"I come now to the fourth thing, and that is to notice the three disciples: 'But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep ...' (verses 32-33). Observe their sin — they were weary, and had fallen asleep. What! asleep, when there was such a glory around Christ. Asleep, when redeemed men had come down from heaven and were talking with him. O Lord, what is man? Man is but dust. Ali! brethren, does not this show that ordinances in themselves will not do? If anything could have kept them from sleep it was surely this; but just as they slept at Gethsemane, so they slept at Tabor; they slept both in his sufferings and in his glory. Often you say, If I had but these privileges - If I but sat under a faithful ministry, I would be holy. It is not all the ordinances in the world that will do; grace, and grace alone will do. Observe Peter's joy, 'Master, it is good for us to be here There are many that could not have endured to be there. Many of you cannot bear the conversation of the redeemed on earth, how could you relish their conversation when they came down from heaven? This shows the old man, and this also shows the new man. The old man is, 'Let us make three tabernacles'; The new man is, 'Lord it is good for us to be here.' So that you can say, it is good to be here. Last of all, notice the Father's answer: 'While he thus spake, there came a cloud and overshadowed them; and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him' (verses 34-35). This was the third answer to prayer, 'This is my beloved Son.' He received from 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.' When the disciples came down from the mount, they would hear Christ in another manner, they would hear him as one whom they had seen in heaven. And so, brethren, in like manner, if you can get a sight of the glory to which the Father has exalted him, you will hear in a different manner: 'My sheep hear my voice ... and they follow me' (John 10:27). Once we heard Christ's voice, and now we follow him, and soon we shall hear his voice again, and be where he is, and to all eternity we shall follow him. Amen." -Robert Murray McCheyne