Life Has Its Ups and Downs
Theme: Following Jesus will take us over mountaintops and through valleys
Text: Matthew 17:1-23
Here’s a thought: Charles Stanley concluded, “Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God's most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adversity becomes easier to bear.”
When Abraham Lincoln went off to the Black Hawk War in 1832, he was a captain and, through no fault of his own, he was a private when he returned. That brought an end to his military career.
Then his little shop in a country village “winked out,” as he used to say, marking his failure as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, he was too impractical, too unpolished, and too temperamental to be a success.
Turning to politics, he was defeated in his campaign for the legislature, defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for Congress, defeated in his application to be Commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the Senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his aspirations for the Vice Presidency in 1856 and defeated again in the Senatorial election of 1858.
Then in 1861, he found himself in the White House as President of the United States. How did Lincoln interpret this strange succession of ups and downs culminating in a terrific personal victory? He said:
That the Almighty directly intervenes in human affairs is one of the plainest statements in the Bible. I have had so many evidences of His direction, so many instances when I have been controlled by some other power than my own will that I have no doubt this power comes from above.
The three men closest to Jesus of Nazareth 2,000 years ago learned a good lesson in Matthew chapter 17: life has its ups and downs.
Life has its:
Ups (Matthew 17:1-13)
Three disciples were on a spiritual high in Matthew 17:1-13:
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” 10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” 11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. NIV
Moses represents the Law, and Elijah represents the Prophets. “The Law and the Prophets” are referred to in the Scriptures as the summation of the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament, through which God revealed Himself to humanity before the coming of the Messiah. Here is a powerful revelation of the identity and exaltation of Jesus Christ relative to other historical figures!
Peter wanted to build a shelter or tent for them to stay in on the mountaintop. He wanted to soak in this spiritual experience. As enjoyable and encouraging as mountaintop experiences are, they often do not build the faith and power in us that we will need to face our challenges ahead in the valley.
A vacationing family loaded its pet squirrel, cage and all, into the front luggage
compartment of their imported, rear-engine car. The husband told the attendant to “fill ’er up” at a remote gas station in the mountains while the family stepped out to look at the beautiful view. When they returned, the husband asked how much he owed.
“Don’t rightly know,” the attendant replied. “I gave your engine two bags of peanuts, but I’ll be jiggered if I know how to check its oil.”
Being on the mountaintop is an exhilarating experience, but living there can alienate us from those who do not live there. The longer we live there without rubbing shoulders with those who do not, the greater our chances of losing touch with them.
Two ingredients are necessary to carry God’s fire. The first is His presence, and the second is His purpose. God exposes us to His presence for a purpose - to manifest His glory to others.
We need to be touched by God! The Holy Spirit has touched me, and it felt like electricity flowing through my body. Enjoy these times and look back on them with fond memories. There are, however, other types of experiences that will come our way.
Life has its:
Ups (Matthew 17:1-13)
and
Downs (Matthew 17:14-23)
Remember when Moses came down from Mount Sinai after God had given him the Ten Commandments in Exodus 32? Moses came back to the people’s unbelief and rebellion against God. While Moses was on the mountain, the people made and worshipped a golden calf in the valley. The parallel is striking as Jesus returns with His disciples from the Mount of Transfiguration.
Three disciples were brought back down to earth with a thud in Matthew 17:14-23:
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “O
unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. 21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” 22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief. NIV
You would think Peter, James and John should be filled with faith and power after their experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. Instead, Jesus rebukes them for their lack of faith and power to cast out this demon and heal this young boy. Here is a good lesson: we should not place our faith in the power of our spiritual experiences but in the source of this power, Jesus Christ.
Look at this paraphrase of Psalm 23 by Leslie Brandt (Psalms/Now, Concordia, 1973, page 38):
The Lord is my constant companion
there is no need that he cannot fulfil.
Whether his course for me points
to the mountaintops of glorious ecstasy
or to the valleys of human sufferings,
He is by my side.
He is ever present with me.
He is close beside me
when I tread the dark streets of danger.
And even when I flirt with death itself,
He will not leave me.
When pain is severe,
He is near to comfort.
When the burden is heavy,
He is there to lean upon.
When depression darkens my soul,
He touches me with eternal joy.
When I feel empty and alone,
He fills the aching vacuum with his power.
My security is in his promise
to be near to me always,
and in the knowledge
that he will never let me go.
Jesus explains to His followers in John 16:33:
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. NIV
An economics professor asked his class, “Name a product in which the supply always exceeds the demand.”
One wise student quickly answered, “Trouble.”
This passage in Matthew 17 begins with the disciples in euphoria - thrilled to see the glory of Jesus Christ revealed. This passage in verse 23 ends with Jesus explaining that His suffering was coming and the disciples grieving over this news.
We find the partnership of suffering and glory repeatedly throughout the Bible.
By our standards of success, Jesus might be considered a failure (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/isaiah-52.html):
Was He popular? No. He was not well-liked. In fact, after one of his sermons, all of His followers deserted Him, except for the Twelve Apostles.
Did He have political power? No. He was a political failure. All levels of government first rejected Him. Then they conspired to kill Him.
Did He have lots of friends? No. His friends often hurt Him, eventually abandoned Him, and one of them betrayed Him to death.
Did He have money and possessions? No. No house, no “wheels”, no world headquarters, no Christian amusement park.
Was He respected by His peers? No. His professional peers, the Pharisees, rejected His work.
Despite His apparent failure by these standards, Jesus Christ has changed the lives of millions of people across the centuries.
I have had my ups and downs in life. My parents, parents-in-law and some friends have passed away, we had a miscarriage, divorce has hit our extended family, I lost my job, and our family lost our house. On the other hand, the Lord has blessed us with many terrific relationships among family and friends. We have seen couples grow in their love for one another, the Lord has blessed us financially, and we have a great home. Through it all, the Lord has remained steadfast and faithful.
1 Peter 1:6-7 promises that God uses trials for your growth:
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your
faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. NIV
There are years in South Africa when locusts swarm the land and eat the crops. They come in hordes, blocking out the sun. The crops are lost, and a hard winter follows. The “years that the locusts eat” are feared and dreaded. But the year after the locusts, South Africa reaps its greatest crops, for the dead bodies of the locusts serve as fertilizer for the new seed. The locust year is restored as great crops swell the land.
The same is true of our lives. Seasons of deep distress and afflictions sometimes eat all the usefulness of our lives away. Yet, the promise is that God will restore those locust years if we endure. We will reap if we do not give up. Although now we do not know all the “whys,” we can be assured our times are in His hands (from “Fruits of the Spirit,” by Ron Hembree, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House, 1969).
Charles Stanley concluded:
Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God's most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adversity becomes easier to bear.
God knows what is good for us better than we know ourselves. Let’s not judge God’s overall plan for our lives by what is revealed today. God has all eternity to fulfill His plans for our lives. Think not in terms of today but in terms of eternity. After all, that’s where we’ll spend most of our lives.
Life has its:
Ups
and
Downs
Following Jesus will take us over mountaintops and through valleys.
