Week of Meetings 09 With the Lord on the Mtn — David Clifford

Now if you see me closing my eyes now and again, while I'm preaching, it will be that I'm trying to imagine that there are 5 ,000 people here this morning. So that my ministry is not affected by the smallness of the numbers and may the Lord make us faithful in little things as well as big things.

I often get more liberty when there's a big crowd and I get too much liberty sometimes and it's an annoyance to some people. But usually a small number doesn't make any difference to me. We have a happy time of fellowship up the mountain with the Lord.

Apparently not many people wanted to climb the mountain this morning. It's probably because they didn't realise that if you climb the mountain with the Lord, He gives you a number of things to do it with.

He gives you the time to climb the mountain with Him and He gives you the strength to climb the mountain with Him. And He gives you His presence and blessing, you know, if you climb the mountain with Him.

Well may that be the result this morning. So again we're going to continue talking about the Lord Jesus. Couldn't have a better theme for a Friday morning or any morning of the week or any evening either.

Christ in All the Scriptures

You know Christ, when we take a subject like this, Mark's Gospel, then of course we've just got to concentrate on the Saviour. Because He's all the way through from beginning to end. I think that's a good idea.

I'm going to preach on one of these other Gospels one day. Because there's so much about the Lord. You see one preacher, he was asking his way to a certain chapel. And the boy who came along, of whom he was enquiring, said, Well, he said, I'm going that way, I'll take you.

He said, it's across the common here. And as they were going across the common land, the preacher thought he would have a little word with the boy. And he said, do you go to Sunday school? He said, is there a Sunday school in this place?

He said, oh yes. And he said, do you go to Sunday school? He said, oh yes sir. Well he said, tell me, what do you learn at Sunday school? He said, all sorts of things. He said, who do you learn it about?

He said, all sorts of people. Well he said, what did you have last Sunday? He said, oh half a minute. He said, oh last Sunday we were talking, they told us a story about Jacob. Well he said, that's very good.

And then he said, what did you have the Sunday before that? Oh he said, I don't think I can. Oh yes he said, they told us a story about Joseph. And he said, by the way boy, he said, do you ever have any stories about Jesus?

He said, oh no, that's right the other end of the book. Well what a pitter you know. If it's a story about Jacob or Joseph or Abraham or Zechariah, Malachi, you should always point to the Lord Jesus. You know, Christ in all the scriptures in a bit of women's ministry that most brethren have on their bookshelves.

And it's a very important subject too, Christ in all the scriptures. And if we don't see the Lord, I'm sure we fail. Because the written word is given to us to portray the living word, the Lord Jesus himself.

I thank God for the Bible and the truth it brought to me when I was sinking down in sins dark ways. For since I've searched its pages I've found the rock of ages. And my happy soul is singing, Jesus saves.

As long as you find the rock of ages, as you scan the pages, you're alright. Let us read together from Mark chapter 1, or rather Mark chapter 9, verse 1. He said unto them, verily I say unto you, that there shall be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God coming with power.

The Transfiguration and the Four Parties on the Mountain

And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter and James and John and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them. And his reign had became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them.

That appeared unto them Elias with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, three booths, one for thee, one for Moses, one for Elias.

But he wished not what to say, for they were sore aflame. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him. And suddenly when they looked round about, they saw no man save Jesus only with themselves.

The seventeen, one of the multitude in the valley, answered and said, Master I have brought unto thee my son who hath a dumb spirit, wheresoever he taketh him he teareth him, and he foameth and gnashes with his teeth and pineth away.

I spoke to your disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not. He answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me.

Verse twenty-two,. And oft times the demon or the spirit hath cast him into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst, all things are possible to him that believeth.

I'm going to understand, I haven't looked it up myself, that the word believe, I think I did once, that the word believe there in the middle of that verse isn't in the original Greek, and it gives a different sense.

Jesus said to him, If thou canst, that's what you say, if thou canst, now all things are possible to him that believeth. May the Lord bless to us that portion from his word. So this morning, the title if I remember correctly is, On the mountain would the Lord, beholding his glory, and in the valley with the multitude, needing his power.

Well, on the valley, or rather on the mountain, we find there are four parties. The disciples, Moses and Elijah, our Lord himself, and the Father with his voice. And in the valley, there are four parties.

Also, there is the family in need, and the disciples in helplessness, and the master in response, and the religionists in hostility, as always was the case. The family in need in the valley, I'm saying this now because we shan't have time to talk on it later on.

Youths in Evil and Parents in Anguish

There was the youth, you see, in the grip of evil, and there were the parents in the grip of anguish. Now there are thousands of examples of this in America today, as well as in my country. Youths in the grip of evil, and parents in the grip of anguish.

Sometimes, not always, the parents have proved to be delinquent themselves. And that's why the youths, the young people, are in the grip of evil. That's not always the case, but sometimes it is. Bring up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

And that, of course, is a promise of the Scriptures from the Lord, which we can take and exercise by faith. Now then, let's look at the Lord Jesus in his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration this morning.

The Kingdom of God and the Glory of Christ

He said to them, there shall be some of you standing here who will not taste of death till you've seen the kingdom of God come with power. And immediately after a few days, they saw the kingdom of God with power.

That is, with glory. Glory is one or more of the attributes divine in manifestation. If you see a manifestation of God's power, that's glory. If you see a manifestation of his wisdom, that is glory. If you see a manifestation of his holiness, that's glory.

Glory is an outward manifestation of one or more of the attributes of the divine person. And here you find Jesus in his glory. And so they were to see a foretaste of the coming kingdom. I think I ought to briefly state what I believe.

There's a lot of different kinds of belief about the kingdom, you know. I'll tell you what I believe. I believe that the Lord Jesus is now the King of glory. And that is where his kingdom is, because he is the King of glory.

Psalm 24 speaks of a day when the King of glory would become the King over all the earth. And when he died and ascended on high, God made him a prince and a saviour. Exalted him and made him King of glory.

He's not King of earth now. And this is not his kingdom now. I think to a great degree this is the kingdom of Satan now. But there is the kingdom on earth now in one sense. And that is Christ is reigning as King on earth only in the hearts of his own.

King of my life I crown thee now, thine shall the glory be. Therefore the kingdom, the rule of God is within you, is in the midst of you. If the Lord Jesus is among you and in your heart by faith. But there is still to be a manifestation of Christ's reign, not just in the heart of his own, but throughout the whole world when Christ shall come and his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives.

And you can't spiritualise that as amillennialists would do. And his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives and he shall control and conduct the judgement of the nations and then be King over all the earth.

And he shall reign from the river to the ends of the earth and all the earth shall be filled with his glory, the redeemed in his presence. Israel, the godly remnant remaining shall be saved in a day and all the nations bringing their glory to Christ and all his enemies licking the dust.

And that's the reign of Christ on the earth. And then of course there is his eternal kingdom. The thousand years is just the beginning of his eternal kingdom when he shall give all the authority to the Father and God's kingdom shall be over the new heavens and the newer wherein dwelleth righteousness forever.

Well that's putting it very briefly and oversimplifying it, no doubt. But of course going up to the mountain with the Lord and beholding his glory must have been a tremendous blessing to them. Peter said it is good for us to be here.

We started the week like that, didn't we? This week, if you will recall, on Sunday morning, behold my servant and beholding the servant of Jehovah in his glory with a foretaste of his glorious kingdom must be a blessing to anybody.

And we beholding the Lord are by the Spirit of the Lord changed to be like the Lord. If you really get a vision of the favour in his glory this morning, you're going out better than you came in. The Holy Spirit is going to bless your soul and you're going to be more like the Lord Jesus than you've been before.

So you think of that. So that's something to look forward to. Not my ministry, but his face and his glory and beholding him. Please notice in this foretaste of the coming kingdom, the Old Testament saints were there.

Old Testament and New Testament Saints in Glory

Moses and Elijah represent the Old Testament saints. They were there in this kingdom. Secondly, notice the New Testament saints were there. There were these three disciples, New Testament followers of the Lord Jesus.

They were there. So I'm going to be there in the kingdom, ruling over the earth with grace. And thirdly, Jesus was there and Jesus was glorified before them. We shall behold his glory and be changed into his glory.

There's going to be an added blessing for us in that great day. And our bodies are going to change and that's a mercy. I suffer with indigestion and you suffer with something far worse than that. I know most of you do.

But think of it. He's going to just touch you again. Talk about the second touch. It'll be the final touch. This is the touch of the Spirit of Christ. His final work in the world for the believer. When Christ appears he'll touch your body.

And that's his last work for you. And the Spirit will transform your body to a body of glory, fashioned immediately, changed wonderfully, like unto his glorious body of glory. So Jesus is there. The Old Testament saints were there.

The New Testament saints were there. And the Father was there. And he would have them all be taken up with Jesus only. And don't forget, in that coming day, when we share his glory and his kingdom, the Father will have us be taken up with Jesus and his glory.

You say, aren't I going to see my loved ones? Yes. Now, aren't I going to have fellowship with them? Yes. But don't forget the greatest thing, top priority in the will of God for you in the coming glory and kingdom will be that you shall be taken up with his Son.

This is the whole purpose of it. God wants many sons in glory like his Son. And he wants them all to be taken up with his Son. He wants them all to be like his Son. He wants them all to dwell with his Son.

He wants to glorify his Son and glorify them all with his Son. And the Lamb is all the glory in Emmanuel's Lamb. And in this foretaste of the coming kingdom, the fourth party there was the Father, wanting them all to see no man, say Jesus only.

I suppose Moses would also be a type of the sleeping saints, now resurrected and sharing his kingdom and glory. You know our loved ones that have gone on before, having died in Jesus, raised at his coming.

Moses died and he must have been raised to come and stand here. More about that in one moment. And then Elijah was there and he is a picture, or if you like to use as brethren the word type, he is a picture of the living saints' change.

Because Elijah didn't die, he was caught up into heaven. My father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof, I forget the exact quotation, something like that. And he was changed and taken into the Lord's presence without dying.

The Disciples' Consternation and the Heavenly Witnesses

Let us very quickly look at these four parties in the mount. First of all the disciples and their consternation. Then Moses and Elijah's conversation. Then our Lord's transfiguration. And then the Father's declaration.

First of all the disciples. What a privilege was theirs to have a foretaste of the kingdom. They were not to taste of death till they had a foretaste. And what a privilege is ours. There is a possibility that we are not going to taste of death till we get ushered into his kingdom.

And then death will have departed forever and we shall never see it. Oh joy, oh delight, should we go without dying. Now this morning when I was praying, this is what I said. Thy kingdom come. Maybe you never say that.

You're too much of a traditionalist PB. I was talking about tradition the other day. Don't get wrapped up too much in tradition, just get back to the word. And sometimes pray the pattern prayer. Some brethren would say it was more suitable for another dispensation.

It's very suitable for today. And there's worship in it, and there's intercession in it, and there's request in it, you know, and there's such a lot in it. And don't finish right at the end. Go to the extra part that the Saviour spoke about when he said, and when you pray each passing day like that, something like that, don't forget to pray for others.

And he told the story of the three friends and the three loaves. Do you remember that? All right, now don't forget to pray sometimes and say, Heavenly Father, hallowed be thy name. And thy kingdom come.

And when he comes to rule, in bright array to reign, it will be glory then to say that he's a friend of mine. Well, it was a great privilege for them, and my word, what a privilege. We have before us, they said it's good for us to be here, and in Psalm 72, speaking of Christ's coming kingdom, in very great detail, the terms are most noticeable.

It says there, and men shall be blessed in him, that is, in his glorious reign, in his kingdom. And Peter said, it's good for us to be here with a foretaste of the kingdom. And what a blessing for us to be there in that coming day.

Men should be blessed in him. Now, of course, in this sense, we are in Christ now, and we are blessed in him now. It's what it says in Ephesians 1, 3, blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

And twenty times in the first two chapters of Ephesians, there is the phrase, in Christ, or in the Lord, or in whom, or in the Beloved. But the thing is, because we are in Christ, we have all the blessings that are Christ's.

And as a matter of fact, Christ has all the blessing. When he ascended on high after perfecting the will of God, God gave him all the honour, and the power, and the majesty, and the might, and the dominion, and the blessing.

It's all his, and it's his by right, but we are in him. And now the Christian is blessed in him. But in that day, all those that take part in his kingdom and in his reign shall find his blessing too. And men shall be blessed in him.

Separation From the World to Behold Christ's Glory

And everybody will say it's good for us to be here in the kingdom. Notice the disciples' separation from other things. Now this is the third time this idea has come into our messages this week. Maybe the fourth time.

I'll have to count them up to be sure. But he took them to a high mountain apart. Do you remember yesterday? He took this man out of the town to do something for him. Do you remember the day before? He took the man aside, away from the multitude to bless him.

And now on this occasion he took them apart into a high mountain. Come away from the world. Get as far away from it as you can. Get away from other people, and come and behold my glory. You know, some of us never get a glimpse of the glory of Christ until he takes us away somewhere.

And this is why we ought to take every opportunity of getting into his presence and beholding him. Well, he leadeth them away. And then thirdly, their mistake. They didn't really know what to say. They were fearful at first.

It was so glorious. The glory was excelling. And it was really beyond them. And it made them fearful at first. And of course they said the wrong thing. Through Peter they said the wrong thing. Then secondly, the second party.

Moses and Elijah Speak of Christ's Exodus

Moses and Elijah and their conversation. Now the question is, was this a resurrection for Moses and a reappearing for Elijah? Or was it just a vision, an allegory of the coming resurrection? I'll leave you to decide that.

But for these people in the mount, for the disciples, it was a wonderful experience. It was an evidence of Jesus' glory and coming kingdom. For the Lord Jesus himself it was a foretaste of his glory through the cross.

To Moses and Elijah it was a meeting with the one of whom they were both types and pictures and forerunners. Moses had said, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like me and him shall you hear.

He was a forerunner. And Elijah was a picture and type and forerunner of our Lord Jesus. And to the Father, this particular time in the mount was a time of bringing together some from earth and some from heaven around the person of his Son.

And you know, God is going to do this. He's going to manifest in that coming day to the whole of the universe according to the epistle to the Ephesians, his wisdom as well as his grace in the church. And he's going to bring them from heaven and bring them from earth and send to them around his Son.

And Christ is going to see to it that Christ his Son shall have the glory and be glorified before them all. And this is a fulfilment of the prayer of the Lord Jesus in his high priestly prayer in John 17 when he said, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am so that they may behold my glory.

They beheld his suffering, now they must behold his glory and God is going to do that very thing without any doubt at all. Well now, let's look at their conversation, Moses and Elijah's conversation for a moment.

First of all, they were taken up with the Lord. That's always the best type of conversation. And they were talking about his crosswork too. This was the centre of all Christians' hope, the crosswork of the Lord.

And you know, in the coming glory, their and our eternal conversation will be about the Saviour and his crosswork. Moses and Elijah were talking about his exodus, Christ's exodus, his death, which he was going to accomplish at Jerusalem.

What a subject! Now of course, Moses had a tremendous exodus. Now if Moses came here this morning, we'd say, Moses, tell us all about the exodus from Egypt and what happened and all those millions of people and how it all happened and how God worked the miracles and so on.

What a mighty exodus! There's never been an exodus in the world like this, before or since. Moses, tell us about your exodus. He said, listen, there's been a greater exodus than mine and the children of Israel from Egypt.

It was the exodus we were talking about together on the mount, his exodus, when he was going to the cross to bring our redemption. So Moses wasn't talking about his exodus, he was talking about Christ's exodus.

And Peter might have said, Moses, tell us about your exodus. He says, no, let's talk about Jesus and his cross. And Moses might have said originally, he might have said to Peter, he might have said to Elijah, Elijah, I've never heard of anything like it in my life, your exodus.

It was fantastic. Pansy, chariots of Israel and the horsemen there, coming from the glory and sweeping down the world to take you home to heaven. What an exodus! Elijah, talk about your exodus. Tell these men from earth about your exodus.

Elijah said, no sir, let's talk about Jesus. And his exodus. And his cross. Isn't that lovely? Lots of things you can talk about. Marvellous experiences you've had. But let's talk about Jesus as the chorus goes.

Jesus Only: Peter's Mistake and the Father's Command

But of course, they were obliterated, obliterated these two very soon. And I really think it was Peter's fault. Don't like blaming poor Peter, he said some wonderful things for which we must praise him, really.

Think of his great and mighty confession, and no confession had ever been heard on earth like that before, in the presence of the Saviour. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So there's a lot to commend Peter for, but he opened his mouth on this occasion and put his foot in it.

And he said, Lord, it is good for us to be here. We'll make three booths, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias. And then God spoke and said, Oh no, Peter, no you don't. And he sent a cloud and obliterated the other two, and they saw no man save Jesus only.

God said, You listen to my Son, hear Him. You'll be taken up with my Son. I tell you, that's what is going to be in the glory. You think you're going to have marvellous times of fellowship with Mary and Jane and Bill and Tom and Dick and Harry that have gone on before.

I tell you, you're going to have a terrific time of fellowship with Jesus. And he obliterated the other two purposely so that they could see nobody and be taken up with nobody save the Lord Jesus Himself.

In Psalm 73 when Asaph, this is the Psalm after the other one I've just been talking about. In Psalm 73 is a picture of the glory and the kingdom that is to come. And in Psalm 73 it is the picture of a man oh, very, very earthly, very backsliding, taking the introspective view and getting the droops and then looking around and getting into despair.

And then he went into the presence of God and got all his mistakes put right. And the Lord filled his vision and the glory of the Lord filled his soul. And he said, Whom have I in heaven but Thee and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee?

Mind you, there used to be. He said so himself. Asaph, this is Asaph's psalm. He said, I used to be envious of the wicked in their prosperity in the earth and I wanted to be like them. But he said, I've seen the Lord in His glory and now who do I want and what do I want but the Lord and to share His glory.

And he said, with a great sigh of relief at the end of the psalm, My, he said, my word, it is good for me to draw near to God. So Peter said, it's good for us to be here and it certainly was. And it was Jesus only whom have I in heaven but Thee.

Life After Death and the Identity of the Heavenly Witnesses

Of course you get a few theological ideas here. I know you're all theological students after being at Parker upon so long. You get one or two theological ideas you might like me to go into. I'm not going into detail about these two men.

I know some of you like me to do that. But I'm not going to spend time on that. There were two men on the mount here bearing witness about his death and there were two men at the sepulcher bearing witness about his resurrection.

Were they the same two? And the two men at Olivet bearing witness about his ascension. And the same two men at Olivet were bearing witness about his coming again for his own. Were they the same two men?

And the two men in Revelation 11 bearing witness to Christ and his descent to reign. The two witnesses there. And some people like to think they're the same two. But I certainly wouldn't dogmatise. So let's pass on.

Here is the proof of life after death. And here is a picture of the type of life after death as well. Moses and Elijah were seen alive as individuals. That's one. Two. They were seen alive as continuing personalities.

That's precious. Three. They were seen alive as human beings. Men. That's good. They were seen alive and taken up with Christ. As I've said. They were alive consciously. Sixthly, they were alive in glorified bodies.

Remember that. And next, I forget the number, they were alive to enjoy fellowship with one another and with others and with him in particular. And they were alive and in touch with the earth. Just like in his future kingdom and glory we're going to reign over the earth.

That's a little bit of theology which is also devotionally precious if you look into it. So there was Moses and Elijah and the disciples. And thirdly, there was our Lord and his transfiguration. His glory they saw and his holiness they felt and his death they considered.

Christ's Glory, Holiness, and Sufferings

His face shone as the sun. His glory they saw. Now he had manifested his glory before in certain ways as I said. Any expression of an attribute of deity was a manifestation of his glory. But this was something different from what they'd seen before.

And his face shone as the sun. And those were the only words they could find to describe this fantastic experience a foretaste of his glory. In Luke 9, Dr. Luke says in his writing, When they were awake they saw his glory.

They were a bit sleepy and saw nothing. But when they were awake they saw his glory. Brother, when you get into the presence of Christ make sure you're awake. You'll miss such a lot.

When they were awake they saw his glory.

And his holiness they felt. His raiment was white as the snow. No floor that's an old English word on earth could whiten them. No wonder Peter knowing something of the holiness of Christ here and in other places said, depart from me for I am a sinful man.

Oh Lord. But you know we won't say that when we get to the glory and share his kingdom and glory then because we'll be glorified together with him and there'll be no earthly trappings and hindrances and sinfulnesses about us in that day.

We shall be like the Lord sharing his holiness and his glory in a full and complete way. And then of course there was his death which they considered and they saw it in prospect here. It is good for us to be here and hear about Calvary and he was transfigured before them but his glory was in relation to his sufferings and it always is in the scriptures.

And the apostle Peter wrote a letter, an epistle about that one subject. It's his first epistle the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. They're inseparable with the Saviour and do you know why Peter wrote that about the Saviour?

Because he was writing to suffering saints. Now it seems the Saviour suffered but now he's glorified. You are suffering now and you are going to be glorified together with him. Don't forget if you're suffering the glory is waiting for you but really if not to be honest and fair to the scriptures and to you who are listening to it it's not talking about ordinary aches and pains and sufferings you know like backache and toothache and gout and lumbago and that sort of thing.

It's talking about suffering for Christ's sake. Do you know these people were scattered abroad that had their homes rudely taken away from them. They'd been dispelled from their own district. They wandered about in dens and caves and in the wilderness.

They had no sure dwelling place there. They were mother and dad and kids having a terrible time. Nothing much to eat just picking up a few herbs here and a few leaves there and a few roots somewhere else and they were suffering ever such a lot for Christ's sake because they were bearing witness for Christ.

Do you know what they did as they wandered about? They preached the word everywhere they went. God blessed them. Well he has blessed them. And they really those that were scattered abroad and were suffering for Christ's sake they went on with the good news you see.

What it was Christ recompensed them. If we are partakers of his sufferings we shall also be of his consolation. God is no man's debtor. What was I talking about when I was saying this? The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.

And it is the way the master and I've said that before and it is the way the servant must tread as well. Where not only the disciples' consternation and Moses and Elijah's conversation and our Lord's transfiguration but as the Father's declaration.

The Father's Declaration: Hear the Son

This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Now the phrase in whom I am well pleased is not in this gospel but it is in the others. Look at Matthew to verify that in chapter 17. God was very very pleased with his Son.

He was going from this experience into a little more ministry and then to the upper room to arrange the remembrance feast for his disciples. And he was going out to give himself into the hands of wicked men and be crucified and slain.

All in the Father's perfect will. Lo I come to do thy will O my God. And God was very very pleased with his Son. And with this occasion too the Father was pleased. You see the Father gave them a little introduction and foretaste of Christ's coming kingdom.

And just as Peter was glad to have a foretaste and Moses and Elijah were glad to have a foretaste and Jesus was glad to have a foretaste the Father was glad as well. He said I'm very pleased. My Son is going to suffer but is going to be glorified and I shall see to that.

And in him I am well pleased. So please notice his pleasure. An illustration of that is in relation to David and King Solomon in chapter 1 of the Kings of the first Kings and verse 48 you read the details of David's immense pleasure when his son sat upon the throne of the kingdom and began his reign.

So the Father's immense pleasure is illustrated and spoken of here in the Transfiguration. In whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Notice not only his pleasure but his Son's preeminence and his saving plea.

Hear ye him.

The Father's Threefold Sermon About Christ

We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard spoken by Christ. Hear ye him. Now this is the one of three occasions when the Father spoke from heaven. Every time he spoke from heaven he spoke about his Son.

The greatest sermon in the world has three points. Three headings. The greatest sermon in the world came from heaven. The greatest sermon in the world came from the Father's heart. The greatest sermon in the world was about the Father's Son.

And on the first occasion at his baptism he says, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This was a baptism of repentance and this first heading in this greatest sermon in the world was about Christ's purity.

This was a baptism of repentance. But Christ was pure. He was just fulfilling all righteousness in submitting to John's baptism. And the Father was rejoicing in his absolute holiness. And the second heading of this greatest sermon in the world was here in the Transfiguration when God the Father spoke about his ministry.

First of all his purity. Now his ministry. He says, Hear ye him. Whatever Jesus says, hang on to it. Give the more earnest heed to the things that Jesus said. Don't listen so much to Moses or to Elijah as you do to my Son.

Listen for the voice of Jesus. His ministry is the greatest ministry in the world. He is the greatest prophet that has ever been known. He will give to you my words. And my words are living words. Hear ye him.