The disciples were on a mountaintop. They were with their Savior, Jesus, when His countenance changed. His face became as bright as lightening, and His clothes shown like the light. And, He revealed to them the deity of God that He has. They were in the presence of the holiness, brightness, and lightness of God. They were on the mountaintop!

They were on a mountaintop, but before the day was over, they would be back down in the valley. They would be back down in the valley and the first thing that they would encounter was a young boy who was demon possessed. The demon, who possessed him, would throw him into convulsions. The young boy would throw himself onto the ground and into the fire. The disciples would go from the mountaintop, from the glory of God, from the brightness of Jesus, to the valley of trouble, filth, dirtiness, and Satan.

The disciples were on the mountaintop. The disciples were on the mountaintop, and there with Jesus, who was appearing in glory, were Moses and Elijah. (Moses, who centuries earlier had died and been taken to Heaven, and Elijah, who centuries earlier was one of only two men who did not die, in all of scripture, and was taken to Heaven in a fiery chariot, were there.) There they were, those great prophets of God, those great pillars of faith, those great heroes of the faith, were now back from Heaven! They were appearing with Jesus, and speaking with Jesus. They were glorified in Heaven, but now, there they were with Jesus!

The disciples were on the mountaintop, when they saw this. But, before the day was over, they would go from that vision of the holy Christian Church, down to that valley. And, there they would see that boy's father, (the boy who was demon possessed). And they would hear Jesus say to that father, as he begged Jesus to heal his child, they would hear Jesus say to that father,

"With faith anything is possible."

They would hear the man respond to Jesus, "Lord, I do believe, but help my unbelief."

They would go from that vision of the saints of Heaven, of Moses and Elijah in all their glory, down to the valley. And there they would see the doubts, the worries, and the concerns that we, in the church, have.

Those disciples were on a mountaintop. They were on a mountaintop and they saw the true, absolute glory of Jesus, as He displayed His divinity. They saw a cloud come and envelope Christ. It was what the Old Testament calls "the majestic glory." The Father was in that cloud, and they heard the Father's voice speak! There, they were in the glorious presence of Jesus on that mountaintop, but before the day was over, they would go back down into the valley.

In the days to come, they would see a quite different Jesus, in that valley. They would see a Jesus who looked weak. They would see a Jesus who was mocked. They would see a Jesus who was spit upon. They would see a Jesus who was nailed to a cross. They would see a Jesus who was crucified. They would go from the mountaintop, down to the very valley.

Those disciples were on a mountaintop for a brief period of time. For a brief period of time they saw the glory of Jesus. For a brief period of time the true divinity of Christ shown through, in all of its power. But, they had to go back down into the valley. Oh, Peter said, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

But, that was not possible. It was not possible for them to stay there. They had to go back down into that valley.

Jesus was preparing his disciples for what was about to come. Jesus knew that they were about to go through a very, very, deep valley. They were about to watch Jesus, as He would go through His suffering and His passion. Jesus was preparing His disciples to go through that valley.

First of all, Jesus was giving them a brief glimpse of Heaven.

He was giving them a brief glimpse of what they had to look forward to.

He was giving them a brief glimpse of His majesty and glory.

He was giving them a brief glimpse of the saints in Heaven.

He was giving them something to cling to, all of their lives, something to look forward to, that vision of finally being in Heaven, one day!

Jesus was also preparing them for the valley they were about to go through, as they watched Him suffer and die on the cross. He was preparing them to understand that this was not a weak Jesus who died on the cross. This was the Jesus they had seen on the Mount of Transfiguration. This was the Jesus of power, glory, and divinity. And, He was not dying on that cross, because He was so weak that He could not stop it.

He was dying on that cross, because

He was powerful.

He was holding back on His divine power in love,

so that He could be crucified,

so that He could die,

so that He could pay for our sins.

He was preparing them, by that vision of glory, to understand what was happening on the cross.

He was preparing them, by what happened on the mountain, to show them where to go all the rest of their lives, to find their strength, through all the valleys of this life. On that mountain, they heard the voice of the Father speak. And, what did the Father say? They heard the Father say,

"This is my Son,

whom I have chosen;

listen to Him."

Their hearts were directed, not to the vision that they had seen, but their hearts were directed to the Word. Jesus was preparing them for the valleys that they would go through, for the rest of their lives. (And, these men would go through some deep sorrows in their lives.) He was preparing them, so they would know where to go to find their strength, which is in His Word.

Now today, you and I are in church. And, we are on a mountaintop.

We are on the mountaintop,

as we are here in the House of God,

the very House of God.

We are in the presence of God, Himself! We are in the presence of His Word. The Holy Spirit is here, working through the Word. We are on the mountaintop.

But, Brothers and Sisters, before the day is over, we are going to go back into the valley. We are going to go back into the world. And, although we are in the world, we are not of the world. We are in the world, where the Word of God is not accepted. It is despised. And so, we are on the mountaintop, but we are going to go back into the valley.

We are on the mountaintop, right now, as we are here in church. We just fell on our knees in our spirits, as we confessed our sins before a holy God, trembling before our holy God, just like Peter, James, and John, fell on their faces before the glorious Christ, terrified to be in the presence of a holy God. We confessed our sins, in the presence of a holy God. We confessed that we deserve nothing but His punishment, for all eternity.

And yet, what happened, here in the House of God, on this mountaintop? Just as the disciples, who fell down in fear, felt the hand of Jesus on their shoulder, as He said, "Don't be afraid. Get up," we heard the voice of God, through His Word, speak to us as we confessed our sin. "Don't be afraid. Get up. Your sins are forgiven."

He declared to us, here today, that we are not guilty.

He declared to us, here today, that Heaven is our home.

He declared to us, here today, that we are free, clean, and forgiven!

We are on a mountaintop,

declared not guilty by God,

here in His House.

But, before the day is over, Brothers and Sisters, we will go back down into the valley. We will go back down into the valley of this world, and you know what? We are going to be tempted. And we are going to get dirty again. And, we are going to fall into sin, again. We are on the mountaintop, now, but we are going to go back into that valley. And although we won't want to fall, it will happen to each of us.

We are on the mountaintop right now. We are on the mountaintop, here in the House of God. Before long, we will come to the presence of our Savior, in the Lord's Supper. Jesus will give us His true body and His true blood. We will literally be in the presence of Jesus, Himself, as He distributes to you the very body and blood that died on the cross to make full payment for all of your sins, assuring you personally, that what happened on the cross, happened for you. With His body and blood, He will declare that you receive the forgiveness of your sins. It will be for the strengthening of your faith.

We are on the mountaintop, but before the day is over, we will be back in the valley. We will be back in the valley in a world where there is trouble, where there are trials, where there is pain, where there is suffering, where we may have trouble with friends, where things may not go well at work. We will be back in the valley.

Here we are today on the mountaintop. We are on the mountaintop, with our fellow believers. Isn't it awesome to be able to gather together as the body of Christ? Isn't is awesome to be able to confess together, and hear everybody's voice, as we say, "I believe in God the Father. I believe in God the Son. I believe in God the Holy Spirit." Isn’t it awesome, as we join in one great confession with the Church of all times, (those long departed, and those living today, all over this world), as we join in that great confession that binds us all together. We are on a mountaintop. We are on a mountaintop, as we join our hearts together, in prayer, all of us together, before the Lord. We are on the mountaintop, as we sing those great hymns of the church, through which we feed our souls. Our souls are fed with the Word of God, and we feed one another through those great hymns of the church, joining our voices in praise and glory to God. We are on a mountaintop today. But, Brothers and Sisters, before the day is over, we will be back in the valley.

We will be back in the valley, separated from our friends here at church. We may be at work where there are no believers, or at school where there are very few. We will be in a different world, than we are right now. Now, we are on the mountaintop. But like the disciples we have to go back down that mountain into the valley.

Jesus, today, through His Word, is preparing us, here on this mountaintop, to go into that valley, and live in that valley. What is He doing? Number one, He is giving us a brief glimpse of Heaven, itself.

We are here, with our sins forgiven, standing before God, holy and righteous for Christ’s sake, through His Word.

We are here, with our fellow believers, before Christ, joining in one voice, before Christ.

We are in His presence, for the Lord's Supper.

It is a brief glimpse of what we have to look forward to. And, it helps keep our minds focused on Heaven, as we go back into that valley, knowing what we have to look forward to, ultimately. Our Savior focuses us here and prepares us to go back down into that valley.

We can't stay here, Brothers and Sisters. We can't stay here in this building. If we stayed here, who would go out and tell them?

Who would go out and tell them?

Who would go out and tell the rest of the world about our Savior? We, here in this church, are being prepared to go back down to that valley, go out, and tell the world that there is a mountaintop that they can go to. We, here in this church, are being prepared, as we hear the Word of God. And, what does the Bible say?

"This is my Son,

whom I have chosen;

listen to Him."

We have the Word. We go back into that valley, with the Word. Go back into that valley with the Word of Jesus. It is the holy, inspired, Word of God.

Peter, who saw Jesus on that mountain, talked about the glory he saw, but then he said this. "We have the Word of the prophets made more certain and you do well to pay attention to it, as a light shining in a dark place. Above all, you must understand that no prophesy of scripture came about by a prophet's own interpretation. Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God, as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

Peter, there, says, "Oh, I saw that vision. I saw Jesus on the Mount. But, you have something even more sure. You have the Word. You have the inspired Word of God. There is nothing more certain, more sure than that. You take that down to the valley and you share that Word. You find your comfort there, and you share it."

Jesus is preparing us to go back down into that valley. It will be a valley of suffering. In this world, we will have trouble. The Bible tells us that. In this world, Christians will go through hardships and Christians will go through pain. But, Jesus is preparing us for that, (just as Jesus prepared Peter, James, and John). They were about to see the cross. They were about to see Jesus die. But, hidden behind that cross, they knew the glory of Christ.

Hidden behind our sufferings and trials, we know the glory of Christ.

We know the power of God.

We know that He is with us.

And, we know, we know that even though we go through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil.

We won’t be afraid in this valley. Why?

We won’t be afraid in this valley, because

Christ is with us.

Amen.