Dear congregation, prior to the remarkable event of the Transfiguration, which we wish to look at with the Lord's help tonight, there were a number of other remarkable events that had taken place in the ministry of Christ. Do you remember, children, how Christ had multiplied the loaves and the fish and fed thousands on a hillside? And not long after that, The Lord Jesus Christ had taken His disciples to Caesarea Philippi, against the backdrop of Mount Hermon, this beautiful snow-capped mountain there in Galilee. And He had asked that all-important question, Whom do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? And Peter had said, taught by the Spirit, He had said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. Flesh and blood had not revealed this unto him, but my Father, Jesus said, which is in heaven. And right on the heels of that, Jesus had begun to open up his suffering and his death and the resurrection, which was to follow. And he had told the disciples, he who would come after me must take up his cross and follow me. Things were shifting in the ministry of Christ. There came to be this focus on the cross, which would accomplish all of redemption. About a week after Peter's confession, he took three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John. We read that he climbs a high mountain with them. And this is traditionally thought to be Mount Tabor in the north of Galilee. Indeed, a high mountain. Others think that it's actually part of Mount Hermon, which is a great mountain, a little further away. But whatever it was, it was a mountain where Christ had a particular revelation in mind. Commentators believe that the Mount of Transfiguration, where the disciples were at this time, was probably... they were there during the night time. Though this is not specified, it makes sense for a couple of reasons. First of all, because Jesus, according to Luke, was praying at this time. He went up to this mountain to pray, and he usually did this during the night, sometimes all night long. Also Luke mentions that the disciples were sleeping and at a certain point they wake up. That would make most sense during the night as well. And also thirdly Luke mentions that when they come down from the mountain that it was the next day. And again, it then makes sense that during the night there was this auspicious, this glorious, this memorable transfiguration of Christ against the backdrop of the dark night. But after which, they then head down the mountain into the new day. Well, at any rate, what a confirmation this must have been for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to be transfigured there before His disciples. He's about to go the road of suffering. From this point on in His ministry, He will set His face like a flint, and He will be unmoved to go to the cross of Calvary. And here on the Mount of Transfiguration, it's as if heaven lowers itself and envelops the Lord Jesus Christ. And Moses and Elijah come. And Christ has a taste here of the joy that is set before Him. whereby He is able to endure the cross and despise the shame, the glory that was awaiting Him because of the cross. But not only was this a great highlight for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, it was also notable for the disciples. They were going to head into a dark night in which their Savior would be taken away from them, so it seemed. And they would all be offended because of Him. And yet somewhere deep in their hearts, at least in the hearts of Peter, James and John, buried there was this vision of this glorified Christ. And it was something that, though for a time it seemed that they forgot it, it was brought to the remembrance once again after the resurrection. And it helped them to piece everything together. And three of the Gospels mention this transfiguration as a result. But besides having benefits for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the disciples, these events, congregation, have rich benefits for us as well. They are written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come. And we can learn many things from this, but we want to focus on this narrative tonight, especially in terms of how we should handle the scriptures which are able to make us wise unto salvation. The last few weeks as a congregation we've been learning about the scriptures and indeed what is more important than the scriptures which tell us about Christ and his redemptive work and how it is that we belong to Christ and live for Christ. One verse that has struck me recently so much is one verse found in Matthew 22 verse 29 where Jesus says to the Sadducees and to the Pharisees and to us as well, you do err not knowing the scriptures or the power of God. I said to God a few weeks ago, I said, God why do I err so much? Why do I go wrong so often? It was this text that God gave to me. You do err not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. In other words, we get off track, don't we? When we don't know how to handle the Scriptures, and when we don't know in our hearts and lives experientially the power of God, we err. You want to know the Scriptures, don't you? Tonight, the power of God. And you want to be able to open this book and have what we have in our narrative today, and that is a glorious revelation of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you wonder, what does this Mount of Transfiguration have to do with the Scriptures? A lot. Think about who's on the mountain here with Christ. Children, there's Moses, there's Elijah, There's Peter, James and John. And except for James who was martyred very early on in his apostolic ministry, all of these people make up part of biblical revelation. Moses was an author. The first five books of the Bible. Elijah, we looked at him recently. He too is a prophet of the Word of God and his oracles have been put down and his ministry has been recorded. Then you have Peter. who wrote two epistles and probably was the witness behind the gospel of Mark, from which we just read tonight. And you have John, the gospel of John, and the epistles of John, and the book of Revelation. Up on this mountain, congregation, there's the man who wrote the first book of the Bible, and there's the man who wrote the last book of the Bible. And basically, the whole teaching of the Scriptures is here summarized. So, there you have this conference, you could say, this holy conference of Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John, and at the center of it is the Lord Jesus Christ. And who's at the center of the sacred scriptures? Isn't it Christ, the beloved Son of God? Isn't this a window, in a way, into the whole of the Old Testament? The Law and the Prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles, they're all here represented, as it were, and Christ is in the center, shining in the brilliance of His glory. But the connection with the Bible is even firmer than what I just said. because as we heard a few weeks ago from second Peter 1, Peter who was on the mountain, he refers to this event when he heard such an excellent voice out of the heavens saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And then he goes on to say to the churches to whom he is writing and to us as well, we have a more sure word of prophecy. If you think that is wonderful, all those men and Christ, the voice from heaven, you have something greater. You have a book in front of you in which you have a more sure word of prophecy. You have the Word of God speaking to you directly. It's more sure, it's steadfast, it's abiding. Nothing can alter it. It's sure. And it's the very same thing as you have on the Mount of Transfiguration. Christ shining His glory there in every chapter and in every verse. So the next time you open your scriptures, think of that. You want to be on the Mount of Transfiguration? You've got that mount right there. The Bible, as you open it, prayerfully, looking to the Lord, looking to His Spirit, humbly, meekly, begging God for His mercy, you have. You have more than what Peter, James, and John had that day. Now, reading the Bible is sometimes, often difficult. But, we have a key to unlock all the mysteries that the Bible contains. And it's the Bible itself. The Bible is a self-interpreting book. You want to unlock any of the secrets of the Bible? The truth of the Bible? You simply have to look at other passages of the Bible. It's like a chorus. It speaks together. And when you can't quite hear what the one is saying, You just look and keep looking and pretty soon you'll know more and more of what it is saying. But three things that I want to impress upon your mind and your hearts tonight. Three things which I consider the clearest things in all of the Bible are here in the passage that we want to look at with the Lord's help this morning. And they are simply this, and you have them recorded for you in the bulletin, the glory of the person of Christ the glory of the work of Christ, the glory of listening to Christ, the glory of the person of Christ, the glory of the work of Christ, the glory of listening to Christ. As you open this Word of God, I hope that these three things come again and again, over and over again. Well, come with me then to the Mount of Transfiguration. According to Luke 9 verse 32, Peter and the rest of the disciples there, the three of them, had fallen asleep while Jesus is in prayer to his father. He loved communion with his father. these disciples they can't endure it and they're deeply asleep there as they would be the same three in the garden of Gethsemane not much longer and while Christ is in communion with his father we read here that he is transfigured literally the word means transformed metamorphosis if you will using that original word there And what a sight that must have been. It's something like, children, when you wake up when you're asleep in the morning and your parents turn on the light. You have this burning, blazing light that you just want to turn away from. It's irritating, but it's light and it wakes you up. Or when the curtains are pulled back and the sun there in its noonday strength is shining on you. That's just a small comparison to what must have happened there as Jesus was praying to His Father. And basically, congregation, what was happening here on the Mount of Transfiguration was that Peter, James, and John were coming face to face with the heavenly world. Elijah and Moses departed saints are there and they're shining, shining ones. They're there in glory Luke says. You remember that Elijah was actually taken up into heaven in a chariot so he stepped over death and soul and body Elijah was in heaven. So indeed it's not hard to imagine that that they looked and there's the glorified Elijah. soul and body how it was exactly with Moses we don't know we we know that his body was buried by the Lord how he then appears here in glory if he was given temporarily a body or somehow they they could make out by divine revelation as most commentators think this was Moses we don't know and it doesn't matter but it was Moses it was Elijah there with Christ on the mount in glory radiant and splendid Sometimes we think of those who have departed and gone to be with Christ, loved ones. They're happy, aren't they? They're glorified in their souls. Westminster Catechism says, Shorter Catechism says, the souls of believers are immediately, they immediately pass into glory while their bodies still being united to Christ there in the grave wait for the resurrection. Splendor and glory was that of Elijah and Moses in the company of Christ. Oh, what a place. I want to be there, don't you? There where sin is gone. There where Christ is and all his beauty and all his glory. Where all the saints of God are. All of them. And yet congregation Moses and Elijah don't come close to having the glory that Christ had. It's not simply kind of a shared glory between Moses, Elijah, and Christ on equal footing. No. The Gospel writers, they make that clear because there was a dazzling brightness that came forth from Christ. When you look at the three Gospel authors, they together paint a picture of Christ. First of all, His clothes were so glistening white. an unimaginable white. Whiter, they say, than a fuller or a washer could wash them. And literally, it means could bleach them. This is what they wanted to do a lot of times in the past, bleach these things as best as they could. But no one on earth could get things so splendidly white as what was happening there. First of all, his clothes were dazzlingly bright, but his face was as well. If you look at Matthew 17, Matthew says there that his face was shining like the sun. It makes you think of that verse in Psalm 104, verse 2, "...who covereth thyself with light as with a garment." The important thing for us to know is that it isn't simply that God somehow or the Spirit is shining the spotlight on Christ here. Of course, He could have done that, but that's not what's happening here. No, this is not a light shining on Christ, but this is a light shining from out of Christ. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, says the poet. And this is exactly what is happening here. This is the Son of God. Yes, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, but the eternal Son of God, who remains the Son of God, who takes to Himself our nature. And in this moment, He shines. Body and face and everything, He shines with that glory which He always had. in which he never laid aside. Some people think that when Christ was born in the manger he laid aside his glory. That's not technically true. He veiled his glory. He hid his glory. He concealed his glory. What happens here in the Mount of Transfiguration is that that curtain, that veil is taken away and that glory which he always had before the foundation of the world which he now has in heaven as well as the glorified Savior, and which he had on the earth as well. But here it shines without impediment. John, who witnessed this, he says in his gospel, as we heard a month or two ago, we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And later on, John, in the Revelation, he sees Christ similarly. In Revelation 1, verse 16, he says there, "...his countenance was as the sun shining in its strength." Friends, the question is not so much, why was Christ glorious here? The question is more, How could He hide His glory for so long? How could He veil it there in the manger? How could He veil it all those years in His boyhood, and in His preaching, and in performing miracles? Yes, believers saw the glory of Christ. And here, physically, it's manifest for all who are present there to see. Well, the disciples had never witnessed anything like this before. And when Peter, at a later age, a few decades later, with hindsight, he reflects on this. He has one word for it. He says, we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. What did you see, Peter, on that mount? We saw His majesty. The radiance of His splendor. His regal majesty just exuded from Him. That's what we saw. We were eyewitnesses of it. There on the mound. Do you wish you were an eyewitness of His majesty? As I said before, we have this book. which when blessed by the Spirit we are made to see the glory of Christ. A more sure word of prophecy. Peter goes on to say this, we have a more sure word of prophecy which to which we should take heed unto a light shining in a dark place until the day star arise in our hearts. Ever met those people? who just shine with the knowledge of Christ. Often older people, but not necessarily. Younger people, God has worked in them. Stephen, think of how his face was shining. Sometimes you meet people like that. That's exactly what Peter is talking about. They gave heed to this word as unto a light that shines in a dark place until the day star arises in their hearts. They themselves shine stars in the firmament of heaven. Should we not take heed to these scriptures more than we do? As unto a light For isn't Christ on every page of this book? Isn't He shining in all His luster and glory? Isn't He there as the bright and morning star, the fairest of ten thousand? Isn't He the altogether lovely one? No one more beautiful than He is. Do you ever have that when you're reading the scriptures? And who knows what text it is? But you read ever so long until you kind of forget who it is you're reading. It's Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Peter, or James, or John. And your eyes have caught a glimpse of the Savior and His splendor and glory. You need to keep reading until you have that, really. Until you see Christ. That's what you want. It's the seed of the woman who has come to crush the head of Satan. As the greater than Moses who leads his people through the Red Sea, who goes on before them, provides for them, and teaches them, and instructs them. As the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. Oh, give me Christ in the Scriptures. Search the Scriptures. For in them ye think to have eternal life. And they be they which testify of me, Maybe someone says tonight, but I don't see him like that. My friend, maybe it's this, that you're asleep. Remember, these disciples were asleep until they were woken up. They needed that waking up, and believers need that as well. Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. I need that so much. Fresh awakening. Light. Christ. Again and again. My unconverted friend, if you've never seen the glory of Christ in sacred scripture, you're still sleeping the sleep of death. But I pray that in this sermon that Christ would shine from the pages of scripture. And yes, the light might be irritating. It might be searching. You might fall on the ground. You might turn away from it, just like that child who wakes up in the morning with the light blazing in their eyes, that you would be changed. And that this world which captures your attention, it has so much that dazzles you. It would just grow so dim and dark and you would just have this passion, this burning passion. Give me Christ. Give me more of Him. Give me His light. Then I have enough. Confidence that we can have the basis of the Scriptures is that the glory of Christ is still as powerful as it was on that day there, that night, the Mount of Transfiguration. It still wakes up sleeping souls today. I have every confidence that that is what God is going to do in many hearts and in many lives. At His time and in His way, He'll open up Christ and sinners will see Him and they'll be entirely ruined for the world. because they'll be won over to Jesus Christ, the Son of Righteousness, the glory of Christ. Do you see the glory of Christ in the pages of Sacred Scripture? That's what's clear. There's nothing more clear than that. There's something else, secondly, that is very clear from the Scriptures, and it's the glory of His work. Because Moses and Elijah didn't just come there to somehow bask in this glory, they came to talk. with the Lord Jesus. It's an amazing thing, isn't it? These saints, the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah. Yes, they're record. They being dead still speak, but here they're speaking with the Savior. And I like to think of it this way. You know how the Bible says in Hebrews 12, verse 1 and 2, being compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Every Christian's running a race. And there are hundreds, thousands, millions of people who have gone on before, who have a vested interest in your running the race, my dear believing friend, and persevering till the end. They speak to you from the pages of sacred scripture and from their books and from their writings and what they say to you is press on. Don't lose courage. Don't lose hope. Don't be afraid. Press on. There's an end and there's victory at the end. And there's just a little window into that here. Elijah and Moses, they come to Christ himself, the forerunner, the captain of our salvation and they speak to him concerning that which he will endure because that's what the Bible tells us. Matthew and Mark don't tell us exactly what they spoke about with Christ, but Luke does. He gives us a word for it. It says, they spoke of the decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. And really this word decease, we don't use it too much anymore. Let me give you the Greek word, which all of you know. It's easier to understand here at this point. Even the children know this word. It's the word exodus. Moses and Elijah were speaking to Christ about His exodus, which He would accomplish at Jerusalem. What does that mean? Well, you know the Old Testament exodus, don't you? When there, these people were in bondage, they had to put blood on the doorposts, and the angel would come at midnight, and he would slay the firstborn wherever there was not this blood. It's the Passover. These slaves were redeemed from bondage. The strong hand and a mighty arm, an outstretched arm. And Moses had been the one who had witnessed the first exodus. And Elijah, this is interesting as well, Elijah, there was an exodus in his day as well, slightly different, but think of it this way. Elijah came to the nation of Israel, not in Egypt, but in Canaan. And the people were in bondage. Not now to Pharaoh, but to idolatry. A different kind of bondage. They were enslaved to themselves and to their own idolatry. And Elijah came, and as it were, in his preaching, he came and he said, let my people go from this idol worship, from this Baal worship. And he witnessed there a second exodus, you could say, under the ministry of his word. And they come, these two, Elijah and Moses. Both of which had also, by the way, a Sinai or a Horeb experience. Remember, Moses climbed the Mount of God there. Elijah also climbed Mount Horeb. And God spoke to both of them, to Elijah in a still, small voice. And they're here on a third mountain. And there's going to be a third and now a final exodus. And this exodus is going to be accomplished. at Jerusalem. And what would happen during this exodus is sinners from all times and places would be redeemed from the slavery of sin. I don't know how this discussion went, this holy conversation, but it focused on the redemption that Christ would accomplish there on Calvary. Think of that. of all the things that these men could have spoken to Christ about on the mountain. They are under the dazzling light of this transfigured Christ. What do you think God would want to speak about there? It shows us something of the heart of God. that there on the Mount of Transfiguration, God Himself sets the agenda for this conference and He says it's going to be about redemption. It's going to be about the exodus that Christ is going to accomplish on the cross. If I'm going to have a meeting of Moses and Elijah and Christ and Peter, James and John, the topic of discussion is going to be eternal redemption by the blood of sprinkling. That's what the Father most delights in. That's what gives most glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Spirit, of course, He loves nothing more than Calvary. Well, shouldn't that be at the heart and focus of our Gospel message? They spoke of the exodus which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem. And isn't this exactly what the Bible is full of? It's not just full of the glory of Christ, but specifically it's full of Christ's redemptive work. Peter, in 1st Peter, he says this. He says that the whole of the Bible is really about one theme. The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. I think he learned that on Mount of Transfiguration as he thought back on that later. Really, the sum of it all, from Moses to the last book of the Bible. Really, when you boil it all down, it's about this theme, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Do you need this? The work of Christ. Is there something deep in your heart that says, the glory of Christ, yes, that's magnificent, but I need someone in my place. I need someone to atone for me. I need someone to pay my debt, to set me free. My fetters, my chains are clanking. The glory of Christ does nothing but bury me unless there's something that unlocks those chains and sets me free and brings me out of the house of bondage. and opens a way in the wilderness and leads me day by day. Is there a people here whose heart is hungry for the message of redemption, for the cross of Christ in which the Father glories, in which Christ himself glories, in which the Holy Spirit loves to glorify? They spoke about the exodus which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. And so when you page through your scriptures, look for this theme, the work of Christ. You have it already in Genesis 3 verse 15. I already quoted it. Thou shalt bruise his heel. That's what God says to Satan. That's the redemptive work of Christ. You have it in that covenant ceremony where those bodies of those beasts are cut in two and there is this river of blood that flows there and this lamp goes through the midst of it. What is that? It's the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. What do you have when you come to the Psalms? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You have the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Well, when you turn to Isaiah 53, All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. Would it please the Lord to bruise him? The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. That's on every page, really, of the Scriptures. Read the obscure in light of the clear. There's nothing more clear than the work of Christ on Calvary. Do you need it, my friend, tonight? Is there someone here For whom the glory of Christ is so overwhelming, you hide your face from it. You fear like these disciples do. But, my friend, there's more. And heaven wants you to know it tonight. Heaven rejoices in nothing more than when the sufferings of Christ are proclaimed. And when sinners fly out of themselves, whoever they are, may fly for refuge and shelter beneath the blood of Jesus Christ. There's joy in heaven when sinners repent, because he shall see his seed and he will prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Most High shall prosper in his hand. My friend, can you hear of this exodus which Christ was to accomplish at Jerusalem without saying, that's what I need. That's what I need most of all. My friend, it's here. Calvary is here. We're on the mount, remember? The mount which speaks of Calvary. Come, my friend, tonight. Shelter there, sinners, all of you, whoever you are. Do, as we see in our third and final point, do what the Lord commands us to do. As we hear in our third point, the glory of listening to Christ. Well, all the while that this holy conference is going on between these people, these six people, what do you think Peter, James, and John should have been doing? Shouldn't they have been listening with rapt attention? Shouldn't they do what you should be doing when you open the scriptures? Listening, listening. I will hear what God the Lord will speak. He will speak peace unto his saints. Well, we don't know exactly how it all went, but at a certain point, Peter pipes up. And this is what he says. He says, it's good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Christ. And at some level, there's something understandable and even laudable in terms of what Peter is saying, at least when you enter into it a little bit. First of all, Peter, knowing his Bible history, he's making some connections which are really quite intelligent. you remember when the exodus happened and then Mount Sinai happened what did they do on the heels of that they built a tabernacle right so that the glory of the Lord would have as it were this this house and could move with the people and and and maybe that's what was on Peter's mind here we have an exodus we have a mountain we need a tabernacle maybe three tabernacles other commentators say Maybe Peter is here overwhelmed by this glorious revelation of the Lord and he just feels this need for a shelter to hide himself from this blazing light. Maybe that gives expression here to something in Peter. But there's a problem with what Peter is saying. We have to see this and learn this before we can move on. And it's this, I see myself in Peter. He does three things here that are really foolish first of all he says it's good for us to be here and on the face of that that doesn't seem that bad but just take a look at the now especially in the Greek it actually says it is good that we are here the way it's emphasized the with the way it's written there it emphasizes it it's good that we are here you sense it don't you It's not, whoa, it's good that they are here, it's good that Christ is here, it's good that we are here. And this is Peter, you know Peter. We put a few things together. There's an emphasis here on him. And then he goes on to say, let us make. And again, there's an emphasis there on let us do this. Let's get to work. There's another thing, another problem here with what Peter is saying. And that is, he's saying as it were, it's good for us to be here, let's make some tabernacles, let's stay here for a while. And you and I can relate to that, can't we, people of God? That when we have especially something very close of the Lord, we want to stay right there. We don't want to leave. But what has the Lord just been speaking about? About His exodus is to accomplish at Jerusalem. It's as if heaven is saying, go forward to Calvary. Redemption must take place. No more delays. The divine calendar is saying redemption is close. And Peter's saying, let's wait. Let's make some tabernacles. Let's really enter into this. Let's really enjoy this for a while. He's putting the brakes on what the Lord really is all about. And on the heels of this, the Lord Jesus Christ sets His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. Nothing will stop Him. He won't be sidetracked. He won't delay at all. Heaven has spoken. The time has come. Maybe Peter senses that at the bottom of that mountain, there's something waiting for them. as there is oftentimes too for you and for me as we come from places of worship or places where God is close, there's often something waiting for us and we want to stay where we're at as opposed to press onward in the strength and in the glow that the Lord has just given you. Friends, the march of the church is forward and outward It's not about making tabernacles. It's not about our coziness and our nice feelings. We love them, but don't forget, onward, onward, Christian soldiers. We have no abiding city. We look for one to come. Yes, the devil might be waiting for us at the bottom of this mountain. There might be more conflicts, more struggles, but there's more victories to be entered into from out of this redemption that Christ has accomplished. Unless you think, well, this is just kind of your interpretation of Peter, and you're being kind of hard on Peter here, the Bible says it itself. In two of the Gospels it says, Peter spoke not knowing what he said. He wished not what He said. He spoke unthinkingly. Kind of the way you and I sometimes do that. We blurt out things just to break the silence. We just say what comes to our mind when we really haven't thought it through and tested it by the Scriptures. I see myself in Peter when I open this book and I'm saying things. Later on I say, Did I know what I was speaking of? Or was I just filling the space? Just filling the time? I'm humbled here by Peter. He wisps not what he spoke. But the glory is we're not left with Peter. We're not left either with just his ignorance, because all of a sudden there comes this cloud. While he was yet speaking, one of the Gospels says, while he was yet speaking, it's as if the Lord wants to interrupt Peter and be done with this. The cloud comes and overshadows them. And it includes the likes of Peter. You know, God doesn't exclude Peter just because he's ignorant or foolish. He includes him despite his weakness. despite his foolishness. And there comes this voice from the excellent glory. This is My beloved Son. Hear ye Him. And friends, here's the attitude for you and me when we open the Scriptures. God is saying to each and every one of you, whoever you are, Go to His school, Jesus Christ's school. Be instructed by Him. Hear ye Him. Literally, in the original it says, Him. Let's put first, Be hearing. It's constant. It's present tense. Be hearing. Constantly. Him be hearing. Put your ear to Him. To what He has to say. To His mouth. Listen to what He has to say. Be constantly bending your ear to hear what He says. Listen to His commands. Listen to His promises. Listen to how He speaks from the cross. And in the resurrection, listen to Him. Submit yourself to His Word. Be done with your own folly and rest in His wisdom. There's glory in that, friends. When our mouths are closed in this way, we learn to listen to what Christ has to say to us. Do you do that? Put your ear to the scriptures and listen to the suffering Savior, the suffering mediator, the glorious Christ. Hear ye Him. That includes everything in the Christian life. It includes that first act of faith which falls on Jesus Christ as the only Savior. No matter what people say or no matter what people think, you fall on Christ. You submit to His redemption, to His way of saving sinners. You lose all your own schemes of salvation. of how it should all go. And you listen to Him. You hear Him. That's how the whole Christian life is. From that moment on, Lord, who art Thou? And what wouldst Thou have me to do? Speak, Lord. I serve and is listening. Lord, make me all ears for what Thou hast to say to me. Let me not take one of Thy words and set it aside. hear ye Him." Friends, when we do that by grace, we have this listening, attentive, submissive heart to Christ, you know what will happen? This will happen. What happened to the disciples? As the cloud left, everyone was gone, except for one. Would have been something, wouldn't it, if they had opened their eyes after it all, and there was still Moses and Elijah, but Christ was gone. No. Moses and Elijah are gone. The voice from heaven is gone. Even the luster, the splendor on Christ's face is gone from all that we are told They see no man save Jesus only. My friends, that's what we want, isn't it? When everything falls away, when all the people that are so big in your life, when all the forces, when all the opinions, They all die down. We see no man save Jesus only. Jesus, Savior, as we heard this morning, Redeemer, blessed Savior, in the garments of salvation, Jesus. They saw no man save Jesus only, so approachable. So gracious, so kind. That's what happens, friends, when we hear Him. We hear Him. We hear Him alone. And everything else pales in comparison. And we see Jesus only. That's why I said, congregation, this is a heavenly scene. It reminds me of heaven. Isn't this really the essence of heaven? And we can have a taste of it here on the earth. When it's not Jesus plus my experiences. When it's not Jesus and my traditions. When it's not Jesus and my wisdom that I bring to the table. My tabernacles and all the rest of that. When the Lord mercifully just tears them all away. And we see no man save Jesus only. I want to speak to you just a moment tonight. Those of you here who don't know this Savior. Why are you asleep? Why are you sleeping your life away? Because that's what you're doing. You might not think you are on the Mount of Transfiguration, but in a way you are, because the Scriptures are speaking loud and clear, and it's a more sure word of prophecy. But you're here just in your souls asleep, and you don't see this glory of Christ's person. You don't see the glory of His work. You don't see the glory of listening to the Savior. Oh, my friend, I beg God that tonight the window would go open, the curtains would be torn back, that you would see what you've never seen before. Yes, you'll fall on your face before Him. Yes, you'll be afraid. But my friend, when you get up, something will happen. You'll see no man save Jesus only. That's what happens when God does his work on us. You see it in people's lives. What happened to him? What happened to her? They saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. They saw the beauty of Christ's work and they started to listen to them. And now in their life there is this hunger, this desire to see no one save Jesus only. I said it was heaven. In heaven, friends, Christ will be there. The saints will be there. We'll listen to Christ. We'll glorify Christ. Dressed in duty not my own. Sinless before the throne. I'll see Him. And I'll hear Him. And something of that is already happening today. Changed from glory to glory. As by the Spirit of the Lord, says Paul in one passage. Changed. Changed as we look on Christ. Then He's only my Savior. Then He's only the rock of my salvation. He only is the focus of my life. He's at the center of the center of the center of my gaze. Oh God, shine. Shine. As Thou alone can shine. And to Thee be all the praise and glory. Amen.