So Eric having conversations with her and wanted to see, like, okay, does this woman want deliverance? Like, what is she after? Why is she sharing this with me? And he's like, tom, what do I do?
[00:06:09] And he's such a gifted leader. He's an amazing guy. So he has just a compassionate heart and a wild story of God intervening in his life.
[00:06:19] And so he's engaging with her and he's filling me in. He's like, yeah. She basically is like, actually, I don't want deliverance from these demons. She goes, this is her words.
[00:06:28] They don't possess me. I possess them.
[00:06:33] And it got me thinking about this.
[00:06:38] Can I just, like, remind us for a second? Like, the spiritual realm is real, right?
[00:06:44] Like, oftentimes it goes kind of unnoticed or unseen. But the spiritual realm and the physical realm, which I would say probably 99% of our attention is given to the physical realm, but the spiritual realm and the physical realm, at least biblically speaking, if you're a Christian, you have a biblical worldview. Those two things are connected sometimes in mysterious ways. Absolutely. I don't have all the answers to this, but I've just seen it and encountered it and experienced it enough to know the spiritual realm is real.
[00:07:11] Oftentimes it goes unnoticed, oftentimes it goes unseen, but it's there. Like spirits, angels, and in this woman's case, demons and visions. You read the scriptures, people have these visions. God himself. Like, there is a spiritual realm, like, even right now around you in ways that we might not see in Ways that we might not in the moment be aware of. The physical and the spiritual are real and they are connected. Okay, today's passage is a wild one. Today's passage is a beautiful one. But in today's passage, a few of Jesus disciples, they experience the spiritual realm, and I would argue one of the most dramatic examples in the entire New Testament.
[00:07:59] So if you have your Bible, go ahead and grab it. We're in Matthew chapter 17 this morning.
[00:08:04] Matthew chapter 17. You can go over there. You can flip your Bible open there. If you don't have a Bible, no sweat. The words are going to be on the screen for us.
[00:08:12] I'll be in the Christian Standard Bible translation, as I typically am. We are continuing in our series the King this Kingdom, where we're going through Matthew's gospel, wanting to learn as much as we can about the king of the universe and his kingdom, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. What does it look like when God gets his way, his rule, his reign? That's the kingdom of God, right?
[00:08:33] And so what I want to do is I want to go through verses 1 through 13 with you this morning.
[00:08:39] And before I jump into this, I want to pray for us. I want to pray for me, and I want to invite you to join me. Let's pray.
[00:08:52] Holy Spirit, we just. We need you.
[00:08:56] We need you to teach us. We need you to show us more of the glory and the beauty of Jesus.
[00:09:03] And that's our desire, that you would. You would show us his glory, you would teach us this morning, and you would help us apply the truth of your word to our lives.
[00:09:13] We don't want to just be people who hear the Word. We want to be people who do the Word, like James says. We want to be people who allow your words to shape us and mold us and guide us and lead us so that we might become the people that you've created us to be.
[00:09:28] And so would you help me to serve in a way that's pleasing to you, in a way that genuinely blesses your beloved in this room.
[00:09:38] Jesus, we love you. There's nobody like you.
[00:09:42] We honor you.
[00:09:44] I praise you.
[00:09:47] You've been so good to me and so good to this precious church.
[00:09:52] So teach us in God as we pray and all God's people said together, Amen.
[00:09:57] Okay, so Matthew chapter 17, starting in verse one, it says this. After six days, everybody say six days.
[00:10:06] Underline that in your Bible. Okay? After six days, Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. Okay? Pause For a second. Jesus has taken his boys on a backpacking trip. Okay, how do I know? Because it says high mountain. He's not just going up a hill, he's going up there.
[00:10:23] This isn't part of my sermon, but have you ever thought about, like, Jesus did this kind of thing regularly? Listen, they didn't have, like, an REI to go to before their trip.
[00:10:32] They didn't have, like, really good synthetic materials to build their tent out of, or, like, ultralight backpacks, like, down. Like, down sleeping bags, like. And yet they're still doing this stuff. It blows me away.
[00:10:43] Okay, so, yeah, we're gonna come back to the six days part, but really quickly. I joke around about this, but listen, this verse is the essence of discipleship to Jesus, okay? It says that he took them.
[00:10:59] That word in the Greek, the took there, it means to bring someone along with.
[00:11:05] So get the picture here. I'm. I'll move on fast, and we'll get to the rest of the passage. But this is important to notice. Jesus selects Peter, James, and John, doesn't he?
[00:11:15] And then he brings them with him.
[00:11:19] So before I go any further, I just want to remind you, listen, if you are a disciple of Jesus, that means he chose you and he's bringing you somewhere.
[00:11:31] I know this sounds cheesy, and you're like, okay, Tom, like, get into the text. But he chose you, and he's bringing you somewhere.
[00:11:43] Like, you know that it's in the heart of every human, the desire to be chosen, right?
[00:11:48] Like, I don't care if you're the manliest dude in the room or the most, like, independent person or the shyest person or the most outgoing person or whatever.
[00:11:59] The diversity in the room. Like, I don't care where you're at. Like, it's the desire of every human to be chosen man, to be desired, to be wanted, to be selected.
[00:12:12] Whether it's sports or whether it's friendship or whether it's romance. Hear me. Everybody wants to be chosen.
[00:12:20] And if you're a disciple of Jesus, he chose you, and he's bringing you somewhere, okay?
[00:12:30] Now, if by chance there's someone in this room, you're not a disciple of Jesus, I am very pleased to announce to you. You. You can be.
[00:12:38] And he wants you.
[00:12:41] He desires you.
[00:12:42] Okay? So Jesus, he brings his boys on a backpacking trip, right? Now, most scholars believe that they were somewhere on what's called Mount Hermon. Do you guys have that photo?
[00:12:52] I think I have it, hopefully, yeah. Okay, so this is me and Ebony. This is January of 2019.
[00:12:59] We are in the Holy Land. We are. We are in and around Israel. Right here. We're in an area, a region called the Golan Heights. Now, can you see the snow capped mountains in the background?
[00:13:10] There we go. You're alive. Yes. Talk to me. Okay, so that's Mount Hermon.
[00:13:17] So what we're about to read took place somewhere on those very real mountains that I've seen with my own eyes that you are now seeing a photograph of me and Ebony. And I also want to draw your attention to how ungray my hair is in this photograph.
[00:13:33] Okay. Now if I was to take that photo, my hair would look a lot like those snow capped mountains. But. Okay, we'll leave that there. Let's keep reading.
[00:13:42] So Jesus takes his boys up on Mount Hermon and this is what's about to happen. Verse 2.
[00:13:47] He was transfigured in front of them and his face shone like the sun. Underline that. His face shone like the sun.
[00:13:59] His clothes became as white as the light.
[00:14:05] Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them. Two Old Testament prophets talking with Jesus. Verse 4. Then Peter said to Jesus, lord, it's good for us to be here. If you want, I'll set up three shelters here. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
[00:14:27] Verse 5. While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud, underline, bright cloud covered them.
[00:14:37] And a voice from the cloud, you can underline that too, said, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
[00:14:49] Listen to him.
[00:14:51] Exclamation point, right?
[00:14:53] Verse 6. When the disciples heard this, they fell face down and were terrified.
[00:15:00] The spiritual realm just kind of touched the physical realm in a profound way for these guys. Okay? Verse seven. Jesus came up, touched them and said, get up, don't be afraid.
[00:15:14] When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus alone.
[00:15:19] As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, don't tell anyone about the vision, okay? Spiritual realm, just touch the physical realm until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.
[00:15:31] So the disciples asked him, why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first before the Messiah? Verse 11. Elijah is coming and will restore everything. He replied, but I tell you, Elijah has already come and they didn't recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way, the Son of Man, Jesus is going to suffer at their hands.
[00:15:56] Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Okay, that's our passage. There's five sermons here. I know, I say this every week. Matthew is like the Most pregnant book in the Bible. There's so many ways we can go with this. I only have so much time, but I want to draw your attention to this.
[00:16:13] This is an amazing passage. Okay? Think about what just took place here.
[00:16:17] Jesus, he glows, okay? His disciples, they have this wild vision.
[00:16:24] Moses and Elijah show up.
[00:16:27] Then God the Father shows up in a cloud and talks to them.
[00:16:32] It's like, okay, what is going on here?
[00:16:36] Now? It's not as obvious to us as it would have been to first century Jews, okay?
[00:16:43] There's a reason for that.
[00:16:46] And to help illustrate this, I'd like to invite up to the stage your boy, Mark Loeg. Come on up, Mark.
[00:16:59] Okay, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna be really silly.
[00:17:04] So get ready, we're gonna play a game and Mark's gonna help us with this. As soon as he's ready, you get yourself situated, okay? We're gonna play a game. The reason he's getting behind the piano is we're gonna play the game Name that tune.
[00:17:22] Okay? If you've never played the game Name that tune, what we're gonna do is we're gonna name the tune. Okay? So it's pretty self explanatory. Mark's gonna play something and you have to name the tune that he's playing.
[00:17:36] Okay, you guys ready?
[00:17:38] Give me a nod if you're ready. Shake your head no if you don't want to play. No, I'm kidding. Okay, here we go. Mark, you ready? Let's try to do the first song.
[00:17:51] Do you know it? What is it? Take On Me. Take On Me. Absolutely. Hold on.
[00:17:56] Yeah.
[00:17:57] Okay. Well done, well done. Okay, let's. Let's maybe go one more.
[00:18:02] Okay, one more.
[00:18:17] Okay, I'm hearing two songs. Hold on, hold on. I'm hearing.
[00:18:22] And I heard another one.
[00:18:23] Twinkle, Twinkle and.
[00:18:28] And Bob. So three.
[00:18:31] Did you. So who's correct?
[00:18:37] Okay, thank you. Give Mark a round of applause.
[00:18:44] You guys got that faster than I thought you would.
[00:18:48] Okay, so he played a tune, and yet I heard you guys report that that was three different songs, right?
[00:18:56] Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Baa, Baa, black sheep and ABCs.
[00:19:05] Why is that?
[00:19:08] It's because they share the same tune, don't they? They're different songs, but they share the same tune. And anybody who's familiar with those songs, it's kind of fairly easy for you to recognize. Oh, all of those songs, they share the same tune. Baa, baa, black sheep have you any wool?
[00:19:25] A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Right. Twinkle, twinkle little Star, it's the same tune, different songs.
[00:19:32] Now, if you didn't know any of those songs, it wouldn't be familiar to you at all. You'd just be like, oh, okay, I've never heard those songs before. So, yeah, maybe they're familiar.
[00:19:40] Listen, the reason I share this with you is first century Jews, Jews around the time of Jesus, like, they really knew the scriptures.
[00:19:50] They would memorize the Scriptures. Okay. They were familiar with the tune, if you will. All right, so what's happening here in Matthew chapter 17 would have been easier for them than for most of us to notice that this passage In Matthew chapter 17, it shares a tune with a passage from the Old Testament. It's. It shares a tune with Exodus, chapter 24. They're different songs, but they share the same tune. See if this sounds familiar. Okay, I'm gonna read if you guys wanna put up Exodus 24, verses 13 through 18.
[00:20:27] So Moses, there's one, arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain.
[00:20:37] That's two of God. Verse 14. He told the elders, wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them. Verse 15. When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. Interesting. Verse 16. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. Here we go. And the cloud. There it is again. Covered it for how long?
[00:21:02] Interesting. Okay. On the seventh day, he called to Moses from the clouds. So we got the voice of the Lord coming from. From the cloud. Verse 17. The appearance of the Lord's glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop. Moses entered the cloud as he went up to the mountain or went up the mountain. And he remained on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. So what I want you to see here again, different song, same tune. You have the mountain, you have the cloud. You have Moses, you have the six days, you have God's glory being revealed in profound ways. You have the spiritual realm and the physical realm. You know, kind of touching. Here you have God speaking from the cloud.
[00:21:44] Not the same song, but the same tune.
[00:21:49] Here's why this is important.
[00:21:51] I don't have time to read you the context, the several chapters in and around this chapter in Exodus, but the context of this is God is giving instructions to Moses, if you remember this, to build what?
[00:22:04] The tabernacle.
[00:22:06] Right. The mobile tent version of the temple, if you will. And the whole point of the tabernacle was so that God could be present with his people. Right? His desire to be with his people. Present among them. So he's giving Moses the instructions on how to build the temple so that God could be with them. Jesus name is Emmanuel, means God with us. The symbolism in the Bible is just fascinating. But he also gives Moses the stone tablets.
[00:22:33] Do you remember what was on the stone tablets?
[00:22:36] Ten commandments. The law. God's law. Right?
[00:22:40] So for the sake of time, I could do a whole. We could do a whole sermon on just breaking this down. But I want to get you somewhere for the sake of time. You have two prophets that show up in this vision.
[00:22:50] Moses and who?
[00:22:52] Elijah. Well done. You're tracking with me. You have two prophets that show up. Moses and Elijah. Moses. Moses, the prophet for whom God delivered the law. Big deal. Okay, the law. The old covenant, right? Israel, you be my people and I will be your God. That's the old covenant that God made with Israel, the people of God. So you have Moses the prophet for whom God delivered the law. Then you have Elijah the prophet that God used to call the people back to that covenant faithfulness.
[00:23:20] So hear me, Peter, James and John.
[00:23:23] They have this vision where two of the most important figures in Israel's history show up and they're talking with Jesus, one of which Moses represents the law and the other, Elijah, which represents the prophets.
[00:23:39] The law and the prophets.
[00:23:41] And then what does Peter say?
[00:23:43] Peter says, I'll set up three shelters, One for Jesus, one for Moses, one for Elijah. It's fascinating that word for shelters, if you translate it literally. He says, I'll set up three tabernacles.
[00:23:58] Interesting, right? Those passages, they aren't the same song, but they share the same tune.
[00:24:05] He says, I'll set up three tabernacles. And then in verse five, God the Father speaks from the cloud. I know this is wild. And what does he say? He says, this is my beloved son speaking about Jesus, with whom I am well pleased.
[00:24:21] Listen to him.
[00:24:24] Hear me.
[00:24:26] As important as Moses and Elijah are, there is one who is superior.
[00:24:34] Listen to what Stuart K. Weber, a Bible theologian, says.
[00:24:39] He says this quote, the presence of Moses and Elijah with Jesus indicated their complete unity with him. They're on the same page, those two. Moses and Elijah. Revered historical figures must have loomed high over Jesus and the disciples minds because of their limited understanding of Christ. Peter's like each of you. Each of the three are gonna get their own tabernacle. What's a tabernacle for?
[00:25:07] It's the worship, right? No, they're not equal. We'll get to this in just a second.
[00:25:13] The reality I'm gonna Continue on with this quote. The reality that Jesus was the one who loomed over the rest, for he was their creator and the mighty God who gave Moses and Elijah the prophetic words they spoke and wrote. Listen to him. The Father commanded. One purpose here. This, this is the point. One purpose of the transfiguration was to rearrange the order of priority that Jesus and the human prophets had in the disciples minds. End quote. Okay, so listen to me. God is revealing something to his chosen disciples here. And it's my first point for you. It's this. If you're taking notes, simple three words. Jesus is supreme.
[00:25:54] Jesus is supreme. Okay? As important as Moses was, right? Jesus is supreme.
[00:26:00] As important as Elijah was, Jesus is supreme. Moses delivered the law. That's a big deal.
[00:26:07] Jesus fulfilled the law. Bigger deal, okay? Elijah delivered these massive prophetic words from God. Jesus was the word who became flesh.
[00:26:20] He's saying Jesus is supreme. He is superior. All right? Therefore, because Jesus is supreme, listen to him.
[00:26:33] Moses wrote a lot of the Old Testament, okay? His writings are important, but Jesus is supreme.
[00:26:40] Elijah's writings are important, but Jesus is supreme. Listen to him pastorally. My question for you. One of the questions I have for you this morning is like, who do you listen to?
[00:26:54] Who do you listen to?
[00:26:58] I think in our day and age, there's a lot of voices.
[00:27:02] And for whatever reason, I feel like it's more.
[00:27:06] How do I say this? It's easier for unqualified, dare I even say unhelpful voices to get a platform.
[00:27:15] Who do you listen to?
[00:27:17] Real talk. I have a.
[00:27:22] I have a concern that Christian men listen to Joe Rogan more than listen to Jesus.
[00:27:28] I got nothing against Joe Rogan.
[00:27:30] Nothing. I'm not saying his stuff's bad.
[00:27:33] I'm not saying it's unhelpful.
[00:27:35] I'm not anti Joe Rogan.
[00:27:37] Some of you men are like, giving the evil eye. Don't talk about my Joe Rogan like this.
[00:27:42] But I'm concerned that some Christian men listen to Joe Rogan more than they listen to Jesus. And you might be like, yeah, that's lame. Okay? Insert your favorite kind of podcaster or influencer, and maybe they're even Christians. Maybe they're even super godly Christians, right?
[00:27:59] Or insert your favorite celebrity preacher.
[00:28:04] Listen, no matter who it is, Jesus is supreme.
[00:28:13] Listen to him.
[00:28:15] What I'm not saying is don't listen to anybody else. What I am saying is he's supreme. So listen to him. His words, his voice ought to trump all other voices. You with me in this?
[00:28:29] Jesus Supreme. Listen to him.
[00:28:32] Now, this passage, it tells us that Jesus was transfigured. How often do you use that word?
[00:28:38] It doesn't get thrown around very often, does it? Let's talk about what it means, transfigured in the Greek there. The Greek word is the word metamorpho. Does that sound familiar?
[00:28:48] Yeah, like metamorphosis kind of thing. It's kind of where it comes from.
[00:28:52] So meta means to change.
[00:28:55] Morphe, a form of morpho. It means form.
[00:28:59] So literally, it means to change your form. It means to transform.
[00:29:03] That's what transfigured means. It means to transform. So in this moment on the mountain, Jesus was transformed.
[00:29:11] He was transfigured. Okay? That means. Hear me. That means these disciples that Jesus chose, Peter, James and John, that means that these disciples, they literally saw Jesus differently.
[00:29:24] With their eyes, they saw him differently. Now, listen, I'd like to propose to you.
[00:29:30] This is something that happens in the life of every disciple.
[00:29:34] Not in the same way, different song, but same tune.
[00:29:40] This happens with every disciple. It might not involve you seeing Jesus glow, okay?
[00:29:46] But it does involve you seeing his glory in a way that sticks with you, in a way that marks you.
[00:29:53] Like, listen, this is my story, man.
[00:29:56] This is my story. Like, when I started following Jesus, believe it or not, like, I didn't have all the answers.
[00:30:07] I was compelled by this person, Jesus, who's claiming to be God. And I'm investigating Jesus, going to church with my family and trying to figure it out, right?
[00:30:15] But when I started following Jesus, I saw Jesus as a historical figure. Like, he was real.
[00:30:22] I saw Jesus as a really helpful teacher.
[00:30:25] Like, he had these teachings that were, like, pretty significant, right?
[00:30:29] And I would have said, like, Jesus is probably God.
[00:30:32] So that's where my. That's where my head space is at. That's where I'm at. Either way, this is Jesus. He's got good ideas. He's got great teachings. If I follow his principles and his teachings, my life's gonna go better.
[00:30:44] That's where I was at. And then in my early 20s, something changed.
[00:30:55] Something changed. Like, I began to have these experiences.
[00:31:02] Like, personally, I began to have these encounters with Jesus.
[00:31:06] Some of them were supernatural. Even where I couldn't fully explain it.
[00:31:11] The physical was involved, but there was something more than the physical, too.
[00:31:16] And, like, guys changed my life.
[00:31:24] I have these moments, these memories in my mind, like, these experiences with Jesus that marked me. Like, where Jesus, he went from. A good historical figure, a helpful teacher, probably God, most likely God to the supreme, glorious God of the universe.
[00:31:43] I have these moments, guys, where Jesus was transfigured in my heart. Do you know what I'm talking about?
[00:31:50] I began to see his glory. I began to see him as not God, not just God, but like my God.
[00:32:00] It changed everything in my life.
[00:32:03] It changed everything about how I was practicing Christianity.
[00:32:06] Like, what it actually meant to be a Christian, what it actually meant to be a disciple of Jesus.
[00:32:12] And I've never been the same since.
[00:32:16] You could say that Jesus was transformed in my heart and it started to transform me.
[00:32:27] Second Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 18. We did a whole sermon series on this one verse. I'm going to read it to you.
[00:32:36] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the what?
[00:32:41] The glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is a spirit. We become like what we behold, right? We talked about that for weeks.
[00:32:55] We become like what we behold.
[00:32:57] That word there. Transformed or being transformed into the same image.
[00:33:03] Guess what the Greek word for that is?
[00:33:05] Metamorphosis. Same one, same word for the transfiguration of Jesus in our passage in Matthew. What am I getting at? I'm getting at my second point. If you're taking notes, write this down. When Jesus is transfigured, disciples are transformed.
[00:33:21] When Jesus is transfigured, disciples are transformed.
[00:33:27] Guys, I have a handful of moments in my life where Jesus was transfigured in my heart.
[00:33:33] Like, where I saw him more clearly.
[00:33:35] I experienced his glory more clearly. And listen, like, it changed my life, man.
[00:33:44] I was thinking about this yesterday. I was thinking about this this morning of this reality of, like, he altered the trajectory of my life.
[00:33:53] Like, Jesus doesn't just save us from the crap that we're in. I might get in trouble for saying that the garbage that we're in, he saves us from the garbage that the trajectory of our life is heading towards. And I was thinking about this in my life. I'm like, holy smokes, Jesus.
[00:34:13] You revealed yourself to me in ways that have affected my reality. They've affected the trajectory of my life.
[00:34:20] I was talking with Mike and Herrick this morning and praying, just going, like, where would I be without Jesus revealing himself to me in these profound ways?
[00:34:28] Like, I don't want to think about it.
[00:34:32] Has Jesus been transfigured in your heart?
[00:34:40] I'm not asking you if you think he's real.
[00:34:43] I'm not asking if you think his teachings are helpful.
[00:34:48] Has he been transfigured in your heart?
[00:34:53] Has he gone from a historical figure, a helpful teacher, to the supremely glorious God of your whole life? Youth, I'm talking to you, too.
[00:35:03] Has he gone. Youth, Just for a second. You guys are my favorite in the room.
[00:35:08] Has he gone from, like, a person that the adults talk about or a person that the adults pray to and sing to and reference? Has he gone from this person to the God of your whole life, to the one who knows everything about you, the good, the bad and the ugly, and sets his affection on you, not because of your performance, but because of his stubborn love for you?
[00:35:34] Has he been transfigured in your heart like it's happened to me?
[00:35:46] I didn't figure out the equation so that it would happen to me. He happened to me.
[00:35:53] I saw him more clearly. Listen. When Jesus is transfigured, disciples are transformed. Some of you, you knew me before Jesus, and you're like, jesus is real.
[00:36:06] Shouldn't that be all of our stories?
[00:36:10] When Jesus is transfigured, disciples are transformed. This is what happened with Peter, James and John, okay? Jesus transfigured right in front of them. And this moment, it marked them for the rest of their life. In fact, Peter, he recalls this very moment on the mountain with Jesus decades later. Will you guys pull up two Peter, chapter one, verse 16 through 18?
[00:36:33] This is Peter writing decades later, after this moment. Listen to what he says.
[00:36:38] He says, for we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Look at verse 17.
[00:36:53] For he received honor and glory from God the Father. When the voice came to him from the majestic glory cloud, saying, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to verse 18.
[00:37:07] We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven. Look at this. While we were with him on the holy mountain, decades later, Peter is still talking about that moment on the mountain with Jesus.
[00:37:25] That moment with Jesus when he was transfigured. And Peter saw more of just how truly glorious Jesus is.
[00:37:34] Not just conceptually, experientially.
[00:37:37] You with me?
[00:37:40] So, listen, guys, I want you to see what's happening here. In Jesus transfiguration.
[00:37:49] God is providing greater revelation of Himself to His chosen disciples.
[00:37:56] He's revealing more of Himself to His chosen disciples, more of his glory, more of the reality. It's revelation. He's revealing something to them.
[00:38:08] Do you know why?
[00:38:12] My third point, final point, is this revelation fuels faith that endures revelation about who God is, namely, Jesus.
[00:38:25] Fuels faith that will endure.
[00:38:28] Okay, listen, Peter, James and John, they're going to go on to suffer for the gospel big time.
[00:38:34] You study their life, These guys went through it, man.
[00:38:39] I think about, like, oh, man, leading a church is hard. Like, what these guys have experienced for the sake of the gospel, the assignment on their life, the calling on their life, the highs, the mountaintop moments where they get to experience the kingdom of God breaking through in incredible ways. And the low moments when they're suffering greatly.
[00:38:59] These guys suffered greatly for the gospel. James, if you guys know the story, the apostle James, he's the first apostle to be martyred.
[00:39:06] Not because he, like.
[00:39:08] You guys know why he got killed, right?
[00:39:11] Because he's promoting Jesus.
[00:39:13] He's promoting the way of Jesus. He's promoting the kingdom of God. He's preaching the gospel.
[00:39:20] Many of the things that you do in your life now, he was killed for.
[00:39:27] They chopped off his head. He's beheaded.
[00:39:32] He's the first apostle to be martyred. Peter, if you guys have studied Peter's life, Peter gets martyred also for the same reason. He's preaching the gospel.
[00:39:42] He's unapologetically promoting Jesus, the kingdom of God.
[00:39:47] He gets crucified upside down after he watches his wife get crucified for the very same reasons.
[00:40:00] And then there's John.
[00:40:03] Now, personally, I think that John has it the worst.
[00:40:10] John's not martyred.
[00:40:14] Instead, tradition says that he outlived the rest of the apostles.
[00:40:24] You know what that means?
[00:40:28] You married couples in the room? I joke around with Ebony. I'm like, man, I hope I die first.
[00:40:36] Sounds morbid. But he outlived all the rest of the apostles. That means he witnessed his closest friends, his apostolic brothers, all perish, most of them in brutal ways.
[00:40:56] And then after that, after many of his closest friends are killed, towards the end of his life, he's exiled to the island of Patmos all alone.
[00:41:07] Why?
[00:41:08] Because he preaches Jesus.
[00:41:10] He preaches the kingdom.
[00:41:16] Listen, Jesus knew what these men were called to.
[00:41:21] He knew their assignment.
[00:41:23] He knew that part of their story would be to suffer for the gospel.
[00:41:30] Question for you. How does a person endure what these apostles endured?
[00:41:37] How did they not tap out? How did they go? Nope, you got the wrong guy. I'm going to opt out of this one. Lord, how do they endure what these apostles endured?
[00:41:49] Now, remember, not only was it their own suffering, they witnessed Jesus suffering as well.
[00:41:54] You fast forward a few chapters here in Matthew. We'll get to it soon at the rate we're going in like three years. But either way, in real time, like, it's coming. Like, they witnessed Jesus suffering.
[00:42:06] They watched him be tortured. They watched him be executed on the cross. Listen to me. They watched their Messiah die.
[00:42:16] Listen, you don't think that triggered a little bit of doubts?
[00:42:21] Like, I'm not saying they gave in to them necessarily, but you don't think that triggered just a little bit of, like, huh?
[00:42:28] Gosh, like, was Jesus really God?
[00:42:32] Like, is he really sovereign over. Even over this?
[00:42:40] So they witness Jesus sufferings and then they suffer in their own terrible ways. You think while they're suffering, like, you don't think it ever crossed their mind? Like, jeez, man, this is getting really dark. This is getting really hard. This is getting really painful.
[00:42:53] Is Jesus really worth all this?
[00:42:58] Gosh, is the gospel really true?
[00:43:01] You don't think that thought ever entered their minds for a second?
[00:43:05] How does a person's faith endure through all of that?
[00:43:10] Answer.
[00:43:11] A person's faith endures because of a profound revelation of Jesus.
[00:43:17] A person's faith endures the hardest stuff because there's something greater. They've had a greater revelation.
[00:43:23] As true as this is, as true as this pain is, as true as this suffering is, as true as this trial is or this challenge is, or there's something greater. And I've seen it. I've experienced it. Da Carson says this quote to sustain. I love this.
[00:43:40] To sustain the disciples during the horrible events of his coming passion. That's Jesus going to the cross.
[00:43:46] Jesus discloses himself in all his glory to his inner circle. Peter, James, and John.
[00:43:53] The entire scene would leave most anyone terrified. Jesus, though, does not want to scare his followers.
[00:44:01] Get this.
[00:44:03] But wants to encourage them. Why?
[00:44:06] So that they can face the challenges ahead. End quote.
[00:44:13] Revelation fuels faith that endures.
[00:44:20] In other words, moments of seeing Jesus more clearly gets you through the challenging times, gets your faith through it intact. To endure, to persevere and not tap out and go, I don't think any of this is real anymore.
[00:44:37] That's why Peter is still referencing the moment on the mountain with Jesus decades later.
[00:44:43] That's why he's still writing about it. That's why he's still proclaiming it. He's still holding onto it. When life got hard for Peter.
[00:44:50] But I saw Jesus transfigured when he's tempted to question God's will. Yeah, but I saw him in his heavenly glory.
[00:45:01] Doubts creep in. But I saw the glory. I saw him glow. I saw it happen. Like, when doubt started to creep in. I heard the voice of God the Father. I heard him Say, this is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him. He had these moments, and they marked him.
[00:45:24] Friend, if you're a disciple of Jesus, we talked about it already. God chose you.
[00:45:31] He selected you. And not only that, hear me. He will sustain your faith.
[00:45:38] He will sustain your faith. How? Through moments of transfiguration.
[00:45:44] Through moments of revealing himself to you in ways that mark you, in ways that you can't erase.
[00:45:55] Why? So that when things get dark, when things get scary, when things get uncertain, when temptations are high, right? When doubt creeps in even, or God forbid, you suffer, you have something greater to point to.
[00:46:16] Are you guys familiar with a branding iron?
[00:46:19] You know, like, farmers use them. It's a piece of iron, like a pole. At the end of that pole, there's like a. Like a design, custom design at the end of that.
[00:46:29] And what do they do? They put it under the fire and it gets red hot.
[00:46:33] And then you know what they do, right?
[00:46:35] They place it on the skin of their livestock.
[00:46:39] It literally makes a mark. You can't erase that branding iron. It leaves a mark. And what's the purpose of that mark?
[00:46:48] The purpose of that mark is to show who the cow belongs to.
[00:46:55] Hear me, every true disciple has personal transfiguration moments where. Where God reveals Himself to you in a profound way. And those moments are like a branding iron, man. They mark you. And what do they do? They remind you of who you belong to.
[00:47:17] And when you have those and you face the challenges of life, your faith will endure it.
[00:47:30] How much time do I have? Okay, I have a few of these in my life.
[00:47:37] I don't have a hundred of these. I can count them on one hand.
[00:47:41] Of these moments when Jesus has been transfigured in my heart, when he's revealed his glory to me. And when things get hard, I point back to them. One of them is literally tattooed on my arm.
[00:47:55] Now, listen, I'm not necessarily advocating that you go get your moments tattooed on your body, but I will tell you this.
[00:48:06] When things are hard, he marked me.
[00:48:12] He marked me.
[00:48:14] He revealed himself to me.
[00:48:18] When I'm like, I don't know if this is worth it.
[00:48:20] I don't know if the pain is worth it. I don't know if the struggle is worth it. I don't know if the spiritual warfare for me and my family is worth it.
[00:48:25] He marked me.
[00:48:27] He branded me.
[00:48:29] This is who I belong to.
[00:48:34] My faith is weak when things are hard. I remember those moments, guys, and I believe that that's what we See here, with these disciples, I believe they're referring back to a branding moment, a transfiguration moment where Jesus was revealed to them. And guess what? That revelation, it fuels faith that endures.
[00:48:55] Listen to me. If you're a disciple, God chose you. He's taking you somewhere, and he will sustain your faith through moments of transfiguration. What are yours?
[00:49:03] What are your moments of transfiguration where Jesus reveals himself to you in profound ways that mark you, that you can't erase from your mind.
[00:49:11] Do you have those moments?
[00:49:14] Every true disciple does. Maybe you're so busy you haven't thought about them in a long time.
[00:49:18] Maybe you're here and your faith is weak. Actually, let's do this. I'm gonna call the band up. Will you come up, guys?
[00:49:27] I feel like God wants to do some work with us, guys.
[00:49:33] So maybe you're here this morning, and if you're honest, you're like, I know about Jesus.
[00:49:43] I've read the Bible.
[00:49:44] I've been around the church.
[00:49:46] But you're like, tom's talking about these transfiguration moments, these moments of transfiguration in your heart where Jesus reveals himself to you in these profound ways. And they're personal. And if you're honest, you're like, I don't know if I have one of those.
[00:50:01] I dare you to ask him for it this morning.
[00:50:06] I dare you.
[00:50:09] See, if he does not reveal himself to you in ways that blow you your mind, in ways that cause you to go. There's way more than the physical realm. Holy smokes.
[00:50:21] He's real.
[00:50:23] He talked to me in ways that he told me something that nobody knows through somebody who doesn't know me. Mike referenced it when he was doing family time. He goes, come to the family of church at Summit. Cause last time I was there, somebody prayed for me, and those things happened in my life. Explain that to me.
[00:50:37] Other than the spirit of the living, God is dwelling inside of a person who's had Jesus transfigured in their heart, and now they're walking, informed by Jesus spirit to bless other people and minister to other people on Jesus behalf, it's Jesus ministry continued through his spirit, through people.
[00:50:58] If you're here and you're like, I don't know if I have one of those, I dare you to ask him for it today.
[00:51:03] And if he doesn't do it on your timeline, I dare you to keep asking him.
[00:51:07] I'd be willing to bet you he'll say yes to that prayer.
[00:51:14] Maybe you're here, you Need a greater revelation of Jesus, that he's not just a historical figure, that he's not just a helpful teacher. He's the glorious God of the universe who loves you and wants you and he wants to take you somewhere. He's got a plan for your life that is better than the plan that you could write.
[00:51:35] When Jesus is transfigured, disciples are transformed. Guys, or maybe you're here and you're like, my faith's weak, man.
[00:51:40] Here.
[00:51:41] If you're face weak and you're here, bless you.
[00:51:45] Bless you that you actually fought through the things that would prevent you from coming to worship with God's people and you still came. Dude, that's fighting the good fight. I'm not patronizing. I'm dead serious.
[00:51:59] Awesome.
[00:52:02] If you're here and your faith feels weak, I really believe that God's inviting you into something.
[00:52:08] He's inviting you to not find time, but to make time. And remember your moments on the mount with Jesus.
[00:52:17] Your moments when Jesus was transfigured in your heart.
[00:52:21] Maybe you were eight years old, Maybe it was eight years ago. Maybe it was longer than that. Maybe it's been a long time since you've had one of those, like, oh, there he is.
[00:52:34] But you have them.
[00:52:37] And one of the reasons he gave those to you is so that your faith would endure.
[00:52:43] If your faith's weak, can I encourage you spend some time today? This morning even we got time recall.
[00:52:53] Remember those transfiguration moments when he's revealed, revealed himself to you, his love for you, his grace for you, his power, his authority, his sovereignty. That even when we don't understand, he's still working things for good.
[00:53:12] Maybe you're here.
[00:53:14] And if you're honest, the voice of Jesus is getting lost in all the other voices that make their way to your ears.
[00:53:27] And please don't misunderstand me. I'm not even saying that those voices are bad voices.
[00:53:31] Some of them are great, some of them are godly, some of them are helpful.
[00:53:39] But maybe, just maybe, this morning God's inviting you to turn down those other voices so that the voice of Jesus can come through loud and clear.
[00:53:50] Because Jesus is superior.
[00:53:54] Listen to him.
[00:53:58] Nobody loves you like Jesus.
[00:54:02] If you don't take anything away from me, talking to you for 40 something minutes. Will you just take this?
[00:54:08] Nobody loves you like Jesus.
[00:54:13] Nobody knows you like Jesus.
[00:54:16] Nobody puts up with you like Jesus.
[00:54:19] Nobody cares for you like Jesus.
[00:54:22] Nobody loves you like Jesus.
[00:54:26] Will you stand with me if you're able? I want to pray for us, Father. We want to come into agreement with your word, and we confess with our mouth. And we do the best we can to bring our heart into alignment with what we confess with our mouth, and that is this. Jesus is supreme.
[00:55:20] Jesus, you are supreme.
[00:55:22] There really is nobody like you.
[00:55:26] You've been so faithful to me.
[00:55:29] You've been so faithful to my brothers and my sisters in this room.
[00:55:34] And you will not change.
[00:55:37] You're wonderful.
[00:55:39] You're powerful.
[00:55:42] All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to you. And you exercise that authority for the good of those who have resisted you, who have rejected you. Yet you consistently, graciously reveal yourself to us in ways that transform.
[00:56:00] So my prayer. I ask for anybody in this room who desires a greater revelation of Jesus. Holy Spirit, I pray that you'd give it to them.
[00:56:08] Spirit of God, be poured out in this place, every heart and mind, for anyone and everyone. If you want. If you want a greater revelation of Jesus, I invite you to hold your hand out as an act of faith. Just a posture of. I want to receive a greater revelation of Jesus. I pray. Holy Spirit, I pray right now that you'd give each one of these greater revelation of Jesus.
[00:56:27] Not my opinion, not any other voice's opinion. Your voice, their heavenly Father, your heavenly Father from heaven, give them a greater revelation of Jesus, the lover of their soul, the Savior, the redeemer, the one who's still ruling and reigning.
[00:56:46] I pray, I ask you right now for reminders of moments where Jesus has been transfigured in their hearts.
[00:56:53] Remind us of those moments so that our faith can endure the challenges that lie ahead of us. The beautiful story that you've written for our life, that does its contrast.
[00:57:02] There's ups and there's downs, there's valleys and there's mountaintops.
[00:57:08] I pray that each one of us, every single man, woman and child in this room, young people especially, we would endure, we would persevere.
[00:57:17] We would live out the street story you've written for each one of our lives. And one of the ways that you empower us to do that is through regularly remembering the moments that you've been transfigured in our hearts.
[00:57:28] Remind us. I pray, and I also pray and ask you that you would change our desires.
[00:57:40] That more than we desire to hear helpful voices, we would desire to hear the voice of Jesus, the voice of our Savior, the voice of the lover of our soul. Because nobody loves us like you, Jesus.
[00:57:57] You're supreme. Help us to listen to you.
[00:58:03] Oh, Lord, I love you and I thank you for this morning.
[00:58:05] I thank you for reminding me of where I could be with your intervening love.
[00:58:12] Show us your glory. We pray it's in your name. Amen.
[00:58:20] Okay, if you're on the prayer team this morning, would you make your way to the front, please?
[00:58:25] We're going to spend the next 15 minutes responding. I want to give you an opportunity and a chance to respond to God.
[00:58:33] If anything that I've said, if you fall into any of those three categories, I want to invite you. Come receive prayer. I think God wants to minister to you. If when I got started and you've been let down by somebody in the church and it's hindering you, come receive prayer. I think God wants to meet you in that.
[00:58:51] And I also just get the sense, too, that, like, I feel like God is highlighting loneliness.
[00:59:00] If that's you, I think he wants to minister to your heart.
[00:59:04] There's trusted and trained men and women up here that would love to pray for you.
[00:59:07] Seek God on your behalf. I think God wants to do some fathering this morning.
[00:59:13] May we all yield to him in that. We're gonna fill this room with praise. You can come forward for prayer at any time. And then like I said, in, like, 15 minutes or so, JB will come up and pastor us and close us. Okay, guys, love you very much. Enjoy.
