A Glimpse of Glory

[0:00] Well, any of you have a Bible, it's Luke chapter number 9. Luke chapter number 9, if you are able to stand for the reading of God's Word, I ask that you would. Luke chapter 9, if there is any children's church in here, 1st through 5th grade, they can go ahead and slip out.

[0:11] Children's church is already back there. But it is wonderful to be in the Lord's house. I'm thankful that love went deeper. I'm thankful that He knew me, and yet He loves me. That gets to me every single time.

[0:24] And I love the burden that Brother Nathaniel shared. And I encourage you to be back tonight as He preaches and just lays some of that out a little bit more.

[0:35] But God has called us all to be part of the mission. And we're going through the book of Luke right now, Jesus and His mission. And He's walking here on this earth to show us how to live, how to love.

[0:45] He's going to give His life for us so that we can take that message to others as well. So if you found your place there in Luke chapter 9, we're going to begin reading in verse 28 where the Bible says this. And it came to pass, about in eight days after these sayings, these sayings is when Peter said, Thou art the Christ, and then Jesus said, Hey, this is what it looks like to be a follower.

[1:05] You have to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. And they're kind of reeling from all of these things and trying to figure out what's going on. And so after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James and went into a mountain to pray.

[1:21] And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glycery. And behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias, or Elijah, who appeared in glory and spake of His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.

[1:38] But when Peter and they that were with Him were heavy with sleep, Peter always is taking a nap, it seems like. He wakes up and he's thinking, What is going on here?

[1:50] And the heavy was sleeping. When they awake, they saw His glory and the two men that stood with Him. And it came to pass, as they departed from Him, Peter said unto Him, Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here.

[2:03] Let us make three tabernacles, one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias, not knowing what He said. Verse 34, While He thus spake, there came a cloud and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into the cloud.

[2:19] And there came a voice out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son, hear Him. And when the voice was passed, Jesus was found alone.

[2:30] And they kept it close and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. This morning I want to preach a message entitled this, A Glimpse of Glory.

[2:43] They've had a really rough kind of week, and Jesus knew that. But He wanted to show them that, hey, this suffering talk, this taking up your cross, me dying and leaving, it's not the end of the story.

[2:54] He wanted to show them a little bit of, hey, what's coming? A coming attraction, so to speak. So I think it's going to be a help to us this morning. Let's go to Him in prayer, and then we'll dive right in.

[3:05] Father, thank You for this opportunity to be in Your house. Lord, thank You for just the beautiful songs that we were able to sing, that we heard sung this morning, that remind us of Your love for us.

[3:15] And we see it even here in our text. Lord, that You're showing us who You really are. Lord, that's what I ask this morning, that You would make that known to every single person under the sound of my voice. That there's someone that needs to know You as their Savior, that today would be that day.

[3:28] For those that need to be encouraged, and as they're walking maybe a difficult road, and it feels like just trials and suffering, and all the things that this world brings, Lord, to remind us that this world is not our home.

[3:40] That we're just passing through, and there is a coming glory. Lord, I pray You be with me now. Empty me of self. Fill me with Your Spirit, that I might be a help to Your people. In Christ's name, amen. Thank You so much for standing.

[3:50] You may be seated. Have you ever wished you could just freeze time? You know, always superhero powers. I wish I could fly. I wish I could run fast. I wish I could jump, dunk.

[4:01] You know, that whole little thing at the beginning, that was to help you dunk a basketball. That's what it's for. So maybe some of you boys can dunk a basketball one of these days. But you know, there's times in these superpowers, like, man, I'd love to freeze time.

[4:14] Maybe there's moments in your life, and I remember maybe when Mackenzie was born, our firstborn, and I held her, I thought, wow. First I thought, how in the world am I going to do this? Still trying to figure that out 14 years later.

[4:26] But when you have those moments, you just kind of want to freeze the time. Maybe you've been somewhere, you've been on a vacation, been at a beautiful sight in the world, and you just kind of want to, you're overwhelmed by this breathtaking view, and you just want to kind of pause time and just take it all in.

[4:42] Maybe, rarely, you're sitting around the dinner table with your family, everybody's getting along, and you think, man, if I could just freeze this. We all like each other, we all agree on the meal.

[4:53] This is a moment in history. You know, there's times like that in our life where we just want to push the pause button, just kind of hang out right there. And we've all had moments like that, moments we wish we could just bottle up and never lose.

[5:06] And as we come into our text today in the Gospel of Luke, we see that Peter's having kind of one of those moments. Maybe you've heard these verses, it's the Mount of Transfiguration.

[5:18] And after a really tough week and some really tough things that the disciples had to hear, and they're trying to kind of ingest and figure out what it means in their own life, Jesus takes them up to a mountain, and he is transformed.

[5:31] It's not, he didn't become a different person, he kind of just lifted the veil a little bit, just to let him see who he really was. And they began to get that glimpse of him, and Peter's there, and he wakes up, and he sees what's going on, and in typical Peter fashion, he doesn't know what to do, so he just speaks.

[5:50] You know people like that? You're thinking, it'd be better if you just didn't say anything at all. And Peter says, man, you know what? Jesus, let's just freeze time right here.

[6:02] Hey, you remember all that suffering talk? Forget about that. Let's just camp out right here for a while. Let's just stay on top of this mountain. But God had a different plan.

[6:13] Jesus didn't bring Peter, James, and John up to the top of the mountain for them to live there. This wasn't supposed to be a permanent situation. Here's really what it helps us to do.

[6:23] It helped them, and it's going to help us in our own life. This mountaintop was meant to prepare them for the valleys that were coming. Because I don't know if you found this out in life yet, there are some mountaintop experiences, but there are some deep valleys as well.

[6:38] And we can walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And we can fear no evil. Why? Because Jesus is with us, and he was reminding his disciples both then and now that the same is true. And I really believe when we come to this passage that that's what it's really all about.

[6:53] That when life is hard, when discipleship is costly, when following feels like a struggle, we need moments to see his glory, to see who he really is, to see who we really are following.

[7:04] And what it does, it strengthens us for the road ahead. That's what the transfiguration is. This isn't just some light show. Hey man, this is a cool little side. Hey, there's some hard things, and we're going to see when he comes down the mountain there's some hard things.

[7:18] So let's just kind of hang out for a minute. No, it's much more than that. See, last week we saw in verse 22 that Jesus said, here's what's going to happen guys. I'm going to suffer many things, and I'm going to be rejected by the chief priest, and they're going to kill me.

[7:33] Now we mentioned this. Nobody killed him. He laid down his life. But he said, this is what's going to happen. This is where this is heading. And then he added, if that wasn't hard enough for them to handle, and if you want to follow after me, you're going to sign up for the very same things.

[7:51] That if any man come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow. And I think you got the sense last week, if you were here, those are heavy words.

[8:02] They were thinking crowns, and they were thinking power, and they were thinking prestige, and they were thinking, hey man, we're on the ground floor of this whole Messiah thing. They didn't see a cross.

[8:14] They didn't see suffering. They didn't see difficulties in the future. And for about a week, we see that they're trying to process this. This is not what they signed up for.

[8:26] You ever signed up for something? Thinking, nope, this is not what I signed up for. That was basically me, K through 12th grade. I'm like, this is not what I signed up for. Especially in middle school, they just took my recess away. I'm like, how am I supposed to live?

[8:38] I mean, life is recess. But no doubt the disciples were beginning to really feel the weight. I mean, these were men that had left everything. They had left their nets.

[8:49] They had left their jobs. They had left their professions. They had forsaken all to follow Christ. And now it seems like, this is not good. And Jesus knew it.

[9:00] Let me remind you, Jesus always knows. I don't know what you're walking through. I don't know the difficulties you might be facing in your life right now and the struggles, but He knows. And if anything this morning, I just want you to see just a glimpse of who Jesus really is.

[9:16] because when we get a good picture of that, it changes how we live our life. So He took Peter and He took James and He took John up this mountain. Why? Because He was preparing them for what was to come.

[9:30] Listen, Jesus cares so much about His followers and His disciples. He doesn't leave us in the dark. No, He promises never to leave us nor to forsake us. And He wanted them to really see who He was.

[9:41] Man, they had seen Him feed a bunch of people. That's cool. They had seen Him heal some people. I mean, that's amazing. When they thought they were going under in the boat, He just calmed the wind. Man, that's pretty awesome.

[9:52] And they were beginning to kind of get these puzzle pieces of who Jesus was and kind of it's starting to come into view. But now He's going to pull the veil back and show them really who He is. That's the first thing that I want us to see this morning.

[10:03] Number one is we need to look at the glory of the Son of God. In verse number 29, the Bible reminds us that He came into this mountain to pray and as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered and His raiment was white and glycerine.

[10:19] Matthew's account, Matthew 17, tells us that His face shone as bright as the noonday sun. Think about it like this. It's so bright. I mean, when the disciples are there, they're looking like that. Kind of like you were last night when you opened the fridge at midnight.

[10:33] You know, trying to find something in there. I mean, a blinding light. It's going to just, you can't even fathom it. The Bible kind of describes His clothes in multiple accounts. They're dazzling and it's like lightning was kind of woven into the fabric.

[10:47] I know that's kind of crazy but that's just how I read the Bible. I mean, they can't even look upon Him. Peter's thinking, what is going on? They're sleeping. Every time they get an opportunity, they always seem to fall asleep in the most important moments.

[11:05] But simply put, it was very evident when they came to, when the disciples woke up, that this was no ordinary man. This wasn't just some rabbi that was a really good teacher. This wasn't just some miracle worker from Nazareth.

[11:19] No, they're beginning to realize who He truly is and Peter already said, thou art the Christ. And now Jesus is saying, I am. You can see me for who I really am.

[11:31] And God is pulling back the veil of His humanity and He's revealing that He is glorious and He's divine and He's eternal. And this isn't the first time God's glory has shown up in Scripture like this.

[11:45] We see Moses, when you study the life of Moses, He goes up into Mount Sinai and He's in the presence of God for those 40 days and when He comes down from the mountain, He's been in the presence of God so long, He had to wear a veil on His face because His own face was shining.

[12:00] And that was just a reflection of God's glory. It was just a fading afterglow. When you study Solomon's temple and Solomon begins to pray to dedicate the temple, this cloud comes down, the glory of God, the Shekinah glory is what we call it in Scripture.

[12:17] It comes down and it fills the whole house. And Israel is like, whoa, what is going on here? Maybe you know the life of the Apostle Paul. He was on the road to Damascus.

[12:30] He was going to arrest Christians and to get rid of them and Jesus of Nazareth showed up, the risen Savior. And the Bible says that He's shown bright as the noonday sun.

[12:40] It blinded Paul and it changed his life. But here in our text this morning, the disciples are not seeing a reflection or a symbol or a bright light.

[12:51] They are seeing Jesus for who He truly is. They were seeing the very source of glory. See, Jesus doesn't borrow it from anybody.

[13:02] No, He is. You see in the end that there's going to be no need for the sun because He's going to be in the city. He is the light that we are searching for. And in verse 30, we see He's not alone, that He's having this conversation.

[13:16] They wake up and the disciples start looking and say, whoa, who are those people? And they had a little name tag. It said, hello, I'm Moses. Hello, I'm Elijah. I don't know how it was, but they realized real quickly who this was.

[13:31] And the Bible, that's what it says in verse number 30, Behold, there talked with Him two men which were Moses and Elias. See, Moses represented the law. Moses was their hero.

[13:43] Abraham and Moses, these men of the Mount Rushmore, so to speak, of Israel, he was the great deliverer. And I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Exodus and how God used this man, Moses, to deliver his people out of bondage in Egypt.

[13:59] He was the one that God gave the commandments through and the tabernacle and the priesthood and the sacrifices. And you think, what was all that about? Here's what it was about. It was about pointing forward to Jesus. That the Old Testament is just a shadow of things to come.

[14:13] But Jesus is the fulfillment of that and He is the true deliverer and He is the final sacrifice. And He's there with Elijah the prophet. I mean, you talk about a prophet that was bold, a prophet that wasn't afraid to speak the truth.

[14:27] This was the man that rolled right up into the most wicked king in Israel and his wife Jezebel and said, hey, God said it's not going to rain. And Elijah was that kind of prophet that stood for the Lord and called Israel back in a time of great apostasy.

[14:41] And really, the prophets in general, as a whole, proclaimed the hope of a coming Messiah. Proclaimed the hope that God would restore His people and establish His kingdom.

[14:54] So we see these two men here. Why? Well, I think because together the law and the prophets, they summed up the entire Old Testament revelation. And here's what the Old Testament is saying.

[15:05] He's coming. The Messiah is coming. The Savior of the world is coming. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and you shall call His name Emmanuel, God with us.

[15:17] and they're here not as equals with Jesus but bearing witness that He is the one that the law and the prophets were pointing to.

[15:30] That is the idea. Well, what are they talking about? Verse 31. Who appeared in glory and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem?

[15:46] We're going to come back. We're going to circle back around here in just a minute to that. But here's what they're talking about. What's going to happen when He dies? In the midst of all the glory of God, in the midst of this great transfiguration, here's where Jesus' focus was.

[16:03] The cross. It reminds us that the song of the Jerusalem love went deeper. That even when everything was pointing to Him and they're beginning to realize that He is God in the flesh, true glory always centers on Christ and His finished work on the cross of Calvary.

[16:22] That's where glory is found. See, Peter and James and John, they thought it was found in prestige and in power and making Israel great again. That's what they were looking for. You look at the triumphant entry of Christ, they thought, you know what?

[16:35] They're going to kick all the Romans out and we're going to be where we should be. No, the triumphant entry was this, that He was coming to die. And that's what Moses and Elijah are talking about with Him. That's their conversation.

[16:46] Let me just remind you, every other glory fades. We can search for glory in our own world, but careers can vanish, reputations can be ruined, possessions wear out, break down, left behind, but the glory of Jesus never fades.

[17:02] And the same Christ who shone so brightly on this mountain, He went down into the valley and carried across up Mount Calvary and died there for our sins.

[17:16] But that wasn't the end of the story either. He rose triumphant and His glory is eternal and His work is finished and His victory is yours if you belong to Him. But what we see with the disciples is the same thing that we can find ourselves in.

[17:32] We're looking for glory in all the wrong places. We're going to see them in a couple chapters. They're fighting about who's number one. Who's the number one disciple?

[17:44] And James and John's mom made little stickers. James and John, number one. I mean, that's in there. That's in the Bible. Mama came and tried to speak up for her boys. Like, I know these other guys are good, but there are no James and John.

[17:56] I mean, James and John are special. And they're missing it. So I just want to ask you before we move on, where are you looking for glory? The only glory we have is in Christ and Him crucified.

[18:10] It's by the grace of God we are who we are. You know, maybe you're looking in your accomplishments and your stuff. Here's where we should be looking, Jesus saying, at your Savior. All that glory fades.

[18:23] That new car smell that you worked so hard for, probably smells like french fries right now. You know, we talked about it last week. You've never eaten in here. Man, there's probably more french fries under your seat than there were in your mouth.

[18:35] That dream vacation, it's going to, you've got to come back to reality at some point. Everything fades in our life. Our hair fades. Sometimes it just leaves us. I'm not looking at anybody.

[18:46] I'm not looking at anybody. Don't judge me here. But Jesus is just reminding us, he's reminding his disciples, this is the only glory that's going to last. This is the only glory that lasts forever.

[18:59] And see, on this mountain, the disciples saw the glory of Jesus with their own eyes, but now they needed to hear the truth with their own ears. And God the Father shows up and he has a command.

[19:10] This is my beloved son. Hear him. Hear him. That's what we see the fathers say. But there in verse number 32, Peter, he's overwhelmed, he's in awe, and he should have just been quiet.

[19:25] You know, he thought, man, last time I spoke up, I said something really good. I'm going to say something again. And he wakes up and he sees Jesus in his glorified version.

[19:37] He sees Elijah and Moses and he says, hey, guess what? It's good for us to be here. He's like, come on, that's what you came up with? That's what he decided to say?

[19:50] He said, and then he, you know, I don't know where he got them, but he pulled these blueprints out of his back pocket. He said, okay, here Jesus, look at these. I've seen a plan on Pinterest for three tabernacles. We're going to build it right here.

[20:01] And we're going to put it right here, right here, and one for you, and one for Elijah, and one for Moses, and we're just going to hang out here. But before he really can finish his building plans, that's when God the Father shows up.

[20:15] It's like, Peter, be quiet. Peter, stop talking. You're missing the point. What Peter's trying to do, and you're going to see it multiple times in Peter's life, he tries to get Jesus to kind of go around the cross and right to glory.

[20:31] It doesn't work that way. He was trying to get him to miss the suffering and go right to the power. But the Father made it very clear. This is my beloved son.

[20:45] That Jesus wasn't just a prophet like Moses and Elijah. He wasn't just some priest. No, he is not one among equals. He has no rivals. He is the beloved son of God.

[20:58] And because of who he is, listen to him. You see, Jesus, prophets spoke of the word. Jesus is the word. The priests, they offer the sacrifice, but God is reminding them and reminding us that Jesus is the sacrifice.

[21:15] Kings rule for a time, but Jesus reigns forever. Religions point to a path, but Jesus is the path.

[21:25] And that's why God said, hear him. Because only Jesus can save. Only Jesus can satisfy. Only Jesus can bring us to God.

[21:38] And this is not the first time that God's voice has thundered with authority. You can go right to the very beginning of the Bible, and God said, let there be. Listen, God's voice creates.

[21:50] God's voice calls personally. He came to Samuel. Samuel, Samuel, here am I. Well, what would you have, Lord? Lord, the voice of God came to Elijah in a still small voice, and it comforts in that weakness.

[22:03] At Jesus' own baptism, his voice affirmed, thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And here again at the transfiguration, he reminds us that God's voice also directs.

[22:17] You see, the same voice that spoke light into darkness, who called prophets by name, who whispered comfort to Elijah, who affirmed Jesus at the Jordan, is now commanding his disciples, and he's commanding us, hear Jesus.

[22:30] Hear him. Hear what he's got to say. Have you noticed that life is noisy? I mean, especially if you've got kids. I mean, it feels like a million things are going on, and they're all telling a story, and then you're turning the TV up, trying to hear what it is.

[22:44] You know, when you can't see it, you turn it up, right? I'm not the only person. I'm like, okay, let me turn it up so I can see it better. You know, I'm trying to like, focus on what's going on. Maybe you got the GPS, and you're holding it, trying to drink your coffee, and do all these things, and there's so many things that are calling us, so many things that are pulling us away, and sometimes Jesus' voice gets drowned out.

[23:05] Maybe you think, man, I've been walking through some really difficult things. Let me just ask you this. Whose voice are you listening to? Whose voice are you trying to decipher through the crowd and the noise?

[23:17] Because sometimes if we're honest with ourselves, we ignore Jesus' voice because it's still and it's small and maybe it's not as loud as the others, but let me just encourage you and remind you, ignoring Jesus' voice is very costly.

[23:32] Culture is calling for us. Social media is calling for us. Our own doubts are calling, but the Savior is here and He's speaking truth and hope and life. See, the mountain revealed who Jesus was and who He is, and the mission would reveal what He came to accomplish there on the cross, and that meant a path of suffering came before the crown.

[23:55] The last thing I want us to look at this morning is this, that we need to learn from the suffering of God's servant. We need to learn from the suffering of God's servant. I want us to circle back. I said that we would in verse number 31.

[24:07] When Jesus, who appeared in His glory and spake of His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. That word, decease, it's not a word that we would use all the time, but here's what it literally means in the original language, Exodus.

[24:24] Jesus is speaking of His Exodus, and He's there with the great deliverer of Israel, Moses, and do you see it? I hope that you do, that just as Moses led Israel out of bondage in Egypt, Jesus, the reason that He came is that He was going to lead His people out of sin and death at the cross of Calvary.

[24:44] See, He didn't come to set up an earthly kingdom. No, He came to die that we might live, and they're talking about it, and it reminds us that glory is not an escape from suffering many times, and most of the time, it's reached through suffering.

[24:59] And Jesus was willing that He humbled Himself and He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The writer in Hebrews reminds us that for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.

[25:12] Why? For you. For me. He came, and He had this exodus planned so that we wouldn't have to be servants to sin, that we wouldn't have to live with guilt and shame and fear and regret and worry.

[25:28] No, He came to give us life and to give it to us more abundantly and peace and joy and all the things the world is looking for, it's found in Jesus, and it's accomplished through the cross.

[25:39] See, Jesus would not wear the crown without first carrying the cross. You see kind of this played out through Scripture in different ways. We saw that Joseph, he was betrayed, he was imprisoned, he went through difficult things, but at the end, God raised him up.

[25:57] That suffering before glory. We saw Job, he was broken, he was tested, but God restored him. David was hunted by others, he was in hiding for a lot of his life, but ultimately he was crowned.

[26:10] Paul was beaten and shipwrecked and jailed and all these other things, but he rejoiced because God was working in his life. And Jesus, he endured the cross and now he's enthroned forever, forever.

[26:24] And it's a principle we see in our own lives and athletes know that there's no medal without sweat. Soldiers know that there's no victory without a battle. Parents know that there's no peace without surviving bedtime.

[26:37] Just bring it real close where we live. What does this mean for us? Sometimes we read this and think, well, man, what a cool story.

[26:47] He's on a mountain, he turns really bright and some cool stuff happens. What Jesus is reminding us is this, that don't be surprised when following Christ costs you.

[27:00] See, this is coming off the hills of taking up your cross and following him. That the cross always comes before the crown. But there's great hope too. And that's why he kind of pulled the veil back and I got a little glimpse of it because here is the hope that if we share in his sufferings, we will also share in his glory.

[27:22] Not because we deserve it, because that's what he offers us. Because that's what he gives us. I love what Paul tells the Romans in Romans 8, 17. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

[27:34] That if we know Christ is our Savior, God confirms that and if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

[27:45] So be that if we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together. Verse 18, for I reckon, you didn't know Paul was texting. Paul's reckoning right here.

[27:56] For I reckon, listen to what Paul says, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

[28:09] You know what Paul's saying? Yes, it's hard. And I'm not belittling anything that anybody is walking through, has walked through, or will walk through. But Paul says, listen, there is coming a day that when we see Christ face to face and we stand before him, everything we went through in this life, we're going to realize, you know what?

[28:26] It really wasn't that big a deal. Look what God has given us. It eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of the man the things that God has prepared for them that love him.

[28:39] That's what Jesus wanted them to see. See, with Christ, suffering is not the end of the story. It's the road to glory. That's what he wants us to see. So we've seen the glory of the Son, we've heard the voice of the Father, and we've learned the path of suffering that leads to glory.

[28:55] But the question that I leave you with this morning is, how will you respond? How will you respond? I think for those that follow Christ and know him as your Savior, the message is encouraging.

[29:08] That when you're weary, remember that glimpse of glory. When you're confused, listen to the voice of Jesus. When you're hurting, trust the path that leads through the cross to the ground.

[29:26] Jesus said he is the way and the truth and the life. See, this passage, what it is doing and what it is reminding, it is calling us to steady obedience. Keep following.

[29:38] Keep listening. Keep trusting. Maybe you're here and you're just still kind of really weighing out who Jesus is. You love a lot of things about him.

[29:49] You love church and some songs and you read your Bible every once in a while, but you're still kind of just searching. Listen, the Father wants us to do one thing, wants you to do one thing. Hear Jesus.

[30:01] What does Jesus say? I am the way and the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Jesus also told Mary and Martha and John chapter 11, I am the resurrection and the life.

[30:14] He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Jesus told the disciples in John chapter 6, verse 37, he that cometh to me and I will in no wise cast out.

[30:26] He preached the gospel there in Mark chapter 1, verse 15, repent and believe the gospel. Repent and believe Jesus Christ. Jesus calls to all, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

[30:41] Maybe that's what you need to hear today. There is a God that loves you and he came to this earth and he lived for you. He lived a life that we could not live. Where we failed, he succeeded.

[30:52] Where the first Adam failed, the second Adam made all things new. And this same Jesus who laid down his life at Calvary took the punishment of sin that we all deserve and rose again in victory.

[31:06] And now he offers the same to all of us. See, ignoring Jesus is like ignoring your doctor when he offers you the cure. It's like ignoring a lifeguard that's trying to throw you a rope.

[31:19] You're drowning and you just ignore it. See, to reject Jesus is to refuse the only hope of salvation. So today, whether you're a believer or you're maybe still searching, the Father's command is the same.

[31:35] This is my beloved son. Hear him. Will you hear him? Will you obey him? Will you follow him? Because when you realize who Jesus is, he's worthy of all those things.

[31:50] He is the son of God. Would you stand with your heads bowed? With your eyes closed.