Christ ALONE! Mark 9:1-8

Text: “But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

Hebrews 2:9.

Good morning, transfigured Christian!  Once you were lost, now you are found; once you were blind; now you can see; once you were robed in the rags of your sins, now you are as one transfigured - suddenly and strikingly changed - and stand before God Almighty in the robes of Christ’s righteousness.  Surely that thought should cause all re-born children of God to sing in praise to Him.  We are Redeemed by Christ ALONE. 

“Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”          (Acts 4:12)

Today’s Bible reading relates the story of Christ’s miraculous transfiguration before Peter, James and John - upon a high mountain somewhere in Israel; as Christ prophesied would take place in verse one of our reading.

“And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power.” (V.1)

God always does what He says He will do - in His own perfect time; according to His own perfect will; and to fulfil His own Eternal Purpose.  What a Lord God!  Hallelujah!  (Numbers 23:19) (Ephesians 1:9-11)

But, why should the Lord reveal such a manifestation of Heavenly things to those of His disciples whom He was teaching the necessity of faith?  (Hebrews 11:1;6) (Romans 8:24) (Hebrews 4:2)

Think about it, my friend, muse upon the lesson Christ was here teaching, for it is an important one for the universal Christian Church today.

Not only does this passage teach us that we shall know each other in Heaven - it teaches us that we shall know each other even in our glorified bodies of sinless purity, as spoken of by the apostle John. 

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”  (1 John 3:1-3) (Romans 8:29-30)

“As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” (Psalm 17:15)  

The disciples KNEW Elijah and Moses as they talked with Jesus.  We are not told how they knew them - but know them they most definitely did! (Vs.4-5)

No, the main thrust of Christ’s transfiguration was to teach us that we are to worship God ALONE, in the Person of Christ Jesus, as the Commandments instruct us. (Exodus 20:3-6)

There stood the mighty Moses representing the Law.  There stood the powerful Elijah who represented the prophets.  Yet, God’s Voice from Heaven proclaimed Jesus as God’s beloved Son, and instructed the three disciples to hear Him ALONE. (V.7)

J.C. Ryle Comments:

The last thing which demands our notice in this passage is the distinct testimony which it bears to Christ’s office and dignity, as the promised Messiah. We see this testimony first in the appearance of Moses and Elias, the representatives of the law and the prophets. They appear as witnesses that Jesus is He of whom they spoke in old times, and of whom they wrote that He would come. They disappear after a few minutes, and leave Jesus alone, as though they would show that they were only witnesses, and that our Master having come, the servants resign to Him the chief place.

“We see this testimony, secondly, in the miraculous voice from heaven, saying, “this is my beloved Son: hear Him.” The same voice of God the Father, which was heard at our Lord’s baptism, was heard once more at His transfiguration. On both occasions there was the same solemn declaration, “this is my beloved Son.” On this last occasion, there was an addition of two most important words, “Hear Him.” (J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 1816-1900)

Thus, Christ alone is the Word; Christ alone was Crucified for us; Christ alone suffered the penalty for our vile sins; Christ alone died an infinite death in our place; and Christ alone rose again from the dead to justify His elect people, His Bride, the universal Church.  All praise to His Holy Name!  (John 3:16-17) (1 Corinthians 15:1-11) (Romans 5:1-2)

It was surely to this end that the Heavenly Voice was heard, for once God had spoken - the disciples “...saw no man any more save Jesus only...” (V.8) What an altogether lovely sight to see!              (1 Corinthians 3:1-11)

Let us, therefore, look only to the Living Lord Jesus Christ for Eternal Salvation, and live forever for that vital look.  Amen.  So be it, Lord God.

Thought:  There are many mighty Christians - but only One Almighty Christ Jesus.

A Time to Be Bold! Mark 8:34-38

Text: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Romans 1:16.

Good morning, obvious Christian!  Your Christian faith is clearly manifest for all to see – both, in your belief in God, and in your sincerity to openly practice what you profess to believe. 

You are not ashamed of your Saviour/Lord nor His words of Gospel truth, and for your boldness we praise God.  Christ NEEDS bold women and men to serve Him in this day of increasing apostasy; when many are turning from the truth of God’s Word to please themselves and the unregenerate multitudes.  Preach on, beloved, preach on! 

“Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Bold to Call: (V.34) When was the last time you and I boldly called together a meeting in order to tell people about Christ?  Oh, I know it is not considered to be the trendy thing to do these days, and a John Baptist type would be frightfully frowned upon were he/she to suddenly appear to stir up local sleepy, often self-righteous, congregations. 

But we Christians are not called of the Lord to please the world or to adhere to its popular trends.  We are called to preach the Word instantly, and to reprove all that is ungodly via our knowledge of the doctrines of Christ and, of course, by our daily Christian living. 

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Today’s message reveals Christ in His boldness to call His people to come and be saved.  (John 15:16) (Romans 10:8-15)

Bold to Deny Self: (Vs.34-35) Being bold to call folk together, contrary to popular trends, is in itself a self-denial.  Self-image can suffer a blow when once the Christian waxes bold in witness for the Lord.  The world, the flesh; and the Devil’s legions are all immediately up in arms against the outward-going Christian witness.  (Acts 7:51-60) (2 Timothy 3:12)

Oh yes, beloved Christian, being bold for Jesus costs much; many have suffered great physical sufferings, some even death, for being bold in the service of Jesus Christ.         (2 Corinthians 11:16-33)

Today’s Bible reading exhorts us to be bold in denying self.  To be ‘obvious Christians’.

Bold to Feed the Soul: (Vs.36-38) Faith in Christ ALONE saves the sinners’ souls.  (Ephesians 2:8-9) Faith ALONE feeds one’s soul with the Spiritual food necessary for fervent Christian survival and sincere, fearless, service as ‘obvious Christians’.

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“We learn, for one thing, from these verses, the absolute necessity of self-denial, if we would be Christ’s disciples, and be saved. What saith our Lord? “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

“Salvation is undoubtedly all of grace. It is offered freely in the Gospel to the chief of sinners, without money and without price. “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”          (Ephesians 2:8- 9)

“But all who accept this great salvation, must prove the reality of their faith by carrying the cross after Christ. They must not think to enter heaven without trouble, pain, suffering, and conflict on earth. They must be content to take up the cross of doctrine, and the cross of practice, —the cross of holding a faith which the world despises, and the cross of living a life which the world ridicules as too strict and righteous overmuch. They must be willing to crucify the flesh, to mortify the deeds of the body, to fight daily with the devil, to come out from the world, and to lose their lives, if needful, for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s. —These are hard sayings, but they admit of no evasion. The words of our Lord are plain and unmistakeable. If we will not carry the cross, we shall never wear the crown.” (J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 1816-1900)

As Bible-believing Christians are well aware, this necessary faith is found in one place only - amidst the pages of the Word of God.  (Psalm 119:11;105)

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

“…I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”  (Job 23:10-12)

God’s Word brings necessary faith, guidance, encouragement; and clear direction to the sinner’s hungry soul.  Therefore, be bold to feed God’s faithful flock. (1 Peter 1:1-5)

In conclusion therefore, let us determine never to be ashamed of the Christ who saved us, nor of speaking His life-giving Word to those perishing all around in their sins.  Bold soul-feeders are what pleases the Lord.  The Christian, unashamed, today - shall be the Christian unashamed in the day of the Lord’s soon return.   “Even so, come Lord Jesus.”  Amen.

Thought:  How many words have YOU spoken for Christ today?  Be bold, brother!

Peter: The Pebble - Jesus: The Rock Mark 8:27-33

Text: “And Philip said, If thou believest (believes, and continues to believe/trust) with all thine heart, thou mayest (be baptised).  And he (the Ethiopian eunuch) answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Acts 8:37.

“...Upon this Rock I will build My Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 16:18.

Good morning, Christian pebble!  If the visible Church of Christ Jesus be that great ‘Spiritual House’ spoken of by the apostle Peter - then by God’s great grace you and I have the privilege of being built together as lively pebbles by the Master Builder, according to His own Eternal blueprint.  What a privilege!  What an honour!  What a Saviour! 

“And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou (Joseph) shalt call His Name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21)

How often we hear sincere people in the religious field getting their Spiritual priorities wrong.  They promote Peter to be a ‘rock’ who proclaimed himself to be a mere pebble; “...a lively stone...”; in God’s Spiritual House, the Church. (1 Peter 2:5)

Thus, they encourage us to build our faith on a fallacy; our hopes for Eternity upon Peter, a mere sinner like ourselves.  What a tragedy!  What twisting of a fully recorded apostolic testimony!  (1 Peter 1:18-21) (1 Peter 2:1-9)

The fundamental doctrine of Christ’s Deity is the great Rock upon which the Christian Church must stand.  “All other ground is sinking sand” indeed, as the hymn-writer boldly declares.  (Matthew 7:24-29)

Sinners stand before a Holy God Almighty clothed in Christ’s righteousness - or they do not stand at all.  They perish before God’s wrath like the chaff consigned to the burning fire.  Of ourselves, there is NONE righteous, no not one.  (Matthew 7:15-23) (Romans 3:10)

The word ‘deity’ is dictionary defined as having a Divine nature; Godhood.  Thus, to deify is to exalt a person to the position of God; to regard as God; and this is what Peter had done in our Bible passage for today. (V.29)

By proclaiming the fact that Jesus is indeed “the Christ”; the Messiah; the Anointed of God; God incarnate (i.e., God in bodily form) - Peter, under the guidance of God the Father, was revealing the foundation Rock upon which the Church’s faith is built.  There is no other foundation.  (Matthew 16:15-18)

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:11)

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, is therefore revealed to be the Eternal Son of God and God the Eternal Son - the Word made flesh, as our Scriptures confirm.  (John 1:1-5;10-17)

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“Let us observe the good confession of faith which the apostle Peter witnessed. He replied to our Lord’s question, “Whom say ye that I am?” “Thou art the Christ.”

“This was a noble answer, when the circumstances under which it was made are duly considered. It was made when Jesus was poor in condition, without honour, majesty, wealth, or power. It was made when the heads of the Jewish nation, both in church and state, refused to receive Jesus as the Messiah. Yet even then Simon Peter says, “Thou art the Christ.” His strong faith was not stumbled by our Lord’s poverty and low estate. His confidence was not shaken by the opposition of Scribes and Pharisees, and the contempt of rulers and priests. None of these things moved Simon Peter. He believed that He whom he followed, Jesus of Nazareth, was the promised Saviour, the true Prophet greater than Moses, the long-predicted Messiah. He declared it boldly and unhesitatingly, as the creed of himself and his few companions: “Thou art the Christ.”

“There is much that we may profitably learn from Peter’s conduct on this occasion. Erring and unstable as he sometimes was, —the faith he exhibited in the passage now before us is well worthy of imitation. Such bold confessions as his, are the truest evidence of living faith, and are required in every age, if men will prove themselves to be Christ’s disciples. We too must be ready to confess Christ, even as Peter did. We shall never find our Master and His doctrine popular. We must be prepared to confess Him, with few on our side, and many against us. But let us take courage and walk in Peter’s steps, and we shall not fail of receiving Peter’s reward. Jesus takes notice of those who confess Him before men, and will one day confess them as His servants before an assembled world.” (J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 1816-1900)

Christ’s sinless Deity is thus the Rock of our Salvation, and Salvation can be found in no other, it is exclusively found only in and through Christ Jesus.  Praise God for His revelation to us!  Hallelujah!         (Acts 4:12)

So often in this day of tradition and apostasy we are urged to place God-given faith in beliefs which are not of God.  We are asked to build Eternal hopes upon ephemeral pebbles - pebbles like Peter, and Pastors; and fallible people just like you and me. (Ephesians 2:8-9) (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Let us therefore admire sound Christian people, and Godly Pastors; and other obedient, Peter-like pebbles.  However, let us always seek to trust and to build upon the Rock of Jesus Christ ALONE.  He alone will never let us down. Amen, so be it, Lord Jesus.         (Hebrews 13:8)

Thought:  Stalwart Christian faith is founded on Christ, the only Scriptural Rock.