near future. So we're going to commence our service this evening and our sisters, our young sisters from the congregation here, Jessica and Louise, have recorded this hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy, and they're going to sing to us just now. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty Early in the morning Our song shall rise to Thee Holy, holy, holy Merciful and mighty God in three persons Blessed Trinity Holy, holy, holy All the saints adore you Casting down their golden crowns, Along their as they sing. Cherubim and seraphim, Fall and die before thee, Which word and art and evermore shall be. Holy, holy, holy! Through the darkness hide thee, Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see. Holy, Lord, holy, there is none beside Thee, perfect in power and love and purity. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, All thy works shall preside Him in earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blessed Trinity. I do wanna thank Jessica and Louise for singing to us. It's certainly a beautiful piece, and they certainly sang it beautifully, and we are thankful to them for recording that piece for us. If you have a copy of God's Word, can we open it this evening together, please, in the book, the Gospel of Luke, and the chapter nine. The Gospel of Luke, in the chapter number nine, we are coming to another mountaintop. experience this evening, and it is a very well-known, a very special place, the Mount of Transfiguration. Luke's Gospel in the chapter nine. I want to read together from the verse 28 down to the end of verse 36. Luke's Gospel, the chapter nine, the verse 28. The Word of God says, it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glycerine. And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory and speak of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep. And when they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men that stood with him. It came to pass as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias, not knowing what he said. And while he thus spake, there came a cloud and overshadowed them. And they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. And when the voice was passed, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. Amen. And may the Lord, as always, write his own blessing upon the reading of his infallible truth to each of our hearts. We're going to have a word of prayer. As I said, we've entitled the message this evening, the Mount of Transfiguration. And even as we come to this special place tonight in God's word, may we know the help of the Lord and may we even be praying to that end, even now together. Heavenly Father, we bow before thee. We come into thy most holy presence, and we do rejoice that thou art a thrice holy God. Thou art holy in the Father, holy in the Son, and indeed holy in the Holy Spirit himself. And O God in heaven, we thank thee and we praise thee this night for our acceptance before thee, that we do come clothed in the righteousness of Christ, even as we considered last Sunday evening that sweet exchange that has taken place in our hearts. That our Lord Jesus Christ took our sin and gave us salvation. He took our rebellion and He gave and imputed to us His righteousness. He took our guilt and He gave us grace. And Father, this night we are so thankful. We do rejoice in the salvation that the Lord has given to us. We do rejoice, O God, this night that we're saved. We've been redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver or gold. We've been redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb. We thank and praise you that our salvation is eternal. We thank and praise you this night that our security is eternal. It's found in Christ. And Christ is never seen apart from us. And now we are never seen apart from him. And oh God in heaven, we rejoice in this. We rejoice that we can cry unto Thee and we can call Thee Abba Father. We thank Thee that we've been justified by His blood. That spirit of adoption even within us is rotten and working within us even now. And we do rejoice, O God, that we've been adopted into Thy family. We have the heirs of God and we're the joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And O Lord, as we come to Thee this night, and as we come to this time around Thy word, we do pray for Thy blessing. We do pray, O God, once again for thy help to be upon us, as we minister thy word, as we hear thy word, that will, O God, speak to every heart, that it will encourage thy people, even to give them that desire in their own homes to spend time in prayer once again with thee tonight. Lord, remember us for good. We thank thee for answer prayer in these days. We thank thee, O God, for thy hand upon our sister Hazel. and for watching over her and for keeping her, even in that hospital, and even now as she's home again. We pray, O God, that I will continue to be with her and to bless her, that I will continue, O God, with that touch upon her and raise her to full strength once again, we ask thee. Lord, do remember her family. Remember as well our sister Olive at this time, and we pray for her. Lord, that I will just rule and overrule in accordance with thy will and her circumstances, that I, O God, will be the overseer of her condition and her need at this time. Lord, for Dr. Wilson as well, we pray for him. Continue to be with him. Oh Lord, may that wisdom and that guidance be given to the doctors, the consultants. And Lord, may there be a course of treatment even available to treat him. Lord, and to touch him and to raise him back to health and strength once again. Oh Lord, we need thee so much in these days. We see so much hardship. We say, oh God, so many sad and sudden circumstances coming upon thy people. Oh Lord, intervene and be with them. Bless them, comfort them, and strengthen them, we pray thee. Oh God, our confidence is in thee. Our hope is in thee this night. Lord, draw near to thy people, we pray. And do us good, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. We come, as I said this evening, to consider the Mount of Transfiguration, to consider the very unique and the very special mountaintop experience that it is. It is certainly one which we come to humbly and we come to reverently as we consider what is recorded in the scriptures and in these pages for us. And certainly as you consider the Lord upon the Mount of Transfiguration, you're left in no doubt of the two distinct natures within our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is truly God and yet he is truly man. He is two distinct natures within one person forever. There is the eternal divine nature. And then with Christ coming into this world, he did not set aside that deity. He did not set aside that divine nature, but rather then he took that human nature and he brought it into that personal and into that perfect unity with his divine nature. And so within Christ and within Christ alone, there are two natures, distinct one from the other, and yet in perfect harmony. And even as you consider these verses this evening, you can see it so clearly. He is that man walking up that mountaintop. He is that man that leads Peter, James, and John to that top of that high mountain. And then in that appearance there, it's as if the deities or the humanities roll back and the deity comes forth in such a power, in such a way that he appears. The countenance is altered, the raiment is white and glycerine, and he appears in glory. Why, what a place. What a special, unique place this is. You come and you see the eternal, and you see something of the eternal glory of God upon this mountaintop. What a blessing it is for us to have this record of that glorious experience even recorded for us. to have that witness being penned upon these pages that it actually did happen and how special and how unique and how wonderful it was. Leonard Ravenhill in his opening remarks when writing upon the Mount of Transfiguration, he noted that the witness of the Lord many times comes in threes. Using the verses of 1 John 5 and the verses 7 and 8, He highlighted that, yes, there are three witnesses in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. And then if he took it on and he showed even through the Mount of Transfiguration the threefold witness that there was there upon that mountaintop. There's only three gospels which mention the Mount of Transfiguration, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There were only three men that went with the Lord to this mountaintop experience, Peter, James, and John. And these three men had three wonderful, special, unique occasions that they were alone with the Lord throughout the Lord's ministry, Jairus' house, the Mount of Transfiguration, and the Garden of Gethsemane. And all three of these witnesses would be vital in the early years of the New Testament church. Yes, the mountaintop, the Mount of Transfiguration, was a blessed and a special time. And I believe it is worthy of our time. I believe it's worthy of our consideration. As you remember, at the start of this year, we gave the motto text for 2021, that words of Moses, a petition of Moses, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And surely that ought to be the prayer even as we come to this mountaintop, as we come to this mount of transfiguration. There are three things I want to leave with you and to look with you this evening. And then I'm not going to rush this message. We're going to come back again next week. It's such a wonderful, as I said, special place. It's not somewhere that we should seek to rush through, but rather to spend time upon, to ponder over, and even to glean from the pages of scripture. Three things, firstly, I want you to see the verse 28. I want you to see the context for this experience. The context for this experience. The verse 28, it just simply says at the beginning of it, it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings. As you know, the Lord's ministry only lasted for three years. He began his earthly ministry at the age of 30. He was nailed to a cross at the age of 33. But within those three years of ministry, they were marked with action and busyness. So many times in the Gospels, if you read from through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you will read of sermons being preached, You will read of the sick and the sore being healed. You will hear and read of the enemies of the gospel being contended with and being refuted. We read also of many numerous occasions when the Lord spent time alone with his disciples, teaching them and preparing them for future service. We read also of many times whenever the Lord went aside himself to pray. Every occasion it's just one action after another action. But yet when we come to the verse 28, it introduces us to something so different. It's a time of nothing. There is nothing mentioned for eight days. You can go into Mark, you can go into Matthew, none of them have anything to report of those days. No sermons being preached. No lives being transformed. No sinners being converted. No lame being raised to their feet to walk. No blind being given their sight. No lepers being cleaned. Nothing. That's not saying that Christ did nothing. The Lord Jesus was never idle. There was never a lazy bone in His body. He worked the work of Him that sent Him while it was day. And I believe even within those days, whenever it just simply glosses and moves to the verse 28, it came to pass about in eight days, I believe within that junction and that juncture of nothing being reported, I believe the Lord was still working. I believe the Lord was still busy. But the Spirit And depending of these words, nothing is reported. Certainly the Lord had never lost hope, never lost heart in the work of the gospel. But for almost a week, in that short three year ministry, nothing significant transpired. Now Luke describes it Verse 28, about an eight days. You read Matthew and Mark's accounts, both of them say six days. That doesn't mean that there's a contradiction, it doesn't mean that there's a mistake. Look in his record, he doesn't give a definite number. If you look at it, he says about an eight days. But Luke also, with his writing, he has included the last day mentioned, which is mentioned in the verse 27. That's one, then six days of nothing, and then you're into day number eight. That is how Luke numbered his record. And so there is six clear days in the middle where nothing happens. Nothing is recorded of any significant changes or any significant work coming to the fore. As I said, six days, almost a week, out of the three-year ministry, with no breakthroughs, no results, no gains, no ground being taken. Certainly it was unusual territory for the disciples. These were men who were now accustomed to being with the Lord and to seeing immediate results and gains. Every time that the Lord seemed to preach, souls were being saved. Every time that the Lord seemed to come into an area, the sick were being brought to his very feet. And whether he took them by the hand or whether he just commanded them, change was brought to the front in terms of through their bodies. But now this period of time, there's nothing. I believe though, as the Lord draws these men aside, and even in that gap of almost a week of nothing, there is a very clear lesson for the disciples to learn. There's a very clear lesson for us to learn. A very clear challenge also being given to both the disciples and to us. because He shows us clearly what our response should be to the lean times. He shows us clearly what our response should be to the quiet times. Whenever, yes, we do the work, we preach, we evangelize, we seek to work the work of Him that sent us and give us that work to do, and yet we don't see any fruit for it. We don't see any rewards, we don't see any gains, we don't see any change. And the response, as the Lord teaches, is to pray. Not simply to sit around and wait for something to happen. Not simply to find fault and to look around and go, well, who's the cause of this lean time? Why is God not moving the way he once did? Why are souls not being saved? Why is this work not going forward? Who's at fault? Not simply to reminisce over past successes. Sit back and go, oh, I remember how good it once was. Now the disciples could have had many a story to tell about how the Lord had changed a life, how the Lord had intervened, how a family had been dramatically changed by the power of the gospel. The disciples had numerous stories, but here's the Lord, and he's saying to them, don't just sit and remember. Takes Peter, James, and John, and he says, now come and pray. Psalm 2 in verse 8 it says, ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. So child of God in those lean times, whenever the barrenness, whenever it seems as if the tide is so far out and there's just no changes, there's no breakthroughs, there's nothing happening, the Lord is clearly teaching us and the Lord has promised us, pray, ask of me. Come aside and come to the Lord afresh. Come and seek his blessing. Seek his power. You know, when you consider as well what had occurred six days previously, the last reference that we have is a very, very special occasion. You could say it was really a mountaintop experience without going into the mountaintop. It's recorded for us both in Matthew and in Luke. Matthew 16 is that occurrence whenever it's recorded there, and it's by far the more reference one of the two. Because Christ has come into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, There was that discussion with his disciples, whom do men say that I am? And that question was asked of the disciples, whom say ye that I am? Peter made that wonderful confession. He confessed Christ as the Son of the living God. The Lord then gave that wonderful promise, a promise that is so special to the church of Jesus Christ today. I will build my church. and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. That's a promise that has lived down through the ages. That's a promise that is as special today as it was then. It's a promise that was clinged to and held to through the generations, even the times whenever the great reformation period and all of the abuse and the persecution that came after it. Whenever the Roman Catholic Church would cross the European empire at that time, they sought to eradicate the gospel. And that verse was constantly clinging to, I will build my church. And the gates of hell, well, they can try, but they'll not prevail. That was a high mark, that was a high watershed moment even for the disciples, that wonderful promise coming forth from the Lord, I will build my church. My, how the disciples' hearts must have burned within them hearing those words. And yet they went from that high point with hearing that wonderful glorious promise coming from the Lord to six days of quiet. You know, it's much change when you go from a high mountaintop experience into a valley. It's much change when you go from a place of such blessing Down into the depths again with nothing. How difficult it can be. How deflated we can become. We can think how close and how near the presence of the Lord was. How everything that seemed to go on in the church, it just was success after success, growth after growth. And then you just come to a period of quiet. I can hit so hard. In the midst of that context, Christ taught his disciples what to do. Pray. Brethren, sisters, may we pray not only in the good times, but may we pray in the quiet times. We're still involved in the work and we're still seeking to do and to win souls and yet everything just, it's as if it goes out and we don't see any response coming in. We don't see souls being saved. We don't see invitations being accepted. We don't see those of our nearest and dearest being won. Get alone with the Lord. Pray on and pray through. The context, for this experience. But then secondly, I want you to see with me in the verse 28 the place for this experience. Verse 28, it says, it came to pass about in eight days after these sayings that he took Peter and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. Luke's gospel, he just simply mentions that they went up into a mountain. Both Matthew and Mark, they give one extra detail, both of them will say that it is a high mountain. It doesn't tell us the name of the mountain. Again, like the one that we looked at last week, the Mount of Prayer. It just simply says it's a mountain, or it's a high mountain. Again, Bible commentators, some say it's Mount Hermon. Some say it's Mount Tabor. We simply don't know. But in the midst of that time of need, in the midst of that time of silence, the Lord takes his disciples away. Yes, he teaches them to pray, but there's another lesson he also teaches them. I believe it's even found just in that detail that's given in Matthew and Mark, they're taken to a high mountain. It's a mountain top, that high place taken aside because they had to do more. See, of course, as we all know, there would come a time the Lord Jesus would no longer be with them physically. And so, during those three years, as we said already, there were times whenever we read through the scriptures, whenever he taught them verbally, he spent much time alone with his disciples, just teaching them. And he taught them verbally, but he also taught them physically. As I said, I believe here is a lesson that is being taught and where they went to. The lesson that's being taught is when efforts are not producing results, then go further than before. When the efforts are not producing results, then go further than before. You see, it wasn't simply enough for them to sit where they were. It wasn't simply enough just to move on, maybe from Caesarea Philippi, if they'd stayed there for those six days, to simply just move on to the next coastal town. Effort was made to go further than ever before. Or if I could put it another way, to do something more for God. In 1857, the Reverend John Moore encouraged four young men in his church in Kells to do something more for God. So those four young men began to meet in the schoolhouse in Kells for prayer. Yes, they kept doing what they were doing before and they kept attending their own church prayer meeting, they kept attending their church services, they kept worshiping the Lord, they kept busy in the work and inviting and encouraging others in. But then they went further. They did something more for God. They took up more of their time. They went to that schoolhouse and Night by night, week after week, they prayed. They gave of their time, their effort to get alone with the Lord and to intercede for their community. Of course, we know 1859, the great revival that began in Balaamina and spread throughout our land. And so it was with the disciples. You see, that little detail that's given in Matthew and Mark, they went into a high mountain. That effort had to be made. They were taken further. They were taken higher than ever before. It cost more time. It cost more effort to get there. It separated them further from their family, further from their friends, further, yeah, even from the other disciples. It would be longer before they would return. But that's what was needed. They had had six days of nothing notable happening. So they had to do something more. You know, in our day, we've looked over the last number of years, maybe even the decades, I can remember the early days of the free church, great missions that were held, many souls that were saved, churches springing up all over our land, into the south of Ireland, the mainland. And yet, when was the last time a new free Presbyterian church It was found in Northern Ireland. It was the last time you heard of a mission happening, where countless, numerous souls were saved. For some Christians, the response to that is, well, they sit back and they accept, well, that's the way it is. We just have to consolidate what we have and not lose any more ground. But well, if we don't gain it, we don't gain it. But it's just as long as we just do what we can. And well, if it doesn't increase, that's the way it is. Surely the response ought to be like the disciples that the Lord taught them to make a greater effort. To petition the Lord for the spirit of God to move. To give ourselves in a greater way than ever before. To spend more time in prayer. Are we willing to go and do something more for God? Are we willing to go further? Were you willing to follow Christ and be his disciples in the place of prayer? I would have less than even there in just that one simple detail. It wasn't enough to have the prayer meeting in the regular place. I had to go to the high mount and go further. One final thing I want to leave with you, and this is really just the introduction to the Mount of Transfiguration. One final point I want to leave with you this evening. Again, in verse 28, I want you to see with me the company for the experience. The company for the experience. Verse 28 tells us, he took Peter and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. You know, one of the great joys and one of the favorite activities of our Lord during His ministry was to spend time in prayer. We noted last week in the Mount of Prayer in Luke 6, He spent the entire night in prayer to His Father. Something He loved to do, to have that communion, to have that fellowship with His heavenly and with His Father. and have that communion. And here at this time, and quiet time that it was in terms of results, he took Peter, John, and James with him. It's interesting because they don't ask to go, but he desires them to go. his desirous to have fellowship with Peter, James, and John. Now that's noteworthy. The eternal Son of God desirous to have fellowship with three men, They were born in sin, shapened in iniquity, but yet He's desired to be with them. What made them desirable, of course, was the work of the Spirit and the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. which in turn produced dedication and devotion to their Lord. Out of all of the disciples, these three are marked for their dedication and devotion. John 13, 23, it's John leaning on the bosom of Christ. John 6, 68, Peter, he says to the Lord, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And then, just after this occasion, further down in Luke 9, verse 54 to 56, we have the account of both James and John. And yes, their response was wrong in terms of their words, But here you have, in those verses, James upset at Christ not being received and accepted in Samaria. Yes, he prayed down, he says, by bringing down the fire. That's because they rejected his savior. These three men loved the Lord. These three men lived for the Lord. and the Lord desired to have fellowship with them in prayer. You know, it's wonderful when you consider before the fall in the Garden of Eden, in the cool of the day, the Lord would come to fellowship and to have communion with Adam. The creator desiring to have fellowship with his creation. And when you consider it, of course, the Lord knew that Adam would fall. And God knew the faults of Peter, James, and John. He knew that Peter would betray him. He knew that James and John would desire to sit in heaven, the one in the right hand, the other in the left, that pride coming upon them. The Lord knew their faults, and yet he still desired to have fellowship with them. Child of God, the Lord knows our faults. He knows our feelings. And yet, each one that is saved is invited to come boldly to the throne of grace. We're encouraged in scripture that the Lord never tires at our much coming and communion with him. Now what an encouragement even tonight to spend time in prayer. Even after this message finishes, after this broadcast finishes, to spend time in your own home praying unto the Lord, knowing that he desires to have fellowship with you. James 4 verse 8 says, draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. He loves His people. He loves to commune with them. There on that mountain top there, the Lord is going up to pray to His Father in heaven and He is the one that says to Peter, James and John, come with me. I want you to be with me. In Revelation 3, in the verse 20, he stands at the door and he knocks. If any man hear my voice and open the door, he's promised I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. The Lord Jesus longs to be with us. The Father in heaven loves the world so much, he gave his only begotten son. The whole plan of redemption, the whole covenant of grace was decreed and set in place from all eternity past. That way back, the knowledge was there. Adam will sin, Adam will fall, Adam will break the covenant. That gulf then will be fixed between man and God. God could have just said, right, that's fine. Because we don't add anything to God. God is unchangeable. God could have said, Adam, your race, it's fallen, it's gone. I reside in heaven in my own glory. But God sent his son. to redeem a people. That people will be his people and he will be their God. And he's coming back to bring us onto himself to reside with us forever. Why, what a blessing. What a blessing it is to have salvation. What an unspeakable and an unbelievable. Yeah, indescribable to plunge to the depths of the mercy and the grace of God that he would desire and he would bring us onto himself. Have communion, fellowship with us. Oh, how true are the words, you are a chosen generation. You are a peculiar people, you are royal priesthood. Christ in us. And we in him. And His desire is for us to speak with Him. To fellowship with Him. Why, what a blessing it is to be in Christ. What a blessing it is to have Christ as our Savior. I'm gonna leave it there this evening. We'll come back again next week to consider what all took place in the Mount of Transfiguration. But I trust what has been said tonight will encourage you. To go further for the Lord. Even make that effort. To make that sacrifice in your life. Even to see the blessing of the Lord being poured out again. I trust as well that encouragement will be there. that the Lord's desire is to be with you and to speak with you and for you to speak with Him. And even now in your own homes, whether alone or with your family, that you will even spend time communing with your Father in Heaven. And having that fellowship even in the place of prayer. I want to thank you again for joining us this evening. May the Lord bless his word to your heart. We'll close in prayer. Father in heaven, we bow God before thee and we are so thankful for ever setting thy love upon us, forever sending thy son to die for us, forever saving us and bringing us onto thyself. Lord, it humbles us to consider that our Savior desires to have us with him. Lord, we see nothing in us of worth. There's nothing good in any of us, oh God. There's nothing good in me. Lord, I have nothing of worth. Save the worthiness of Christ. Oh, Father, bless each one that has listened. Encourage their hearts. Speak on, we pray thee, in Jesus' name, amen.