Seeing the Kingdom of God, Part 2

Let's pray together. Father, we are so grateful for the Word of the Lord. We thank you, Lord, that when we are discouraged, your Word gives us encouragement. When we are down, your Word lifts us up. Because, Father, in your Word are the precepts that guide us and lead us every single day. We pray that you would show us your glory today. And we pray that, Father, the things that you show us in your Word would enable us to continue to persevere for the glory and honor of your name. Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Turn with me and your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 9. Luke chapter 9, as we are looking at the greatest event in the life of Christ between his birth and his death. And this event is so great. It is so monumental. I'm hoping that today you'll be able to see how the Old Testament and the New Testament come together in perfect form. Our God is so good at how He reveals to us His identity and shows us who He is. We truly are at the conclusion of an event. We are at the end of a time that began in verse number 18 of Luke chapter 9.

That all centered around the identity of the Messiah. It talked about the centrality of His mission. And then moved to the reality of His message. And now we come to the glory on the mountain. The ending of this time in Caesarea Philippi. The ending of the climactic ending that will take us to the end of the age. And it becomes the most monumental event in the life of our Christ between His birth and His death. And we want you to see this morning how that unfolds before you. Verse 26 is a transition verse.

It says, for whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. This is all about the blessed hope. This is all about the blessed hope. This is all about the arrival of the kingdom. This should set the apostles' hearts and minds at ease. Because this will help them understand the two comings of the Messiah.

Because this is the first time that the Messiah introduced to us His return in His words. Now, how does this play itself out before us to show us how important this passage is? Well, remember that the Bible says in the book of Isaiah these words.

Verse number 3, a voice is calling, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low. And let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed. The glory of the Lord will be revealed. Isaiah 40 is a prophetic passage dealing with the arrival of John the Baptist. We've seen that in our study of Luke. And so it foretells for us what's going to happen before, listen, the glory of the Lord is revealed.

Why? Because the glory of the Lord is the identity of the Messiah. The glory of the Lord is the identity of the Messiah. You see, you must understand that the Old Testament is very clear that the Messiah is God in the flesh. There is no mistake about it. The Old Testament is very clear that the glory of the Lord is the identification of the Messiah who will come after that voice comes crying in the wilderness. And we know that John the Baptist was that voice. And Jesus on this day in Luke 9 says, some of you will see that glory.

Some of you will see that kingdom. And that's important. Why? Because remember, in the Old Testament, how is it God would manifest himself? The glory of the Lord would come down in brilliant light. The glowing, the shining. And in Exodus 33 it would be Moses who said to God, show me your glory. I want to be able to see the fullness of your glory. And God said, no Moses, I can't do that to you because if I did, you would die. Because Timothy tells us, or Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, verse number 16, that God dwells in unapproachable light.

And so whenever the Lord revealed himself in the Old Testament, he revealed himself by the description, the glory of the Lord. Remember way back in Leviticus chapter 9, Moses told Israel that you're going to see the glory of the Lord. And sure enough, they did. Over in the wilderness wanderings, when Israel was fed in the wilderness, the Bible tells us that the glory of the Lord came down. In the wilderness, when they were wandering from place to place, it was the glory of the Lord that would take them from one location to another.

On Mount Sinai, it was Moses who would come face to face with the glory of the Lord. And when he would come down from that mountain, his face would shine and glow because of the presence of God in his life. If you read over in the book of Numbers, Numbers chapter 16, when the people rebelled against Moses and Aaron, it says that the glory of the Lord came down and threatened to consume that whole nation. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram misused the priestly office, it was the glory of the Lord that consumed them.

It says that in Numbers chapter 20, at the waters of Meribah, that the glory of the Lord was present among the people. And in First Kings chapter 8, at the completion of the temple, it talks to us about how the glory of the Lord was present there in that temple.

And when you come to Isaiah's prophecy, it tells us that that glory will be revealed. Now note, when Israel would see the glory of the Lord, they would see it by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud of brightness and fire by the day. But as Job would say over in Job 26, these are just the fringes of His ways. You see, the glory of the Lord was so veiled that they truly didn't understand it. But God was going to make Himself clearly known to His people. And that's why the prophecy in Isaiah 40 talks to us about that voice will come crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.

Why? Because then the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And Christ says to His men that some of you will see kingdom glory before you die.

Now folks, this is so crucial. Why? Because the glory of the Lord is the manifestation of God in brilliant, dazzling, beaming light. That's the glory of the Lord. And that is so crucial. Why? Because all you have to do is realize that the prophecy of Malachi 4 is that the Son of Righteousness, the S-U-N, not S-O-N, the S-U-N, the Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. A title for the Messiah. Speaking of the brightness of the glory of the Messiah. The Bible also says that in the book of Numbers, the 24th chapter, that the Messiah has a name.

That name is a star. For a star will rise out of Jacob. And that star will be the Messiah. Once again, going back to the glory, the brilliant light of the Messiah. And that's why Jesus is called the bright morning star in Revelation 22, 16. And in Revelation 2 and 3, the Spirit of God promises that those who are overcomers, they will receive the morning star. That's why Peter speaks in 2 Peter 1 about the day star that rises in the hearts of those who believe in Him. That's why there was a star that would lead the wise men for two years until they came to that place where the baby laid.

And that's why when the shepherds were in Bethlehem, the glory of the Lord would shine around them. The brightness, the brilliance of the presence of God would shine all around them to indicate that the star, the Messiah, had arrived in Bethlehem. There was no mistake about it. The Bible is very clear that the Messiah is the revelation of the glory of God. Hebrews chapter 1 says it this way. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

And He is the radiance or the brilliance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature. He is the radiance the apogasma, which speaks of the shining forth, the sending of the light. That is Jesus is the shining of the exact representation of God Himself. God is spirit. How did He manifest Himself in the Old Testament? Through the glory of the Lord. Through the dazzling brilliant light of God. For God is light and Him is no darkness at all. And Jesus is the shining forth of that light. Jesus is God in the flesh.

And so, make no mistake about it. The Old Testament clearly taught that the Messiah was God in the flesh. In Revelation, I'm sorry, Zechariah chapter 12, verse number 10, it's the Lord, the King of Israel who says, they will look upon Me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for Him. The Me is the Him and the Him is the Me. No mistake about it. Messiah is God in the flesh. Zechariah 13, verse number 7, there'll be a mighty man who is My equal, speaking of the shepherd, the servant of God, who is the Messiah.

The Messiah is equal in nature with God Himself. Isaiah 9, verse number 6, the Messiah is called the mighty God. He's called the everlasting Father or the originator of eternity. And the only one who can be the originator of that which is eternal is one who Himself is eternal. Make no mistake about it. The only one who Old Testament. The Old Testament clearly taught that the Messiah is God in flesh over and over again. Now, the Jews, of course, have missed that. They've been blinded. We know that through Isaiah chapter 6, that they refuse to believe in Jesus Christ and so God blinded their eyes to the truth.

But folks, the Bible is very clear. In the Old Testament, that the Messiah is God in the flesh. And in Isaiah chapter 40 verse number 3, when that forerunner comes he will clear the path for the glory of the Lord to be revealed. And Jesus says in Luke chapter 9, here it is, some of you are going to make it to see kingdom glory.

Not all of you, but before you die, some of you will see kingdom glory. This is so crucial because he tells them that the Son of Man is going to return in verse number 26. It's the first time they've ever heard about that.

But the Old Testament taught the two comings of the Messiah. And again, the Jews have missed that, but the Old Testament clearly taught both comings of the Messiah. Now Jesus makes it clear he's going to return. He's come once in glory. But when he returns, he will return in greater glory, in the fullness of glory. His glory will be so bright. His glory will be so brilliant. His glory will be so big. His glory will be so incredible that the whole world will see it. Zechariah 14 tells us that the glory of the Lord will actually fill the earth.

Zechariah chapter 14 says it this way. Zechariah 14 verse number 4, and in the day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. And you will flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Uzzahel. Yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.

Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with him. And it will come about in that day that there will be no light, the luminaries will dwindle, for it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. And it will come about in that day that the living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea. It will be in summer as well as in winter.

It will be completely dark, says Zechariah the prophet. There will be no light, because the stars will have disappeared. The sun will become dark, just like it says in the book of Revelation. That's why in Matthew chapter 24 Jesus says this in verse 29, but immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

That's the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy in Zechariah chapter 14 verses 7 and following. And then it says, and then the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. He will come with great glory. He came the first time in the fullness of glory.

He will come the second time in the greatness of his glory. And that's why the whole world will see him. The whole world will be pitch black. It will be dark and the Messiah will come and the glory of the Lord will be seen by the entire world. The brightness and the bigness of that brightness will be seen by everybody, which is the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy. And Jesus says, you will see the glory of the Lord, a fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy.

He says, the son of man will return. That's a title that Christ took for himself right out of Daniel chapter nine, Daniel chapter nine. When it says in verse number nine, I kept looking until the thrones were set up and the ancient of days took his seat. Speaking of God himself, his vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head, like pure wool. His throne was a blaze with flames. Its wheels were a burning fire. If you go to revelation chapter one, the vision of the glorified Christ is the exact same as the vision of Daniel, Daniel nine of the ancient of days, God himself.

And the Bible says in verse 10, a river of fire was flowing and coming out from him. Thousands upon thousands were attending him and myriads upon myriads were standing before him. The court sat and the books were open. Speaking of the judgment of the ancient of days and it says in verse 13, I kept looking in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion, glory in the kingdom that all the people's nations and men of every language might serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. So Jesus says in Luke chapter nine, you will see the son of man coming on the clouds with great glory.

He takes them way back to Daniel chapter nine. Now remember they, they're missing all this. Why are they missing it? Because Jesus is talking about his death. He's talking about their dying and they're just so consumed, overwhelmed with, with the burden of the Messiah's death and their death. They, they miss everything that Jesus is saying, but he tells it to him anyway so that they will remember what he said and then he's going to give them a preview of kingdom glory so that they will one day be able to tell others about the return of the Messiah.

He tells them the son of man is going to come. He's going to come in full glory. He explains that to them to help them understand Daniel nine, Zachariah chapter fourteen, to help them understand Zachariah chapter twelve because the Old Testament clearly taught that the Messiah is God and that there are two comings of the Messiah in the Old Testament. Can't miss it unless of course you're not saved. If you're not saved you miss it. If you're born again you've seen it because the Lord has revealed to you his glory.

He's revealed to you his, his coming. You understand these things. And so Jesus says to his men, the son of man is going to return in all of his glory and all the holy ones will be with him.

All the holy ones will be with him. Speaking of Zachariah's prophecy once again. So now the wheel should begin to turn in the minds of the apostles but they're not yet turning because they're so overburdened, so wearied by the fact that their expectations of the kingdom will not happen according to their plans. And so Jesus says but some of you, not all of you, some of you will see the kingdom's glory.

And Luke tells us it was eight days later that he would take Peter, James and John up onto this mountain, this high mountain according to Matthew's account. He would take them there and we saw two things last week. We saw the son's transformation and we saw the saint's affirmation. We saw the son's transformation when the text says and some eight days after these sayings it came about that he took alone, along Peter and John and James and went up to the mountain to pray. And while he was praying the appearance of his face became different and his clothing became white and gleaming.

Such an understatement by Luke. Matthew's account says that his face shone like the sun. His face became different, heteron, different than what was normal to them. Different of another kind, not different of the same kind, different of another kind. That is when they saw him they saw the face of a man but on this day his face would shine like the sun. And from his being through his garments there was like flashes of lightning and dazzling brightness that would just consume the entire mountaintop as they would begin to observe the glory of the Lord.

He was metamorphosized before them. He was transfigured before them. The flesh was unzipped and the deity would shine forth. The glory of the Lord would be seen. He says some of you will see that glory. Some of you will see that kingdom. And sure enough on this day it begins the preview of the kingdom of God for these three men. They would get a glimpse of the kingdom. They would get a glimpse of the glory of Almighty God. And as that brightness would shine from him. Remember Hebrews 1 says that he is the radiance of his glory.

He is a shining forth of the presence of God. He is the exact representation of the nature of God. And so that light would shine forth because the glory of the Lord is the presence of God manifested in brilliant light. Jesus is God. Make no mistake about it. It's unmistakable what the scriptures teach about the identity of Christ himself. And that light would shine forth in full brightness on that day on the mountain. There was a sun transfiguration and then there was the saints affirmation. There appeared the Bible says in verse number 30 two men talking with him.

And they were Moses and Elijah who appearing in glory were speaking of his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. This is the saints affirmation. They were affirming. Moses and Elijah were affirming the departure of Christ at Jerusalem. They had been in the presence of Christ since the day that Moses died and Elijah was taken up into glory. And so they knew about the death of Christ. They knew about his departure in Jerusalem and that was the topic of the conversation. It was all about the redemption of the Messiah.

It was all about the purpose for why he came. The centrality of his mission. Because the first coming he would come to die.

The second coming he would come to reign. The first time he came to be killed. The second time he comes to kill.

And so therefore they understood that Moses and Elijah would affirm the fact that the Messiah was coming to die. They would affirm the fact that he would die in Jerusalem. They would affirm the fact that the Messiah would come to redeem man from his sin. And that's what they were doing. They were talking to the Messiah, Moses and Elijah as they were confirming and affirming that the plan was going as it has always been set. Everything was perfectly moving along in the timetable of God. And all this was happening.

And Peter, James and John were asleep. They missed all this. And so you come to verse number 32. Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep. Now this was something that was normal for them. And it wasn't the fact that they were bored. It wasn't the fact that they were disinterested. That's not it. Christ took them up into the mountain to pray. But folks listen for the last eight days they were overwhelmed. They were overcome with grief. Remember in Luke's account in the garden again they were overcome with grief knowing that the Messiah was going to die.

And how did they suppress that grief? By going to sleep. That's exactly what they did on the Mount of Transfiguration. The whole element about their Messiah dying did not compute with them. It went way beyond anything they could conjure up in their own minds. And the very fact that Jesus said not only am I going to die but you've got to take up your cross and you've got to die too. That just didn't go over real well with the men. I mean after all they were expecting the kingdom to come. They were expecting the king to rule.

They were expecting to sit on twelve thrones and rule over Israel. They were expecting all the great things to happen. And Jesus says I'm going to die and by the way so are you.

And they were just overcome with grief. It was just too much of a burden for them to bear. Having thought about it for eight days we don't know what took place in the intervening time. But it had to be just overwhelming for them. Their expectations for the Messiah had been dashed. And now they were thinking what is going to happen next? And Jesus told them some of you will see my glory. Some of you will see my kingdom. Now folks just let me stop right here for a second.

This is what life is all about. We go through life and we're filled with disappointments. Life is filled with all kinds of depression, depressive thoughts. All kinds of oppressive thoughts. All kinds of difficulties in our life. And the only thing that you have is the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ wants these men to get their minds off of that which is horizontal to that which is vertical. And you know what folks that's us. We are so here aren't we?

That's all we think about is today. What's happening in my life today? And Christ constantly wants us to set our hearts and minds on things above. He wants us to look for His glory. He wants us to eagerly anticipate the coming of the King. And sometimes, listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you. Sometimes God allows all those bad things to happen in your life to get you to have a proper perspective. Your perspective like mine is so far out of whack. And God says you know what I'm just going to let you sit right there for a while until you finally realize that your life is not about you.

That your life is not about your happiness. And that your life is not about your comfort. Your life should be consumed with me, my presence and my glory. And I'm going to let you sit there for a while until you gain that perspective. Sometimes that's what God does. It's that Hebrews 12 passage. That disciplined hand of God. He loves you so much. He wants you to see Him in the midst of all that's happening. This was the man. I'm going to die. And you're going to die too. But the Son of Man will return.

Folks, the hope of the return of the Messiah is the single greatest motivating factor in the life of the believer. The single greatest motivating factor in the life of the believer that Jesus is coming again. That's why in the fall we're going to do a whole series on the return of the King. And why you need to anticipate that return. It will consume the whole fall and into the wintertime and into the spring because we want you to understand all the events centered around the return of the King because that is the hope of the believer.

That's our hope. He's coming again. And so here Jesus in a very special way just takes three of them, the inner circle, and says, come up with me unto the mountain and pray with me. But Jesus was praying alone because his men fell asleep. And he was transfigured before them. His face was shining like the sun and the brightness of his glory would shine from his presence. And then comes Moses and Elijah. I mean, imagine seeing. And they're talking to Christ about his departure, about his death in Jerusalem.

Peter and James and John were overcome with sleep, but now they're going to wake up because Christ is going to make sure they don't miss out. So to wake them up. And it says, now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. They saw the glory. They saw the glory of the Christ. They saw the brilliant, dazzling, gleaming light of God. And they saw the two men standing with him. And we don't know how it is they knew that they were Moses and Elijah.

We talked about that last week. We don't know. They were probably introduced to Peter, James and John so they would understand who they were. We don't know. The text doesn't tell us. But they saw these two men. They saw Moses and Elijah. They saw the Christ. This is what we call the apostles' suggestion. We move from the sun's transfiguration to the saint's affirmation, Moses and Elijah affirming the plan of God, to the apostles' suggestion. They wake up. They see it. They hear the discussion. Now they are in tune with what's happening.

And the Bible says in verse number 33, and it came about. That means it's a phrase designating a certain time period. So evidently there was the listening of the discussion, knowing what was happening. Came about. It says, and as these were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. This is the apostles' suggestion. This is good. Classic understatement by Peter, but it's good for us to be here.

So good for us to be here. I have a suggestion. Let's build three tabernacles. One for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for you. Now why would Peter make that suggestion? What would cause him in his mind to think of building a tabernacle on the mountain? Why does he say, it's good for us to be here? Start with this. We don't need to go back anymore. We don't need to go back down the mountain. It's good for us to be here and it's good for us to stay here. Why? Because what he had always anticipated was the magnificent glory of the king.

And now he has seen that king and he has seen that kingdom in the fullness of his glory. And now he says, we don't need to go back. Let's just bypass the whole death experience. Let's just bypass the whole rejection thing. Let's just look beyond the pain. Look beyond the hostile environment. Let's just camp out right here. It's good for us to be here now.

Let's stay right here. In fact, let's even build a tabernacle. We'll even include Moses and Elijah. We'll build one for you, Jesus. Oh, it didn't look so good for a while. The last eight days, man, have been overwhelming for us. We don't need to go back. This is a lot better than cross bearing. This is a lot better than self-denial. Let's stay right here. We don't need to go back, especially down to the other nine. Let's just stay right here. I've seen the king. I've seen the kingdom. I've seen his glory.

But why the suggestion of a tabernacle? The chronology of Luke 9 is very important. It's six months before Passover. And six months before Passover comes the Feast of Tabernacles. So Peter knows, he should know, that in the prophecy of Zechariah, the Feast of Tabernacles will be observed when Messiah is on the throne. Remember the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles? It was the feast that Israel celebrates, even to this day, every year. They go out of their houses and they live in tents. They live under palm trees and they build these little makeshift tents in their backyard or in their back patio.

It's quite an experience. And they do that to remind them, listen carefully, on how the glory of the Lord tabernacled among them in the wilderness. It's a reminder that it was their God who fed them, it was their God who led them, and it was their God who dwelt among them in the wilderness. And it's done in anticipation of the day when the Messiah will arrive and then he will finally tabernacle among them personally.

He will feed them personally. They will view him personally. And that's why in the Millennial Kingdom they will continue to offer and be a part of the Feast of Tabernacles as a constant reminder that now the King is among them. So Peter, knowing that the Feast of Tabernacles is happening in Jerusalem and hearing the words of Moses and Elijah talking to the Messiah about his departure from Jerusalem, Peter says, I got a better idea. Let's just build a tabernacle right now.

I mean the glory of the Lord is here. The presence of God is among us. Let's forget about everything else. Forget about the cross bearing. Forget about the self denial. And Jesus, forget about your death too because like I said eight days ago, I was right. You don't need to die. You can just do the tabernacle thing right now.

You can set up your kingdom right now. We can glorify you right now. And the Bible says these words, not realizing what he was saying.

He had no idea. He had no idea. Just like eight days before, he had no idea what he was talking about. Peter always thought he did but he really never did until after the resurrection of the Messiah. He had a lot of good ideas so he thought in his own mind, Peter was a legend in his own mind. And so he thought that he had everything on course. He was ready to go. I got, I'm the leader. I got a suggestion. Let's do this. What do leaders do? Leaders lead. I'm going to lead. Let's build the tabernacle Jesus.

Let's do the glory thing right now. That was his suggestion. And yet the Bible says he had no idea what he was saying.

See Peter knows that he's just Elijah. He's just Elijah. And he knows the prophecy of Malachi that says before the Messiah comes, who's going to come? Elijah. Right? Peter knows Elijah's here. That means you're the king and the kingdom will be established. We don't need to do anything else. Let's stop it right here. So Peter knows that Elijah is there and he's going to come before Messiah. He knows that the glory of the Lord has been revealed as Isaiah 40 has said. He knows that as well, but he doesn't understand that the plan is fixed.

The course has been set. The lamb must die. Isaiah 53 must be fulfilled. Psalm 22 must be fulfilled. Everything about the death of the lamb must happen as planned. He had no idea again what he was saying because before there's a crown, there will always be a cross and the cross must be that which happens. That's the centrality of his mission. We've already talked about that and that's why he had no idea what was happening, which leads us to the Lord's revelation. It says this, and while he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them and they were afraid as they entered the cloud and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my son, my chosen one.

Listen to him. This is the Lord's revelation. We've seen the son's transfiguration. We've seen the saint's affirmation. We've seen the apostle's suggestion and now we see the Lord's revelation. Peter has seen and heard the voices of Moses and Elijah talking to the Messiah about his departure. Moses and Elijah begin to leave and during their leaving, he interrupted and said, oh hey, I got an idea. Before you go, I got a suggestion. Let's do this. And as Peter is making his suggestion, God decides to interrupt Peter.

The cloud formed. That's the Shekinah of God, the glory of God, the same cloud in the Old Testament, that bright cloud that would lead the children of Israel through the wilderness, that great presence of God would come down and engulf Moses, Elijah, and Jesus Christ himself. And a voice would come forth from that cloud saying, this is my son, my one who is equal in nature to me. Remember the whole Greek word, weos. It has nothing to do with origin, but everything to do with equality of nature and preeminence.

This is my one who was equal to me. This is my son. This is my chosen one. Listen very carefully. It says, listen to him, which if you read Deuteronomy chapter 18, it says this, Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse number 15, the Lord, your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. Deuteronomy 18, 15, it was Moses speaking of the one that would come after him, speaking of the Messiah, the prophet. So what do you have on the amount of transfiguration?

You had the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18, 15, that there will come a seer, a prophet, okay? You had the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 24, where a star will come out of Jacob, the shining brightness of the glory of God. So you had the seer, you had the star, that Jesus Christ himself will be that shining Shekinah glory, okay? All that's happening on the amount of transfiguration, all that during this event, it's all about the brilliant brightness of the Messiah and the wonder of his glory. It's all happening on this wonderful day.

The Messiah will be a son, S-U-N, of righteousness. He will be a son, S-O-N, of God. He will be the son, S-O-N, of man. All that was revealed on the amount of transfiguration at this time, the Messiah is here. And God the Father says, this is my son. You listen to him. And then in verse 36, we have like an epilogue, it says, and when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone and they kept silent and reported to no one in those days, any of the thing which they had seen. Matthew's account says that they were frightened.

They were fearful. They fell on their faces before the Shekinah of God and Jesus would reach out and touch them like Ezekiel before them, like Isaiah before them, like John in Revelation chapter one would fall before the presence of God and Jesus would reach out and touch them. And when they rose up, Jesus was all alone with them on top of that mountain. And this scene is a scene of the kingdom of God, a preview of the taste of the kingdom. Christ will appear in full glory and when he appears, he will appear with his holy ones with him.

That's a representative of Moses and those who have died. And we understand that when he appears in his kingdom, those who have been raptured, which is representative of Elijah will also be with him. And those who anticipate his coming, Peter, James, and John will also be with him in that kingdom. It's a whole foretaste of the kingdom of God and its beautiful glory as presented on the Mount of Transfiguration. And the Lord God said, listen to my son because what is the son going to say? His son is going to say as they go down the mountain in Matthew 17, by the way, don't tell anybody what you just saw.

Can you imagine that? We can't tell anybody? No. God the Father, I said, this is my son. You make sure you listen to him. On the way down the mountain, Jesus said, fellas, you can't tell anybody about what you saw because they may be tempted to do that. Can you imagine them going down the mountain to the other nine? Oh God, you should have been where we were. You missed it. Let me tell you about Jesus.

Can't tell anybody until after his resurrection. Why? Don't you think that people would come to the saving knowledge of Christ if they just knew? Why did Christ say don't tell them? Simply this, because after he dies, the one thing everybody's going to need to know when they are downcast and depressed and wondering about the future is that Jesus for sure is going to come again because that is the only remedy to your downcast spirit. That is the only remedy to your depressed state. Jesus is coming again.

And he didn't want anybody to think that for any purposes that something could take place that would deter the plan of God or that the apostles might be killed earlier than planned because of what they saw in the man of transfiguration. Christ had it all mapped out perfectly. You wait until after my resurrection and ascension and then you tell everybody I'm coming back. I am going to be sure. And you know this because of what you saw. And James, James wrote no epistle. He wrote no book. But James believed it.

He was martyred. John did write and John one and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Oh, we beheld it. We saw it. And Peter, we write it this way. In second Peter chapter one, verse number 16, for we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the father, such an utterance of this was made to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. We have something, listen, more sure than what we saw.

We have something more sure than our experience. We have the prophetic word of God. He says that in the context of saying, when we were on that mountain, we heard the voice of the majestic glory. We heard his voice. And what you have in your hands is the words of the voice of God. And you have this assurance. You do everything he says. Everything. You listen to him. If you listen to him and all that he says, he will deal with every situation in your life. He'll take care of your life. Because that's who he is.

He's the king of glory. Let me ask you a question. Who do you listen to? Do you listen to the Lord God of the universe? When it comes to dealing with conflict, who do you listen to? Do you listen to God and do what he says? Or do you listen to somebody else and do what they say? When it comes to hardship and heartache, who do you go to for counsel? Who do you listen to? If you're not listening to God, my friend, there will always be a problem. God says we are to forgive as Christ himself forgave.

Do you listen to those words? Or do you ignore those words and say that doesn't apply to me? We're about to partake of the Lord's table that accentuates the great forgiveness of God. And God says, listen to me.

Before you partake, make sure your heart's right with me. Is your heart right with God? Have you listened to God? You see, that's why the Bible says let a man examine himself, right?

Let a man examine himself before he partakes of the bread and the cup. Look at your life. Ask yourself just one question. Do you listen to what God says?

When things around you are crumbling, do you listen to what God says about what to do? Do you listen to his word about his return, his coming again and all of his glory, his wonderful, wonderful provision of salvation for your life? Who do you listen to? I'll tell you this, if you listen to God and to his voice, your depression is erased, your heartache begins to subside, and you truly rest in the presence of his glory. Now, folks, that's what God wants for you. That's what he wants you to do, to trust him and to believe him, everything he says.

And on this day on the holy mountain, Peter, James and John saw the glory of the Lord and the promise of his return the preview of the coming of the king and all of his glory. He is coming again. Do you believe that? Could be today, could be tomorrow. He's coming again. Do you believe that? I trust that you listen only to the words of God, nobody else. I even go so far as to say this, listen to God's word more than you listen to your spouse. Listen to God's word. Listen to his word, because his word reigns supreme.

Follow his word and you will live a life like the apostles lived. When they learned to listen to God and follow him, that's why Peter said in second Peter chapter one, oh, we have a more sure prophetic word.

Peter said, I had some suggestions. I got some ideas and I was throwing them out there. And the more I threw them out there, the more they were just squashed all to bits because my ideas were always the wrong ones. And God's were always the perfect ones. Peter says, I learned to listen.

That's why in first Peter chapter five, he said, you younger, likewise, what humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God's destiny, because God opposes the pride of his own people.

And God opposes pride, but gives grace to the humble. He says, if you are humble, you'll receive the grace of God to sustain you in your heartache. But if pride rules your heart, God opposes you and God will not give you the grace you need. If you're not making it today, ask yourself this, how preeminent is my pride in my life? Or am I humbly submitting to the words of God and truly listening to his voice? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. What a joy. What a joy on the holy mountain. We thank you that you prompted Matthew, Mark and Luke to write of that whole scenario that we might be able to see and understand what took place in that day.

And my prayer, Lord, is for all of us here today, that we would understand that what took place that day was so incredible. And Father, we've had a chance to study it. May we apply it to our lives. May we listen only to you. No one else. Just to the words of God. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.