In this sermon, the preacher discusses the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain and the encounter with Moses and Elijah. He emphasizes the presence of four parties on the mountain: the disciples, Moses and Elijah, Jesus himself, and the Father with his voice. The preacher also highlights the four parties in the valley, including a family in need, the disciples in helplessness, the master in response, and the religionists in hostility. The sermon addresses the issue of youths being influenced by evil and parents experiencing anguish, emphasizing the importance of raising children in the ways of the Lord. The preacher concludes by emphasizing the significance of focusing on Jesus and his teachings in our lives.

Now if you see me closing my eyes now and again while I'm preaching, it will be that I'm trying to imagine that there are 5,000 people here this morning, so that my ministry is not affected by the smallness of the numbers, and may the Lord make us faithful in little things as well as big things. I often get more liberty when there's a big crowd, and I get too much liberty sometimes, and it's an annoyance to some people. But usually a small number doesn't make any difference to me. Happy time of fellowship up the mountain with the Lord. Apparently not many people wanted to climb. It's probably because they didn't realise that if you climb the mountain with the Lord, He gives you a number of things to do it with. He gives you the time to climb the mountain with Him, and He gives you the strength to climb the mountain with Him. And He gives you His presence and blessing, you know, if you climb the mountain with Him. Well may that be the result this morning. So again we're going to continue talking about the Lord Jesus. Couldn't have a better theme for a Friday morning, or any morning of the week, or any evening either. You know Christ, when we take a subject like this, Mark's Gospel, then of course we've just got to concentrate on the Saviour, because He's all the way through, from beginning to end. I think that's a good idea. I'm going to preach on one of these other Gospels because there's so much about the Lord. You see one preacher, he was asking his way to a certain chapel, and the boy who came along, of whom he was enquiring, said, well, he said, I'm going that way, I'll take you. He said, it's across the common here. And as they were going across the common land, the preacher thought he would have a little word with the boy, and he said, do you go to Sunday school? He said, is there a Sunday school? And he said, do you go to Sunday school? Well, he said, tell me, what do you learn at Sunday school? He said, all sorts of things. He said, who do you learn it about? He said, all sorts of people. Well, he said, what did you have last Sunday? He said, oh, half a minute. He said, oh, last Sunday we were talking, they told us a story about Jacob. Well, he said, that's very good. And then he said, what did you have the Sunday before that? Oh, he said, I don't think I can. Oh, yes, he said, they told us a story about Joseph. And he said, by the way, boy, he said, do you ever have any stories about Jesus? He said, oh, no, that's right. Well, what a pitter, you know, if it's a story about Jacob, or Joseph, or Abraham, or Zechariah, you should always point to the Lord Jesus. You know, Christ in all the scriptures in a bit of women's ministry that most brethren have on there. And it's a very important subject too, Christ in all the scriptures. And if we don't see the Lord, I'm sure we fail. Because the written word is given to us to portray the living word, the Lord Jesus himself. I thank God for the Bible and the truth it brought. For since I've searched its pages, I've found a rock of ages. As you scan the page, let us read together from Mark chapter 1, or rather Mark chapter 9. He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there shall be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God coming with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them. Now it appeared unto them Elias with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, three booths, one for thee, one for Moses, one for Elias. But he wished not what to say, for they were sore aflame. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him. And suddenly when they looked round about, they saw no men, save Jesus only with themselves. The seventeen, one of the multitude in the valley, answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son who hath a dumb spirit. Wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth and gnashes with his teeth and pineth away. I spoke to your disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not. He answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. But twenty-two and half times the demon or the spirit hath cast him into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst, all things are possible to him that... I'm going to understand, I haven't looked it up myself, that the word believe, I think I did once, that the word believe there in the middle of that verse isn't in the original Greek, and it gives a different sense. Jesus said to him, If thou canst. That's what you say, if thou canst. Now all things are possible to him. May the Lord bless to us that portion from his word. So this morning, the title if I remember correctly is, On the mountain with the Lord, beholding his glory, and in the valley with the multitude, needing his help. Well, on the valley, or rather on the mountain, we find there are four parties. The disciples, Moses and Elijah, our Lord himself, and the Father with his voice. And in the valley, there are four parties. Also, there is the family in need, the disciples in helplessness, and the master in response, and the religionists in hostility, as always was the case. The family in need in the valley. I'm saying this now because we shan't have time to talk on it later on. There was the youth, you see, in the grip of evil. And there were the parents in the grip of anguish. Now there are thousands of examples of this in America today, as well as in my country. Youths in the grip of evil, and parents in the grip of anguish. Sometimes, not always, the parents have proved to be delinquent themselves, and that's why the youths, the young people, are in the grip of evil. That's not always the case, but sometimes. Bring up a child in the way that he should go, and that of course is a promise of the scriptures from the Lord, which we can take and exercise by. Now then, let's look at the Lord Jesus in His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration this morning. He said to them, there shall be some of you standing here who will not taste of death till you've seen the Kingdom of God come with power. And immediately after a few days, they saw the Kingdom of God with power, that is with glory. Glory is one or more of the attributes divine in manifestation. If you see a manifestation of God's power, that's glory. If you see a manifestation of His wisdom, that is glory. If you see a manifestation of His holiness, that's glory. Glory is an outward manifestation of one or more of the attributes of the divine person. And here you find Jesus in His glory. And so they were to see a foretaste of the coming Kingdom. I think I ought to briefly state what I believe. There's a lot of different kinds of belief about the Kingdom, you know. I'll tell you what I believe. I believe that the Lord Jesus is now the King of Glory. Glory. And that is where His Kingdom is, because He is the King of Glory. Psalm 24 speaks of a day when the King of Glory would become the King over all the earth. And when He died and ascended on high, God made Him a Prince and a Saviour, exalted Him and made Him King of Glory. He's not King of Earth now, and this is not His Kingdom now. I think to a great degree this is the Kingdom of Satan now. But there is the Kingdom on earth now in one sense, and that is Christ is reigning as King on earth only in the hearts of His own. King of my life I crown thee now, thine shall the glory be. Therefore the Kingdom, the rule of God is within you, is in the midst of you, if the Lord Jesus is among you and in your heart by faith. But there is still to be a manifestation of Christ's reign, not just in the heart of His own, but throughout the whole world when Christ shall come and His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives. And you can't spiritualise that as amillennialists would do, and His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives and He shall control and conduct the judgement of the nations and then be King over all the earth. And He shall reign from the river to the ends of the earth, and all the earth shall be filled with His glory, the redeemed in His presence, Israel, the godly remnant remaining shall be saved in a day, and all the nations bringing their glory to Christ and all His enemies licking the dust. And that's the reign of Christ on the earth. And then of course there is His eternal Kingdom. The thousand years is just the beginning of His eternal Kingdom when He shall give all the authority to the Father and God's Kingdom shall be over the new heavens and the newer wherein dwelleth righteousness forever. Well that's putting it very briefly and oversimplifying it. But of course going up to the mountain with the Lord and beholding His glory must have been a tremendous people said it is good for us to be here. We started the week like that, didn't we? This week if you will recall on Sunday morning, behold my servant. And beholding the servant of Jehovah in His glory with a foretaste of His glorious Kingdom must be a blessing to anybody. And we beholding the Lord are by the Spirit changed to be like the Lord. If you really get a vision of favour in His glory this morning, you're going out better than you came in. The Holy Spirit is going to bless your soul and you're going to be more like the Lord Jesus. That's something to look forward to. Not my ministry but His face and His glory and beholding Him. Please notice in this foretaste of the coming Kingdom, the Old Testament saints were there. Moses and Elijah represents the Old Testament saints. They were there in this Kingdom. Secondly notice the New Testament saints were there. There were these three disciples, New Testament followers of the Lord Jesus. They were there. So I'm going to be there in the Kingdom ruling over the earth with Christ. And thirdly, Jesus was there and Jesus was glorified before them. We shall behold His glory and be changed in that way with indigestion. Think of it. This is the touch of the Spirit of Christ, His final work in the world for the believers. He appears, He'll touch your body of glory, His glorious body of glory. There and with Jesus. In that coming day when we share His glory and His Kingdom, the Father will have us speak to Jesus and His Son. Don't forget that you shall be taken up with His Son. This is the whole purpose of it. God wants many sons. He wants them all to be like His Son. He wants them all to dwell with His Son. He wants to... In this foretaste of the coming Kingdom, the fourth party there was the Father, wanting them all to see no man, say Jesus only. I suppose Moses would also be a type of the sleeping saints, now resurrected and sharing His Kingdom and glory. You know our loved ones that have gone on before having died in Jesus, raised at His coming. Moses died and he must have been raised to come and stand here. More about that in one moment. And then Elijah was there and he is a picture, or if you like to use as brethren the word type, he is a picture of the living saints changed. Because Elijah didn't die, he was caught up into heaven. My father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof, I forget the exact quotation, something like that, and he was changed and taken into the Lord's presence without dying. Let us very quickly look at these four parties in the mount. First of all the disciples and their consternation, then Moses and Elijah's conversation, then our Lord's transfiguration and then the Father's declaration. First of all the disciples. What a privilege was theirs to have a foretaste of the Kingdom. They were not to taste of death till they had a foretaste. And what a privilege is ours. There is a possibility that we are not going to taste of death till we get ushered into His Kingdom. And then death will have departed forever and we shall never see it. Oh joy, oh delight, should we go without dying. Now this morning when I was praying, this is what I said, Thy Kingdom come. Maybe you never say that. You are too much of a traditionalist PB. I was talking about tradition the other day. Don't get wrapped up too much in tradition, just get back to the Word. And sometimes pray the pattern prayer. Some brethren would say it was more suitable for another dispensation. It is very suitable. And there is worship in it, and there is intercession in it, and there is request in it, you know, and there is such a lot in it. And don't finish right at the end. Go to the extra part that the Saviour spoke about when He said, and when you pray each passing day like that, something like that, don't forget to pray for others. And He told the story of the three friends and the three loaves. Do you remember that? Alright, now don't forget to pray sometimes and say, Heavenly Father hallowed be Thy Name and Thy Kingdom in bright array to reign. It would be glory then to say, well it was a great privilege for them and my word what a privilege we have before us. They said it is good for us to be here and it is Psalm 72 speaking of Christ's coming Kingdom in very great detail. The terms are most noticeable. It says there, and men shall be blessed in Him, that is in His glorious reign, in His Kingdom. And Peter said it is good for us to be here with a foretaste of the Kingdom and what a blessing for us to be there in that coming day. Men should be blessed in Him. Now of course in this sense we are in Christ now and we are blessed in Him now. It is what it says in Ephesians 1-3, blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. And twenty times in the first two chapters of Ephesians there is the phrase in Christ or in the Lord or in whom or in the Beloved. But the thing is because we are in Christ we have all the blessings that are Christ's. And as a matter of fact Christ has all the blessing when He ascended on high after perfecting the will of God. God gave Him all the honour and the power and the majesty and the might and the dominion and the blessing. It is all His and it is His by right but we are in Him. And now the Christian is blessed in Him. But in that day all those that take part in His Kingdom and in His reign shall find His blessing too. And men shall be blessed in Him. And everybody will say it is good for us to be here in the Kingdom. Notice the disciples separation from other things. Now this is the third time this idea has come into our messages this week. Maybe the fourth time. I'll have to count them up to be sure. But He took them to a high mountain apart. Do you remember yesterday He took this man out of the town to do something for him? Do you remember the day before He took the man aside away from the multitude to bless him? And now on this occasion He took them apart into a high mountain. Come away from the world. Get as far away from it as you can. Get away from other people and come and behold my glory. You know some of us never get a glimpse of the glory of Christ until He takes us away somewhere. And this is why we ought to take every opportunity of getting into His presence and beholding Him. Well He leadeth them away. And then thirdly their mistake. They didn't really know what to say. They were fearful at first. It was so glorious. The glory was excelling and it was really beyond them. And it made them fearful at first. And of course they said the wrong thing. Through Peter they said the wrong thing. Then secondly, the second party, Moses and Elijah and their conversation. Now the question is, was this a resurrection for Moses and a reappearing for Elijah or was it just a vision, an alleged resurrection? I'll leave you to decide that. But for these people in the mountain, for the disciples, it was a wonderful experience. It was an evidence of Jesus' glory and coming kingdom. For the Lord Jesus Himself it was a foretaste of His glory through the cross. To Moses and Elijah it was a meeting with the one of whom they were both types and pictures and forerunners. Moses had said, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like me and Him shall you hear. He was a forerunner. And Elijah was a picture and type and forerunner of our Lord Jesus. And for the Father, this particular time in the mount was a time of bringing together some from earth and some from heaven around the person of His Son. And you know God is going to do this. He's going to manifest in that coming day to the whole of the universe according to the epistle to the Ephesians, His wisdom as well as His grace in the church. And He's going to bring them from heaven and bring them from earth and centre them around His Son. And Christ is going to see to it that Christ His Son shall have the glory and be glorified before them all. And this is a fulfilment of the prayer of the Lord Jesus in His high priestly prayer in John 17 when He said, Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am so that they may behold my glory. They beheld His suffering, now they must behold His glory. And God is going to do that very thing without any doubt at all. Well now let's look at their conversation, Moses and Elijah's conversation for a moment. First of all they were taken up with the Lord. That's always the best type of conversation. And they were talking about His crosswork too. This was the centre of all Christian's hope, the crosswork of the Lord. And you know in the coming glory there and our eternal conversation will be about the Saviour and His crosswork. Moses and Elijah were talking about His exodus, Christ's exodus, His death which He was going to accomplish at Jerusalem. What a subject. Now of course Moses had a tremendous exodus. Now if Moses came here this morning we'd say, Moses tell us all about the exodus from Egypt. So Moses wasn't talking about His exodus, he was talking about Christ. And Peter might have said, Moses tell us about your exodus. He says no, let's talk about Jesus. And Moses might have said originally, he might have said to Peter, he might have said to Elijah, Elijah I've never heard of anything like it in my life, your exodus. It was fantastic. Fancy chariots of Israel and the horsemen there coming from the glory and sweeping down the world to take you home to heaven. What an exodus. Elijah talk about your exodus. Tell these men from earth about your exodus. Let's talk about Jesus and His exodus. Isn't that lovely? Lots of things you can talk about. Marvellous experiences you've had. But let's talk about Jesus as the chorus goes. But of course they were obliterated, obliterated these two very soon. And I really think it was Peter's fault. Don't like blaming poor Peter, he said some wonderful things for which we must praise him, really. Think of his great and mighty confession, and no confession had ever been heard on earth like that before in the presence of the Saviour. Christ the son of the living God, so there's a lot to commend Peter for, but he opened his mouth on this occasion and put his foot in it. And he said, Lord, it is good for us to be here. We'll make three booths, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias. And then God spoke and said, Oh no, Peter, no you don't. And he sent a cloud and obliterated the other two, and they saw no man save Jesus only. He said, You listen to my son, hear him. You'll be taken up with my son. I tell you that's what is going to be in the glory. You think you're going to have marvellous times of fellowship with Mary and Jane and Bill and Tom and Dick and Harry that have gone on before. I tell you you're going to have a terrific time of fellowship with Jesus. And he obliterated the other two purposely so that they could see nobody and be taken up with nobody save the Lord Jesus himself. And there's a picture of a man, oh, very, very earthly, very backsliding, taking the introspective view and getting the droops, and then looking around and getting into despair, and then he went into the presence of God and got all his mistakes put right, and the Lord filled his vision, and the glory of the Lord filled his soul, and he said, Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee? Mind you, there used to be, he said, so himself, Asaph, this is Asaph's psalm, he said, I used to be envious of the wicked in their prosperity in the earth, and I wanted to be like them, but he said, I've seen the Lord in his glory, and now who do I want and what do I want but the Lord and to share his glory. And he said, with a great sigh of relief at the end of the psalm, My, he said, my word, it is good, so Peter said, it's good for us to be here, and it certainly was, and it was Jesus only whom have I. Of course you get a few theological ideas here. I know you're all theological students after being at Parker upon so long. You get one or two theological ideas you might like me to go into. I'm not going into detail about these two men. I know some of you would like me to do that, but I'm not going to spend time on that. There were two men on the mount here bearing witness about his death, and there were two men at the sepulchre bearing witness about his resurrection. Were they the same two? And the two men at Olivet bearing witness about his ascension. And the same two men at Olivet were bearing witness about his coming again for his own. Were they the same two men? And the two men in Revelation 11 bearing witness to Christ and his descent to reign. The two witnesses there. And some people like to think they're the same two. But I certainly. So let's pass on. Here is the proof of life after death. And here is a picture of the type of life after death as well. Moses and Elijah were seen alive as individuals. That's one. Two. They were seen alive as continuing personalities. That's precious. Three. They were seen alive as human beings. Men. That's good. They were seen alive and taken up with Christ. As I've said. They were alive consciously. Sixthly, they were alive in glorified bodies. Remember that. And next, I forget the number, they were alive to enjoy fellowship with one another and with others and with him in particular. And they were alive and in touch with the earth. Just like in his future kingdom and glory we're going to reign over the earth. That's a little bit of theology which is also devotionally precious if you look into it. So there was Moses and Elijah and the disciples and thirdly there was our Lord and his transfiguration. His glory they saw and his holiness they felt and his death they considered. His face shone as the sun. His glory they saw. Now he had manifested his glory before in certain ways as I said. Any expression of an attribute of deity was a manifestation of his glory. But this was something different from what they've seen before. And his face shone as the sun. And those were the only words they could find to describe this fantastic experience, a foretaste of his glory. In Luke 9, Dr. Luke says in his writing, when they were awake they saw his glory. They were a bit sleepy and saw nothing. But when they were awake, they said, brother when you get into the presence of Christ make sure you're awake, you'll miss such a lot. When they were awake, they saw his glory and his holiness they felt. His raiment was white as the snow. No flour, that's an old English word, on earth could whiten them. No wonder Peter, knowing something of the holiness of Christ here and in other places said, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord. But you know we won't say that when we get to the glory and share his kingdom and glory then. Because we'll be glorified together with him and there'll be no earthly trappings and hindrances and sinfulnesses about us in that day. We shall be like the Lord, sharing his holiness and his glory in a full and complete way. And then of course there was his death, which they considered. And they saw it in prospect here. It is good for us to be here and hear about Calvary. And he was transfigured before them. But his glory was in relation to his sufferings. And it always is in the scriptures. And the Apostle Peter wrote a letter, an epistle about that one subject. It's his first epistle, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. They're inseparable with the Saviour. And do you know why Peter wrote that about the Saviour? Because he was writing to suffering saints. Now he said the Saviour suffered, but now he's glorified. You are suffering now and you are going to be glorified together with him. Don't forget if you're suffering, the glory is waiting for you. But really, it's not to be honest and fair to the scriptures and to you who are listening to it, it's not talking about ordinary aches and pains and sufferings, you know like backache and toothache and gout and lumbago and that sort of thing. It's talking about suffering for Christ's sake. Do you know these people were scattered abroad that had their homes rudely taken away from them. They'd been dispelled from their own district. They wandered about in dens and caves and in the wilderness. They had no sure dwelling place there. They were mother and dad and kids here and a few leaves there and a few roots somewhere. Do you know what they did as they wandered about? And they really, those that were scattered, they compensed them. If we are partakers of his sufferings, we shall also be of his sufferings. The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. And it is the mass, the way, and I've said that before, and it is the way the servant must follow. Where not only the disciple's consternation and Moses and Elijah's conversation and our Lord's transfiguration, declaration, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. Now the phrase, in whom I am well pleased, is not in this gospel, but it is in the other. Look at Matthew to verify that. In chapter 17. God was very, very pleased with his son. He was going from this experience into a little more ministry. And then to the upper room to arrange the remembrance feast for his disciples. And he was going out to give himself into the hands of wicked men and be crucified and slain. All in the Father's perfect will. Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. And God was very, very pleased with his son. And with this occasion too, the Father was pleased. You see, the Father gave them a little introduction and foretaste of Christ's coming kingdom. And just as Peter was glad to have a foretaste, and Moses and Elijah were glad to have a foretaste, and Jesus was glad to have a foretaste, the Father was glad as well. He said, I'm very pleased. My son is going to suffer, but he's going to be glorified, and I shall see to that. And in him I am well pleased. So please notice his pleasure. And the illustration of that is in relation to David and King Solomon. In chapter 1 of the Kings, of the first Kings, and verse 48, you read the details of David's immense pleasure when his son sat upon the throne of the kingdom and began his reign. And so immense pleasure is illustrated and spoken of here. In whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. Notice not only his pleasure, but his son's preeminence and his saving plea, hear ye him. We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard spoken by Christ. Hear ye him. Now this is the one of three occasions when the Father spoke from heaven. Every time he spoke from heaven, he spoke of the greatest sermon in the world has three points, three headings. The greatest sermon in the world came from heaven. The greatest sermon in the world came from the Father's heart. The greatest sermon in the world was about the Father's Son. And on the first occasion, at his baptism, he says, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This was a baptism of repentance. And this first heading in this greatest sermon in the world was about Christ's purity. This was a baptism of repentance. But Christ was pure. He was just fulfilling all righteousness in submitting to John's baptism. And the Father was rejoicing in his absolute holiness. And the second heading of this greatest sermon in the world was here in the Transfiguration when God the Father spoke about his ministry, first of all his purity, now his ministry. He says, hear ye him. Whatever Jesus says, hang on to it. Give the more earnest heed to the things that Jesus said. Don't listen so much to Moses or to Elijah as you do to my Son. Listen for the voice of Jesus. His ministry is the greatest ministry in the world. He is the greatest prophet that has ever been known. He will give to you my words. And my words are living words. Hear ye him. So in the greatest sermon of the world, the first point was from the Father about his Son's purity. The second heading was from the Father in heaven about the Son's ministry. And the third point was from the Father in heaven. And once again the Father opened heaven and said, I have glorified thy name and I will glorify it again. And that's what we've been talking about. That's what they had a foretaste of. That's what we've had a foretaste of. I'm glad you came with me and the Lord into the mountain to get a foretaste of his glory and his coming kingdom and to hear again the greatest sermon. I'm pleased. O Lord, take us up the mountain again and again and again to behold Jesus, to be taken up solely and only with him. Until thou dost take us up through the crowds into the glory itself and we're changed into his image and we behold his glory. And we're glorified together with him. How we worship thee for Jesus. Hope in him. Give thee thanks.