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Nov 10, 2024

Personal Time with Jesus | Living in His Glory

Personal Time with Jesus | Living in His Glory

Passage: Matthew 17:1-8

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Living in His Glory

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: church, prayer, faith, jesus, god, sermon, christian, bible, christ, gospel, hope, sermons, holy spirit, christian community, jesus christ, lord, christianity, bible study, son of god, inspirational, matthew 17, study the bible, bible teaching, christian motivation, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, intentional prayer, christian inspiration, burnt hickory sermons

Do we prioritize time alone with Jesus, or let the noise of life pull us away? This week, we dive into the transformative power of personal, intentional moments with God. Through the story of Jesus leading His disciples to Mount Tabor, we see that true strength for public witness starts in private surrender. Jesus calls us to set aside distractions and seek Him, allowing these private encounters to become the wellspring for our life and faith. In Matthew 17, Jesus models solitude, prayer, and a heart open to God’s presence. As He chose, led, and revealed Himself to His disciples, He invites us to do the same—reflecting His glory in our lives by meeting with Him deeply and regularly. Together, we’ll explore practical steps for intentional time with Jesus, recognizing that these private moments hold the power to ignite purpose and impact the world for His kingdom. Ready to go deeper in your walk with Christ? Take your next step at burnthickory.com/next.

Part of my role as your pastor is to do everything I can to bring clarity to two concepts. The first concept is who is God, the creator of the universe, the sustainer of our soul. But also my role is to ask how can I live my life in such a way that I live underneath his glory and for his kingdom. I know that is my role, but with it, there comes some fear and trepidation.

One of the things that's so incredibly difficult for people like me, especially on Sundays, is to make sure I speak to the range of people who are listening. In a Bible study setting with a couple of people, you know where people are. But on Sundays, one of the things that makes this so hard is that all of us are at different points in life. We have different views of who God is. We have different maturity levels. And I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt, there's always about a third of the crowd either disconnected and already watching the ball game or they are already feeling like they have a handle on whatever I'm talking about.

One of the gifts God has given us over the last crazy season we’re living in, God has taken some of the common struggles of mankind and let them rise to the top. When you think about the last couple of months of living exponentially, there has been an increased sensitivity to community affairs, national affairs, global affairs, and not to mention political affairs.

All of this has been rising to the top. And as a result, so many of us have turned our regular rhythms into nothing more than searching the news. On the one hand that's healthy, because as believers in Jesus, we need to know how to affect the world for him. But I think there's another side, where Satan has us put our gaze outwardly, taking our eyes and minds off of God and what he wants to do in us inwardly.

One of three things happens when tragedy or craziness hits this world as a believer. First, there is a group of us who fall into the temptation, jump on Satan's plan, and become as divisive as everybody else. Secondly, some of us have gone numb to it and we've given up. Thirdly, many of us have shifted to this outward perspective and are downplaying where Jesus wants to personally affect us.

Now, here's what I wanna say about this. We all have business in this subject. We all, no matter how mature or immature we are, no matter what side we’re on, many of us have so chosen to turn outwardly. We have forgotten God's number one thing in our life is for us to walk with Him personally. We focus so much on what's happening out there that we miss God's heart for us here. My personal experience with Jesus gives me joy and begins to pave the way for me to live in his glory. I fully realize that coming out of the week we just had, there is a need for us to pray for our country. We need to pray for God to move in our country, to heal our land. There's nothing more I would want to see than revival strike our land.

My heart desires instead of 75,000 people walking up to me saying, pastor, please pray for our nation, it would be for 75,000 people to say, God, would you heal my heart? My heart. So here's what I wanna tell you. Yes, I'm burdened for our country, but I'm more burdened for God to personally move in our hearts.

So here's what I wanna do. Over the next couple of weeks, I know it's a little bit counter-cultural, but I want us to pull back from the national and the global stuff that's happening. The wars, the weather events, the elections. And I want us to look at our hearts and what God wants to do in us personally.

In fact, write this principle down, the launching board for this text. We must first experience God in private before we will ever be effective for the kingdom in public. We're going to dissect a passage of scripture for the next three weeks. It’s eight verses in Matthew 17.

We're going to look at them through the lens of God above everything else in your life right now. Believer, God wants to meet with you personally. He wants to speak into your life personally. Matthew 17 says, that after six days, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, the brother of James, and he led them up to a high mountain by themselves. And there he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became white as light and just then appeared before them, Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Verse four, 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. And while he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them. And the voice from the cloud said this is my son whom I love. And with him I am well, please listen to him. The disciples heard this and they fell face down on the ground terrified. But the Jesus came, and he touched them, and he said, get up, do not be afraid. When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

Jesus, in this moment, speaks to the future leaders of the worldwide movement we now know as Christianity. But also in this moment, Jesus looks at three guys personally and rocks their world. And I'm telling you, believer, God wants to do big things, but it always starts from a personal moment on a mountain or in private with Jesus. Notice how the text starts, after six days. So the question is, six days after what? Well, it's six days after what just happened in chapter 16. Jesus has just predicted his death and resurrection. And Peter stepped up and said, no way. Remember, he gets a little rebuked. Jesus is telling these guys you're going to take up your cross. You're going to have to make me worth more than the rest of this earth. You're going to have to lose an earthly focus. And Jesus explains to some of them they will see his glory.

I want you to read chapters 15 and 16 this week because in those big moments, there are so many people, and there's so much happening. There are thousands of people around Jesus. But when we get to verse chapter 17, we have a bit of a scene change. And now we get a glimpse into this intimate moment with Jesus. Jesus is about to profoundly change these guys' lives forever.

Now, I really want us to lean into this, because here's what I know: Private events matter. You see, when you look at the public events of Jesus, they were incredibly amazing. These guys wanted to see God change their world. They saw that these public events were so powerful and they were there to introduce Jesus to the world. They were there to show Jesus's character and power and humility and identity. But it was in the private moments of Jesus these believers' lives were radically changed. Challenge me on it. Read the New Testament this week and watch the gospels and how Jesus in these little moments that he had with his disciples radically changed their life.

Jesus knows the power and the wisdom and the revelation that we receive in private will determine the life that flows from us in public. Many of us have this turned around backward, and we think all of a sudden that God is going to show up in a public event in our life and change every bit of our private life. But listen, nine times out of 10, I'm not gonna say never, but nine times out of 10, it is a result of what happens in our private life with Jesus that determines our public life and what comes out of us. It’s always how Jesus seems to do it. Jesus is about to show them something he would never do, and they could never imagine.

He's about to pull the veil off of who he is and give them a glimpse into his full glory. Now remember, Jesus had held himself and his glory back. He had only allowed people to see him up until this point as the full man he was. And that's important because he was fully man and man had to walk as he walked. But now, in this incredible event with these guys who had submitted their hearts to him, he is about to show them his glory. This pressed into my heart this week: if I'm going be serious about knowing Jesus more deeply, I'm going to have to prioritize my time alone with Jesus above every other event in my life.

I can't tell you the number of people who say, man, I just can't. I just can't seem to get into the word. My life is so busy. I just can't get into the word. I have so much going on with my kids. I just can't get into the word. I would have to get up so early. I have so much going on. And listen, I love my family. I would die for them. I love my hobbies. You guys know this about me. I love to be outside. I love our public worship moments. Sundays are my favorite day of the week. I love life groups. I love small group Bible studies. I would have loved to live in Matthew chapters 15 and 16, and to watch Jesus walk through these crowds and watch Jesus heal these people.

Don't get me wrong, public ministry is incredible, but it's always in the intimate moments Jesus speaks the strongest. And I have a fear we've been so focused out here that we have not focused in here. The disciples had gotten away from it. Don't get me wrong. Public moments are incredible, but it's the private moments. For some of you, this is going to be a huge breakthrough for you today. You come to church, you go to Bible study, but there has never been a moment in your life where you have absolutely decided to plant yourself into a daily personal time in the word. But once you do, you will never look back because you will see that's where life change happens.

What do these private moments look like? Well, here's the good news and the bad news: everyone looks a little bit different. And people like me get up here and tell you, have time in the word. But they've never gone farther. Because they always look different, I'm not going to claim to you there's some cookie-cutter approach you need to have. Some of you are early-morning people. Kudos to you. I think that is the best option because if you don't plan your day, your day will plan you. And I think we give our first and our best. But some of you are lunchtime people. Some of you are before bed people. Some of you love the Bible. Some of you love walking through books of the Bible. Some of you have these exhaustive prayer lists 19 miles long. Kudos to you. We love that. But here's the thing. There are so many ways to spend time personally in God's Word. I would never say this is the only way to do it, because I don't think that's right. But what I will say is there always seem to be four common elements in our time alone with Jesus. And I want to give those to you this morning.

Number one, there's always an intentional solitude. We live in such a noisy and crowded world. We live in a world where there's so much static. There needs to be a moment you have planned - that's what I mean by intentional. What is solitude? Solitude is without distraction. If you're so addicted to your phone, then you need to put it in another room and go back to the paper Bible. It means you have planned a moment in your life without anything going on that you can come and meet before the king. For some of you, that means you need to get up 15 minutes earlier. I'm going to be honest with you and tell you, it's a discipline. You need to get up 15 minutes earlier so nobody's bothering you, the phone's not ringing, no one is calling your name, the kids don't need to eat, and the bus is not running early. It's intentional solitude where you may even need to look at your family and say, leave me alone, I need to spend time with the word.

Number two, the second element of personal time with Jesus is a prepared, open heart. It's a heart that comes before God saying honestly and with transparency, God, I need you to move in me and God, today I'm walking into your presence. It's a moment where you've planned it and now you're coming before the King and saying, God, I have a heart that wants to follow You.

Third, we must always prioritize the Word of God. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good devotional. I've probably got 95 or a hundred of them back in the office. But nothing takes precedence over the word. Read all the devotionals you want. I encourage you to because they bring clarity to the word. But there needs to be a moment where you open the scriptures, read the very words of God, search the wisdom of God, and look at God's transforming insight into his design and desire for you.

And then fourthly, it's focused prayer. It's a moment where you are in focus, not with your mind going all wild, not everywhere else. For me, I need to write it down and have a system. For me, I like to do this in a sandwich mode. Remember that in English class? I like to put a little bit at the beginning and a little bit at the end of my intentional time with God. I feel like it prepares my heart at the beginning. Then at the end, I'm praying over what I read and I'm adoring God. I'm confessing to God. I'm giving thanks to God and asking God to move in me.

When these four things meet, I can promise you in time and with consistency, big things will happen to you personally. So many of you have been praying and asking God to move for so long. Maybe God is waiting on you to finally turn and meet with him personally to show you his glory. Now, let's get back to the mountain.

It's a little bit easier to have my heart prepared when I'm walking up the mountain with the Messiah. In these moments, our personal time always sets us up to hear and move with God. Now, keep reading. It says, after six days, Jesus took with him, Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, and he led them up a high mountain by themselves.

I want you to see the plan. First of all, because Jesus always has a plan for your life. And secondly, his plan is going to give him glory and be what's best for us. Jesus knew the plan. He knew where he was going. He knew what he was gonna do. He knew how he was gonna do it. He's God. There were three stages of the plan. The first thing Jesus did was he chose them. This was a calling on their life like it's a calling on all of our lives. If you are a son or a daughter of the King, Jesus has chosen you and wants to walk in you and for you to walk in his presence. In fact, John 15:16 says, Jesus says, you didn't choose me, but I chose you, and I appointed you so you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. And so whatever you ask in my name, the father will give you. These three guys already knew Jesus. They already had a relationship with Jesus. But this is a next-level choosing. He chose you to walk with Him. And now that we have the Holy Spirit, he wants to be experienced by all of us all the time, and we now have that ability because He is Lord. We don't have to be in control.

Here's the question that popped into my mind this week: are you positioning yourself in a posture and a place where Jesus can fully and personally speak to you as part of your regular rhythm of life?

Number one, he chose them. Number two, secondly, Jesus led them. He led them. I love this about the disciples. Do you realize when you study their lives, they rarely had any idea where they were going? All they did was look at Jesus and say where He goes, I'll go. What a way to live life. Look at verse one: after six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, and the brother of James, and what did he do? He led them up a high mountain by themselves. Listen, if you don't hear anything else today, hear this. I'm not called to walk the Christian life out on my own. It's not meant to be in my power. It's not meant to be by my talents or by my skills. All I am meant to do is to meet with Jesus and hold onto his coattails. That's it. All I'm meant to do is to submit my life before the king and not my will. I'm grabbing hold of you, Jesus, and we're going up the mountain together. In fact, every single time I try to walk out my faith on my own, I'm going to tell you honestly, I fail. That’s not how it's meant to be. It's meant to be me submitting to God for him to lead. Otherwise I drift back into my own patterns.

I love this quote by Thomas Young. He says, to be led by Jesus means we see our selfish motives for what they are, reject them, and we focus our hearts on the one who deserves every fiber of our affection and loyalty. Therefore, we boycott our self-seeking agenda, and we lay aside our own desires, wants, and personal quests. We drive toward the heart of God. We must simply submit. I love this principle because anybody can do it. It takes the pressure off of me. And it means when Jesus asks anything of me, my whole role in life is to say with confidence: Yes, Lord, I'm walking with you.

So many times we come before God and beg God to move. What if Jesus is waiting on us to grant that request for me to say, here's the Lordship of my life. That's what he's doing right here. These guys have said, yes, I'm yours. These guys have followed him up the mountain. Look at the process again.

He called them. He led them. And here's number three: He showed them. They get onto the slope of this mountain. They start walking up Mount Horeb, which is 9,000 plus meters, the tallest mountain in the region. It says there, Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. The word transfigured right here is translated from the Greek word metamorphosis. Think of the butterfly. It literally means change from the inside out.

It doesn't mean Jesus became something else. It means Jesus cracked open his soul and began to show these guys even more of who he is. He removed the blinders. He showed them his divinity. He gave these guys a taste of the fullness of Jesus. He cracked open heaven and, in a way, showed them what he would be when he ruled as the resurrected King. He began to fulfill Matthew 16:28, where Jesus had just told them, truly, I tell you, some of you who are standing here will not taste death before they see the son of man coming in his kingdom. Jesus showed these guys something they had never seen.

But if you would've asked them 10 minutes before if they knew Jesus, they would have said, yeah, we know Jesus. You see, they thought they knew all of Jesus, and in their defense, they did know a lot. They had seen the miracles. They saw his love, peace, and mercy. They had seen him heal the blind. They had seen them heal the sick and raise the dead. They had seen him walk on water. They had seen him calm the storm. They had only seen in the context of Jesus as a man. But right here, they are seeing him as God and the glory of who he is. All of what was done before was seen with a cover over his glory. Philippians 2:7 says, then he Jesus, he made himself nothing by taking the nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in the appearance of man, he humbled himself. But now at the transfiguration and the stillness of this private moment, Jesus pulls off the veil and he shows them his glory. I wonder how many of us are lackadaisical about our time with Jesus because we think we already know Jesus.

This event has shown me all week I'm never done discovering, learning, and letting Jesus show himself to me. These guys were with him 24/7, but Jesus gave these three guys a fuller picture, a greater understanding of his power and his glory. Jesus wants to do the same for you. It's such an incredible example of Hebrews 1:3, the son is the radiance of God's glory. The exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word after he had provided purification for sins. He sat down at the right hand of majesty in heaven. It's almost like these guys are getting a personal glimpse of what this looks like.

I want to drive home the fact that this event could have happened at the feeding of the 5,000 or at the Sermon on the Mount or as part of the Miracle Tour, but it didn’t. It was in a private moment with these three guys who lived their lives pointing to Jesus. They simply made themselves available for Jesus to select them, to lead them, and to rock their world in this personal little moment.

And he wants to do the same for you. Public ministry moments are incredible. But it's in the private moments with Jesus we can't miss him because he wants to transform our hearts.

Let me give you three quick walkaways our personal time with God does. And then to give you a little challenge. Number one, our personal time with God shows us a fuller image of who Jesus really is. If you're only relying on me to give you all you're getting spiritually, you're never gonna grow up. If you're only relying on your life group leader, as incredible as they are, you're never going to walk fully in his glory. It's in our personal times Jesus reaches down into our souls and walks with us. Number two, our personal time with God acts as a catalyst for a life of hope and a life of purpose. I don't know about you, but those two words are pretty strong words to me. Those are two of the things not only our nation and world need, but we need. We need hope and purpose. When we begin to meet with Jesus personally, he begins to press into us I'm a son of the king, my hope is not in this place, but it's in the next one, I've been called to represent him as a light in this place. And it really doesn't matter what other people do or don't do to me, because I know the one in whom my heart is chasing - His name is Jesus. But personal time with God also gives us purpose. There's nothing more terrible than a life without purpose. But the moment we begin to meet with Him personally, God begins to pour it into our hearts.

Number one, he shows us really who he is. Number two, it's a catalyst for a life of hope and purpose. Number three, it's a fuel for worldwide movements we so deserve. I care about the world. In a couple of weeks, we're gonna spend two weeks talking about our responsibility to the world. But here's what I do know, God is only gonna change the world when he changes the hearts of believers and we begin to see his glory. Two questions I leave you with this morning.

Number one, are you praying more “God heal this world” prayers than you are “God move in me”? And secondly, here it is, are you prioritizing personal moments with Jesus?

Follow Along with the Message

Personal Time with Jesus

 

November 10, 2024

PRINCIPLE: We must first experience God in before we will ever be effective for the Kingdom in public.

Matthew 17:1–8
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 covered 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.
Matthew 17:1
After six days…

PRINCIPLE: The power, wisdom, and revelation we receive in private will the life that flows from us in public.

4 Common Elements of Personal Time with Jesus

1. Intentional

2. A prepared and open

3. The of God

4. Focused

Matthew 17:1
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
3 Stages to Jesus’s Plan

1. them

John 15:16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last — and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

QUESTION: Are you positioning yourself in a posture and place where Jesus can fully and speak to you?

2. them

Matthew 17:1
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

“To be led by Jesus means we see our selfish motives for what they are, reject them, and focus our hearts on the One who deserves every fiber of our affection and loyalty. Therefore, we boycott our self seeking agenda, we lay aside our own desires, wants, and personal quests, and we drive toward the heart of God.”
— Thomas Young

PRINCIPLE: To be led by Jesus, we simply must .

3. them

Matthew 17:2
There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Matthew 16:28
“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Philippians 2:7–8
7 He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself.

QUESTION: How many of us are lackadaisical about our time with Jesus because we think we know Jesus?

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
3 Things Personal Time with God Does

1. Shows us a fuller who Jesus really is.

2. Acts as a for a life of hope and purpose.

3. Fuels the movements that we so desire.

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