24-0303a Transcript

Preacher: Mike Mathis

(3:20) Now I’m going to go to Mark 9, (3:27) and it is my intention to cover verses 2 through 37, (3:36) not all of it this morning, but if I can get through 2 through 8, (3:46) I will be doing good this morning, (3:49) and I will complete the rest of this chapter to verse 37 of Mark 9 tonight. (4:03) But I’m wanting to read in Mark 9, beginning with verse 2, and reading to verse 8. (4:19) Now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John (4:25) and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves, (4:32) and he was transfigured before them. (4:37) His clothes became shiny, exceedingly white like snow, (4:44) such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

(4:51) And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. (5:00) Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, (5:05) Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. (5:11) Let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

(5:21) And because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid, (5:33) and a cloud came and overshadowed them, (5:38) and a voice came out of the cloud saying, (5:42) This is my beloved son, hear him. (5:48) Suddenly, when they had looked around, (5:53) they saw no one anymore but only Jesus with themselves. (6:02) Now what I want to do is I want to zero in on verse 6 of Mark 9 (6:13) that says, Because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.

(6:24) Now I do not mean to take away from the glory that is here in this account, (6:37) but they are upon the mountain, and Jesus is transfigured before them. (6:48) And then Elijah and Moses appears and talks with Jesus. (6:59) But I want to zero in, Because he did not know what to say, (7:04) for they were greatly afraid.

(7:08) The title of my lesson, What to Say or Do. (7:16) Now there are times when people will wonder what they are to say (7:29) if they are to tell someone about Jesus. (7:40) And they might ask, Well, what do I say to them? (7:46) Well, what do you know that you did, if you did anything? (7:52) You know, there are those that are convinced that they don’t have anything to do, (8:00) that God does it all for them.

(8:04) That we tell them that God wants them to do His will. (8:14) You know, that takes action. (8:20) Well, here again, they might wonder, Well, what do I do? (8:29) Because being told.

(8:32) Now the sad thing is, being convinced I don’t have anything to do, (8:45) I’m not going to look into the Word. (8:48) I’m going to depend upon God doing things for me. (8:55) I don’t have to read the Bible.

(8:58) Therefore, I’m not going to know what the Bible says. (9:03) And therefore, I won’t know what to say. (9:08) And there are people that do not look into the Word.

(9:15) But they’ll take a preacher’s word for what it says. (9:22) And they stand up before them and tell them that God is going to bless them. (9:30) God is doing what He does.

(9:35) Nobody has to do anything. (9:38) We get convinced of that. (9:41) It is believed.

(9:45) Cook, line, and sinker. (9:48) But you know, what do we say to do? (9:54) First of all, let’s look at the Scripture, (10:02) the part that Jesus said before He gets into Matthew 7 and also Mark 8, (10:15) before He gets into Mark 9. (10:20) He tells these disciples, (10:25) whoever desires to follow me, (10:28) you know what follow means? (10:32) That means we do. (10:35) Don’t tell me that I don’t have anything to do.

(10:40) He said, whoever desires to follow me, (10:44) let him deny himself. (10:48) That means that I’ve got to give in, (10:51) I’ve got to bend my will and not be self-willed to the point (10:58) of I don’t care what Jesus says, (11:01) I’m just not going to listen to Him. (11:05) If I do that, then I’m not listening to Him.

(11:10) But He says, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (11:22) So He said that if we’re going to follow Him, (11:26) then we’re going to have to take up our cross, (11:32) or anyone that doesn’t is supposed to take up his cross and follow Him. (11:37) Now, before this statement, (11:43) and it was read in Matthew 7 or Matthew 16, (11:52) before He said this, (11:54) He asked the disciples who men said He was.

(12:02) And they had given the answers that some were certain that Jesus is. (12:09) And then He asked them, who do you say I am? (12:14) And then Peter answered and said, (12:17) You are Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. (12:23) Then He says, (12:26) You are Peter, and upon this rock, (12:30) and He’s not talking about Peter being on the rock.

(12:34) He’s talking about that confession that Peter made (12:37) that Jesus is the Son of the living God. (12:43) It’s upon that rock, and it’s the bedrock. (12:48) He said, I will build my church, (12:52) and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, (12:56) and I will give you the keys to the kingdom.

(13:01) Now, Jesus is not switching thoughts right in midstream. (13:07) He’s talking about the same thing. (13:09) And I know church and kingdom don’t mean the same thing, (13:16) but in this case they are the same.

(13:19) The church is the kingdom, and the kingdom is the church. (13:25) But then after saying that we need to deny ourselves (13:33) and take up our crosses and follow Him, (13:37) He announced that some that were standing there (13:44) would see the kingdom come with power before they died. (13:54) Now, people, He said, some that were standing there that day, (14:01) at that time, hearing Him, (14:05) they would see the kingdom come with power.

(14:10) They wouldn’t taste death. (14:13) And then, but we’ve got some that reject that. (14:20) They still look for the kingdom to come.

(14:23) They don’t realize that the kingdom is the church, (14:27) and the kingdom did come. (14:31) And then Ephesians 1, (14:34) he says that these were transferred out of the kingdom of darkness (14:42) into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. (14:48) They couldn’t be translated out of the kingdom of darkness (14:54) into the kingdom of God’s dear Son if it didn’t exist.

(15:02) It had to be in existence. (15:06) But now, it’s six days after this (15:14) that Jesus takes Peter, James, and John upon the mountain, (15:23) and He is transfigured before them. (15:29) And Moses and Elijah appear, and they talk with Jesus.

(15:38) And Peter is, again, as he is most of the time, he speaks up. (15:50) Sometimes just says things. (15:55) And on this occasion, this is an awe-inspiring moment.

(16:06) But what they are experiencing here brings fear into them. (16:13) And most of the time, some people have fear. (16:18) Now, they are afraid.

(16:23) And sometimes, being afraid, they’ll just come up and say something, (16:30) and they’re not really realizing what they’re saying. (16:39) But what he says, he says, (16:43) Peter says that it is good to be here, for us to be here. (16:50) Let us make three booths.

(16:54) I got this out of the Tree of Life version. (16:59) It says booths, but they are for tabernacles. (17:04) It’s for the Feast of Tabernacles that they would observe.

(17:11) And he said, let us make three tabernacles, (17:15) one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, (17:22) because he did not know what he was saying. (17:26) You know, it is amazing to hear people say things (17:35) that they just don’t know what they’re talking about. (17:40) And it would be better had they kept their mouths shut (17:46) and not said anything, (17:48) that they waste time talking about things they don’t know what they’re talking about.

(17:57) These are people that today are referred to as woke people. (18:04) Not the woke people, but woke people. (18:08) And I can see on YouTube, on my computer, (18:15) where some of these people are speaking woke things.

(18:22) They have to be shut down by somebody that knows better (18:30) than what they do about what they’re talking about. (18:34) They have to be shut down and told the straightest things. (18:44) So just like the people today, they have to be shut down.

(18:54) But then again, we have preachers and teachers (19:00) that know what the Bible says. (19:04) And just because they know, (19:10) they’ve got people that have not looked into the Bible (19:15) and do not know what the Bible says, (19:19) so they come up with their teachings. (19:24) For instance, watching one of the videos (19:28) that I usually watch on the YouTube, (19:34) this was a man that in the denominational world (19:42) was talking and he was using 1 Corinthians chapter 1 (19:53) and verse 17 in particular.

(19:57) And in this, this was dealing with the Apostle Paul. (20:05) Now if nobody has ever looked at 1 Corinthians 1 (20:12) and do not know what the Apostle Paul was writing to the Corinthians about, (20:22) this is good for these false teachers. (20:32) But it was showing this man that was, (20:42) let me get to 1 Corinthians, the first chapter, (20:52) that in verse 17, Paul says, (20:59) For Christ did not send thee to baptize but to preach the gospel, (21:08) not with wisdom of words, (21:11) lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

(21:16) You see that? (21:18) For Christ did not send thee to baptize but to preach the gospel. (21:25) This man was saying, (21:30) Paul’s job was not to baptize, (21:33) not even to mention baptism. (21:38) He was sent to preach the gospel.

(21:44) He wasn’t to say anything about baptism. (21:47) Really? (21:51) Well, let’s look at verse 16, the verse before that. (21:56) Well, wait a minute.

(21:58) Let’s go up to verse 14. (22:02) I thank God I baptize none of you except Christmas and gas, (22:11) lest anyone should say I have baptized in my own name. (22:19) Yet I also baptize the household of Stephanas.

(22:26) Besides, I do not know whether I baptize any other. (22:34) What? (22:36) He wasn’t to mention baptism? (22:40) Well, these two verses say that he baptized Christmas and gas. (22:52) He also baptized the household of Stephanas.

(22:57) I don’t know the number in the household of Stephanas, (23:06) but you know that’s a few in number that he baptized. (23:10) What? He wasn’t supposed to baptize? (23:16) He wasn’t supposed to mention baptism? (23:18) Wait a minute. (23:20) Paul is doing just exactly what this man is saying that he wasn’t supposed to do.

(23:30) He wasn’t saying that you didn’t need to be baptized. (23:36) He was just saying that the most important part that he was doing was preaching the gospel. (23:45) Sowing the seed.

(23:48) Now, if that resulted in them being baptized, (23:52) Paul didn’t have to baptize them for them to be baptized. (24:00) And that is just what gets me. (24:03) There are people that may not even have known about that.

(24:09) And here he is saying, (24:12) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel. (24:16) Well, all that Paul was supposed to do was preach the gospel. (24:23) People, we need to be informed.

(24:28) We’re going to see something here in just a minute. (24:32) Well, when Peter speaks up, which he usually does, (24:38) and just like most people do today, (24:41) they need to be shut down. (24:44) Well, this statement needed to be shut down.

(24:49) And you know who shut that down? (24:52) The Father in heaven. (24:56) Because he’s spoken a voice out of the clouds saying, (25:03) This is my beloved son. (25:07) Hear him.

(25:10) In other words, you’re not to pay. (25:14) You’re not to listen to Moses. (25:17) You’re not to listen to Elijah.

(25:23) You’re to listen to Jesus. (25:28) But too many times we don’t listen to Jesus. (25:33) For some reason or another, people have got it against Jesus.

(25:37) And Jesus said that they would. (25:40) They would be against him. (25:43) Christians are against because they are against Jesus.

(25:49) We suffer because Jesus suffered. (25:55) And because we believe in Jesus and stand up for him, (26:03) those faithful ones suffer because of belief in Christ. (26:20) But we are to hear Jesus.

(26:23) We are to hear Jesus. (26:27) We are listening to God the Father. (26:33) What the Father wants, the Son wants.

(26:40) The Son obeyed his Father. (26:44) He did what his Father bade him to do. (26:48) And then, when Jesus was telling them that he was going away, (26:57) that he would give them the Holy Spirit, (27:01) and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, it’s called, (27:10) should guide them into all truth.

(27:14) And we have a well-known preacher in the mega-church saying, (27:22) you know, the apostles had it all wrong. (27:27) Wait a minute. (27:29) We’re saying God had it all wrong.

(27:37) If the apostles got it all wrong, we dare not say that (27:43) because the Holy Spirit is spoken of as the Spirit of truth. (27:49) And there we need to be careful. (27:54) The Holy Spirit is the one that is the last.

(28:00) And he is the one that if we speak against, (28:05) that we’ll be blaspheming against him. (28:09) But we see that if we listen to Jesus, (28:17) we will know what to say. (28:22) And what Jesus said, and it is for those who may not be in Christianity, (28:32) have not named the name of Jesus, (28:36) they are to hear it, they are to believe in Jesus, (28:41) so they will not die in their sins, (28:45) they are to repent of their sins, (28:50) they are to confess their faith, (28:53) that they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, (28:57) and then be buried with him in baptism for the remission of sins.

(29:06) That is how we enter into Jesus. (29:12) And then after entering Jesus, live faithfully unto him, (29:19) being faithful and obedient to him, (29:23) and observe all things whatsoever that he has instructed his apostles to teach. (29:33) We give what the apostles taught in the Scriptures.

(29:38) And if we will do that, then we will be pleasing to God. (29:48) And if one has obeyed God in naming the name of Jesus, (29:59) and let things slip, (30:04) they are to repent of their sins, (30:08) and pray to God, (30:10) and you can have the church pray for you, (30:15) that those sins will be forgiven, (30:18) and you be restored to God. (30:23) And also, if there is any other thing that anyone wants to make known, (30:31) we would urge you to do that this morning.

(30:37) Do so while it is time. (30:40) We don’t know if we’ll have more time than that, (30:46) but why not do so while the time is available, (30:50) and do so now while we stand and while we pray.