1 00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:03,520 Good morning everybody, happy long weekend. 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,840 Happy actual summer weather outside. 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:11,040 Excited about that. Turning your Bibles to Luke 4 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:16,280 Chapter 9, Luke Chapter 9, verse 28 to 36, where we're going to 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,040 be today. If you don't have a Bible, 6 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,480 there's some Bibles under some of the chairs and seats here in 7 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,480 the auditorium. And if you don't have one of 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:25,480 your own, take that as our gift to you. 9 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,320 We want you to have the word of God in your hand, and we would 10 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,360 love to see you take one home if you don't have one already. 11 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:34,120 If you have a ton of Bibles, don't take one. 12 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,160 You don't need a Bible collection. 13 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:39,440 This is not your missing piece, OK? 14 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,080 I just want to encourage you. We had an announcement that went 15 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,440 up. The big serve is less than two 16 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,240 weeks away and I am so excited about the opportunity that we 17 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:58,080 have to go out and serve our community in Cambridge, in 18 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,800 Kitchener, Waterloo Region, in Brant County. 19 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,400 Because I was just reading this week in my devotions from 20 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:12,200 Matthew chapter 5, verse 16, that we're called to go and do 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,760 our good deeds. Let our light so shine before 22 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,560 men so that they would see us do our good deeds and praise our 23 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,000 Father who's in heaven. That as we go out and we serve 24 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,120 in the name of Jesus, Jesus name gets lifted up. 25 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,760 And I want to encourage you if you haven't signed up yet, we've 26 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:30,520 got a lot of great projects. There's also a lot that are 27 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,320 fully filled up. So you want to get on this. 28 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:36,040 You don't want to wait till the last second or you might not 29 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,200 find the project that you're hoping for, but we're praying 30 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:44,120 that over 400 of us will go out over that Friday and Saturday 31 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,040 and serve and just lift the name of Jesus high. 32 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:48,920 And it's also a great opportunity. 33 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,200 I know Tammy mentioned this a few weeks ago when she was on 34 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,760 stage to invite others in who don't know Jesus yet. 35 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,040 Friends, neighbors, coworkers who just love the idea of 36 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,880 serving in the community and help them see why we serve in 37 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,560 the community. Help them understand the why 38 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,039 underneath the what. And so I just encourage you to 39 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:09,600 put that little thought in your mind. 40 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,120 Got an announcement here? Before we get going, some of you 41 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,840 will have seen this e-mail, but I know based on how many emails 42 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,960 get opened up, because we can track it, they're probably like 43 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,400 70% of you who got this e-mail haven't opened it up yet. 44 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,960 But Pastor Kirk and I did a little video announcement 45 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:34,880 letting you know something that is both on a personal level and 46 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:36,600 as a church. It's going to be a little sad to 47 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,680 us, but also really, I think there's a lot of joy and I'll 48 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:44,440 explain that in a second in this, that Pastor Kevin and Jen 49 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,440 Pence are going to be leaving our staff come August 5th. 50 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,920 I know many of you have been impacted deeply by Kevin. 51 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:56,120 Jen. They have been here and on staff 52 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,000 for almost 20 years. Jen has spent almost her entire 53 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,240 life in this church out of a other than a brief foray to 54 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:09,240 California for 10 years. And this is not an easy decision 55 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,320 for them to come to. I can just tell you, for me 56 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,080 personally, my entire time on staff, they have been on staff. 57 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,160 And they're not just staff, they're friends to me. 58 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,440 And so there's a sadness there that I know. 59 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,280 But here's the joy that I want to tell you about. 60 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:28,160 They are going to a church and Tillsberg Pastor Kevin is coming 61 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:32,800 on staff as pastor of discipleship there, where God is 62 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:34,520 going to use them in such a great way. 63 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,040 They are just desperately needed there. 64 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,960 It's my home church, so This is why I know it's the church I 65 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,960 came from. My parents keep on kind of 66 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,240 cheering and celebrating every time I go home right now, which 67 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,880 is a little frustrating, but they're so excited because that 68 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:57,400 church has exploded to like from like 150 people to like 450 69 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,080 people. And they desperately need some 70 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,480 reinforcements there. And we talk about the fact that 71 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,680 we're a multiplying church and a multiplying church is our core 72 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,800 value means that there are going to be times where we send people 73 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:11,880 out. We did that last year. 74 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,320 We sent a whole crew of people out to start a new location and 75 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,399 brand. And I'm excited to be sending 76 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:21,160 out again because a Kingdom win is never a loss. 77 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,800 And I know that they're going to be a blessing there. 78 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,680 And God's got great plans for the Pence there. 79 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,360 And I know that then he's also got something for us and that 80 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,600 God loves his church. He's building his church. 81 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,280 And so here it forward. I know God's got something in 82 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:40,000 store for us. We don't know what that is. 83 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,600 You can be praying for us as we enter into a season of figuring 84 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,680 out who to bring on next on to staff to help us take our next 85 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,200 step as a church, but also be praying for the pens. 86 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:52,480 They're going to be around for a while. 87 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,640 He said August 5th, I think I told you already, is their last 88 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:56,840 Sunday. And so we're going to have lots 89 00:04:56,840 --> 00:05:01,040 of time to celebrate them and say our goodbyes, but wanted to 90 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,520 make sure that you were all aware of that this morning. 91 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:12,400 We are in a passage in Luke that is known as the Transfiguration. 92 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:17,200 Theologians, historians, church historians, This is what they 93 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:21,680 have called this. It is a moment where the 94 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,000 disciples, Peter, James and John, the three are going to be 95 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,800 up on the mountain and see Jesus in his full glory in a way that 96 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,520 they have never experienced before. 97 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:38,560 And it got me thinking about late 90s, early 2000s ROM coms. 98 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,360 As you can imagine, it probably did. 99 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,400 How many of you were around in the 90s and 2000s? 100 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:49,760 And by around, I mean old enough to actually watch movies. 101 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:52,120 Put your hand up. Don't be ashamed. 102 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:53,720 Now my hand is up and they're OK. 103 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:59,640 OK, for those of you who don't and weren't around, there was 104 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:07,880 this movie trope in that period of time with romantic comedies. 105 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,160 Legend will call it the Ugly Girl Makeover. 106 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:16,800 Some of you already know what this was, right? 107 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:23,000 That there was apparently this girl who was so ugly that nobody 108 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,760 paid any attention to her, and she was picked on and 109 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:30,400 marginalized. And the makeover was they took 110 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,000 off glasses and took the scrunchie out of the hair, and 111 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:39,000 she was transformed. And the male lead for that movie 112 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,400 couldn't believe what he hadn't seen in front of him the entire 113 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,320 time. It's about as believable as 114 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,480 nobody knew Clark Kent was Superman, right? 115 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:54,240 Because he put glasses on in today's passage. 116 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,280 We're going to have that type of transformation, but like, real, 117 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:03,040 where people are really going to Peter, James and John are really 118 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,960 going to see Jesus differently than they've ever seen this guy 119 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,040 who they've been traveling with day by day for almost three 120 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,320 years now. They are going to get a glimpse 121 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:19,680 of the glory and the majesty and the beauty of Jesus such that it 122 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:26,240 is so going to make a mark on Peter that we know that when he 123 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:30,440 goes to send a letter out to the churches about 40 years later to 124 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:32,800 Christians who are who are scattered around the 125 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,680 Mediterranean. He marks this as a marker of 126 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:41,840 like firming up his faith. How he knows without a shadow of 127 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:46,640 a doubt that Jesus is God. Let me read these verses to you 128 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:51,560 from second Peter 116 to 18. Peter writes and he says for we 129 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,400 did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made 130 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,040 known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 131 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:04,600 He said, I know that we're not making up who Jesus is in all of 132 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,160 his power and all of his glory when he came, how does he know 133 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,440 that? He says, instead we were 134 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:15,600 eyewitnesses to His Majesty. He received honor and glory from 135 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:20,520 the Father when the voice came to him from the majestic glory 136 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:26,040 saying, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. 137 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:28,760 Now, this is not a Jesus baptism. 138 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,480 No, we ourselves heard this voice when it came down from 139 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:38,159 heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 140 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,159 This moment that we're about to encounter today, it changed 141 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:46,680 Peter. Now there's going to be a whole 142 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:49,920 lot of Peter that still comes out and comes up over the days 143 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,480 ahead as we walk through the Gospel of Luke. 144 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:54,560 There's a whole lot of stuff that still need to be changed. 145 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:58,200 And Peter, but somehow this moment was a marker for Peter. 146 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,320 We've been looking at this question, Luke's been taking us 147 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,880 to this question over the last few weeks, who is Jesus? 148 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,000 Who is Jesus? We think 2 out of the last three 149 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,080 weeks, maybe two of the last four weeks, that is the 150 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:18,880 question, who is Jesus? And today, all week, I have been 151 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:23,440 praying. God just give us just a little 152 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,440 glimpse of the glory of who Jesus really is. 153 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:33,520 I think if we got just a glimpse today, just even a little bit 154 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:37,200 more understanding of who Jesus is, just like it changed Peter, 155 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,800 it could change us. It could be a marker point for 156 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:47,480 us because seeing the glory of who Jesus is, that's what it 157 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:56,280 does changes us. We see him, not really see him. 158 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:02,760 Our hearts are changed. Somebody here today, you're here 159 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:06,840 and you are exploring spirituality, you're exploring 160 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:08,480 faith. Maybe you're exploring 161 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,760 specifically the person of Jesus, and I am, I say this all 162 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:14,640 the time, but I'm super glad that you're here. 163 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,400 I would want this to be a place where you are welcome on your 164 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,160 journey to to figure out who God is and who Jesus is. 165 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:31,280 But you need to see a glimpse of Jesus that wipes from your mind 166 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:35,440 any idea that Jesus is is simply a good teacher or a good 167 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,200 example. That Jesus is maybe just a 168 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:45,760 source of wisdom or morality. That Jesus was merely another 169 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:50,800 religious guru that we could learn at the feet of even that 170 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:56,360 he was in some way specially and specifically miracle worker 171 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:02,680 empowered by God. You need to see that Jesus is 172 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:07,680 God made flesh who came to dwell among us and died on the cross 173 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:12,040 for your sins. He is the one who spoke 174 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:18,800 existence into being. He spoke this world with a word 175 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:25,240 and then He came into the world for you and some of you may 176 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,320 you've been walking with Jesus a long time and by God's grace, 177 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:33,120 you've got a number of times in your life where you've got 178 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,360 glimpses of Jesus. My my prayer this morning. 179 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:43,120 So you get a fresh glimpse that that your heart would be set a 180 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:48,240 fire and a flame again as you see Jesus for who he is. 181 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,680 That if, if you've lost a little bit of your awe and wonder over 182 00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:56,760 the years, that would just get stoked up inside you. 183 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:02,560 If you got a Jesus who has become too comfortable and too 184 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:09,600 safe that you see a lot bigger, a lot more fulsome Jesus today, 185 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:18,240 you would, you would not allow Jesus to become the beautiful 186 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:22,320 girl with glasses on in front of you that you're missing those 187 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,560 glasses that scrunch. You would, and you would be 188 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:30,440 captured again and afresh by the beauty of Jesus that we all 189 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,000 would be able to say, like Peter, we leave here today, man. 190 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,200 We are eyewitnesses of His Majesty. 191 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:39,600 And so here's what I'm going to do. 192 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:44,920 I'm going to invite us just to just to pray and, and just ask 193 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,080 the Holy Spirit to do this. I'm just going to hold out my 194 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:49,800 hands. You can do that too, because 195 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,600 here's the truth. There's nothing I can say today 196 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:55,400 that's going to give you that glimpse of glory. 197 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,720 My words are insufficient to the task. 198 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:02,880 We need the power of the Holy Spirit in this room today. 199 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,640 And the good news is that Jesus says in John 1614 that part of 200 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:09,800 the role of the Spirit is to glorify the Son. 201 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,240 Part of the role of the Spirit is to help us see the glory of 202 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:15,840 who Jesus is. And so if you want to join with 203 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:19,840 me, just opening your hands and just praying, Holy Spirit come, 204 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:27,520 Holy Spirit, come and help us see Jesus maybe for the very 205 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:34,640 first time that our eyes would be open to who he is, or maybe 206 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:38,760 just a fresh and undo with the new wind, the new empowering in 207 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:43,320 us that we would be transformed as we encounter Jesus today. 208 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,560 And it's in his name we pray. Amen. 209 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,880 So we're going to walk through this passage and then I'm going 210 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:56,360 to break it down starting in verse 28, says about 8 days 211 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,400 after this conversation. And just as a reminder, that's 212 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,560 eight days after the conversation of last week. 213 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:07,680 That's eight days after the I have to die, but I'm not going 214 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:12,120 to stay dead conversation. The conversation where he said, 215 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,720 oh, and by the way, if you're going to follow me, you better 216 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,480 be prepared to die. That's that's the eight. 217 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,960 It's eight days after that conversation, he took along 218 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:26,480 Peter, John and James and went up to the mountain to pray. 219 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,280 Now we don't know what mountain this is for sure. 220 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:33,440 There is debate amongst scholars as to whether it's Mount Tabor 221 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:35,400 or Mount Hermon. It doesn't matter. 222 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,360 Let them argue about it doesn't matter. 223 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,880 As he was praying, that is Jesus, the appearance of his 224 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:49,480 face changed, His clothes became dazzling white, and suddenly two 225 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,840 men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah. 226 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:59,320 They appeared in glory, and we're Speaking of his departure, 227 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,640 which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. 228 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:08,240 So Moses and Elijah show up and they're talking about his death. 229 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,120 That is to come on the cross in Jerusalem, His departure. 230 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,480 This is a plan. This is a necessity. 231 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,960 This is the reality for which Jesus came. 232 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:21,760 It's not. It wasn't an accident. 233 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:26,160 It wasn't a side side quest. This is the reason for Jesus is 234 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:30,280 coming. Peter and those with him were in 235 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,960 a deep sleep and when they became fully awake, they saw his 236 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,920 glory and the two men who were standing there with him. 237 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,600 Now if you struggle with not falling asleep while you're 238 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:46,040 praying, you're in good company right now. 239 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,200 The original Greek here, the word probably is best translated 240 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,400 overcome with sleep and and there is some sense maybe that 241 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:58,840 God was behind kind of putting them to sleep into a deep sleep 242 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:03,960 In that moment as glory descended upon the mountain as 243 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,280 the two men were departing from him. 244 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:09,800 So as Elijah and Moses are getting ready to leave, Peter 245 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,760 said to Jesus. Peter's got another brain wave. 246 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,200 Master, it is good for us to be here. 247 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:23,400 So let us set up 3 shelters, one for you, one for Moses and 1:00 248 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,120 for Elijah. Not knowing what he was saying. 249 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,840 Poor Peter. I just, I think this is 250 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,760 important to Mark. I just, I always like to point 251 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,840 this out because I I think if you're a skeptic about whether 252 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:42,120 the gospel stories are real, my question to you would be if 253 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:47,160 these things were written later on, why would Peter be written 254 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:52,680 as such an idiot all the time? Why would you include in all of 255 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,600 these accounts that make the guys who are the founders of the 256 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,480 faith, the leaders in this movement look like dummies? 257 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,200 That is not how you myth make. It's not how it works. 258 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,440 These read like eyewitness accounts of the things that took 259 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:11,480 place without edits. While he was saying this, a 260 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,480 cloud appeared and overshadowed them. 261 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:16,560 They became afraid as they entered the cloud. 262 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,720 Then a voice came from the cloud saying, This is my son, the 263 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,280 chosen one. Listen to him. 264 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,119 After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. 265 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:32,840 They kept silence and at that time told no one what they had 266 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:34,480 seen. So this is just an amazing 267 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:37,960 scene. An amazing story is Peter, James 268 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,800 and John go up with Jesus onto the mountain and Elijah and 269 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,480 Moses kind of come down and and the glory of heaven kind of 270 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,720 encompasses and comes down on this place. 271 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:53,800 So what can we learn about this? How do we see in this that 272 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,440 seeing the glory of Jesus will change us? 273 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,160 Well, let me give you just a few ways. 274 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:02,680 The first is this. I think we see in this that 275 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:07,400 Jesus often gives gives us glimpses of his glory in moments 276 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:13,880 to strengthen and steady US. Jesus had just said eight days 277 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:19,120 ago some pretty hard stuff to the disciples. 278 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:26,320 He had told them, I'm the Messiah that you need, but not 279 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,200 necessarily the type of Messiah that you were hoping for. 280 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,480 That that I've come to rescue and I've come to save. 281 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,280 But the salvation that I'm coming to bring you is going to 282 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:39,920 come through a cross, not a crown. 283 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:45,440 These guys are are they've been watching Jesus, right? 284 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:50,240 Do miracles and healings and even raising people from the 285 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,640 dead. And they are, they're pumped. 286 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:57,400 They're excited the Kingdom is coming because the king is here. 287 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:01,360 They're watching the crowds go and they're saying, we're guys, 288 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:05,040 we're in the inner circle. We're going to be a part of 289 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:06,960 this. The king is coming and we're 290 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:13,480 kind of his crew. And Jesus says, yeah, about 291 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,640 that. Guys, I know you have dreams of 292 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,000 how this is all going to go. It's not going to go quite how 293 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,800 you expect it, but it's going to go the exact way that it needs 294 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:28,320 to. I've I've got to die, but don't 295 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:35,000 worry, death can't hold me. And in Matthew and Mark, if you 296 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:44,400 read that same account, in that moment, Peter rebukes Jesus in 297 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,280 Matthew 1622, says this right after Jesus makes this 298 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:53,480 declaration, he says Peter took him aside and began to rebuke 299 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:58,000 him. Oh no, Lord, this will never 300 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:04,240 happen to you, right? That announcement shook these 301 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:08,040 guys. And that wasn't the totality of 302 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:09,720 it, because then Jesus says what he says. 303 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,840 Oh, and by the way, following me means you're going to die too. 304 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,240 You got to be willing to pick up your cross if you're going to 305 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,440 call follow me. And I think the disciples, 306 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,960 probably like a lot of us, are like Jesus. 307 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,920 I like the parts where you say come and see. 308 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,400 I'm not so sure about the parts where you say come and die. 309 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:48,720 Like Peter, I have had a lot of Lord No moments. 310 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,440 You recognize the irony in those words, right? 311 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:58,080 Back-to-back Lord, Which means you're the boss, you're in 312 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:01,240 control. You are head over everything. 313 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:08,000 No, it's a rebuttal of what you just said and I've had a lot of 314 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:15,160 those moments. I've had those moments where I 315 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,400 felt the Lord calling me to hard uncomfortable things. 316 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,400 I've had those moments where I felt like God, you, your word 317 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:28,000 can't honestly mean as you can't honestly be asking me to do 318 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:33,360 this. I felt, first of all, God say I 319 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:36,640 want you to go into ministry. I've told this story before when 320 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:42,160 I was 13. I did not want to hear that. 321 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,080 In fact, there's a whole bunch of things that I didn't want to 322 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:52,880 hear from the Lord. In my understanding, Jesus had 323 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:55,520 saved me. Now he could advise me. 324 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,240 Then I had to come to grips at the age of 13 with what was it 325 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,320 really going to mean to follow Jesus? 326 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:08,120 Not just to be saved by him, to know him not just as Savior, but 327 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:10,840 as Lord. Because those two don't get 328 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:16,240 separated out. And even as I came to a point in 329 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:24,080 the back of a church tearing up and saying, yes, Lord, I had a 330 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,760 whole list of no's that I gave him in that moment. 331 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:32,240 Yes, Lord, to ministry, but no to any place rural, no to youth 332 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,760 ministry, and no to anything global. 333 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,800 The first church I ever served that was in Burford as a youth 334 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,880 pastor. Some of you know I oversee our 335 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,080 global engagement piece now and I've had the opportunity and the 336 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:52,200 blessing to travel all sorts of places into all sorts of gnarly 337 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:57,000 situations and uncomfortable spots to see God at work and to 338 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,440 bless the people who are doing God's work in those places. 339 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:07,040 Later on I would feel the Lord calling us into church planting 340 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:11,280 to which I understood the Lord to mean help other people plant 341 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,760 churches into which he said to me how about you go plant church 342 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,600 and it was another one like God. I just don't want to do this but 343 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:25,920 but but but alongside all those and almost always in concert 344 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:30,760 with him in his grace. Part of the way that he has 345 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:35,880 moved my heart to be able to fully and more fully overtime 346 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:40,360 surrender and I still have Lord no moments was by giving me 347 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:48,920 glimpses of his glory and goodness by providing for Amanda 348 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:54,480 and I improving himself as good and as faithful over and over 349 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,640 again. We were in Burford and God had 350 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:00,040 sent us there, and the church had no money. 351 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,240 And I've shared some of this before you, but we had just 352 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,400 story after story at the beginning of our ministry life 353 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:10,080 together of tires not wearing out and clothes not wearing out. 354 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,320 And somebody slaughtering a cow and bringing beef over when we 355 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,160 had no money for groceries and somebody dropping off a basket 356 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,960 full of cleaning supplies and we had no money to buy those. 357 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,400 And for the only time in my life, in my ministry life, 358 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,440 having just a check that somebody felt compelled to write 359 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:33,520 for the exact amount that we didn't have to cover Amanda's 360 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,280 medical supplies. And they had no idea that I had 361 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,400 woke up that morning in tears, crying out to God saying what we 362 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:41,640 get. What am I supposed to do as a 363 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:46,920 husband? And he gave me glimpses of his 364 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,960 glory and his goodness. Because sometimes fallen Jesus 365 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,680 requires us to believe things and to do things that are hard. 366 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:02,360 And I want you to see here that God made a promise in verse 27. 367 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:04,720 We didn't get into this last week because I wanted to cover 368 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,160 it here. Verse 27 at the end of what he 369 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,520 said to them, the end of the hard things, right? 370 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:14,760 He says, truly, I tell you, there are some standing here who 371 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,960 will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God. 372 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,480 That fulfillment is the 8 days later that we find right here. 373 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,360 See, God has given them some hard things, but then He said, 374 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:28,920 hey, I want to prove myself to you. 375 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,400 We give you a little glimpse of my goodness and glory so that 376 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,280 you can trust me in these hard things. 377 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,320 He fulfills this close promise, right? 378 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:44,040 This, this smaller promise so that he, they would be able to 379 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,840 believe the bigger promises that he's making. 380 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,400 That he's going to go to the cross and die, but that he's 381 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,040 going to rise again, that he's going to come back when he 382 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,000 ascends, he's going to come back again. 383 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:59,080 They, they, he's going to ask them to believe some stuff. 384 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,960 And so he's got to give them some glimpses of his goodness 385 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,920 and His glory so that Peter can say we didn't follow cleverly 386 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,400 contrived myths. When we made known to you the 387 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,880 power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 388 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,840 We were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. 389 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:22,800 That's why we can declare these hard things as true things. 390 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,400 He did what he said he would do on the mountain. 391 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:34,240 That means that he will do all that he says He will do. 392 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,560 And it's a it's I give this to you because it's important for 393 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:46,400 you to mark when God shows up. I think far too many of us in 394 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,960 this kind of moment by moment culture that we live in, this 395 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:56,640 crazy, hectic, no memory of anything culture, We don't mark 396 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,960 moments. We just get caught up in the 397 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,520 next moment. You need a mark when God shows 398 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:04,520 up and gives you a glimpse of His glory. 399 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:09,480 When He does, when you pray a prayer and he shows up and he 400 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,000 answers, you mark that down. Is there going to be moments 401 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,880 where you need that glimpse to go back to, to remind yourself 402 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,600 that He's true? These are glimpses of goodness 403 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:26,360 and grace and trustworthiness. And those glimpses, just like 404 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:29,240 they were for Peter, James and John, they're meant to 405 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:33,560 strengthen and steady you. Because things will get tough 406 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,800 and things will get hard and things will rattle you. 407 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,600 So tell your stories. Write down your stories. 408 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,400 Share your stories with others. Because sometimes we forget that 409 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:45,920 we need somebody else to whisper in her ear. 410 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,640 Yeah, But you remember when God showed up in that He'll show up 411 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:54,600 for you again. Jesus gives us glimpses of his 412 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:56,760 glory to strengthen and steady us. 413 00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:59,640 But there's a second piece here that's really important. 414 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:06,640 These glimpses of glory are meant to fuel us, not to freeze 415 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:11,040 us in place. Peter, James and John, they wake 416 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:16,840 up to this unbelievable scene of Jesus and Elijah and Moses, and 417 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:19,600 Jesus doesn't look. He's Jesus, but he looks 418 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,960 different than Jesus because he's glowing and he's radiating. 419 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:28,200 Moses and Elijah are there in their perfected bodies. 420 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,800 And just a side note, I think this is like kind of a cool 421 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:32,840 little thing. It's a reminder that in our 422 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,480 resurrected body, somehow, some way, you're going to be 423 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,760 recognizable for who you are. I don't know what that looks 424 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:43,360 like, but they knew it was Moses and Elijah, and they're taking 425 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,040 it all in. They don't want this moment to 426 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,520 end. And so when Moses and Elijah are 427 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,960 getting ready to say their leaves, So if they were 428 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,800 Canadians, they said goodbye in the living room, and then they 429 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,720 said goodbye in the lobby. And then they stepped outside 430 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,240 the door and they said goodbye and they were waving goodbye 431 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:10,080 from the car, right. Peter says, wait, hold up. 432 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:14,120 I got an idea, Master. It's good to be here. 433 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:16,680 I don't need to go anywhere else. 434 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:18,920 Keep Moses. Keep Elijah. 435 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:20,800 You stay here. We'll stay here. 436 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,800 We'll build you all little shelters, and let's just camp 437 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:28,120 out in the glory. It's so good. 438 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:34,200 And if you've had times where you've got glimpses of God's 439 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:35,760 glory, I'm sure you felt this way. 440 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:41,000 I know I have. Maybe it's been in like a a time 441 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:46,520 of worship where you just like you're something different going 442 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,280 on. Your heart opens up and you're 443 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,960 just seeing Jesus and his beauty in a way you've never seen it 444 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:56,080 before. Maybe it's out of retreat. 445 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,200 You get away from all the noise and you just have time to jump 446 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,520 into his word. You're surrounded by nature and 447 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,200 you experience God in a powerful way. 448 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,240 Or maybe it's at a conference. I was just at the Alpha 449 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,240 conference and I don't know how many times I turned to a man and 450 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:12,840 say, hey, can we just stay in London? 451 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,640 Man, this is so good. Join it with 6000 other 452 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,640 believers worshipping across the nominations, across continents 453 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:23,040 and just raising the name of Jesus. 454 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,400 I don't want to leave. Just want to stay here. 455 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,240 Even got a worship song, right? Worship song called nothing 456 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:32,680 else. This is the word. 457 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:35,760 Part of the words are, I'm caught up in this holy moment. 458 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:41,640 I never want to leave. It's OK to feel that way. 459 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:46,000 And I'll let you know someday that day will be every day. 460 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:50,160 That's what heaven looks like. So the new heaven, new earth 461 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,480 looks like it's every day is that it's glorious. 462 00:30:55,560 --> 00:31:01,280 But that's not today. Ultimately, on earth, when we 463 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:05,120 get moments of glory, they're meant to fuel us so that we can 464 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,480 go out. They're meant to give us fuel to 465 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,520 leave. That's the problem, though. 466 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:14,760 Peter's. Peter's suggestion, well, has a 467 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,600 couple of problems. First, he's obviously still 468 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,960 struggling to understand what it means for Jesus to be the 469 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:25,080 Messiah because he says, hey, we're just going to build 3 470 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,120 equal shelters up for up here for you. 471 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,760 And I think he thinks that he's elevating Jesus in a really 472 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,560 positive way by saying one for Moses, one for Elijah, one for 473 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:36,000 Jesus. But Jesus is not an equal of 474 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:40,520 Moses and Elijah. Only one person on that mountain 475 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:45,320 was worthy of worship. Moses and Elijah, by the way, 476 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:49,840 are there why? Why are why those two will 477 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,960 Moses, he represents the law, right? 478 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:57,560 He's the lawgiver. And Elijah represents the 479 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:04,280 prophets and the Jewish people referred to the Old Testament as 480 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:10,760 the law and the prophets. And in a Jewish setting, it took 481 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,520 two or more witnesses to witness to the truth of anything. 482 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,840 And so in this moment, the law and the prophets are witnessing 483 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:23,880 to the truth of the glory of Jesus, that this is all about 484 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:31,280 him. Peter, he still wants a Messiah 485 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:35,480 who's going to make life easy. He wants a Messiah who's going 486 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:38,000 to take him into glory and leave him there. 487 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:44,760 He he, he still wants Jesus Kingdom in a way that bypasses 488 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:48,280 the cross. He still doesn't get the 489 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,280 mission. Moses and Elijah, they were 490 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:54,240 speaking to Jesus about his mission. 491 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:59,040 They're up there on the mountain talking about the mission which 492 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:03,600 was Jesus was about to accomplish through his departure 493 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,520 in Jerusalem. That word departure is the same 494 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:11,360 Greek word as is used for Exodus, which is the Old 495 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,760 Testament paradigm for God's salvation and rescue. 496 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:19,800 Moses and Elijah are there saying the true the better. 497 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,160 Exodus is about to take place through Jesus at the cross. 498 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:27,480 The fullness of salvation that the the Old Testament only 499 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,640 points towards is about to take place through Jesus. 500 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:37,120 And the problem if they stay up there is you can't get to the 501 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,280 cross. You can't get to the cross from 502 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:43,800 the mountaintop. Jesus has to go down in order to 503 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:45,960 get to the cross. And that's where salvation is 504 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:49,600 going to be found. We often make the same mistakes 505 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:54,160 as Peter. We get you get a taste of glory 506 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,440 and it's meant to fuel us for mission. 507 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,560 But instead, getting the taste of glory becomes our obsession. 508 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,679 It becomes our fixation that takes us off the mission. 509 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:14,840 Man, lots of Christians want to spend all their time in 510 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:19,280 Christian bubbles. Just get me another Bible study, 511 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:21,639 get me to another worship service. 512 00:34:21,639 --> 00:34:23,719 Get me to another retreat. Get me to another conference. 513 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,520 Find me another Christian book. Here's another Christian podcast 514 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,159 to listen to. And all we want is fuel. 515 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,760 But the fuel is meant to send you out. 516 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:36,840 If you don't go out, you just try and live on the mountain 517 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:43,040 top, you don't get the mission. We need to go out into the hard 518 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:48,880 places on Earth. The mission is often going to be 519 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,800 hard. It's going to take us into the 520 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,719 valleys and away from the mountaintops that we want to 521 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:01,320 stay on. But if we stay where it's easy, 522 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,560 if we stay where it's pleasant, if we spend all our time in the 523 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:10,280 church and around Christians but never get out into the 524 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:16,480 community, if we spend all our time in the Word and in prayer 525 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:22,560 but never in the world. If the glimpses of the goodness 526 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:27,760 and glory of Jesus and His Kingdom become our goal, rather 527 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:32,760 than the mission of moving people towards Jesus and His 528 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:35,280 glory, then we'll fail in the mission. 529 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:42,120 We need glimpses of the glory of Jesus to strengthen us and 530 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:47,200 steady us, but they're meant to be a fuel for the mission rather 531 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,720 than to freeze us and fix us in place. 532 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:55,160 The third thing is this Seeing the glory of Jesus helps us move 533 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:59,000 towards obedience. While he was saying this, a 534 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:00,800 cloud appeared and overshadowed them. 535 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,800 They became afraid as they entered the cloud. 536 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,840 Then a voice from the cloud came saying, This is my Son, the 537 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:10,160 chosen one. Listen to him. 538 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,640 Do you know the more we see Jesus for who He truly is, the 539 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,080 more it ought to drive us towards obedience to Him. 540 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:28,120 At the core of sin always is a failure to fully see Jesus for 541 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:33,120 all that He is. It starts with coming to 542 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:35,800 salvation, choosing to follow Him. 543 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,320 If you're going to choose to follow him, you're going to need 544 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:44,080 to see some things about Jesus. You're going to need to see that 545 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:49,520 you can't save you and you make a terrible Lord, that there's 546 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:51,920 nothing that you can do to fix yourself up. 547 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:55,720 It's not about doing better, trying harder, pulling it 548 00:36:55,720 --> 00:36:58,680 together, making up for the past mistakes you made by doing more 549 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,640 things better moving forward. There's nothing that you can do 550 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:05,840 to make yourself right with God. And actually, when you try and 551 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:10,560 be God, you screw it all up, make a hash of it, make a mess 552 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:16,120 of your life. And that seeing that Jesus can 553 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,920 save you and that he's the Lord worth following, you got to have 554 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:25,320 both those things. You got to see that Jesus really 555 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:31,800 was the creator God of the universe who takes on flesh and 556 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:37,480 enters into the story to live the perfect and sinless life 557 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:42,480 that you may try to live, but you'll fail miserably on that. 558 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:46,200 He takes that perfect sinless life and He goes to the cross to 559 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,280 pay the penalty for your sin, because He was the only one who 560 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:52,840 could pay it. And that if you trust in Him, 561 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:56,600 His righteousness and His Holiness become yours. 562 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:03,600 And when you understand that, then you see that there's a God 563 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:07,600 who loves you so much, who's so glorious, that why wouldn't you 564 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,400 follow him? He obviously has your best 565 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:14,600 interests at heart all the time, even when you struggle to see 566 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:20,200 it. But seeing Jesus, it doesn't end 567 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:22,520 with your salvation. It's also the means of your 568 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:27,920 sanctification. It's the means by which we grow 569 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,520 and we change. Is is to see Jesus more fully. 570 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:35,240 And that's not just my words. This is what Paul says in 2nd 571 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:37,560 Corinthians 318. We're going to put it up on the 572 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:42,120 screen. We all with unveiled faces, are 573 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:45,720 looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord. 574 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:51,360 That's Jesus and are being transformed into the same image 575 00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:58,840 from glory to glory, so that somehow as you and I see more of 576 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:03,520 the glory of Jesus, we become more like the glorious Jesus we 577 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,720 see. That's what Paul's saying. 578 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,960 The the, the key, one of the keys to sanctification 579 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,960 transformation is, as Pastor Keith said this morning, 580 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:17,160 beholding to become what we behold. 581 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:21,920 We become. John Owens, the great Puritan 582 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:25,360 writer, said this in his book, The Glory of Christ. 583 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:30,000 Let us live in the constant contemplation of the glory of 584 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:35,720 Christ, and virtue will proceed from Him to repair all of our 585 00:39:35,720 --> 00:39:40,960 decays, to renew a right spirit within us, to cause us to abound 586 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:47,000 in all the duties of obedience. It will fix the soul upon that 587 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:52,560 object which is suited to give it delight, complacency, and 588 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:56,360 satisfaction. When the mind is filled with the 589 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,840 thoughts of Christ and his glory, when the soul thereon 590 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:05,280 cleaves on to him with intense affection, they will cast out, 591 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:09,640 or not give admittance unto the causes of spiritual weakness and 592 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:14,240 in disposition. Nothing will so much excite and 593 00:40:14,240 --> 00:40:19,480 encourage our souls here unto as a constant view of Christ and 594 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:23,680 His glory. Let me put it this way, behind 595 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:27,600 all sin is a failure to see Jesus for who He truly is. 596 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:33,960 You don't just need to stop sinning, you need to start 597 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:38,680 seeing Jesus more fully. Once you close your eyes for a 598 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:43,120 moment, I'm going to read a couple passages of scripture. 599 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:48,360 Just ask the Lord to help you hear these and see Jesus in 600 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:52,880 them. John chapter one one to three. 601 00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:58,640 John talking about Jesus says in the beginning was the Word. 602 00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:04,040 The word was with God and the word was God. 603 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,320 He was with God in the beginning and all things were created 604 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:12,040 through and apart from him. Not one thing was created that 605 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:15,640 has been created. Now hold that picture in your 606 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:22,480 mind, Jesus, Creator God, who speaks existence into being and 607 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:24,640 holds it all together by His power. 608 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:31,880 If we truly saw Jesus in His glorious fullness as the Creator 609 00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:36,240 God, what would that begin to change in our lives? 610 00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:43,880 If you really believed in this moment, you exist. 611 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:48,440 Everything exists only because He wills you too. 612 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:56,560 That nothing exists apart from His say so that all of the 613 00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:01,120 resources of the universe and beyond, because the universe is 614 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:07,400 His creation, belong to Him. What righteous fear would that 615 00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:11,240 put in our souls when we choose to stand in defiance to Him and 616 00:42:11,240 --> 00:42:16,400 sin? What confidence would it put in 617 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:20,960 your soul when you know that you're walking in obedience to 618 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:25,360 Him in saying yes and Amen to what He has called you to do? 619 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:36,440 What ah and wonder would it place in you that that God chose 620 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:41,880 to come and die for you? Give you one more scripture? 621 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:51,520 John 15/9 As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. 622 00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:59,280 As the Father has loved me, Jesus says that's how I love 623 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:05,400 you. What would it mean for you to 624 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:12,840 believe that you are fully and completely both known and loved 625 00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:19,400 by Jesus? That he knows everything about 626 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:26,560 you? Yes, even those things, the 627 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:29,040 things you try and block out from yourself and you hope 628 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:33,000 nobody ever finds out the ugliest parts. 629 00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:40,400 And he loves you, and he runs towards you instead of away from 630 00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:44,600 you. What acceptance would you be 631 00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:47,320 able to feel if you could see the glory of that? 632 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:55,720 What peace would you feel inside of yourself with joy? 633 00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:03,040 How would it kill your constant need to compare yourself with 634 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:10,840 others, to compete with others, to destroy others through gossip 635 00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:15,160 and slander because you just want to puff yourself up? 636 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:16,720 You don't need to puff yourself up. 637 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:22,400 You're loved. How would it change the way that 638 00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:26,160 you hear His word and trust it if you knew He loved you that 639 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:31,920 deeply and that much? And what would you entrust to 640 00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:35,080 Him and be willing to give up to Him with open hands? 641 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:37,040 If you knew His love that deeply? 642 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:46,640 Watch Him just open your eyes. You know that God gave us more 643 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:52,400 than a glimpse. He gave us a guarantee that we 644 00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:58,880 are loved by Him. He gave us a promise that you 645 00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:04,280 can be forgiven, accepted, redeemed, and restored by the 646 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:08,880 blood of Jesus on the cross. And then he gave us this 647 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:14,680 constant reminder through taking communion that it is true to 648 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:17,440 strengthen and to steady us a glimpse of His glory. 649 00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:19,720 That's what communion is. It's a glimpse of his glory. 650 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:25,720 And so if, if you're a follower of Jesus today, I would invite 651 00:45:25,720 --> 00:45:28,960 you to take part with us as we take the communion elements 652 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:31,880 together. If you're not a follower of 653 00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:34,520 Jesus, this is for those of us. What we're doing is we take 654 00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:36,560 this, we're confessing. This is true for me. 655 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:39,600 Jesus died for me. His body was broken for me. 656 00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:42,320 His blood was poured out for me. If you don't have one, you just 657 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:44,440 put your hand up in the air if you didn't get one coming in. 658 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:47,400 And we've got some people who will hand them out to you from 659 00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:53,800 our hospitality team. See on on the mountain, the 660 00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,680 disciples saw the glory of Jesus revealed. 661 00:45:56,680 --> 00:46:02,040 But at the cross, at the cross we see the glory of Jesus 662 00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:12,920 defined, that the glorious Son of God would be willing to have 663 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:18,760 his body broken, be willing to have his blood poured out for 664 00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:22,240 the forgiveness, not just of randoms, but from for my sin, 665 00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:28,880 for our sin. That what looked like defeat in 666 00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:31,280 a moment was actually victory for all time. 667 00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:38,120 What looked like weakness on the cross was in fact glory. 668 00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:44,560 When we gaze upon the fullness of Jesus, when we see His 669 00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:48,600 Holiness, we see His righteousness. 670 00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:54,320 It should move us to see that we are more unworthy and sinful 671 00:46:54,320 --> 00:47:02,040 than we could dare realize. But when we look at the wonder 672 00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:05,720 of His body broken on the cross and His blood poured out for the 673 00:47:05,720 --> 00:47:09,800 forgiveness of our sins, it should also make us realize that 674 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:12,640 we are more loved than we ever dared hope. 675 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:19,840 So we're going to take these elements together. 676 00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:24,480 We're going to mark this as a moment and remember once again 677 00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:30,200 the glory of a God who loved us so much to die for us. 678 00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:33,680 Take the wafer and let's pray over it together. 679 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:42,520 Father, as we take this wafer, we take it not just as a piece 680 00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:46,440 of bread, not just as a ritual, but as a reminder of your 681 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:52,400 goodness and grace and glory. Your body broken for us. 682 00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:59,240 We declare it to be so. Father, thank you for loving us 683 00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:04,480 so much. May your love and the wonder of 684 00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:08,480 that love grow in US. May it transform us. 685 00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:13,040 May we move as we look at the glory of it, from glory to 686 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:17,120 glory. We ask this in the name of the 687 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:19,200 Jesus who died for us. Amen. 688 00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:28,340 Let's take a knee the same way we take the cup. 689 00:48:30,780 --> 00:48:33,660 We're told as a marker of the new covenant, as the new 690 00:48:33,660 --> 00:48:37,300 relationship, that that it is Jesus blood and Jesus blood 691 00:48:37,300 --> 00:48:41,680 alone that creates the conditions for us to come into a 692 00:48:41,680 --> 00:48:45,880 right relationship with God. The wonder and glory that God 693 00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:50,760 would so graciously gift us that we don't earn it, we don't 694 00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:53,440 deserve it. It is given as a free gift to 695 00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:56,760 receive. Let's pray over the cup. 696 00:48:56,760 --> 00:49:00,920 Father, thank You for the glory of the gift of the blood of 697 00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:05,000 Jesus Christ, which watches away not just a few of our sins or 698 00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:10,320 some of our sins, but all of our sins, and allows us to stand 699 00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:13,960 holy and glorious. You see us through the glory of 700 00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:17,800 the sun and make us your sons and your daughters and adopt us 701 00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:22,160 into Your Kingdom. We wonder that you would choose 702 00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:24,520 us. What wonder? 703 00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:27,520 What glory? And we thank You. 704 00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:35,080 In the name of Jesus Christ, let's take and drink now let's 705 00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:38,760 worship and let's sing and praise and adoration to the King 706 00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:40,280 who is worthy of our worship.