We Need to Go to the Mountaintop and Then Come Down - Tim Conway

We are told that the works that Jesus does

if we're believers in Him,

that the works that He does,

we will do too and greater works

because He is going to His Father.

But you know what?

You will not do that unless you have been

to the mountaintop like He was.

Back up we must go.

Back up.

Because you know what happens?

You try to dive into these duties.

You've got all these things to do.

Oh, well, it says I need
to work with my hands,

and it says I need to
walk in a certain way,

and it says I need to be doing
these certain different things

and I need to control my mouth

and I need to use it a certain way,

and I need to be involved in singing

and I need to love my husband

and love my wife

and submit to my husband

and I've got children,

and I shouldn't do this
and I shouldn't do that

and all this instruction.

I'll tell you what,

you lose sight of the mountaintop,

you lose sight of the glory up there,

you know what's going to happen?

You will become like Martha

just distracted and disturbed and agitated

by all manner of different things.

And there's Mary.

"Martha, Martha..."

You see, we can be distracted
from what really matters.

You're anxious and troubled
about many things,

one thing is necessary.

Is it necessary to come down?
You better believe it.

But it is necessary to sit at His feet?

That is the thing that is needful

to charge you to live this life,

to prepare you to live this life

and all our activities

and all our responsibilities

and all the work that lies before us.

And there is work!

We must work while it's day!

But we need men and women

who fight to get back to the mountaintop,

and that means you have to make decisions

in your life to make
certain that you get there.

You need to put the cell phone down,

the iPad down, the computer down,

turn off the TV, turn off the movie,

turn off this world and go back there.

We need to go back there.

And then come down,

and go back there and then come down.

That is absolutely essential.

The mountaintop calls us.

May God help us not to be content

with a bunch of religious activity.

It's on the mountaintop

that Moses beheld His glory.

And it's on the mountaintop

that as He communed with the Lord

that glow came to be upon his face.

And don't think that has nothing to
do with the New Testament believer

because the Apostle Paul
looked at that very example

and said let me tell you something,

that is what it is to be a Christian.

That is exactly what
it is to be the Christian.

What happens?

What happens when we see the glory?

What happens when we go back

face to face with God?

What happens?

I'll tell you what happens.

The same thing that happened to Moses

will happen to us.

This is what 2 Corinthians 3 is all about.

The glory gets on us.

God burns into our hearts

and upon our faces the
image of the Son of God.

And when we go down from the mountain

and out into the world, what happens?

The world sees the glory.

"We all" - you see, the veil
has been taken off.

What does that mean?

Nothing stands in the way anymore.

Do you realize what that means, Christian?

It means that you are
one of the select few

on the face of the earth

that has had the veil taken off.

Which means God has put you in a place

to be emblazoned by His glory

if you will but expose yourself to it.

The veil is gone.

"We all with unveiled face

beholding the glory of the Lord..."

He's been talking about Moses

being exposed to the glory

and having that glory on his face.

"We are being transformed
into the same image

from one degree of glory to another,

for this comes from the
Lord who is the Spirit."

We come down from the mountain.

And you know what?
The onlooking world will see the glory.

The glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ

etched into us.

Into our character,

into our person.

Look, there's something.

When you hear,

when I was saying to you

that this is Christ in
the Song of Solomon:

"Come away."

"Come away."

And you hear that and it sounded sweet.

But you see, you don't want to stop there.

You actually do want to go away with Him.

And then come down.

Go the Mount of Transfiguration.

See the glory break through

so that you see He's way
beyond just a mere man.

Behold the glory.

It's being like Christ that turns
the world upside down.

The thing is if we try to go on

to chapter 4, 5, and 6 of Ephesians

and we lose sight of
that term: "therefore,"

and forget its significance in the fact

that it joins what went before

with what's coming after,

then you know what?

You know what will happen?

You try to be dutiful

and you try to do

and you try to work

without the image of Christ being

emblazoned into your soul,

you know what you'll be?

You'll just be hollow religionists.

It's a form of godliness,

but it lacks the power.

The power comes from

a close intimacy with Christ.

This excerpt was taken
from the full sermon

"Onward"

from Tim's Ephesians series.