Only Jesus!: Beholding the Glory of God

Hey everybody, you're listening to A New Beginning, which is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. If this program has impacted you, I'd love to hear from you, so just send an email to me at gregg.harvest.org. Again, it's gregg.harvest.org.

You can learn more about becoming a Harvest Partner by going to harvest.org. It was a spectacle no one had ever seen before. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie takes us to the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. This is an amazing moment.

Jesus shining like the sun, Moses and Elijah on each side. Peter exclaimed, it's good we are here. And I love this detail that's added. He said this because he really didn't know what else to say.

When you don't know what to say, don't say anything. We've all seen things we'll never forget. Maybe we saw Old Faithful in Yellowstone, or we stood on the rim of the Grand Canyon, or maybe it was watching our child take their first steps. But nothing on earth could have prepared these certain onlookers for the spectacle they were about to see. Today on A New Beginning, as Pastor Greg Laurie takes us to the Transfiguration of Jesus, we'll see it left them speechless. Well, should have left them speechless, but one of them spoke anyway. Have you ever said the wrong thing at the wrong time? I have to admit I've had my share of bloopers over the years as a preacher. You know, I've almost been preaching for 50 years now. And over the years I've made mistakes as I've been speaking.

For instance, one year I was speaking on Peter and Jesus and the conversation they were having. And what I meant to say was Jesus said to Peter, Peter, do you love me? And instead, inexplicably I might add, I said, Jesus speaking, peepers, do you love me? Peepers? Where did that come from?

But it even gets worse. Years ago I was back in North Carolina. And I've been a part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Board for over 25 years now. And this is back when Billy was still with us before he went to be with the Lord. And so after the meeting, my friend Dennis Egigini would often call me on the phone and ask me how did it go. And he did a perfect Billy Graham imitation. And so that night it was pretty late and I got a call on my phone and I pick it up and Dennis says, hello, this is Billy Graham.

How are you? Well I'm good Billy. And I know it's Dennis.

So I'm kind of flipping the channels on the TV. And then Dennis in Billy's voice says, I was thinking a great deal about what you said to me earlier tonight. And I would like you to help me with my messages. And I'm thinking, yeah, yeah.

And I'm literally saying, yeah, whatever, whatever. Then it dawns on me, I did say to Billy that night earlier, hey, I could help you out with your messages if you like. And he's the only one who would have known that. Dennis didn't know that, which means I was blowing off Billy Graham. So that was definitely saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

We've all done it in one way, shape, or form. Well here's the story now before us in Mark chapter 9 when Peter definitely said the wrong thing at the wrong time. This happened when Jesus was transfigured where he shined like the sun with Moses on one side and Elijah on the other.

This happened on the mountaintop. And we're going to talk about that now in this text. Let's look at Mark chapter 9. I'm reading from the New Living Translation.

And here's what we see. Jesus went on to say, I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the kingdom of God arrive in great power. Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them to a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus was transformed.

His clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could make them. And then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, it's good that we are here.

Let's make three shelters as memorials. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Don't miss this verse. He said this because he really didn't know what else to say for they were all terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, this is my dearly beloved son.

Listen to him. Suddenly when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone. And they saw only Jesus with them. You might underline those two words, only Jesus. And they went back down the mountain and he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the son of man had risen from the dead.

So they kept it to themselves. But they often asked each other what it meant when he said rising from the dead. This transfiguration, this moment where Jesus shined like the sun is at a significant point in his earthly ministry.

It's at the halfway point of a very difficult journey. So Jesus was looking back to the cradle and he's looking forward to the cross. And he's giving to Peter, James, and John a glimpse of glory or a taste of heaven. We could call it a preview of coming attractions.

Look at what he says. Verse one. I tell you the truth. Some standing here right now will not die before they see the kingdom of God arriving in great power. So the transfiguration was a sneak peek of what is to come for all of humanity when Christ returns one day as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It's sort of like what we used to see when we went to movies. Remember when we actually went to theaters and they would play all those trailers for all the upcoming films. And a lot of times the best bits were in the trailer. Sometimes the trailer was better than the film itself. But the idea was here's what this film is about.

You've got to see this film. So this is sort of like a mega trailer for the return of Christ. I'm giving you a glimpse of what is coming. Look at verse three.

As the men watched his appearance was transformed and Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Now this is the amazing thing. He's shining so brightly. Have you ever looked directly at the sun?

I highly recommend you do not do that. But who would not be amazed at such a display of glory. And if that wasn't enough to see Jesus shining like that to have Moses and Elijah show up.

But listen to this. We think the miracle is Jesus shined like the sun. That's not the miracle.

The miracle is Jesus did not shine like the sun all the time. Remember he was God. God walking among us. And when he walked among us he did not void his deity but he did veil it. As the Christmas song says veiled in flesh the Godhead see hail incarnate deity. Jesus never ceased to be God.

He always was God. But he sort of restrained that glory from showing. I mean it would have been kind of hard to hang out with him if he was shining like the sun all of the time. Because it's hard to hide light isn't it? Going back to movie theaters. If someone pulls out a cell phone and they're checking their messages or looking at their social media feed when the movie is playing your eyes are immediately drawn from the screen to the phone.

Because you're drawn to light. Mine's a years ago my son Jonathan who was around nine years old had a little video game I gave him it was a Nintendo 64. Remember those? And so he played it a lot. In fact he wouldn't stop playing it. So I put a little tv in his room with this game system and I said now Jonathan you need to shut it off it's time to go to bed. And he said okay. And then a little time passed about an hour actually passed and I walked by his room and there's like a blue light coming out from beneath the door. I opened the door up there's Jonathan playing this little game. I said Jonathan I told you to stop playing that game. And he said dad I can't help myself. I think I'm de-dicted. Instead of addicted he said he was de-dicted. I thought that was so funny.

There was no punishment. I said okay just turn it off. So now fast forward many years Jonathan has his own daughter Allie. He got her an upgraded version a modern version of a Nintendo system.

But this one was a handheld version. So she didn't need a tv. He told her to put it away and then he walked by her room he saw some light coming out he opens the door and she's under a blanket.

You can see her silhouette under the blanket playing the game. See funny how these things repeat themselves right. It's hard to hide light. And Jesus is just shining like the sun. He could have done that at will when they came to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane. He could just turn on the light and their faces would have melted like that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Remember that scene? But no he didn't do that. He veiled that light from showing. So the miracle is not that he shined like the sun.

The miracle is that he didn't shine like the sun all the time. And who is with him? It's Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. I want you to know tonight one thing God loves you. In a new book on the life of Billy Graham Pastor Greg Laurie brings us a deeper appreciation for the man and his message. No matter what you've done, no matter how you've lived, no matter what the color of your skin, no matter what your racial background, no matter what language you speak, God loves you. And he wants to come into your life.

He wants to give you a new beginning. Billy built bridges to people and he always shared the gospel and he always emulated Christ and I think we can learn from his example. So I write about that a lot more in this new book I've written called Billy Graham the Man I Knew. It's an evangelist's look at the life of history's greatest evangelists. Get your copy of the new biography Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Go to harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg has brought us to the scene of the transfiguration of Christ with Moses and Elijah there as well as several disciples.

And if you miss any part of today's study you can catch up at harvest.org. Now Moses and Elijah occupy unique positions in the Old Testament. The Bible speaks of the law and the prophets. You couldn't find a better representative of the law than Moses the great lawgiver who received the 10 commandments from God on Mount Sinai. And you couldn't find a better representative of the prophets than Elijah the miracle working prophet who called fire down from heaven and stopped it from raining. And they're having a discussion.

Now here's an interesting thing. How did Peter, James, and John know it was Moses and Elijah? Was Moses standing there with 10 commandments and was Elijah calling fire down? I don't think so.

Did they have little name tags like you get when you go to an event you have to write your name? Hi my name is Moses. No I don't think so. But somehow Peter, James, and John were able to recognize that that was Moses and Elijah on each side of Jesus which shows that in glory we are going to recognize each other. Sometimes people ask the question when we get to heaven will we know one another? And my response is do you think you will be more stupid in heaven than you are on earth? You'll know more in heaven not less. And so the answer is yes you will know one another in heaven. And here's also a reminder that the Bible teaches there will be a bodily resurrection.

What does that mean? It means that our body, our personality, everything that we are will live again. That means that you will see your loved ones who have died in faith and have gone into heaven before you again. But they will be in a perfect state and you will pick up where you last left off. When Jesus was crucified and then He rose again from the dead He greeted the disciples with the words peace be with you.

Almost like hey guys how is it going? Whoa. You are Jesus risen. But He sort of picked up where He last left off. And that is how it will be when you see your loved ones again because they are not only a part of your past.

They are also a part of your future. What an amazing sight. This must have been considered this fact. Moses at this moment had been dead for around 1400 years. And Elijah had been gone for around 900 years. But here they are together and they are having a discussion.

What were they talking about? Luke's gospel fills in the detail here about their conversation. Luke chapter 9 verse 31 says, they were speaking about His exodus from this world which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. I am sure Moses had quite a few things to say about an exodus.

Because when we go to the book of Exodus, which means departure, it is a story of how God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt through the wilderness, through the parted Red Sea, and into the Promised Land. And you remember as a part of that story God's judgment came upon the firstborn of Egypt. And the Lord told Moses to instruct the Jewish people to take a lamb, slay the lamb, and apply the blood on the top and on the sides of their doorposts. And God's judgment would pass over. And that is still celebrated today as the Passover feast.

And so this is all going to be fulfilled now. Because everything that Passover lamb was pointing to is fulfilled in Christ. Christ was going to go die for the sin of the world. He would fulfill the fact that He would be the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. And His blood would be shed for the sin of all of humanity. Remember He brought this topic up earlier at a place called Caesarea Philippi. And Peter thought he had lost his mind. And Peter began to rebuke Jesus when he talked about his impending death saying, that is crazy.

You can't do that. But here is someone now that will listen to Jesus and understand it. Moses understood as did Elijah as they spoke of these incredible things that were about to happen. For this is the reason Jesus came. He was born in a manger. And we love to celebrate that.

The beautiful little baby there. But don't forget He came with a purpose. And that purpose was to go to the cross and die for the sin of all of the world. So this is an amazing moment.

You don't want to miss this. Jesus shining like the sun. Moses and Elijah on each side talking about His crucifixion. And what did the disciples do? What did Peter, James, and John do? Well they basically fell asleep.

Again Luke fills in the detail here. Luke 9 32 says, Peter and those who were with them were heavy with sleep. And when they were fully awake they saw His glory and the two men that stood with Him. By the way that is not the only inappropriate time that Peter, James, and John fell asleep. They also fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane.

This is that moment that Jesus went into the garden and prayed. And according to Dr. Luke sweat as it were great drops of blood. And some doctors believe that was a first century description of what we now call hematrydrosis. And that's a condition that when you're under intense pressure you perspire blood.

Not pure blood but your blood and your perspiration are mixed together. So maybe that's what Dr. Luke was talking about. But Jesus had a request for Peter, James, and John which was basically stay with me. Just be with me. You know sometimes when a person is suffering they don't need a sermon. They just need a friend. And that's all the Lord asked for.

Just be with me. And yeah we're with you Lord. And He said to them, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. And He comes back to them after this anguish, after this suffering, after this prayer to the Father. And they fell asleep. You know sometimes we fall asleep as well. Heard about a burglar who was robbing a house and he heard a cop car go by. So he took cover on the floor and then he fell asleep.

And the homeowner got up that morning and saw this burglar asleep on his floor and called the cops. And they came and woke the guy up and said, buddy this is your wake-up call. And I wonder if sometimes in the church we need a wake-up call. I wonder if some of you watching me right now need a wake-up call spiritually because you're spiritually asleep. That is why in Romans 13 the apostle Paul says, it's high time to awake out of our sleep because the night is far spent and the day is at hand. Let's be Christ's men from head to foot and give no chance for the flesh to have its fling.

Wake up. It's a wake-up call. Well they wake up and there they see Moses and Elijah and of course Jesus. And now Peter says the wrong thing at the wrong time. Verse 6, it's good we are here.

And I love this detail that's added. He said this because he really didn't know what else to say. When you don't know what to say, don't say anything. There's an old proverb, not a biblical one, but it has some truth which goes as follows. Better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and dispel all doubt. It's good we are here says Peter. Let's memorialize this place about three tents.

One for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Have you ever said something you wish you could take back? For instance if you're driving on the road and you break the speed limit and you're pulled over by a police officer, in California they would be the CHP, California Highway Patrol, but wherever you are you're pulled over by a cop, never say the following things to a police officer who has pulled you over.

Number one, man you must have been going 120 miles an hour to keep up with me. Or don't say this, sorry officer I didn't realize my radar detector was not plugged in. Don't say that. How about this one to the officer, wait are you one of the guys from the Village People? No don't say that ever.

Okay how about this one, oh I saw your lights were on and I just thought you were on your way to get a donut. Don't say that to a cop. By the way I found that on a website posted by cops for a cop, so I hope I didn't offend any police officers right now. Recently I actually was pulled over by an officer when I was on the island of Maui. We have a church there called Harvest Kumalani and the speed limits are very slow in Maui. They're like 12 miles per hour or it seems that way honestly. So I'm driving I didn't think I was speeding at all and this cop pulls me over. Ironically after the guy who's a local there said slow down there's cops here sometimes that find people for speeding. I slowed down then I sped up slightly so I wasn't going 12 miles per hour. I was going 13 and a half miles per hour and he pulls me over.

The lights are flashing. He comes up and I said hi officer. Was I speeding? Yes you were. You were speeding. Can I have your driver's license and so forth. So I give it to him and he came back and I said well officer I'm from California.

I didn't know and he goes yeah a lot of people from California drive faster than the speed limit. I understand you're just doing your job. I'm sorry and I didn't try to get out of it and he goes well I'm just going to give you a warning today.

I said yes thank you Lord. So I don't know you know when you're with a cop just tell them the truth. They're so tired of people lying.

Just say yeah well sorry and you're just doing your job. That's all they're trying to do. But Peter says it's good we are here.

That's the operative word here. Hey Lord this is blessing central. We love hanging out with you and Moses and Elijah basking in your glory. Let's forget all this crazy talk about going to Jerusalem and dying.

Let's stay here. And now Peter gets a rebuke not from Jesus but from the father in heaven. Look at verse seven. Then a cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said this is my dearly loved son.

Listen to him. Suddenly when they looked around Moses and Elijah were gone and they saw only Jesus with them. The father steps into the conversation and effectively says Peter if my son says he's going to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die then that's what's going to happen and you need to believe him. And if he tells you to take up your cross and follow him you need to do it.

We're drinking in the spectacle of the transfiguration of Christ today on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie has titled his message Only Jesus and there's more to come. But if you weren't able to hear every word of today's presentation go online to harvest.org.

You can stream the program while you're online or download an mp3 for later. Well we're talking about a number of things that just may surprise you about the life of Billy Graham. These come from Pastor Greg's new book called Billy Graham the Man I Knew.

We've talked about the important role his wife Ruth played. We talked about him being a door-to-door salesman and how he wanted to be a major league baseball player when he was really young. So what's next Pastor Greg? What's another surprise?

Okay here's number six. Billy and Ruth Graham lived on less than $50 a week prior to the launch of his crusades. So before Billy Graham became a household name in 1949 with his Los Angeles crusade he served for 21 months as a pastor of a baptist church in a Chicago suburb. A lot of people don't know Billy was a pastor for a time. So when he wasn't preaching or going home to home to visit people he had a radio broadcast called Songs in the Night. Then he would preach twice on Sundays at the church, hold a midweek prayer meeting and Ruth even taught child evangelism classes on Wednesday afternoons and he was paid $48 a week.

You know the Bible says, despise not the days of small things. And God was preparing Billy and in some ways one of the ways the Lord prepares us for what he has ahead is through process of elimination. Sometimes before you find out what you're called to do you have to first discover what you're not called to do. So Billy had his stint as a pastor. Imagine having Billy Graham as your pastor.

That'd be fantastic. But he really felt called to be an evangelist. You know, man I love pastors. Dave I am a pastor and I respect pastors but the pastors are many and the evangelists are few. It's kind of rare that you find a person who's called primarily to be an evangelist.

I feel called to be both a pastor and an evangelist but Billy was really called primarily to be an evangelist. Though I might add he was referred to as America's pastor. So even though he was an evangelist he really was in a pastoral role with the presidents that he would speak to and we cannot forget that Billy crossed both sides of the political aisle. Oh sure he was a friend to Eisenhower and Nixon and Reagan and George H.W.

Bush and George W. Bush but don't forget he was a friend and confidant of President Kennedy, President Johnson, President Clinton. So he had the ear of all of them because he kept their confidence and he gave them godly counsel. He was not there to give them political advice and Ruth would remind him if he ever crossed that line by the way that he was there primarily to be a spiritual counselor and he did his job well but yes it's true for a short stint he was a pastor. This is just one of the many things I bring out in my book Billy Graham the man I knew that you may not have known about this incredible man that God used in such an amazing way. I want to send you a copy of this book for your gift of any size whatever you send I can promise you we'll use that to reach more people with the teaching of the word of God and the message of the gospel.

Yeah and we so much appreciate your partnership in this important work. So let us thank you for your donation with this remarkable book on the life of a remarkable man Billy Graham the man I knew. In fact Franklin Graham wrote this about the book. I've often said that the public Billy Graham seen on crusade platforms and television was the same private Billy Graham at home. This certainly is revealed in Billy Graham the man I knew which is based on Greg's personal thoughts on the special time spent with my father and how his ministry impacted Greg's own life and evangelistic ministry. I'm grateful for Greg's friendship for his love for my father and for his proclamation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well Pastor Greg is making the book available to thank you for your donation of any size and please know there are no churches or large organizations covering all the expenses. No it's only through the investment of listeners that these insights can come your way each day. So thanks for being a partner with us. With your donation today be sure to ask for Billy Graham the man I knew.

You can write a new beginning box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300 call anytime that's a 24 hour phone number 1-800-821-3300 or just go online to harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg give us the news about your new TV program called Harvest with Greg Laurie. So we've really expanded on television I would say quite dramatically wanting to reach new people wanting to reach unexpected people in unexpected places like the Lifetime channel and has a huge viewership. This is not what you would call a Christian channel it's more of a secular channel a mainstream TV outlet will be on the Lifetime network. Also will be on the Fox Business Network. Also on Newsmax. In addition to that will be on great Christian networks like Daystar and TBN.

If you want to find out more about air times go to harvest.org. Well next time Pastor Greg brings us insights on what happened after the Transfiguration. More good lessons to be learned from the ninth chapter of Mark here on A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. Thanks for listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for daily devotions and learn how to become a Harvest Partner at harvest.org.