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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.
The Mount of Transfiguration
Series Mountain Top Experiences
| Sermon ID | 210212223534765 |
| Duration | 47:22 |
| Date | |
| Category | Prayer Meeting |
| Bible Text | Luke 9 |
| Language | English |
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