The Transfiguration: Love and Listen

Intro

Return to the transfiguration. Last week we looked at how Jesus was revealed as the glorious Son of God, and how we respond to Him. Today we will focus on the process of letting His transfiguration affect our transformation.

Pray

Mark 9:2–8 NLT

2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. 5 Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.

The two people who joined and spoke with Jesus on the mountain were indicators of how Jesus fulfilled all that was written about Him. But they are also excellent examples of how to follow Jesus.

Some of us have been following Jesus for many years. Some of us for less time. But regardless of how long you have been following Jesus, following Him should never be a static experience. We are not at our destination, so let’s keep moving!

We’ll take a high overview of the lives of Moses and Elijah, see how God revealed Himself, how they responded, and what we can learn from this.

Moses - Followed God:

With Growing Commitment

Exodus three takes us to Moses’ first encounter with God. God reveals Himself from a distance in a burning bush. Would Moses move toward or away from this revelation?

Exodus 3:3 ESV

3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

“I will turn aside” - from my plans, my purpose, my priorities. When we see God’s standard or God’s glory differing from our, do we turn aside? When we do, as Moses did, God will reveal more of Himself.

Exodus 3:6 ESV

6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Moses continued to take steps of obedience. Not always smooth, by that was the the intention of his life. And God worked through Moses to not only show His glory but to accomplish His intention for His people.

As God revealed more, and Moses obeyed more, Moses got a first row seat in God’s amazing works. I don’t know about you, but I want to be right in the middle of what God want’s to do! I might have plans or hopes for my life, but I can’t imagine how they could possibly be better than being in the middle of a move of God!

God moved people, and God moved creation - Moses was God’s tool to lead His people out of captivity. Moses SAW that! And how did he respond?

With Prayer and Worship.

There was a lot of uncertainty and wrestling with God. Not from Pharaoh, from Moses! Prayer is not only “Now I lay me down to sleep.” or “Lord bless this meal and the hands that made it.” Prayer is “How can I survive this?!” “Lord I am shattered!! There’s no way I can do what you’re asking without YOU doing it!”

Prayer is the battle that must be fought before the battle is begun.

When we engage the battle of prayer, we release responsibility for the battle that follows to God. And guess what - God is able to perform all that He intends!

Exodus 15:1–3 ESV

1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.

Is there a battle in your life that seems like it would take an army to overcome? God IS THAT ARMY!! We have but to / submit / commit / then watch God work.

How much time do you spend in the battle before the battle?

With mission alignment.

When Moses was a young man, he had aspirations for the thrown of Egypt.

When Moses was middle-aged, he wanted to be left alone to tend his sheep and rase a family.

When moses was old, his purpose was transformed to God’s purpose. Moses no longer represented his own interest but God’s.

If we desire to be the effective agents God uses, our purpose must also be transformed to God’s purpose. Our mission aligned with His.

For that to happen, we must respond to the transfiguration of our Lord.

1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

As we better understand God’s love, as we are beneficiaries of greater and greater revelation, we must continue to grow and mature AND FOLLOW. Moses gives as a pattern to respond to visions of God’s glory.

But so does Elijah!

Elijah - Followed God:

We have much less of Elijah, almost nothing of His early life or calling. But we do have three tings. His soaring victories in God; His debilitating depression; and God’s unique close to His life.

In Victory and Defeat.

We spoke about Elijah several weeks ago. One of the major missions in Elijah ministry was to call out God’s people for worshiping other gods. This came to a head when he called on the carpet 450 prophets of these imposter gods. Long story short, he challenged their gods to prove themselves - they did not. Then Elijah asked that God prove himself - He did!

Elijah didn’t then think he had proven God to be true and get prideful and arrogant. He followed God’s direction and God’s purpose.

Up till this point, we have talked about following God the right way. About being obedient. Now I know that’s not our story all the time. How well we all know the passage in Romans - “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” How de we follow God when we’ve blown it? How do we follow God when we’ve come us short; when we weren’t good enough for the task?

After God’s victory through Elijah, the pagan queen of Israel, Jezebel, swears an oath to destroy Elijah. I don’t know what all went through Elijah’s mind, but I can imagine what I might think.

“After this definitive display of God’s power and authority, the battle is clearly won!” I might let my guard down at this point. I might not see the battle still at hand.

So when Jezabel come at Elijah with all she had, Elijah became dismayed. He ran and hid in the wilderness. He forgot that God would protect Him. He forgot to seek God so he sought his own deliverance.

1 Kings 19:4 ESV

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Have you ever felt that way? Have you had those moments when you are so lost you’d through in the towel but you don’t even have a towel to throw in! I know I have.

This is not a great place to be, but I want to show you one thing to keep in this situation, and that’s a compass.

A compass has a needle that will always point north even when there’s no other reference for direction. Elijah’s compass was the person of Yahweh God. Though he saw himself as utterly defeated and broken, he acknowledged God’s authority.

We may have no strength or hope or meaning, but if you will, even in those situations, call on the name of the Lord, He will provide all that you need. It might take time, it might be hard, it might hurt. When we are willing to follow God in victory AND defeat, we know that we poses the faith that can truly transform our broken, sinful self, by the power of the

Me - I Will Follow God:

In _________ and ___________…

Why look at these two when the passage is about Jesus being transfigured to reveal His glory? Because these two responded well when God revealed His glory to them. They are our example. They call us to respond well to God’s glory.

How will I follow?

Will I love and desire God?

Will I hear and head His words?

Will my victories be because of Him and my devastation be redeemed by Him?

Will my obedience be defined by Him?

When we are entrusted with the vision of the Glory of God, we have a responsibility to respond to that.

God has shown us the glory of His:

Righteousness

Are we submitting our actions to His standards?

Power and Authority

Are we submitting in faith that He will provide for all that He calls us to do?

Love

Are we starving the hate and cruelty out of our hearts and loving those around us?

Provision

Are we trusting and obeying in our finances? Are we being cheerful givers to God’s purpose?

Forgiveness

Are we holding grudges and hurts or are we forgiving as Christ forgave us by giving Himself up for us?

Mercy

Are we showing mercy to others? Are we showing mercy to ourselves?

The list could go on; and does. But it’s not my job to show them all to you! It’s your job to seek to find how God reveals His glory to you. And It’s your job to respond!

How that looks will be different for each of us. But how we get there is the same.

James 4:10 ESV

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

James is not talking about being lifted up to YOUR glory. He is talking about how when we make ourselves friends with the world and the thinking of the world, we end up as enemies of God. It is then US who is cast down, not God. So we must humble ourselves before God, submit to God, draw near to God - then He will draw near to us.

James goes on to say that we must also cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. As God reveals Himself to us we see the sinful thoughts and actions we still hold to. We must respond in a very specific way… STOP IT!

If you desire to see more of God’s glory, we MUST stop doing and thinking the things that get in the way of this. Can you do this? Can I do this? NO. That is why James says that we must humble ourselves before God. Then HE will exalt you. That means He will pick us up from the low place the our sin has driven us to in humility and bring us before HIS high position.

Revelation that elicits obedience brings greater revelation. And I don’t know about you, But I want more of Jesus!

Transfiguration 2

The Glory of God Entrusted - When God has revealed who He is, He calls us to walk in His image.