A Glimpse of Glory - March 16, 2025

Uh, open your Bible to Mark chapter number nine.

Mark chapter number nine.

And I want to ask some of my guys if I could get a fresh bottle of water.

I think this one's Amos's, and I don't want to drink after Amos.

Thank you so very much.

Well, I've titled this message A Glimpse of Glory.

A glimpse of glory.

Jesus invites his inner three, Peter, James, and John, to go with him up to what we know as the Mount of Transfiguration.

He changes before them.

He becomes radiant and glorious.

And it's really a marvelous thing.

And we can learn a lot from this passage.

Let's take a look, Mark chapter number 9, verse 1.

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you that there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death.

Till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

And after six days, Jesus talketh with Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them.

And his raiment became shining exceeding white as snow.

So as no fuller on earth could white them.

And let us make three tabernacles.

One for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

For he wished not what to say, for they were sore afraid.

And there was a cloud that overshadowed them.

And a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son.

Hear him.

And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man anymore, save Jesus only with themselves.

And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen till the Son of Man were risen from the dead.

And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?

And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first and restoreth all things.

And how it is written of the Son of Man that he must suffer many things and beset it not.

But I say unto you that Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

Let's pray.

Father, we approach this text humbly, asking you please to open it up to us.

Open our eyes, open our hearts.

We want to see you, we want to know you, we want to experience not just the reading of the word, but we want the author of the word, the Holy Spirit of God, to speak into our hearts, to reveal your truth, and grant us understanding.

Please help us to know you more.

And bless this message and help if anybody's in here that's not saved, let them be born again today.

And help us as Christians to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen and amen.

Here we see a glimpse of the glory of God.

How many of y'all would have loved to have been there?

I would have loved to have seen Jesus transfigured right there in his radiant glory.

It's almost like for that moment he was, he would have been just having his celestial power just kind of radiating out of him.

His disciples would have seen that and would have been mesmerized.

Almost like, remember when Moses went to the top of the mountain and he spent that time with God on the mountain and he came down glowing?

It's because he was close to God.

And remember, Moses' face was shining.

And we see here that Jesus takes these disciples and he's just amazing before him in his glory.

And I got to thinking about the special privileges that we have as disciples and how amazing it would have been to be Peter, James, and John.

Remember, Jesus had 12 disciples.

He had 70 that he sent out to minister as well, and he fed the 5,000, he fed the 4,000, but only three got to be with him on that mountain.

And what a mountain that was.

This special privilege that they got was a result of walking close to Christ.

There's a lot of people that want special privileges, but they won't stay real close to Christ.

They won't stay committed.

They won't stay with him in the valley.

They won't stay with him in the hardship.

They won't stay with him when it's mundane and it's boring.

See, if you're unwilling to do the mundane and the boring, you're never gonna get to the mountain of transfiguration with Christ.

You're never gonna get to see the wonderful signs and wonders, if you would, that Jesus can display before us.

Our mind would have been blown to seeing this.

And I gotta tell you, at the same time, when we get these special revelations, these special insights, these glimpses of glory, it's easy to be overstimulated.

It's easy to say and do things that would get us sidetracked.

Here we're gonna see how Jesus grows his disciples beyond their ignorance, their misplaced religious trust and misconceptions of worship.

We're gonna see how he develops his inner three, Peter, James, and John, in such a wonderful way.

And so if you're taking notes, write this down.

Number one, the special experience is for you.

It's for you.

Here we see this is a it's a personal experience that they got to have with him.

And I want to tell you, Jesus wants to have an experience with you too.

He wants to walk with you and talk with you, he wants to take you to great, wonderful things that you can see and be transformed.

He wants to be involved in your life.

He wants you to come after him.

He wants you to walk with him.

How many of y'all have some special experiences in your life because you've been walking with God?

Man, I've got some amazing experiences in my life.

And I'm glad he's a personal God.

I'm glad he calls each and every one of us.

I'm glad the church, it's still our job to say, come.

The Spirit says, come, and the bride says, come.

And whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely.

It's still an open invitation.

Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Oh, this is a special experience, and it's for you.

Number two, write this down.

The special experience is to elevate Christ.

While we get to enjoy being with Jesus, what he gives to you is not so you can boast about it.

It's not so you can say, look how great I am.

I got this favor and you did it.

Nah na na na na.

No, no, no, no.

The purpose of this is to venerate him and to extol him and to magnify him.

One of my favorite verses is found in Psalms 34, verses 1 through 3, and it says this, I will bless the Lord at all times.

Psalms 34:1–3

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.

The humble shall hear thereof and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

When God gives you some special experiences, it's not so you can beat your chest and act like you're so spiritual and you're better than others.

It's because he's going to do something special in you, so he can do something special through you.

That's why he's giving you the insight.

That's why he's opening your eyes.

That's why he's called you deeper.

Listen, to whom much is given, much is required.

God has opened up wonderful mysteries to me.

He's opened up all kinds of paths and mountaintop views and amazing things in my life, but it's not so I can say I'm better than anybody.

It's so that I can magnify and see how wonderful he is and give him the adoration and the glory that he is due.

I love how the psalmist says, magnify him with me.

Number three, write this down.

The special experience is to reveal the importance of spiritual leaders.

You see, as he takes the inner three with them up on the mountain, he's got Peter, James, and John with him, and they're apart from everybody else, and he's shining before them.

All of a sudden, on that mountain, there appears Elias with Moses, which is Elijah and Moses.

And I got to thinking how important the Bible is, how important spiritual leaders are to us.

Listen, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for men like David Entrickin, if it wasn't for men like Pastor Doug Fisher, if it wasn't for men like evangelist Boyd Collins, I would not be a preacher of the gospel if it wasn't for people like Dr.

Holder, who poured into me and gave me all kinds of books and commentaries and showed me how to preach.

I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for my spiritual mentors.

I'm not somebody that's trying to throw rocks at my mentors.

I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Dr.

uh Dr.

Jeff Wade.

I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for some of these wonderful men that said, Hey, come with me.

Come on the airplane with me.

Let's go to Papua New Guinea.

Let's go to the Appalachian Mountains.

Let's go to the Bahamas and preach it to those that are in the villages.

Let's go over here.

Come with me.

And by the way, sit down right here.

Don't dress like that.

Don't talk like that.

Hey, bring your Bible, sit up straight, write in your notes.

Come on, I'm training you for something.

I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for strong men of God.

And I'm thankful for my spiritual mentors.

And I'm thankful that the Bible is given to us.

There's 66 books in your King James Bible.

And I'm thankful for all of them.

And we ought to be reading every single book every single year.

See, the Bible tells us that God gave us the book for a reason.

In Romans, in Romans, it says this in chapter number 15.

I'll read it to you.

Romans chapter number 15.

If you want to turn there, you can.

Romans chapter number 15.

It tells us why we have this book, why we have the Word of God.

Romans chapter 15.

Romans 15 · chapter mention

Look what it says in verse number 4.

Romans 15, verse number 4.

Did you already put it up on the screen or no?

Nope, not going to do it.

Romans chapter 15.

Romans 15 · chapter mention

Look what it says here.

Verse 4.

For whatsoever things were written, why do we have the Bible?

Whatsoever things were written aforetime.

Were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

See, the reason God gave you a Bible is that you would have some examples, you'd have some examples that you would learn from other people.

You would learn how God worked in days past, and you could be comforted and blessed.

You would know what to do and what not to do.

Sometimes it's knowing what not to do is very important.

You say, what do you mean by that?

Well, there's some things you just shouldn't do, right?

There's some things that you need to know, you need to stop it.

It's not appropriate, it's not right, it's ungodly.

It's going to cost you some things, and there's some things that you should do.

Look over at 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter, no, 1 Corinthians chapter 10.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter number 10.

Hope you don't mind using your Bible.

Bible says this.

It says in verse number 6, talking about the children of Israel in the Old Testament.

It says, Now these in 1 Corinthians 10, 6, now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, the people that sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.

Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

Neither let us tempt Christ, and some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.

He's basically saying, Hey, you better check yourself before you wreck yourself in common vernacular.

Don't think that you can stand on your own.

Don't think that you can be presumptuous.

Don't think that you got it all figured out.

You need to get in your Bible.

You need to know what God judges and what God hates and what God loves.

So you will know the heartbeat of God.

That's why he gave us the Bible.

Because if you mess up and you you think you're just gonna get away with it, you have no fear of God before your eyes.

Listen, he'll smoke you just like he smoked them, friend.

You say God smokes people?

Oh, read your Bible.

Read your Bible.

Listen, he is God, you're not God.

I'm not God.

I fear God, I respect God.

That's why Solomon said, Hey, listen, you want to know the whole duty of man?

Fear God and keep his commandments.

Now, listen, you can't keep his commandments if you don't open your Bible.

And the reason you're not in your Bible is because you're on the Instagram and the Facebook and the social media and the sports and all the other stuff.

Listen, God ought to be first in your life.

God first.

Not all this other junk.

It's God who's gonna judge you, it's God who's gonna bless you.

You need to know why you shouldn't have a potty mouth and a filthy mouth.

You need to know why you shouldn't take God's name in vain.

You need to know why you shouldn't be committing fornication.

You need to know why you shouldn't be complaining and murmuring.

You need to know why.

He's the same God yesterday, today, and forever.

And God is not mocked, is what it says.

Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.

You said, preacher, I thought you were talking about how important spiritual leaders are.

Yes.

I am.

I'm very grateful.

I remember a time I used to fall out by the way, I wouldn't go into the midweek service, and my one of the men that led me to the Lord, Brother David, he'd be sitting in the probably the second row, and I'd be out messing around.

And he'd be like, Hey, I didn't see you at midweek service.

Where are you at?

Ah, blah, blah, blah.

Excuses, excuses, right?

He said, You know what?

And he turned over in the Bible and he showed me when Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh didn't want to go to war, and it discouraged the hearts of everybody else.

And he said, Listen, you're discouraging my heart.

Listen, I'm pouring into you, I'm discipling you, the pastor's preaching, he's opening the word of God, and listen, you're not there.

I'm glad I had some strong spiritual leaders that didn't just let me fall off and be lazy and waste the time, but told me, Redeem the time.

Come on, redeem it.

I'm glad he spoke into me and told me, hey, you need to, you need to you need to lock in, friend.

I didn't miss after that, friend.

You say, what was the benefit?

I'll tell you what, I don't know how long thereafter, but I was wondering about getting married, and the pastor was preaching on midweek, and he was dropping the hammer, friend.

I'm not talking about what the preachers do today with telling nice funny stories and everything that's not in the Bible.

I'm talking about dropping the hammer in the Word of God.

And the Holy Spirit, I was sitting in the back back there, Holy Spirit got speaking in my heart.

I went down to that altar, surrendered my heart.

My wife did too.

She wasn't my wife at the time.

We got our lives right.

And I'm here to tell you, listen, some of you got to get your lives right.

God is gonna give you a fresh glimpse of glory, but you gotta make sure you're committed and you're walking with Him and you're valuing truth over all the emotions and over all the experiences.

I'm glad I've got some spiritual mentors.

Hey, listen, the reason you need to know your Bible is because there's some there's some things in there you need to know, and there's some people you need to watch out for.

You know, I remember asking the guy that led me the Lord, I said, How do we know what's right and what's wrong?

Oh, he said this.

He said, Go go go over in your Bible.

Go over in your Bible, go over to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 8.

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

Follow me.

Isaiah 8, follow me, follow me, follow me.

Turn to your neighbor and say, follow him, follow him, follow him.

You say, Man, do you have some Red Bulls today?

Nope, not yet.

I'm saving my workout for after this.

I want to give God my best energy first.

Amen.

Hey, listen, I want y'all to y'all want to give God your best energy, your best fruits, amen.

Not your leftovers.

He's a great king.

You don't need your leftovers.

He wants your best.

That's why you ought to read your Bible first thing in the morning.

Give your prayer first thing in the morning.

You say, man, you're preaching it.

Yes, I am.

Well, I want to go to the contemporary church that gives us nice sweet things.

Go ahead.

Isaiah chapter 8, verse number 20.

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

Look what it says here.

Actually, back up just a little bit.

Back up just a little bit.

Verse 18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel, for the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion.

And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards that peep and that mutter, should not a people seek unto their God, for the living to the dead, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Listen, God gave you the law, which is Moses.

He gave you the testimonies, the prophets, if you would.

When Jesus was on that mount of transfiguration, we see the law and the testimony.

We see the law and the prophets.

We see Moses and Elijah, if you would, up there.

They're testimonies.

And we also see here that there are people that are not reading the Bible.

You know, I was driving back uh uh the other day, coming down off the 15, and I noticed one of those houses.

It's it was a house where they read palms, a sorcerer, a devil worshiper.

Listen, you ought not be seeking truth and guidance from somebody who doesn't know God and doesn't consult the Bible.

I've been watching that uh that new show out uh House of David.

And when Saul didn't obey God in that show, I love the visuals of it.

Saul didn't slay all the best and didn't take out Agag, and as a result of that, he was cursed.

God rent the kingdom from him and gave it to David, a man after his own heart, if you would.

You remember the story.

Well, Saul began to be delusional as head, and he couldn't figure it out.

And listen, some of you guys are messed up in your life because you're seeking everything else except for God.

And you think you can put in place of obedience sacrifice.

You cannot.

Listen, just because you sacrifice doesn't mean you're gonna get blessed.

Obedience is better than sacrifice.

And then that show it greatly depict what happened to Saul going crazy, and as a result of that, he went over and tried to seek counsel and he got counsel from the witch of Endor, which was against God.

And that's what happens.

A lot of times Christians, because they don't want to do right in God's eyes, here's what they do they go find another solution somewhere else.

Well, I'm gonna go drinking, I'm gonna go do drugs, I'm gonna go uh looking at a Ouija board, I'm gonna go look to horoscope, I'm gonna go look, what sign are you?

Are you a vertigo or a leah?

Whatever, all that's junk.

All the palm reading junk, all that's junk.

And listen, listen, you don't like it, go find what's gonna happen.

It'll mess your whole life up.

That's why the Bible says, if there is no to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there's no light in them.

Which means this, you need to know the Bible.

And not just a casual Christianity, you need to know it in and out, friend.

Not just a well, I got my verse of the day.

I hit play on the U version app, and some some uh you know, speaker, woman, pastor, and by the way, there are no, there's no such thing as a woman pastor in the Bible.

God doesn't believe in it.

Now, how do you know that?

1 Timothy 3.

Read your Bible.

I suffer not a woman to teach nor to be over authority over a man.

No, listen, you say, How do you know that?

I know the Bible.

So just because you see something looks good out there and growing out there and looks great, it's not always good growth.

There's gonna be a lot of people that Jesus is gonna say in Matthew chapter 7, depart from me.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

I never knew you.

Just because you went to church, just because you said good things, you good things, listen, I never knew you.

You didn't even do it my way.

You did it your own way.

There's a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

You say, How do I know what the right way is?

The B I B L E.

Yes, that's the book for me.

I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.

I remember asking the guy that led me to Christ, how do I know the difference between a real deal and a fake and a fraud?

He said, Well, the bankers, you know what they do?

They learn the real dollar bill in and out.

Then when something looks off with color and weight and density, they can tell it's off.

It's the same thing with phony Christians.

There's a lot of people that have a profession of Christ, but they don't have a possession of Christ.

You know that?

Just because you're here doesn't make you a Christian.

Just because I'm in a garage doesn't make me a car.

Right?

You gotta be born again.

You need to be, you need to be, be, be, be quickened.

The Holy Spirit's gotta convict you of your uh unrighteousness and save you.

Otherwise, you're on your way to hell, friend.

I'm glad I got saved.

I'm glad he told me, hey, listen, you gotta know the Bible.

You say, What, what, why do I know the Bible need to know the Bible?

Because how are you gonna know how to be a husband?

How are you gonna know how to be a wife?

How are you gonna know how to a grandma?

How are you gonna be know how to do do uh things with your finances?

How are you gonna know what to do in church?

How you gonna know what to do with your money?

How are you gonna know how to forgive people?

You're not gonna know anything that's gonna be blessed unless you get into your Bible.

That's why I'll talk to some people well, you know what?

How's how's how's your walk going?

Oh, it's good, I'm praying.

Listen, are you reading?

No.

Okay, so you're doing all the talking to God, but you're never listening to God.

Makes perfect sense.

And I've been there before, friend.

I've been there.

But here's what happens: it makes for a one-way relationship.

If I do all the talking in my meetings, and there's times I've got to do all the talking, and people gotta shut up and listen.

Right?

Sometimes the authority just has to do that.

I'm not all the time, but sometimes that does have to happen.

Same thing with coaches and parents and teachers.

Sometimes the students and the members just gotta be quiet and listen.

Amen.

And other times the teacher, the pastor, the parent, the coach needs to say, okay, now you talk to me.

I want to hear from your heart.

Come on.

I want we're in a relationship together.

See, if all we're doing is praying and we're never reading the Bible, it's all about us and our experience and our emotions.

But you're never hearing from God, which means you don't know what His will is.

It's hard for you to pray the right way because you don't even know what the word of truth says.

The Bible says God receives worship in spirit and in truth.

You might be feeling good, but if you're not in alignment with the truth, God's gonna be like, nope, not hearing it.

I don't want it.

You've got to get yourself right in the truth if you want me to be blessed by that.

And so you say, preacher, to the law and to the testimony, that's how you can tell.

Yes, by their fruits, you will know them.

How many of you thankful for your spiritual leaders in your life?

Man, I'm thankful.

I'm thankful for those who've poured into me.

I'm thankful.

Listen, for those of you walking around, bitter, upset, shaming, murmuring, your last church or your last mentor.

Let me just remind you here for a second.

That person poured into you.

That person labored for you.

That person loved you.

That person, listen, your parents, they wiped your butt, they took care of you, they did all kinds of stuff for you.

And now you think, well, I'm a big person.

Now I just do whatever I want.

And you forget everything that they did for you.

Ridiculous.

Come on, parent, amen.

You need to remember who's poured into you, who's blessed you.

Listen, all of us are like a turtle on a fence post sitting up there.

You ever see a turtle on a fence post?

You know it didn't get there by itself.

Somebody put it there.

All I'm saying, friend, is you better be thankful.

Some of y'all today need to call mom or daddy.

Some of y'all need to call a pastor, some of y'all need to call an evangelist, somebody who poured into you and said, hey, listen, I love you.

Thank you.

I appreciate you.

I wouldn't be here today.

I wouldn't have what I have if it wasn't for you.

Now, check this out.

It doesn't mean that you take everything they did and act like they're perfect.

Because they're not.

No parent, no pastor, none of us are perfect.

There's only one who's perfect.

His name's Jesus.

Amen.

All I'm saying here is this glimpse of glory.

We see this special experience is to reveal the importance of spiritual leaders.

You have some spiritual leaders in your life and you're called to pray for them, love them, care for them.

Write this down, number four.

The special experience, let's see if y'all are following me.

The special experience is to reveal the idolatry of man worship.

You say, what do you mean by that?

Here's our problem.

We have a tendency to worship what we see.

You know the baseball players, if you're a baseball fan, I used to love Barry Bonds.

Still do.

I still think he's the best hitter of all, even with the steroids.

But we have a tendency to idolize our favorite sports stars, our favorite musicians, and our favorite pastors.

Listen, let me say this to you.

Don't you worship me.

Don't you worship the sports stars?

Listen, there's only one person who's worthy of worship.

His name is Jesus.

Now, all of us can fall into this trap because I've heard this before.

You know what, my spouse, they're my rock.

You're an idiot.

You're gonna make your rock a human who's gonna one day lose their breath and fizzle away.

It's ridiculous.

It's one thing to say, I'm thankful for you, I'm grateful for you, I appreciate you.

I'm glad we're doing life together.

But the moment you make them your stability and your salvation, you've just committed idolatry.

And you've just put undue pressure on somebody who's human who's gonna fail you.

And so you say, Why did Jesus take these boys up to the Mount of Transfiguration?

I believe it was this.

I believe it was to reveal the idolatry of man worship.

Because all of us have a tendency to start, oh, I just love that person.

I just think they're the greatest.

And then here's what happens.

Ooh, you're gonna like this.

Then when they fall, when they sin, when they say something they shouldn't, when they go somewhere they shouldn't, when they do something that they shouldn't have, or they don't do something they should have, you're like, oh, I thought you, I had your this expectation of you.

Let me just bust your bubble right now, friend.

Stop it.

The pastor, the evangelist, the parent, we're all human.

Sometimes I'll be talking to people and I'll share, listen, I'm going through this, I said this, or I did this, or I'm struggling.

They're like, man, I just I didn't think you could do that too.

I'm thinking, what?

Please.

I'm human.

Do not put me up to a level of Godhead.

I'm not.

Don't do that for a pastor, don't do that for a religious leader, don't do that for apostles, don't do that for prophets.

There's only one person that we worship.

His name is Jesus.

I need a savior like you need a savior.

I'm faulty like you're faulty.

I make mistakes like you make mistakes.

Listen, I need grace like you need grace.

I've given you grace.

How about you give me some grace?

But we forget about this sometimes, don't we?

Oh, well, the church did this, the pastor did this.

Listen, how much of that stinking pastor, that good pastor, put up with you?

Then he said one thing wrong, you're like, meh, meh.

I'm so upset he offended me.

Well, get over it.

You offend me all the time, and I forgive you.

All I'm saying is, this thing's got to go both ways, right?

Here's what I'm trying to do is destroy this thought where we're committing idolatry of man worship.

It happens so easily, doesn't it?

Think about this.

Do you think that the children of Israel were idolizing Moses?

Oh, yeah.

Read the Gospel of John.

Well, we have Abraham and Moses.

Okay, you can have Abraham and Moses, but if you don't have Christ, you're lost and you're gonna burn in hell.

Isn't that right?

Because the law can't save you.

Only Jesus can.

Only Jesus can forgive you.

Only the blood of Christ.

In fact, here's what happens a lot of times in churches and in homes.

Well, I just love my my pastor.

I just love this church.

I just love, don't change anything, don't move anything.

And we start idolatry, uh making an idol of a pulpit.

Listen, when I went from a wood pulpit to a clear pulpit, oh, what's he doing?

So let me get this straight.

You're worshiping a wooden pulpit.

I just want to be like, you're an idiot.

You're an absolute idiot.

Well, you know what?

They're sitting down and preaching.

They're sitting down and they're just going liberal because they're sitting down.

So let me get this straight.

When Jesus went on the boat and began to preach, sitting down, was he committing sin too?

Just some things are just completely crazy.

And here's what happens is we lock in spiritual wisdom and how God uses a certain thing, and then we think that that is the thing and the source of power.

It is not.

God is the source of power.

Let me show you how this worked in Moses' day.

They loved Moses, Moses died.

He had a staff.

You guys remember when he when they were committing sin and he grabbed the brazen uh serpent and he said, Hey, listen, whoever is bit by serpents because of their evil, I'm gonna lift this up, and when you look, you'll live.

Look and live.

Y'all remember that song?

Look and live, my brother, live, look to Jesus now and live.

Y'all remember that?

Now you know why I'm not a song leader.

I can't even hear the music.

Well, what happened was they started worshiping the brazen serpent, an object.

It's the same thing that the Catholics do.

It's called sin.

And giving their veneration to the Pope, and giving their veneration and bowing down to Mary, bowing down to an idol.

It's the same thing when I go to Thailand and I see the Buddha and I and I go to all these locations and I see in Mexico City the Mary of Guadalajara, whatever it is, and they're bowing down and worshiping an idol, it's sin, it's idolatry.

You say, what are we supposed to do with idols?

Smash them.

Read the prophets in days of old.

They smashed the idols.

They smashed the high growth.

Look over in your Bible, 2 Kings chapter 18.

2 Kings 18 · chapter mention

How many are glad you came to church today?

2 Kings, if you're a first-time guest, welcome.

This is what it's like here.

If you like the Bible, you love it.

If you don't like high energy, you're gonna hate it.

There's a lot of other good gospel preaching churches.

We're not the only one in town, but if you want to grow in Christ and learn the Bible, you're welcome.

2 Kings chapter 18, look what it says here about Hezekiah.

2 Kings 18 · chapter mention

It says this.

Now it came to pass in 2 Kings 18, 1, in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.

25 years old.

Look how young he was.

Twenty-five years old was he when he began to reign.

And he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name also was Abbey, and the daughter of Zechariah.

So he's got some spiritual lineage, if you would.

Verse 3, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his father did.

Notice he did that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

He had a testimony, he was doing right.

You say, How do you know?

Well, look what he did.

Because your faith should have works to it, your belief should have behavior to it.

Look what it says in verse 4.

He removed the high places, and he broke the images, and cut down the groves, and break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made.

For unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it, and he called it Neheshtan.

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

For he claved the Lord and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses, and the Lord was with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went forth, and he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not.

Of course, he smites the Philistines.

You say, What did he do?

He went against the culture, he went against the contemporary, if I could put it this way, Christians of the day.

Hey, listen, if you try to bring me, I've had people bring me all kinds of stuff before.

Don't bring me a statue of Jesus, don't bring me a statue of a picture of Mary.

Don't bring me a candle with Jesus.

Listen, I'm just gonna break it.

I'm just gonna break it.

I'm just gonna put it in the trash.

There's times I've I've I've gone, I've said, listen, we need to smash some idols in our life.

And listen, some of y'all gotta smash the booze and throw out the pills and get rid of the little thing you're burning incense to.

Listen, some of y'all are worshiping your forefathers, you're worshiping your moms and your dads and your traditions.

Stop worshiping mankind and stop worshiping idols.

Smash those suckers.

And by the way, it's not their fault, even if they were good.

You can make it bad because you're putting too much value on it.

It was never intended to be used that way.

Well, I have this picture in my house of my grandma, she would just blah blah blah.

Listen, I'm sure she doesn't want you worshiping her, so stop it.

Have a picture, have something nice, but stop venerating somebody up to a place of worship.

No, she can't speak to God on your behalf.

There's only one that can mediate for you, and his name is Jesus.

So what'd he do?

He smashed it.

Hey, listen, anything in the church that becomes an idol, I'm gonna smash that sucker.

I'll smash it.

Why?

Listen, if this, if this, if this guitar becomes an idol, if this pulpit becomes an idol, if this jacket becomes an idol, if those drums become an idol, if the hymn book becomes an idol, I don't care what it is.

If it becomes an idol, rip it to smithereens.

If the program becomes an idol, well, we do outreach this way, we do I wana this way, we do grow gross groups.

I don't care if it becomes an idol, we will rend it of ourselves.

You say, why?

Because God does not want you trusting in some man-made thing, in some program or platform or any of those things.

You say, man, preacher, this takes courage.

Yes, it does.

It takes a ton of courage for you and I to recognize that the things that were used of God in our life for good, you and I can misuse them and they can turn into bad.

That's why Jesus took them up on the mountain.

Hey, is there any idolatry in your life that you need to destroy?

Is there anything that Jesus is highlighting in your life that you need to say, no, I'm done with this.

And now check this out the moment you start ripping things off and breaking them to pieces, you're gonna get some pushback.

Well, we always did it this way.

We always want, guess what?

I'm not doing it that way.

You're gonna have some people that are gonna misjudge you.

You're gonna say, He's a meaning.

She's a meaning.

No, that person just loves God more than you.

Isn't that right?

And that's what it takes.

God is not gonna share his glory with anybody else.

As a testimony of this, look back in your Bible at Mark chapter number nine.

You're listening very well.

Don't worry, we still have a baptism and baby dedication to come.

But before we do that, we got to get you guys fed spiritually.

We need you fed spiritually.

We need you to know the Bible in and out so you'll know how to walk with God and know what choices to make.

Mark chapter number nine, he takes them up on that mountain of transfiguration, he transfigures before them.

They see Moses and Elijah up there.

Elias is the transliteration, if you would.

That's why you see it that way.

And we see in Mark chapter number nine, Peter speaks up.

And he sees, he sees Jesus all in his glory, and he sees him talking with Moses and Elias, which by the way is an indicator of them Old Testament saints connecting with God and having fellowship, if you would, and communion.

And the Bible says this in verse number five of Mark 9.

And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, I can just imagine him being like hyped and pumped and saying something stupid.

It is good for us to be here.

Yes, yes, Peter, yes, it is.

I brought you here, yes, on purpose, it's good.

And let us make three tabernacles, one for thee and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

And he wished not what to say, for they were sore afraid.

I imagine Jesus going, He doesn't get it.

So, what was he advocating?

He was advocating idolatry.

Let's make three tabernacles.

One for you, Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

Now, what I love about Jesus, I love about the Father is he doesn't go, he doesn't talk like me, okay?

You're an idiot.

You know, he doesn't do that.

He lets us down sweetly.

I'm human, that's why we don't worship me, right?

That's why I don't worship you, right?

He's Jesus, he's God.

He doesn't smack them upside the head, he gave them the experience, he revealed the truth, he gave them this awesome moment.

Peter says and does the wrong thing.

Have you ever had somebody, maybe yourself or maybe a child, you brought them into a meeting, a special meeting, only for them to make a complete fool of themselves?

The other day I had a I've had I have meetings with our teenage leaders, and I have from sixth grade all the way up to 12th grade, and I have one who likes to talk a lot.

A lot.

And he's the youngest, and I by the way, he is the most maybe gifted in some ways with his words and his intelligence, but he's the lowest on timing and when to speak and how to speak and all that stuff.

So I'm coaching him.

Listen, shut it, shut it, be quiet.

Don't talk.

And he's like, shut it.

And he's just having such a hard time controlling his mouth.

I kind of imagine that's Peter.

Peter says, Oh, it's so good to beat.

He's got a gift in speech.

Just because you're gifted with speech doesn't mean you're gifted in understanding how to use it with temperance yet.

And that's the challenge.

And this is a huge challenge, and this is why I really love how God corrects Peter.

Because here's the the here's the deal.

If you beat that person who has a gift in speaking too harshly, they won't use it later for the glory of God.

If you have a hyperactive energy child and you just demonize it the whole time, they'll think that they're cursed and they won't understand how to use it for God.

It's not a curse, it's a gift that needs to be harnessed.

That makes sense?

Watch how, watch what happens.

Look how he he adjusts this conversation.

He wished not what to say, and by the way, if you don't know what to say, don't say anything at all.

Verse 7, and there was a cloud that overshadowed them, and the voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him.

You know what he did?

The way he corrected him is he focused all of them back on Jesus.

You focus on the one that you want to hear.

And so write this down, number five, the special experience to correct your focus.

The special experience is to correct your focus back onto Christ.

Listen, occasionally I'll have people come up to me and they'll be like, you know, I had this dream.

I had this experience, I saw this vision.

And they're like, and they'll want to make it something great.

And they're trying to search for meaning.

But listen, if you have a dream or there's a sign given, or there's some sort of wonder, or you have some vision or illumination, or you think a special revelation that takes you away from Jesus, it's from the devil.

And by the way, the ideas that you have when you're sleeping, those are to be brought in subjection to Christ, just like the ideas and thoughts that come to you when you're awake.

Sometimes you see crazy things in your dreams because you ate too much bad food.

But here's what I'm saying: we need to be very, very careful that we're not trying to chase an experience all the time.

Trying to chase the fanatical, trying to chase the magnificent, trying to chase some sort of miracle.

I want the next emotional high.

Come on, anybody out there?

I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored.

Okay, I get it.

You want the next mountaintop experience, but you need to be very careful that you're not seeking Jesus for the mountaintops, but you're seeking Jesus Christ for who he is because he's the God of the mountaintop and he's the God of the valley.

He's the God of the magnificent and he's the God of the mundane.

And you and I have got to get to a place where we realize our flesh is prone to wander.

It wants to find its value and it wants to find it in the sensational.

And then it wants to gloat about it and talk about it.

And I had this, and look how great my life is.

God doesn't give you special insight in these wonderful glimpses of glory to boost up who you are.

He does it to boost him up and to edify you.

You say, What do you mean, preacher?

I need to be careful with signs and wonders.

Oh, yeah.

Look what Jesus says here.

Two more places in Scripture.

You say, preacher, we came to get into church today, didn't we?

Yes, we did.

Look over at Matthew 16, with your other hand, pick up 2 Thessalonians.

You say, I don't know where those are.

Good, you need to learn.

I'm here to show you how to learn.

The only way you can learn is by flipping over in the pages and getting there.

I've got a phone, I can't get to two places in once.

Get a get a bring a Bible next time.

Do what I had to do for 10 years or three years or however long.

Put my hand on the table of contents, right?

And when the pastor said something, where's it at?

What if he get in?

My pastor gave me two, three, four different verses to go to.

And I'd be, I will always take it as a challenge.

I want to know the Bible, because when I'm not here, you got to know how to get there.

Right?

Don't we tell that to our kids?

Listen, when mom and daddy's not here, you've got to know how to feed yourself.

It's the same thing with the Word of God.

You say, Why do I need to be careful with special revelation and insights?

Well, I'll show you why.

Look what Jesus said in Matthew chapter number 16, verse number 4.

He says, A wicked and an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas.

You see, everybody wants the sensational, everybody wants the confirmation.

I'm saying, I'm telling you this God is not against giving a sign, he's not against giving a confirmation, he's not against a glimpse of glory.

Of course, he gave it to all the mighty people in days of old.

But here's the problem.

Here's where I know my energy right now is I'm I'm outpacing you right now.

I know it.

Some of you guys are tired.

Good.

Keep coming with me.

The only way you're gonna grow is if you get past your mental fatigue.

Listen, you can only focus for an hour because that's all you've been trained for.

Listen, the reason you try to fall off by the way is because you haven't been training.

You haven't been training in Bible preaching, you haven't been training in prayer.

That's why you start yawning and getting tired and your belly starts grumbling.

You gotta learn how to deny yourself and train further and go beyond.

Here, I'm trying to give you a little bit more so you can get some help here, because this is gonna help you one day when somebody says, I had this dream or I had this sign or I want God to do this and He's not doing it for me.

You need to know how to answer that.

A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

You say, What's the danger there?

We walk by faith, right?

Not by sight.

Your sight can, the devil can mislead you.

Remember what he did to Adam and Eve?

He used the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh.

Look over at 2 Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians.

Look what it says here.

This is talking about the end times, if you would.

Eschatology and when the when the devil's gonna come and all the the vo the the judgments are gonna come forth.

It says this in verse number three.

It says in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, let no man deceive you by any means.

For that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called of God, or that is worship, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Remember ye not that when I was wit yet with you I told you these things.

And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in this time.

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now leteth will let until he be taken out of the way.

And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.

Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.

Why?

Because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved.

Do you understand?

Your only protection against deception is the truth of the word of God.

It's not what you see, it's not your experiences, it's not going after all the glimpses and the adventures, it's knowing the truth.

Without the truth, you will be led astray easily.

You'll get into emotionalism before you know it.

You'll have a woman as a pastor, you're gonna have all kinds of men that are sodomites, and you're gonna think it's okay to fornicate and talk about evil things all day long.

No, uh-uh.

And you'll be, well, it feels good.

Well, just because something feels good doesn't mean it's right.

And the reason they're gonna be deceived is because they did not like the truth.

See, you can feel good all you want, but if you don't get the truth inside of you, you won't have any discernment.

You won't be able to try the spirits to see if they're of God.

You won't be able to try that church or try that pastor.

When I say try, I mean examine it.

You won't be able to look at this this boy or this girl that wants to date your child.

You won't have any discernment.

Without the truth, you need the truth.

Without the truth, you will chase lying wonders.

This is why it's a danger to go after these sensational things.

This is why you have to be super, super careful.

You say, Well, what do I do?

Focus back on Christ.

Amen.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God.

It's profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction and righteousness.

Listen, this book is what you need.

Hey, turn to your neighbor and say, You need the book.

You need the book, friend.

More than your next uh television show.

Listen, I'm a binger.

I I'll turn on uh the Netflix or the Amazon Prime, and I'm just gonna mow through all kinds of them shows.

But more than I need my shows, I need my Jesus.

Don't tell me you don't have time for your Bible if you're out there with your sports and you're out with your your next show and you're out with your next workout and you're out with your next thing.

Listen, you got all the time you need to read your Bible.

Quit putting God on the back burner and expecting front burner service in your life.

You need the Bible.

What is the what happens to Peter, James, and John?

The cloud, if you would, the transfiguration, it says this.

It says, all of a sudden, Moses and Elijah are gone.

The cloud that overshadowed them.

There was a voice that came out and said, This is my beloved son.

Hear him.

Hey, sometimes God will give you some sort of message, some sort of signal.

Hey, this is your message, this is your signal.

Let me be the one that's speaking in your life.

Focus on Christ, focus on the Bible, hear him.

All of a sudden, all the other stuff that you thought was so important.

Listen, it's not.

It's not important.

Jesus is important.

Some of you guys, for the next, you'd think in 20 years your life's gonna be better.

When I get all this money, listen, right now you're as healthy as you're probably ever gonna be.

And in 20 years, even if you didn't get that wealth, you're gonna wish you had that health again.

Don't wait to serve God.

Hear him, get in your Bible now.

I love what happens in this passage.

This is my son, hear him.

And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man.

Hey, listen.

When the glimpse of glory is gone, when the message, when the shadow, when the cloud is gone, when all of a sudden that spectacular moment, when the event of missions conference is gone, or the 40-day fast, or whatever it is for you, the home runs that you out of the park, or the diving catches, and you're just back to the mundane.

You're back to Sunday morning church attendance, you're back to midweek church attendance, you're back, you're back to just doing the basics again.

Don't you forget you're serving Jesus not just for the sensational, that's a byproduct, it's a by-benefit.

You're to follow him to the mountaintops and through the valleys and everywhere in between.

That's the value of this message.

Some of you guys, you're wondering, man, why am I not getting an emotional experience?

Why am I empty?

Why I just need to find this next thing.

No, you don't.

You have Jesus, he's enough.

Amen.

You have Jesus right now.

All you need to do is hear him.

That's it.

Turn your focus back onto him and watch how God blesses your life.

Number six, the special experiences that teach you temperance and discretion.

I know what time it is, I'm not worried about it.

Paul was preaching all night.

People fell at the back side of the window, Eutychus died.

Listen, if you go to a movie for two hours, you go sit at the ball field for four hours.

Listen, you can hear some preaching and be in church for two hours.

Come on, where's your priorities at?

Well, I you guys, I can't sit here, I can't sit here.

My back, my back.

Your back sure does good when you're at the movie theater.

Amazing how all of a sudden your back hurts you and it got a headache when you're getting spiritually fit.

I'll tell you why.

Because you're squirming in your seat.

I don't like this preaching.

It's crucifying my foot.

Ah that's what's happening.

You don't like to be told you're wrong on things.

You don't like to be told you need to do this.

Your flesh is squirming.

You say, What do I do?

Crucify that sucker.

Die to it.

This special experience is to teach you temperance and discretion.

Meaning self-control.

Hey, y'all are doing really good today.

I've only seen a few of you get up.

I hear some reports, people sitting in the back.

Sometimes it goes crazy back there.

Sometimes, hey, God bless you in the back back there.

Sometimes those are the worst seats.

Why?

Because you got all kinds of crazy people around you going, you know, doing, I love all of you, but sometimes y'all act up, okay?

And they got people talking this way and fidgeting and doing all kinds of stuff.

They forget, man, there's people trying to get fed behind them.

Right?

Temperance is for the person who's sitting in the back row dealing with all the drama in front of them, trying to listen to the message.

But temperance is also for the person who's getting up and down, up and down, fidgeting all the time.

You need to learn to sit still and be quiet and pay attention.

Temperance is for the daddy and the mama to be able to tell the child, hey, you sit there and be quiet, boy.

No, you don't go anywhere, you sit there.

Temperance and discretion will teach you, oh man, I'm gonna have a talk with you, son, but it's not gonna be right here in front of all the church people.

We're gonna have a talk privately.

See, Peter needed temperance and discretion.

He said some things out of his mouth over and over again, like you and I, where we get it wrong.

Did God give up on him?

No.

He still used them on the day of Pentecost.

He kept getting it wrong, but Jesus kept getting it right for him.

How many of you all that's you?

You keep getting it wrong and Jesus keeps getting it right for you.

How many of you are thankful Jesus isn't giving up on you?

Man, I'm thankful my God's not giving up on me.

He's still helping me.

I remember when my pastor started letting me get a little closer to him.

Let me say this to you.

Listen.

If your pastor or you have a spiritual leader that lets you get close to them, it's a privilege.

It's not a right.

Are you listening?

I was bugging my pastor so much.

20 years old, 21 years old, couldn't control my mouth.

This energy is the energy I had.

Without it being directed, it's like a wildfire.

He said, Jason, I need you to study two words prudence and discretion.

This is coming from a marine recon pastor that probably just took out all kinds of people.

He was being gracious to me.

And basically, he could have said, I need you to learn how to shut your mouth, control yourself, and I'll let you keep being with me so you can watch and learn.

But he did it in a gracious way.

I need you to learn prudence, looking around, visual awareness, and I need you to learn discretion.

So, what did I do?

I went home, I got my Bible, my pastor gave me something.

And by the way, this is the right response when your pastor, spiritual leader, gives you something.

You don't throw an attitude and go, well, he didn't like me, blah blah blah.

Okay, good.

You're gonna stay right there with your little pity party and be stuck.

Or you can say, you know what, God gave me a pastor in my life for a reason.

I'm gonna take what he's trying to give to me and I'm gonna study it.

And I went home, I grabbed my Bible and I looked at every place prudence and discretion came up in my Bible, and then the Holy Spirit started teaching me.

You need to know who you're around when you're around them.

You need to know your place.

Just because you're around spiritual leaders doesn't give you the right and the privilege to speak every single time.

Now I'm really speaking in now.

I'm gonna go a step deeper.

I don't care if I offend you either.

Listen, there's an order in the church and there's an order in home.

Are you listening?

The Bible says, let the women be silent in the church.

It doesn't permit a woman to pastor and take authority over men.

Now, God's not against women, but a woman's temptation is to go way too emotional and not learn and know where her place is.

And the same is true for men.

Just in case you think I'm picking on a woman, you say, I don't like that.

Listen, take it up with God.

You sure like his salvation, you sure love his grace, you sure love his mercy.

How do you do with his truth now?

You don't get to pick and choose.

You don't get to pick and choose this thing.

No, if God says, Listen, the order in the home is God, husband, wife, children, who do you think you are to walk around?

I am this.

Okay, do that all you want.

You're still against God.

I don't like it.

I didn't write it.

I didn't write it.

I preach it.

I live it the best I can.

I fail often.

How many of y'all ladies fail at this?

How many of y'all men, you fail at this?

I'm not talking about we're perfect.

I am saying this.

We can't let our imperfectness censor the truth out of our life.

Are you listening?

And if that means the truth is saying something to you that you need, you have two responses.

You can get mad at the messenger and repudiate and reject the truth and stay stuck in your walk with God, or you can say, you know what, Lord, I receive the message of the truth from the messenger and I will yield.

Teach me what prudence and discretion is.

Teach me what my place is, teach me how to be a son, teach me how to be, you know, all these things.

What does the Bible say about this?

Oh, now we're growing.

Now we're growing.

The reason Jesus took them up on the high mountain, he wanted to teach them.

He wanted to teach them temperance and discretion.

Last one, write this down.

Number seven.

The special experience is to clarify the scriptures.

You say, what do you mean clarify the scriptures?

You know, there's a lot of people that read the Bible, but they don't know how to rightly divide the word of God.

Listen, just because you you can you can say you're saved, if I were to take this Bible to you and I'd say, here, show me how to be a husband.

Here, show me how to lead somebody to Christ.

Here, show me what the Bible says about heaven.

Hey, you know what, will you show me something about forgiveness?

Hey, I'm struggling with drugs.

Can you show me what to do with drugs?

Hey, can you can you show me how to get my life back on track?

Hey, show me about church attendance.

What does the Bible say about being a member?

Hey, show me what the Bible says on how to pray.

Can you show it to me?

Please, will you show me how to be a man?

I need to know.

Please, can you show it to me?

Now, if whatever the topic is, if if you don't know it, here's the thing: you should know it.

And you should not be okay with yourself as a student and a servant of God not knowing.

Listen, as a pastor, it's my job to pastor the church.

But if you're the head of the home and you're a daddy, listen, it's your job to pastor that family.

If your wife was to come to you and say, here, show it to me from the Bible, I don't understand.

It's your job to teach her.

We need to stop deferring all spiritual authority over to the pastor of the church for our homes.

And as men, we need to take the spiritual responsibility that God has given to us.

Now, here's what that requires.

I need to man up.

I need to stop saying, Well, I don't know.

The reason you don't know is because you're staying in ignorance.

You've got to get to the place where if I don't know, I'm gonna find it, I'm gonna do what God says.

You say, How do I do that?

You find what it says and you do it.

You don't need to know it all, you find what it says and you do it.

You say, How does that apply to the scriptures?

Well, Jesus is saying, hey, why do the scribes say that uh Elias is supposed to come back?

See, that they the scribes and others couldn't figure things out.

They didn't understand the Messiah, they didn't understand the Lamb of God.

They thought Jesus was coming to set up his kingdom.

That's why it was such a just a mind-blowing mystery to them that he was gonna die.

Here's their problem they didn't factor in Isaiah 53, they didn't understand the 70th week of Daniel.

They had the law and the prophets, but they did not know how to rightly divide them and put them in their place.

See, that's the difference between knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

You can read the Bible all you want.

You can have knowledge.

Listen, I know some people have a gift of knowledge.

They don't understand, they have mental ascent, but they have no emotional intelligence.

They don't know how to be gracious and forgiving and work things out.

You got the devil who can quote scriptures, it doesn't mean he's going to heaven.

Right?

Doesn't mean he has a walk with God.

So when they ask Jesus the question, why do the scribes say that Elias has come?

Jesus steps up and says, Listen, he already did come.

And he was quoting Malachi 3 and Malachi chapter 4.

Malachi 4 · chapter mention

Behold, the the messenger that goes before the Lamb of God, it was John the Baptist.

And he would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.

He would be preaching.

Here's what Jesus did.

He was saying that John the Baptist was the fulfillment, if you would, of those prophecies in some ways.

And John the Baptist was the forerunner for Christ.

Here's my point.

Jesus took his disciples, and here's what you need to think about.

You need to think about whether or not you are walking worthy enough for Jesus to take you up on a mountain and personally disciple you.

Are you listening?

And I promise you this if you're hit and miss in church, you don't read your Bible, you don't give a rip about God, listen, don't expect some great mount of transfiguration when you're giving God leftovers.

Amen?

It's not gonna happen for you.

You're not gonna know the Bible, you're not gonna have these special uh experiences with God.

Yeah, sure, you're gonna want them.

You're gonna sit back and be like, well, if you show me God, if you give me a special experience, then, okay, so let me get this right.

You want God to prove to you by faith why, uh prove to you by sight why you should walk by faith.

It doesn't work that way.

He's not gonna prove to your your foolishness and your sight life in order to authenticate and verify a faith life, you have to take the steps in faith.

You say, How do I get faith?

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

How many of y'all want more faith?

You get it from the Bible.

Now, week after week for the last 15 years, I have been preaching this book.

I've been preaching this King James Bible.

I have not wavered in preaching my King James Bible, I have not wavered in praying for this church, I have not wavered at all in my commitment to you to preach this word.

I have not wavered in missing my Bible reading.

No, I don't.

I read my ask my wife every day, uh-huh.

Every day.

I'll see her.

Before I give her a kiss and give her lovings, I give Jesus the kiss and give Jesus the lovings.

Jesus before her.

And she'll say the same thing: Jesus before him.

Because I can't love her, I can't love my family, and I can't love you unless I get the agape love from God.

It's all in this book.

And so, today, in summary, I know it's a longer message, I hope you enjoyed it.

Ask God to draw you in.

Ask God to make you a better disciple.

Ask God for a glimpse of his glory.

Ask him to reveal some great things.

Let me say this to you don't chase the experiences.

You chase Christ.

He is enough and he is worthy.