L E S S O N
F I F T E E N
(This lesson combines the chapters Morphing the two ‘L’s’ and Transfigured)
Transfigured
“There are many religions, but there is only one morality.”
—John Ruskin
I. The Pendulum Swings
With nearly every movement, belief system, organization, government, and religion on
the face of the earth you are likely to find two extremes: legalism and liberalism. Much of
the time the constituents from these two camps are called liberals and conservatives. In
American politics they are called Democrats and Republicans.
In most settings this provides a forum that is grandiose and profitable because the two
sides generally balance one another out. An indulgent imbalance of either one of these
groups, either by number or overzealous activism, can tip the scale and possibly cause
lasting damage to any movement or government. The majority will run over the minority
with its agenda. “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
It can turn authority into manipulation in a heartbeat because the checks and balances
are removed when there is no resistance. For instance, if the United States Senate had 70
percent Republicans and only 30 percent Democrats, or vice versa, it would become a
tribunal for widespread corruption. You cannot remove the opposing resistance in these
organizations because resistance is what maintains the tension, and tension is what helps
to maintain the equilibrium.
It is the mechanics of the pendulum. No pendulum can swing in perfect rhythm unless
the tension is superbly synchronized and both sides are equal. The weight must be
proportionate to the strength of the mechanism used to create the undulation. For
everything to flow flawlessly, everything should move with tempo and precision.
Paul dealt with the subject of tempo in the church many times. It was labeled different
things: strife or unity, division or brotherly love. He condemned strife in the church, and
vehemently rebuked those who brought division and hindered growth. However, he
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makes a powerful statement about the ability of opposition to bring symmetry and poise
to the Apostolic church.
Sometimes it is indeed the antithesis of what is expected by the church that reveals the
true nature of a church or organization, or perhaps even the true nature of one human life.
He said,
“For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that
there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there
must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you.” (I Corinthians 11:18-19)
Is he saying the heretical should be celebrated and welcomed into the fold? No. But he is
saying that opposing forces prove the sincere, keep the church in check and, most
importantly, they keep everything in balance.
I.
Everything seems to be running perfectly, AND then all the guests love the
services.
1. All the leaders are running around like little ants, busy building God’s
kingdom.
a) And the saints are all in cadence with the grand vision.
b) Then you wake up one Sunday morning and everyone is sick, in a
bad mood, grumbling and complaining.
c) You couldn’t get a guest to church if you offered him a shopping
spree at the Bass Pro Shop.
(1) Heresy has surfaced among the people to prove the faithful and
submitted.
(2) Don’t worry, it’s just the swing of the pendulum. 2. What about our personal lives?
a) It’s the same.
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b) We can’t let one half of our nature dominate and control the other
half of our nature.
c) Yet, many today have chosen sides and have reduced themselves
to a label by being the champion of one opinion over another.
(1) I don’t want to be hemmed into a circle, a clique, a club, a camp,
or a corner with a banner flying above my head that reads,
“Conservative” or “Liberal.”
(2) If that’s the case then what it should read is, “Small-minded.”
d) When Moses came down from Sinai and found Israel in disarray,
turmoil, and full of indignity he didn’t say, “Who is on my side?”
(1) He didn’t say, “Who is on Aaron’s side?”
(2) He didn’t say, “Who thinks I’m the leader?”
(3) He said, “Who is on the Lord’s side?”
e) I agree that we should hate the things that God hates, but God
hates sin; He doesn’t hate people.
(1) The liberalism and conservatism we are referring to is not
relegated to people, factions or group-think.
(2) I know we should stand firm with loyalty, dignity, and integrity
and be willing to fight for what we believe in, but the problem
many times is that we become isolationists rather than
evangelists.
(a) When we do this we severely limit the formation…or
reformation process.
f) So we establish the following point emphatically:
(1) We should hate sin as much as God hates sin and love people
as much as God loves people.
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(2) We should cling to His Word with one hand while embracing
people with the other.
(3) All the criticism of liberals against conservatives and
conservatives against liberals breeds a judgmental spirit that
can never accept when it is wrong or be humble when it is right.
(a) What are the parameters of the pendulum’s wag?
(b) It is within these lines that our lives must be lived.
I. There’s Only Two Labels
A. (John 6:64,66 KJV) But there are some of you that believe not. For
Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and
who should betray him. From that time many of his disciples went back,
and walked no more with him.
1. Why did they not walk with Him anymore?
a) Was it because they were liberals and He was a conservative, or
vice versa?
b) No, it was because they did not truly believe Him.
(1) This is the reaction of unbelievers to the Word of God.
(2) The masses will flock to God in a time of crisis or if they feel like
they can have the best of both worlds, but it is only true
believers who stick around for the hard sayings.
(a) This is what happens when people stop growing and dig
themselves into a religious rut.
(b) At some point the truth comes to pull them out of the rut, but
they have been in the rut for so long that they think anyone
who isn’t in the rut is out of touch.
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(c) It seems to be more and more popular to be in the rut these
days than in the flow.
B. Jesus asked His audience a riddle and then in verse twenty-five “they
reasoned among themselves.”
1. Although reason and common sense are definitely coveted qualities
for success, they can get in the way of revelation.
2. These men began assessing the crowd around them and realized that
they were right smack in the middle of a “catch-22” situation.
a) That’s the problem with people who determine what they believe
based on the latest polls and trends—they never know quite what to
say when it counts.
b) Before the debate concluded, Jesus bluntly declared that harlots
and drunkards would enter the kingdom of God before them.
3. Basically, Jesus was saying to them that they didn’t even have sense
enough to get in out of the rain unless the crowd thought they should
get in out of the rain.
a) Most “believers” can’t tell you what they believe much less WHY
they believe it.
(1) It’s only when it goes against what their CROWD believes that
they strongly reject it and criticize it.
(2) They can’t tell you what they believe but somehow they can tell
you what they DON’T believe.
C. Are there liberals and conservatives when it comes to adhering to sound
doctrine?
1. Is God’s truth, gender and culture specific?
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2. Does God allow for such wide swings of the pendulum when it comes
to truth?
a) No. No. and No.
II. Am I a Liberal Or a Legalist?
A. I hope you are both, but please understand the terms are not necessarily
opposite.
1. Let’s look at some of the synonyms for the word liberal: “tolerant,
unprejudiced, unbigoted, broad-minded, open-minded,
enlightened, permissive, free, and easygoing.”
a) The antonyms are: narrow-minded and bigoted.
(dictionary.com)
(1) It seems to me like liberalism is something we should strive to
achieve.
(2) Jesus taught His followers not to be judgmental, prejudiced, or
narrow-minded.
2. Now let’s look at synonyms for the word legalism: “lawful, legitimate,
within the law, valid, permissible, permitted, allowed, admissible,
acceptable, authorized, sanctioned, licensed, and constitutional.
a) The antonym is criminal. (dictionary.com)
(1) It seems that legalism is something that should be coveted as
well.
(2) If God’s Word is His Law then I definitely want to be within the
Law, permitted to be in His presence, and constitutionally
saved. I definitely do not want to be a criminal.
3. Legalism and liberalism should not be opposite philosophies. Page 6 of 16
4. If you try to live for God by living your life according to religious
opinions you’ll have a hard time conforming to the holiness of God.
a) Everything about God is vivid, distinct, exact, and is strictly
discovered in obeying His laws.
(1) Without laws there is no punishment.
(2) You mean it’s that black and white?
(3) What about all these different religions?
(a) What about all the people who say there are many roads
that lead to Heaven?
(b) What about what so-and-so told me?
i)
All of those things are irrelevant.
b) The only relevant source of truth is the Word of God.
(1) We must love it liberally and obey it legally.
(2) The only legalists who are going to be lost are the ones who try
to obey His laws without having His Spirit working in and through
their lives.
(3) If you will let the Holy Ghost do its complete work, you will be the
perfect product of two “L’s” morphed in perfect synergy: a loving
liberal and a legitimate legalist.
III. The Law of the Spirit
A. Just as there are laws in nature, there is also a law of the Spirit. This is
what Paul related to the church in Rome.
1. The entire universe, both natural and spiritual, operates by a set of
laws that were written by its Creator.
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2. The law of the Spirit easily and effortlessly upstages the law of sin and
death, but only if you let it.
B. You who have a navigation system in your car know that your navigation
system has a narrator.
1. When you input your destination into the computer the narrator begins
to speak the directions to you as you travel.
2. However, it is possible to mute that voice, which means that if you are
not watching the screen carefully you may miss a turn and get lost.
a) In reality, it is possible to get lost even when we have all the
directions right before us.
b) He that hath an ear, let Him hear what the Spirit says.
3. We have no choice but to live within the framework and laws of nature.
a) We are prone to operate according to the law of sin because we are
naturally woven into its fabric.
(1) Yet, following the law of the Spirit is a choice.
(2) The level with which we decide to keep pace with the law of the
Spirit has everything to do with our eternal destination.
b) (Romans 8:4-8 KJV) That the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For
they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but
they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be
carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they
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that are in the flesh cannot please God.
C. Don’t waste your life feeling smug and secure about fleshly religious
activities.
1. Though you must have a church and you must have a pastor, these
are tools to help you learn God.
2. The church and your pastor are there to challenge you to reach for the
rich truths that can be unearthed only by following the Spirit.
a) The choice is simple…follow the Spirit, not a brand.
Transfiguration
“Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or
the present are certain to miss the future.” —John F. Kennedy
I. The Problem of Throwing Away the Old
A. It has been said that the largest room in the world is the room for
improvement.
1. In its rough form, a bar of iron is worth approximately $5.00.
a) Create horseshoes from that bar of iron and it is now valued around
$50.00.
b) If you made it into iron needles, the value would be $5,000.
c) But if you take that bar of iron and transform it into springs for a
Swiss watch, the ultimate value could reach half a million dollars.
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(1) Whether transforming a bar of iron, or human beings, the
message is the same.
(a) Value increases as stretching, growing, and transformation
take place.
(2) Caution: Refrain from becoming like the headhunter who bought
himself a new boomerang and then spent the rest of his life
trying to throw the old one away.
(a) Transformation is a metamorphosis to a new way of doing
things.
B. Let’s remind ourselves that salvation is not equivalent to placing a
bandage on our sin.
1. Salvation is all about the eradication of sin.
a) Sin is forgiven through true repentance.
b) Sin is remitted, or washed away, through water baptism in the aweinspiring name of Jesus.
c) Keep going. After these two acts have occurred, what will you do
about tomorrow’s sins? HOLY GHOST.
(1) Great! So, once these three things have transpired, now what?
(2) It’s now about change. (repentance)
C. Papillon was condemned to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
1. His meaningless existence was further frustrated by a recurring
nightmare.
2. Repeatedly, he saw himself standing before a harsh tribunal. “You are
charged,” the leader would shout, “with a wasted life. How do you
plead?”
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3. “Guilty,” was the only right answer. “I must plead guilty.”
a) Papillon knew the meaning of a wasted life. 4. Many people have created their own self-imposed prisons by repeating
the same mistakes and refusing to change.
a) Failure to capitalize on our freedoms leaves us wasted and
unfulfilled.
b) So, the decision to grow is ours. 5. Ponder the foolish implications of an egg that turns into a chicken but
refuses to peck its way out of the shell, or a caterpillar that becomes a
butterfly but chooses to stay in the cocoon.
a) If you are thinking how ridiculous that would be, you get the point.
(1) The caterpillar is presented with a perfect opportunity to live a
totally different life.
(2) Instead of crawling around and inching its way through life, it
experienced the conversion but never made use of its new
wings.
(a) It stayed in its house of transition. It was converted but not
adjusted.
(b) People who never fly will almost always be satisfied with
crawling.
II. The Mountain
A. The third phase of Jesus’ ministry cannot be overstated.
1. It seems to happen without warning.
2. It is an event that doesn’t appear to connect to anything before or after.
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a) It is an epoch moment in the life of Jesus.
b) It is an event that has never taken place in His life.
3. The Bible records it like this: (Matthew 17:1-2 KJV) And after six days
Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up
into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his
face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
a) It was a unique phenomenon.
B. Three phases of the ministry and life of Christ:
1. Baptism (fulfill all righteousness)
2. Wilderness (testing flesh, proving faith)
3. Mountain (Transfiguration - changing nature)
a) Transfigure.
(1) It is derived from the Greek word metamorphoo, and is where
we get the English word metamorphosis, which means: “to
transform (literally or figuratively, metamorphose).”
(2) It is used in the King James Version for the words change,
transfigure, transform. III. The Moral Nature of God
A. God is the consummate culmination of morality.
1. There is no morality outside of God.
2. Every verse in the Bible vividly and expansively gives exposure and
entrance into the moral nature of God.
a) Every word is important.
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b) Every sentence gives us an example, a precept, or a
commandment that will funnel us into the morality and holiness of
God.
3. Though it may seem that God contradicts Himself, or that He somehow
annuls things that have been required of one generation when another
generation comes on the scene, He does not.
a) His Word is timeless. 4. Why is this important for us to know?
(1) The masses of religious philosophers who fill the world’s pulpits,
pews, and classrooms have taken so much away from the Bible
these days that it isn’t the same Bible to them anymore.
(a) If we were to live according to some theologians’ Bibles we
would only have a few pages to live by. (b) God put this verse in His Word on purpose:
i)
(Galatians 1:8-9 KJV) Though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, If any man
preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have
received, let him be accursed.
(c) Paul makes no apologies for letting people know, in no
uncertain terms, that God does not appreciate people
adding to and subtracting from His Word.
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Stanley Marcus emulated innovative leadership as he built the retail giant, Neiman
Marcus. It became known as an international symbol of taste and excellence. Not only
was he a retail genius, he also possessed the ability to inspire growth in others and was
committed to the same for himself. The flavor of his inspiration is evident in a favorite
story he shared with his employees. Marcus says:
“One of the most popular of my ‘sermons’ dealt with my
comparison of human beings to brass. I cited a visit to the bridge
of a naval vessel where the brass gleamed like gold. I asked the
captain how often they shined the brass.
He replied, ‘Every day. The minute you stop polishing it, it starts
to tarnish.’
I correlated this incident to human beings, saying, ‘None of us is
made of gold, we’re made of brass, but we can look like gold if
we work hard at polishing ourselves as the sailor polishing the
brass on the ship. We humans can be better than we really are if
we will make the effort.’
That sounds trite, but it must have made an impression on many
hundreds of people, for almost every week some member of our
staff came up to me and said, ‘I’m sure polishing my brass today.’
Apathy, routine, repetition, lack of challenge and on and on, are
life tarnishers. The luster can be returned by putting forth the
shining effort that gives your talents, qualities, and dreams their
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intended gleam and sparkle. Keep in mind the advice of the ship’s
captain: ‘Keep polishing, for the minute you stop, the brass starts
to tarnish.’”
IV. The beginning
A. The end of this series is not meant to represent a conclusion in your life, but a new and fresh beginning.
B. The path of redemption and spiritual prosperity is the intended goal that we must achieve.
1. The only alternative is to be lost without God for eternity. God created all things, but He did not create the sin problem; man did that to himself.
a) (Matthew 5:7-20 KJV) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
b) Our responsibility is not to quote the Law, or meditate upon the Law, or try to find ways that it isn’t relevant for our postmodern society. Our responsibility is to fulfill the Law.
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c) If part of the Word of God has somehow reached some phony expiration date, then we must also presume that the blood of Christ is no longer of any effect either.
d) We need to think long and hard before we say, “That’s not important.”
C. The Spirit is calling us up into a high mountain, apart from the noise and clamor of the masses that seek only self-justification so they can continue living in self-
gratification. God is challenging us to follow His voice, which is calling from the peak. Awaiting us are the spirits of Moses (Law) and Elijah (prophetic), merging under the canopy of self-sacrifice, which will culminate with God’s covering glow upon our lives. The words are on God’s lips even now and He cannot wait to declare to the world, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Why would we not want to be…transfigured?
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