The Gospel of Luke (36) The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ 08/20/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Well, I asked Bruce Binney if he would come and read our New Testament passage today.

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Come on up Bruce We're in Romans chapter 8 now this portion of Scripture is dealing with the believers sanctification and We saw it introduced in Romans 6 and then last week we considered the struggle that Christians have living according to the law of God God's moral standard for Christians.

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Well Romans 8 tells us how this is done What the law could not do and that is to enable you to become holy

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Christ did through his life his death his resurrection Primarily through giving us the the gift of the

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Holy Spirit and Through the Holy Spirit were enabled to live the kind of life that that would please us and certainly please our

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Lord Romans chapter 8 and then Bruce if you'll pray for us, please. Thank you

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All right, Romans chapter 8 one of my favorites There is therefore now no

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Condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh

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But according to the Spirit for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death

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For what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh God did by sending his own

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Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on Account of sin he condemned sin in the flesh

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That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us

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Who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the

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Spirit? For the law for those who live according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh

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But those who live according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit For to be carnally minded is death

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But to be spiritually minded is life and peace Because the carnal mind is enmity against God For it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be

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So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God But you are not in the flesh, but in the

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Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you now if anyone does not have the

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Spirit of Christ, he is not his and If Christ is in you the body is dead because of sin, but the

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Spirit is life because of righteousness But if the Spirit of him who raised

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Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you

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Therefore brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh

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For if you live according to the flesh, you will die But if by the

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Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live For as many as are led by the

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Spirit of God These are the sons of God For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear

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But you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out Abba Father The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ If indeed we suffer with him that we also may be glorified together

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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory

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Which shall be revealed in us? for the earnest expectation of the creation

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Eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God For the creation was subjected to futility

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Not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope because the creation itself also

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Will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious Liberty of the children of God For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now

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Not only that but we also who have the first roots of the spirit Even we ourselves grown within ourselves

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Eagerly waiting for the adoption the redemption of our body For we were saved in this hope

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But hope that has seen is not hope for why does one still hope for what he sees?

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But if we hope for what we do not see we eagerly wait for it with perseverance

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Likewise the spirit also helps us in our weaknesses For we do not know what to pray

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For we do not know what we should pray For as we ought but the spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings, which cannot be uttered

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Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the spirit is

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Because he makes intercession for the Saints according to the will of God and we know that all things work together

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For good to those who love God to those who are called according to his purpose

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For whom he foreknew he also Predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren

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Moreover whom he predestined these he also called whom he called these he also justified in whom he justified

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These he also glorified What then shall we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us

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He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all

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How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect it is

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God who justifies? Who is he who condemns it is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen

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Who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us?

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Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or Nakedness or peril or sword as it is written

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For your sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter

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Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us

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For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor Principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth

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Nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God Which is in Christ Jesus our

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Lord Let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you that you're our

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Lord our Lord Jesus We thank you Heavenly Father for giving us such a great

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Savior as our Lord Jesus And we just ask God that you would bless this time

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We thank you Lord for the Word of God that comes forth from this pulpit We just pray that you would help us help us

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Lord. First of all to receive it Lord help us By taking your word and sealing it to our hearts

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Lord. Help it help us Be affected by the word that we would be conformed to the image of your dear son

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We thank you Heavenly Father for giving us a Shepherd who loves your word and just pray

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God that you would be glorified in our midst in Jesus name. Amen Well, let's turn in the gospel of Luke to chapter 9

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I Understand that pastor

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Jason and Laura. We're gonna tune in this morning in Ohio and so we

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Greet you and pray for a safe return And we pray for you

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Harold in Salida. Also that the Lord would help you through the trials you are experiencing

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Well that Jesus of Nazareth is the true promised Messiah Of God's own and God's own son has proved in a number of different ways in Holy Scripture First of course, there were numerous

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Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah that are shown to have been fulfilled

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By Jesus Secondly Jesus proved he was the incarnate

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Son of God through a number of miracles. He performed and Through extending forgiveness of sins to guilty ones.

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Only God can forgive sins and on one occasion Our Lord had challenged his listeners believe the works that you may know and believe that the

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Father is in me and I in him Third Jesus's teachings attested to his identity as the

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Son of God For he taught not as one of the scribes, but as one himself who had authority and For certainly his resurrection was clear proof that Jesus Christ is the

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Son of God As Paul wrote in Romans 1 that Jesus would declared to be the

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Son of God with power by the resurrection of the dead But fifth in addition to these proofs of his divine sonship

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God the Father himself Was pleased to affirm audibly from heaven on three separate occasions that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed his son in whom he was well pleased and Today we'll consider the second of these three occasions

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Which is before us in Luke 9 28 to 36 So here is the account

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Now it came to pass about eight days after these sayings that he took Peter John and James and went up on the mountain to pray

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As he prayed the appearance of his face was altered and his robe became white and glistening the

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Greek word suggests a brightness like like lightning and Behold two men talked with him who were

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Moses and Elijah who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease Which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep

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

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Then it happened as they were parting from him that Peter said to Jesus master It's good for us to be here

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Let us make three tabernacles one for you one for Moses one for Elijah not knowing what he said and while he was saying this a cloud came and overshadowed them and they were fearful as they entered the cloud and a voice came out of the cloud saying this is my beloved son hear him and when the voice ceased

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Jesus was found alone But they kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen

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We can consider this account Luke's account of this event by examining first the details of the event itself that we just read second by considering the impact that this event had upon the disciples themselves and Then last we'll propose several implications for the of the event for us

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And so let's first look at the details of the event The episode we dealt with last week concluded with the words of Luke 9 27, which read

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Jesus words said But I tell you truly there is some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God Now we might be tempted to see these words see the kingdom of God to refer to the occasion of the transfiguration

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So what we just read is a fulfillment of verse 27 Some commentators take this position

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J. C. Ryle a wonderful commentator preacher of the 19th century a

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Bishop in the Church of England. He was of this opinion. And so he wrote the phrase after these sayings

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This expression seems to make it plain That the word seed in the kingdom of God in the preceding verse were spoken with special reference to the vision of the transfiguration

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But Ryle was probably wrong in his assertion the saying probably refers to the

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Lord's coming death and resurrection and to Pentecost and the events thereafter

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For in Luke's gospel and In his sequel the book of Acts the kingdom of God was ushered in when our

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Lord Jesus died upon his cross Triumphed over death in his resurrection and ascended to be seated on his throne in heaven

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However, certainly the idea is also present in Luke's gospel that wherever the Lord Jesus was the power and presence of the kingdom of God was also present

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The transfiguration serves as a further endorsement for the disciples as to the identity of Jesus as the

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Son of God and It confirms to them their responsibility to follow him and So let's consider these details first the transfiguration itself verses 28 and 29 now it came to pass about eight days after these sayings that he took

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Peter John and James and Went up on the mountain to pray and as he prayed the appearance of his face was altered and his robe became white and glistening

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Luke recorded that this event occurred about eight days after these sayings

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Mark and Matthew Record that it was after six days Jesus took with him

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Peter and James and John's brother Their account of after six days is not a contradiction with Luke's about eight days

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For if you take six days in addition to the partial day before and partial day after It makes

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Luke's record about eight days accurate Even though it may not be as precise as the other gospel writers statements

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What is important is that this transfiguration occurred shortly after these sayings and that's a point of emphasis

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These sayings refer to Jesus teaching the people regarding his impending suffering Death and resurrection and also the importance of following him as his disciples these sayings and So what is shown by this connection?

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after these sayings is that Jesus's transfiguration was displaying and Foreshadowing his future glorification.

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They would come after his sufferings and death. I Howard Marshall who was a noted

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Commentator of the Greek text of Luke's gospel wrote of this Connection and he again uses the

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Greek text throughout his commentary the phrase metatooth log off to toss

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It's basically how you'd say that should be translated after these sayings and serves to tie the incident

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Closely to the conversation which just preceded That's what we just stated

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The prophecy of the sufferings and the glory the Son of Man is to be heard in close conjunction with the vision of the glory of Jesus after his

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Exodus or after his death our Lord took three of his disciples those apparently closest to him and Took them with him onto a mountain in order to pray

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Peter James and John were greatly privileged to have been included in several significant events in the life of our

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Savior Jesus had called these three men by name to enter with him in the house of Jairus When Jesus had raised the twelve -year -old daughter from death unto life

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In Luke 8 21 we read of that event when he came into the house he permitted no one to go in except Peter James and John and the father and the mother of the girl and Later in the last week of our

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Lord's ministry in Jerusalem Jesus when he had gone with his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus called these three men to be with him to go farther into the garden and they witnessed the distress that Jesus was experiencing and Jesus came with them to a place called

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Gethsemane and said to the disciples sit here while I go and pray over there and he took with him

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Peter and the two sons of Zebedee that would be James and John and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed and then he said to them

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My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death stay here and watch with me

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And here of course in Luke 9 we see Jesus took these three Onto the

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Mount where he was transfigured before them. I Was reading about 60 pages of a volume of Thomas Manton.

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It was a great Puritan Commentator and and he gave about six or seven sermons on this passage and he zeroed in particularly on Peter and John and and Manton talked about how they were actually quite close friends and he gave all the reasons from the

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Gospels why this is Revealed as such Peter and John John the young man

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Peter the older more mature man, but they're always mentioned together Throughout the Gospels.

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They were close friends Even on to on to the end Peter later wrote of what he had witnessed on this occasion.

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And so this was perhaps 30 years after the fact For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our

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Lord Jesus Christ But were eyewitnesses of his majesty For he received from God the

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Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory This is my beloved

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Son in whom I am well pleased and We heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain it impacted

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Peter and John probably alluded to his eyewitness at this event when he wrote these words in John 1 14

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The word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory The glory is of the only begotten of the

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Father full of grace and truth Now the glory the Son of God was shown forth throughout

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Jesus's entire life, but maybe he was alluding to this visual experience on the

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Mount of Transfiguration Jesus took them with him of a mountain the mountain is not named and Commentators have proposed several different mountains of Galilee as the possible location of the event

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The fact is that we do not know for certain which mountain it was though Hermon Mount Hermon is a reasonable suggestion

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Another road of the uncertainty of identifying a specific mountain Richard Lenski a

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Lutheran commentator He wrote the attempts to identify the mountain which is called high by the other synoptic that would be

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Matthew and Mark are quite futile the traditional site of Mount Tabor But the records agree that Jesus was still near Caesarea Philippi That would be farther north and one does not see how he could so soon be considerably south even of even

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Capernaum something The slopes of Mount Hermon, which however is entirely too far north

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It is sufficient to think of one of the highest points in the mountainous region not far from Caesarea Philippi Where we know that Jesus was at this time

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And so the identity of this mountain is not provided by the gospel writers, that's probably good that it's not frankly

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For if it had been named there would be a dozen idolatrous shrines erected on the place And that's what you find when you go into the

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Holy Land. So called The fact that the mountain is not identified.

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However, it did not discourage idolaters There's a church so -called built on the side of Mount Tabor.

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In fact, I Read that there's a so -called Church of Transfiguration and the

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Church of Elijah several other temples and shrines Peter desired to build three tents to house

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Jesus Moses and Elijah not knowing what he was saying But many would come after him who would build large stone structures to commemorate

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Where supposedly this event took place not knowing what they were doing Tabor is located southwest of the

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Sea of Galilee. It's not all that high a mountain frankly Not far from Jesus's hometown of Nazareth There was a bishop

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Cyril of Jerusalem who wrote in AD 348 that That he preferred

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Mount Tabor to Mount Hermon as the place where the Transfiguration took place

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And it seemed to that was all was necessary shrines to be built there on that Mount Tabor for throughout the centuries

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But perhaps Mount Hermon should be viewed as the preferred site this mountain peak stood forth in northern

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Galilee to a height of 9 ,232 feet The confession of Peter that Jesus was the

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Son of God was at Caesarea Philippi Which again is right at right near the

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Lebanese border today which was located at the foot of Mount Hermon and That was six days before the

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Transfiguration so it would seem to me that this is the most likely of possible locations really doesn't matter but Probably that was it

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Mount Hermon is snow -capped much of the year and I recall reading years ago.

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This must have been 45 years ago I read read Alfred Edersheim in his classic book

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The life and times of Jesus and Messiah and he described Jesus and his disciples

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Traveling up Mount Hermon and here's the narrative It's to me.

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It just so wonderfully beautifully sets a scene that you can imagine perhaps

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Up into a high mountain apart to pray the Sabbath sun had set and the delicious cool hung in the summer air

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As Jesus and the three commenced their ascent from all parts of the land as far as Jerusalem or Tyre the one great object in view must have always been snow -clad

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Hermon and Now I stood out before them as to the memory of the traveler in the

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West Mount Rosa or Mount Blanc in all the wondrous glory of a sunset

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First rose -colored then deepening red next the death -like pallor and the darkness relieved by the snow and quick succession

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From high up there as one describes it came over all the scene the warm purple shadows crept slowly on The Sea of Galilee was lit up with a delicate greenish yellow hue

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Between its dim walls of hill the flesh died out in a few minutes and a pale steel colored shade succeeded a long pyramid middle or pyramidal shadow shadows slid down to the eastern foot of Hermon and crept across the

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Great Plain Damascus was swallowed up by it and Finally the pointed end of the shadow stood out distinctly against the sky a dusky

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Cone of dull color against the flush of the afterglow It was the shadow of the mountain itself stretching away for 70 miles across the play and the most marvelous shadow perhaps to be seen anywhere

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And the Sun underwent strange changes of shape and thick vapors now almost square now like a domed temple until at length that slid into the sea and went out like a blue spark an

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Overhead shown out of the blue summer sky one by one the stars in eastern buoyancy We know not the exact direction which the climbers took nor how far their journey went but there's only one road that leads from Caesarea Philippi to Herman and we

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Cannot be mistaken in following it First among the vine clad hill stocked with mulberry apricot fig trees and then through cornfields

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Where the pear trees have plants the fig next through oak Coppice and up rocky ravines to where the soil is dotted with dwarfed shrubs

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And if we pursue the ascent it still becomes steeper Till the first ridge of snow is crossed after which turfy banks gravelly slopes and broad snow patches alternate

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The top of Herman in the summer and it can only be ascended in summer or autumn

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It's free from snow, but broad patches run down the sides Expanding as they descend

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To the very summit it is well earthed to 500 feet below it studded with countless plants higher up with dwarf clumps and as they ascend in the cool of that Sabbath evening the keen mountain air must have breathed strength into the climbers and The scent of snow for which the parched tongue would long

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Would would long in summer's heat have refreshed them We know not what part may have been open to them of the glorious panorama from Herman Embracing as it does a great part of Syria from the

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Sea of Damascus and from the Lebanon and the gorge of litany To the mountains of Moab or down the

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Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea or over Galilee Samaria On to Jerusalem and beyond it but such darkness as that of a summer's night would creep on and Now the moon shone out and dazzling splendor cast long shadows over the mountain and lit up the broad patches of snow reflecting their brilliancy on the objects around That gives you at least a bit of a visual

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A perception perhaps of what they saw. Well, we read that he took

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Peter John and James and went up on the mountain to pray The place of solitude was sought the place of solitude suitable for private and quiet contemplation

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We too on occasion Must be alone spending time with God alone and fellowship with his son

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If we would desire him to reveal himself more fully to us Most of us do so daily in our quiet time with the

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Lord if we don't we should What was our Lord's primary interest in going apart on this occasion to pray we can only surmise

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But it is likely that with his knowledge of his sufferings and death that were to take place in Jerusalem And that he would soon be embarking on his journey to Jerusalem to this end

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It stated in Luke 9 51 not too much farther In our account

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He determined to be in communion with his father to gather strength and fellowship with him in this endeavor

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It was at his baptism while Jesus was praying that the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove

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Upon him and a voice came from heaven, which said you are my beloved son In you

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I'm well pleased and it was on this occasion While Jesus was praying to his father that the father again spoke and commended his son

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It's significant that they went up on a mountain oftentimes God manifested himself to his people on a mountain a

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Mountain was often the place of divine revelation As one wrote at the top of a mountain a place of seclusion suitable for divine revelation

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Jesus engaged in prayer The idea suggested is that a transcendent

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God holy and wholly different from his creatures condescends from heaven comes down in order to commune with his creatures and What is also suggested is that man was come away from the world that knows not

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God Separating himself on to God so that he might commune together They meet halfway as it were and so in connection with this one might think of Mount Sinai Where Moses ascended the mountain and God came down upon the mountain and there they communed one with the other face -to -face

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There's parallels with the Mount of Transfiguration and Mount Sinai It was while in prayer that Jesus was transfigured that is he assumed a different appearance as He prayed the appearance of his face was altered in his robe became white and glistening

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Or as the ESV reads and as he was praying the appearance of his face was altered in his clothing became dazzling white

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He began to glow his face and clothing He began to radiate brilliant light the very glory of God his father for he was communing with the father in prayer

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As one wrote if Jesus was transfigured then it must have been through his reflecting the glory of God in whose presence he was while in prayer and Again the parallel with Moses on Sinai is suggested but whereas Moses is face shown alone to radiate the glory of God from being in the presence of God the people of Israel saw

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Moses and His glowing face when he came down the mountain Here we read that our

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Lord's face and clothing Radiated Divine splendor and a greater than Moses is here and we read of the appearance of Moses and Elijah in verses 30 and 31

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Two Old Testament persons appeared Talking with him and behold two men talked with him.

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They were Moses and Elijah Who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem These men two were clothed in glorious splendor the

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Old Testament records that Moses had died But here he is talking with Jesus. I Do not know what a person who believes in soul sleep after death does with this verse

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Moses should be sleeping in the grave according to some no On the other hand the

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Old Testament records that Elijah never tasted death, but was taken by God into heaven and a chariot you'll recall as Elisha watched on The appearance of these two men is significance

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Along with him there appeared Moses and Elijah two prominent Old Testament figures both of whom had unusual departures from this world

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God buried Moses Both of whom were regarded as types of figures to appear at the end of the age.

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This was the Jewish expectation It was through Moses, of course that God had given the law the

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Ten Commandments On which the nation of Israel based its relationship with God the

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Old Covenant To the Jews Moses was the supreme authority One could appeal to no higher authority than Moses when seeking to discover

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God's will on a matter And then there was Elijah. He was the greatest of the prophets in the minds of most

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Jews And so these two men In these two men, we have the witness of the law and the prophets what we would regard as the

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Old Testament scriptures Testify buried witness of Jesus and So here in Jesus the law and the prophets find their fulfillment

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Notice the specific subject with which they were speaking to Jesus. They spoke of his deceased

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Which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem the Greek word translated is deceased is interesting

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It is a Greek word exodon you can hear the word exodus in the word exodon and Elsewhere this word is used to describe

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Israel's exodus from Egypt. And so Moses and Elijah Spokesman for the law and the prophets were speaking to Jesus about his exodus

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That is his death upon his cross Through which he would depart from this world. I didn't put it in the notes

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But here's but one more bit of evidence in Luke's gospel. It presents. Jesus is the true

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Israel of God He's compared contrasted with The nation of Israel the unfaithful son of God.

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Jesus is the faithful son of God Israel went through its exodus and the wilderness wandering into the promised land

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Jesus does his exodus from this world, of course and enters into heaven through Suffering and death he entered he went through that 40 -day wilderness which parallels

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Israel's wilderness testing and So Jesus is the Israel of God and the people who believe on Jesus become

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Citizens of Israel because of their union with Jesus Christ the true Israel.

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That's a whole nother matter but the idea here may be present that just as Moses led his people out of Egypt to their inheritance of Canaan.

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So Jesus would lead his followers out of this world The true exodus of which the

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Old Testament exodus would but a type the anti type Is passing out of this world through death perhaps into our heavenly inheritance

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There's another idea of exiting Matthew Henry wrote of this the death of Christ is here called his exit.

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He's going out is leaving the world Moses and Elias old English word for Elijah Spoke of it to him under the notion to reconcile him to it and to make the foresight of it more easy to his human nature the death of the

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Saints is their Exodus their departure out of the Egypt of this world their release out of a house of bondage

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Some think that the ascension of Christ is included here in his departure For the departure of Israel out of Egypt was a departure in triumph.

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And so was his when he went from earth to heaven from his resurrection wonderful parallels

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It's certainly clear that the law and the prophets the Old Testament scriptures point to and have their fulfillment in the death resurrection and glorification of Jesus a

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Messiah Jesus wants declared to the unbelieving Jewish leaders you search the scriptures for in them

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You think by possessing them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of me?

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And this is what we have in pictorial display before us The law of the prophets

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Moses and Elijah testified of Jesus Well, let's consider the reaction of the three disciples

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Peter James and John had fallen asleep and Had apparently missed the great portion of conversation that Jesus with had with Moses and Elijah We read the

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Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep and when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him and Then it happened as they were parting from him that Peter said to Jesus master.

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It's good for us to be here Let us make three tabernacles one for you one for Moses and one for Elijah not knowing what he said

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And so the disciples have been asleep when these two men had joined themselves to Jesus It would seem that due to them sleeping they missed the substance of the conversation

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Now they're not to be blamed But we wish at least one of them could have been attentive enough to get some details of that conversation but how often have we to missed a blessing from God perhaps a word of instruction or a word of Encouragement because we were either inattentive or busy giving ourselves to other things sleeping instead of listening

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But they did awaken and what was it to which they fixed their attention We read carefully now they saw his glory and the two men standing with him

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You see the emphasis on Jesus above the two They saw his glory when they woke up and the two men and so what impressed them most was his glory and the two men with him and Even these two men had also appeared in glorious splendor

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And one when one really sees Jesus as he is in all his glory things are seen in right perspective

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Yeah, Moses and Elijah were great, but they saw Jesus glorified He was preeminent

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As great as Moses and Elijah were to these three disciples the glory of Jesus Christ was more greatly pronounced more noted by them

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The Apostle Paul would set forth a similar comparison between the new covenant that Jesus Christ is established in contrast

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To the old covenant that Moses had administered to Israel 2nd

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Corinthians 3 although the moon is bright in the nighttime when the morning Sun rises it causes the glory of the moon to fade

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Paul wrote of Jesus over Moses for if what is passing away Referring to the

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Mosaic Covenant the old covenant like the moon Was glorious what remains is more glorious the

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Son the Son of Jesus and the new covenant that he brought These three disciples woke and they saw his glory and the two men standing with him

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And had you and I been at the foot of Mount Sinai and we saw Moses come down We would have been impressed with the glory of his face

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As it shone forth People of Israel recognized in fact, they were terrified because of it and if we had been on Mount Carmel when when

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Elijah was battling those hundreds of prophets of Baal and He called fire down from heaven to lick up the evening sacrifice.

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We would have been impressed with his glory But when one sees the

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Lord Jesus in all his glory Moses and Elijah and all that they represent will simply be two men standing with him bearing witness to him

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Their glory pales in the presence of the glory of Jesus Christ Apparently the meeting was fleeting Peter wanted to prolong it and so Peter suggests they build three temporary shelters

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So that these three Jesus Moses and Elijah could abide together Luke supplies us with the comment that Peter did not know what he was saying

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It was a request of Peter born from ignorance and now his ignorance was to be corrected

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And so what is suggested is that though Moses and Elijah were great persons in the plan and persons of God They they pale in comparison to the greater

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Son of God To whom they bore witness They had preceded

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Jesus and pointed to him But now Jesus stood forth prominent and through him the glory of God would be revealed to his people

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How these three disciples were able to recognize the identities of Moses and Elijah not related to us

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It's quite wonderful, isn't it? It suggests all kinds of things Thomas Matton wrote an entire sermon about it and Possibly our recognition of one another in heaven

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Although we'd never known Some perhaps and Hendrickson wrote this How did the disciples know that the two from the other world who suddenly appeared upon the scene were

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Moses and Elijah? Did these visitors introduce themselves?

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Did the disciples know this by intuition? Did they gather this information from the word spoke by each

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Moses and Elijah in his? Conversation with Jesus had the looks or personal appearance of the two heavenly visitors been transmitted to the disciples by tradition

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Whether oral or written so that this for this reason it was very easy to recognize them and tell them apart

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Had the identification been divinely revealed to them or last but not least fanciful

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I think it's kind of fanciful Was Moses carrying in his hand a copy of the law did Elijah descend from heaven in the mount in his fiery chariot?

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All we know and need to know is that in a manner not revealed to us

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The three disciples recognized the two visitors We then read of impulse of Peter proposing a means to prolong this meeting

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Again verse 33 it happened as they were parting from him Peter said to Jesus master. It's good for us to be here

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Let us make three tabernacles one for you one for Moses one for Elijah not knowing what he said

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That the disciples had been asleep lessons to a measure their cope their culpability for not understanding fully what was transpiring before them

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They were not intentionally unbelieving but they had perhaps been somewhat negligent in failing to be alert

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Our Lord would later rebuke these same disciples for a similar failure and get seminate

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He would confront their infraction and the danger in which it placed them When Jesus rose from prayer and had come to his disciples he found them sleeping from sorrow

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He said to them. Why do you sleep rise and pray lest you enter? Temptation Perhaps Luke is suggesting that Peter was deserving of a measure of rebuke maybe the commentator

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Norval Geldenhais thought so the disciples who had for some time been sleeping because it was night and they were fatigued later on Probably owing to the glow of the heavenly vision awoke and saw the

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Savior and the two celestial messengers while his divine glory radiated from him to contemplate this heavenly sight a special gift was granted to these three disciples and in addition the faculty was given to them of recognizing the two heavenly beings as Moses and Elijah So when they realized that they really had the privilege of moving in this heavenly company

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Peter ever impulsive said without comprehending the implication of his words Master it's good for us to be here.

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Let us make three tabernacles one for thee one for Moses one for Elijah To him.

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It is so wonderful to contemplate the heavenly glory that he wants to continue thus He and his fellow disciples will make three tabernacles so that the

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Savior and Moses and Elijah may stay there always And he and James and John may serve them

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From now on he wishes to remain forever in heavenly company and then

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Geldenhais makes this statement Indirectly his proposal is again an attempt to influence the Savior not to choose the way of suffering

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But they can continue to live in divine glory Perhaps that's a stretch but Clearly it was not in the purpose of God for those two glorious ones to remain

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Well, then we read of the cloud of the voice of God Even while Peter was suggesting this we read of the appearance of a cloud and a voice that is spoken in the cloud

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Well, he Peter was saying as a cloud came and overshadowed them and they were fearful as they entered the cloud

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And a voice came out of the cloud saying this is my beloved son hear him When the voice had ceased

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Jesus was found alone But they kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen

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Let's consider the cloud It records of course verse 34 the veiled presence of God the

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Father Having revealed his presence and yet undisclosed in a direct vision of himself

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While he was saying this a cloud came and overshadowed them and they were fearful as they entered the cloud

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And so even as Peter spoke this cloud descended enveloped the three standing There it signified the manifestation the presence of God The cloud obscured a clear vision of God's presence for no mortal man can look upon God fully and live

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This cloud is nothing other than this kind of glory of God, of course Which is referred to so frequently in the

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Old Testament It's referred to also in Acts 1 when Jesus is Rises up into the cloud and the sky into the presence of God We might just cite a few examples

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In next is 16 as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation the people of Israel They looked toward the wilderness and behold the glory of the

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Lord appeared in the cloud also Exodus 24

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Moses went up on the mountain the cloud covered the mountain the glory of the Lord Dwelt on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days

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On the seventh day he called Moses out of the midst of the cloud Now the appearance of the glory of the

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Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain the side of the people of Israel Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights

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And so this you kind of glory of God was a visible manifestation of the presence of God with his people

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It disclosed hit God but at the same time hid God from fully revealing himself and Throughout the 40 -year wilderness wandering of Israel the cloud covered

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Israel from the hot Sun each day And at night it was manifested as a pillar of fire, which would give light and heat to the camp

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The cloud abode over the tabernacle the place of Israel's worship and When God would lead the people from that camp to a different location

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The cloud would pick up and move on and they would follow the cloud You can read of this in Exodus 40

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We won't read that at this time and then later still after Israel had possessed the promised land and dwelt in the land for generations the

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Lord had Solomon build a fixed temple in Jerusalem and Replaced a temporary and mobile tabernacle that had served the nation for so long

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And after the temple was dedicated God brought his present to the temple in the form of the Shekinah glory

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And we won't read that passage But it's there at first Kings chapter 8 when the priest came out of the holy place a cloud filled the house of the

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Lord the presence of God And so we see the cloud signified the manifestation of the presence of God The cloud obscured a clear vision of God's presence for no mortal could look upon him fully and live through the experience

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But God was there Again somewhat here on the Mount of Transfiguration as the

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Sinai experience Well, then this voice comes out of the cloud the voice of God The voice came out of the cloud saying this is my beloved son hear him and when the voice had ceased

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Jesus was found alone But they kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen

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So the divine endorsement Comes with the words, this is my beloved son and Then the divine directive comes with the words hear him

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God declared through whom he reveals himself and he'll hold all people accountable as to whether or not they adhere to this directive

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God still commands you and me hear him The words of God have as much force upon you and me today as it did on Peter James and John on the

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Mount of Transfiguration Behold my son hear him Your eternal destiny hinges on whether or not you believe

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God and obey God's command to look to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior This is my beloved son

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Matthew includes in whom I'm well pleased hear him People all over the world claim to be seeking

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God God speak to me God reveal yourself to me and they claim he does God responds.

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This is my son hear him There's no knowing God and there's no hearing from God apart from the revelation of God his son

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Now indeed God has revealed himself in creation and God has set a stamp on the consciences of all people

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Everywhere of his presence and certainly God spoke on many occasions in many ways through his spokesman the prophets in the past But their words were preparatory and but a partial revelation of God and his will

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But with the coming of his son Jesus Christ the full revelation of God and his will has been declared to the world

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This is in accordance with the writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 1 verse 1 and 2

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God who at various times in various ways spoken time passed to the fathers by the prophets. Yes.

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He did speak various ways piecemeal fashion at different times has in these last days spoken to us by his son and The Greek form of this his son gives

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Emphasis to the quality of revelation given by his son through his son Whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world

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And so may our God help us to learn the lesson that God himself taught these three disciples This is my beloved son hear him

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No sooner is The voice heard than the cloud disappears and Jesus stands alone

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When the voice had ceased Jesus was found alone But of course the impact of this event

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Continued with the disciples and has done so to this day Well, those are the details.

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Let's consider now the impact on the disciples first The immediate response, of course, they kept silent

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They kept quiet no one in those days and and told no one in those days of the things that they had seen

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Now interestingly speak Luke speaks Specifically draws attention to the reaction of the disciples as to what they had seen in Matthew's account

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Matthew recorded the reaction of the disciples somewhat differently their immediate response was silence.

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Yes, but also fear Matthew 17 6 when the disciples heard this they fell on their faces and were terrified and but take note of Matthew's emphasis the

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Disciples response is not to what they had seen as Luke emphasizes, but rather to what they heard even the voice of God Interesting little detail

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Here's the fuller account of Matthew while he was still speaking behold a bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying this is my beloved son and That first he was speaking is actually

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Peter This my beloved son in whom I well, please hear him and when the disciples heard it they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid but Jesus came and touched them and said arise and do not be afraid and When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only a few more details

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And then secondly certainly the event resulted in an unquestioned Allegiance and obedience on the part of these three disciples to Jesus Christ now

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They held him in high regard before but can you imagine the regard they held for him after this event?

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I Imagine it was up to not sure to They must have wondered at what they had just witnessed and pondered the implications of what they had heard

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These men were Jews For them their ultimate and final authority was the law and the prophets

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They Held what today we regard as the Old Testament scriptures to be their final authority

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But now they've come to see that the Lord Jesus in his teachings were to be the supreme rule for their lives

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Hear him. This was not a diminishment of the law the prophets

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They bore witness to him The disciples came to recognize that the fulfillment of what the scriptures had pointed had arrived in the person of Jesus of Nazareth Now they were to hear him

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Christ Jesus was their final and ultimate authority Now if these disciples had been responsible to hear and obey the law of God how much more responsibility now lay on them

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To hear and obey Jesus and that's exactly what the writer the

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Hebrews declared Hebrews 2 therefore we he's talking about Christian New Testament Christian We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away

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For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable he's talking about the law of Moses much of which was transmitted to from God to Moses through angels and every transgression or disobedience

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To the law received a just retribution. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

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It was declared at first by the Lord. The Lord Jesus was attested to us by those who heard apostles

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While God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will

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How much more responsible are we? Some Christians wrongly think that somehow

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God has gone soft in this gospel age You know, I'm sure glad we don't live under the law like the

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Old Testament writers Hebrew says you're more accountable because of the

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The greater revelation the more full revelation we have in Jesus Christ. Hear him In Hebrews 3 therefore holy brothers

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Who share in a heavenly calling? That's every true Christian God's called you to salvation

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Consider Jesus the the the apostle and high priest of our confession who is faithful to him who appointed him

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It's faithful to his father Just as also Moses was faithful in all

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God's house For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses As Much more glory is the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself for every house is built by someone

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But the builder of all things is of God now Moses was a faithful servant Moses was faithful at all

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God's house as a servant to testify of things that were spoke to be spoken after But Christ is a faithful son over his house

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Whose house we are if indeed we hold fast our confession and boasting in our hope

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There's greater accountability for us Who have who read of the fullness and the revelation of Jesus Christ as a son of God?

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This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased hear him is what God says And then another lesson drawn from this event was expressed by Peter in his epistle

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Peter wrote that as great an experience as this was on the Mount of Transfiguration We saw

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God the Father conferred glory upon his son Peter declared that the Bible Holy Scripture is more authoritative than even a personal experience even the experience of Peter James and John on the

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Mount of Transfiguration the Bible has more authority for you and me than personal experience

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This is what he wrote We did not follow cleverly devised myths

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When we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus But were eyewitnesses of his majesty on a transfiguration

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For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory

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This is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven for we were with him in the holy mountain

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But notice verse 19 and we have something more sure Even the prophetic word.

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This is the Bible To which you will do to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place

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Until the day dawns the morning star rises in your heart until Jesus comes You better believe and follow the

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Word of God That's more significant and authoritative than even if you were on that mountain watching and hearing

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Jesus And hearing God the Father No in this first of all, no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation

01:01:11

No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men of God As they were carried along born along by the

01:01:19

Holy Spirit And so as great as this personal event of Peter seen with his own eyes a transfiguration of Jesus Peter says the written

01:01:28

Word of God the Holy Scriptures The Holy Bible is more certain and firm authority than what even he himself had witnessed on that occasion

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We have ought to have the highest regard for the Holy Word of God Holy Scripture. It's God speaking to us

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Well, we have to wrap things up quickly here. What about the implication of the event for us? Well, it suggests how we're to view the

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Old Testament Moses and Elijah they bore witness of Christ and the

01:01:58

Old Testament bears witness of Jesus Some argue the Old Testament is a

01:02:04

Jewish book. Well, yes, but it points to Jesus Christ Paul says a veil still continues in the minds of Jewish people when they read the scriptures.

01:02:12

They can't understand it But that veil is taken away. They see and understand the Old Testament clearly when they come to Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is on every page

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As the title of that one book it was written a couple years ago. So wonderfully testifies The Old Testament is not to be seen as less authoritative and less inspired than the

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New Testament All scripture is given by inspiration of God and Paul is referring to our

01:02:39

Old Testament But we should understand the Old Testament points to and is realized in Jesus Christ it bears the witness it bears witness to the

01:02:50

New Testament words and deeds of Our Savior and therefore the

01:02:55

New Testament is to be the lens through which we read and interpret the Old Testament and then secondly

01:03:06

This instructs us. It provides a model by which we as Christians may May follow in order to commune with our

01:03:13

God We should too should seek to commune with our

01:03:18

God with his son our Lord Jesus And we already addressed this or spoke to this briefly the implications are pretty clear and then thirdly the glory revealed in Jesus and in Moses and Elijah confirms it

01:03:31

That this too is our destiny We think of Moses and Elijah being glorified

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Well, that's no different than what you and I are going to receive Wonderfully Maybe not on the same degree or level.

01:03:48

There's different degrees of glory for Christian some will will shine as the brightness of the firmament

01:03:56

But others will shine as the stars forever and ever according to Daniel 12, I think verse 3

01:04:03

But on the day of the resurrection of the dead after we stand in judgment Exonerated of all our sin through the righteousness of Christ that's given us through faith alone

01:04:12

God will confer glory to all and to every one of his people As Paul wrote our citizenship is in heaven and from it

01:04:22

We await a Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body

01:04:30

By the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself You and I are going to be amazed

01:04:38

When we see one another In eternity we'll be glorified

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Well, this event must have been a great source of encouragement strength for our Lord. Jesus also Having finished his ministry in Galilee.

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He would soon depart to Jerusalem where he'd suffered die Apparently he went up the mountain in the light of this to pray to his father

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Perhaps receive an assurance that indeed the time was come that he would have to depart And we'll consider that in a couple weeks in Luke 9 51

01:05:12

We see that of course he was encouraged in his work by the tender endorsement of his father Before he set out on a journey to Jerusalem where he would suffer and die but rise again

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Amen, what a glorious account Let's pray

01:05:29

Thank you our father for this this revelation of your glory our father the glory of your son our

01:05:37

Lord Jesus Christ and We just pray our God that you would help us to not only see

01:05:43

Jesus in his glory, but hear him as well to look to him as The one who is our our leader our guide who has gone on before us our

01:05:53

God blazed a trail as it were from this world even into your presence and now we are following him on our

01:06:02

Pilgrimage of faith through this life through this world onto a glorious destiny that you've promised us who have turned from sin and Believe on Jesus Christ as our

01:06:15

Lord and our Savior Help us our God be encouraged that regardless of what may come upon us

01:06:22

Even as the Lord Jesus declared earlier in this chapter They help us to take up our cross daily and follow him

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Our God through this fallen world with all its trials and temptations and difficulties

01:06:38

But with a confident assurance our God that will will stand glorified in your presence because of who

01:06:45

Jesus is What he did for us and who he stands for us on our behalf