WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.259 I should like to have stood where John stood 00:00:04.259 --> 00:00:10.699 or James. Oh, what a glorious privilege was theirs. 00:00:11.060 --> 00:00:16.440 But remember, along with that wonderful experience 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:19.739 that they had, that experience also carried with 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:28.379 it a responsibility and an obligation. The greater 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:32.340 the light that one receives, the greater is the 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:37.359 responsibility. And so for a few minutes, we're 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.640 going back again to the Mount of Transfiguration. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:49.719 And while you're relaxing, I want to read this 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:53.939 portion of the Word of God. And after six days 00:00:53.939 --> 00:00:57.179 Jesus taketh Peter and James and John his brother, 00:00:57.299 --> 00:01:00.759 and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:05.420 and was transfigured before them. And his face 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:09.780 did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:14.640 as the light. And behold, there appeared unto 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:21.359 them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Then 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:27.019 answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:31.659 is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:34.659 us make here three tabernacles, one for thee 00:01:34.659 --> 00:01:41.280 and one for Moses and one for Elijah. And while 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.099 he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:52.250 them. Behold a voice. out of the cloud which 00:01:52.250 --> 00:02:01.010 said this is my beloved son in whom i am well 00:02:01.010 --> 00:02:07.269 pleased hear ye him and when the disciples heard 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:12.009 it they fell on their face and were sore afraid 00:02:12.009 --> 00:02:22.349 and jesus came and touched them and said, Arise 00:02:22.349 --> 00:02:31.069 and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up 00:02:31.069 --> 00:02:40.509 their eyes, they saw no man, say Jesus only. 00:02:43.789 --> 00:02:49.669 But a few minutes ago, Jesus seemed to be no 00:02:49.669 --> 00:02:57.550 longer just Jesus of Nazareth. Only a few minutes 00:02:57.550 --> 00:03:04.150 ago, the glory did shine from his countenance. 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:12.930 His garment shone with the glory. The Bible describes 00:03:12.930 --> 00:03:24.520 it. as his raiment, white as the light. In that 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:30.039 moment, the moment of his glory, he was no longer 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:35.819 just the Jesus of Nazareth, but they beheld him 00:03:35.819 --> 00:03:43.439 as the very son of the living God. But now the 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:48.280 glory was gone. But a few moments ago, Moses 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:52.979 and Elijah were there. Only a few moments ago 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:56.419 was heard the incoherent suggestion of Peter, 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:02.319 Let us make your three tabernacles. But now all 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:07.379 this has passed, and waiting in the quiet hush 00:04:07.379 --> 00:04:13.580 of the solemn morning hour upon the mount, we 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:20.670 see what... follows the transfiguration. Moses 00:04:20.670 --> 00:04:27.769 and Elijah are gone. Gone also is the flashing 00:04:27.769 --> 00:04:33.029 glory of the Son of the Living God. The splendor 00:04:33.029 --> 00:04:38.689 of that night is gone. Silenced is the speech 00:04:38.689 --> 00:04:43.949 that fell upon the astonished ear of... Peter 00:04:43.949 --> 00:04:50.470 and James and John. Imagine for just a few minutes 00:04:50.470 --> 00:04:56.610 the disciples as they looked around them. The 00:04:56.610 --> 00:05:03.509 silence after the speech. Everything is relative. 00:05:04.670 --> 00:05:13.000 Everything. What could possibly follow? The voice 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:19.699 of Almighty God. Do you realize that those three 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:29.040 men actually, literally heard God speak? Oh, 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:34.839 beloved, how often I try to visualize the face 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:40.170 of Jesus. I have never looked... upon that wonderful 00:05:40.170 --> 00:05:45.250 face. I felt his presence. There are times when 00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:50.329 I have imagined that I have felt the touch of 00:05:50.329 --> 00:05:55.230 his nail -scarred hand. But I have never really 00:05:55.230 --> 00:06:01.529 looked upon his beautiful face. That is yet future. 00:06:03.329 --> 00:06:07.910 But I can imagine, can't I? I can... Dream a 00:06:07.910 --> 00:06:13.629 little, can't I? And alone very often. I have 00:06:13.629 --> 00:06:20.889 imagined exactly what Jesus will look like when 00:06:20.889 --> 00:06:28.410 I see him face to face. And then I have imagined 00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:36.240 what the actual voice of... God really sounds 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:43.660 like. Some have likened his voice to thunder. 00:06:43.779 --> 00:06:48.180 No, beloved, I have never thought of the voice 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:53.379 of God sounding like thunder. Not really. Because 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:59.040 he's my Heavenly Father. I could never imagine 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:03.990 the voice of my Heavenly... bother sounding like 00:07:03.990 --> 00:07:10.810 thunder. I have always imagined that if you would 00:07:10.810 --> 00:07:16.870 take all the beauty of all the musical instruments 00:07:16.870 --> 00:07:24.449 and combined the sound into just one beautiful 00:07:24.449 --> 00:07:34.949 sound. One of beauty. One of absolute authority. 00:07:36.129 --> 00:07:43.910 Combined with perfect love, tenderness, and compassion. 00:07:46.009 --> 00:07:51.829 You'd have the voice of my Heavenly Father. You 00:07:51.829 --> 00:07:58.750 would have the voice of God. And... bending there. 00:08:00.250 --> 00:08:04.470 These three men, Peter, James, and John, literally 00:08:04.470 --> 00:08:12.850 heard that voice as he spoke, saying, This is 00:08:12.850 --> 00:08:21.910 my beloved son. Hear ye him. And I believe that 00:08:21.910 --> 00:08:27.819 as God spoke, every... angel in God's great universe, 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:33.919 did bend low and listen, even as Peter and James 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:42.019 and John did listen. How often we've used the 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:51.580 phrase, the silence was deafening. One could 00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:58.500 well use that phrase after God had spoken. The 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:06.559 silence that followed was almost deafening. What 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:14.240 could possibly follow after God had spoken? Imagine 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:21.159 that silence. There was almost loneliness. after 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:25.899 the celestial visitors had gone. All the glory 00:09:25.899 --> 00:09:30.940 for the moment. They had just beheld the glory 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:35.940 of the Lord, Jesus, in his great majestic splendor. 00:09:37.340 --> 00:09:40.580 Standing on either side of him, the celestial 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:49.419 visitors, Moses, Elijah. They recognized both. 00:09:52.110 --> 00:09:55.190 They knew it couldn't last. We talk about the 00:09:55.190 --> 00:09:59.389 blunder of Peter when he said, Let's keep it 00:09:59.389 --> 00:10:02.169 like this. This is so wonderful. Don't let's 00:10:02.169 --> 00:10:08.049 ever leave. And yet, I'm not so sure he blundered 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:13.929 as much as we should really give him credit. 00:10:14.070 --> 00:10:18.990 It was the natural mind that knew that it couldn't 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:25.450 last. And yet, Peter wanted it to always last. 00:10:25.710 --> 00:10:29.850 It was so marvelous. That is the reason he cried 00:10:29.850 --> 00:10:32.610 out, trying to hold on to something that he knew 00:10:32.610 --> 00:10:35.690 would pass, and he didn't want it to pass. He 00:10:35.690 --> 00:10:38.350 was trying to hold on to it just as long as he 00:10:38.350 --> 00:10:42.309 possibly could, and his only suggestion was, 00:10:42.389 --> 00:10:47.559 please, to make it last a little longer. Let's 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:51.039 build three tabernacles here, one for Jesus and 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:55.200 one for Moses and one for Elijah. He was trying 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:58.700 to hold on to something that he knew couldn't 00:10:58.700 --> 00:11:08.100 always last. And now, the celestial visitors 00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:17.110 were gone. The loneliness of it all. When they 00:11:17.110 --> 00:11:22.309 opened their eyes, the usualness of everything 00:11:22.309 --> 00:11:30.450 was almost frightening. Lifting up their eyes, 00:11:30.769 --> 00:11:38.169 the scripture says, they saw no one save Jesus 00:11:38.169 --> 00:11:49.299 only. Beloved. You have in those two words God's 00:11:49.299 --> 00:11:57.379 perfect speech. Oh, sure. We had that sermon 00:11:57.379 --> 00:11:59.840 that Jesus preached, the sermon that was the 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:05.039 masterpiece. No sermon has ever been able to 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:10.080 compare with it. That was glorious as he spoke 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:16.820 the truths from his own lips. and showed to man 00:12:16.820 --> 00:12:23.340 the way of life eternal. But in just two words, 00:12:23.500 --> 00:12:36.940 we have God's perfect speech. Jesus only. The 00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:45.639 center of all things. Suddenly they realized 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:48.159 that they were in the very presence of one who 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:56.720 could transmute the usual into the unusual. He 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:59.980 takes the common places of life, splashes them 00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:07.000 into splendor. Oh, it's glorious. What makes 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:10.120 the difference when a man or a woman comes and 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:13.710 accepts the Christ as his personal savior? As 00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:18.950 you come, beloved, I'll tell you what makes the 00:13:18.950 --> 00:13:25.929 difference. Jesus. And when you come to him, 00:13:26.110 --> 00:13:31.809 come not seeking some emotional experience. Not 00:13:31.809 --> 00:13:34.870 that. That's the reason there are many women 00:13:34.870 --> 00:13:44.789 who have never had the glorious satisfying experience 00:13:44.789 --> 00:13:51.850 of really believing that they have been born 00:13:51.850 --> 00:13:55.409 again. It's because they have sought some great 00:13:55.409 --> 00:14:03.470 emotional experience. It isn't that at all. It's 00:14:03.470 --> 00:14:14.159 Jesus only. And he comes to abide within. There 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:16.179 are those who sought that wonderful experience 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:21.860 of sanctification. Beloved, do you want to know 00:14:21.860 --> 00:14:24.940 in a final analysis exactly what sanctification 00:14:24.940 --> 00:14:35.080 is? Nothing more or less than more of Jesus only. 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:40.220 I believe in that wonderful experience of being 00:14:40.220 --> 00:14:43.899 filled with the Spirit when literally Actually, 00:14:44.019 --> 00:14:47.500 the physical body becomes the temple of the Holy 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:51.679 Spirit. I believe that. He is with you, but he 00:14:51.679 --> 00:15:00.899 shall be in you. But, beloved, seek not some 00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:09.039 outward emotional manifestation. In the final 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:24.639 analysis, it is... Deal more of Jesus only. Always 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:32.720 remember, God's perfect speech is Jesus only. 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:41.080 The center of all things. I promise you something. 00:15:43.950 --> 00:15:49.590 You'll never stumble. You'll never fall. You'll 00:15:49.590 --> 00:15:55.009 never go down in defeat. I promise you. As long 00:15:55.009 --> 00:16:03.370 as you keep your eyes on Jesus. In taking the 00:16:03.370 --> 00:16:09.350 lid off of my heart for just this moment, I will 00:16:09.350 --> 00:16:15.509 tell you a truth. The thing that has brought 00:16:15.509 --> 00:16:24.409 me through the years of labor. The long years 00:16:24.409 --> 00:16:31.110 of toil. Is the fact that I've kept my eyes on 00:16:31.110 --> 00:16:41.250 Jesus. Had I fixed my eyes on man. Had I fixed 00:16:41.250 --> 00:16:48.230 my eyes. on some human being. I would not be 00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:51.389 where I am today. I would have fallen a long 00:16:51.389 --> 00:16:56.370 time ago. Because I have learned with the years 00:16:56.370 --> 00:17:02.370 how really thick our human nature is. So thick. 00:17:05.410 --> 00:17:12.990 And the longer one lives, and the more intelligent 00:17:12.990 --> 00:17:20.349 one becomes the more one realizes how uncertain 00:17:20.349 --> 00:17:33.650 is man in his thinking in his values in his loves 00:17:33.650 --> 00:17:42.119 in his likes in his daily living Human nature 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:47.599 is fickle. Jesus knew it. For Jesus knows you, 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:53.880 he knows me better than we know ourselves. You'll 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:57.400 have your heart broken. You'll become discouraged. 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:04.380 You'll become disillusioned. If man is the center 00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:09.539 of your life, But I promise you something upon 00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:13.700 the authority of God's word. If you keep your 00:18:13.700 --> 00:18:18.539 eyes on Jesus, you'll never be disappointed. 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:24.900 You'll never be disillusioned. You'll go right 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:31.500 through this old life. And one day, you'll go 00:18:31.500 --> 00:18:34.839 all the way from earth to glory and stand in 00:18:34.839 --> 00:18:39.940 his marvelous presence. And look full into his 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:44.519 wonderful face. The face that you see by faith 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:49.599 this hour. And the greatest moment of your life 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:54.420 will be that moment. The moment that was experienced 00:18:54.420 --> 00:19:00.460 by Peter and James and John. When looking up, 00:19:00.539 --> 00:19:14.200 they saw no man. Save Jesus only. Sure. I'll 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:17.339 watch something. Something to me is very marvelous. 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:25.380 How many days or perhaps a matter of a few weeks, 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:30.900 I cannot tell you. But something happened. There 00:19:30.900 --> 00:19:34.519 was another experience prior to the experience 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:37.220 that Peter had there on the Mount of Transfiguration. 00:19:38.819 --> 00:19:42.339 Enjoy it with me if you will, please. It's recorded 00:19:42.339 --> 00:19:46.619 in the 15th chapter of Matthew. Let me read just 00:19:46.619 --> 00:19:50.000 a very familiar portion of this word to you. 00:19:51.819 --> 00:19:55.160 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:59.680 to get into a ship and to go before him. unto 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.180 the other side, while he sent the multitudes 00:20:03.180 --> 00:20:06.880 away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:11.839 he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:14.539 when the evening was come, he was there alone. 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:18.799 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:23.000 tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. 00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:28.059 And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went 00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:33.359 unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:36.599 saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:42.400 saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.700 fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, 00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:52.940 saying, Be a good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. 00:20:54.730 --> 00:20:59.369 Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, 00:20:59.630 --> 00:21:05.509 bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, 00:21:05.809 --> 00:21:11.329 Come. And when Peter was come down out of the 00:21:11.329 --> 00:21:14.930 ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 00:21:15.029 --> 00:21:21.750 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. 00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:28.369 And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, 00:21:28.369 --> 00:21:33.130 save me. What something that's very marvelous. 00:21:35.329 --> 00:21:44.849 As long as Peter had his eyes on Jesus, he walked 00:21:44.849 --> 00:21:53.680 safely. But the very second that he got his eyes 00:21:53.680 --> 00:22:00.559 on the boisterous sea. The very minute that he 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:05.500 saw the wind of boisterous, he became afraid. 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:10.420 The very second that he got his eyes on circumstances, 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:17.220 on conditions around about him, he became filled 00:22:17.220 --> 00:22:23.710 with fear. He began to And the very second that 00:22:23.710 --> 00:22:28.390 fear filled his heart, he began to sink. And 00:22:28.390 --> 00:22:36.650 yet Jesus was there. He was right there. It depends 00:22:36.650 --> 00:22:46.210 on where you are looking. You're going to sink 00:22:46.210 --> 00:22:51.859 as sure as can be. There can be no victory if 00:22:51.859 --> 00:22:55.680 your eyes are on circumstances. See something. 00:22:58.059 --> 00:23:01.819 As surely as there is a mountaintop experience, 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:09.539 you're going to have to come down from the mountain. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:17.019 And the higher the mountain, the longer will 00:23:17.019 --> 00:23:23.039 be the walk down. Oh, their experience was glorious 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:27.559 as they stood there. But remember, they had to 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:32.960 come down from the mountain. Be with me in our 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.000 next heart -to -heart talk. God bless you.