In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of transformation and how the glory of God can change our perception of Jesus. He uses the analogy of an optical illusion where a picture of Marilyn Monroe transforms into Albert Einstein as you get closer to it. Similarly, the preacher explains that when we draw closer to God, our perception of Jesus changes and we are transformed into his image. He emphasizes that this transformation is not a physical change like the Incredible Hulk, but rather a spiritual change that occurs as we deepen our relationship with God. The preacher encourages the audience to seek a deeper connection with God in order to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus.

Praise God. Bless the Lord. I just want to continue here in the presence of the Lord, and I just want to get straight into the Word. Now, I don't want to miss this. Praise the Lord. Turn with me to Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9. Praise God. Mark chapter 9. If you can turn with me to verses 2 and 3. I want to talk about the glory of God. God has already spoken to us about His glory. And He wants to continue to speak to us about the glory of God. Mark 9, 2 and 3. And the Scripture reads, And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and He led them up into a high mountain apart by themselves, and He was transfigured before them. And His clothing became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them. And Jesus took these three to a higher place. He took them to a further place as well. And He thought about that. And He thought about how some have a special clearance, security clearance. I think of the Pentagon in America. And some have particular clearance into some areas. But they can't get into the heart. But there are others that can get into the very heart of the Pentagon. They can know all of the secrets, could I say. And the three here, they were brought up to the mountain. They were brought further into Gethsemane. And why they were afforded a special privilege, I don't really know this morning, but there's one reason, and that was that they would be a witness. That they would be a witness of the glory of God up the mountain. That they would be a witness of the agony of the Savior in Gethsemane. Because the law of God stipulated that truth had to be verified by two or three witnesses, not by one. In fact, in Matthew 26 and 60, we read about when Jesus is arrested, the trial. The Scripture says, at the last came two false witnesses. There needed to be two or three to verify what had taken place. And in this high place, Jesus was changed. He was changed. He was transfigured. That word means changed into another form. He was changed into another form. Now, let me say this morning, it was not a David Banner change. I've referred to the Incredible Hulk before. It wasn't that David Banner changed, because when he changed into the Hulk, his whole body changed. His form changed. It wasn't that. It was something like, in my mind's eye, to picture it. Let's think of the theater. And let's think of an actor comes on the stage. There's not a lot of light. You can see the actor on the stage. And then all of a sudden, the spotlight, or the spotlight's center on that actor. And you see that person in more detail. There, lighted up, could I say. Jesus' person, His body was not altered, was not changed. When the glory of God was manifested. And the picture that they would see, the disciples would see, would be a different picture. Their picture of the Son of God would change. Their picture of Jesus Christ of Nazareth would be altered, would be changed because of the glory. The glory of God changed their picture. It altered their picture. When I was online yesterday, I saw a wonderful thing. I saw a picture, an optical illusion. And when you're far away, it's Marilyn Monroe. But as you make your way closer to that picture, it begins to change. It changes slowly. And when you get right up to the very laptop, it's now Albert Einstein. It's an amazing thing. It's an optical illusion. So when you're far away, it's Marilyn Monroe. And the closer you get to it, you can see as you move forward, it begins to change. It begins to change until finally, it's no longer Marilyn Monroe. It's Albert Einstein, a wonderful thing. And that reminds me somewhat of the glory. It reminds me of the heart of God seeking to draw us closer to Himself. Closer into the glory. That we might be changed into the image of the Son of the Living God. The more we draw near to Him, the deeper we go, the further we go. Our picture is lost. Our image is lost. And we become more like the Son of the Living God. Hallelujah. You see, the two images were superimposed on top of one another. And when I think of that, and when I think when I was born again, the image of the Son of God was superimposed, could I say, into my life. Was put into my life, put into your life. 2 Corinthians 3.18 But we all with unveiled face beholding as in the mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Hallelujah. By the Spirit of the Lord. There is a deeper understanding, friends, this morning. There is a deeper revelation. There is a deeper intimacy. The higher we go, the further we go into that glory. Into the glory of the Living God. And as we pass through, could I say, each degree of glory, each stage of glory. It's a phenomenal journey. Good things happen. Two things happen, could I say, this morning. There is a Filipino guy. Amazing story about his life. His idol is Superman. His hero is Superman. And since the 90s, he has went under the knife to change his appearance that he might be like Superman. It's true. And we are told he is now virtually unrecognizable. He looks like Superman. And we are told to this day, to this day, he still thinks of other ways to make himself look like his idol. I am amazed by that. Because he will even, or has thought about going to the extreme, to the extreme of enlarging his stature. And this type of surgery involves breaking bones to make him taller. And he is thinking about it. Because that's his passion. And he will go to any extreme to be like his idol. Any type of pain. I mean, that's crazy stuff. We would all say that's crazy stuff this morning. But could we as God's people this morning take that passion and cry out to God for our hearts and lives to be changed into the image of the idol, the Son of God. He is the image. He is the image. And we are to be transformed. And we are being transformed into his image. This condition that he has is called Body Dysmorphic Disorder. People aren't happy with how they look. They aren't happy with their appearance. And so they change and alter their appearance. I'm not happy this morning. Not about the external. I'm not happy about the internal because I want to be like the Son. And I don't feel that I'm there. And I know this this morning that when the Spirit of God works in me and works in you, it's quite a challenging thing. To get us from this place to get us to the other place. It's amazing. The Spirit of God is at work. When we are in that stage of glory, I believe, as I say, the Spirit of God is working in us, inwardly, changing us. You see, that Filipino guy, he could do it through the surgeon. And the only way it can happen for us is through the sanctifier. We can't do it ourselves this morning. We need God to do it. We need the Spirit to do it. We can't rock the change. We can't bring the change. Only God can bring the change. Another thing happens, I believe, in the glory, when you're in the glory of God, when you're in that stage of glory. It reminds me of a museum, let's say, onto a famous person. Let's think of Elvis. And if you go to Graceland, it's a museum onto Elvis, the king of rock and roll. That's what they called him. And you will move from room to room in that house or that place. And as you move into each room, you get a bigger or a greater understanding of Elvis Presley. As you move from room to room, you get a greater knowledge, a greater awareness of who he was. And that's the glory of God. And that's what happens when we are brought into a new stage of glory. The Spirit of the living God reveals unto us a greater revelation of the Son of God, a greater understanding of the heart of our God. And it's amazing. It truly is. John 16 and 13 says, Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear. That shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. Hallelujah! It reminds me of the guide, let's say, the guide at Graceland. He's an authority figure on everything Elvis. But here's the thing. He doesn't talk about himself. He talks about Elvis. He talks about the one that is his hero. The one that he has the knowledge about. He doesn't speak of himself. And that's the same of the Spirit of God. Hallelujah! When we are in the glory, the Spirit speaks of the Son. When we are in the glory, the Son is magnified by the Spirit. John 16, 15 He shall take of mine, and he shall show it to you. John 15, 26 He shall testify of me. Oh, glory to God! As we go deeper, as we go higher, as we go forward, we get to know Christ more, and more, and more in our lives. Hallelujah! Glory to God! You see, I think of the museum at Graceland. As people move from room to room, and they might come to an item behind glass that's encased in glass, and it might be an item of clothing, and it might be, let's say, one of his jumpsuits, or something like that there. But they have no knowledge, so to speak of it. They can see it with their eyes, but they have no knowledge of when it was worn, and so forth, and so on. And that makes me think about this book. We have this book this morning. We have the Word of God before us this morning. But we need the Spirit of the Living God to make it alive to us. We need the Spirit of the Living God to show us and to teach us glory to God. Without that, without that, where are we? Where are we? John 3.30 says, this is John the Baptist, He must increase, but I must decrease. It's all about Christ. When the glory of God is here, it's all about Christ. The Spirit makes it all about Christ in us. And we must, to others as well, we must always make it about Christ. The Spirit makes it about Christ in here this morning. And as we go out into the highways and byways, we make it about Christ. Colossians 3.3 says, Whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Hallelujah! All that we do must be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and no other. You see, the disciples saw the glory of God when they were up the mountain. They saw the glory before their eyes. The glory of God. He is the High and the Lofty One this morning. And Jesus is deity. It was manifest glory to God. And they were transfixed. And they were mesmerized. Oh, that the glory of God would manifest in this place. Even today that we might be transfixed. That we might be mesmerized by that glory of God. Hallelujah! Glory of God. Even the very clothing of Jesus was changed. The clothing. There's no life in clothing. And yet the clothing was changed. That dull clothing, could I say. You see, deity took the dull and changed it. God's glory this morning, not only alters lives, but it alters things. Amen? It alters things. The glory of God put a shine on His clothes. The glory of God put a shine, a splendor on the clothes from a dull to a shine. Exodus 4-3, we read about the rod of Moses and God commands Moses, cast it on the ground. And so He cast it on the ground and it became a serpent. And the glory of God touched a thing. It touched a thing and it changed it. And I tell you something this morning, the glory of God can change some things. The glory of God can change your business. The glory of God can change your job. The glory of God can change your finances. The glory of God can change your prison sentence. A marriage and singleness. The glory of God can touch things and change them. Hallelujah! Not only lives, but change things. As it did with the Lord's clothes. As it did with the rod. Glory! With God, nothing shall be impossible this morning. Nothing shall be impossible. Somebody put it this way. This is beautiful. Rays of glory darted through His flesh and through His clothes. Rays of glory. Oh, to have Christ's light and glory dart through us. His light darted through our lives. As we walk around the world. Addison took electricity. He lit up America. In fact, he lit up the world. And that God would take the glory and light up the church. The glory of God. Brighter than ever before. That the glory would make us brighter than ever before in this world. The glory of God. We read about the temple of Solomon and we read after they had their worship service they prayed and they worshipped the Lord in unity and in one accord the glory of God came down. The house was filled with a crowd. Even the house of the Lord. So that the priests could not stand and minister by reason of the crowd for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. Oh friends, we need the crowd. We need the crowd this morning. We need the crowd. We live in a land where there are many clouds in the sky. Many clouds. There are many clouds indeed this morning in the sky that bring forth rain. The sky is full. Well, we need the crowd of God and we need the rain from the crowd. We need the Spirit of God in our midst this morning. We need the Spirit of God in the church. You see, the house was filled with a crowd. It was filled with the glory of the Lord and yet today the house is filled with man's stuff. Man's stuff fills the house and not the glory of God. Let me illustrate. There was this guy called William and William had a lovely house. Lovely house, spick and span. And he looked after it, he took care of it and he had lots of nice things in his house. But he had a friend called Joe and Joe fell in hard times and was homeless and so William speaks to Joe, come and move in with me, I'll help you out. And anyways, William gives Joe his keys and tells Joe, I'm going to work this morning, you move in while I'm at work. And anyways, William finishes work that day and he comes back five or six o'clock in the evening. He opens the door. Complete change in his house. The house has changed. Joe has brought so much stuff into William's house. The house is now littered with stuff. In fact, Joe has actually taken down some of William's pictures. Some of William's stuff has been taken down and Joe's stuff has been put up in place. And for me, that's a picture of the house of the Lord. There's so much stuff of man that's in the house of God and we've taken stuff down and we've removed stuff. That's the truth this morning. Does God even recognize His own house? Because I'll tell you something, William didn't. But does God recognize His own house this morning? Does God even recognize this place where we put too much stuff in the midst? It's not anyone's house this morning but the Lord's house. It's the Lord's house this morning, the Scripture says. And I'll be honest with you, if we have turned it into anything, it's not the house of the Lord, it's the house of Horace. We've put so much stuff in there that grieves the heart of God. And may God Almighty have mercy upon us because if we want to see revival, if we want to see the quickening power of the living God, the stuff needs to go. We need the glory of God in this place. The glory of the living God. It's God's house. It's not the assemblies of God's house. It's not the free Presbyterians' house. It's not the Presbyterians' or the Methodists' house. It's the house of the living God. It's His. It's His. Jesus said in Matthew 16 and 18, I will build my church. It's His this morning. It's been bought by blood. It's not mine. For the last men have built churches with their hands and with their hearts. Not only their hands, but their hearts have built churches. And their hearts have been country to God. And the glory of other names are posted on the walls of many a church and many a denomination across this land. And many are monuments to man's glory. To the glory of men and not to the glory of the living God. Temples built by men's hands. And how proud they stand. And people stand in awe of the great buildings. And people stand in awe of the great denominations and the great temples. They're in awe. They're consumed by them. The exterior and the interior and the concepts and the designs and the wisdom of men. But here's what the Lord says. And there's almost, I feel, a lament in this. In Matthew 12, 6. But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple. There is one greater. That the temple in His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is greater than any denomination. He is greater than any church. There is one greater. And He is the Lord God Almighty. Hallelujah. Bless His name this morning. There is one greater. Have we erected a tower of Babel? Does church today, is it reminiscent of the tower of Babel? We will build. We will build and reach God. Oh, the programs and all that I will do. I will construct this to meet with God. And it's like a tower of Babel. Oh, how the disciples were so in awe of the buildings of the temple and the beauty of the buildings. But yet the Master says in Mark 13 and 2, And Jesus said unto them, Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. Oh, that God Almighty would bring the rack and bow. Amen. And demolish a few things. Even in here, if it's not in line with His heart, that God would bring the rack and bow. We need a move of God. But we need to change some things. There's no doubt about that. The glory of God filled the temple. And here's the amazing thing. It affected the priests. And this is a call to me. And this is a call to all those who are in leadership today. I don't care who you are. I don't care if you wear a collar or not wear a collar. The glory should affect the leaders first. It should affect the priests. And it affected the priests here because they could not minister because of the glory of God. Sometimes God decides to interrupt the ministry. That's a good thing. Glory to God. And may God continue to interrupt the ministry in this church. Amen. Oh, that God would do it. And we need to get out of the way. Too many priests are fighting to stand. Amen. They're fighting to stand because they did it this way and they did it that way and they did it for decades this way and did it for centuries that way. And they will muster all of the strength that they have to stand. To stand. But the priests here, they could not stand. I pray for more times of interference. Amen. We pray, God, for interference. Interference. When we come together collectively in this ministry, think of website hackers. People that hack into websites. They hack into websites and they alter. They change the script. They change the picture. Oh, that God would hack and oh, that God would interfere and change the script and change the picture in this church and the churches in this land because I tell you something, we need a move of God. We need a move of God, friends, this morning. Hallelujah. Oh, that God would do it here. May the cloud of God thwart and hinder and stop some ministry even this morning. You see, you can't stand in the glory of God. You can only sit in awe. You can only be amazed at the glory of the living God. In Mark 9 and verse 7, the Scripture says, and there was a cloud that overshadowed them and the voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son. Hear Him. That word overshadowed means to envelop in shadow and I tell you, friends, this morning, we need to be enveloped in the cloud. We need to be enveloped, swamped, consumed in the very cloud of glory. And I tell you something, when the glory, when the cloud is here, when the cloud is manifest, it will tell you about Jesus. It will tell you about the Son of God because that's what the cloud did. It spoke of Christ. It spoke of Jesus. The cloud speaks of Jesus. This is my beloved Son. This is my beloved Son. And I tell you, if there's revival today, if there's an awakening today in whatever land, it must be about Christ because the glory will speak of Christ. The Spirit will testify of the Son of the living God. And that's the truth. There was a voice from the cloud. God spoke. The Father spoke from the cloud. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And what does He finish with? Hear Him. Hear Him. Hear not me, so to speak. Hear Him. Hear Him. Hear His words. It's all about His words this morning. I can give you stuff. I can give you stuff, but if it is not from heaven, friends, don't hear it. Hear His words. It's His words that have the preeminence. It's His words that have priority over all things in this ministry. It's the words of the living God. It's the words of Christ. As John 6 and 68 says, you have the words of eternal life. Hallelujah! He has the words of eternal life this morning. The Son of God and no other. Hallelujah! And we rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice in Him, in the presence of the living God, in the words of Christ. Glory to God. I know, my friends, indeed this morning, that this may not be a typical Sunday morning message. But who cares? It's what God Almighty wants to say. Amen! Amen! And we don't want to tone it down. It's what the Spirit of the living God says. Hallelujah! And if we preach, and if we speak the prophetic word of the Lord, then can we be, in many ways, is it reminiscent of John the Baptist who spoke the word of the Lord? And they come out. They come out to hear God's word. It's all about Him. We need the glory. We need the glory of God this morning. As God said earlier on through the prophetic message, it's the glory. And not only does He want to fill this place with His glory, this church with His glory, He so wants to fill your life with His glory. With His glory. Hallelujah! And as we indeed embrace and walk in tandem and cooperate with that glory, I tell you something, change takes place. We get a deeper understanding of Him. A deeper revelation of His heart and what matters to God and what matters to Heaven. Not what matters to denominations and men and programs and all that sort of stuff which is trivial. In my opinion, it's the heart of God. We want the heart of God. We want to be in tandem with His heart. His heartbeat. What does God want for us? What does God want for today? What are we to be? What is the church to be today in this world? Glory to God. And I tell you something, friends, this morning, I am not going to look, I am not going to look to some fantastic business guru across the waters. I'm going to look to the Word of the Lord. Hallelujah! Because that's where the keys are. And that's where the principles are. In the book, in the Word of the Lord, not some business guru or some clever man who has clever rhetoric, who stands and speaks to chairmen. I'm not interested. It's the Word of the Lord. All that we need pertaining to any move of God is found in this book this morning. Hallelujah! That God be the glory. And we thank the Lord this morning for the words of Christ. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words of our God shall never pass away. They stand forever. Hallelujah! They stand forever. Bless the Lord. We do need a move of God. We need the Word of the Lord to touch us and impact us and to cause us to react and to change us big time. To shake us big time. The Word of the Lord. The glory. The glory. Where the glory is, the preaching of Christ is. You can't have the glory and not have the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! Glory to God. They couldn't stand. You've often heard, when the glory comes down, it's an amazing thing. You've heard me say about Moses and sanctify yourselves. He said to the people of Israel, the Lord will meet with you tomorrow. And he came down in thunder and he came down in lightning and they were terrified at the glory of the living God. Moses. Moses interceded. Moses. They called him Moses the mediator because they were afraid. Do something. Tell the Lord to stop or we will die. I don't think, even Scott Hines, I have no fathom of the glory, but I'll tell you one thing. I thank the Lord that we are being moved into stages of glory. In many ways, this be a prophetic thing of the Lord moving us even into a new place of glory in this church. A deeper revelation of the Son of God. Amen. Bless the Lord. Let's just pray over that if we can. Father, we thank You, Lord, this morning for this message. And God, You are a God that brings such things. The balm of Gilead. You heal the broken in heart. You bring words of comfort. You bring words, Lord God, that encourage us. You bring words, O God, that just bless us. Messages of bless. But O God, our Father, You bring messages to us as well that cause us, Lord God, even to shudder. That cause us, O God, even to waken up from our sleepiness and our lethargy. And God, we need all those messages. We need all of what heaven has to say. God, we despise nothing from the Lord because it's food. It's all food. And it's all sustenance, God, to us. And Lord, we need Your direction because, Lord God, this morning, even as I see, if it wasn't for the crowd of God in the wilderness, where would they be? If it wasn't for the fire, where would they be, God? They would be wandering even more around and around and around. They would have been stuck still in the wilderness if it wasn't for the crowd to lead them, for the fire to lead them. O God, we pray for that crowd to lead us. O God, by Your Spirit, lead us, O God. Lead this ministry, Lord, even deeper and even further. And let this ministry, God, in many ways, Lord, be a picture of the three. O God, afford us all in this place special privilege to see things and to witness things that not even others, not even the majority will not see because yet again this morning we are small in number, God. And yet, Lord, You can take us to heights and we can ascend to heights in the glory and in the presence of the Lord. O God Almighty, we pray that we would continue to be entrenched and stand fixed on the words of Christ and in His words alone. O blessed Savior, blessed Jesus, Lord, we thank You this morning that we can only ever, God, draw near, draw near to any glory because of Calvary. Lord, we cannot even taste and see that the Lord is good without You. We cannot approach the throne of the Father with boldness without the blood. We cannot, Lord, be blessed exceeding abundantly without Christ. Lord, it's all about You. And I pray, God, above all things, Lord, may there be above all a revival of the supremacy of Christ being preached in this land time and time again. For I'm not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God on the salvation. Glory to God. Hallelujah to God Almighty. Be the glory. Amen. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord.