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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's Word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in. Now, after six days, Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up on a mountain apart by themselves. Now, only three of the 12 disciples here actually go up the mountain with Jesus. It's very likely, particularly in light of the later verses where Jesus had to scold the remaining disciples about arguing over who was the greatest, that the nine that were left behind were not really happy about the arrangement. John Wooden, the NCAA coach in history, said this Talent is God given, so be humble. Fame is man given, so be grateful. Conceit is self given, so be careful. And up this mountain, Jesus was transfigured before them. The term transfigured here in the Greek describes a change on the outside that somehow originates on the inside. And when we look carefully at this miracle, I don't know that we should really even consider it a miracle as much as a pause in an ongoing miracle. I think the big miracle was that Jesus didn't shine like the sun all the time, every day. And I know if I was a teenager and if I were Jesus, I would have at least walked around like a human glow stick at night, scaring everybody. That got on my nerves. But there's no record that Jesus ever did that his clothes became shining exceedingly white like snow, such as no launder on earth can whiten them. And you could be sure that Jesus clothes got dirty walking the dusty streets and roads also as he climbed the rocky mountain. But we see here the glory of Jesus even shined through all that grime. Jesus has a way of cleansing anything and anyone that comes into contact with him. Isaiah 1:18 tells us, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Anyone have some dirt in your life? I know a man. Anybody have some stains in your life? I know a man. What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make us whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. There's power in this word. You're going to learn something. We gonna get back to worshiping in a minute though. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses. Now, Moses represented the law and Elijah represented the prophets. So the entire sum of Old Testament revelation was on the mountain there with Jesus. People ask, will we know each other in heaven? Apparently so, because Peter, James and John recognized two people they had not even met. Elijah And Moses lived 900 to 1500 years earlier. You see, in glory, we will not know less, we will know more. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses. This is important. If reincarnation was God's way, Elijah and Moses would have already become something else by then. But they were still themselves, still distinct, and still very human. So you better start liking yourself now, because you're going to be stuck with yourself for a long, long time. And they were talking with Jesus. Luke 9 and 31 says that Elijah and Moses spoke about what he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. That's important language, because many of us do not realize that the cross was the greatest accomplishment that anyone has ever done in all of history. At the cross, Jesus won by losing. He triumphed through defeat, achieved power through weakness, and then became richer by giving it all away. And we are all at times required to do the same. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Now again, Peter, James and John were the leading disciples, and that's largely why they were up that mountain. But I also believe they were there for another reason. I think Jesus had to keep their eye on them because these were the three most likely to get into trouble. Because we see in the next verse, true to form, Peter's about to get foot and mouth disease. Insert foot into mouth and mess up the whole mountaintop experience. Watch what happens. So he speaks. He says, rabbi, let us make three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And he said this like all three of them were somehow on the same level. But the one who gave Moses the law was greater than the law. The one who gave Elijah miracle working power was greater than Elijah. Celebrate the fact that God uses people, but never worship people. The Bible goes on to say he said this because he did not know what to do. When you don't know what to say, sometimes it's just good to just for a little while and just let things play out. Only babies put their mouths on everything. That'll sink in. He spoke, but he didn't know what to say. But he had to put his mouth on it. Had to put his mouth on it. Just shh. For they were greatly afraid. If God never makes you uncomfortable, I'm not sure you really know him yet. Because God has a way of making you do what you don't want to do, telling you things you don't really want to hear. That's just the nature of God. And a cloud came and overshadowed them. And you know, Peter spoke, but now God himself from heaven has to correct him. And he said, peter, this is my beloved son. Hear him. You don't need Elijah and Moses. They were only shadows, types and pictures of the Christ that would come. It makes sense for me to take out a picture, an image of my wife and children while they're away or I'm away. But why would anyone take out an image or a photo while they're present? Elijah and Moses were just small pictures, not even the full picture, but pictures of the Christ to come. Why would you look to Elijah and Moses when the Christ is standing right in front of you? So God the Father had to correct it. But it seems like, you know, Peter kind of grieved the Holy Spirit because the whole encounter ends because Peter opened his mouth suddenly. When they looked around, they saw no one any more, but only Jesus with themselves. Sometimes God must remove even good people from your life to remind you that you need only Jesus. This week there was some news about a minister who had sinned and failed. And I can't call him a friend, but we have had conversation just recently, in fact, and many folks faith is starting to fail. But here's the thing. Do you have your eyes on people, on Christ? In this season more than any other season, you absolutely gotta keep your eyes on the Lord. Skip to verse 14. And when he came to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, scribes disputing with them. You know, it took me a lot of years to learn this because as a young man, I wasn't this way. But I finally learned you don't have to fight every battle. You don't have to respond to every critic. I think Mark Twain said it best. Never argue okay with foolish people because they would drag you down to their level and then beat you with their experience. Immediately when they saw him, all the people were greatly amazed and running to him, greeted him. The Bible doesn't say this, but I think everyone wanted to see the incredible tan that Jesus got from shining like the sun for a few hours. And they were amazed. Other people say, well, the glory of the Lord. There was still a residual on his face and he kind of came down the mountain a little bit shiny. But as he came down, the scribes kind of stood aloof and cold and distant and critical, and they stood out. So Jesus asked the scribes, he knew that the disciples had lost the argument or were losing the argument. So he courageously took all the embarrassing attention off the disciples. That's what a covering does. And put it back on himself and asked them a question. He said, what are you discussing with them? The only way I know to handle bullies is to stand up to them. That's what Jesus does here. Then one of the crowd answered. The disciples were curiously silent. So we finally hear from our dad in the crowd, and he says, teacher, I brought you my son. The greatest thing a father could ever do is bring their child to Jesus. Even if at this point in your life, it can only be done by prayer. Bring your child to Jesus. A dad is always the tallest when he's kneeling before his God. You know, I still pray for my boys now, but not the same way I did when they were in high school and when. And when they were in college. During that time, I wasn't just on my knees, I was on my face. Those two jokers, I'll tell you. But I can't think of many needs in childhood greater than the need for a father's protection and whether, as an uncle, you stepped in, a friend of the family who stepped in. You are necessary and you are needed. I brought you my son. Watch this. Who has a mute spirit. And what the father was saying was, I raised that child. Birth. And over the years, something has attached itself to my boy, and he suffers in silence. And wherever this spirit seizes him. And by the way, I believe there is a place for counseling. There's a place for psychologists, There's a place for medicine. There's a place for doctors. But doctors and physicians will help you as much as they can. But some problems have a spiritual root. And like most weeds, if you don't deal with that issue by the root, it's only a matter of time before it pops up again. It says, and whenever the spirit, the father, discerned correctly, it was a demon. God did not create this boy to be this way. And you need to recognize that some of the things our kids are doing and the way they're behaving is not by God's design. And you need to, in your heart and mind, call it what it is. Nothing more than the devil trying to destroy their future and their lives. And it throws him down. Satan's only goal is to get you down, to disgrace you, to shame you, to eventually embarrass you. You know, for a season, it's fun and there's no consequences. But the devil's not concerned about the fun season, you see, he'll use you for a while, but then kick you out the bed in the morning. That's the way he is. He's a devil. And he gnashes his teeth. He Grinds his teeth. Angry at everything. You know, we're the most economically privileged, the most technologically advanced culture and society in human history. Still, everybody is so angry. Just turn on the news for five minutes. Everybody is angry. You can't tell me that there's not a spirit behind all that anger in the midst of all our prosperity. And he becomes rigid or he gets paralyzed and stuck. I don't know if you remember Christopher Reeves. I've been dating myself quite a bit today. But he played Superman in the 70s and he was paralyzed from the neck down because of a horsing accident. And listen to what he said. He said, some people are walking around with the full use of their bodies, but they are more paralyzed than I am. And many of us have full use of our limbs, but we are as stuck and as paralyzed as this boy. So the dad did something good. He did the right thing. So I spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out. But watch this. They could not Jesus. I spoke to the preacher, I spoke to the pastor, but he couldn't seem to fix the boy's problem. But what we're about to discover in this narrative, though the preachers couldn't fix the problem, the Father who brought the Son to Jesus could. Thank God for the preachers. God uses, but only trust God. Verse 20. Then they brought him to him. And when he saw him immediately the spirit convulsed and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. Everything happened just as the dad explained to Jesus. And sometimes we say to the Lord, lord, if I do what you say, X, Y and Z is gonna happen. So I don't wanna do it. Everything he told Jesus that would happen happened. But what happened was at the end of it. So do it anyway. Even if in your mind you can imagine what might happen. Watch this. So he asked his father, how long has this been happening to him? Now, you would expect Jesus to have immediately affected or healed this boy or delivered this boy and fixed the problem. But what you see here is so important. I'm close to the main point today. Before Jesus could fix the Son, he had to fix the dad first. Yeah, I just said so. I just said. So many of us are carrying things to God in prayer. Lord, fix them. And God said, let's start with you. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But watch what the dad says. He looks Jesus in the eye in front of the crowd, everyone watching Jesus, if you can do anything, have compassion on us. And help us now. I kind of. When I read the Bible, I kind of see stories and pictures of things as they happen. And I can imagine when he said, if you can do anything, Jesus kind of threw his head back. If. Do you know who you're talking to? Before, Abraham was, I am. And I am still whatever my people need me to be. In times of darkness, I'm still light. In sickness, I am health. In moments of weakness, I am strength. And even when it comes to your demon, I am Lord. So the dad said to him, if you can do anything, Jesus said back to him, it's not if I can. It's if you can believe. The issue is never with his promises. The problem is, can you believe? So if Jesus like, no, if you can believe, then he said, listen, all things are possible to him who believes. He was saying, dad, forget about the failure of the nine preachers. Even the best men fail. Forget about all the arguments of the intellectuals that you heard in the mouths of the scribes and, dad, you need to make a decision to trust God yourself immediately. The father of the child, watch this. Cried out, See, God had to reach the Father before he could deliver the child. And when Jesus spoke, this is why I had to pause the words, because y' all need to hear this piece and we gonna get back to it. He had to reach the Father. And Jesus located him perfectly. The issue is not God's weakness. The issue was his lack of faith. And when Jesus confronted him, the father, what of the child? What cried out? Now, emotions will not get you answers to prayer. But I will tell you often, when you're sincere and it's coming from the heart, emotions will attend that moment. So the Father doesn't just have a soft. He cried. He don't care who's watching. It's about his son. He don't care who judges him. He cried out and said, watch this, with tears running down his face. And he confesses to the Lord. Lord, I believe. I do believe God. I can't lie. I believe, but help my un belief. Here's the big point. Today. The Father did the right thing by bringing his boy to Jesus. But the answer to his prayer didn't come until the Father brought himself to Jesus, told him about his doubts, his anxiety, his fear, and Jesus did not reject him. And what I found is I get nervous, I get anxious. Sometimes I get upset. But when I go into my prayer closet, I bring my questions to him. And he'll take that question mark and stretch it into an exclamation point. I Can't quite explain it, but he is the great I am with absolute certainty and confidence. And when I get in his presence, I end up with that same similar level of I can't explain it. It's like the thing in him starts getting in me. And a lot of times we live in such doubt because we really haven't been spending time with him. You don't need. Please understand and see this in the narrative. 100% certainty to come to Jesus, just faith. 100% certainty is not the same as faith. The man came to him as he was with his believing and unbelieving, imperfect as he came to Jesus. But the faith he had, Jesus was about to turn into enough. When Jesus saw that the people came running together. Watch what he did. He rebuked the unclean spirit. Stop being so nice to the devil. Calling him pretty and sweet names. Yeah, that's a whole other message. We call the worst things, you know, pretty names. Okay, let's go. He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, deaf and dumb spirit. Now, on the job, you gotta be politically correct, and I get that. But before God, you need to call things what they are. It's not just your upbringing. You're selfish. It's not, you know, we come up with these pretty names. You know, my little addiction, this. You sinning, okay? So you gotta. If you're gonna get free, you gotta call the thing what it is. And with the same tone God would use about it. Jesus didn't play with this thing. He wasn't nice and soft and sweet with this thing. He said, you deaf, dumb spirit, I'm not here to negotiate with you. I'm not here to just play footsie with you. I command you, come out of him and watch this enter him no more. Now, Jesus could have done this earlier, but he was waiting on the Father to bring both his faith and his doubts to him. There are some things God wants to do. But until your conversation with God gets strong enough, deep enough, clear enough, transparent enough, you're not going to have the impact that you want. He leaves the Father with a level of comfort that is easy to miss. He deals with the Father's unbelief. And then while he's in the presence of Jesus, his unbelief begins to dissipate and faith really starts to arise. But God wanted to bring the boy back into an environment of a dad that truly trusted him. Because the Bible talks about when you cast out a demon, it goes into dry places, but then it comes back. At least it Tries to come back. And if it finds the house swept and kept, it just kind of moves in and brings seven others. So he was quipping the dad. It's like now I'm here, right now you're in my presence, you're going to see the demon run. But I'm going to give you a word such that if you see these symptoms or these circumstances, start to try to raise the ugly head again, remember that. I said, enter him no more. But Daddy, you gotta leave this place believing and trusting. I believe God is giving many of us in this room a no more word meaning. Listen, the purpose of this encounter is so that it will never, ever happen again. God doesn't want us slipping in and slipping out and slipping in and slipping. He wants to get us to the place it never ever happens again. He said, I command you, come out of him. Watch this. And enter him no more. But that command was given to a man that God began to. Who? Who? God worked on his faith and his belief. And he had a word to stand on. And may you take this word and stand on it. This thing that God's about to turn it around, turn around. Turn around in your life and pull you out of. Don't just be satisfied with, lord, I'm coming out. Take this other part of the sentence and you'll come back. No more faith. And I'm done here. Is not the absence of doubt, but it's the tool he gives us to overcome it. And if you would work the little bit you have, God will use it. But you gotta work what you have to get what you want. You gotta work what you have to get what you want. Say that with me. You gotta work what you have to get what you want. So the man came to Jesus, lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. Meaning I have some faith, I have some belief. But I got this other problem. But, Lord, I'm willing to work what I have till I get what I want. And what you have now you say, well, Bishop, where do you find that in the Bible? Jesus said, if you have faith as a mustard seed, meaning a seed is not what you want, the fruit is what you want. But often what you have is a seed. So you got to work with the seed to get the fruit you want. You gotta work with what you have to get what you want. And just because you don't have it all the way the way you think you should doesn't mean you don't have enough to get the thing you need. You gotta work with what you have to get what you want. Pay attention. You got to work with what you have to get what you want. Peter walked on water and Jesus kind of corrected him after he said oh you of little faith why did you doubt what that that that says to us you can walk on the water with just a little bit of faith. Y' all didn't hear that a little bit of faith can get you out of the boat on the water doing what no man before you has ever done except the Jesus Christ. But you gotta work with what you have to get what you want. Give God a hallelujah and a hand clap. Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember you have what it takes in Christ to live big. 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