Stand On the Mountain

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Morning, CCW.

Happy New Year officially.

Last week it was still false.

We said it, but now it is New Year, and I'm so glad that you're here.

Uh today starts something exciting for our church along with Vision Sunday.

Today starts our 21 days of prayer and fasting.

And so you can look for that if you've signed up already.

It's on our app.

If you're fasting from apps, we got good news for you.

It can come through an email and it will come that way.

But our church family has written 21 devotions.

There's a music playlist that goes along with it that's been selected and just getting us into the new year the right way.

And so please make sure that you look for those each day and uh see that theme and that need for us to be praying uh together.

So that's exciting.

And I want to say, man, the last few weeks, God's presence has been felt here.

And I know that uh Heather and I went out of town to Texas with Pastor Joe, filled in a few weeks ago and did a great job.

We watched, and then we were back for Christmas Eve, and man, did the presence of God fall in this place as he was glorified.

And I appreciate Benji and the team for putting that together.

And then Pastor Dave preached the lights down last week and told us that we needed to focus before we got into vision.

So, anyways, I'm thankful.

Thank God for the staff of people that he's put around us at this church.

Um and we've looked we're not trying to even think about slowing down.

The new year started, and there was over a thousand people that came through this building yesterday.

You'd be shocked.

CYC started, and they had a bunch of basketball games, and today upward basketball starts, and we have a football banquet tonight, and there's a hymn sing over here tonight, and Connect group leaders are meeting this afternoon.

We're going.

It's a new year, so praise the Lord.

Buckle up.

Amen.

Well, I've been uh I've been slid some money on the side to make mention of something important today.

Today is Miss Stanna's birthday.

Happy birthday, Stanna.

I'm just kidding, I wasn't slid any money, but happy birthday.

And so I believe it's uh Chessa's birthday as well.

So see me in the lobby afterwards for that.

Anyways, happy birthday to you both.

And uh, I want to say um those things I had thought about before, but I didn't know that little Miss Adley was gonna be with us.

And Miss Adley over Thanksgiving break had fought something really tremendous in the Blagovich family, if you remember praying.

Um, she was really to the point with pain, almost paralyzed for a time.

And here she is this morning.

Praise God.

So glad to see her.

Blesses my heart.

Thank you, church, for being a praying church, and we believe in our God, Miss Adalie.

Thank you for being here.

Turn your Bible to Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

I have been waiting six months to say that.

God gave me this thought in July as I went away for a vision planning for the church.

And uh it's just as clear as anything, God took me to this idea of standing on the mountain.

Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

As we think of standing on the mountain, the word mountain in the Greek is the word oros, and that means rising or lifted above the plain.

And Benji mentioned uh several of the mountains listed in the Bible.

And uh Mount Carmel is a mountain you'll hear about, Mount Sinai, Mount Tabor is listed in the Bible.

There's all kinds of mountains, and each of them it would appear that the glory of God falls.

Well, when I was in sixth grade, I went to a mountain, and I think they're gonna show some pictures here of some mountains, but I went to a mountain called Mount Lafayette, Dave mentioned uh going to Mount Washington.

Mount Lafayette here is the neighbor to Mount Washington.

And in sixth grade, when I went to that mountain, I learned some things.

If you climb to the top of a place like that, you'll get to see something so rare that many don't ever get to see.

And at sixth grade as an 11-year-old, I didn't know that I was worshiping God.

I just knew that I was in awe of something that I couldn't totally make sense of.

I was in awe of what I saw.

I was in awe of the sounds that I heard, I was in awe of what I was feeling, and I'm here today because there was an impression made on my heart, and I'm talking to you about standing on that mountain.

And so the declaration God's given me for CCW and 24 is stand on that mountain.

Would you pray with me?

Father, we're asking for your presence, for your power, your blood.

God, we ask that you would fall on this place.

God, we want to meet with you.

God, nothing else.

This place is not any other thing but a meeting place of you.

God, we need your glory, we need your voice, we need your touch.

So, God, I pray that you would walk us through this scripture and help us to understand what you have for us.

And God, I pray that your vision would fall on your people, God, in a way that they can understand exactly what it means to stand on the mountain in 24.

We love you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

In Mark chapter 9, you can look at verse 1 through 4 as we dig in this morning.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

And the first point is this the disciple saw the glory of God on the mountain.

That's what it says, and he said to them, Assuredly, I say to you, that there are some standing here who will not taste deaths till they see the kingdom of God present with power.

Now, after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves, and he was transfigured before them.

His clothes became shining exceedingly white like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking there with Jesus.

You see, Jesus Christ was the image of God in human flesh, and he took Peter, James, and John.

And in this moment, he would do something that we don't see anywhere else that I know of in Scripture, where he would reverse the rule of his incarnation.

Philippians 2 says that he exchanged the glory of God to fall upon earth to become fully human.

This transfiguration took place on this mountain that day.

It says he transfigured, that word is metamorpho, and it's Christ's appearance.

It was change, and for us to understand it physically, it would have been that that word means resplendent with divine brightness.

Some of you will look at a sunrise and capture photos and look at the beauty and say, wow, what an amazing thing to look at.

Or maybe this Christmas you drove through and seen a place with a million twinkle lights, and you were kind of captivated in a moment of all the lights.

And what I want you to understand is we cannot fathom setting our eyes on something of absolute flawlessness.

Ever since you were born, we were born into a diseased and polluted world, and Jesus in his glory has no possibility of pollution.

Every time someone encounters the glory of God throughout Scripture, it's life-changing.

Look at verse 3 what it said.

It said, His clothes became shining, exceedingly white like snow, such as no launderer on earth could do.

Picture this: his clothes, everything just resplended.

The glory is shining like white as snow.

It says, No launderer on earth could do this.

Someone said to me, Pastor, does this mean there's laundry in heaven?

And I said, No, because there's no sin in heaven, there's no tears in heaven, there's no pain in heaven.

And laundry is the devil.

It's an evil that recreates itself all the time.

It's hideous.

Look at verse 4.

Interesting.

They look over in this moment, this beam.

The thoughts just cannot, we can't capture it fast enough.

But the glory of God falls.

Imagine Peter, James, and John.

And then they look, and Elijah appeared to them with Moses, talking to Jesus.

Out of nowhere.

You need to hold on to Elijah and Moses.

But how did Peter, James, and John find themselves in this revival moment?

That's what it was.

God brought a supercharge of glory, this luminous display for them.

It was like nothing anyone had seen.

I had uh I've been to the high doctor once, and I had my pupils dilated that day, and I mom died, I really don't remember them telling me what it was all about.

But I went in and I do the tests, everything's good, and they put this liquid in my eyes, and when I'm going to walk out, they they didn't tell me nothing really about it, but they said, Do you want your glasses?

And I said, I don't need glasses.

I passed all the tests.

I'm good.

And so I go out, I get in my car, and I'm driving, and the sun is just beaming that day.

And all of a sudden, as I'm driving, I realize I'm going blind.

These greedy people have done me in.

They so badly wanted my money and me to have glasses.

They have blinded me with this fluid.

And I'm looking at the sun.

Listen, y'all, you're supposed to have these, they give you glasses for a reason, right?

So that you could deal with life for whatever that is.

I got home and I thought, Mom, what have you done?

What is this appointment?

The sun was so bright that day and it was killing me.

I'm lucky that I didn't get into a car wreck.

But it was blinding.

Imagine this glorious display.

Moses once met with the glory of God from the backside of him in the cleft of a rock, and he came down off the mountain brightly shining so much that it hurt people to look on his face.

Have you ever been so close to something like that?

Lit him up like a torch.

Has your visage been impacted by the glory of God?

Matthew 5, 16 tells us to shine.

Let your light so shine.

When people just see you, do they go, something's different?

Students at your school?

Are you different?

When people look at you at your work, do they say, Man, they must be spending time with something glorious, more glorious than what I am?

Do we shine?

Imagine this scene.

Well, how did they get to this point?

Letter A is this they accepted the cost.

How did they get to this revival moment up the mountain?

Well, they accepted the cost.

Look at Mark 8, 34 through 38 previously.

When he had called the people to himself with his disciples also, he said to them, Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever desires to save his life, the same will lose it.

But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it.

For what will it profit a man if he gains all of the world, the whole world, and loses his soul?

Or what will a man exchange in place of his soul?

The cost was this to the disciples, deny themselves, leaving everything behind for Jesus.

Practically, for you and for me today, what that means is counting the cost of all that the world has to offer, and we choose Christ.

Matthew 6, 24 says, No man can serve two masters.

Jesus said, Follow me, and they counted the cost and accepted his offer.

I'm gonna tell you today, church, Christianity is free, but it comes with a cost.

Not everyone here accepts the cost.

Many agree with the cost.

Many agree and understand the terms of salvation, but not everyone will see, hear, or feel the touch and the glory of God.

Because not everybody accepts the cost.

Look at verse 35 and 37.

Again, it says that's what we have to do.

Whoever desires to save his life has to lose it.

That's a heavy cost.

And the world is pulling at us from every angle.

But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it.

What profits a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?

There's some here, they agree with the gospel, agree with salvation, but will not let go of the clinch that they have on the things of this life.

They're just grasping still, and they wonder about Jesus people.

They wonder about those Jesus people who seem a little bit different.

Like I heard about him, I understand him, I accept the terms of his gift, but those people are just a little bit different, and I kind of wonder what they got that I don't have.

And why is it?

Because they're just grasping down and they've accepted the idea and the terms, but they have not let go, they've not made the exchange.

And I want you to know today you can't do both.

You can't live two lives.

You've got this one life, you've got this one choice, you've got this one chance, and it says, deny yourself and live for him.

Scripture says, you're for me or you're against me.

I want to show you another picture.

Going up Mount Lafayette, there's a place called the Green Leaf Hut.

I want you to see this.

So the Green Leaf Hut is about three-fourths of the way up that climb.

The climb was a six to seven-hour climb from bottom to the top.

And if you made it to this point, it was about five and a half hours.

And so, as a sixth grader, making it to this hut was a big deal.

Okay?

There was no other sixth grader in our group of 65 students that made it to that point.

And as it whittled down, there was probably about 20 that made it to this point.

And I got to that point, and I had a decision to make three-fourths of the way.

And listen, it was no small accomplishment.

And it was cold, and at the bottom I had shorts on, and I had changed, and by the time I got to there, Dave was talking about it.

I had some icicles forming on the brim of my hat.

A lot of people would get to that point at the Green Leaf Hut, and they would get warmed and they would have a drink and they would turn back because you still had a hike down the mountain.

And I want you to know something.

I made a decision that day to go on.

I was in pain.

I'd been sweating.

I was tired, but I continued on, and I want you to see the picture here.

Lots of people get really close.

They get all around Jesus.

They spend some time on Sundays with Jesus.

They may even listen to worship music daily or in the office, but their grip on the things of this life pulls them back.

And they're close, but close still misses the top.

Surrender is everything, church.

Many believe.

The Bible says the demons believe and tremble.

We live in this Bible belt of the South, and everybody, you know, since birth has a relationship with Jesus Christ.

But I'm here to tell you, there's many one day I think are going to be disappointed.

Have we surrendered?

Many very close, three-fourths, but missing the mountain, the glory of God that falls.

They're wondering why does this person seem so close to God?

So how do I deny myself, Pastor?

How do I accept that cost?

Let it be as this.

The disciples abided with Christ.

They abided with Christ.

It's important that you note he says there, after, and Mark chapter 8, he says, after, or the beginning of chapter 9, after six days.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

That's an important phrase.

He shares the cost to them previously.

He predicted his death, which they had a hard time understanding.

And Jesus understood cost because to him, when he's predicting his death, he's saying, I'm telling you, the cost is the cross.

The cost for me is the cross.

He says, You're gonna have to deny yourself and you're gonna have to give up.

You're gonna take up your cross in this life by letting go to fully surrender.

You've got to let go of things.

Let go of what the world puts in your ear is as most important to fully surrender.

And he says, after six days, why is that important?

Because they had an opportunity to check out.

They could have said, you know, I've calculated the cost.

We think fishing is better.

We're gonna go back to fishing because denying all of ourselves for this is a tough thing to do.

They had an opportunity to check out, and all disciples, the exception of one, followed Jesus their entirety of their lives and continued after his death and resurrection, and continued the ministry, and we have the scripture and the gospel and the stories of God because of that abidance with him.

They continued.

The word abide is the word meno in the Greek, and it means to dwell.

That is to remain in something.

In reference to a state or a condition that sort of takes place in us.

A condition, you know, Benji, I think I got a condition.

And when you get a condition, like the condition that I feel like I got, you don't want to fix.

I don't want my condition changed.

I want to abide.

When the disciples got a taste of Jesus Christ, the world got sour.

I think too many people think the world is so sweet.

They got a taste of it.

The world got sour.

I was thinking um not real long ago.

I nearly died on my roof painting because of the HOA.

You know, the Harassment on Alert Association.

Mr.

Rogers did not adequately prepare me for the neighborhood.

I kept painting on the roof.

I was slipping and sliding because I didn't have roof shoes, but they sent me a letter, they were gonna take me to court over paint chipped on the top that no man can reach, and no man in his right mind.

There's not even a ladder because of the pitch of the roof.

And so I'm up there sliding, I'm painting, and I get some, and then I'm back over and I'm slapping and reaching because I'm short and just it's not good.

Okay?

That was the first try of it, and I'm slipping and sliding, and but I found out something about paint through this process.

Like you don't want to paint over top of paint, right?

Paint has a process, a time frame.

It takes time for paint to cure.

Listen to this.

Whenever you apply paint to a solid material, it goes through a chemical process called bonding to the surface.

That's what abiding with Jesus is like.

That bonding, when it's finished, is called a cure.

It's cured when a solid material like Jesus Christ has abidance with you and me.

There's a process that goes forth and then it bonds and it cures.

And when it's cured, this is what a set of paint, when it's cured, it can handle all the bumps of life.

Because of that abiding from that curing.

You know, some abide church on Sunday morning, and then bumps and bruises, even cleaning doesn't work on Monday if I'm not still abiding.

It's available all week.

Some will leave today and attempt a week without abiding whatsoever.

And they've got spiritual fumes, right?

And they're just just just barely able to get by, and it's all available.

I used to tell the students after camp.

Camp is this, people call it a high, I don't believe in that, but you get the peer pressure changes, and everybody's worshiping and everybody's confessing, and all this stuff happens.

And I say before we come back from camp, all of the stuff of this is all available at home.

No, you're not gonna have a worship team wake you up at eight o'clock in the morning, but all of the stuff of the substance, the Holy Spirit, the work of it, all that we're getting here today, all of this is available to you.

We have to abide in it.

I gotta tell you, I had an incredible Christmas.

But Tuesday morning, I had to wake up and get in abidance.

I couldn't go outside and just stare at my presence and say, fill me with the glory, Lord.

And they were good.

I mean, they were great, but I tell you, I had to get in abidance to feel fulfilled.

Those gifts, those things, that money, that vacation, that goal met will not take the bumps of life.

Abidance.

You want to see the glory of God, you've got to abide in him.

And the disciples did that.

They might not have got everything right, but they were right by his side for three years of ministry.

And they saw, if he moved, man, they moved.

If he went somewhere, they said, Where's Jesus?

What happened to him?

They were abiding with him.

He did a miracle, man, they got to see it.

Man, they had a church service and people were saved, man.

They were right in it.

God was there, they were there, they knew how to abide.

I mean, in 24 church, you've got to tarry in the truth.

You've got to wade in the worship.

You've got to pause in your prayer.

You've got to abide.

You've got to steep in the scripture.

You've got to meander in his miracles.

You gotta abide.

You've got to ponder at his presence.

You've got to abide.

You wanna see the glory of God in 24?

Blackaby says, find where God's at work and join him there.

And that's what the disciples were doing.

He is here.

Church, I'm telling you, the glory of God is falling in this place week after week.

You can miss it.

Because you're at the Green Leaf Hut when the mountain has shown up.

You can miss it.

But the glory of God has fallen.

And by the time you get to this place, your heart should be so hot for God that there's a spiritual explosion about to happen.

But for some people, my heart hadn't been moved for six days since the last time it was moved.

And so it's like, I gotta fill back up.

And the gas containers gotta fill back up all in one day.

And God's saying, it's here every day.

Fill up, fill up, fill up.

And when you get here, man, you should be ready to explode.

Fool of abiding in the glory of God.

Psalm 16, 11 says, there's glory in the presence of God.

He inhabits the praise of his people.

Get in the presence of God.

Point number two this morning is this the disciples not only did they get to that point, but they heard the voice of God.

Not only did they see the glory, but they heard the voice of God.

Look at Mark 9, 5 and 6.

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here.

And let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.

And a cloud came and overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved son.

Hear him.

Letter A this morning is this absorbed with Christ in the cloud.

Absorbed with Christ.

The cloud, it says, overshadowed them.

The word is epischiazo.

And that means to envelop, that means to tabernacle, to tent.

Interesting what Peter would go on to say.

To closet over them this cloud.

Picture it.

Everything else was blocked out by this cloud.

And he says, go stand on the mountain.

We're going to get away from the noise.

It's time for us, church, in 24, to look at the noise that's captivating our ears.

And it's a great, it's a great scheme of Satan to put a lot of noise in our life.

So the question for you is what is your daily noise?

What will you hear?

A pisciazo overshadows.

In Exodus 19, 9, the same word.

It says, Jesus said to Moses, I'm coming in a cloud so that people will hear me.

In the cloud, people heard.

And they were absorbed in it.

In Elijah's story, which we're going to talk about for the next several weeks, he has this great victory of God at Mount Carmel, and the fire of God falls.

And I want to tell you, like Dave told you, he got excited for the moment with God, and then it was over, and he was back to reality that he was human, and Jezebel sent a letter that people were coming, he was dead.

Elijah takes off running, and God speaks to him, and he says, Go stand on the mountain.

You know what he says to him from that place?

Go stand the mountain.

And he comes by, and it wasn't, Scripture says it wasn't in an earthquake that came, it wasn't in the fire that came.

It wasn't in the wind that came.

He says the voice of God came in a still small voice.

God showed himself on the mountain.

When he got away, listen to why that happened.

He got away from it.

He got away from the trouble.

He got away from the struggle.

And so every day, church, we need to get away.

We need to get into the presence of God and get absorbed with God.

Peter didn't know what to say.

Scripture says this, that he wished not what to say.

I think he was trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

But Peter says, We should make three tenths.

Lord, Jesus for you, one for Elijah, one for Moses, and we'll just stay right here.

And he felt the glory of God, and I just think he wanted to abide in it.

Let's just live here.

Hebrews 12, 1 and 2, this same word is used again.

Epischiazo.

It says, There's so great a cloud of witnesses.

Let us throw off the weights that so easily beset us and fix our eyes on the author and finisher of our faith.

But he says, this cloud of witnesses, this word, get rid of the noise, get rid of all that's going on.

He says, fix our eyes on Jesus, be absorbed.

My sons love basketball right now.

I mean, just they're ate up with basketball right now.

They're ate up with playing basketball, they're ate up with playing on video games, they're ate up with jerseys, cards, they can tell me statistics, they can tell me all kinds of things about basketball.

And because of that, I can tell you things right now about the Phoenix Suns.

I can tell you about the Brooklyn Nets.

I can tell you about the Dallas Mavericks right now.

These are the teams they follow.

So all of a sudden I'm finding myself knowing statistics of players.

I hadn't watched basketball for 10 years.

Hadn't cared.

I played, hadn't cared.

When I think about basketball, I go, that's so dumb.

A five-year-old made this up.

He was like bouncing a ball.

Let me throw it through a hoop.

Like I think about it, I'm like, all this, but my sons are absorbed in it, so I know all of this stuff.

Why?

Gets me close to people that I love.

I can tell you statistics.

I check daily the scores.

And I don't even like it.

I was watching a game the other night between two teams that aren't even the teams they like.

Because my sons are absorbed in it.

I'm so far from having any ability in the sport.

But people I love, love it.

And 24, you want to fall in love with God, you have to get absorbed with the things that He loves.

You need to think about the things that God loves.

God loves obedience, as Scripture tells us.

If you love me, keep my commandments.

God loves when you listen to him.

God loves those who treat people fairly.

He says he loves justice.

Are you fair with people?

God loves humility.

He says he exalts the humble, hates the proud.

God loves a cheerful giver, Scripture says.

And God, listen to me, most of all.

He loves you and He loves me.

He loves people.

He loves people.

I've heard people talking about their occupation before.

I used to get to go to middle school for lunches in Indiana, and I would get to see every student in all of the town that day.

And I loved it.

I couldn't wait to go there.

I brought them candy to make them want to be my friend.

Okay.

And I'd talk to students, and every now and then I'd be around some teachers, and I'd hear some teachers talking, I'd be complaining about, man, these students, I can't stand these students.

These students get on my nerve.

I'm so tired of these students.

And I just like, what?

Like you went to school to be a teacher so that one day you would grow up and love history?

What is the point of learning history?

For the sake of history?

No, it's for people.

So you can teach about what people did for what?

For people.

And I'm like, if you don't love people, then quit teaching.

Because you have to teach somebody.

Shoo, kill me with that stuff.

Listen, if anybody here is thinking about getting into ministry, I love the word of God.

I mean, I love this book.

It teaches me stuff.

Not too many days, I'm like, wow, I didn't think about that.

Man, and I could spend hours and hours.

Somebody told me about their wife read 94 books this year.

I'm like, well, I read 30 something.

All of them were the Bible.

Listen, I can't imagine, but but I love the book.

But about 45 minutes a week is what I get to teach.

45 minutes.

The rest of the week is about people.

And if I don't like people, then it ain't gonna work.

Y'all understanding me?

You have to like people.

If you're in a job right now and you're like, everything's great, but the people.

I don't know how you get any business without the people.

You gotta have them.

So love them.

Paris Reedhead, a famous pastor, explained an encounter with God that God spoke to.

Man, listen to what he said.

He said, God said to him, I didn't send you to the world for the heathen.

He said, The heathen, the lost, deserve hell.

I didn't send you out there for their sakes.

I sent you for my sake.

They deserved hell, but I loved them.

I endured the agonies of hell for them.

I didn't send you for them, I sent you for me.

Do I not deserve the reward of my suffering?

Do I not deserve those for whom I've died and love?

He said it changed, it reversed, it revived everything within me.

It changed to realize the echo of the heart of God and his love for the thing that he died for.

Are you absorbed with Christ to do his bidding?

We're not here for sake of ourselves.

That's the echo of humanism.

Humanism says the sole purpose of being is for the glory of man.

And Christianity says the sole purpose of being is the glory of God.

What are you living for?

You're going to be absorbed with something.

Just look at your feeds.

Look at your statuses.

What are you doing constantly?

What are you living for?

What are you loving?

You're going to be absorbed.

May I say, do those things, but make God one.

Let him be first.

Well, what else happens in the cloud?

Well, it says this.

Verse 6.

Because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.

I want you to see that word afraid.

They were afraid.

In the cloud, let her be.

Fear is mentioned in the Bible over 500 times.

365 times we're told, do not fear.

This word for fear.

Very interesting.

This word is mentioned in the Bible twice.

Here and in Hebrews 10, 31, which says, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.

Exodus says a word like it that I want you to hear.

Exodus 2020 says, Do not be, this is a conflicting statement, but hear it.

Exodus 2020.

Do not be afraid, God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will keep you.

Says, Don't be afraid to be afraid.

The word is ekfabos.

They were sore afraid, stricken in the cloud in that moment.

And then the voice of God falls, and this is what he says.

This is my son.

Hear him.

Church, in 24, our beg, our plea, would you hear the voice of God when it falls?

It's here.

And it's here for you.

But he said, don't be afraid to be afraid.

And I thought about that.

There are times because of the voice of God, there are times when sin tempts me.

But I fear God.

And so I don't do the thing that my flesh desires to do because I have a healthy fear.

There's times when I try to make a plan of something, but I fear God, and I know that plan unfolds because I'm not afraid to be afraid.

And 24, don't be afraid to be afraid of what seem God interjects to Peter here.

The voice of God, I can't imagine.

Peter says he wished not what to say, he's just saying something.

I think it kind of made some sense.

He saw the moment.

We should have some tense here and just stay here forever.

This would be awesome.

And the voice of God's, there's people that the commentators will debate this, and I and I can see it.

They say that maybe God got angry at Peter putting Moses, Elijah, and Jesus on equal footing.

Like that God got angry saying, Well, no, you're no, no, no, you're missing it, Peter.

Not Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.

No, no, no, that's not what you need to do.

So they kind of debate that we don't know, but this is what he does say.

This is my son.

Hear him.

Drown out everything else, all the other noises.

They were overshadowed in that cloud, and God fell.

In 24, in order for us to stand on the mountain, we've got to be fully absorbed with God.

And the distractions have to fall.

We have to be able to have reverential awe.

When we come in here and worship God in a moment that is holy before Him, we're not just singing because it feels good.

Man, that's crazy.

If you came in here, you were lost, and you watched a bunch of people just singing.

This is weird.

What they're doing, but it's weird, right?

Somebody told me that they talked to me about the coffee and said, man, when it's time to worship, can we have the coffee put on?

I thought that's smart.

Yes.

We're going to be worried about our coffee.

We need to reverentially awe and have respect for God in a moment we get to worship Him when we give.

It's worship to an Almighty God when we serve.

It's not, man, we get sometimes frustrated because we're doing something.

It's not for us.

It's for him.

We need to drown out things, get in that cloud.

Apple will be upset with me that I say, get in the cloud, but get rid of your phone.

You need to get rid of distractions.

Television, phone, whatever it is, and just find a place that's overshadowed by God.

The third thing.

They heard the voice of God.

The third thing is this the disciples felt the hand of God.

Now I need you to go back to Matthew 17.

This story is described in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

But Matthew says something.

And he says something just a little bit different.

Matthew 17, 7.

Says verse 6.

After the voice of God fell, and when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, were afraid.

But Jesus came, verse 7, and touched them.

And said, Arise and do not be afraid.

And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

Third point is this the disciples felt the hand of God, letter A, as they adhered to Christ's instructions.

Jesus touched them.

Church, when's the last time you can say that you felt touched by the hand of God?

They had been raised to believe that obedience to the law and keeping religious rituals was a means to salvation.

And here they are taught just trust Jesus and Jesus alone.

Jesus was God, even though he had performed many miracles, still there were doubters at his deity.

Was this really God in the flesh?

Continually doubted.

And he proved to them in this moment he could leave at any time.

Picture it.

I can go back to this glory that I left.

Philippians 2, I left it to be obedient all the way to the cross.

But at any moment, boom, and the brightness of God fell on them.

And they're shocked in this moment of transfiguration.

They're going, what is this?

And he showed them a revival for their hearts.

Why?

Because of what he knew was coming, the coming crucifixion, the coming against the disciples.

And he gave them a revival in a moment.

And he showed them, listen, I could have left this anytime I want.

I am Jesus.

I am God, and I can go.

Verse 7, Jesus touched.

The word is haptimae, and that is to adhere to.

Scripture says, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh unto you.

He touched them.

And he said, Go stand on the mountain.

He said, Arise.

Church, will you meet with the glory of God and the voice of God?

The touch of God.

How do we do this?

Well, we're not walking with Jesus on a mountain right now, but in 1 Corinthians 6.19, it says, What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of the living God?

And so Jesus, when he ascended, sent down the Holy Spirit to live within us.

And so the scripture says we go boldly to the throne of grace.

We have this person of Jesus within us.

And we're called to be filled with his glory.

I thought about why was Christmas Eve such a good service?

Such a good, so powerful.

I think people were ready.

I think our hearts were yearning for that Christmas spirit that we wanted to sing carols about God, and our hearts were aligned and we were adhering to the moment and we were seeking.

We wanted to lift up and hear the picture of the baby to his life and death.

And God was lifted.

And Scripture says, where God be lifted up, he'll draw all men to himself.

And the more our hearts are in tune with that glory of God, the more brilliant the display.

I think this church is special because there are so many people that are seeking God in that way.

There's so many people here that want to glorify the Lord, that want to seek God, that are hungry for the things.

And I was in my mind thinking through all the different parts and pieces to that service, and I thought, if every one of these people were praying and seeking God and wanting to worship in this way, there's no wonder the presence of God fell.

He was glorified, and he just showed us what he thought about it.

The touch of God.

But I have to ask this question as I thought about all those people and people praying and people hungry and listening, looking for the glory of God.

Are you?

As hungry as the things that are on your works goals list, as hungry as the things that are on your personal list, as hungry as the financial goals.

Are you as hungry for the presence of God?

Let it be as this.

There was allegiance to Christ immediately.

Verse 7 and 8 of Matthew 17 says this.

Jesus came and touched him and said, Arise, do not be afraid.

When they lifted their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.

They could have laid down in their fear.

And many today they have an experience or something and they go, Ah, I'm not sure what that was.

And we look at ourself and our own inadequacies and our excuses, and we sort of pull back and say, Well, I really I can't.

I cannot be faithful.

No, Pastor, you don't understand.

I can I can't, I I won't make it, I'm gonna mess up.

And and in their faith walk, they begin just to lay down.

But Peter, James, and John were touched and they were given an instruction.

The instruction was aero, arise.

The word agero, interestingly, yeah, he told them to get up, but the word means to awaken, to revive.

Maybe the first sighting of revival we've ever seen.

They've been following and serving, but Jesus knew what's coming.

He says, You've got to have the glory, the voice, and the touch.

Immediately they gave their allegiance.

For you and I, practically, what does that mean in the new year?

Pastor Dave covered most of this last week.

Practically, it means you've got to be reading the Bible.

You need a time of worship daily.

I'm not talking about just the band.

You need your own time of worship.

You need time of prayer seeking God.

I mean laser focused, overshadowed, no distractions absorbed.

Arise to what, though?

Awaken to what?

Stand on the mountain.

It says, Arise and do not be afraid.

And I love this line.

It says, They saw Jesus and Jesus only.

But arise to what end?

I believe this is the last scripture that I'll be sharing on this.

To what end?

Well, Peter and John would have a story to tell after this.

In the epistle of 2 Peter, verse, or chapter 1, verse 15 through 18, we can start in verse 16.

Listen to these words of Peter.

Firsthand experience is something like nobody else experienced.

Listen to his words.

For we do not follow cunningly devised fables.

When we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellence of glory.

This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on his holy mountain.

Boy, Peter had a story to tell after that.

Now it's interesting because Jesus said, after the glory, voice, and touch of God, he said, Arise, but don't tell anybody until after my resurrection.

We gotta have some context there.

So how long were they quiet?

Forty days.

It was about 40 days from the moment of this glorious showing of who God was in human to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

About 40 days had passed.

John 1:14, John's story about it.

John 1:14

The Lord became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as the glory of the begotten of God.

John and Peter had a story to tell.

So why do we need to be absorbed?

Why do we need all this, Pastor?

Now their human faith was going to be pushed to the limits.

So God gave them this revival, this gift.

But for allegiance of Christ to be felt for year after year and generation after generation, He gave them a story.

And he burned it in their hearts.

What's your story?

Have you told your story to anyone lately?

Man, it's a glorious story.

It's no small thing to get up that mountain all the way and be surrendered to him.

What is your story?

He says, Arise.

He said, Don't tell anybody for 40 days, but let me tell you after that.

Just try to stop a disciple from talking about it.

If one of y'all went outside and saw the glory and brilliance of something like that, we wouldn't be able to shut you up.

But it's in here.

And yet we shut up.

God wants your allegiance, so he will touch you so that you will stand and share your story of him.

Share of his glory.

Man, go to work tomorrow.

Let me tell you what happened in the new year.

Let me tell you about the glory of God that's falled in my life.

Well, I wanted to close out the story with this.

There's some pictures of the Stony Brook Motel back at Mount Lafayette in sixth grade.

After we got down from the mountain the last time, I'm in 12th grade by now.

I've been up the mountain three times.

Just hold that picture.

I want you to see it.

In the background, this is on the property of the motel, and you can see the mountain.

Somewhere on that property, right out by the sign, after another day of hiking, after climbing to that top and seeing God's vastness and hearing him and being alone with him as a 12th grader, far from God.

Far from God.

A pastor that afternoon said, Tonight, when everything's all done, we had a service.

He said, We're going to have a prayer meeting on a bus.

The bus was somewhere near that sign.

As I can best picture it, I even sent messages to my youth pastor trying to remember all of it this week.

I went up and I saw something that I can't really explain.

I just know that it was the glory of God's handiwork and creation.

And so if I can give you a picture, you want a practical challenge this year, 24, go for a hike with your family.

Try to go in the mountains and not see God.

Come back with your hiking, your mountain story.

Well, I come down with that, not knowing really.

I went to a I went to the lesson that night.

Nothing.

I don't know what that guy here.

If he would have said like Jesus, I might have come to the altar.

I don't know what happened.

But for some reason, all of the time I was a student, I never got on no prayer bus meeting.

Sounded weird.

What a bunch of people gonna do on a bus at the end of the night.

We could go swimming, we could flirt with girls, I'm gonna go on a bus.

Well, God did something in my heart because I I saw his handiwork, and then the voice of God said, Get on the bus, Rick.

I don't want to get on the bus.

It's weird.

I got on the bus, and I'm in this bus prayer meeting, and I'm telling you, God said to me, No more games.

And I said back to God, no more games.

And I don't know what it feels like, but I'm telling you, the hand of God was on my life that night.

But it started because I climbed a mountain and I saw the glory of God.

I got alone with God and God had a plan.

And let me tell you, I hadn't prayed for months.

But if I hadn't experienced something of God that day, I'm pretty sure I don't get on that bus that night.

If I hadn't quieted myself and looked at all of who he was that day, I don't know if I get on that bus that night.

And if I don't get on that bus that night, I'm pretty sure I'm not standing here today.

I'm pretty sure I'm not married to her today.

I'm pretty sure I don't have the kids I have today.

The moment was fleeting and it was fast, and God said, do it, and for months I'd said no.

But I listened to his voice.

God could have done all kinds of things with me anyway, but I know he chose in that moment.

He said, Go on that bus.

And the glory of God and the voice of God and the touch of God hit my life.

And he said, No games.

And I've been trying to figure out what that meant since 12th grade here.

And I think I've got some handle of it.

I love him.

I love him.

Listen to me, church.

He loves you.

He wants to meet with you and he wants to speak with you.

But he wants you to stand.

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