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Bro. Bill Nichols
We're going to pick up in Luke chapter nine, and I'm going to actually go back to verse 36 and, well, actually, I'm going to go back to verse 34 and begin reading. And this is just after Peter has asked the Lord if they should build tabernacles for the three of them, Elijah, Moses, and Jesus.
And a cloud came over, and God rebuked Peter from the cloud. And so now, while he thus spake, there came a cloud and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into the cloud, and there came a voice out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him.
And when the voice was passed, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close and told no one and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. Now, that's where we were last time.
This time, we're going to pick up at 37. And it came to pass that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met them. Now, at this point, there's a short passage that Luke omitted, but both Matthew and Mark include in their account.
And I would like to insert the material from Mark and Matthew now. Now, you need to keep in mind that Luke was the gospel penned by a Gentile from the perspective of a Gentile, whereas Matthew and Mark were both penned by Jews from the perspective of a Jew.
We will deal with these two insertions before we return to Luke. So keep your finger on Luke 9 and go to Matthew 17, verse 9. I'll give you a couple of seconds to get there. We will bounce around between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, looking at the account from the perspective of each one because each one gives us a little bit different information, a little additional information.
So here we go, Matthew 17, verse 9. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, tell the vision to no man until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead. Now, in Luke, it only said that they didn't tell anybody.
It didn't tell them why. And it didn't tell them when they were going to tell the vision. Here, Matthew tells us that they didn't tell anyone because Jesus told them not to. He said, tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead.
And his disciples asked him, saying, now, this is not all the disciples. These are the three that were with him on the mountain. This would be Peter, James, and John. They had just heard God speaking from the cloud, declaring that Jesus was indeed the Son of God or the Messiah.
And of course, we read earlier that Luke mentioned this. He said, this is my beloved Son. Hear him. And when the voice was passed, Jesus was found along, and they kept it close and told no one in those days any of the things that they had said.
Now, these three disciples, Peter, James, and John, rightly or wrongly, were concerned with whether all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah had been met. So they asked him, Matthew 17, 10, why then say the scribes that Elijah must come first?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall come first and restore all things. But I say unto you that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed.
Now that is whatever they wanted to do, they did. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. I want to read one verse again, one part of a verse.
Likewise, like what happened to John the Baptist, likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. He just told his disciples that he's going to be killed. He didn't tell them how, but he told them that like John the Baptist, he would suffer of them.
And then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist. Now Mark adds some additional detail that I'd like to throw in. Go to Mark chapter nine, verse nine. And as they came down from the mouth and he charged them that they should tell no man the things they had seen till the Son of Man were risen from the dead.
Okay, same thing. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what rising from the dead should mean. And they asked him saying, why say the scribes that Elijah must come first?
And he answered and told them, Elijah verily cometh first and restoreth all things. And how it is written that the Son of Man, he must suffer many things and be said it not. So Mark also says that the Lord of the disciples, that he would be crucified, that he would be killed.
But I say unto you that Elijah is indeed come and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed as it is written of him. So that's what was said on the way down the mountain. Now I want to go to another place and tell you what John the Baptist said about himself.
You'll need to turn to John, the book of John, the gospel of John, chapter one, verse 19. This is something that the disciples either witnessed or at least by now had heard of because this is very early in Jesus's ministry.
This is in fact, even before John baptized Jesus. So here we go. John chapter one, verse 19. And this is the record of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou?
And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then, art thou Elijah? And he says, I am not. And then they asked him, art thou that prophet? And he answered no.
Now that little dialogue illustrates that they did not have a clear understanding. They asked three questions when two would have been sufficient. They ask, are you Christ? Are you Elijah? Are you that prophet?
They would have needed only two questions had they known the identity of that prophet. So then they say unto him, who art thou, that we may give an account to them that sent us? What saith thou of thyself?
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. Now, that prophet, what prophet? You don't need to go here, but in Deuteronomy 18, 15, it talks about that prophet.
It said, the Lord thy God, this is Moses writing in Deuteronomy. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet in the midst of thee, and thy brethren like unto me, unto him shall ye hearken. So the Lord your God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me, like unto Moses, unto him you shall hearken.
A prophet that knows God face to face, as he knew Moses face to face, and a prophet to whom they are instructed to listen. That prophet will turn out to be the Messiah. If you go on down to 34 in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 34, verse 10, it will say, And there rose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.
Now, last Sunday, we went into Acts at this point, and dealt with a speech made by Stephen just before they stoned him. I'm going to pick it up in Acts 7, verse 35. This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge?
The same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel, which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out after he had showed them wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
This is that Moses which the children of Israel said, which said to the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him you showed here. They were quoting the verse in Deuteronomy that we just read.
That was Stephen. This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel, which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us, to whom our fathers would not obey.
But thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again to Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us. And as for this man Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know what we want not, what is become of him.
And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced at the works of their own hands. Moses, I believe in this passage, is a foreshadowing of the Messiah. Just as the Jewish leaders rejected Moses, and set up a religion of their own, so will the Jewish leaders reject Jesus and set up a religion of their own making.
But you need to understand, not every Jew rejected Moses, nor will every Jew reject Jesus. Now I want to look at what Jesus said about John the Baptist. You'll find that in Matthew 11 verse 2. John is in prison about to be beheaded.
Now when John had heard in prison the works of Christ, he sent to his disciples. And said unto them, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see.
The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the leopards are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.
That was Jesus's message back to John the Baptist, in part to encourage him because Jesus knew that John was facing death. And as the messengers left, as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What ye went out to see in the wilderness?
A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in the king's house. But what went ye out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, among them that were born of women, there is not raisin a greater than John the Baptist.
Notwithstanding, he that is leashed in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come. So the question I have to ask you is, who's correct? Jesus or John? Now, I have no way of seeing your answers.
And I know that everybody that is making a comment is saying, Jesus, of course. Well, what about John? Here's the difference. Jesus knew both what John was assigned to do and the role he had to play. What role?
He is the messenger sent before the face of who will prepare thy way before thee. So he is. Okay, so who is correct? Jesus or John? Jesus knew both what John was assigned to do and the role he had to play.
The role he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. John only knew what he was assigned to do. Jesus goes on to say, and if you receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now, we've looked at Matthew and Mark. We're now going to go back to Luke's account of the descent from the mountains, from the mountain and carry on. And behold, a man of the company cried out saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son, for he is my only son.
And lo, a spirit taketh him. And he suddenly cried out, and it tareth him, that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out, and they could not.
And Jesus said, and Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. Now, let's look at the account in Matthew. He has the same account.
He just words it a little bit different. And when they will come down, this is Matthew 17, 14. And when they will come down to the multitude, there came a certain man kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and sorely vexed.
And a question that I had to ask is, are all lunatics demon possessed? The answer to that one is no, not all lunatics are demon possessed, but this one is. So Matthew goes on to say, for oft times he falls into the fire, and often to the water.
And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. And Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.
And now we're going to go to this account of the same thing in Mark. Mark adds a little more detail. That's unusual because Mark is really very concise. But you got to understand, even though John Mark wrote the book of Mark, the source for him was Peter.
And Peter would have been very familiar with this episode. After all, he was just rebuked by God from the cloud. And when he came to his disciples, this is Jesus, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
And straightaway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, saluted him. And he asked the scribes, what question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit.
And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth, and gnasheth his teeth, and pineth away. And I spake unto thy disciples, that they should cast him out, and they could not. And he answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I suffer you? Bring him to me. Now he goes on to say, and they brought him unto him. And when he saw him, straightaway the spirit tore him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming.
And he, that's Jesus, asked his father, how long ago since this came unto him? And he said, of a child. And oft times it is cast him into the fire and into waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us.
And Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to them that believeth. And straightaway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief.
And that brings another question. Can a person have enough faith of his own? That is to say, can anyone generate enough belief to make all things possible? I'm going to go to Philippians and read something that we take out of context all the time.
And I'm just going to read it and see what you think. Philippians 4, 13. I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. Is that all Paul said to the Philippians? Well, that's all we quote. If you look earlier in Philippians, you'll get the context.
So let's do that. Go to Philippians 4, 4. That's about seven verses. Philippians 4, 4. If you're not in Philippians, go ahead and turn there now. And I'll wait just a second. Philippians 4, 4 is where we'll begin.
And eventually we'll get down to 4, 13. But it'll take a while. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication.
With thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which path is all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. Now I got a question to ask. Does Paul say, God will answer your prayers the way you want them answered?
Does Paul say, God will answer your prayers the way you want them answered? I'm going to take you now to 2 Corinthians 12, 7 to see how God answered one of Paul's prayers. 2 Corinthians 12, 7. And lest I should be exalted.
Paul has just described his venture into heaven and the vision that he saw there. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me.
Lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. I stumbled there because I was thinking of this. Is it wrong that Paul prayed for God to remove the thorn in his flesh?
Well, I don't think it was. I don't think it was even wrong for him to pray three times. Even if he prayed more than that, that's okay. But he finally got an answer. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me.
And he said to me, Jesus said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me.
Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Why is he strong when he's weak? Because when he's weak, he's relying on the power of Christ, not on his own power.
When things are going swimmingly, when everything is just fine, when all is great, we tend to think that they're great because of all the great things that we do. We attribute it to ourselves. But when everything is going wrong, when you're afflicted, when you have infirmities, reproaches, persecutions, distresses for Christ's sake, then the strength that you have to rely on is the strength of God.
So when I am weak, then I am strong. Okay. So in Philippians, if Paul is not saying your prayers will be answered the way you want, what is he saying? Well, that's in Philippians 4, 7. Philippians 4, 7.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, my brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are good report.
If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do. And the God of peace shall be with you. Verse 10.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now as at last your care of me hath flourished again, wherein you also were careful but lacked opportunity, not that I speak with respect to want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I am instructed to be both full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I'm going to read that again because many times I read that part of the verse and I left out something, but I highlighted this time.
I am instructed. Who instructed? The Lord instructs him. Whether he's full, hungry, whether he abounds or suffers need, he is in that state because that's the state that the Lord put him in. I am instructed to be both full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
And only then we get to verse 13, where I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. Now, you don't necessarily abound simply because you want to abound. What you have is peace, not necessarily to abound.
Sometimes you suffer. Sometimes you suffer. But always you have peace. And that's what prayer eventually leads to. Prayer eventually leads to peace. It leads to peace whether you get what you are really wanting, what you want, what you're asking for, or you come to the point that you accept what the Lord has in store for you.
But in either case, you have peace. Now, back to Luke verse 41, chapter nine, verse 41. And Jesus answered, said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.
And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down and tore him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child and delivered him again to his father. And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God.
But while they wondered, every one at all the things which Jesus did, he said to his disciples, let these sayings sink down into your ears. For the son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
Once again, Jesus tells the disciples what is ahead of him in Jerusalem. But they understood not this saying. And it was hid from them. And they perceived it not. And they feared to ask him of that saying.
Moreover, they promptly forgot what he said. What did he say? He said, the son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. They didn't understand it. It was hid from them. They perceived it not. And they were afraid to ask.
And they promptly forgot. It's still in their heads what they originally thought, that Jesus is going to Jerusalem to set up an earthly kingdom. That's what they think. What they forgot is he said he was going there to be delivered into the hands of men.
I know that they promptly forgot because of what goes on in the very next verse. Verse 46. And there arose a reasoning among them which of them should be the greatest. If they thought he was going to Jerusalem to be crucified, they wouldn't be worried about who is going to be the greatest.
And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child and set him by him and said unto them, whosoever shall receive this child in my name, receiveth me. And whosoever shall receive me, receiveth him that sent me.
For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. The kingdom that Jesus is going to set up is a kingdom unlike any earthly kingdom. Now, John goes on to say, this is John the disciple. John goes on to say, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name and we forbade him because he followed not with us.
And Jesus said unto him, forbid him not. For he that is not against us is for us. Now, verse 51. And it came to pass that when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Now, always before Jesus had said, my time is not yet come. Well, it's not come yet, but it's rapidly approaching. It's now time for Jesus to return to Jerusalem, to be crucified, buried, and to ascend.
It's that time is approaching. It's now time to return to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers before his face and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they did not receive him because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
Well, you've got to understand, there was a contention between the Samaritans and the Jews concerning where one should worship the Passover. The Jews said the temple on Mount Moriah in Israel. The Samaritans said on Mount Gerizim in northern Israel.
As a result, the Samaritans were unhappy that Jesus was only passing through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem to worship on the temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elijah did?
James and John. Jesus nicknamed them the sons of thunder. Isn't it ironic that John, one of the sons of thunder, is the disciple we most associate with love? And now he's asking Jesus if he should bring down fire to destroy the people.
But Jesus turned and rebuked them and said, you know not matter what manner of spirit you are. For the son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them, and they went to another village.
And we came to pass, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto them, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have their holes, birds of the air have their nest, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
And he said to another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. And Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but first, but let me first go and bid them farewell, which are at home in my house.
And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and having looked back is fit for the kingdom of God. This is all about commitment to the task. Commitment to the task assigned.