Luke's Gospel

As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up 3 shelters 1 for you, 1 for Moses, and 1 for Elijah. He did not know what he was saying. While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and uncovered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud saying, this is my son whom I have chosen.

Listen to him. When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen. The next day when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him, a man in the crowd called out, teacher, I beg you to look at my son for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams.

It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not. You unbelieving and perverse generation Jesus replied. How long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.

Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion, But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father, and they were all amazed at the greatness of god. While everyone was marthing at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. The son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men but they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it. Okay.

Well, good evening, everyone. Good evening. Please keep that passage open in front of you because we're gonna be going through it. My name is Ben, for those who don't know, I'm a member here at Cornerstone Church, and we are carrying on our, our sessions through Luke. This is the latest part we've got to.

So I'm just going to pray and ask for god's help before we start. A father in heaven, you are, a speaking god. You have things to say. So I pray that you would give us ears to hear tonight. That we might hear something, about the lord Jesus that we would love and know him more, I pray this in his name, amen.

Okay. So I don't know if anyone here has ever played the would you rather game. Yes. It's a really good, like, long distance car journey game. And it's basically where you're given 2 equally horrendous horrible options, and you have to choose between them.

So and they're quite silly and quite fun. So for example, Would you rather feel a potato's pain every time you ate 1, or would you rather be a potato? So you can't have crisps, you can't have chips, you can't have potato waffles, or you're just a potato and you can't think at all. So know, it's a bit silly, or or this 1 courtesy of Rory Connect, would you rather have nostrils where your eyes are or eyes where your nostrils are? 1 for you to think about later.

So those are really silly ones, but there are some that actually make you and are actually quite interesting. So for example, would you rather lose the taste? Sorry. You lose the sensation of taste or of smell would you rather lose your taste or your smell? Now there there are some people who can't taste and can't smell.

So at that point, it's sort of no longer a joke, but it's an interesting question, isn't it? I hope? It's an interesting question because there are nice smells in this world, aren't there? Like, the smell of freshly baked bread the smell of, freshly mowed lawn, all these fresh things. There are a lot of nasty smells in the world as well.

So probably taste is the best 1 there. What about this 1? Would you rather lose your ability to see or your ability to hear? Is seeing more important to you or is hearing more important to you. That was a really interesting 1 because you think, oh, man, there's there's so many great sounds.

Like, there's music, There's there's the sound of people that you'd love, talking to you. There's the sound of birds in the morning and the sound of, sort of water lapping at the shore if you're at the beach. There are so many beautiful sounds that are just so important aren't there. But then seeing seeing is incredible, isn't it? Being able to see colors and and and sunrises and sunsets and seeing the beach and and seeing the faces of your friends and those you love around you.

It's quite interesting. Which 1 of those is more important to you. And in the light of this passage that we've just had read to us, the transfiguration Which 1 do you think would be more important? Because you I think you'd be forgiven if you thought that seeing was in most important here. Because the disciples saw the lord Jesus in his glory.

They saw him in his radiant light. But what I want us to leave this room understanding tonight is that actually what's more important is that we listen, is that we listen, seeing is important god has given a size. He gave the disciples this opportunity to see the glory of the lord Jesus. And as we get into it, I'm really excited to because we'll get to see that. We're we're also going to see tonight how dull the world is in comparison to the glory of the lord Jesus.

So we're going to see those 2 things, but most importantly, we need to listen. So those are the 3 things I want us to remember tomorrow evening when you're racking your brain thinking what on earth was Ben going on about last night. Talking about nostrils and eyes in the wrong place. I want you to remember those 3 things. The glory of the lord Jesus, the dullness of this world in comparison, and that we need to listen.

The glory of the lord, the dullness of the world, and we need to listen. So let's have a look. Verse 28 begins with this. About 8 days after Jesus said this. So so what is it that Jesus said 8 days ago?

What's been happening? Quick recap. Peter has declared that Jesus is the Messiah, and Jesus has subsequently predicted his death. His resurrection, and his return in glory. So the scene has been set concerning the Messiah god's chosen king and his glory.

The Messiah and his glory. That's the set. That's what's going on, when we get to verse 28. So have a look again at verse 28. About 8 days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him, and went up onto a mountain to pray.

Now there are 2 things happening here which should, get your interest. You, you kind of think there's something must be happening here. Because first of all, he just takes a select few disciples. What's going on there? Why are those 3?

Why not all of them? Why is this happening kind of a way from everyone else. What's gonna happen there? And secondly, he goes up a mountain, and going up a mountain has significance, in the Bible. The mountain is the place where god appears and he speaks to his people.

They think about Moses going up to receive the law speaking with god. And think about Jesus, giving the sermon on the mount, his his manifesto for how people ought to live in his kingdom. So As we go up this mountain with Jesus, as he's as he's walking up ahead of us, and we're taking steps up it, be excited. Let your anticipation build. What's gonna happen?

How is god gonna appear this time? What's he gonna say to us? And when we get to the top, we're not disappointed, are we? It's not the view we're not disappointed by. It's the lord Jesus himself.

Look at verse 29. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Now I want to bring in Matthew and Mark's descriptions here too that they'll come up on the screen behind me because this is a really weird and wonderful event. And I want us to get a kind of a clear picture of what's going on. So Matthew 17 adds his face shone like the sun, And his clothes became as white as the light.

Mark 9 verse 3, his clothes became dazzling white. Witer than anyone in the world could bleach them, if you can imagine what that is. Maybe my really white shoes that I'm wearing tonight. So we know normally there's there's there's something very ordinary about the way that Jesus looks normally. We we'd hold in Isaiah 52.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. There's nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. So normally Jesus looks like an ordinary carpenter. But here on top of this mountain, As he humbles himself in prayer and submission to the father, he is glorified. He's glorified And it's actually a lovely little picture of the relationship the father and the son have because the son submits and humbles himself and the father then glorifies him.

And the way that he's glorified here is that he's transfigured, which means that his appearance has changed. And it's like he's pulled back the veil of his humanity just a little bit to let some of the true god, glorious light through. And the glory of the lord as he really is is just stunning, isn't it? I mean, these descriptions up on the screen behind me, they're just they're just beautiful, aren't they? If not completely terrifying as well, because it's described as a dazzling powerful light.

And the 3 accounts describe it in slightly different ways as well, because there is no 1 way to encapsulate the glory of the lord in 1 single sentence that everyone can agree on and say, yes. That is how we describe the glory of the lord. You know, I've never seen, the northern lights Yaurora borealis. It's 1 of the few things on my bucket list in in in my life. But, you can go on YouTube and you can see videos of it.

But I'm told that that is absolutely nothing in comparison to the real thing. And people, everyone I've ever heard talk about it, has described it in slightly different ways. And that's because when you see it, I'm told, you just cannot encapsulate the beauty and the majesty and the and the magnificence of it in a single sentence. And that's what's going on here as well with the transfiguration. Luke says his clothes became a flash of lightning.

Matthew says his face shone like the sun, Mark says his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could have bleached them. And what about John? Got Matthew Mark and Luke. What about John? Why is it that John who was present here doesn't actually record this in his gospel?

There's no transfiguration in the gospel of John, even though he was there and he saw it himself. But if you look at John chapter 1 again, You see that even though there's no account of the transfiguration in his gospel, the transfiguration was central to his understanding about who the lord Jesus So you see him talk about things like Jesus being the light of all mankind. He gives true light to the world. And then he says this, we have seen his glory, the glory of the 1 and only son who came from the father, full of grace and truth. So the glory of the lord is is a lot of things, but it reveals itself in light.

And it is a brighter and whiter and it's more dazzling than you can imagine. More so than the entire northern lights, the complete aurora borealis, and full display brighter and more magnificent than that. And though it is full of grace and truth and beauty, it is still terrifying, I think, to behold. If you think back to the shepherds who were watching their flocks at night in chapter 2, the angel, appeared to them And it says the glory of the lord shone around them, and they were terrified. They were terrified.

And the angel had to say to them, don't be afraid because they wouldn't have listened to what he said until he'd calm them down a little bit. But what's curious here on top of this mountain is that there's a mixture of reactions going on. So Mark's account of the transfig figuration, it says that the disciples were afraid as it was going on. But here in verse 33, Peter also declares master, it is good for us to be here. So if you're in the company of Jesus, if you are with him in his company, then his glory is a good thing.

It is frightening in sheer power and holiness and scale, and it's terrifying, but you also recognize that the ground you stand on is good. In the line of which in the wardrobe, we know that Azlan is not safe, don't we? And Mrs. Beaver says that if you see him and your knees aren't knocking, then there's something wrong with you. Your knee should be knocking when you meet Azlan.

But he's good. Is what we're told. And it's the same with the lord Jesus. It's good for you to be with him. So can you see the light Can you see his glory?

Can you see this transfiguration happening in front of you? Can you see the beauty of the lord Jesus on this mountain top? Even with this blazing, magnificent overpowering light, I suspect that even here, this is just a crack. This is just Jesus holding back just a little bit of his true glory, just letting a little bit of the light through. Because in Revelation, talks about how God's glory is gonna light the entire new creation.

In chapter 22 verse 5, it says they will know they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun for the lord god will give them light. So if his glory is enough to light the entire new creation, hear back in the old creation just on this mountain top. It was probably as much as the disciples could bear just to see a little bit. Just a little bit of of the lord's glory. Because the way that they've described it is almost unbearable in itself, isn't it?

It's like it's the sun. You can't look at the sun for long, even in this country, can you? I mean, this morning, it was cloudy. And if you tried to look at the sun, you you wouldn't be able to do it for long. Let alone in a blazing desert somewhere.

And then on top of his face being like the sun, His clothes are like flashes of lightning. And he it's brighter and and more dazzling than you could imagine. So the disciples, you can imagine, and they they they're they're not standing watching it going like this, are they? They're having to, like, really protect themselves from this dazzling light. They can't even look directly at him.

1 Timothy 6 says that god lives in unapproachable light, unapproachable light. That's not the kind of light that you have to shield your eyes from, maybe put some thick sunglasses on. That's the kind of light that you physically cannot approach and stay alive when you arrive. Unapproachable light. So when Moses requested to see god's glory in Exodus 33, god replied, and he said, this, you cannot see my face for no 1 may see me and live.

That's unapproachable light. You can't. You you will just die. And so god had to hide Moses in a cleft in the rock, and then it took the hand of god itself to protect Moses from the glory of the lord. And then even after that, the hand of god covering Moses, Moses could only see the back of god as he passed by.

He couldn't see his face. Otherwise, he would have just died at the unreserved site of God's glory. You know, interestingly, I think that gives the blessing that god instructs, Moses to give the Israelites a new perspective, God has literally just said, nobody may see his face and live, and yet this is the blessing that he instructs to give in number 6. The lord bless you and keep you. The lord make his face shine on you.

And be gracious to you. The lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. I mean, it's quite amazing, really, isn't it when you think about what Moses had to go through. So that blessing, that blessing, that prayer is really, I think just asking, that we would be right We would be made righteous so that we can see god's glory and live. Otherwise, his face shining on you is not a good thing.

It is a bad thing. You will die. So it's the greatest blessing to be made righteous and for the lord to turn his face towards you and to shine on And actually, that is why shine Jesus shine is a fantastic song. This is the revelation I've had this last month. Okay?

The lyrics are basically asking for this blessing. So god is telling us to sing that song, people. Okay? Listen to this. This is 1 of the verses.

Lord, I come into your awesome presence from the shadows into your radiance. By the blood I may enter your brightness, search me, try me, consume all my darkness, shine on me, shine Jesus shine. We should we should sing that. Phil, we're gonna sing that. Yeah.

We should sing that. I mean, the lyrics are brilliant because it says it's only by the blood that we can enter brightness, and it's true. So here on the back on the mountain top, Jesus, being transfigured. It's only a little bit. This isn't unapproachable light.

This is just a smidgen of the glory that the lord Jesus has. You know, it's interesting after Moses had come down from the mountain, after being hidden by god's hand in the cleft. And he'd spoken to god. It says that his face was radiant because he had, been speaking with the lord. So even after just seeing a little bit of god's glory, the back of god's story.

Moses's faces just beaming. Yeah? And it's not like a healthy glow, like Phil Cooper's face after a month in Florida. His face was was radiating, was reflecting god's glory. And what's funny is that after he came down from the mountain and people saw his face, they were afraid of him.

And and I imagine I can understand the first shock, say, wow, okay. Your face is shining. That is not you that is not normal. But they couldn't get to a point where they were okay with it because they made him cover his face up, which is what I think we should do to feel Cooper when he comes back from Florida. You can cover your face for a month till your pasty again.

But they couldn't get to a point where the glory of god is so terrifying that even when it's reflecting on an ordinary man's face, people had to hide from it and cover it up. So god's limited glory to Moses was so glorious that it was reflecting in his face a long time, and here is Jesus. Whose face is shining, not just because it's reflecting god's glory, but because it is radiating god's glory. And that is the same glory that caused Moses's face to shine all those years ago. And speaking of Moses, he makes a cameo appearance in the gospels here, and he appears in complete, glorious blender.

Look at verse 30, and he's alongside Elijah. 2 men Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus. Gloria splendor. So it's not just his face anymore that's radiating. It's now his entire being.

Moses is is is there, shimmering alongside Elijah as they're with the lord Jesus in his glory. And it is literally at this point in my sermon prep that I wanted to put some sunglasses on because there was just so much light. You can you see the mountainside is just a wash with light and beauty. And the crazy thing is that this is a snapshot, a little sneak peek of what gonna be like, for all the saints when we're with him, the lord Jesus. This isn't just a special occasion, special honor for, Moses and Elijah.

1 John 3 verse 2 says this, but we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We shall see him as he is. So when we see Jesus as he is in full glory and false blender, as Moses and Elijah have, then we will, be like him as Moses and Elijah are here. It won't just be our faces reflecting his glory. We will be made like Jesus.

We will appear in glorious splendor with the lord Jesus. When he comes. Isn't that exciting? That's amazing, isn't it? And I think that's enough in itself for a sermon.

I could bang on about that for the next however long. There's more to see here, but that, I mean, when we're made like him and we're standing there in glorious splendor, won't we when we have wanted to have lived a life worthy of that honor when we get there. So that should spur us on now, shouldn't it? Just get a glimpse of of what it will be like for us when we're with him. And I'd like to dwell on this but there is more to see.

So back to Moses and Elijah, what on earth are they doing here anyway? You know, isn't it amazing, by the way, that the disciples saw them and went, oh, yes, Moses and Elijah. And they've never seen their faces before, but it's not even it's just there's no question. It's like us and Moses, yeah, and that's Elijah. Yep.

Pearing in glorious spectre. Quite amazing. Anyway, but why have they made the special guest appearance in the gospels? Well, we're told in verse 31 that they're in conversation with Jesus, and they spoke about his departure which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. So they're talking about Jesus' departure, and the Greek word for departure is his exodus.

So they're speaking about Jesus' exodus, the work he came to do leading his people out of slavery to to freedom and the promised land. You know, this is not a random encounter or conversation. It's not, you know, it's not that, Moses and Elijah got bored and wanted to come and chat to Jesus, and they could have been talking about anything, the weather, the sport, whatever it is. This is not random. It happened at this point in the witness of these 3 disciples for a reason, and it happened so that they and we would learn an important lesson, which is this.

The law and the prophets testify that Jesus is lord. The law and the prophets testify that Jesus is lord. So if you know the story on the road to emmaus after his resurrection, Jesus, appears to do disciples. And he gives them the bible study to end all bible studies. It says this, Luke 24.

And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. So, Moses, the lawgiver, and the prophets, those who spoke on behalf of god, all testify to Jesus. They testify to the work he came to do, They testify to the completion of it. They testify to the exodus of his people from slavery to death and sin, to freedom, and to eternal life. So back at the transfiguration, Jesus wants the disciples and us to see that Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets All are in complete agreement about Jesus departure.

They are all in complete agreement about the lord Jesus and the cross. They all point to the cross and to the lord Jesus. The law and the prophets testify that Jesus is lord. And amazingly, while this incredible I mean, the transfiguration is incredible in itself. And then Moses and Elijah appearing is more is not more incredible, but more incredibleness.

And the disciples are half asleep for most of this. What's going on there? Look at verse 32. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the 2 men standing with him. I think it is a shame for them that they missed most of this.

This only really is the moment's ending that they speak up and say anything at all. And unfortunately, for them, is complete gibberish. So look at verse 33. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, master It is good for us to be here. Let us put up 3 shelters, 1 for you, 1 for Moses, and 1 for Elijah.

He did not know what he was saying. And we know Peter is a bit of a loud mouth in general for lots of reasons, but I think he genuinely outdoes himself here This is the creme of the creme of Peter's loud mouth coming out with rubbish. And I love that the Bible puts in brackets. He did not know what you're saying. He didn't know.

It's almost like it's like, it's a bit embarrassed about this point. It's like, oh, he didn't know what you're saying. But, you know, he did he was he did no idea what he's talking about. So just It's quite funny because what comes out of his mouth is utter tripe. But bless him, because he does start off well.

He says master is good for us to be here, and it's true. So he's done well. But I imagine that it was so overwhelming. I mean, just imagine it it must have been so overwhelming that he just has no idea what to say, but he feels as if he ought to mark the occasion somehow, say something. It's like if you were walking down Cambrey Park Road and you turn left at the end to go to Kigston, suddenly, the queen is in front of you.

Okay? What would you do in that instance? You would you would you would, you would try a curtsy or a bow, or you would start spluttering something about your majesty. I have no idea. What you would do, but neither would you.

That's the point. You would just feel like you would you you ought to say something or do something to mark that occasion. And it's the same, with with, Peter here. And unfortunately, for him, the best idea that he can come up with is, building a little tent. And it's a very silly reason to build these shelters.

I'm lots of reasons it's silly. I'll name just 2 reasons. First of all, did Peter honestly think that 3 half asleep ex fishermen could build a better dwelling place? For the glorified Moses and Elijah than the 1 they already had in heaven. No.

Secondly, Jesus has just been discussing his departure from the world. So building a shelter, a little dwelling place, and this earth goes completely against the plan, doesn't it? Jesus knows he's about to leave. He's packing his bags in a sense. He's not settling down in this world.

So I imagined at this point Moses and Elijah are sort of looking at Jesus and going, Rea, this is the guy you're going to build your church on. This is the rock. Okay. Anyway, it's funny as is to mock Peter. I'd I genuinely don't think myself or any of us here would have said anything more sensible.

So we can't give Peter too hard a time. Can we? And so with all this light and the glory and the splendor of Jesus and Moses and Elijah and and and the the light and the dazzling sight. I wanna go back to why is it that hearing is better than seeing Because surely to have seen that with your own eyes would be better than me trying to, get you guys to imagine it in your heads. Right?

Why isn't seeing better than hearing? Well, look down at verse 34. While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them. And they were afraid as they entered the cloud. So now they're afraid.

The disciples are afraid, really afraid because this is god himself making an appearance. During the exodus when the tabernacle was constructed, the cloud covered the tent and the glory of the lord filled it and god warns Moses that he himself appears in the cloud. So, in leviticus 16, god says, tell your brother, Aaron, not to enter freely into the most holy place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. So god speaks from this cloud to the disciples. And what does he say to them?

What would you think you'd say to them in this situation? Look. Use your eyes. See this amazing, incredible thing in front of you. He's my son.

Look at him. He doesn't say that. Look down at verse 35. A voice came from the cloud saying this is my son whom I have chosen. Listen to him.

Listen to him. God says. Use your eyes. Yes. This happened so that you could see it, but this is the command I give you.

Listen. To him. Listen to what he is saying. If you only use your eyes and you look at Jesus, you will start coming out with rubbish, like, let me build you a shelter. If you listen to what he says, you will have understanding.

Jesus was in conversation about his departure He's leaving. He's not coming to settle down. If only Peter had heard what he was saying, he wouldn't have suggested that. Too many people today and throughout history look at Jesus, but they don't listen to him. They see him from a distance as a wise teacher, or a baby in a manger that makes a nice Christmas card, or Muslims will claim him as a prophet and accept his miracles but they will deny that he's the son of god or that he died on the cross for our sins.

And yet, Jesus says he will be killed and rise again. So we'll come back to that later, but for now we need to come down off the mountain. We spent most of our time up there, but we need to come down it for the last section and it's like it's we're leaving a glimpse of heaven behind. It's a little bit like coming through, the clouds coming into land at Gatwick. Or Heathrow.

Above it's gloriously bright, isn't it? It's always gloriously bright. Like that 20 miles above clouds, whatever. It's beautiful. It's bright.

And then you come through the clouds. It's gray. It's dull. All your problems come back. So verse 37, the next day when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.

A man in the crowd called out, teacher. I beg you to look at my son for who's my only child. A spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.

So we're not even 5 minutes into having landed, and we're already surrounded by a world. That does not listen to god. There's demonic work on display. There's unbelief. There's suffering.

And the disciples who were given authority to drive out spirits earlier. They can't drive this 1 out themselves. So I want you to see, can you see the dullness of this world? Can you see the gloriousness of Jesus and his glory and then the dullness of this world that he comes into? Even if Jesus had come down the mountain into, Las Vegas in all its lights, or Dubai, or the garden of Eden itself, or wherever the best place you love in this world, if Jesus had come there, Can you see how monochrome that place would be in comparison to the glory of the lord?

Can you see then why it is madness to love this world more than it to love god. Because Jesus has asked in verse 25, if you flip back to verse 25, he says, what good is it for someone to gain the whole world or yet and yet lose or forfeit their very self. What good is it to gain even the whole world, not just the place that you love, but the whole world. And then lose yourself. You know, I I get I personally get tempted with things like, a career or money, or, wealth and success and safety, and I get tempted with stuff like that.

But I need to preach to myself that those are all filthy rags in comparison to the glory of god. They're filthy rags in comparison to the glory of Jesus. So I need to remind myself of that. And then Jesus, says in verse 41, you unbelieving and perverse generation. Jesus replied, how long should I shall I stay with you and put up with you?

Bring your son here. You can imagine that after Jesus has just spent some time being glorified, And he's he's actually had a conversation with 2 people who know what's going on. Moses and Elijah were talking about his departure. It must have been a relief for Jesus to have had that conversation. Someone who knows who understands.

I think having had that must have made interactions like this a little bit harder for Jesus. And you know, after having talked about his departure, he's now longing for it. He says how long shall I stay here with you and put up with you? How long until this is all done? And I'm back, with my father in glory.

But here's the grace of Jesus, though they were unbelieving in perverse, And this is good news because we're unbelieving and perverse. Jesus still has compassion and mercy on this man. So verse 42, even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit. He healed the boy And he gave him back to his father, and they were all amazed at the greatness of god.

But here's this point about listening again. Look at the second half of verse 43. While everyone was marveling at all Jesus did, he said to his disciples, Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you. So while people are marveling at this incredible healing thing that's going on. Jesus turns to his disciples and he says, eyes, hear.

You've seen that, but now listen to this. This is more important. More important than anything else. The son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. And it says that at that moment, the truth was hidden from the disciples.

So even though Jesus knew that it was hidden from them, He knows that they will in a short period of time start piecing all of these things together. They're gonna start piecing the transfiguration. Moses and Elijah, the son of man being delivered into the hands of men. They're going to soon realize that Jesus is the 1 and only son of god that he came, to be given as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and that the law and the prophets all testify to that. They will soon start piecing those things together.

And they will also realize that the signs, the wonders, and the miracles that Jesus performed and not ends in themselves just to be marvelled at and then left where they are. Oh, that was amazing. Right. Let's go home. What's the dinner?

They're not they're not just to be marbled out and then left where they are. They are all all of them heralding and forth running the greatest miracle which he accomplishes on the cross. Because here, in this miracle, He rebukes an impure spirit in the boy. But on the cross, Jesus makes a mockery of Satan. Here he heals a boy to full health, but on the cross, Jesus heals the world of its sin.

Here he hands 1 child back to his earthly father, but on the cross, Jesus hands you back to your heavenly father. So can you see how silly it is to get caught up with just 1 little miracle and miss and miss what Jesus is is saying? You know, we're we're staring at a thimble of water, and there's an ocean just behind it. And yet it is really tempting look at this healing with our eyes and marvel at it and not listen to what Jesus is actually saying. In acts chapter 8 verse 6, it says this, When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.

So those crowds have got the right idea. If you see something amazing, if this person can do these things, we really ought to be listening to what they're actually saying. So let's have the same attitude as this crowd when we see the signs that's pay close attention to what's being said. And, you know, I my application, what I wanna say to you guys is actually stop looking for signs. Stop looking and listen instead.

So if you're a Christian here and you don't feel loved by god, or you don't feel his presence, or you don't know his face shining on you unless something happens to show it or demonstrate it or so you can see it, then you're selling the gospel short. You're staring at the thimble in front of you when there's an ocean behind it. Well, let me flip that around. If something bad happens and something that you doubt god's love or his presence or his face shining at you, then it's the same thing. Just staring at the thimble.

And if you're not a Christian, you've heard this stuff over and over again, perhaps you've been coming here for months or years. There's something missing still, and you think, oh, surely that I've heard this, I kind of I kind of understand it, but there must be something physical that verifies all of it. Something that I can see, something that I can put my hands around and and touch. If if that's you, then I want to actually warn you that Jesus says, only a wicked generation looks for a sign, and none will be given it. Because the reason is this, if you demand a sign, if you say, give me a sign, then effectively what you're saying to god is is is this.

I hear you, but You say that you exist, but I don't believe you. You say that you love me, but I don't feel it. You say that you died on the cross to save my sin, but I don't trust your words. Can you see why it's not good to ask for a sign? Because if you listen to god, and this is what you hear, god exists.

God loves you with an, an everlasting love God gave his 1 and only son to be delivered into the hands of men for your sake that you would be freed from sin, saved from death, and brought into his kingdom as his child. The Bible says that we live by faith and not by sight. And there's a reason that the transfiguration only happened in the presence of these 3 disciples. Not all the disciples got to see this, the whole world didn't get to see this. Imagine though if Jesus had walked down the mountain, in just full glory splendor, flanked by Moses and Elijah.

And he just walked into the Sanhedron and just saw the teachers and the elders of the law said. So I am the son of god, as you can see. This is Moses. This is Elijah, boys back me up. The old testament and the prophets, they all point to me.

But why didn't he do that? Because he could have done that, but he doesn't, does he? Instead, Moses and Elijah leave, He returns to his ordinary carpenter body. He goes back down the mountain and he does what? He teaches and he preaches.

He says, whoever has ears to hear, let them hear. Listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. Blessed rather are those who hear the word of god and obey it. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Romans 10 17 says faith comes from hearing the message.

So this is the application tonight. Don't look for it. Listen for it. Don't look for it. Listen for it.

If you're looking for whether god is true or not, or if you're facing suffering right now and you want reassurance of god sovereign loving control, then this is the command. Don't look for it. Listen for it. Listen to his spirit word when it's opened. Here it when it's preached.

Here it when you open it yourself or in a study or in a 1 to 1 or when we sing to each other, when we pray to each other, listen to his spirit word. And then This is entirely different sermon, but when you've heard it, put it into practice. Because otherwise, you haven't really heard it at all, have you? You've not really listened at all if you've not put it into practice. So we've seen the glory of the lord Jesus.

We've seen him in his glorious blender And we've seen how we'll be like him when we're with him. So eagerly desire that. And we've seen how dull and gray this world is in comparison, how foolish it is to desire it, even though we do, keep preaching to yourself. This is filthy rags compared to the glory of god. But most importantly, We've seen that if you have ears to hear, then listen to what the lord Jesus says.

Don't look for it. Listen for it. Let me pray. Our father in heaven, you are a speaking god help us not just to look at you from a distance or to demand, a sign, but help us to, to listen to your spirit word, listen to the lord Jesus, listen to you when you speak to us. Thank you so much for the scriptures that we have them.

That they are alive and active, that they speak to us, that they open us up, they cut us to the heart, and they expose our sin before you. But they also point to the lord Jesus and the cross. Thank you that the the prophets and the law all point to the cross. Thank you that it's there, that we are made righteous before you that you can turn your face and shine on us. Thank you, lord, for these wonderful truths and help us please this week, to listen in Jesus' name we ask, amen.