The Glory of Christ

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Will you please open your Bibles with me to Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9. And this morning we'll be reading the first eight verses. Mark chapter 9. If you're using your pew Bibles, you'll find that on page 891.

Mark chapter 9, remember Jesus has just told his disciples preceding this as a continuing discourse, and he's told his disciples how they need to take up their cross and follow him. They might lose his life that they might find it, but then he tells them something interesting and something that will stick with them the rest of their lives. Mark chapter nine, beginning at verse one, brothers and sisters, this is God's word. And he said to them, assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.

Prayer for Illumination

Now, after six days, Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them His clothes became shiny, exceedingly white like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. because he didn't know what to say for they were greatly afraid and a cloud came and overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud saying this is my beloved son hear him suddenly when they had looked around they saw no one anymore but only jesus with themselves let's pray lord we thank you for your word Father, we need your Holy Spirit to work in our hearts now. That we might understand it. And that it might be applied to our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. There are moments in people's lives that they are defined by and remember the rest of their lives.

Sermon

I've talked to a number of older people who remember where they were the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. And they talk about how that changed their perspective on the world. It's one of the things that you'll talk to people of my generation and the same thing happened with 9-11. And you remember where you were and how it changed the world forever. But even in your own life, you know personally those defining moments in your lives where something happens and everything changes. Maybe it was the time that you held your firstborn child for the first time. or the time that your parent died and you realized life would never be the same.

This is a defining moment for the disciples. This is a defining moment that would stick with John and Peter the rest of their lives. And as we read through this, what we find is it shows us who Jesus truly is. And it begins to change our lives forever.

So look with me at the text here and notice what Jesus first tells them. Verse one is what Jesus tells them. The rest of it is what God shows them. And in verse one, he wants to tell them something. Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power. Jesus is emphatic here.

Absolutely, certainly, you will not taste death. You will not die until you see the kingdom of God come in power. And just remember, a few verses ago is when Peter had rebuked Jesus for saying how he was going to bring about the kingdom. And now he's saying, don't worry, you're not going to die without tasting this. You're not going to die without seeing it.

But here's the question, right? We live in an evangelical age in which there's different end time views, eschatological. Eschatology is the big word for end times. And different people hold the different views of what's going to happen at the end times.

And they'll look at this verse and they'll say, see, Jesus is going to come back. And that's true, but we have a real problem if this is talking about Jesus's return. Because Peter died. If Jesus' return is what he's talking about here, then he failed because John died. So what is Jesus getting at here? What is Jesus talking at? Because I don't think that Jesus is a failure. I don't think that he didn't know what he was talking about. I think sometimes we just get things wrong. And I think the next seven verses help us understand what's getting at.

See, it's that Jesus has come and he's going to show them a glimpse of his glory. He's going to show them who he is. You can tell people all you want, but when somebody sees it with their eyes, it can leave a lasting mark on their souls. So Jesus shows them His glory, and that's what we're going to look at the rest of the time in verses 2 through 8, is Jesus' display of glory.

So after Jesus says this, that they're going to not taste death, they're not going to die before they see the kingdom of God come and power, six days later they're at a mountain. And as they're at that mountain, he doesn't take all of the disciples. He didn't even take the twelve disciples.

He just takes kind of the top three. The representative three. Peter, James, and John. And he takes these three up to a very high mountain. Which mountain it is, you can go read commentaries and they'll fight all over the place. It doesn't matter which mountain it was. That's not the point. Right?

But they go up to a very high mountain. And there, something no short than miraculous happened. After six days, Jesus is the one who takes them, Peter, James, and John, and He takes them up to this high mountain. It's only those three. And there He is transfigured. The word there is where we get our word for metamorphosis. Jesus changes before their very eyes. The man that they had walked with, the man that they had ate with, the man that they had lived with, the man that they had worked with, was changed before their eyes. All of a sudden, Jesus wasn't the same Jesus. They blinked and something had happened.

Before them, Jesus had begun to display His glory, that He was the King of the Kingdom of Heaven, and His glory is displayed. I love this in verse 3, right? He's transfigured, He's transformed in front of their very eyes, and His clothes become shining white, like the snow.

Like white clothes that no launderer could ever get done. Now, this is a hard thing for me to get past, okay? My grandma, she was good at laundry. I mean, so good at laundry that my grandpa's jeans always had creases in them. And when they first got married, he had to ask her, please don't starch my underclothing. And so my grandma's clothes were white.

But you've never seen something as dazzling, sparkling, radiantly light as Jesus's clothing. It's Jesus who is being glorified in front of their eyes. See, they've been with Jesus and they've seen the man, but now they're seeing that he's much more than a man. He truly is the Messiah. He really is the Christ. He really is Emmanuel, God with them.

Exceedingly white. This is why in Revelation chapter 21 verse 23 it says that God has illuminated. There's no need for the sun or for the moon because God is their light and the Lamb is the lamp. I don't know what it's like to close my eyes and there still be shining bright light. But that's what it's going to be like in heaven. Blinding light from the glory of Jesus Christ.

Moses experienced this just in a taste. This is what happened when he went up to the mountain. Do you remember in the book of Exodus, Moses goes up to the mountain and as he's talking with God, he comes back down from the mountain just by being in the presence of God Almighty. What happens? His face is beaming so much so that the people are like, whoa, whoa, Moses, you gotta put a veil over that, man.

It's blinding. But Jesus isn't because He's coming into contact with God, it's because He is the very Son of God. Glory is one of His attributes. He is glorious. They just don't have eyes to see it all the time yet. The radiance of Jesus' glory is standing right in front of them, and this glory is only going to continue to be unveiled more and more for them.

On the back of your sermon outline, there's a whole bunch of verses. I want to read some of these verses to you about the glory of Jesus Christ. And you don't have to go to each one of those. Maybe that'd be a fun thing to do in the afternoon or later on this week. But this is how the scriptures speak of Jesus, right?

Jesus had glory before the creation of the world. Philippians chapter 2 verses 4 through 7 says, Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. See, Jesus was glorious before creation. Jesus is the glory of God.

John himself, I told you that this is one of these things that's never going to leave the apostles. And John, at the end of his life, he's the one who writes the very last gospel. At the end of his life, he's writing his gospel, he's writing his testimony of Jesus Christ, and this is what sticks out to him in John chapter 1. And the Word, this is Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 speaks of the radiance of Jesus' glory when it says, Who being in the brightness of His glory in the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is the brightness of God's glory. He's not just a teacher. He's not just a prophet. He's not just a priest. He is the Christ. He is the exact image of the Father's glory. Jesus is the light of the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.

This is what the Gospel of Luke says. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. Do you see, in the darkness of our world, they desperately need to see the light of Jesus Christ. In the eclipse of any sense of morality that we see in Western culture that's going by the wayside, how will people once again find their way? We must bring them the glory of Jesus Christ.

And Jesus himself prays about this as before he's going to be crucified in John chapter 17. Jesus spoke these words. He lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son may also glorify you. As you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him.

I'm not going to read this whole list for you. But Jesus is the definition of God's glory. Do you want to see God's glory? You look to Jesus Christ. He is the manifestation of it. And this is what the disciples are starting to see here. What does Jesus mean when He says, there are those standing here who will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God present with power.

They're going to see that happen in a glimmer in the transfiguration. And they're going to see His glory once again in the crucifixion. And they're going to understand His glory a little bit more when the temple veil is torn. And they're going to see His glory a little bit more when His body is resurrected from the dead. And they're going to understand His glory a little bit more as He ascends up into heaven. And then when we get to Acts chapter 7 and we hear of Stephen's sermon, we realize that he sees the glory of Jesus Christ as He is at the right hand of God the Father.

You see, Jesus is displaying His glory a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, a little bit. And yeah, we do have hope in His coming glory, but brothers and sisters, I need you to know that you are in the already of Jesus' glory. We are not waiting for some day when Jesus will be glorified. We are living in the light of His glory. He is King of the nations today. But there is going to come a day when He will come in the fullness of His glory. Yes, we long for that day, but I'm just warning you. Don't think everything is so far off. Jesus is glorious and worthy of our worship today.

This is what drove the disciples as they would become apostles and be sent out by Jesus. If they didn't think Jesus was glorious, worthy of the honor and praise, why would they go to the nations? Why would they pick up their cross and follow Him? Why would they be willing to lose their life that they might find it unless they believed that Jesus was the King of glory? Do you know that Jesus is the King of Glory? Do you trust that He is this glorious King?

I want to point out to you too. Notice who's there in verse four. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses and they were talking with Jesus. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Moses and Elijah were real, are real, and are alive. And the disciples saw both one of the greatest prophets and the giver of the law standing before Jesus. And who was the radiant one amongst them?

It was Jesus. It was Jesus, and then I love this speech by Peter. Notice how he first addresses Jesus in verse five. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, Rabbi literally means my great one. looks to Jesus and he calls of my great one he doesn't all he knows is that Jesus is different right there's something about Jesus and he's for lack of a better word he's dumbstruck he doesn't know what to say and I love remember who mark is mark is the disciple of Peter these are Peter's sermons written down And Peter has the humility, even as he's preaching in Rome, to tell this story to the congregation. I was there, and there was Jesus, and there was Moses, and there was Elijah.

And I said this brain-dead thing. And I didn't know what to say, because I was scared out of my mind. I just said, you know what, the only way, Jesus, that maybe we can honor you, is we'll build three different tents. One for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And I just love that he has enough humility in his sermon to say, I was just afraid. I didn't know what to say. It wasn't just me, right? But he says, for he did not know what to answer, for they were afraid. He was scared out of his mind. He was terrified. But see, this is one of the things.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will work in your own heart. Because this is the true Jesus. This is the Jesus Christ in His glory. This is the Jesus Christ that we bow down to and worship. This is the Jesus Christ we just sang about who is the one who comes in to the gates of Jerusalem with righteousness. This is the King of glory who comes again to judge the living and the dead. This is why we take, when we have the Lord's Supper, why we take it so seriously. Right, because I'm afraid that in evangelical culture we've lost our terror of Jesus. Right, we've lost our reverence for the King.

These two are not opposed to each other. Right, but deep-seated reverence, I'm not talking about a terrified fear because you're scared for your life of being judged, but I'm talking about a reverence of his ontological being, who he is gloriously. Do you tremble before the God of the universe who created all things and yet still loves you?

Notice Jesus is showing this to Peter. whom he just rebuked. Get behind me, Satan. For you have in mind the things of men, not the things of God, and Jesus shows him the things of God. This is what Jesus is in the business of. And then God the Father steps into the scene in verse seven.

The Shekinah glory appears that had departed from the temple centuries ago. And a cloud came and overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. Right, it's once again we're back to Mount Sinai. It's once again we're back, we're the people of God assembled around the mountain and then the presence of God came down in what theologians call a theophany. That God's presence is manifested in some way, and God Himself comes in a cloud, in a storm. Where there's lightning and thunder on Mount Sinai.

And God speaks to the people, so much so that if you go and you read Exodus chapter 19, the people cry out, Moses, don't let God speak to us anymore or else we're gonna die. You speak to God and then you come speak to us. And here God speaks to them. This isn't the only time the glory of God comes.

We see it also when the tabernacle is built. And the Shekinah glory fills the tabernacle so much so that the priest can't work in there. And then in the temple of Solomon also. When Solomon finishes his prayer of dedication. Can't get that word out. Prayer of dedication. The glory of the Lord, this cloud, fills the tabernacle so much so that the priests can't do their work anymore. All they can do is stand and marvel at the glory of God.

And the Father here speaks. The Father here recognizes the divine Sonship of Jesus. He says, is my son, the beloved one. This is the one in whom the Father takes all delight. That should comfort you. That should give you hope for your soul. Because here is the testimony, right? At Jesus' baptism, there was a voice from heaven, but Jesus heard it. The other people just heard thunder. But here God speaks, and the disciples themselves hear it. Notice, He says, and they hear Him, and He says that this is His beloved Son.

This just brings to mind, you can't help but bring to mind John's Gospel, Chapter 3. This was God's plan all along. The divine logic, God's reasoning, God's thinking was He was going to so love the world that He would send His only Son. that whoever might believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. God sent his only son, his glorious son, the radiance of his glory, to suffer, to be rejected, to die for his people, and to raise again for their justification.

And notice what he says. The Father ends with a command. Hear Him. Peter's just called Him Rabbi. He's just called Him Teacher. He's just called Him My Great One. And now God says, no, no, no. Obey him. The word here is not just a connotation like open up your ears. Well, that's certainly the case. But if you've ever had children, and I know none of the kids in the church would do this, right? I know no husbands in the church would do this. There's a way in which somebody can be hearing words, but not actually listening. I know you've never experienced that in your home. But that's what the Lord is getting at here with them.

That's why Jesus says regularly, He who has ears, let him hear. God Himself is demanding, commanding the apostles, the disciples, that they must not only listen to Jesus, but obey Him. Why? Why would they obey Him? Because He is the Father's beloved Son. He has the authority of the Father. He is the King that the Father has sent. And so they are to listen to Him. They are to obey Him. They are to follow Him. They are to keep His commandments.

This is why Jesus in the Gospel of John will say, If you love me, keep my commandments. This is one of his departing words to his apostles, to his disciples, and it's a departing word for us. We don't like the idea of commandments, because commandments come with a duty and obligation, and we think law and obedience and bad things, right? But no, there is a blessing in obeying Christ, not out of a slavish obedience, but out of recognizing that He's the King of glory. out of a heart of gratitude that God would so love us that he would send his only begotten son that while we were yet sinners Christ would die for us and if that's the type of king he sends us who would display his love and die for his friends then that's the king that will follow because he's glorious he's glorious in our eyes there's an ancient martyr of the second century church.

Can't remember his name right now, it's gone. But he was an old man, 86 years old, and as he was brought into the Colosseum, they were telling him that he was to curse God, to turn his heart away and just forsake Christianity and say, the Lord has been faithful to me for these 80 and six years, how shall I now then turn my back upon him? What would make an old man stand in a coliseum before an emperor and say, away with the atheists, as he points to the crowd who's cheering for his death? Because he knew the King of Glory.

This is what Jesus was getting at in the last chapter, for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. You won't lose your life for the gospel unless you truly believe the King of Glory gave you good news. So this week, I pray that you walk out of here. I pray that you walk out of here and you know the King of Glory. That when you walk out of here and that sun shines in your eyes, you know that the radiance of Jesus's glory shines even brighter and greater than that. And that it gives you hope. that even the glory of the resurrection is coming for you, and that the King of glory will come again and judge the world in equity.

Peter, John, and James, they close their eyes. They blink. It's just Jesus. Narnia's gone. It's just Jesus in front of them. but they know that there's a truth to reality, who Jesus really is. The question is, do you see Jesus that way? Is he the King of glory?

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Oh Father, we thank you that you did not hide these things with just the three apostles, but that they have beheld your glory the glory of the only begotten, and that they went out to the nations and spread your word. God, we pray that you would please give us that beatific vision, that we would behold your glory, that we would have eyes to see and ears to hear.

We pray this in Jesus's name. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.