Luke The Orderly Account of Truth - Put On Your Listening Ears - Luke 9:28-36

Glad you're early. Here. We are continuing our series called Luke, The

Orderly Account of Truth, where we are reading through Luke's careful examination into the

eyewitness testimony about the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of our Lord

Jesus. Last week, Pastor Duncan took us through a rather difficult text in

Luke, where we saw Jesus predict his coming death, his coming resurrection,

and tell his disciples the great cost of following him. In verse twenty two,

chapter nine, he tells them, the son of Man must suffer many

things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers

of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be

raised to life. Jesus addresses himself as the son of Man, not a

son of man, the son of Man, appointing not only to Jesus's humanity,

but more importantly his humility as foretold by the prophet Isaiah in chapter fifty

three. Jesus God, the son of Man, in whom all the fullness

of the deity dwells in bodily form, then tells his disciples of the great

cost of following him, the cost being that one must deny themselves and take

up their cross daily and follow him, saying, whoever wants to save their

life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for him will save it.

That's the mark of a true believer, to deny ourselves of what we

want, crucifying our earthly desires, suffering for and following him. Eight days

after saying these things and in our texts today, we're going to see Jesus

take three of his disciples to a mountaintop to pray, where they are surrounded

by the very presence of God the Father. Right after Jesus tells them the

great cost of following him, the disciples are covered in a cloud where God

the Father commands them to listen to the Son my sermon today. A sermon

today is titled put on your listening ears. Anyone to have kids in daycare,

I mean, have any of you been in daycare? The teacher always

says, all right, put on your listening ears. When the kids are

getting like super ROWDI hold out, put on your listening ears, and all

the kids go, no, one, I haven't heard that. Just me

listen up. That's what I'm saying. More importantly, listen to what Jesus

has to say in his word. It turned with me to the chapter nine

of Luke, verse twenty eight. We're gonna read through verse thirty six,

and then we'll pray. About eight days after Jesus said this, he took

Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountaintop to

pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and

his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses

and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus. They spoke about his

departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and

his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw

his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving

Jesus, Peter said to him, Master, it is good for us to

be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for you, one

for Moses, and one for Elijah. He did not know what he was

saying. While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and

they were afraid. As they entered the cloud, a voice came from the

cloud, saying, this is my son whom I have chosen, listened to

him. When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone.

The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what

they had seen. Let's pray, Lord, we thank you for your word

today. We thank you for this account that your servant Luke collected and wrote

down for us to read, to know, and to learn from. Help

us to be true listeners of your word. Lord, change our hearts,

humble us, remove any ounce of pride in us, and help us to

submit to the truth of your scripture. We love you, and we thank

you for allowing us to be together to learn and be changed by you.

Amen. All right, let's read the first verse again. About eight days

after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and

went up to a mountaintop to pray. We don't know exactly which mountain they

traveled up to. There's some speculation, some guesses, but we don't really

know. So in church history this spot is appropriately referred to as the Amount

of Transfiguration or Transfiguration Mountain, if you like. But the name of the

place is and what's important here is important is what happens after they arrive.

While Jesus is praying in verse twenty nine, as he was praying, the

appearance of his face changed and his clothes became as bright as a flash of

lightning. After the resurrection of Jesus, this is perhaps the second greatest miracle

or event of Jesus's life. Why well, throughout story and Luke's Gospel,

we've talked many times about how Jesus is both truly God and truly man.

From the time he was born on earth and up to this point, Jesus

has always appeared as a man. He was made flesh and born of the

Virgin Mary. He was raised according to Jewish customs like every other child around

him. He followed in the steps of his earthly father Joseph and took up

the trade in carpentry. He has always appeared as a man. What sent

him apart while growing up was that he never sinned, and once he began

his ministry, he began performing miracles like turning water into wine, raising the

dead, healing the sick, driving out demons, calming storms, walking on

water. The list goes on. This is very small, very small list,

but he's always appeared as a man. That's why many that witnessed his

miracles thought that he was merely a prophet, merely a man. The people

around Jesus that doubted he was the Messiah grew up reading and knowing all about

the prophets of their time, the time of their forefathers, who God chose

and worked through to teach and foretell his plans and to both judge and save

God's people. Prophets like Moses, whom God chose to work through and to

part the Red Sea to save his people Israel in Exodus fourteen, the prophet

Elijah, whom through God struck an army with blindness tewod Kings chapter six.

Through the prophet Deborah, God saved his people when their army was outmatched Judges

four. And through Isaiah, God foretold the coming of his son, Jesus,

the Messiah Isaiah chapter nine. These prophets of God performed miraculous acts and

taught with remarkable wisdom and knowledge, just as Jesus did after them, And

up until the moment on this mountain with Peter, John and James, Jesus

had appeared like the prophets of old people that God worked through to accomplish his

purposes. The disciples have seen that Jesus was truly man, but now he

has transfigured, he has changed and revealed to them as he truly is God

in flesh. And that's our first point today. Jesus is truly God and

truly man. He is truly God and truly man. He was not just

a prophet, He was the prophet. This is what Paul wrote about in

his Letters to the Clautians, Chapter two, verse nine. For in Christ,

all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. All the fullness

of the Deity lives in bodily form. Charles Wesley, who may or may

not know, I think he was alive in the eighteenth century. He wrote

over sixty five hundred hymns during his lifetime. And he made the same confession

in one of my favorite Christmas songs, which reads Christ by Highest Heaven,

adored Christ, the Everlasting Lord. Late in time, behold him, come

offspring of a virgin's womb, veiled in flesh, the godhead Sea. Hail

the incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh. To dwell Jesus, are

I Manuel? And if you're wondering was that hard to read and not sing?

Yes, it's very difficult. Okay, let's continue on verse twenty nine.

As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes

became as bright as a flash of lightning. Have you ever watched a lightning

storm? I personally love watching them. They are amazing, amazing acts of

God's creation. When they occur at night, you are surrounded by darkness and

then a single bolt lights up the entire area. It's both amazing and terrifying.

So imagine being one of the three disciples with Jesus on this mountain.

The whole time they've followed him, Jesus has appeared as a man and done

incredible things, powerful messages. Then while he's praying lightning bolt, he's as

bright as a flash of lightning. His face shines like the sun. According

to Matthew chapter seventeen, they witness the glory of Jesus shining before them.

It's the transfiguration. But it gets even more wild verse thirty two, men

Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus. First thing to note,

these are not ghosts. The Bible makes it clear that there's no such

thing as ghosts in the sense of a human soul being left behind to wander

in search of answers or revenge or fulfillment of some kind. That's all folklore

in Hollywood. It's not what's happening here. Look at Hebrews nine, verse

twenty seven. You only die once. That's what that is. For.

By the way, Yodo, people are destined to die once, and after

that they face judgment. That's what happens to a person's soul after they die

judgment. The result of the judgment is heaven for the believer or hell for

the unbeliever. Not purgatory, not soul sleep, no existence in an in

between space and time here on earth, none of that. It's either heaven

or hell. So if they're not ghosts, what are they? What is

happening here? What's happening is after Moses died and Elijah was carried to heaven

on a chariot of fire. Their spirits, their eternal self. Let me

say, we are not bodies who have a spirit. We are spirits who

have a body. This is temporary, thank God, because this sucks.

Their eternal sels were joined with the Father, They were in the presence of

God, and now we see them with Jesus here on this mountain as his

glory is being revealed before them. Moses and Elijah left the presence of God,

or perhaps they were sent from his presence to witness the glory of the

Sun and to speak to Jesus about his coming death. What's especially interesting to

me, and this is a side note, is that God denied Moses' entry

into the promised land of Israel. Shortly before Moses died. We find God

say this to him in Deuteronomy, this chapter thirty two. On that same

day, the Lord told Moses, go up into the Ebrahim range to Mountain

Ebo of Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I

am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you

have climbed, you will die and be gathered to your people, just as

your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This

is because both of you broke faith with Me in the presence of the Israelites

at the waters of marabah Kadesh in the desert of Zin, and because you

did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the

land only from a distance. You will not enter the land I am giving

you. I'm giving to the people of Israel. And immediately before his death,

Moses seized the Promised Land, just as God vowed. Then the Lord

said to him, this is the land I promised an oath to Abraham,

Isaac and Jacob, when I said I will give it to your descendants.

I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross

over into it. And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there

in Moab, as the Lord Lord had said. Because Moses broke faith with

God and did not uphold his holiness among the Israelites, God denied him entry

into the Promised Land when he was alive. He was only granted a glimpse

of it. Fast forward some one thousand plus years later, and Moses is

in the Promised Land, and not only that, he is face to face

with the one he prophesied would come after him. Look at Deuteronomy eight fifteen.

This is Moses speaking, the Lord your God will raise up for you

a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must

listen to him. This is key. Remember this last sentence. For this

teaching, you must listen to him. So Jesus is praying he has transfigured

before the disciples that were with him, Moses and Elijah, appear and witness

his appearance change, his glory revealed. And then verse thirty one, they

spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.

They spoke about Jesus's departure or exodos in the Greek, meaning to leave

or die. In the septuagen the same term is used to refer to God's

rescue of the Israelites from slavery the Exodus. Last week, Pastor Duncan showed

us Jesus telling his disciples about his upcoming exodus, and he was rebuked by

Peter. Perhaps Jesus wanted to speak with Moses and Elijah because they would support

him, or maybe the two were sent by the Father to comfort the son

as the day of his death approached. What we do know is that they

want is that they talk about that day, that day of his departure,

and more than that, they talk about the fulfillment his death would bring.

What did jesus death fulfill? What fulfillment did it bring? What did it

accomplish? First and foremost, Jesus's death brought glory to God. Jesus death

brought glory to God. In the Book of Romans, Paul writes what's known

as the Doxology. This is chapter eleven. Oh, the depths of the

riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments and his

paths, beyond tracing out who has known the mind of the Lord, or

who has been his counselor who has ever given to God that God should repay

them? For from him and through him, and for him are all things

to him be the glory. Wherever amen, all things belong to God.

All things are purposed by Him to bring glory, and that glory belongs to

him alone, including the death of his one and only son. Before he

was arrested, Jesus said this in his prayer, Father, the hour has

come, glorify your son, that your son may glorify you, For you

granted him authority over all people, that he might give eternal life to all

those you have given him. Now this is eternal life that they know You

the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have

brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had

with you before the world began. Praise God. These verses are another beautiful

picture of the Trinity at work. Jesus willingly sacrificed his own life to fulfill

the will of the Father and bring him glory, glory that God alone deserves.

The first thing that jesus death accomplished was bringing glory to God. The

second thing his death accomplished was bringing sinners to glory. Jesus's death brought sinners

to glory. Hallelujah. Just as God used Moses to rescue the Israelites in

the act known as the Exodus, now Moses and Elijah are speaking to Jesus

about his own exodus, which will accomplish the rescue of all who believe in

him. Praise God. His death on the cross rescues us from sin and

death. His death accomplished and brought redemption to all who believe Ephesians one point

seven. His death reconciled us to God Romans five ten, and it granted

us adoption as sons and daughters of the Living God Galatians four to five.

Hallelujah. We are all sinners. We all fall short of the glory of

God, each and every one of us, and we all need to be

rescued by the saving grace of Jesus Christ. So in his death his exodus,

Jesus brought glory to God and sinners to glory. Let's continue our reading

verse thirty two through thirty three. And his companions were very sleepy, but

when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing

with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him,

Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up

three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

He did not know what he was saying. Remember, try to imagine

the state of shock and fear the disciples felt at this moment. At this

moment, Jesus is having a long prayer session. The disciples get sleepy and

are probably dozing off like they do when all of a sudden, Jesus becomes

as bright as a flash of lightning. They wake up fully to see his

glory. Revealed in bright, shining, splendor and majesty, and see him

speaking with two of the patriarchs of their faith. Imagine that. In Mark's

Gospel account of this moment, chapter nine, verse five, I've Mark writes,

Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi or Master, it is good for us

to be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for you,

one for Moses, and one for Elijah. This catch this. He did

not know what to say. They were so frightened. They were so frightened.

This is why Luke wrote down he did not know what he was saying.

Peter was dumb struck and absolutely terrified about what's occurring right in front of

them, and rightly so you'd be scared too, Okay, I'll go first.

I would be scared. Oh, if you are so brave, let's

continue on. In verse thirty four, While he was speaking, a cloud

appeared and covered them, and they were afraid. As they entered the cloud,

a voice came from the cloud, saying, this is my son,

whom I have chosen. Listen to him. When the voice had spoken,

they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did

not tell anyone at that time what they had seen real quick. A question

that comes up is why did they keep this to themselves and not tell anyone

about what had happened? It seems like something you would share. I mean,

we know they eventually told people were reading about their account right now,

but why didn't they tell anyone right away? We find that answer in Matthew's

Gospel the chapter seventeen. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus

instructed them, don't tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man

has been raised from the dead. So the disciples didn't speak about this right

away because they were commanded not to. It's that simple. But why why

wait? Why instruct them to not tell anyone until after Jesus had been raised

from the dead, Because that wasn't the purpose of his mission. Jesus's purpose

was to tell Israel to repent, and, like I mentioned earlier, to

glorify God through a purposed, willing death on the cross at the appointed time.

His resurrection from the dead was the central evidence to people that he is

the son of God. Not what just happened here, not the transfiguration.

It's his death and resurrection In That command not to tell anyone until after his

resurrection comes directly after hearing the voice of God in the presence of God commanding

them, listen to my son, listen to him. This brings us to

me next point and the crux of this text, the most simple yet challenging

and important command for all people, everywhere, for all of time. Listen

to Jesus. The most simple, yet challenging and important command of all time.

Listen to Jesus. Now. Does this mean to simply read what he

said? Does this mean to merely listen to his commands in his written word

and do nothing. No, that's just hearing. That's all that is.

Look at this explanation of hearing. Hearing is an involuntary process through which noise

and vibrations cause the fluid in the ears to move, sending the sound to

brain. Do you think that's what God was commanding his disciples to do.

Again, No, it wasn't just hearing. Now look at the definition of

listening. To take notice of and act on what someone says. Respond to

advice or a request to listen and take notice of what someone says. To

listen and take notice of what Jesus says. Requires us to be intentional,

to actually seek out for him and know all of what he says. How

do we do that? Yeah, Patricia, got it. Read your bibles.

This is where God spoke. More importantly, this is where God speaks.

Stop looking other places to hear God's voice. Crack open his word read

what it says. I don't know why I got so fired up about that,

but there's too many false messages and prophets out there today telling you this

is what God's saying. No, this is what God said that wasn't in

my notes. Sorry, but please read your bibles. Don't make Sunday afternoons

at the Roots the only time you read and listen to the Word of God.

I love that you're here. Please come back, but don't come here

and listen to Pastor Greg, Pastor Duncan or myself talk at you for an

hour and then go back home and do nothing with what we've taught you from

the Word of God, or worse, nothing to know God more and what

he has said and what he is insane, what he is saying. I

love you all your Bibles. The final and most important piece to truly listening

to him is actually doing what he says, once we've read what he says,

once we've intentionally taken notice, we must intentionally act on it and do

what he says. So what did he say? I made a short list

of some of the things Jesus said that we must listen to, and I

called this list, Jesus says. Jesus says, this is not a comprehensive

list. This did not cover everything he said these There's a few I thought

would benefit all of us. Here to be reminded of the first thing,

Jesus says, love God, Love God. When asked by a pharisee what

the greatest commandment is, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy six and says this In Matthew chapter

twenty two. Jesus replied to that pharisee. He said, love the Lord

your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with

all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. When we read

this verse, we're going to ask ourselves, how do we even begin to

keep a commandment like that? How do we love God with all of our

heart's, soul and mind. Have you met me, how do I do

that? Jesus gave us that answer. John fourteen fifteen. If you love

me, keep my commands again simple, incredibly challenging. If you love me,

keep my commands. I find it so awesome and kind of humorous that

following Jesus's greatest commandment to love God is actually accomplished by listening to and doing

what he says. I'm the only one who found that funny. The next

thing that comes to mind is actually out of our text from last week.

Jesus says, deny yourself and take up your cross. Deny yourself and take

up across Luke chapter nine, verse twenty three. Then he said to them

all, whoever wants to be my disciple, must deny themselves and take up

their cross daily and follow me. That means denying ourselves of what we want,

crucifying our earthly desires, suffering for and following him. It means setting

aside what we want if it takes precedence over Jesus. It means setting aside

what we desire if in our lives, if it doesn't align with his commands.

What else does Jesus say, Oh boy, forgive, oh boy,

Josh is the only one ready for this? Matthew eighteen, verse twenty one,

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall

I forgive my brother a sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?

Look at Peter trying to find a way out. Jesus answered, I

tell you, not seven times, but seventy seven times. Another way to

understand this is seventy times seven. For any of you who watched veggietails,

that's four hundred and ninety. That's how I learned that. What's especially difficult

about what Jesus duncan We both grew up watching vegetails. So I think the

quote finally clicked with him is that's why he's laughing anyway. What's especially difficult

about what Jesus is saying here is this not about the number. It's not

as if he's saying that if you forgive someone four hundred and ninety times,

if you reach that number and they sin against you again, you're free not

to forgive him. You made the cutoff. That's not what he's saying.

He's saying that we need to have an overall spirit of forgiveness. Are you

harboring anger or a grudge against a family member, friend, coworker? Fill

in the blank. Here's a big one. Are you angry with your spouse

for something they did or said. Are you withholding forgiveness until they make it

right? Imagine if that was the condition for us being forgiven by our Lord

and savior. Imagine that make it right so I can forgive you. That's

not at all what the Bible teaches. Colossians three, verse twelve. Paul

writes, Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe

yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with

each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against

someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. Side note. Having this spirit

of forgiveness doesn't stop in this room. It doesn't stop when the family of

believers. We are also commanded to love your enemy as yourself, and you

best believe forgiveness is including and loving someone. Forgiveness is one of the hardest

thing we as believers must do. But if we are to be like Christ,

then we need to be forgiving as He is, forgiving as He forgave

you. Still with me, everyone says, Everyone say Jordan loves me.

Okay, I just want to remind you. The fourth thing on my list

of Jesus says, be on your guard against greed. Be on your guard

against greed. In Luke chapter twelve, verse thirteen, someone in the said

to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

I love this reply. Jesus replied, man who appointed me a judge or

an arbiter between you, basically saying, deal with it here is brother.

Then he said to them, watch out, be on your guard against all

kinds of greed. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. This

is a hard one for US Americans to hear. So we've been so nurtured

and cultured our whole lives. Even if you grew up poor, you are

vastly rich compared to the rest of the world. We rely so heavenly on

all of our possessions to bring us comfort and security. The love of money

is a sin because it gets in the way of worship God, and it

destroys us. We first timothy. Those who want to get rich fall into

temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people

into ruin and destruction, for the love of money is a root of all

kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and

pierced themselves with many griefs. When we rely on this next thing that I'm

saving for, this next thing that I have to have, this next device

is oftentimes is what it is, new tech device. When we rely on

those next things to make us happy, or we rely on a larger paycheck

for security, those things become idols and we worship them instead of a God

who is the only one worthy of our worship. In Hebrews chapter thirteen,

keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you

have. Catch this because God has said, never will I leave you,

Never will I forsake you. He is where we find our happiness. In

Him, is where we find our security. Not these things, not this.

This all burns away at the end, it's all ash, it's all

vanity. He's where we find our happiness. He's where we find our security.

Do you hear me? God alone gives us everything we need. Hallelujah.

The fifth thing on my list, Jesus says, cut lust from your

life, Cut lust from your life. This is a huge one. Stay

with me, Matthew five Verse twenty seven. This is Jesus speaking. Jesus

says, you have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery.

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed

adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble,

gouge it out, and throw it away, it is better for you

to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown

into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it

off, and throw it away, it is better for you to lose one

part of your body then for your whole body to go into hell. Listen

how strongly this message is from our Lord. I know Jesus only spoke about

men in this verse, which is fitting because it's a sin that's largely struggled

by the men. But the sin of lust applies to everyone. It means

ladies too. Lust always has the focus of pleasing ourselves, of gratifying our

evil desires, and it leads to destructive sexually and moral actions to fulfill those

evil desires. Paul perfectly summarizes just how destructive lust is in his letters to

the Corinthians. Flee from sexual immorality. Flee run from it. All other

sins a person commits are outside the body. But whoever sins sexually sins against

their whole body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the

Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God.

Those of us who have grown up in church have probably heard that our whole

lives your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Amen, and hallelujah,

it's so true. For whatever reason, well, Holy Spirit, I

guess this part stuck out to me a lot more this time around, the

very last part. You are not your own. You were bought with a

price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. You are not your own,

You were bought with a price. Honor God with your bodies. This

what I'm gonna say next is mainly meant for my brothers here, But ladies,

if this speaks to you too, don't ignore this. There has never

been a time in history where sex, pornography, and immediate gratification has been

so readily available to us at any second of the day, and it's only

going to get worse. If you're constantly giving into the sinful desire to look

at porn, to hook up, whatever it is, whatever it is that's

causing you to sin, cut it out of your life. Gouge out the

eye, cut off the hand that causes you to sin. As John Owen

said, be killing sin or it will be killing you. Be killing sin,

or it will be killing you. You are not your own. You

were bought with a price. Honor God with your bodies. This, it's

actually appropriately leads me to my last point in regards to what Jesus says.

Jesus says, repent, repent, I get the band to come up.

In Luke five, verse thirty two, when Jesus was being questioned for sitting

at the table with sinners and tax collectors by the righteous elite, his response

was, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Hallelujah. If that were the other way around, each and every one of

us would be excluded. Jesus says, repent, But what does that mean?

What does repentance really mean? I broke it down in three pieces.

First, true repentance means having an awareness of your own guilt sinfulness, and

helplessness. It means you know that you have broken God's law and sinned against

him. Look at Psalm fifty one, for I know my transgressions, and

my sin is always before me against you. You only have I sinned and

done what is evil in your sight, So you are right. You are

right in your verdict. It justified when you judge. I get a tissue,

lindsay, I left my hanky at home. Shame on me, Thank

you. I apologize. When you have this kind of awareness of the sin

that you've committed against God, the sin that has done against him. Only

your sin will hurt other people, It will hurt you, but it's him

alone that you sinned against. Well, when you have this kind of awareness,

you respond by repenting of it, by turning listen, by turning from

that sin to the Father. You turn from the sin and turn to his

mercy. I'm gonna try my hardest to get through this next verse. But

true repentance means we rely on God's unending mercy. So I'm fifty one.

Have mercy on me, Oh God, according to what your unfailing love,

according to what to your great compassion blot out my transgressions? Wash away all

my indiquity. God is so good. I apologize for my state. Reflecting

on this, it's broken me. True repentance means we rely on God's unending

mercy as we strive to be obedient, holy and pleasing children of God.

I'm gonna get to read you, Thank you, Thank you son. It

means we rely on his mercy as we strive to be obedient, holy and

pleasing, pleasing children of God. We'll get first Peter Chapter one. Peter

wrote, Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your

hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at

his coming. As what obedient children do not conform to the easel evil desires

you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you

as holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written,

be holy, because I am holy. Until we are with Christ in

perfect paradise, we will never be this. That doesn't mean we get to

stop trying. That doesn't mean that we stop loving God with our heart,

soul and minds, that we stop listening to all He said and commanded.

We continue on. We press on and rely on his uneddy Christ and Mercy.

So listen to him, listen to what he said, and, like

James wrote in Chapter one, verse twenty two, do not merely listen to

the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Don't merely listen

to the commands of Jesus, which would make you a hearer. Only be

a doer. Act on what he has told you to do. And how

do we know what He's told us to do? Thank you, Cassie,

read your Bible. Be a true listener, put on your listening ears.

Be a doer of his commands. I'll say this as a closing thought.

Hearing is easy. Listening is difficult. But it's only difficult because we don't

want to listen. That's the only time it's difficult. If you are having

trouble listening to what Jesus says, that means being intentional. That means intentionally

taking notice of what he said and intentionally acting on it. If you are

having trouble listening, and it's because you don't want to pray for God to

change your heart, that's your sinful flesh, this fleshy husk that we're in,

that's what's talking not the spirit of God that lives in you, who

wants to glorify the Father as the Son glorified him