"As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. They asked Him, saying, "Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And He said to them, "Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It isa privilege is to come together with you
We welcome you to worship in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
We are past the half way point of Mark's Gospel, I hope by now we're becoming accustomed to the rapid pace in which he moves. At times it seems rather than walking us through the events, in a unique way he leaps and jumps. Looking back, you will remember that Jesus had just dropped a bombshell on the disciples, telling them He must suffer and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the
scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. They had such a hard time with the news that Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." And gets rebuked by Jesus, "Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s." So Jesus took Peter, James, and John on a little excursion up to a mountain to give them a preview of the coming glory, His transfiguration, where Peter gets rebuked by God Himself, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" This was not a suggestion, this was a direct command to stop talking and start listening to what Jesus has to say about His impending death. Without the cross, there can be no salvation for anyone, there can be no kingdom. On this side of the cross, we understand that, it's very simple, but the disciples had not really come to terms with that. The cross was a stumbling block, they couldn't understand why He needed to die and that cross didn’t mean there will be no glory.
Peter had a terrible time accepting it, he believed what the leaders of Israel believed, that's where his messianic expectations came from, but he finally got the message, didn't he? In fact, he was so concerned that we see suffering in the right perspective, look at what he wrote in 1 Peter 4:12-14, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."
Man has always been interested in finding the easy way out, he wants to just skip the cross and forget the suffering, by striking a deal with the devil. Isn't that the same thing Satan offered when he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me?" Which I believe explains why there is so much compromise in the church today.
God’s way to glory is through self-denial, and suffering by way of the cross. We can either embrace God's plan or reject it, but we cannot fail to respond. Which is why sound doctrine comes as such a devastating death blow to the average churchgoer, those who have listened to false teachers, they're messengers of Satan. They want salvation and forgiveness without self-sacrifice, they want the glory without the suffering, they want a Savior without His Lordship.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we are thankful for Your Word, and pray it will be a life-changing for those who are willing to listen and receive it. We are so grateful that Christ did not skip the cross, but endured the suffering on our behalf, how we take for granted this precious gift of salvation, which we do not deserve, without contemplating it's true cost. He is worthy of our humble praise and adoring worship. Lord, I pray that You would move Your church down a path toward greater spiritual growth, faithfulness, obedience and endurance that they may bring You glory. Father, I pray that You would work in the hearts of those who pretend to follow You yet live in open rebellion against You, grant them true repentance for Christs' sake.
In His name we ask and pray these things.
Amen
Today's Message: Let's Give Them Something To Talk About
Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 9, verses 9-13, I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds. Let us open our hearts and minds and see how the Lord might use us to impact the lives of others. Mark 9:9-13.
"As
they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to
relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the
dead. They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. They asked Him, saying, "Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And He said to them, "Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him."
Let's look at verse 9, "As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead." So, now they’re coming down the mountain no doubt they were still trying to process what they just experienced and Jesus strictly orders Peter, James, and John, not to relate the divine revelation they had seen to anyone; by the way, this is the only the time the command of silence comes with a time limit. They saw the transfigured, glorified Christ in blazing glory, they saw Moses and Elijah appeared in a very glorious manner, representing the law and the prophets, saying "We’re on schedule." They saw the Shekinah appear right before their eyes, and heard the voice of God coming from a brilliant cloud, giving testimony to Christ and commanding them to listen Him. After this amazing experience, I would imagine they can’t wait to tell the others and He tells them not to say anything at all to anyone until after the resurrection has already happened. They probably weren't even thinking about His death at this particular point. The experience of the transfiguration was obviously to to seal their confession that He the Christ, the Son of the living God because now they have seen it and heard it, revealed to them by the Father.
I believe there is a lesson here for the church today to proclaim to the full message not an incomplete message. Jesus is not just a Savior, He is Lord. So many seem not to understand that if you’re not guiding people to take their
sin to Christ and calling them to obedience to God’s Word, you are
accomplishing nothing for Kingdom of God. It’s hard to overcome the remaining flesh, but we have to remember that God is watching, with a sense of awe and a sense of trembling. It’s your responsibility to let that inward work that God has done be manifest on the outside. Revelation 21 makes it clear, "And nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life." Without the bad news, there is no good news.
Verse 10, "They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant." Being students of the Old Testament, they obviously understood there would be a resurrection coming of righteous people and a resurrection of unrighteous people at the end of the age, so that wasn't the issue here. They are confused about His death and resurrection because didn't fit into their messianic program of the kingdom and immediate glory. That's what they're having a discussion about, they are trying to sort it out. They won't understand that He didn’t come to conquer the Roman; He came to conquer death, sin and hell until after the resurrection. Luke says the disciples strictly observed this order, "they kept it close" to themselves. They obeyed didn't they? All true believers are commanded to obey. But that didn’t stop their questions.
Look at verse 11, "They asked Him, saying, "Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" That understanding comes right out of the Old Testament book of Malachi which says "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts." Then, if we look at chapter 4, verses 5 and 6 the messenger is further identified. Malachi 4:5-6, "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." They have already confessed that Jesus is Messiah, they’re sure of that. So where is Elijah? The issue is they took it at face value that Elijah as the preparer, the restorer and it was embellished through the years with all kinds of tradition. Malachi will be fulfilled at the return our the Lord Jesus Christ.
So in verse 12, He affirms that the Word of God through Malachi is absolutely accurate, before the establishing of the kingdom, Elijah will come. Then in the middle of the verse, He shifts their focus from prophecy regarding Elijah to the much more important, more immediate Old Testament prophecies concerning His suffering by confirming what He had previously said concerning His sufferings and death. "And He said to them, "Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?" Jesus is pointing out once again, He must suffer and be crucified to accomplish what He came to accomplish.
That brings us to verse 13, "But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him." No, John the Baptist was not Elijah, but he was one who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, with a ministry of repentance, preparing people for the arrival of Messiah.
And, they didn’t recognize him and they did to him whatever they wished, they cut his head off. Just as they wanted to kill Elijah, but God took him to heaven in a chariot. They’ll also kill Christ, won't they? That’s why we’re here today, if there was no cross, there would be no salvation. Elijah will come, he must come before Christ returns in all of His majesty and glory, because Scripture tells us it’ll come
to pass.
There are quite a number of people who think that Elijah will
be one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11. All we can do is speculate, because Scripture doesn't tell us who they will be, so we can't be dogmatic. In Matthew's parallel passage he tells us "Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist." The disciples learned something about Elijah and about John the Baptizer, we should learn as well, we don't have to have everything figured out about Jesus’ second coming. So let's trust what the Bible makes clear and let the Lord take care of the rest. May the hope of His glorious return inspire us to take up our cross and follow Him.
Some of you today you are not believers, but I want to tell you today, there is still hope no matter how dire your circumstances may seem, regardless of your past mistakes, there is always a way out. You can be rescued from Hell where there is absolutely no hope there and receive a fresh start. The key lies in Christ, the One Who in the ultimate act of love, willingly sacrificed Himself for the atonement of our sins. His willingness to lay down His life for our sake serves as a powerful example for us to follow in our own lives, whether through acts of kindness and generosity, service to others, or forgiveness towards those who have wronged us.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved