Good morning. Open up your Bibles to Exodus chapter 3.
! So whether it was planned or not, I don't know, but a lot of the songs and even what
! Aletheia Way was focused on this morning is our topic today.
And how many of you are aware of your need for a great and glorious God today?
And we're all in need of Him, and that never changes.
Just the awareness of our need increases, I hope, day by day, of how much we actually
need God. And I hope that the message today encourages you. It really has me, and I'm not
just kind of saying that because I'm filling in today.
But just a little introduction, like why should we listen? And we all need a great and glorious
God, and we all sang that just a little while ago. And I hope that it was true as it came
out of your mouth, and that you weren't singing nonsense or lies to God. You were genuinely
aware of how great He is. So why listen to this message? But Tozer, in one of his books, said this,
were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to this question, what comes into your
mind when you think about God? We might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man.
Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God. And the
weightiest word in any language is the word for God. Yeah, so the greatest thoughts we have,
the mightiest thoughts we have are those that we think about the living God. Our beliefs concerning
Him affect how we live in public and in private behind closed doors. How we manage our days,
how we manage our time, what we do with our time is affected by how we view God. Not just our actions,
but the motives behind our actions relate to how we view the person of God. And God cares about how
we see Him. He cares about how we understand Him. He's not satisfied or okay with warped views of who
He really is. I think for many of us, whether you're married or single, I think one of the greatest
desires you have is you want to be understood. You want people to know you for who you really are.
You hate it when people misunderstand something that you're doing and interpret it in a wrong way.
You want to be understood. And it's no different with God. But understanding who He is can mean the
difference between life or death. And many people in the world, even this morning, are committing
idolatry because they're worshiping a God of their own imagination rather than the God of the Scripture
and the God who says, I am this way and I won't be changed by your opinions of me.
And Jesus said in John 4 that it is possible to worship God in the wrong way. And so we should
pay attention to this time. J.I. Packer in his book, Knowing God, he mentioned three things about
how we think about God. He said, those who know God have great thoughts of Him.
So if we have a very small view of God, if we have a very puny view of God, it will affect our life.
People who refuse to enlarge their view of God will be left in a very pitiful state.
A long time ago, during the Reformation, Luther said to Erasmus,
your thoughts of God are too human. You think that He is just like us. You think that He behaves like us,
acts like us, and you're wrong. So are your thoughts of God, even this morning, too human?
There's enough of the person of God to go around forever, like for our souls to feast on,
and enough of God to fill our hearts and minds with awe and wonder for all eternity.
High thoughts of God keep us humble, dependent, and obedient, and in awe to Him.
David wrote concerning these things in Psalm 139, something I've really been reading a lot of lately.
He says,
beyond reach and beyond our power, like to fully comprehend the person of God.
It transcends in a way that even we can't attain it, and even if we could, we wouldn't understand it.
But don't misunderstand me. God can be known. He can be known. He can be understood.
That it is false to say that He can be fully and exhaustively known.
The finite cannot fully contain the infinite.
And that's where we find ourselves this morning, so it keeps us humble.
So those who know God have great thoughts of God.
The second way, Packer said, those who know God have great boldness for God.
If you truly know Him, if you've been brought near to Him by the blood of Christ,
you can throw yourself recklessly into His mission, into His purposes.
There's no need for fear at all.
So many of us are timid about facing everyday trials in our lives,
and facing anything that has been touched by sin.
We're afraid because we have a small view of our God, or we've lost sight of how big He truly is.
So those of us who have an enormous, glorious view of God,
we can face life without fear, and even death itself.
In Daniel chapter 11, verse 32, it says,
But the people who know their God shall be strong, stand firm, and take action.
That phrase means to strive valiantly, or courageously prevail, or to stand firmly resolute.
That's how understanding God really, truly is, can impact us.
Then lastly, he said, those who know God have great peace in God.
Not a peace that the world gives, as Jesus says,
but when we really understand God for who He is,
our minds are possessed with such a strong assurance that anything could come our way,
and we would be okay, not in our own strength, but in His.
A relationship that we have that's guaranteed by the blood of Jesus,
and His favor towards us.
We have nothing to fear.
Trials come.
Anything come.
We're fine.
So even death is welcomed at the end of the day,
because we have a great peace in God.
So, we cannot misunderstand who the person of God is.
And so just to catch a glimpse of this,
we're going to look at Exodus 3 today,
the encounter of Moses and God on Mount Sinai.
But just the background,
Moses has fled the land of Egypt because he killed an Egyptian that he saw beating a fellow Hebrew.
And he flees to the land of Midian,
which is basically where modern Saudi Arabia is today.
And he kind of lives a very low-key life there,
and is married to a Midianite woman,
and lives in obscurity until he wanders to the base of Mount Sinai.
So there, Moses, God experiences like the God of covenant faithfulness,
and a great compassion to come and deliver his people from the bondage in Egypt.
It's a divine human encounter that we can learn a lot from.
So he faces the person of God here,
and in words that cannot be described,
he is overwhelmed.
So let's read this together.
Let's start in verse 1.
It says,
Let's read this together.
And he said, Here I am.
Then he said, Do not come near.
Take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.
And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt.
And I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.
I know their sufferings.
I have come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land.
A land flowing with milk and honey to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
And now, behold, the cry of my people of Israel has come to me.
And I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them.
Come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?
He said, But I will be with you, and this shall be a sign for you that I have sent you.
When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.
Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me.
And they ask me, What is his name?
What shall I say to them?
And God said to Moses, I am who I am.
And he said, Say to this people of Israel, I am has sent me to you.
God also said to Moses, Say this to the people of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.
This is my name forever, and thus I am remembered throughout all generations.
So, I'll stop there.
If that's not enough for us to chew on for a little while.
So, in the Bible, names carry a lot more meaning than most people today in our culture seem to think about.
In the Scripture, the name of a person signifies their character, their ability, their mission,
especially when the name is actually given by God Himself.
So, example, Adam names his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.
And even greater example, the Son of God came into the world, and Mary was told,
You shall call him Jesus, for he will save his people.
So, their names are connected to their mission.
So, names have a lot of meaning.
And in the Old Testament, we just read,
I am who I am in Hebrew is the verb to be or to exist.
So, simply put, and this is overstating the simplicity of this more than likely,
but simply put, God told Moses,
I will be what I will be.
I have always existed, and I will always exist.
I just am.
And we look in a lot of our English translations,
there's a substitute word to throw in, the capital, all caps, L-O-R-D, LORD.
And in the Hebrew, when they read out loud,
they would not read God's precise name,
but substitute it with Adonai.
Where they saw the four-letter word,
Y-H-W-H,
meaning Yahweh.
God's proper name in Hebrew,
used around close to 7,000 times.
A lot of emphasis there.
That's three times as much as Elohim.
That's still a very significant name.
And the aim of this was,
God wants to show that he's not just a generic deity,
that he wants to be known for who he actually is.
So, God's name carries his unique character and his mission.
So, when God said this,
when God said,
I am who I am,
we can somewhat derive a few things of what he actually meant when he said that.
So, here's the first thing.
What is God saying?
What is God trying to communicate to us through his name?
The first thing is,
God is one.
This is also called in theological circles,
the unity of God.
But it means that the person of God
is not divided into parts or sections.
In the old,
there's several,
I think two,
old church catechisms and statements of faith
that say,
they call this the simplicity of God.
Not saying that God is simple,
meaning that he's small and unintelligent,
but simple meaning like this is a simple device.
It's not complex.
It doesn't have a lot of parts to it.
So, it means that the person of God
is not divided into parts or sections,
but yet we can see
different parts of God's character
emphasized at different times.
God is all that he is all the time.
Get your head around that statement.
Write it down if you have to.
God simply is all that he is all the time.
And God reveals himself to us in such fullness
that there can be nothing boring about him.
So, let's unpack this a little bit.
How do we relate this idea that God is one
or God is simple to his attributes?
Those of us who have looked into this before,
we know that we've chopped God up
into his attributes,
which is okay.
I'll explain.
But there's the incommunicable attributes,
which means that we as human beings
cannot relate to these attributes at all.
They're only divine attributes.
Things like omnipotence,
omnipresence,
omniscience.
Those are things that we as humans
have no idea about.
We can't touch them.
Only the person of God
possesses those attributes.
And on the flip side,
we have the communicable attributes.
Things like goodness,
love,
mercy.
Those are things that we as humans
can have some taste of in this life,
though we don't perfectly
experience all those things all the time,
obviously.
And how do we relate this to the idea
that God is one?
It means that
every attribute of God
is true of God
all the time.
And to give you an example,
those of you who do read your Bibles,
unlike us,
God is his attributes.
God is love.
He doesn't just occasionally act a certain way.
He is those things.
Example,
God is love.
1 John 4.8
God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12.29
God is holy.
Psalm 99.9
verse 9.
So,
when God demonstrates
his love,
he doesn't cease to be
just and holy
when he does that.
And how many of you do that
when you read the scripture?
You say,
here God is displaying his love,
but he is not being merciful.
Or,
here God is
displaying his holiness,
and so he can't be loving.
Y'all do that?
Like,
he just destroyed
3,000 people.
So,
this surely is just a demonstration
of God's wrath
and God's holiness.
And I'm not telling you
not to do that.
But,
here's what you need to understand.
In those situations,
God did not cease to be
one of his other attributes.
Example,
we read
sections in
the Old Testament
where we see God
judging the nation of Israel
or judging other
people groups
and he,
you know,
annihilates a large number of them.
Well,
in that moment,
we're tempted to think
in that
he is just
displaying his wrath.
But,
he didn't cease to be
a loving God
in that moment.
Let me explain.
Is it a loving thing
to allow
sin and evil
to flourish
and to go on
conquering the world?
It's not.
So,
God destroys it.
So,
in that same act,
God was loving
and he was just
in the same act.
Right?
And,
obviously,
the greatest display
of this is the cross.
And we know that.
So,
when we're thinking about it,
it means that God's attributes
are so connected,
so intertwined,
that he's not separated.
his attributes
are these little
individual components
that we bring together
and that are held together
by a divine superglue,
if you would.
They're not
different components.
It means that
God's goodness
is his justice
and his justice
is his goodness.
Get your head around that.
So,
we want to chop him up
to understand him.
And why do we do that?
It's probably because
none of us can bear,
like,
on our soul
all of who God is
at one time.
So,
he accommodates us
in terms of attributes.
He breaks himself down
in order to show us
who he is,
which is such mercy
on his part.
He can't,
we can't take
all of him
at one time.
As he said later on
to Moses in Exodus 33,
when Moses said,
show me your glory,
Moses said,
I will make,
or God said,
I'll make my goodness
pass before you,
but my face
you cannot see.
No man
can see me
and live.
So,
I can show you
my mercy
and show you
my goodness,
but you can't
fully take
all of who I am.
And so,
you can't bear it
on your soul
or otherwise
it would kill you.
So,
every attribute
of God
is completely
true of God
all the time.
It's so unlike us.
Augustine wrote,
what is my God?
What I ask
but the Lord God.
For who is the Lord
but the Lord himself?
Or who is God
besides our God?
Lord God,
you are stable
yet not supported.
Unchangeable
yet changing
all things.
Never new
yet never old.
Making all things
new
yet bringing
old age
upon the proud
and they know it not.
Always working
yet ever
at rest.
Gathering
but yet needing
nothing.
that's
just a
tiny picture
again
of just how
great our God
is.
So,
he has
accommodated us.
He has
broken himself
down for us
to understand
in his grace.
Kind of like
how a ray of light
comes through
a window
and we
have to
it breaks
itself up
into different
colors
so we can
understand
and see it.
Tiny example.
that everything
in the scripture
from the
tabernacle
to the
temple
is some
sort of
prism
of God
showing us
who he
is.
Breaking
himself
down
for our
finite
minds
to
understand.
Job
said,
Behold,
these are
but the
outskirts
of his
ways
and how
small
a whisper
do we
hear of
him
but the
thunder
of his
power
who can
understand.
God
is one.
That's
one thing
we can
draw
a
conclusion
from
by
God's
name.
Secondly,
we know
that
God is
saying
I am
eternal.
God
is
eternal.
I
am
who
I
am.
I
will
be
what
I
will
be.
I
am
eternal
meaning
that
he
always
has
and
he
will
always
exist.
God
said to
the
apostle
John,
I
am
the
alpha,
the
omega,
says
the
Lord
God
who
is
and
who
was
and
who
is
to
come
the
almighty.
So the
first and
last letters
of
the
Greek
alphabet
saying
that
the
living
God
encompasses
all
things.
He
has
no
beginning
and
he
has
no
end.
Again,
he
doesn't
live in
the
confides
of
time
like
we
do.
He
doesn't
need a
watch
to
understand
what's
happening
in
his
universe.
Successions
of time
are for
us.
He
is not
bound
by
time.
He
sees
the
past,
the
present,
and the
future
as
clearly
as you
and I
see the
present.
It's all
before him.
He is
eternal.
I am
who I
am.
No
one
created
me
and
no
one
has
the
power
to do
what
I
do.
I
exist.
No
one
shapes
my
personality.
I
have
no
beginning
and I
have
no
end.
And
Moses
understood
this.
prayed in
Psalm
90
verse 2,
before the
mountains
were brought
forth,
or you
had formed
the earth
and the
world,
from
everlasting
to
everlasting,
you
are God.
So
all of us
will come
and go
as
generations
before us
have,
but God
will remain.
It's
good.
We can
hang our
hat on
that.
God
is not
going
anywhere.
He
is
eternal.
Thirdly,
God
is saying
that He
is,
pick the
word you
want to
use,
unchangeable
or
immutable.
The
word,
our God
is
unchanging.
I
am
who I
am.
Connected
to this
is God
saying I
am
unchangeable.
I
don't
change.
God
forever
remains
the same
in His
nature,
His
person,
His
mission,
His
purposes,
His
promises,
they all
remain the
same at
all time.
That's
such a
comfort.
It's
just He's
saying to
Moses,
I can't
be anything
other than
what I
am.
I am
God.
Some of
the old
writers used
to say
this means
that there
is no
potential
in God.
He
can't
improve
Himself.
He
can't
pick up
the slack
and become
something
different.
There's
no
potential
in God.
He
fully
fills
His
potential
at
all
times.
He
said in
Malachi,
I am
the Lord
and I
do not
change.
There's
no
force
or
influence
out
here
that
can
come
against
me
and
make
me
be
different
than
who
I
am.
That's
encouraging.
We're
not like
that at
all.
We
change
daily.
Our
attitudes,
our
actions,
our
motivations.
I'm
sure many
of us
can say
something
like,
do you
remember
so-and-so?
She used
to be
such a
kind
and
loving
person,
but when
this
tragedy
happened,
she became
sad and
angry and
bitter.
We
change
and not
always for
the good.
And as I
said before,
it isn't that
God just
has goodness
and has
justice.
He is
goodness
and he
is
justice.
So,
thankful again
in James
1-7,
there is
no
variation
or shadow
due to
change in
relationship
to God.
He promises
to us that
he remains
the same.
So we
can take
him at
his word.
When he
says
something,
he is
true.
He's
not going
to change
his mind.
It's
something that
many of us
are used
to.
We're used
to being
deceived,
lied to,
and we've
also deceived
and lied
to other
people.
But if
God is
unchangeable,
his promises
and his
purposes,
we can
always rely
on.
So,
fourthly,
when God
says,
I am
who I
am,
we can
clearly see
that God
is independent
or self-existing.
God
doesn't need
us or
any other
part of
creation to
be who
he is.
That's a
misconception
in our
modern day.
We feel
like God
created us
because he
was lonely
or because
he was
bored or
he needed
something to
do up
in heaven.
Not so.
And he
gives Moses
this,
I guess,
tiny,
tiny example
of the
burning
bush.
And
as it's
saying,
there's
nothing I
can provide
for you
by way
of analogy
to describe
who I
am and
the very
essence of
my being.
God
needs
nothing,
but we
can enjoy
him and we
can glorify
him and he
delights in
that.
But this
fire that
was in
the bush,
we see that
it was a
very pure
fire.
It wasn't
made up of a
lot of different
compounds to make
a fire.
It just
existed.
No other
energy sources.
It just
had energy
in itself.
And God
was,
again,
trying to give
him just a
picture of
this is
kind of how
I am.
And even
just with
that,
Moses hid
his face
from God
in that
response.
But we're
messed up to
think that
God needs
us.
In Acts
17,
the Apostle
Paul,
when he
was in
Athens,
he said,
the God
who made
the world
and everything
in it,
being the
Lord of
heaven and
earth,
does not
live in
temples made
by man,
nor is he
served with
human hands
as though he
needed anything,
since he
himself gives
to all
mankind life
and breath
and everything.
So,
God exists
freely and
independent from
any other
part of
his
creation.
So,
from
eternity
past
into
eternity
future,
Father,
Son,
and Holy
Spirit
lived in
perfect
completeness,
joy,
and unity
with each
other.
Perfect
satisfaction.
If you
glance later
on,
go back and
look at
John 17
that we
preached
through a
long time
ago,
but Jesus
prayed to
the Father,
God
said,
I'm
praying for
those
whom you
have given
me,
that they
may be
with me
one day
to see
your glory,
the glory
that I
shared with
you before
the world
existed.
Such joy
and
completeness
in the
Godhead.
So,
God didn't
create us
out of
some
dependence,
but
out of
an overflow,
an abundance
of his
glory and
excellence.
So,
again,
I've just
been reading
Augustine a
lot lately
for some
reason,
but he
said,
what would
have been
lacking in
your goodness,
God,
which you
yourself are,
even if
these things
of creation
had never
existed and
had remained
unformed?
You didn't
create them
out of any
lack,
but out of
an abundance
of your
goodness.
You
ordered them
and turned
them toward
form,
but not
because your
joy had to
be perfected
by them.
Really
incredible
thought that
though God
doesn't need
us,
he created
us,
and he,
it's good
for us,
he takes
delight in
us living
for him.
He can
take delight
in his
creation,
even though
he doesn't
need us.
So,
I could
go on and
say that,
what's that
famous quote
that we
always throw
up there,
everything in
the universe
plugs into
God,
and if he
shut down,
there would
be absolute
nothingness.
He doesn't
need us.
And
fifthly,
and lastly,
God is
saying by
saying,
I am who
I am,
it's
implying that
God is the
creator and
sustainer.
He's the
creator and
sustainer,
inexhaustible
source of
divine power
and energy.
That's what
omnipotence
means,
all powerful,
possessing all
power.
So,
it isn't just
that God
has a lot
of power,
and then
there's all
these other
small powers
that exist
outside of
him.
It means
that he
gives them
power.
He delegates
that power,
and if he
was to take
it away,
they would
cease to
exist.
Christ.
So,
even the
very breath
that we
breathe right
now is
a gift of
God's
sustaining
power in
our lives.
Every
heartbeat,
a gift of
grace to
us.
In
Isaiah
chapter 40,
God says,
have you
not known,
have you
not heard?
The Lord
God,
the everlasting
God,
the creator
of the ends
of the
earth,
he does
not faint
or grow
weary.
His
understanding
is unsearchable.
He gives
power to
the faint,
and to him
who has no
might,
he increases
strength.
So,
God,
by his own
power,
upholds all
the universe
and sustains
us,
and all
energy,
all power
outside of
that,
finds its
source,
in him.
He is
the source
of all
power.
So,
he sustains
us.
Isn't that
just crazy
to think
about,
that you're
going to
walk out
of here
today by
his
sustaining
power,
that you're
going to
go on
this week
and do
this or
that because
of his
grace and
his
sustaining
power.
He doesn't
need to be
recharged or
backed up.
He is the
source of
all our
strength.
So,
those five
things we
can draw.
There may
be more,
but those
things we
can definitely
see when
God says,
I am who
I am.
I will
be who I
will be.
So,
some application
for us.
As we've
been talking
about,
most all
of us are
aware of
our need
for a
great and
powerful
almighty
God.
this journey
probably began
for me in
2006 when
I was in
the hospital
in Atlanta
and I
received news
that I
was a
lot sicker,
more sicker,
not the right
phrase,
that I was
not doing as
well as I
thought I
was.
they had
been running
some of my
tests wrong.
And so,
I was about
to go home.
My bags were
packed.
I was getting
ready to leave
and my doctor
came in and
he pulled out
the papers and
he said,
let me just
look at
something really
quick.
And he
did some
math and
he showed
me,
like,
they haven't
been doing
this right.
Like,
your lung
function is
actually a lot
lower than
we think it
is.
you thought
it was.
And so,
he said,
I need you
to stay
another week
so we can
work on
this.
And at
that point,
that's when I
realized there
was a lot
other suffering
that was ahead.
And in my
hospital room,
I had the
Bible and
I also had
Arthur Pink's
Attributes of
God book.
And that's
the two things
I just kept
storing in my
head.
So,
this isn't
cool,
nerdy,
theology.
This is
truth for
your real
life.
It's truth
for life
and truth
for death
for you
to live
in.
We all
need a
powerful,
sovereign
God.
So,
strive to
know God
as he
is and
realize it's
so hard.
Your feelings
and your
emotions don't
affect the
person of
God.
So hard
to not do
that.
Meditate
on the
person of
God in
his word
and allow
it to
enhance
your
awe
and your
wonder
of him,
your
worship
of him,
and strive
to know
Jesus
Christ,
who said
in John
8,
verse 57,
he was
facing a
hostile crowd.
They were
questioning
him.
so the
Jews said
to him,
you are
not 50
years old
and yet
you say
you have
seen
Abraham.
And Jesus
responded to
them,
truly,
I say
to you,
before
Abraham
ever
existed,
I am.
And he
used that
name of
God,
like I
existed
before
Abraham.
And as
expected,
they didn't
like that.
I am
Yahweh.
So in
Jesus,
the God
man,
God
accommodated
himself in
the greatest
way possible.
If you
see Jesus,
you have
seen the
Father.
As you
have received
Jesus,
you have
received
the
Father.
God
has drawn
near to
us in
the person
of Christ
for us
to know
who he
is.
Beginning
of John's
gospel,
we have
seen his
glory.
So strive
to know
Christ.
Flip over,
again,
I don't
know if
this is
planned,
but
Colossians
chapter
1.
Colossians
chapter
1,
we can
see it
in just
verse 15.
He,
being
Jesus,
is the
image of
the
invisible
God,
the
firstborn
of all
creation.
For by
him,
all things
were created
in heaven
and on
earth,
visible
and invisible.
Whether
thrones or
dominions or
rulers or
authorities,
all things
were created
through him
and for
him.
He is
before all
things and
in him
all things
hold
together.
You see
some of
that?
He is
the creator.
He is
the ruler.
He is
the
sustainer.
We see
that all
in these
verses.
And he
became
before
anything
else
came.
He is
the head
of the
body,
the church.
He is
the beginning,
the firstborn
from the
dead,
that in
everything
he might
be
preeminent.
For in
him all
the fullness
of God
was pleased
to dwell
and through
him to
reconcile
all things
whether on
earth or
in heaven
making peace
by the
blood of
his cross.
And there
it's this
idea of
Christ bringing
together
everything
that's been
breaking
apart by
sin.
And it's
also this
idea of a
reckoning,
not just
like to
bring together
reconcile,
but a
reckoning.
We see
that Jesus
is those
things.
So if we
want to
know the
person of
God,
we look
at the
Son of
God.
and he
shows us
who he
is.
Isn't
it
interesting,
just in
closing,
that many
of our
modern day
books and
stories that
are out
there about
people
encountering
the person
of God
have nothing
at all in
relationship to
Scripture.
People are
like, oh,
it was just
a happy
moment,
just me
and God.
So not
what the
testimony of
Scripture
is.
You see
that Moses
was terrified.
We know
that in
all three
Gospels,
Matthew,
Mark,
and John,
there's the,
not John,
but Matthew,
Mark,
and Luke,
where Jesus
is transfigured
before them.
Matthew and
Mark say
that they
were terrified,
which actually
means scared
out of their
wits in
Greek,
scared out of
their mind
when they
saw this
transfiguration.
And then in
Luke's gospel,
it implies
that they
were like
in a deep
sleep.
And could
it be
possible that
it just
describes the
sheer exhaustion
they had
of encountering
this scene,
overwhelmed,
put on the
ground,
where they
lost all
their strength.
And we
know that
John,
who calls
himself the
beloved
disciple,
the same
guy who
Jesus,
he rested
his head
on the
shoulder of
Christ.
Same
disciple.
At the
beginning of
Revelation,
he is
terrified and
cannot even
look at
the Son of
God.
So we
have to
come to
the Scripture
to know
the person
of God.
We have to
pray that
God applies
his truth to
our hearts
and our
lives.
But I
pray that
just seeing
how big our
God truly
is,
is convicting
to you,
maybe even
scares you.
I don't
know where
you are.
You might
need to be
scared out
of your
wits.
Or you
might need
to be
encouraged
that such
a God
stands on
your behalf
and that
you are
made right
with him
through the
person of
Christ.
So we
can stand
boldly
because of
who God
is.
Praise him.
Let's pray
together.