The focus of our attention this morning is an astounding account found in Mark's Gospel 9. beginning in verse 1, and Jesus was saying to them, "'Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God, after it has come with power.'" I don't know exactly what to make of that. Some say He was referring to Pentecost, the kingdom of God coming in power. Some say He was referring to the portion that's to follow here. Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves and He was transfigured before them and His garments. became radiant and exceedingly white as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it's good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses, one for Elijah. For he did not know what to answer, for they had become terrified. And when a cloud formed, then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud. This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him. And all at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore except Jesus alone. And as they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen till the Son of Man rose from the dead. They seized upon that statement. discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. They asked him, saying, why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first? And he said to them, Elijah does come first and restore all things. And yet, how it is written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt. But I say to you that Elijah indeed has come. And they did to Him whatever they wished, just as it is written of Him." Well, here's the scene. The Lord Jesus going up on a mountain to pray in private. He did that many times in the Scriptures we've seen so far. And He took with Him three disciples. We could say the inner circle of His disciples. Peter, James, and John. And there's some encouragement to be had right here because these guys are not flawless. Peter, the spokesman. James and John, Jesus called them the sons of thunder. They're the ones that wanted to call down fire to consume the Samaritans, remember. And Peter, we know already what Peter did. Took Jesus off to the side and rebuked Him. And then even later on, denied that he ever knew Him three times with cursing and swearing. not very commendable on those occasions. But yet here they are in the condescension and the patience of the Lord Jesus, they find themselves in this circumstance. These three were also the three that were led into His struggle in the Gethsemane, you recall. They accompanied their Jesus. So this account known as the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus is assumed to take place at night because Luke adds this thought, Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep. So we assume that it was at night. Same as with Jesus' struggle in the garden. These three were allowed to be there, and they fell asleep. So we have the weakness of the human body, and we're all familiar with that. Even in a grand and glorious situation as this, they were overcome with sleep. Well, one of the first things I want to point out here in this portion is the condescension of the Lord Jesus Paul in his letter to the Philippians said these words, Although he existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." The Lord Jesus in His natural, everyday life looked like a man. He appeared to be a man, although He existed in equality with God. He humbled Himself and took on the appearance of a man. There was nothing about His splendor or His majesty on display in day-to-day life. He was a man. In fact, that prophetic word in Isaiah 53 says this, He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. And like one from whom men hid their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him." The condescension of the Son of God coming down and taking on the form of a natural man that was very unimpressive. But we have a different Savior here in this text. So next I want to look at what the disciples were allowed to see in real time with their natural eyes. He was transfigured before them. Well, I don't often use the Greek, but here's a Greek word that is translated transfigured, metamorphos. You get the idea, metamorphed. And transfigured is a word that is maybe a little bit unfortunate because this same Greek word is often used as transformed, changed. Transformed I like better than transfigured. Because you could take some of these little kids around here, and they know transformed because they know transformers. You know that thing that looks like a car, and then they flip it a few different times, and all of a sudden it's transformed into a robot. Transformed. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Same word. We all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory." So, He was transfigured, transformed, right before their very eyes. Well, what does all of that mean? leads us to see that they saw the unveiled glory of Jesus Christ right there on that mountain. It wasn't a halo around His head like the artists like to picture Jesus with a halo around His head. It wasn't that. It wasn't merely a glow on His face. His robes were beyond clean. I mean, you can almost laugh at the way that these Gospel writers try and describe the indescribable. His clothes were so bright. Brighter than any launderer on earth can make them. His robes were beyond clean. They were brilliantly luminescent. White as light, one of the gospel writers said. Another one, shone like the sun. So they're trying to describe something. When I was studying through this, I was thinking, you know, what would I have said if I were there? How would I describe it? Probably the same way. It reminded me of Psalm 104 and verse 1, you are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a cloak. And we read in another place, he who dwells in unapproachable light. These are amazing thoughts. This account is incredible. So these disciples, they saw the unveiled glory of the Lord Jesus. Now later on in John's Gospel in chapter 15 when Jesus was praying, this was part of His prayer. Father, glorify Me together with Yourself with the glory which I had with You before the world was. And then He prayed, Father, I desire that they also whom You've given Me be with Me where I am so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the earth." That's what the disciples were seeing a glimpse of there on that occasion. This glory that Jesus had with the Father before the world even existed. It was an exceptional experience. It wasn't merely a dream. It wasn't a vision, but a viewable reality. Peter on the housetop had a vision of a sheet being let down. This was not that. This was real time. Able to be seen with the eye. It was entirely supernatural. Extremely unusual. In fact, it prompted John when he got around to writing his Gospel in chapter 1, and we saw his glory. We saw it. Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So, they saw the glory, the unfiltered glory of the Lord Jesus. What else did they see? They saw glorified attendance from an unseen spiritual world." This is amazing what these three men were allowed to see and privileged to see. On this occasion, it was Moses and Elijah. Not angels, but saints. Other times, there were angels that were seen in regard to the Lord Jesus and His ministry and His struggles. But here, it's saints. Luke says they appeared in glory. Well, what does that mean? That means they appeared like they are in heaven. With the glory that the redeemed have in that place. And as I'm preaching this and reading through it, lay hold on that. They appeared in their glorified bodies. And they appeared as representing all the saints of the just men made perfect all throughout history. That great cloud of witnesses that's gone on before us. These three appeared. These two appeared as representatives of all of those up there in a glorified body. Well, think of this for a moment. It was Moses. J.C. Ryle says 1,480 years since Moses died. I had no way of calculating that. But I take his word for it. 1,480 years. Now what does that mean? That means Moses was in glory in heaven already 1,480 years before he received the commission to come to earth on this occasion. And the disciples were able to see it. Elijah, I'm told 900 years he'd been gone. So here they are. They live a life of how long? I don't know. If it were a hundred years, it would be good. They live a life of a hundred years, and they're in glory already for 1,480 years. And they're sent back to earth to have this visit with the Lord Jesus, and they're gone again, and they're still there now. And how much time has passed since that? You see, you start to get a little bit of a glimpse of the vastness and the length of eternity to be in a glorified body in all of the splendor and the joy of heaven. They were personally distinguishable. That tells me that saints that have gone on in some way will be able to be recognized. Will they be old looking because when they died they were old? I don't know. I doubt it. Will they look young? I think so. But whatever, they'll be able to be recognized. Moses and Elijah. Those are personalities. Distinguishable and able to meaningfully relate. even to those that are separated by eras of time. You and I, separated from Moses and Elijah by vast amounts of time, will be able to meaningfully relate to them somehow. These are incredible things that we can gather from this occasion right here. Here are two of the most prominent in Israel's history. You've got Moses, the leader of the Exodus. And Elijah, the great prophet, he was translated to heaven without having to die like you and I do anyway. In a chariot of fire. Their prominence. But think for a moment. What was so special about Moses? Or Elijah? In fact, Moses was held out of the land of Canaan because he disobeyed God in a command. And Elijah, he was depressed running from Jezebel and reproved by the Lord. Go back. Remember all of that? But here they are speaking with the Lord Jesus on this occasion. And here's only two saints, but there is a mighty myriad of saints in that place. A multitude that no man can number. Well, these disciples, they saw that. They saw the glory of the Lord. They saw these glorified attendants from the unseen spirit world. Their eyes were allowed to see. What else did they see? They saw a bright cloud. of the divine presence. Now, we think of clouds, we think of darkness. The clouds come, they cover the sun, it gets dark. We say, man, that's a dark cloud in the distance. It's going to be a big storm coming pretty soon here. This was a bright cloud, not a dark one. It was a cloud of light. And the cloud was the symbol of the divine presence. We already heard this morning that Israelites were led by a pillar of fire at night in a cloud by day. The divine presence. God went before the Israelites. He appeared on Mount Sinai in a cloud that was bright by fire, burning. And there's a cloud symbolic of the divine presence in the temple, in the sanctuary, the tabernacle called the Shekinah Glory of God. And it was continually there. In fact, in one place it says, the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. That's this cloud. They were allowed to see that. Well, those are just a few things that they were allowed to see. What were the disciples allowed to hear with their ears? Well, they overheard an impacting conversation for one thing, and I have to think, whenever I used to read about this account in the past, I would think to myself, well, Jesus invited these three to go with Him to this time of prayer, and He made them sit way over here, and He went way over there, like some places it might say a stone's throw, or something like that off in the distance. I don't think it was that. It seems to me that if they could hear this conversation, it wasn't very far away that all this was happening. Right before their eyes and their ears. Luke tells us Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, were speaking of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. His departure. The word is exodus. His exodus. Well, what was it? Some say, well, it was His exodus from this world, like the ascension that was going to be happening or something. But I don't believe that it was that, at least not on this occasion right here. They were talking about His departure from His body that He was to accomplish. The soul departs the body when? At death. So they were talking with the Lord Jesus about His death that was coming. His departure. And we've got that in other places. Peter says, after my departure, you'll be able to recall these things to mine. And Paul himself says, my departure is at hand. Well, our Lord Jesus came to give His life a ransom for many. So here is His departure. And the verse in Luke that I quoted, they were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Did you ever notice that word accomplish right there? There's plenty of glory to be had in that. He was to accomplish His death. That is to say, every drop of that bitter cup that he was about to drink, every pain, desolation by desolation, he was to drink it, and he drank it all the way down to the bottom. He accomplished. I think of that prophetic word in Luke 1, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption. for His people. Redemption was accomplished back there. God didn't just make a way for you to choose to become a Christian. He accomplished your redemption if you're a believer. It was sealed and done. That's where all of our assurance is at. It's not how I feel. It's not what I'm doing. It's my faith based on something that He accomplished back there in history. He accomplished it. And so here we've got Elijah and Moses, they're talking to Jesus about His departure, His death, and what He's about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Jesus Himself said, how distressed I am until it's accomplished. He said in that prayer in John 17, I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work. which You have given Me to do." And those glorious words from the cross. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished to fulfill the Scriptures, He said, I'm thirsty. And then He said, it is finished. It was accomplished. So here you have Moses and Elijah having this conversation with the Lord Jesus who is brilliantly in glory. And the disciples' ears are going... They get to hear what's being talked about. Is there a greater accomplishment than that ever in the history of the world? He accomplished redemption. That's what they heard. What else did they hear? They heard an approving testimony from God Himself. This is My beloved Son. What else did they hear? They heard an authoritative command. From who? From God Himself. Listen to Him. Not listen to Moses. Not listen to Elijah. Not listen to this. Not listen to that. We're so easily distracted, aren't we? I am. I'm trying to study through this and my mind is everywhere and I've got to stop and pray. Lord, my mind is like a flock of blackbirds on the ground. It's just going everywhere. Would You help me to bring my thoughts in and focus on You? I'm so distracted. Distracting thoughts. But here God is saying to these disciples, whatever you do, listen to Him. So that's what the disciples heard. Well, what did they feel? They felt fear. Matthew tells us when the disciples heard this, they fell on their face to the ground and were terrified. And that word means out of their wits. So you can imagine the scene there with the brilliance of the Lord Jesus and the cloud coming down and the voice from the cloud. All of this in the supernatural realm. I mean, we even think about seeing a ghost or an apparition or something like that and it scares us, makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck and you tremble. But here the disciples, they were terrified, and they fell down to the ground on their faces. It reminds me of John when he had his revelation, speaking of the Lord. His head and his hair were white like wool, like snow, and his eyes were a flame of fire, and his face was like the sun, shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, Do not be afraid. So they felt fear. They felt Jesus touch, because Matthew 17 relates to us that Jesus came to them and touched them. They felt reassurance. Jesus said, Get up and do not be afraid. And they had their eyes fixed on the Savior. Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone. Matthew 17, 8. So that's what they felt. So we've seen what they have seen, what they heard, what they felt. So what is the design and the effect of all this amazing occurrence? Well, to Jesus, And I say it respectfully, to strengthen Jesus the man for what He had to face in some way. I don't know how that happened right there, but it was some sort of an encouragement or a strengthening to Him. And it's not the first time something like this happened. Do you remember in the wilderness temptation? He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and we're told angels ministered to Him. And in Gethsemane, His agony of soul, an angel appeared to Him, strengthening Him. So here's these interactions from the other world strengthening the Lord Jesus for what was to come. The accomplishment of redemption. He had to bear my sin and your sin on the cross. That was one of the designs and effects. As to the disciples, what would a design or effect be? Jesus didn't have to bring anybody, did He? He could have said, okay, all you twelve, stay back here. I'm going to go up on the mountain and pray. But He intentionally brought Peter, James, and John. So that means there was an effect, a design to it, even toward them. So what was it? Well, it encouraged These three with a foretaste of glory to come. There is another world. It was only a momentary taste. The reality of which there's a feast that's going to go on for eternity. But it encouraged their faith. Gave them a glimpse into the unseen realm, which is eternal. It showed them there's such a thing as a spiritual body, recognizable and interacting. It reminds me of 1 John 3, 2, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared yet what we will be. But we know this, when He appears, we'll be like Him, because we'll see Him just as He is. It revealed the continuity between heaven and earth. There's interaction going on between heaven and earth. Right now this morning, there's an interaction going on. It revealed the absolutely unique person of Jesus. He stood out. All of this was surrounding Him. Here on this mountain was Jesus only transfigured. But there He's sitting at the right hand of the Father in glory forever. and the majesty of heaven. You know, I doubt if there were many wandering thoughts when those three disciples were on that mountain for this occasion. I doubt if Peter was sitting there thinking, I wonder if we've got enough bread for tomorrow. Jesus was the focus of all of that. It displayed the glory Jesus had with the Father from eternity. It culminated in the cloud of glory and the voice from heaven and confirmed that Jesus was God's Son in the flesh. Again, there was a voice from heaven at His baptism. This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. It declared His authority. Listen to Him. And for you and I, He has the truth which can never deceive us. Peter said, you have the words of life. They come from the Lord Jesus. He has the wisdom which knows what you need. And the goodness that He will not command anything but what is right. He has the power to accomplish everything He says. It established His supremacy over everyone else, even Moses and Elijah. who were so venerated in Israel. In fact, Peter, this apostle, had these words to say in Acts 3.22, Moses said, the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. To him you shall give heed. Moses said that. to everything He says to you. And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people." Listen to Him. So if you're here today and you don't know the Lord Jesus, perk up your ears and listen. Listen to Him. The call of the Gospel is going out continually. Repent. Believe. Be saved. Glory awaits for all of us who are believers. It provided the final answer to the question. The question of the ages. Who do you say that I am? This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him. It greatly humbled them. They fell on their face in fear. It strengthened their faith. Can you imagine? This is an event you'd never forget. What does it mean to be flogged by the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 3 whenever you've seen this? They went away rejoicing that they were able to suffer shame for His namesake. It strengthened their faith. They would never forget it. It was a motive for their endurance. Triumph through Him. Make it to the end. There's glory. And for us today, it's the same. Make it to the end. Don't turn back. Triumph through Him. One day, what Peter and James and John felt on that occasion will be our feeling in fullness and everlasting experience. You know, with these three disciples, it was an occasion that they didn't want it to end. Peter said, let's build three tabernacles here and we'll stay here. They didn't want it to end. But we don't live in that realm of glory. We have little tastes here and there. We have little revivals to our soul. We have times that are sweet occasionally, and we feel uplifted and ecstatic to be in the presence of God. And we say, why can't it be like this all the time? And we try and remanufacture it, you know. We try and say, well, these were the occasions and the circumstances then, and I felt so close to God. Maybe if I do all of that again, it'll happen again. But it didn't. We don't live in that realm. It was exceptional. The experience was temporary. And these three disciples, the sad reality is they returned from the mountaintop experience to the depravity of the world waiting for them. Demon possession and all of that stuff. We don't live there. But there's a day coming for every one of Jesus' true disciples in which the glory will be unfiltered. and eternal, and a new heaven and a new earth with new bodies, fit for eternity there. Well, the vision is gone. They looked up. They saw Jesus alone. The visitors are removed. The disciples are raised up. And they look around and they see Jesus only. And He looks like He did before. He's just a man. But they know better now. Just like when the sun comes up, the stars, you can't see them anymore. Go out and try and find stars. Well, Jesus gave them orders. Orders not to relate. That would be pretty tough. Go back and don't say anything about this. until I'm raised from the dead. His glory now for the time being is concealed until after the resurrection. Because now comes His humiliation, not His exaltation. Think of all the humiliating circumstances He went through. He calls Himself here the Son of Man. That's His humiliation. But later, Paul writes in Romans 1-4, he was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. So there was a time after the resurrection, these disciples could speak of this occurrence. But not until then, he told them. Well, they had this question in verse 11. They asked him, saying, why is it the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Here are these religious leaders in our society, and they're supposed to be teachers, and they say Elijah should come first. There's some muddled thoughts in the minds of the disciples. We just saw Elijah. He hasn't come first here. What's the deal? Well, Jesus clarified that in Matthew 11. He says, if you're willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. Meaning John the Baptist. He was an instrument of an extensive reformation. Preparing the people for the coming of the Lord Jesus. He did come first. His message was, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And then he pointed to Jesus. John was always pointing to Jesus. This is the one He said. This is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make His path straight. So this is John the Baptist who was Elijah, who did come before. Well, this was a glorious account And there's plenty for us to learn from it and plenty of encouragement to go around thinking about it. Just meditating on it. What it would have been like to have been there. I can't imagine it. And we look at Peter, James, and John, we could be kind of covetous or jealous. I wish I was there. Why couldn't I have been there to see that? But we will be there. Probably sooner than you think. And the glories of that place. Well, I leave you with this. This Apostle Peter wrote these words. He says in his second letter, chapter 1 and verse 16, we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure. to which you do well to pay attention to, as a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." And Paul said to the Colossians, when Christ who is our life is revealed, then you will also be revealed with Him in glory. Amen. Let's pray, shall we? Lord Jesus, we could say, all hail King Jesus. We bless You for what You have accomplished. We bless You for what You are accomplishing. And I pray, Father, You would take us on, that none would be left behind. Cause our resolve and our earnest and our zeal to be inflamed, Lord, with these glorious thoughts. Thank You that You loved us. The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me. So teach us and cause us, Lord, to follow hard after You and to rejoice and have our faith uplifted by this glorious occurrence, I pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.