He’s God on the Mountain
By Rev Stanley Baker
Luke 9:28-36
Our Scripture reading from Luke this morning gives us some insights into the power of God.
We can only imagine what it must have been like for Peter, James and John to be on that mountaintop and to see Jesus changed before their very eyes as he stood there talking with Moses and Elijah.
This scene is far more powerful and spectacular than any special effects of any movie out there.
But even more important than the visual affects which Peter, James and John saw on the mountaintop that day is the message that God communicated to those disciples about Jesus.
There are three things we can take from this text.
First, this passage is a testimony of who Jesus is.
God’s voice calls out from the cloud that surrounded them on top of that mountain saying, “This is my son whom I have chosen.
Listen to him.”
We remember God said a similar thing about Jesus at his baptism. “This is my son, whom I love.”
The second thing this text does is tell us of the preparation of Jesus’ death.
Luke tells us that Moses and Elijah appear and “… spoke about his departure, which he was to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.”
This sets the stage for what will happen in the days ahead as Jesus begins his walk towards the cross in Jerusalem.
Finally, this portion of Scripture also gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ Eternal Glory.
We are told, “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightening.”
Jesus was transfigured on top of that mountain right in front of Peter, John and James.
What they witnessed on top of the mountain of transfiguration was a miracle.
This miracle of Moses and Elijah appearing on the mountaintop and Jesus being transfigured,
Was a testimony to the fact that Jesus was truly the Son of God,
The account of the transfiguration is perhaps one of the greatest of God’s miracles and we can learn a great deal from it.
However, today it is all too common for people to dismiss or explain away miracles.
We are told that modern scientifically trained people can no longer accept the miracles of the Bible as factual accounts of something that really happened.
There are those out there who insist that any modern intelligent Christian has to give up the notion that Jesus healed ten lepers with the power of His word,
that he did not fed thousands of people out of one lunch box,
that he did not stop the storms of a raging sea,
that he did not enabled the lame to walk,
that he did not make dumb to talk or the blind to see.
We are told that we should regard these events as mere stories or myths.
But I am here to tell you, HOGWASH!
I wonder if Sis Trisha, who was seriously ill and near death with cancer, and today has recovered, and in remission will tell you there is no such thing as miracles.
Miracles happen just as surely as you and I are sitting here today!
Haggai_1:8
Go up to the mountain,
Sometimes You have to just go to the Mountain, you just can not stay in the valley all the time.
When all else fails, turn to God because when you’re in that valley, where there seems there’s no hope, God is there with you. Come out of the Valley Go to the Mountain
I will admit that it takes a lot of faith to believe in the miracles.
But I believe the problem today is that too many people can’t muster up enough faith to believe in the miracles.
It’s a lot easier to think these miracles never really happened than it is to have the faith it takes to believe in them.
A man once asked me, “Do you really believe that Jesus walked on water ?
Do you really believe that Jesus healed all of those people ?
Do you really believe that Jesus raised someone from the dead ?
Do you really believe that Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah on top of a mountain some 800 years after they died?”
I said, “Yes I believe it, because He’s God
We’ve all had mountaintop experiences where we’ve felt like we were on top of the world and in the presence of God.
Perhaps you had a mountaintop experience when your child was born,
when you were married,
or when you received a special blessing or healing from God.
Maybe your mountaintop experience occurred as you just sat quietly in prayer with God
Maybe you experience it in your life when God brought you to the mountaintop and you felt God for the very first time and you
were so close that you could just touch the hand of God.
If you are here today you might have a Mountaintop experience.
Right here right now
Are you ready?
You are able to make it through the valleys in our lives, If you have been to the mountaintop with God.
Luke_3:5
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
When we are in the valley of joblessness,
or in the valley of loneliness,
or in the valley of sickness,
or in the valley of depression,
or in the darkest of all valleys,
when we are in the valley of the shadow of death,
We need to remember, God is with us in the valleys of our life.
When Jesus was in the valley of crucifixion of the cross.
He knew that he was going to the Mountain.
He knew what laid ahead
He went to through that valley for us
He came out of that valley and now sits on his Mountain.
Psalms_48:1
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
Joel_2:1
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain:
let all the inhabitants of the land tremble:
for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
I am here this morning to tell someone,
He’s God on the Mountain
That heart problem that you have been trough
He’s God on the Mountain
That cancer that you been through
He’s God on the Mountain
That death of you spouse or love one that you have been through
He’s God on the Mountain
That valley of hurt that you have been through where someone or some so called Pastor somewhere has hurt you
He’s God on the Mountain
What ever your valley is this morning
He’s God on the Mountain
Gods voice is calling out to us this morning, saying
Ye have compassed this mountain long enough:
Your time has come
Things are about to change, because
He’s God
He’s God
I said that He’s God On the Mountain
He’s God In the Valley
