We are in a world where two seas meet. The tensions of life are so much felt. But can we see Jesus in His glory, as the Apostles did on the Mount of Transfiguration? Things are troublesome, but God is faithful. He puts laughter in us. He delivers. He drives demons away and lifts up our heads. Let us not be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow. Mark 9:2-29; Acts 27:41

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon 11948
7:00 PM on 9/2/2020

P. Schaller –

Wow that was awesome. Thank you! Praise the Lord! Tonight our theme is joy for our sermon tonight. Say that
with me. Joy. J-O-Y is how you spell it. That’s the beginning of the message. Joy. Do you have
joy? Have you ever lost joy? Have you ever sold it away? Have you sold joy? How much did you
sell it for? Did you sell it? No, it’s not for sale. Where does it come from? When do you have it?
How long do you have it for? How do you live in it? Can the devil steal my joy? Aren’t those
good questions? You’re not talking back to me. How about the world we live in? Do they miss
it? Are they suffering? Are people in trouble today? Do they have joy? Oftentimes they don’t
have. Many times they don’t have but you have it. It’s a great gift to us. It’s a fruit of the Spirit.
It’s an amazing thing. I remember a joke by George Burns. When he was 99 years old he
reflected on his past. Should I tell you the joke?

He was reflecting on his past and he told this story. When he was 7 years old, he was in a singing group, a Jewish singing group because he was a Jew. A Presbyterian church asked his little group to come and be in a competition. They won first place and he won a watch. When he came home, he said mom, I don’t want to be a
Jew anymore. I want to be a Presbyterian. She said why? He said, because I’ve been a Jew for
seven years and I got nothing, and I was a Presbyterian for fifteen minutes and I got this watch!
Bible college is starting. We have some Canadians here with us and we have a Hungarian lady
from Hungary. So how about the Canadians come up here and show us the latest fashion!
Come on up! And then anybody from abroad that came for Bible college. Is Dianna here from
Hungary? Who else? Newport from Finland.

Second time in one week. We want to show you off. Very good. Do we have a microphone? You name. (They’re giving their names). Thank you very much. You may sit down. The video for Bible school, please. This is a Wednesday night service and we are so thankful for the teachers at GGCA. If you are a teacher, would you stand?
We want to thank you for your commitment and hard work. Pivy over here. Awesome. Thank
you so much. Sandon teaching math. That’s a new thing for us at the school. Not for him but for
us at the school. P. Barry and the team and Trish Watson. Good news. The governor of
Maryland said today that Friday night phase three starts. That’s a good word. That’s about
time! That’s perfect! Praise the Lord. I’m very encouraged. I want to give us a good message
tonight to encourage us and build us up. I pray that it will be edifying to us in our inner man. I’m
very thankful for so much that is happening in the Lord. In difficult times, we know that. We
had a good End Times Seminar and I think a lot of that can be shared in the future but tonight
Joy.

How important joy is. Acts 27, a verse maybe you remember we preached on, “a place
where two seas met.” How many remember that message? Acts 27:41. A place where two seas
met. I believe there are two realities that we live in every day. There are two worlds and they
go together but they are two definite real realities. One we see in Mark 9 the two of them. I
want you to be with me in the message as we begin it. I am sorrowful the Apostle said in 2 Cor.
6. I am sorrowful but then always – you can finish it. Sorrowful but always–? Turn to 2 Corinthians 6, If
you would like a good memory portion for this week, read 2 Corinthians 6 and memorize from verse 3
down through verse 11. It’s a good text. It contrasts. In vs. 10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing.
How can you be sorrowful and always rejoicing? There is another point here. 2 Corinthians 2:7 I get you
thinking and read your Bible and read about it. We will get to the message in a minute.

2 Corinthians 2:7 swallowed up with over much sorrow. Do you see it. Swallowed up with over much sorrow.
The context is a man who has sinned very – even the pagan culture didn’t do such a thing as he
did which was sleep with his father’s wife. Paul said this to them in 1 Corinthians 5. He should be
forgiven. Now that man should be forgiven. That man has repented, and he should be forgiven.
If we don’t forgive him, he could be swallowed up with over much sorrow. I want to use that
phrase and have it stick in your heart and mind. Swallowed up with too much sorrow, a lot of
sorrow. Being swallowed up with sorrow, over much sorrow. This is what happens to people.
They get so sad and swallowed up with their sorrow. They get so broken and so sad and they
get swallowed up with over much sorrow. It happens. It can happen to a Christian. He lives in
too much sorrow. I’m saying it over and over again and we are sliding down in our chair. It will
be good because I want to help you. I want to teach you something.

Paul said I am sad. I don’t deny it. That’s one sea. One sea meets another sea. What’s the other sea? Let me explain this to you. In the ocean, you can have currents that actually go in different directions. On the
surface, water could be going this way but under the surface it could be going another way. A
rip current and where two seas meet there can be a lot of trouble there. I want to use it this
way: people have sorrow, but they also have joy. They have sorrow but not swallowed up by
the sorrow. They have found and they know, they have a reference in their life, a new standard,
a new reference and it’s something God gives to you. You have it. God gave it to you. You have
it. I wanted to point it out to you in Mark 9. I don’t want to turn there just yet. Can you imagine
somebody in a depression and in so deep. Has anyone ever been in a deep depression? It’s
horrible. It’s horrible. It’s a nightmare.

You might think you’ll never get out of it. You’ll never get out of it. It’s incredible darkness. It’s incredible. It can catch you and take you down. I’m sorry to say that the troubles that we see happening in some lives they need help. I’m glad to say that. I’m sorry to say that the unsaved and the people we run into in our working places and
different places they need to find not long discussions about sorrow, they need to find life.
They need to find Jesus Christ. They need to see a happy face. They need to touch a spirit of joy.
They need a word of love and life and love and encouragement and wisdom. I’m very thankful
for the church because I’ve seen us go through things with a lot of joy and a lot of strength.
Though we are weak there is a lot of strength in God. A lot of good things happening and the
Spirit moving and loving people and sharing our joy with people.

Go to Mark 9. This was our morning devotional. I shared it this morning on the website and it just hasn’t left me all day. It’s sticking in my heart. Mark. 9:2-13. That’s one sea. You could call it a sea. It’s one of these
movements of water. It’s the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration with Elijah and Moses. P.
Shibley gave a great message on that Sunday night. It was beautiful. There was a lot of life in it.
Can you imagine Jesus turning white in prayer on the mountain with Peter, James, and John and
then Elijah and Moses appear. What kind of fellowship do they have? What does it represent? I
think it represents heaven. When we go to heaven, we’re going to see Jesus. We’re going to see
Elijah. We’re going to see Moses. And we’re going to see our relatives and many others down
through history. One thing in my heart, so many great men and women of God through history
I’m so excited about meeting them. I’m so glad to be part of that company.

I’m so glad to be. I can’t believe it. It’s incredible. I read this little piece. It says Michelangelo said to fellow painters – this is in 1564 – he’s the artist that did the Sistine Chapel. “Why do you keep filling gallery
after gallery with endless pictures of the one ever reiterated theme of Christ in weakness, of
Christ on the cross, Christ dying, Christ hanging dead? Why do you stop there as if the curtain
closed upon that horror? Keep the curtain open and with the cross in the foreground let us see
beyond it to the Easter dawn with its beams streaming upon the risen Christ. Christ alive, Christ
ruling, Christ triumphant. For we should be ringing out over the world that Christ has won, that
evil is toppling, that the end is sure, that death is followed by victory.

That is the tonic that we need to keep us healthy, the trumpet blast to fire our blood and send us crowding in behind our Master swinging happily upon our way, laughing and singing and recklessly unafraid because
the feel of victory is in the air and our hearts thrill to it.” I like that idea and of course the risen
Christ, the finished work, the throne, the priesthood, the blood, the redemption, the
forgiveness, the Spirit, Pentecost, the joy, the risen Christ. He appeared to 500 people and I
can’t help but think when the 500 people saw him, they started laughing, hugging each other,
rejoicing, jumping up and down, can’t believe it. The one hanging on the cross is now
resurrected and standing in front of us. He appeared to them. It’s the resurrection. It’s the
throne. It’s the victory. This is the first part of Mark 9.

The meaning behind it is that the disciples were brought into a spiritual experience that they would never forget. This is it. This is the bottom line. This is Christ. This is the resurrection. This is fellowship. That’s to be
understood and I believe because we are born again and Spirit filled and the Spirit wants to
show us this, we have degrees of that happening in our hearts. The more of that happening in
our life the better. That sea is going to meet another sea, and that other sea is very different
from this one. This sea is God’s statement to us, and it must be very clear. It must be
reinforced. It must be Scripturally woven into the fabric of our spiritual man. We lift up our
head and believe. We behold like Stephen when he was stoned. Good example. He saw Christ
standing and then the stones are coming. Two seas meeting. The reality of God and grace and
heaven and the Spirit and joy, and then the reality of death and sorrow. Paul said as sorrowful
but always rejoicing. Why always? Because he never lost this.

When it’s written in your spirit and heart, you don’t forget it. I believe it but it takes time. You grow in it. I’m very sorrow for the people that don’t have what we have tonight. I’m very sorrow for people that are
swallowed up in very much sorrow. They watch the news. They get anxious. They are troubled.
Their hearts are troubled. They have a problem in their family. They get angry. They lash out.
They get isolated. They get hurt and they try to find their way. You know what I’m talking
about. Go to the next part. 9:14. This is the second sea. There are 9. There were three with him
and they come down and meet him. Now it’s a totally different story. Vs. 14. Have you ever
come down off the mountain and been in one of these meetings? I have. I have. Can you
identify some of these scribes. Could you give them a name? Maybe I could. Maybe not exactly
the same but I understand the spirit of the scribe.

They are around the nine. There is a group of them, a multitude, maybe 80 or 100 people around a group of 9. They are like sheep in the midst of wolves. The scribes are asking them questions. This is another environment. That kind
of experience produces sorrow. Unanswered questions. Troubled hearts. Accusation. Demonic
activity. Problem upon problem and that happens to Christian people. They get so buried in these kinds of environments and then they don’t go to the church. They don’t have a prayer
life. They don’t have a devotional life. They haven’t seen Jesus turn white in a spiritual sense.
Have you seen Jesus not just on the cross but resurrected? Have you seen him turn white and
appear unto you in your spirit? Have you seen him in your heart? That’s the source of our joy
but this other one is the source of our sorrow. Look at the descriptive words here. Vs. 14.
Questioning them. Vs. 15.

When they saw Jesus, he’s here. He’s here. Hi, Jesus! They come running to him. This thing over here is like a nightmare. You and I must recognize this because it’s part of life. We’re not removed from that. That happens at the working place, at the hospital, at a police station, at a school, a university. It happens in a classroom. It may happen
with your best friends. It seems there is a demonic atmosphere there and there is. It’s written
here. vs. 16-18. They couldn’t cast out the spirit. That sounds familiar to. Bring a very troubled
young man into a church and we can’t cast out the spirit. We cannot do it. We can’t cast out
the spirit. Maybe we can’t even sing songs without any passion. Maybe we can’t even read the
Bible correctly. Maybe we can’t even have a prayer meeting because this dark world is a world
of demonic activity that wants to put the church under their thumb. You can’t cast out a
demon. You can’t have a prayer meeting.

You can’t be excited. You can’t have any joy. You can’t have any authority. You can’t have any mission. You can’t have any vision. You’re nothing. You’re over, your swallowed up with much sorrow. Sorrow. And you’re afraid. I can make you afraid. I can put you down. I can narrow your world to something very small, the devil says. So
Jesus has a great burden in his heart. It’s like this. I’m going to go away one day, and these are
my disciples and I need them. I need them to show up and be on my side. I need them to be
filled with the Spirit. I need them to cast out demons. I need them to be able to open their
mouths. I need them to have compassion in their hearts. I need them in the United States of
America. I need them in the major cities of America. I need them to be saying to their neighbor,
hey, good morning. How are you doing? God bless you.

They are troubled. You are not. They are worried. They are afraid. You are not. They don’t have a message. They have their life and you are not. You have been to the mountain or you’ve seen him in your heart. You know who
Jesus is. He’s filled you with the Spirit. He’s baptized you into the Body. He made you a member
of his body, flesh and bones. Isn’t that amazing. I can see Jesus. We all feel it in a way. Ahh! This
is my human way of saying. I’m not saying this is from God. I’m trying to help you understand.
Ahh! I’m so glad I came into this dark world but it’s not easy. I’m so glad I came here. You can’t
believe what it’s like in heaven. Nothing like this in heaven. There is nobody with demons in
heaven. Nobody arguing. Nobody accusing. There aren’t Pharisees gathered around trying to
bury my disciples. There’s nothing like that in heaven.

Moses is humble. Elijah is humble. Jesus is glorified. The Body of Christ is beautiful. The edification permeates you. You are saturated with godly, holy edification and encouragement. You have joy unspeakable and full of glory.
That’s what the disciples saw on the Mount of Transfiguration, a taste of heaven. Now we know
this story because we are living here. Ever get in an argument with your teacher in school? Ever
lose a good friend? Ever have someone you fell in love with leave you and get married to
somebody else? Ever been a mother trying to take care of your kids and everything goes upside
down in one day? The milk spills over, the garage catches on fire, the lawnmower is broken, and you broke your leg. You made a great meal for your husband and he says this is delicious. Can
you make it again? You say no. I don’t know what it is! Okay. Go to the next verse. Vs. 19. This is
what I mean by the feeling of Jesus.

I think he is talking to his nine particularly and anyone else that is there with him. Ahh. How long do I have to be here? How long do I have to be with you? The church is a challenging thing but it’s so awesome because of the benefits of it. Stick it out. Stick it out and stay in it. Stay in the game. Stay in the fight. We need you. When I fade away and I’m only in this environment, then it’s like the Lord rolls his eyes and says come on! How
long do I need to be here for you to get the idea that I’m serious about this? That I’m doing
warfare against the enemy. I’m serious about this. I’m going to get something done and I need
you guys on my team. Let’s go. We’re on the same team. Vs. 19-21. When I read that recently
“of a child,” it’s a mystery. A child. Demons came into a child. Why? Was the mother in
witchcraft? If the mother is in witchcraft, it may be that the demons have a right to the children
and the children are victims.

The demons go to the children. It may be. We don’t know what happened. Or it could be that God is saying that a child’s heart can say yes to the devil when he’s young. It could be. We don’t know the age of accountability. We don’t know what it really is, but could a demon come to a child and be invited? It could be. We don’t know. In any way,
this is a wicked evil world with demonic activity and Jesus is coming into that world from
heaven and he has a ministry as sorrowful but always rejoicing because our God is a mighty
God, eternal God, a Spirit. He is Spirit. He is love. He has been sent into this world. Vs. 22-23.
That’s all. Could you say it as a habit to somebody, pray to God. Trust God. Could you do that as
a habit? When you meet a child, but you don’t even know them. Pray to God. God will answer
you. Ask God. Pray to God. Can you do that? Believing God.

Everything is possible with God. Some young person has a problem with their math, their math test. Pray to God. God will hear you. God cares. Learn to pray. Ask God. A teenager has a problem at home with the parents
getting a divorce or the parents are mean to each other. How do you counsel the teenager?
Pray to God. Trust God. Be quiet before God. Walk by faith in God. God hears you. God will help
you in your family. God will answer prayer. Do you do that? This is a very simple thing. That’s
what Jesus said. This man is in great distress. His son has a demon. He’s in a great distress. The
counsel is simple. Believe in God. Trust God. Believe. It’s possible. All things are possible. The
man appropriately said, “I believe, but help my unbelief.” What does that mean, that
statement? It means I believe and at the same time I have unbelief. How can that be? That’s
very important. I draw it this way in a diagram.

There’s a coin. On one side is faith and the same coin is doubt. That’s the way it is. It’s not as if we are always walking around with full faith and no doubt. It does happen. I have full confidence. I do not doubt it. I believe it. That is true but not always. Sometimes I have a little faith but help my unbelief. This is a message of grace from
heaven. This is God understanding human beings. This is God saying I understand a human
being. I understand your pain, your trouble, your unbelief, your fear. I understand who you are.
The Mount of Transfiguration is the reality and then this world is reality but in this world I have
that in the back of my mind, and I know the nature of God, the nature of the kingdom and
that’s how we have joy always. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. We can
always say, he is risen. He is risen.

You can always be quiet and trust and wait upon the Lord and know there is something better. There is something better than my pain and sorrow. That sea will meet this sea. That sea meets this sea. In the story in the book of Acts it says the ship ran aground. The ship was destroyed but everybody was saved. It might be something will be
destroyed in my life, but I’d rather have the two seas meet. I’d rather meet God in the reality of
his kingdom and the reality of a demonic world and say here we are. We can do battle. We can
believe you. If we get in trouble, that’s fine. I’m in a place where two seas meet. But Jesus sent
us here. He sent us to say no, I don’t agree with that. No, to the Pharisees. You guys have your
little talk. I’m out of here. I have Jesus in my heart. You have your little talk. I’ll be here like
Stephen, very wise. You can’t resist my spirit. The only way to get rid of me is to kill me. That
might be the very thing that will happen.

As you are killing me, my face is shining like an angel because there is a kingdom in you, that is in your heart and spirit. Vs. 23-28. So Jesus comes into the house. It’s over. There is the victory. They are relaxing there. They say, why couldn’t we cast him out? Maybe we should talk to Jesus like that more. Why couldn’t it be? Why couldn’t
we have a revival? By the way September 26th , we’re going to go to Lincoln Memorial by bus. If
you want to come with us, we’re going to pray with Franklin Graham. No music or preaching.
According to his directions, we’re going to walk from the Lincoln Memorial down to the Capital
Building praying for our country. Praying for our country. We could sit around talking to Jesus.
Why couldn’t we cast him out? Why couldn’t there be more happening? Why couldn’t there be
more salvations? You know what I mean. Why? All these understandable things we could talk
about this fallen world. Why isn’t there more going on? Why isn’t there? Jesus would talk back
to us. Halleluiah.

Lovingly with an excitement in our spirit we’ll say amen, Lord. We agree. We
believe. Yes, Lord. Vs. 29. What else could Jesus say to us? He could say to us here at Greater
Grace, I believe he could say I am so thrilled that you guys meet together often. I’m so thrilled
that you are not living in any fear. I’m so thrilled that you are on a mission, that you go to the
little towns and villages in Maryland and Virginia and PA and New Jersey. I’m so glad that one
soul is valuable across the street. I’m so glad that you got a day school. I’m so glad you have a
prayer meeting. I’m so glad that you are anticipating my coming. I’m so glad that you are
engaged in warfare. I’m so glad you are not afraid of the devil and darkness, and I’m so glad
that you are not swallowed up over much with sorrow because this world needs your happy
face. Ecclesiastes 8:1 causes our countenance to shine and be bold as a lion. He allows us to have a
ministry by his grace.

Amen.

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.