Sermon

“A Few Thoughts on the Transfiguration”- Luke 9:27-36 - Oct 26th, 2025 - Pastor Scotty Brown

Outwest Bible Church Podcast

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  1. Well, hey, we're in the Gospel of Luke.

  2. We're going to look at verses 27 through 36.

  3. And the transfiguration, and I just have a few thoughts that I'll share with you,

  4. and then we can go on about our day, worshiping the Lord.

  5. But we left off last time in verse 27, where Jesus said,

  6. But I tell you, truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death

  7. till they see the kingdom of God. Many believe that he is specifically talking about the Mount

  8. of Transfiguration that Peter, James, and John are going to be with him and that they won't taste

  9. death. They'll see actually the Lord glorified. Others argue that, you know, because of the language

  10. and stuff that it's suggesting something else, I'm not smart enough to know the difference. So

  11. some some weren't going to die before they saw the glory of the Lord. And then he starts off,

  12. right off the bat, in verse 28. And we'll read, we'll go ahead and just read these verses.

  13. Says, now it came to pass, verse 28, about eight days after these things that he took Peter,

  14. John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he prayed, he, the appearance of his face was altered

  15. and his robe became white and glistening.

  16. And behold, two men talked with him who were Moses and Elijah,

  17. who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

  18. But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep,

  19. and when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

  20. And then it happened as they were parting from him that Peter said to Jesus,

  21. master, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses,

  22. and one for Elijah, not knowing what he said. And while he was saying this, a cloud came and

  23. overshadowed them, and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud

  24. saying, this is my beloved son. Hear him. And when the voice had ceased, Jesus was.

  25. found a loom, but they kept quiet and told no one in those days any of these things they had seen.

  26. Father, thank you for your word.

  27. Lord, I know that it's inspired by you, Lord, that it's infallible.

  28. And Lord, that this is a powerful passage speaking of your glory and allowing your disciples to see it.

  29. Lord, and we desire to see your glory, Lord, because we know that you don't share it with another,

  30. but you do share it with us, Lord, your people.

  31. And so, Lord, I just pray that you would be glorified as we look at your word today in Jesus' name.

  32. Amen.

  33. So it starts off there where it says it came to pass about eight days after that he took his disciples,

  34. Peter, John, and James took him up to pray, that Jesus obviously continues to be

  35. this man of prayer, which should encourage us, obviously. I don't know if you have a prayer life. If you

  36. don't, you need to get one. And, you know, you can start simple and easy. It grows. Your prayer life

  37. grows as you condition yourself to pray, as you set aside a time to pray. It's really important.

  38. But sadly enough, a lot of people who even call themselves Christians, they don't pray much.

  39. and it reminds me of a poem i used to share quite often when when um justin and mindy and

  40. connie and i would go do the cowboy churches because it kind of fits and i actually got it from

  41. pastor gordon this this this this poem but it's about a guy that wasn't real privy on praying

  42. oh you know he probably prayed like we all do when he we when we get in a pickle

  43. you ever pray in you when you get in a pickle i remember praying in high school when i

  44. When I teaboned a girl I went to high school with and thought I killed her, I remember praying.

  45. But it was one of them desperation prayers.

  46. It wasn't because I had a habit of praying.

  47. But this poem is called Jake the Rancher.

  48. And it says, Jake the Rancher went one day to fix a distant fence.

  49. The wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray and dense.

  50. As he pounded the last nail in and gathered tools to go,

  51. the temperature had fallen and the snow began to blow.

  52. And then he finally reached his, when he finally reached his pickup,

  53. he felt a heavy heart from the sound of that ignition.

  54. He knew it would not start.

  55. So Jake did what most of us would do if we had been there.

  56. He humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a quick prayer.

  57. As he turned the key for the last time, he softly cursed his luck, and they found him there three days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.

  58. Now, Jake had been around in life and done his share of Roman, but when he arrived in heaven, he was shocked.

  59. It looked just like Wyoming.

  60. You guys been to Wyoming?

  61. Of all the saints in heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.

  62. Now, this line, it ain't needed, but it helps with rhyme and meter.

  63. So they sat and talked a minute or two, or maybe it was three.

  64. Nobody was keeping score, because in heaven, time is free.

  65. I've always heard Jake said to Pete that God will answer prayers.

  66. But the one time I asked for help, well, he just plain wasn't there.

  67. Does God answer prayers of some and ignore the prayers of others?

  68. That don't seem exactly square.

  69. I know all men are brothers.

  70. Or does he randomly reply without good rhyme or reason?

  71. Maybe it's the time of day or the weather of this season.

  72. Now, I ain't trying to act smart.

  73. It's just the way I feel.

  74. And I was wondering, could you tell me, what the heck is the deal?

  75. So Peter listened patiently.

  76. And when at last Jake was done, there were smiles of recognition,

  77. and he said, so you're the one.

  78. That day your truck, when it wouldn't start,

  79. and you sent your prayer a flying,

  80. you gave us all a real bad time with hundreds of us trying

  81. a thousand angels rust to check the status of your father.

  82. But you know, Jake, we hadn't heard from you in quite a long while.

  83. And though all prayers are answered and God ain't got no quota,

  84. he didn't recognize your voice, Jake, and he started a truck in North Dakota.

  85. Well, maybe some of you, right?

  86. Some of us ain't prayed for a while.

  87. I think it's really good.

  88. You know, this prayer thing, it really should start with Thanksgiving.

  89. When you wake up in the morning, you should thank the Lord.

  90. You got breath in your lungs.

  91. Amen? And so that thankful heart really is, provokes us to pray. And so the Lord took these guys and it says,

  92. and he took Peter, John, and James. It's usually Peter, James, and John, right? But Luke is a Gentile,

  93. so he may not get the birthright thing. I don't know. Because James was older and probably always named first.

  94. And these three were with Jesus on three events mainly, and that is the raising of Gaius's daughter,

  95. here at the Transfiguration, and then they were there in the garden with him.

  96. And you could maybe call, as David had his mighty men, you could have called these Jesus' three mighty men.

  97. though the the the james and john got called the sons of thunder and peter had foot hoof and mouth disease

  98. but when you pray things happen and so um things are really happening here uh says they went up into a

  99. high mountain and we don't know if this is tabor or herman tabor is only about 2,000 feet above sea level but

  100. Herman is like 9,200 feet. And both Mark and Matthew say that it was a high mountain, so it might

  101. have been. It might have been there at Mount Hermann. And they, so they had a 30-mile track to go.

  102. So they had a few days to visit and talk and pray and get ready for what they were about to see

  103. here at the Transfiguration. And so in verse 29, it says,

  104. says, and as he prayed, the appearance of his face was altered, and his robe became white

  105. and glistening. And behold, two men talked with him who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in

  106. glory and spoke of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. So as he's praying,

  107. things happen when you pray. I just read through Daniel chapter nine when Daniel's there praying. And all of a sudden

  108. Gabriel shows up. And he says, Daniel, highly favored one, it can be translated, very much loved

  109. one from heaven. Wouldn't you like that to say, have an angel say that about you? This is that God

  110. loves you very much. Now, we know that God loves all of us, but when that, when that relationship is

  111. reciprocated between us and the Lord, there's a closeness there. And Daniel had that closeness. And I believe

  112. because he was in communication with the Lord, that's what brought the vision. That's how we know,

  113. right, about the Antichrist and the covenant that he's going to sign and the, you know,

  114. the specific day that Jesus was to go into Jerusalem and to die on a cross and the Messiah be cut off

  115. and all those things we get because this dude had a relationship with his God. And God spoke to him.

  116. And here, the Lord shows up in a big way in these guys' lives, these disciples, and they're watching,

  117. and all of a sudden the appearance change, altered.

  118. Some say that this could be called a metamorphosis.

  119. Right?

  120. A metamorphosis.

  121. That Jesus changed.

  122. Kind of like what, you know, 1st Corinthians 15 says about us.

  123. when the Lord comes and the Lord, right, with the shout of an archangel and we will be changed

  124. in a moment in the twinkling of an eye that we'll get to experience this thing as well.

  125. Are you ready?

  126. If you're not, get ready, right?

  127. Because there's a metamorphosis.

  128. Us worms are going to turn into butterflies.

  129. When the Lord comes and he takes his folks out of here.

  130. This was an important point in Jesus ministry because he had just told his disciples that he would go away to the cross.

  131. You remember that?

  132. Back in verse 22 when he told him, he says, listen, the son of man is going to be arrested, right?

  133. He's going to be killed and he's going to rise again the third day.

  134. They didn't hear that.

  135. You and I probably wouldn't hear that.

  136. Why?

  137. Because we wouldn't want to hear that.

  138. You don't want to hear that about somebody that you love.

  139. You're going to die.

  140. And then you're going to rise again.

  141. None of this is just making any sense.

  142. They were confused when he was telling them this.

  143. And so they were probably wondering, you know,

  144. what he was talking about.

  145. And yet here they have this fantastic experience

  146. as seeing him glorified.

  147. I think one of the gospel,

  148. says that he became his countenance became brighter than the sun.

  149. It would have been, after hearing what he said there in verse 22, it would have been easy

  150. for them to lose confidence in Jesus after such a seemingly defeatist statement about dying,

  151. yet in his transfigured radiance, Jesus showed his glory as king over all God's kingdom.

  152. We have a glorious king, folks.

  153. he's glorious and he's magnificent and all the time of his ministry except for here he's veiled

  154. that glory is veiled it's human flesh it covered his glory it didn't really show us who he really was

  155. until here these three and but also at the resurrection

  156. direction.

  157. If we would listen, if the disciples would listen, if they would listen, if they would

  158. listened to what he said, this would have given them great confidence.

  159. Because Jesus knows what he is doing.

  160. He promised that he would suffer and die and rise again, but he still

  161. the king of glory.

  162. And they didn't get that because we remember at the resurrection,

  163. or excuse me, at the crucifixion,

  164. when he was crucified,

  165. they scattered like a bunch of scared rats.

  166. Right?

  167. I'll strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.

  168. We read that in the book of Zechariah on Wednesday.

  169. And he,

  170. wasn't hiding really anything from his disciples.

  171. And yet they didn't, they had limited understanding.

  172. Much like us, we have limited understanding.

  173. But I think we're seeing stuff from a hindsight that they didn't get to see.

  174. But in the end, it's not the cross that's our focus, but it's the glory.

  175. the glory of the Lord, right? So here he is. He's prayed. He's illuminated. And here he's talking to two

  176. dead guys. Well, not really. You guys remember, right? But they're identified as Moses and Elijah.

  177. Now, we don't have any official introductions here. So how did they know that it was Moses and Elijah?

  178. How did Luke know that it was Moses and Elijah?

  179. Obviously, he probably interviewed Peter, James, and John,

  180. and got the actual account of this.

  181. But, or is it just something that we're going to know when we see those who have gone before us?

  182. Right?

  183. Have you met people like that?

  184. Have you met people that are believers and you meet them?

  185. And within minutes, you just feel like, you're part of my family.

  186. That's the spirit of the Lord, right?

  187. Knitting our hearts together in him.

  188. And so here they're talking to these two, Moses and Elijah.

  189. Most believe that this is picturesque of Moses, a representation of the law,

  190. Elijah representation of the prophets, that Jesus was going to come and fulfill

  191. all the law and the prophets, everything that was written in the law and the prophets.

  192. And that's why it's Moses and Elijah.

  193. Now we don't know for sure.

  194. Moses means deliverer.

  195. And Elijah means, my God is Yahweh, or my God is my strength,

  196. that God by his strength has delivered Israel over and over and over again throughout the years.

  197. And that he's going to bring to fulfillment everything that was spoken about the Messiah who was coming.

  198. And here, Elijah and Moses are talking to the one that they were looking for.

  199. over to. In fact, here, all of them, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, they're all in glory.

  200. When you think about glory, what does that do to you? Right? I think, oh, yes, my bone on bone

  201. right knee won't bother me anymore. Right? Or what about all this gray hair?

  202. right somebody's told me the other day you haven't changed a bit except for you're a little grayer

  203. all the all the dying stuff will be gone death will be gone in glory isn't that just a

  204. glorious thought no pun intended but uh but moses had already uh told the children of

  205. Israel, when that prophet or when the prophet that resembles me comes to you, you had better listen

  206. to him.

  207. Moses told the people, when that prophet, like unto me, God's going to send you a prophet like

  208. unto me.

  209. And when he comes, you better listen.

  210. Right?

  211. You better listen.

  212. In fact, it's found, the passage is found in Deuteronomy chapter 18 versus 15 through 19.

    Deuteronomy 18 chapter mention

  213. Here's what it says.

  214. And the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your man.

  215. midst for your brethren, him you shall hear according to all you desired of the Lord your God

  216. and Horib in the day of the assembly saying, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God,

  217. nor let me see his great fire any more lest I die. And the Lord said to me, what they have spoken

  218. is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren and will put my

  219. words in his mouth and he shall

  220. he shall speak to them all that I command him

  221. and it shall be that whoever will not hear my words

  222. which he speaks in my name I will require it of them

  223. and so Moses talked about Jesus

  224. way back yonder and

  225. and he wasn't he's nicer than what Peter was

  226. because Peter quoted what Moses

  227. said. And in Acts

  228. 3.23, when the religious

  229. people came after Peter about

  230. healing the man at the gate

  231. beautiful, you guys remember that?

  232. And he tells

  233. him, he says, and it shall be

  234. that every soul who will not

  235. hear that prophet, that prophet,

  236. speaking of Jesus, shall be

  237. utterly destroyed from among the

  238. people.

  239. You better listen to him.

  240. You got

  241. any hope again? You got any hope

  242. getting out, the only hope you got to get a getting out of this world alive is Jesus.

  243. Right? Because then Peter indicted them for killing the prince of life. You've killed the

  244. prince of life. Which how do you do that? Only for a couple days, I guess.

  245. And, and so first you have Moses, then you have Elijah who displayed the power of God.

  246. Right? We just read it.

  247. and I can't remember if I told you guys about this,

  248. but it was when we had Wednesday night here a few weeks ago,

  249. and Pastor Steve was going through Zechariah,

  250. but he took us to First Kings

  251. and read through the Mount Carmel showdown, right?

  252. Between the prophets of bail and Elijah the prophet.

  253. And so as Steve was reading it, he read the whole thing.

  254. And about every couple minutes, there would be cheering over in the next room because they were having the mayor debate over there in the next room.

  255. And about every couple minutes, there's a big cheering going on.

  256. And then there's all kinds of cheering going on at Carmel, right?

  257. You know, they're hollering and cutting themselves and bleeding and Elijah's going, where's your God?

  258. Is he on vacation?

  259. Right?

  260. Is he on the toilet?

  261. Where is your God?

  262. And you know the story.

  263. And so we come to find out every time Jeff spoke, the people just was cheering and going crazy over there.

  264. It was pretty cool.

  265. And so they were having their own little showdown over there.

  266. But you remember what happens?

  267. He calls, he says, all right, get some water.

  268. Drench it.

  269. Drench the sacrifice, fill the trench.

  270. and three times they fill these huge containers of water and dump them on the sacrifice.

  271. And Elijah says, all right, if fire comes down from heaven and consumes this, that's God.

  272. And sure not, he lapped it all up.

  273. The wood, the sacrifice, the water, and Elijah called fire down from heaven.

  274. That wasn't the only time, right?

  275. Another place, he called fire down from heaven and killed some people.

  276. people because a king had sent some soldiers and he called fire and consumed them two different

  277. times. The third time the guy was smart and asked for mercy. He also prayed and made a drought

  278. and then he prayed again and it rained. This guy was pretty bodacious, this Elijah. And so

  279. here's these two guys having this conversation with Jesus and so and I said they they're both dead but we know

  280. Elijah didn't die if you know your Bible Elijah didn't die he went out like I'd like to go out

  281. in a blaze of glory right chariots of fire old Elijah went off to God

  282. a chariot ride to heaven. Now Moses died, but there's something interesting about Moses, right?

  283. He died, but then Jude, verse 9, tells us there was this dispute between Moses and Michael about the body of Moses.

  284. What did I say?

  285. It was Satan. Oh, sorry. It was Satan. It was Satan. And, it was Satan. It was Satan. And,

  286. And Michael, did I say Moses?

  287. It was Satan and Michael were having this dispute about Moses' body there in Jude 9.

  288. And Michael says, Lord rebuke you.

  289. But it's as though the Bible tells us that God hid Moses's body.

  290. Because some believe that he is going to appear again, Moses.

  291. and as well as Elijah.

  292. The Bible tells us before that great day of the Lord,

  293. it tells us there in Malachi that Elijah is going to come.

  294. So most believe that these two may be, may very well be the witnesses in Revelation chapter 11.

    Revelation 11 chapter mention

  295. And have a, take a three and a half year mission trip from heaven.

  296. back to earth.

  297. And they're going to be preaching.

  298. In fact,

  299. I didn't put it in my notes,

  300. but I want to turn there real quick.

  301. If you have a Bible, turn to Revelation

  302. and look at how bodacious

  303. these two are going to be.

  304. In Revelation 113,

  305. it says,

  306. and I will give power

  307. to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1,260 days, three and a half years, 42 months,

  308. clothed and sidecloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, spoken of there

  309. in Zechariah, standing before the God of all the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them,

  310. fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies. Many believe that this is Elijah.

  311. Could you imagine? What was that? You said?

  312. and if anyone wants to harm them,

  313. he must be killed in the same manner.

  314. These have power to shut heaven so that no rain falls,

  315. that would also be Elijah,

  316. in the days of their prophecy,

  317. and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood.

  318. That would be Moses, right, during the plagues.

  319. And do strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire.

  320. When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends,

  321. out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

  322. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called

  323. Sodom and Egypt, we know it is Jerusalem, where also our Lord was crucified.

  324. Then those from the people's, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies

  325. three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves.

  326. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make Mary and,

  327. send gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

  328. Many believe that's going to be Moses and Elijah.

  329. And they're going to be bodacious and they're going to be indestructible.

  330. They're going to be, they won't be able to die until the end of the three and a half years.

  331. Then the Bible tells us they get killed.

  332. Their dead bodies lay in this street for three and a half days.

  333. But then they ascend for the whole world to see.

  334. Because at that time, you guys, on the earth,

  335. people ain't going to want to have nothing to do with Jesus.

  336. Nothing.

  337. Because for seven years, they're going to have a world that they desire a Christless world.

  338. And God will deal with his people, Israel, during that time.

  339. And so notice they're talking to Jesus, this Moses and Elijah.

  340. Notice what they are talking about, right?

  341. And they, who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease,

  342. which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

  343. I wonder what they were saying.

  344. I wonder if they were saying, hey, Jesus, are you scared?

  345. You're going to do this?

  346. You're really going to go through with this?

  347. And maybe they compared some of their struggles in life

  348. to what Jesus was about to do.

  349. I don't know.

  350. No doubt, Moses feared Pharaoh would take his life.

  351. Elijah ran from a girl.

  352. I think most of us would have run from Jezebel.

  353. But they're talking about his decease.

  354. And that can be translated,

  355. his exodus. He came, he lived, he accomplished God's will, and he ascended.

  356. And he accomplished a lot there on that cross and rising from the dead. That's why we're meeting

  357. here on this Sunday morning because of what Jesus accomplished for us. I'm going to back up to

  358. Moses and Elijah, one other thought that one commentator brought up was that Elijah represents

  359. those who are caught up to God. Elijah would be a representation of the rapture of the church.

  360. And Moses represents those who die and go to glory, both ending in glory. Amen? It's just that

  361. those people raptured, they get to escape death. So,

  362. what do you think the difference is?

  363. I don't know that there is one.

  364. From what I've seen and how I have seen people go out,

  365. I think that at that moment,

  366. they're going to be the same.

  367. Because what?

  368. We enter in from time

  369. and from this physical existence into eternity.

  370. Right?

  371. We enter into glory in the Lord.

  372. Now, if you're not a believer in Jesus, now when I say believer, I mean, you've put all your weight, right?

  373. You've put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to the Savior of your life.

  374. And that he's the God man, the go between, I just read it this morning, he's that mediator between God and man.

  375. Then you're going to enter into glory.

  376. And if not, you're going to wish you had.

  377. right you're going to wish you had

  378. so they talk of his decease and then

  379. the disciples

  380. they're seeing this but guess what they do

  381. they go to sleep right

  382. they go to sleep

  383. verse two but Peter and those with him

  384. were heavy with sleep and when they were fully awake

  385. they saw his glory and the two men who stood

  386. with them. Now, I'm not going to come down on these guys because I get a little sleepy myself sometimes,

  387. and it's, it is in those spiritual moments that I should be really alert and ride on, right?

  388. I fall asleep really easy when I'm reading my Bible and when me and my wife are praying.

  389. And she don't like that. I try to tell her, honey, it's just that you and the Lord's conversation,

  390. it's just so relaxing and I just go to sleep.

  391. That don't go over very good.

  392. Just saying, get up, stand on your feet.

  393. Talk to me.

  394. Or talk to the Lord.

  395. Quit snoring.

  396. So I can't be too hard on these guys, right?

  397. So by analogy, it is noteworthy that, that spirit.

  398. spiritual sleep keeps many from seeing or experience in the glory of God.

  399. But it does appear that these guys do wake up and they're fully awake to see the glory of Moses and Elijah standing there with the Lord.

  400. And so in verse 33, it goes on and it says,

  401. Then it happened as they were parting from him that Peter said to Jesus, master,

  402. it is good for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses,

  403. and one for Elijah, not knowing what he said.

  404. Peters was one of those guys that he's just got to be talking.

  405. You've ever been around people like that?

  406. Just shut up.

  407. Please, silence is okay.

  408. Right?

  409. It's okay to be quiet.

  410. But some people know, and when they get nervous, it gets worse, right?

  411. they just go to jabbering.

  412. And he had no idea what he was saying.

  413. But, but, I mean, he's right.

  414. I mean, who doesn't want to stay on a mountaintop?

  415. I mean, mountaintops are awesome.

  416. I was just up on one here the other day.

  417. And it's glorious.

  418. The view and the, the peacefulness and the silence.

  419. It's just awesome.

  420. But like the old saying says,

  421. but all the fruit grows in the valley.

  422. Right?

  423. Right? Mountaintops are great, but all the fruit grows in the valley.

  424. And so, um, verse 34, while he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them.

  425. And they were fearful as they entered the cloud and a voice came out of the cloud saying,

  426. this is my beloved son. Hear him. And when the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone,

  427. but they kept quiet and told no one these, in those days.

  428. any of these things they had seen.

  429. And so no doubt they're going through these gamut of emotions

  430. and they get excited, want to build tabernacles.

  431. And then all of a sudden this cloud comes and it says

  432. that they became fearful as they were going into the cloud.

  433. But then they hear the voice.

  434. This is my son.

  435. This is my beloved son.

  436. Hear him.

  437. Listen to him.

  438. This is a command from the God of heaven to us.

  439. Hear him.

  440. And do you know him?

  441. And praise God we have a Bible.

  442. You can know him.

  443. If you don't know God, it's your own fault.

  444. If you don't know what he's about.

  445. Because you can read all about him.

  446. And I realize the scripture is spiritually discerned.

  447. It tells us there in 1st Corinthians.

  448. Yes, it's spiritually discerned.

  449. It is.

  450. But you can know about God.

  451. You can know about God's plan.

  452. But then you have to come and be willing to accept it by faith and then walk in faith.

  453. Because without faith, it's impossible to please God.

  454. So everybody's going to be without excuse.

  455. The Bible tells us that just by going outside and looking about looking at things that are made.

  456. Everyone's going to be without excuse because it all speaks of who he is.

  457. In fact, I just heard Frank Turk had a kid on this young guy,

  458. but he's an archaeologist in Israel and the things they're finding,

  459. the things they found just in the last three or four years,

  460. the archaeological discoveries they found that confirms the Bible over and over and over and over again, right?

  461. The archaeologist Spade has never disproved the Bible,

  462. it only confirms it. And so there is no excuse. We should be listening to what our God is saying to us.

  463. And so Peter, he doesn't forget this, right? He remembers the power of this moment.

  464. And as we look at these three and the experiences that they had with the raising of the dead, right?

  465. and then Jesus' agony witnessing that in the garden.

  466. Do you remember times when the Lord was presence with you was pretty obvious?

  467. Do you ever draw on that for strength?

  468. As I look back, as I was driving here this morning,

  469. I was just thinking of some moments in my life, right,

  470. where you just look back and you go, oh, Lord, you were, you helped me there.

  471. Right? You helped me go deeper with you.

  472. realizing who really who you are in my life that you hold my breath in your hand that every

  473. beat of my heart is a is a gift from you i i i for some reason i forget that do you but to remember

  474. those moments when when god just shows up in your life and he confirms himself to you and peter so

  475. peter he's he's getting ready to die this is this is this is

  476. before his departure, before his exodus from this world.

  477. And in 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 16 through 21, it says,

    2 Peter 1:16–21

  478. for we did not follow cunning, devised fables.

  479. This wasn't a fairy tale we were following.

  480. Some people think that that's what the gospel is all about.

  481. Oh, it's just a bunch of, it's just a bunch of fairy tales.

  482. No, it's not.

  483. It's a truth that you can

  484. you can hang eternity on this truth.

  485. We did not follow cunningly devised fables

  486. when we made known to you the power

  487. and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

  488. but we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty.

  489. Probably speaking about the Transfiguration.

  490. For he received from God the Father,

  491. honor and glory, when such a voice came to him

  492. from the excellent glory.

  493. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

  494. And we heard, and excuse me, verse 19,

  495. so we have the prophetic word confirmed,

  496. which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place,

  497. until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts,

  498. knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation.

  499. or for prophecy never came by the will of man,

  500. but holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

  501. Peter here at the end of his life is drawing on that experience that he had with the Lord there on the mount.

  502. And thinking, I got nothing to lose.

  503. In fact, he died pretty bodaciously, right?

  504. Giving up his life on an upside-down cross.

  505. He gave the instruction how he should die.

  506. He had no fear of death.

  507. Jesus comes along and he takes that away.

  508. I'm just telling you.

  509. He takes it away.

  510. These disciples of his were not deceived at all, right?

  511. They could march on in confidence because of what they saw here at the Mount.

  512. Their faith was confirmed by these, all these things that they had

  513. experience with the Lord, they knew that their future was glorious. Do you? Is your future glorious?

  514. No, it's not to say it's not going to be painful. Good chance. It's going to be painful,

  515. but it's going to be gloriously painful, right? It hurts so good, knowing how it ends, amen?

  516. Because our lives as believers does not end in death, but it ends in glory.

  517. I'll close with this scripture 2. Corinthians 318.

  518. But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed in the same image from glory to glory just as by the spirit of the Lord.

  519. If we abide.

  520. Abide. Jesus said, abide in me. And let my words abide in you. And then he says, he will share his glory with us. In John

    John 17:20–22

  521. 17, verses 20 through 22, I won't go there, but we get to share in his glory because we've put our faith and trust in him.

  522. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by walking with our Jesus. Now, we're all in process, right?

  523. this sanctification thing.

  524. We become, we should, if we're walking and we're anticipating experience in this glory,

  525. we become more and more like the Lord Jesus, which is the Father's goal for each one of us.

  526. And so wherever you're at today, press in, right?

  527. Hear God.

  528. Put yourself in those situations where he can speak to you because he will.

  529. but sometimes we just get going too fast.

  530. We don't stop and just be still.

  531. It's so important to just be still and be quiet.

  532. My wife and I were blessed with a couple days of no cell phone service.

  533. It was,

  534. Hallelujah.

  535. It was glorious.

  536. Like, I mean, you could just take a deep breath and you could breathe.

  537. And the heavens declare the glory.

  538. of God. And the firmament shows

  539. this handiwork.

  540. Caching, right?

  541. It just confirms.

  542. It just confirms

  543. that this is where we need

  544. to be. Let's pray, shall we?

  545. Shall we all stand? Father, thank you.

  546. For your love, your goodness,

  547. your mercy,

  548. your glory. Lord, you are

  549. a glorious God

  550. that has glory in store

  551. for everyone who would comb

  552. to you.

  553. Lord, we know that we don't have much to offer.

  554. But what we do have, we want to just surrender it to you

  555. and knowing that you take nothing and make something beautiful.

  556. So, Lord, we love you.

  557. We praise you.

  558. I pray that you would go with us this week.

  559. Lord, that in this change of season, Lord, that you would walk with us.

  560. Lord, that we would have an open ear to hear what you,

  561. would say to us, Lord, and then we would be willing to do what you tell us to do. And I know sometimes

  562. those things are so simple, Lord, but I just pray that you would give us the courage and the faith to do

  563. what you call us to do. Lord, even when it's uncomfortable knowing that your glory is that preeminent

  564. thing, and we look forward to it, and we look forward to being with you. So help us to finish this race

  565. well, Lord, not growing weary, not backing up, not throwing in the towel. Lord, we just

  566. we just want to be right in the vein of what you're doing in our lives and in our communities,

  567. Lord, we have so much stuff in front of us.

  568. Lord, just in this body in the next few weeks, Lord, I pray that you'd give us ears to hear

  569. what your spirit would say to us in Jesus' holy name.

  570. Amen, amen.

  571. Hey, if you need prayer, the prayer team will be down here.

  572. Come down and be prayed for.