author: Ryan Hayden Take your Bibles with me and turn to Luke 9. Luke 9. We are going to be looking at verses 28-36 today and talking about the transfiguration of Christ.

Have you ever had a spiritual experience that you never forgot - where you felt the presence of God in a powerful way? It's not something that is easy to describe - but it is something that you never forget.

I remember one night, when I was a freshman in college, college really hadn't even started yet - but we had this orientation service under the tabernacle at the college's camp property - and there was no preaching - it was just a bunch of students singing and giving their testimony - but I can't explain it, the presence of God just showed up. People fell under conviction. People started realizing they had never been saved. Before that night was over - over fifty college students trusted Christ, and many many others got assurance of their salvation. I will never forget that night - and the strong feeling of God's presence I felt that night.

If you have never experienced anything like that - I don't know what to tell you - there is no way I can describe it that will do it justice - but I can give you a word for it: glory.

"Glory." We use that word a lot in church. We sing "To God be the glory" and "O worship the king, all glorious above." I've been in churches down south where random people would should "O Glory" or "Glory to God" in the middle of the service.

We use the word "glory" but have you ever given any thought to what it means? More importantly, have you ever seen or felt the glory of God? When you do - you will never be the same.

If you remember, last week, Peter and the disciples made a confession about who Jesus is. Jesus basically asked "what are people saying about me?" And then asked - but who do you think I am? And Peter spoke for the apostles and said "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God."

Then Jesus told them that He was going to die soon - that He was going to be crucified. And we know they didn't all understand that.

Well, our text today happens about a week later. Jesus took His inner circle - Peter, James and John - up onto a mountain top to reveal something significant to them.

Are you in Luke 9? Let's read verses 28-36 together:

[!bible] Luke 9:28-36 - KJV 28. And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. 29. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. 30. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: 31. Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. 32. But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. 33. And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. 34. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 35. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. 36. And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.

So a week after Jesus drops this bombshell on the disciples about Him being crucified, He takes Peter, James and John up with Him on a mountaintop to pray. Perhaps they were confused and discouraged by what Jesus had said - and this experience was meant to encourage them - they would never forget it.

Of course, Peter, James and John being feeble humans - get groggy and start to nod off. Don't be too judgmental - some of you do it every Sunday night.

But as they do, Jesus is transfigured before them. That word "transfigure" (which isn't in this passage, but is in Matthew and Mark) is the greek word "metamorpheo" which is where we get our word "metamorphosis." Jesus has a metamorphasis before them and suddenly, He is bright white, pulsing white - His clothes shine. Matthew tells us His face shone like the sun.

What happens here is Jesus reverts to His natural state. This wasn't a miracle so much as temporarily pausing a miracle. Jesus always had this glory - He just turned it off for awhile when He became a man.

If Jesus' shining wasn't enough Jesus is joined on this mountain by Moses and Elijah - two of the most important figures in the Old Testament. Now the disciples are fully awake. They cannot believe what they are seeing...and hearing.

Because Moses and Elijah are talking to Jesus and they are discussing Jesus' upcoming death, burial and resurrection.

Peter opens His mouth, because He's' Peter and that is what He does and Peter says "It's good for us to be here, let's make three tabernacles - one for you Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (The Bible makes it a point to tell us that Peter didn't know what He was talking about.)

But then, before anything else happens, the whole mountian in covered with a cloud of God the Father's glory. This is the same cloud that led the children of Israel in the Exodus and rested over the Tabernacle. This is the same glory that Moses was even alowed to look on fully. This glory covers the mountain where Peter, James and John were with Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

Then the audible voice of God speaks to them and says "This is my beloved Son: hear him."

When the voice is done speaking, Moses and Elijah are gone, and we can presume Jesus is back to His normal form. And the disciples have to go back down the mountain after that and pretend like everything is normal.

So, the theme here in this story is that the disciples saw the glory of Jesus - and they were changed forever. They saw the glory of Jesus and they were transformed.

And the main idea I want to preach to you today is this: When we see the glory of God in Christ - it changes us.

Now, I want to talk about the glory of God today. I want to develop this idea of how the glory of God changes us through four questions:

1. What is the glory of God?
2. Where do we see the glory of God?
3. How do we experience the glory of God?
4. What happens when we se the glory of God?

Let's pray and we'll jump into that outline.

So the first question I want us to think about today as we consider this story of the transfiguration is:

1. What is the glory of God?

• In our story, Jesus is transfigured. He is changed. Basically, the governor is taken off, and Jesus appears as He is - as God - the these three disciples.
• Moses and Elijah appear in glory. They are sharing in Jesus heavenly radiance - although Jesus shines brighter.
• Then the cloud overshadows them and they feel the glory of God.

So what is the glory of God? I would say that the glory of God is the radiant, overwhelming display of God's majesty, holiness and love.

Put another way, the glory of God happens when we just see who God is. We see God clearly.

Have you ever been to a mountain range and had your breath taken away by how beautiful and majestic it is - or maybe gone out at night in the country here and just looked up at all of the stars on a clear night? And you were just in awe.

That is glory. It is awesomeness. It is when we realize just how amazing something is.

Now, the mountains and the stars don't have to try to be glorious. They are glorious. We just experience their glory.

And so it is with God. God doesn't have to do anything to be more glorious - God is glorious. It is who He is. The sum of all of God's characteristics - His holiness, His power, His love, His mercy, His knowledge, His Godness - the sum of all of them is so high above us that when we get a glimpse of it (because we can't fully understand it) we experience His glory.

It's almost like "glory" is a word for the concept that we know something is greater than us, something is so praiseworthy and amazing that we cannot even describe it.

And God is glorious. When the disciples saw Jesus in His glory - when the felt the Shekinah glory of the cloud come over the mountain - they experienced the glory of God.

Let's move onto the second question today. We've talked about what the glory of God is. Let's talk about:

2. Where do we see the glory of God?

And I think we can see that pretty clearly in this story. The glory of God rests in Jesus.

When Jesus was transfigured before them - Jesus was showing these disciples that He was God. That God's glory rests in Him.

When Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus - maybe the two biggest figures in the Old Testament - Moses, who represents the law and Elijah, who represents the prophets - when they were speaking with Jesus - it shows us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Jesus is what they are all about - what they were leading us to.

John, who was one of the three disciples who saw this, said this in the introduction to the book of John:

[!bible] John 1:14 - KJV 14. And the Word was made 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.

If you want to see the glory of God - look to Jesus.

Think about this - for hundreds of years of Israel's history - the glory was gone. The cloud left the tabernacle and the temple. Ichabod - where is the glory - was written on the land. For almost six hundred years there was no manifestation of the glory of God.

And then one day Mary gave birth to our precious Savior in the stable and what did the angels sing "Glory to God in the Highest." Here on the mountaintop - the glory is returning, it is coming back - because Jesus is with us.

If you want to experience the glory of God - then look to Jesus. Look to Christ.

I think that is why God spoke audibly here from the cloud and said "This is my beloved son - listen to Him." It was like God was pointing a big arrow that said "Look here. Listen here. This is where the glory is at. Moses and Elijah are great - but their greatness lies in pointing us to Jesus. Look to Christ."

So we've talked about what glory is and where we can see glory, by looking to Jesus - but the next question is how do we experience that?

So our third question is...

3. How do we experience the glory of God?

I think there are some answers for us here in this story and what the disciples later said about this story that can show us how we can experience the glory of God.

First, I think we can look at this story and see that God's glory is experienced through prayer. Through prayer.

It was during a special time of prayer that the disciples saw the transfiguration. And I think it is so for us "When we are praying, we are opening ourselves to God's presence and aligning our hearts with God so we can see Him more clearly."

Listen, I'm not saying you are going to see a light show every time you pray - but I am saying that if you ask God to reveal His glory to you through prayer and you look to the Word of God, it will help you experience the glory of God.

Most of us never experience the glory of God - we never see and experience the greatness of God in our everyday lives - because we spend so little time praying.

A second way we can see the glory of God in our lives is through the word of God.

Look at 2 Peter 1 with me for a second. This is worth turning in your bibles to.

Remember, Peter was one of the ones up on this mountain, viewing the transfiguration of Christ. Look at 2 Peter 1:17-18

[!bible] 2 Peter 1:17-18 - KJV 17. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

So Peter is referencing this event - this story - in these verses. He's talking about how he saw Jesus transfigured and heard the very words of God. Ok, now look at the next verse:

[!bible] 2 Peter 1:19 - KJV 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Did you catch that? Peter, comparing the transfiguration experience to the word of God, said the word of God was "a more sure word." He is saying that the word is more sure than even the transfiguration experience!

Listen, don't be chasing mountaintop experiences - walk with God - read His word. Let it shine in your hearts. Take heed to it - obey it. And you will start to see the glory of God in your life.

So we see the glory of God through prayer and the word - but there is one more thing I want to show you in this passage about how we experience glory.

You see, in the story, Moses and Elijah, appear with Jesus "in glory." They are in glorified form. And one of the takeaways from that is that when we go on to be with Jesus, when we pass over from this life into the next, we are going to be glorified as well.

All throughout Peter's writings - he points people to the coming glory. We might have to go through suffering now - but someday, we will be glorified. We might have to fight sin and the flesh now - but someday, we will be glorified. That should fill you with hope.

So we have talked about what glory is, we've talked about where glory rests, we've talked about how we can practically experience God's glory now through prayer and the scripture. There is one more thing I want you to consider, and that is:

4. What happens when we see the glory of God?

What happens when we look to Jesus, when we stay in prayer, when we stay in the word, when we persevere through the trials of this life? What happens?

Let me read you one verse in 2 Corinthians that talks about glory.

[!bible] 2 Corinthians 3:18 - KJV 18. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This is supposed to describe our life as Christians. We look at the glory of the Lord - and we get to look with an open face. We don't need a veil. God has given us a clear view of Christ through his word. So we look and we keep on looking and do you know what happens?

We are transfigured. We go through a metamorphosis. We are changed by the glory of Christ.

We spend time with God and we shine.

Romans 12:1-2 says:

[!bible] Romans 12:1-2 - KJV

1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We have to have our minds transformed (that's the same word as transfigured) - how does that happen? By beholding in the scriptures the glory of Christ. He changes us. He transforms us.

God is like a sculptor chiseling away at a block of marble. Each time we encounter God's glory - God' chips away the rough edges, shaping us into His image. It's not instant, but it is happening.

So keep on looking to Jesus. Keep on praying. Keep opening that book and looking for Jesus in it. Let the glory of God change you.

Conclusion

I want to close this message with three point of application. Three specific things this story should do to you at various points on your faith journey.

Maybe you are hear today and you have never experienced the glory of Christ in your life because you've never been saved. You've never personally trusted the Gospel. You've never put your faith in Christ. I can't make you have that experience - but I can pray that today you will accept Christ and experience the glorious change He can bring.

Most of us today would say we are saved - we are in the middle of our journey of faith. And sometimes we can get so busy and so sleepy, that we don't make time to see Christ. We don't make time for His glory to change us.

So I want to challenge you today. Maybe this week you need to get back to reading your Bibles and having times of prayer.

If you don't make time for it, it will never happen. You have to make it a priority. Spend time with God and experience His glory and let that glory change how you live.

But there is one more thing that this experience of glory was for the disciples - it was a glimpse into their forever. It was a peek into what heaven would be like. We know that inspired them with hope as they went through some dark days.

And maybe there are people here today that are going through some dark days:

• Sickness
• Family problems
• Declining health
• Loneliness

You need to get a glimpse of the glory of Christ because it can fill you with hope that someday - you will be transformed fully.

[!bible] 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 - KJV 51. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

We are going to be transfigured. We are going to be changed.

[!bible] 1 John 3:2 - KJV 2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

So when you read your Bible and pray this week, remember that it is a glimpse of your forever. We want to see Jesus as much as we can today, because someday we will see Him as He is, and we will be changed, we will be glorified.

Experiencing the glory of Christ changes us. That's my message this morning. Let's stand and close in prayer.