14th Dec Sermon Notes - Lessons Learnt @ the Mount of Transfiguration
Testimony given at sermon:
A lady who joined NCC recently wrote that her daughter had joined a church that asked them to all sign pledges that they will keep the 10 commandments. The girl started seeing unclean things after that. The lady was sleeping when she had a dream. In it, her clock showed 7am and the LORD showed her a cab. Then she heard His voice say - "This cab is going to Suntec City Level 6". The lady had no idea about our church or even about how Suntec City has a church located within it. She woke up. Her clock said 7am just ike the dream!! She knew straightaway that it was a supernatural dream. She got her daughter to go with her to our church. During the sermon, her daughter's leg began to tremble. That day onwards, she stopped seeing unclean things and they now attend our church.
Simiarly, some years back a gangster heard God's instruction to come to Suntec City to find a church. He too had no idea that there was a church in Suntec City and had not heard of NCC before.
It doesn't mean that we are the only good church in SG, there are many good churches and pastors in SG, but we feel honoured that God led these people to our church.
=============
Pastor Prince recapped at the start -
Gold = righteousness - closest to God (Holy of Holies)
Silver = redemption
Bronze = judgement - furthest from God (Bronze Altar)
When we do not spend time with God, we become more judgemental.
Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke) all talk about the Mount of Transfiguration.
Matthew 17:1-8 - describes the mountain as a high mountain.
Contrary to popular belief, the Mountain where this took place is Mt. Hermon and not Mt. Tabor.
This is because Matthew 16 that precedes this episode tells us that Jesus and the disciples were at Caesera Phillipi that is just below Mt Hermon. It makes no sense then that they would cross Israel to get to Mt Tabor right after that. =p
The names of the disciples with Jesus during the Transfiguration is significant.
They are Peter, James and John
Peter = Stone (10 commandments were written on stone)
James = Replace
John = Grace
The stones of the law have been replaced by the grace of Christ Jesus!!
Tip for parents:
- What do our kids see when they look at us? Do they see a rainbow or a bronze helmet? Grace or judgement??
- Love and acceptance will transform our children more than judgement ever will.
What people think of you is not important. Don't trust it.
Don't trust people for happiness because if we trust in the arm of flesh, we will get hurt and end up hurting people.
When we draw from Christ we can love people more.
Be the kind of parent that your kids cannot wait for you to come home, NOT pray that you won't come home.
Be the kind of wife your hubby fantasises about daily.
Be the kind of hubby that your wife would want to come home early to.
Don't value the opinions of people too highly as this will affect you.
See Matt 17:4 - the transfiguration episode prob took plaace during the Jewish fest of Sukot (Festival of Booths - where Jews built shelters of palm leaves).
The 2 present with Christ were Moses and Elijah (sorry I was typing very fast and typo-ed as Elisha just now all the way through... sorry sorry for the big boo boo.)
Moses = Law
Elijah = Prophets
The problem here is that Peter put Christ on the same level of Law and the Prophets when he offers to built the 3 of them shelters.
Mosaic Law has no place in our new covenant lives. Moses and Elijah knew they could not be on the same level as Christ so disappeared after God spoke.
God spoke to remind Peter to listen to Jesus. Today our only assignment is to listen to the voice of Jesus.
Bodily in Heaven, at the right hand of the Father.
Spiritually in all of us - He is that soft, gentle nudge we feel inside.
In Matt 17:7, the first thing Jesus said to the disciples after God commands them to listen to Him - "Arise and do not be afraid."
Matt 17 ends with the tax collectors seeking them for temple tax.
Peter answered rashly and again respected Jewish law, forgetting to listen to Christ and again putting Him on par with the law. He forgot who Jesus is.
How Jesus corrected him was beautiful. Jesus reminded Peter that He is God's Son and thus the temple tax legislation is not for Him to uphold, told him that they shall avoid offending these people and asked him to go fish and in the fish will be a coin enough to pay for both Him and Peter. He paid for Peter even though Peter had made the mistake.
Funny thought - the fish only got in trouble because it opened its mouth. Similarly, some people end up defeated financially because they like to open their mouths for the wrong reasons.
Some people still believe that God punishes people despite Christ's finished work. This is wrong thinking and believing.
All of us sometimes stumble like Peter, we go home after service and then forget to consult Christ prior to carrying out our work/ daily chores. Some also fall prey to judging their family, friends and other people.
Marriage is to teach us how to keep on forgiving. Don't marry if you don't feel like you want to forgive a person continually as it is a series of forgiveness! Marriage is not perfect and never will be perfect.
Those who divorce have problems accepting that Marriage isn't perfect, thus when they end up in another marriage the same problem occurs again, leading to yet another divorce.
The problems in Marriage occur when the focus is on I, ME, MY instead of on CHRIST!
Pastor then left that topic of marriage aside too look at the gospel of Mark.
In Mark 9:8-17, it says that they looked and saw Jesus only with themselves.
Do we see Jesus with us?
Potiphar saw naked Joseph but he also saw that the LORD was with Joseph. As a result, God ensured that Joseph prospered in whatever he set out to do.
In the book of Daniel, when the 3 men of God were thrown into the furnance, the King saw 4. The 4th man was Christ! The men were not burnt and came out unharmed.
In the recession, we will not burn but our depts will be burned away! AMEN!
Even Peter, James, John and Christ had to descend from Mt. Hermon into the valley below.
In our daily lives, we too travel down to the valleys at some point. This is why it is important that we see Jesus is with us.
Mark 9:11 - Jesus was there but the disciples asked about Elijah. Again, they forgot who Christ is and focused on the prophets.
Mark 9:15 - Why were the people greatly amazed when they saw Christ? Because He still had the shine of glory on His face!
This is the Shine of GRACE as opposed to Mose's face that shone with that of the Law.
Grace = ever increasing splendour
Law = splendour that is passing away
Mark 9:14 - this verse tells us about a man who brought his demon possessed kid to the disciples who could not cast it out. We see why this is so - the teachers of the law were arguing with them!
These teachers of the law were probably questioning them using the law.
Jesus told them they couldn't cast out the demon because their unbelief. It was not because of lack of prayer and fasting!! - that clause was added in later by people, not originally what Jesus said.
There is no death in Jesus's presence. He is the resurrection and the life!
No one dies in His presence. Whenever Jesus was invited to a funeral in the bible, He'd mess it up coz the dead men would start walking again! =D
Don't miss the lesson here!
Bring what you hear in Church on Sunday into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday! Can you hold it in you instead of consulting people, the media, Chinese traditions, etc?
God always leads us to profit and teaches us which way to go. When we don't discern and listen to Him, we don't end up where He means for us to go.
So we should not ask "WHY? WHY GOD???" - ask yourself why. Trace back and see where you went off track. What happened earlire? Did you choose to ignore His directions? Most probably so.
We blame God for a lot of things. =p
A lot of people also like to us WHERE ARE YOU GOD????? - but they don't hear the Holy Spirit in them whispering "Here, here! Hello?? I AM here." God is actually in us!
Sometimes when we argue with our spouse, God hints to us to stop arguing at some point and keep quiet. But if we decide we need to have the last word in, then it all starts again and gets worse.
Many a times, we don't appreciate the person until we lose the person.
Why did demon possession encounter happen at the foot of Mount Hermon? Clue - the golden calf and demon possession in Moses' time also happened at the foot of a mountain, Mount Sinai.
The Dad brought his only child to God's only child for salvation.
SeeMark 9:42
Under law, the people at the foot of Mount Sinai had to be completely killed. All 3000 of them. Can't seperate the sin from the sinner under law. Throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Under grace, able to seperate sin from sinner. We don't reject the whole person and seperate the weaknses from the man. In Christ, we can discern and seperate. =D
In Mark 9:46, we see the disciples arguing about who will be the greatest.
Again it is very self- centred. Our question today should not be am I righteous before God BUT is CHRIST righteous before God. If Christ is, then we are too because we are in Him!
It is not about our greatness but about how we are destined for greatness in HIM!
Similary Marriages suffer from self-centredness.
In Marriage it is no l0nger I, ME, MY but US.
No more my money, your money - it is our money!
Some people give the excuse that they have lost themselves by being married and want out... they "haven't been to me" Well, you ARE supposed to lose yourself in marriage!! Do you want your children to live life insecure, scared and filled with resentment simply because you have never been to you?
Another problem that we have as people is that we tend to gossip. When we talk bad about someone, instead of elevating ourselves, we lose the respect of those we gossip to. In football, a person who presses on the shoulders of another person so that he can be raised up and head the ball is given a FOUL, a yellow card!
Go to Mark 9:36 - why is Christ able to receive the child in His arms? BECOZ a child allows Christ to embrace him/her. If we can just humble ourselves and allow God to embrace and love us, we can be a true servant to all. We can learn from John who allowed Jesus to love him.
Luke 9:50 - we must remember that there is no such things as a we are the only good church in Singapore, there are many good churches in Singapore. The body of Christ is bigger than NCC! The spirit of sectarianism = legalistic in nature. A party spirit.
Luke 9:51 - we learn that James and John were not looking to Christ but too Elijah. They were Elijah-conscious not Christ -conscious. When we listen to someone preach from the Old Testament, we must make sure they interpret it from/with the New. Jesus did not come to destroy but to save! James and John were seeing the situation through OT eyes, through the law.
Sometimes we can forget the vision at the mountain when we are in the valley.
Even when our prayers are not perfect, God hears.
Eg. Peter and his suggestions about building the 3 booths for Moses, Elijah and Christ. Not perfect, but God answered by coming in a cloud that sheltered the three of them!
God answers abundantly, exceedingly, perfectly!
Another eg. David wanted to build a house but God said He will build it for him.
One more amazing example is how Moses prayed to go to Mount Hermon but because he sinned in hitting the rocks (symbolically he had hit the body of Christ by doing that and angered God because of his disobedince), he was not allowed to go.
BUT GOD IS GOOD...
1500 years later, Moses got to go Mount Hermon and even to converse with Christ! =)
Jesus answers prayers in His presence... even back prayers! =D Hallelujah!
Under law, legalism = why every pray isn't answered. =p
Under grace, Christ = every reason why prayers are answered. =D
Praise God!
A lady who joined NCC recently wrote that her daughter had joined a church that asked them to all sign pledges that they will keep the 10 commandments. The girl started seeing unclean things after that. The lady was sleeping when she had a dream. In it, her clock showed 7am and the LORD showed her a cab. Then she heard His voice say - "This cab is going to Suntec City Level 6". The lady had no idea about our church or even about how Suntec City has a church located within it. She woke up. Her clock said 7am just ike the dream!! She knew straightaway that it was a supernatural dream. She got her daughter to go with her to our church. During the sermon, her daughter's leg began to tremble. That day onwards, she stopped seeing unclean things and they now attend our church.
Simiarly, some years back a gangster heard God's instruction to come to Suntec City to find a church. He too had no idea that there was a church in Suntec City and had not heard of NCC before.
It doesn't mean that we are the only good church in SG, there are many good churches and pastors in SG, but we feel honoured that God led these people to our church.
=============
Pastor Prince recapped at the start -
Gold = righteousness - closest to God (Holy of Holies)
Silver = redemption
Bronze = judgement - furthest from God (Bronze Altar)
When we do not spend time with God, we become more judgemental.
Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke) all talk about the Mount of Transfiguration.
Matthew 17:1-8 - describes the mountain as a high mountain.
Contrary to popular belief, the Mountain where this took place is Mt. Hermon and not Mt. Tabor.
This is because Matthew 16 that precedes this episode tells us that Jesus and the disciples were at Caesera Phillipi that is just below Mt Hermon. It makes no sense then that they would cross Israel to get to Mt Tabor right after that. =p
The names of the disciples with Jesus during the Transfiguration is significant.
They are Peter, James and John
Peter = Stone (10 commandments were written on stone)
James = Replace
John = Grace
The stones of the law have been replaced by the grace of Christ Jesus!!
Tip for parents:
- What do our kids see when they look at us? Do they see a rainbow or a bronze helmet? Grace or judgement??
- Love and acceptance will transform our children more than judgement ever will.
What people think of you is not important. Don't trust it.
Don't trust people for happiness because if we trust in the arm of flesh, we will get hurt and end up hurting people.
When we draw from Christ we can love people more.
Be the kind of parent that your kids cannot wait for you to come home, NOT pray that you won't come home.
Be the kind of wife your hubby fantasises about daily.
Be the kind of hubby that your wife would want to come home early to.
Don't value the opinions of people too highly as this will affect you.
See Matt 17:4 - the transfiguration episode prob took plaace during the Jewish fest of Sukot (Festival of Booths - where Jews built shelters of palm leaves).
The 2 present with Christ were Moses and Elijah (sorry I was typing very fast and typo-ed as Elisha just now all the way through... sorry sorry for the big boo boo.)
Moses = Law
Elijah = Prophets
The problem here is that Peter put Christ on the same level of Law and the Prophets when he offers to built the 3 of them shelters.
Mosaic Law has no place in our new covenant lives. Moses and Elijah knew they could not be on the same level as Christ so disappeared after God spoke.
God spoke to remind Peter to listen to Jesus. Today our only assignment is to listen to the voice of Jesus.
Bodily in Heaven, at the right hand of the Father.
Spiritually in all of us - He is that soft, gentle nudge we feel inside.
In Matt 17:7, the first thing Jesus said to the disciples after God commands them to listen to Him - "Arise and do not be afraid."
Matt 17 ends with the tax collectors seeking them for temple tax.
Peter answered rashly and again respected Jewish law, forgetting to listen to Christ and again putting Him on par with the law. He forgot who Jesus is.
How Jesus corrected him was beautiful. Jesus reminded Peter that He is God's Son and thus the temple tax legislation is not for Him to uphold, told him that they shall avoid offending these people and asked him to go fish and in the fish will be a coin enough to pay for both Him and Peter. He paid for Peter even though Peter had made the mistake.
Funny thought - the fish only got in trouble because it opened its mouth. Similarly, some people end up defeated financially because they like to open their mouths for the wrong reasons.
Some people still believe that God punishes people despite Christ's finished work. This is wrong thinking and believing.
All of us sometimes stumble like Peter, we go home after service and then forget to consult Christ prior to carrying out our work/ daily chores. Some also fall prey to judging their family, friends and other people.
Marriage is to teach us how to keep on forgiving. Don't marry if you don't feel like you want to forgive a person continually as it is a series of forgiveness! Marriage is not perfect and never will be perfect.
Those who divorce have problems accepting that Marriage isn't perfect, thus when they end up in another marriage the same problem occurs again, leading to yet another divorce.
The problems in Marriage occur when the focus is on I, ME, MY instead of on CHRIST!
Pastor then left that topic of marriage aside too look at the gospel of Mark.
In Mark 9:8-17, it says that they looked and saw Jesus only with themselves.
Do we see Jesus with us?
Potiphar saw naked Joseph but he also saw that the LORD was with Joseph. As a result, God ensured that Joseph prospered in whatever he set out to do.
In the book of Daniel, when the 3 men of God were thrown into the furnance, the King saw 4. The 4th man was Christ! The men were not burnt and came out unharmed.
In the recession, we will not burn but our depts will be burned away! AMEN!
Even Peter, James, John and Christ had to descend from Mt. Hermon into the valley below.
In our daily lives, we too travel down to the valleys at some point. This is why it is important that we see Jesus is with us.
Mark 9:11 - Jesus was there but the disciples asked about Elijah. Again, they forgot who Christ is and focused on the prophets.
Mark 9:15 - Why were the people greatly amazed when they saw Christ? Because He still had the shine of glory on His face!
This is the Shine of GRACE as opposed to Mose's face that shone with that of the Law.
Grace = ever increasing splendour
Law = splendour that is passing away
Mark 9:14 - this verse tells us about a man who brought his demon possessed kid to the disciples who could not cast it out. We see why this is so - the teachers of the law were arguing with them!
These teachers of the law were probably questioning them using the law.
Jesus told them they couldn't cast out the demon because their unbelief. It was not because of lack of prayer and fasting!! - that clause was added in later by people, not originally what Jesus said.
There is no death in Jesus's presence. He is the resurrection and the life!
No one dies in His presence. Whenever Jesus was invited to a funeral in the bible, He'd mess it up coz the dead men would start walking again! =D
Don't miss the lesson here!
Bring what you hear in Church on Sunday into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday! Can you hold it in you instead of consulting people, the media, Chinese traditions, etc?
God always leads us to profit and teaches us which way to go. When we don't discern and listen to Him, we don't end up where He means for us to go.
So we should not ask "WHY? WHY GOD???" - ask yourself why. Trace back and see where you went off track. What happened earlire? Did you choose to ignore His directions? Most probably so.
We blame God for a lot of things. =p
A lot of people also like to us WHERE ARE YOU GOD????? - but they don't hear the Holy Spirit in them whispering "Here, here! Hello?? I AM here." God is actually in us!
Sometimes when we argue with our spouse, God hints to us to stop arguing at some point and keep quiet. But if we decide we need to have the last word in, then it all starts again and gets worse.
Many a times, we don't appreciate the person until we lose the person.
Why did demon possession encounter happen at the foot of Mount Hermon? Clue - the golden calf and demon possession in Moses' time also happened at the foot of a mountain, Mount Sinai.
The Dad brought his only child to God's only child for salvation.
SeeMark 9:42
Under law, the people at the foot of Mount Sinai had to be completely killed. All 3000 of them. Can't seperate the sin from the sinner under law. Throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Under grace, able to seperate sin from sinner. We don't reject the whole person and seperate the weaknses from the man. In Christ, we can discern and seperate. =D
In Mark 9:46, we see the disciples arguing about who will be the greatest.
Again it is very self- centred. Our question today should not be am I righteous before God BUT is CHRIST righteous before God. If Christ is, then we are too because we are in Him!
It is not about our greatness but about how we are destined for greatness in HIM!
Similary Marriages suffer from self-centredness.
In Marriage it is no l0nger I, ME, MY but US.
No more my money, your money - it is our money!
Some people give the excuse that they have lost themselves by being married and want out... they "haven't been to me" Well, you ARE supposed to lose yourself in marriage!! Do you want your children to live life insecure, scared and filled with resentment simply because you have never been to you?
Another problem that we have as people is that we tend to gossip. When we talk bad about someone, instead of elevating ourselves, we lose the respect of those we gossip to. In football, a person who presses on the shoulders of another person so that he can be raised up and head the ball is given a FOUL, a yellow card!
Go to Mark 9:36 - why is Christ able to receive the child in His arms? BECOZ a child allows Christ to embrace him/her. If we can just humble ourselves and allow God to embrace and love us, we can be a true servant to all. We can learn from John who allowed Jesus to love him.
Luke 9:50 - we must remember that there is no such things as a we are the only good church in Singapore, there are many good churches in Singapore. The body of Christ is bigger than NCC! The spirit of sectarianism = legalistic in nature. A party spirit.
Luke 9:51 - we learn that James and John were not looking to Christ but too Elijah. They were Elijah-conscious not Christ -conscious. When we listen to someone preach from the Old Testament, we must make sure they interpret it from/with the New. Jesus did not come to destroy but to save! James and John were seeing the situation through OT eyes, through the law.
Sometimes we can forget the vision at the mountain when we are in the valley.
Even when our prayers are not perfect, God hears.
Eg. Peter and his suggestions about building the 3 booths for Moses, Elijah and Christ. Not perfect, but God answered by coming in a cloud that sheltered the three of them!
God answers abundantly, exceedingly, perfectly!
Another eg. David wanted to build a house but God said He will build it for him.
One more amazing example is how Moses prayed to go to Mount Hermon but because he sinned in hitting the rocks (symbolically he had hit the body of Christ by doing that and angered God because of his disobedince), he was not allowed to go.
BUT GOD IS GOOD...
1500 years later, Moses got to go Mount Hermon and even to converse with Christ! =)
Jesus answers prayers in His presence... even back prayers! =D Hallelujah!
Under law, legalism = why every pray isn't answered. =p
Under grace, Christ = every reason why prayers are answered. =D
Praise God!
Hi! Thank you so much for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteDa and I missed church on 14 December 2008 as we were at the hospital that day. Da subsequently asked me where we can find out what was preached in church on 14 December 2008. I remember ever seeing sermon notes in your blog, so I decided to check out your blog. True enough, I found your sermon notes for 14 December 2008.
I agree that faith comes by hearing the Word. The amazing thing is that the more I hear the Word, the more the devil tries to come against me. At times like this, I have to hold onto the Word for this is the only truth there is. His Word is truth.
The Lord bless you and your family always.
Thank you, too, for your well wishes for my MIL's recovery. She is now back home and busy doing spring cleaning! :)
Pebbles
Hi Pebbles!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that the notes blessed you and your hubby. =D
Yes the more we hear the Word, the devil triies to attack us more. When I used to do worship leading as a youth, I was under a lot of attacks too when I served. When I stopped, it stopped... but the moment I tried to start, the attacks got worser than before!
It is an Ah Beng scare tactic that he uses over and over again... somewhat like hanging pig's head!LOL. But we can take that pig's head and cast it away fearlessly because the blood of the Lamb covers us and our family and our home! Praise God that the heavenly armies have been sent to protect us from all evil because we are in Christ!!
Also,do you know why the enemy increases his attacks? Because he knows that God has a great destiny for us and he wants to prevent it. When God allows trials to happen, it is not from Him but it means that He has faith in us and knows that we can come out victorious from the trial and achieve a new level in our relationship with Him. So rejoice if a trial seems big because there is a better and bigger blessing just around the corner! God will compensate us double or many more fold for what the devil tries to rob us of! Woohoo! =D
I am glad your MIL is in the pink of health! Praise Jesus! Do keep my godma in prayer as I just heard from my godsis that she was diagnosed with cancer today. I believe God's truth over what the doctor say and I am sure that she will come out fine!
Have a great Christmas and may the shalom of our LORD Jesus be upon you and your loved ones always!
Geri (aka hungribunni)
In the transfiguration, it was Moses and Elijah, not Elisha, who appeared with the Christ Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon for pointing out. I know it is Elijah but I guess I was rushing to type the notes up and made that major typo! My total and sincere apologies for that. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteAnd hehe Andrea - Mr.Pat is blessed to have you and vice versa. He is a great chap.