From Glory To Glory: Part 2

Let me just say happy Father's Day. How many dads do we have here today? All right, quite a few. Let's stand up.

Dad, stand up. Let's give him a hand. Stay up, stay up. Father, we bless.

Every dad here today, stretch your hands out to these dads. Father, heaven, we bless each father here today. We ask that you would make them into the dads and fathers that you have designed and destined them to be. That they would be great examples for their children.

That they would be the leaders in their home. And Lord, they would set the standard to what dads should look like to the world. In Jesus' name, Amen. Now, that's a big responsibility, right?

You say, Amen. You just owned it. No takebacks. Okay, today I want to, two weeks ago I had a message from Glory to Glory from 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18.

As our launching pad, I want to go back to there today and this will be part 2. But really, it's so from Glory to Glory, part 2. But the title of my message, I have one point today, it's called Only Jesus. It's only Jesus.

And so I've got a couple of little like little sub points, you might say, but we're going to look at the story of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration today. And we're going to look at Matthew's version. It's in Matthew 17. You can also find this in Luke 9 and Mark 9.

So it's in those three gospels. But there's a verse that just really, really kind of the Holy Spirit breathed on this week for me. I thought it's in Matthew chapter 17 verse 8. It said, when they looked up or lifted up their eyes, they saw no one, but Jesus only.

They saw no one, but Jesus only. And so as we talk about transformation today, we're going to go to that story. I'll read it here in a few minutes. But I want to go back and just kind of go through 2 Corinthians chapter 3.

And those last few verses in that leading up to verse 18. So if you have your Bibles and you want to turn to 2 Corinthians 3, now we're not going to read the whole chapter. But in the chapter, the apostle Paul starts out and he's really comparing the law and grace in this chapter as a lot of his writings do. And he's talking about the law, which he calls the ministry of condemnation.

And then he says that grace is called, he says the ministry of the Spirit. He says, if the, and he also calls it the ministry of death. And he calls grace the ministry of life. So he's got condemnation and death.

And he's got the spirit and life on this side. And he says, if the, if the ministry of death and condemnation has glory, like there was a glory to the law, he said, if that had glory, how much more is the glory that remains? Because the glory where they came with the law was a decreasing glory. And if you remember, it says in that chapter, it says that, that when Moses came off him outside, he had to put a veil over his face.

And because he put his veil over his face, do not let the children of Israel see the glory that was disappearing. And so it was a decreasing and disappearing glory. He said, but nonetheless it was glory. He said, but when you compare that glory to the glory of the new covenant, the glory that the old covenant had actually seems like it had no glory at all because it's such a vast comparison.

And so if the, if the, if the old covenant was here, you could go up into the clouds and that would be the glory of the new covenant. And he said that, that the, the veil that Moses put, he said, he covered this, this glory that was, was disappearing. And so at the end of chapter three, he goes in and says this in verse 14, talking about the children of Israel, says their minds were blinded for until this day, the same veil remains, and unlisted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away, or by say taken away, the veil is taken away in Christ. So if you are in Christ, guess what you don't have, you don't have a veil, just because in Christ, the veil is gone.

Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Verse 16, next slide. Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, so how do I get in Christ? It says when Christ the veil is taken away, then this verse says when one does what, turns to the Lord.

It says when one turns to the Lord, when you accept Jesus, when you get saved, when you're placed in Christ, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now it's interesting that in Galatians chapter 4, Paul says this, it says this in verse 9, he says, how is it to those of you that have known God? So remember we talked about knowing God's ways, he says, how is it to you that have known God, or rather, or even known by God? How is it that you want to turn again to the weak and beggarly elements?

How is it that you desire to be in bondage? And then he goes on to talk about what they were doing to follow the law. And so here's what happens, as a believer, you can turn to Jesus, you're in Christ, and spiritually the veil has been lifted. But then what happens is once you've been made righteous, once you've been placed in Christ, we think that it's up to us to maintain and stay that way.

And we begin to say, how can you that were there, that knew God, that were known by God, how can you turn again back to those weak, have no power in your life? Beggarly means they have no influence, they're in poverty, those things, and he says it actually puts you in bondage. So you have a choice, once you've made a choice to turn to Jesus, the veil gets removed, you still have to continue to stay there. You have not to stay saved, but you have to stay there to continue to see what it is that he wants to show you next, because the tendency is to turn back.

He says, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Who's the Spirit? The Lord tells us that, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Verse 18 says this.

It said, but we all, we have a veil or no veil, no veil, if you're in Christ's no veil, but we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a 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. So the transformation, if you remember last week, I told you that quote by Max Laketto says that God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay that way. And that God's designed for you is to instantly change you the day you get saved, and then the remainder of your life and your walk with him is to continue to make you more like Jesus on the outside, on the way you act, the way you feel and interact with other people. And so that God loves you where you're at, God loves you the way you are, but he also loves you too much to let you stay the same every day.

He wants you to continually be conformed to the image of Jesus. And it tells us here that this transformation, it's done by the Holy Spirit, so that you can't do it. The word transform is actually in the past of voice, which means that it's somebody else doing it for you. And he tells us in this verse who it is, it's the Holy Spirit is the one that actually changes you and makes you more like Jesus.

It's not your spouse, as much as your spouse may want to change you. I know my wife for many years wanted to change me, and she probably still does, but I'm getting better. But no matter how much she tried, guess what she can't do? You can't change me.

No matter how much you try to change somebody, you can't change them. You can't change you. See, you got a one-two, but you can't do it. And according to this verse, it says that all you need to do, it says, be holding as an amiror, the glory of the Lord.

Your job is not doing, your job is not acting, your job is not any of that, your job is beholding Jesus, who is the glory of the Lord. And it says when you do that, he begins to transform you into the same glory, and from one glory to another. And so last week, we even talked about that the glory, it's an increasing glory, right? The glory of God is actually infinite, it doesn't decrease.

And so that when you get to one level, stay there until he's finished with you, and then go to the next level and stay there until he's finished with you. And then go to the next level, it's increasing, which is different from the glory of the law, because it said the glory that was on Moses was decreasing. And what a lot of times we try to do is we try to use something that was a decreasing glory to make an increasing change. And that doesn't work.

You can't take something that's going down and use it to bring increasing change. And so Jesus brought another way. He brought another way called grace. He came and he delivered that to us and he did it for us.

It says in the amplified version, it says, continually seeing as in amiror, the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed. And to his image from one degree of glory to even more glory. The word transform, it comes from a compound word in the Greek, meta, meaning change. Similar to like, you know the word repent, it means meta noia, to change your mind.

This comes from two words, metamorphae, which means to change your form, to change in form. So it's a change in form. And we only see this word a couple times in the New Testament, we see it in chapter three, verse 18, and the second Corinthians. But we also see it in Romans chapter 12, too.

You're familiar with this word verse, it says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may be transformed. And we also see it in two of the gospel stories about the transfiguration, the Matthew's account and Marx account, where it says that Jesus was transfigured before them. That word transfigured is the exact identical same word as transform. And so that's why we're going to look at that story today, we're going to look at Matthew's version today, because I think there's some things in the story that, actually there's one thing, it's only, I should have, my title's only Jesus.

So there's one thing in that story that will help you and help change you as you walk with the Lord. And so I want to read it to you today before we go through it, let me just read you a few verses, they're not going to go there yet. But it starts at the last verse of chapter 26, I'm sorry, 16, Matthew 16, and the last verse of Matthew 16, and we're going to read down through verse eight where we're going to stop, but it continues a little farther. Verse 28 says, this is surely I say to you, there are many standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

So Peter, James and John, his brother led them up on a high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. And behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here.

If you wish, let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And while he was still speaking, behold a great, bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased, hear him. And when the disciples heard it, they found their faces and were greatly afraid, but Jesus came and touched them and said, arise, do not be afraid. And when they lifted their eyes, they saw no one, but Jesus only.

I'll just read down through verse 13. It says, now they came down from the mountain and Jesus commanded them saying, television to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. And his disciples asked him saying, why then do the scribes say, Elijah must come first? And Jesus said, indeed Elijah is coming first and will restore all things, talking about in the future.

But then he also points backwards and he says, but I say to you, Elijah has come already and they did not know him and did to him whatever they wish. Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands. And verse 13 says, the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John, the Baptist. And of course, John the Baptist says came in spirit and power of Elijah.

Okay, so we have this story and it says that Jesus said, in verse 28, he says, assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death, so you're not going to die, you're going to remain alive, until you see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Now, Luke's version, they all say it a little bit different, Luke's version says that there's some standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom. This version says, until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. And Mark chapter 9 verse 1 says it a little bit different.

It's something I want to point out. It says that I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the kingdom of God come in power. Now I find that interesting because the word power is dunamis, miracle working power. And what have the disciples already seen in experience?

Miracles, right? They saw Jesus take and feed the 5,000. They saw him take 5 lives of bread and 2 fish, break them, hand them to the disciples. And as the disciples handed them out, they multiplied, fed the crowd, took up 12 baskets afterward.

They saw the power of God. They saw Jesus do this. He would say this. If I cast out Satan by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come on you, or come upon you.

And so that when Jesus cast out a demon, he said that's an expression of the power of the kingdom of God. And he tells them in Luke 10, he says, when you go out, I want you to preach the gospel, cast out demons, heal the sick, and heal the sick. And he says, when you heal the sick, say this, the kingdom of God has come upon you. And so all of these things that they've seen, miracles, they've seen Jesus, he gave them, it says in Luke 9, 1, it says he gave them power and authority.

The cast out demons healed the sick and preached the gospel. They had been given power. They had seen power. They wanted Jesus cast out demons and say the kingdom of God has come.

And he told them when they healed the sick to say the kingdom of God has come. But now he's saying that there is something different that they haven't seen before. It literally means, I think he's saying that there's going to be another dimension of power different than the power that you've seen up to this point. Because they had seen power.

They had seen the miracles. But Jesus says this, there's some standing here that won't die until you see the kingdom come with power. If you think about everything they saw as an expression of power up to that point, they were all external expressions of power. Healing, deliverance, multiplication of food, all external.

But there's coming a power that's actually going to be working on the inside that you've never seen before. There's coming a power of the Holy Spirit. There's coming a power of the gospel. Paul said this, he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, where it is the power of God unto salvation to them that believe the Jew person also to the Greek.

For in it, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Now two times in the Bible, it says that you're transformed or once it says you're transformed from glory to glory. And in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from one level of faith to another. And I really believe that as you deepen your understanding of the righteousness of God in your life, it actually is a thing that transforms you from glory to glory.

That as you're released into this greater understanding of what Jesus did for you, it's the very thing that begins to allow the Holy Spirit to change you. And he says there's a power coming that's going to work on the inside that's internal that will now, it's not just going to be an outward expression, but it's going to be something on the inside that works from the inside out. And you haven't seen that yet, but you're going to see it. In verse two, he says this, he says, or verse one, after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

He didn't take everybody. I think I've told you this before, every revelation is not for everybody. He even told them when they came down on the mountain, he says, don't tell anybody what you saw until after the Son of Man was raised from the dead. Sometimes when we get a word from God, we just want to be the first one to blab it to everybody.

But sometimes that words for you for the season you're in and after that season is over, then you're able to share that with other people. Sometimes we release the right word in the wrong season. And he says that he took those three up by themselves because he wanted to show them something. There's something he wants to reveal to them.

And he says, Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Actually the word transfigured here is in the passive tense, which means he didn't transfigure himself. He was transfigured by somebody else, just like we are.

If you read Mark's Gospel, it says this, I'm sorry Luke, Luke says as he prayed, the other versions say, but he was praying, but he's actually taking them up to pray. Luke chapter nine says this, as he prayed, the appearance of his face was altered. You think there's a connection between prayer and the release of what God has on the inside of you. As he prayed, he was transformed.

He said that he leaves them up on a mountain and he was transfigured before them. And so the miracle here is this, imagine that for three years the Holy Spirit has been present in the life of Jesus. And then all of a sudden on top of Mount Herman, some people say it was Mount Tabor, but either way, on top of the mountain all of a sudden God begins to open up and reveal what's been present all along. See, they're so used to seeing Jesus as he is, they're used to seeing what he does, but now God gives them a glimpse of something that up until that day had been baled by his flesh.

And I think that the point to us is this, when Jesus says the same glory you've given me I've given them, and Isaiah said that you were created for his glory, that when you carry the glory of God, that's actually in you. So everything that you read about Jesus showing them and getting them a glimpse of what's on the inside, that's in you. Paul says the mystery that has been hidden for the ages has now been revealed, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And so that when Jesus gives them a revelation of what's actually in him, he said, let you know, hey, this is what's in you.

And what's in you is so powerful and so infinite. It has the ability to flow through you and to change anything in your life. There's nothing in your life that the glory of God and Jesus cannot change. Verse 3 says, behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

And so here he is on the mountain, he's praying. All of a sudden he begins to transfigure, he's transformed in front of them, and as his glory is revealed, as his face begins to shine, as his clothes become whiter than the whitest white, all of a sudden Moses and Elijah appear with him. Now, who were they talking to? Look in verse 3, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, but they were talking with who?

They were talking with Jesus. Moses, we read the other things that actually I think Luke says that they were talking about what he would accomplish in Jerusalem. They're actually talking about his death, burial, and resurrection. So they're talking to Jesus, and what does Peter do?

Peter answered, well, guess who they weren't talking to? They weren't talking to Peter. They were talking to Jesus. And so the first rule is don't answer when you're not spoken to.

That we see Peter do this a lot in his BC days. So actually in some of the other stories it says this, because Peter didn't know what to say, he answered and said this. That's another dumb move. If you don't know what to say, just wait.

Wait, it'll come. But don't just... But what's he do? It's good for us to be here.

I wasn't asking you Peter. I said Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it's good for us to be here. And if you want to, let's make three tabernacles. So these tabernacles don't think of like the tabernacle of Solomon.

That's not what that is. This would be what was called a booth that was used for the feast of booths, the feast of tabernacles, which was made up of branches. It was more of a temporary shelter like a tent. She had made a branch.

He said, let's make three of those. This sounds like a good idea. Here's Jesus. He's in his glory.

Here's Moses. Here's Elijah. They're in glory. They're talking to him.

And he said, hey, I have a brilliant idea. I just thought of a good friend of mine that. He was actually the founder of this church, the way back into went to Brian Bull. And when I just said brilliant, I found out later every time I come up with an idea saying, that's brilliant.

I found out later when he said it was brilliant, that was his way saying that's stupid. And so once I got in on the joke, I got it. But I didn't realize I was a joke for a long time. Do you ever have one of those friends like that?

It says, Peter said, hey, I got an idea. Let's make three tabernacles. I got this great idea. We're going to make a booth for Jesus.

We're going to make a booth free Elijah. And we're going to make one for Moses. What a fantastic idea. So we got to talk about what did they represent?

So why Moses and why Elijah? There's a couple reasons we're only going to talk about one today. Moses represented the law. Okay?

We can remember that Moses represented the law. Elijah represented the prophets. Jesus represents grace. Moses is the law giver.

Who gave the law? Moses. Moses is the law giver. The prophets, Elijah was the law enforcer.

Guess what happened when you didn't obey? Fire! Judgment! Jesus is the law fulfiller.

Law giver, law enforcer, law fulfiller. Paul tells us by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law brought condemnation. It lets you know what's wrong.

Prophets let you know, hey, here's the punishment you're going to get. By the way, you're going to be disintegrated today. You're not. But grace, Thompson says, hey, I did it for you.

Here you go. You just got to receive. It's a different message. And so Peter says this.

Let's make all three of these equal. Let's like Moses equal to the prophets equal to Jesus. While he was still speaking. He didn't even get this all out.

So we don't find out two verses later. But as he's saying, I've got a brilliant. The father says that's stupid. That's not brilliant.

It's dumb. The father cuts him off. It says while he was speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed him. So think about this.

When Moses was on Mount Sinai, Bob said today about it's time to move from Mount Sinai. That we're moving from Sinai into the Promised Land, which represents the finished works of Jesus. The Promised Land is not heaven. Because there were still battles to be fought in the Promised Land.

You're not going to fight any battles in heaven. The Promised Land is the finished works of Jesus. Bob said it's time to move from Mount Mountain. Did you know that Jesus switched mountains?

Did you read Galatians? It says that these two covenants are like these two women. Eggar and Sarah. One was the Mount Sinai.

One was Mount Zion. Jesus actually switched mountains. He's no longer on that. When Moses was on Mount Sinai, if you read in Exodus, it says what was coming out of the clouds?

Thunder and lightning. Right? And fire and smoke. What color cloud emits lightning?

Dark cloud. Great cloud. Storm cloud. What kind of cloud came when Jesus was there?

A bright cloud. This is a different cloud. Still the presence of God, but we've gone from the old to the new. It says a bright cloud overshadowed them.

And suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, Now where have we heard this before? This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Yeah, so when Jesus goes into the wilderness and John says, I need to be baptized by you. Jesus says permitted to be so, so all righteousness can be fulfilled.

Baptized me. And it says he baptized him and as he was coming up, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and remained on him. And the Father speaks from heaven and says, You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. You know the Father said that before the Son ever did a miracle?

But the Father said that before Jesus ever did a supernatural work. You dads here today, do you think if you told your son that you're my son and who am I please? That he might actually, or your daughter might actually live it out if you spoke that over them? When Peter retells this story in 2nd Peter 1 verses 16 to 18, he retells about this.

It says that how Jesus received honor when the Father spoke this over him. And I think there's some dads here today that need to speak some of these kind of words over your kid. The way the Father loved Jesus wasn't based on what he did. Because he said, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased before he ever did anything.

And that's the same way Paul says that you're accepted in the beloved. That when you're in Christ, God loves you the same way he loves Jesus. And he loves you because of Jesus. And he loves you the same as Jesus.

You're accepted in him, the beloved. He says, But here he says something different. Do you see something at the end of this sentence different than what he says at his baptism? At the baptism he said, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

But here he said, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. I can't hear you, hear him. Hear him. Peter said, Let's make a temple.

One for Moses. One for Elijah. One for Jesus. God said, That's a dumb idea.

This is my beloved son. Elijah is not my beloved son. Moses is not my beloved son. This is my beloved son.

Hear him. See what happens a lot of times as we try to listen to the law and the prophets that were written for under another covenant. Now all of the law and prophets pointed to Jesus. Matter of fact, when Jesus was on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples, it said he began at Moses and the prophets and shared how all of those things pointed to him.

So that he is hidden there and they point to him, but that's not how God speaks today. You look at me like you don't believe. Does the disciples heard that they fell on their faces and they were greatly afraid? Now a sudden he goes from having a bright idea to feeling really stupid.

Well that was dumb. That was really stupid. See God said, go to the next verse. God, who in various ways and at various times spoke in times past to the fathers by whom.

God who in various ways and at various times spoke in times past by the prophets to the fathers. How did God speak in times past? I'm not doing a good job teaching today. If you have in times past how did God speak by the prophets?

But in these, everybody say this, these last days. Now have you ever heard this? We're living in the last days. Now why do people say we're living in the last days?

Sin has gotten so bad. The world going to hell in a hand basket. We're living in the last days. That's not what God says.

God defined the last days, the days he dropped the prophet mic and picked up the Jesus mic. The last day started with Jesus. See we tried to define the last days by sin. God defined the last days by his son.

He says in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. See you want to talk about a mic drop? That's the mic drop of all time. He didn't go, oh you know what?

I think they need a little profit today. I think they need a little legal. Let me go pick it up. He got one microphone and one microphone only.

That is Jesus. And it says he has appointed him what? Air of all things. The prophets in Moses weren't air of all things.

Jesus is. Everything Jesus says all that the Father has is mine. And the Holy Spirit will take of what is mine and declare it to who? You, everything Jesus has is yours.

You are a co-air with Jesus. It says by whom he made the world. You've got the creator of the world. In the beginning was the word.

The word was with God. The word was God. It said that he created everything through Jesus. You have the creator of the world speaking into your situation.

You don't have somebody that was a temporary law giver, law enforcer. You've got the law fulfilling the creator of the world speaking unto you. It says next slide says who being? When Jesus revealed, it says who being the brightness of his glory.

Jesus wasn't reflecting the glory of God. You see the difference? When Moses is up on the mount, he's talking to a dark cloud. He's talking to the presence of God.

But the glory is hitting his face and he's reflecting it. And over time it disintegrates. Jesus was not reflecting the glory of God. Jesus was releasing the glory of God.

That what's on the inside is ever increasing. What's on the inside will take you from one level to another. It's infinite in nature. It's transforming in nature.

It never ends. He says he is the brightness of the glory of God and he is the express image. He's the exact character. It's literally that he is the exact imprint of the Father.

That if you ever want to study theology, the study of God, you know who the best person to look at? Jesus. Jesus is perfect theology. Jesus is perfect.

We sang this morning that you are perfect in all of your ways. Will Jesus perfectly represent the Father? Everything he did. Everything he said.

Everybody he touched. Everything if you want to know, hmm, I wonder what God's will is in this situation. Well, let me see. What did Jesus do?

What did Jesus do? Let's go back to the Ten Commandments. No, Jesus fulfilled that. Jesus perfectly represented the Father.

He was the exact imprint of his nature. Up holding all things by the word of his power. It's not the power of his word. Although it says up holding.

Did you know in the nucleus of Adam, they actually should blow apart? But guess what? They don't. Did you ever wonder why?

Because he's upholding all things by the word of his power that when he releases a Rama word, it actually releases the supernatural power of God to keep things together that should be going apart. You think your marriage is going apart? Guess what he can do? You think your kids are running off?

Guess what he can do? It says he can uphold all things. Does that include your kids? Does it include your marriage?

Does it include your job? Everything, nature, and by the word of his power. I'm excited today. What happened to me?

When he by himself purged our sins. God is speaking not with Moses that gave the law and identified your sin, not with the prophet that pronounced judgment on your sin, but by the one who purged your sin. He paid for your sin. Before you ever committed it, he purged it.

Two thousand years ago in our time, but in eternity past, the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world, God looked in eternity future, saw every sin you'd ever commit, and said, I hate sin so much, and I love you so much, I'm going to punish my son for that sin, even though they haven't even committed it, and won't commit it for thousands of years from now. And when he finished it, he sat down. You've got the air of all things. You've got the creator of all things.

You've got the brightness of the glory of the Father. You've got the exact imprint of his nature. You've got the one who paid for your sin. That's the one God is speaking through today.

Don't go making a tabernacle to Moses. Don't go making a tabernacle to the prophets. Here, him. How are you going to take something that, as I said earlier, that decreases in glory and expect to get an increase out of it?

Oh, that's a what you need is some more law. Oh, that's a brilliant idea. You know why it's brilliant? Let me take something that's decreasing and try to get it to, it's like getting the river to go the other way.

A river runs one way. Like I'm going to take something going down and think it's going to take me up. The law will not transform you. God, who in various times and in various ways, spoke in times past to our fathers through the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us through his son.

Here's what I want to tell you about that. When we preach a past times message in a last day's season, it produces condemnation, not transformation. That's what God told me this week. The law was a past time message.

And when we preach a past time message in a last day's season, we produce condemnation, not transformation. Condemnation never changed anybody. When they bring the woman caught in adultery, Jesus says, woman, where are your accusers? There's no one condemn you.

He says, no one, my Lord. He says, neither do I. Now go and sin them. Did Jesus never excuse sin, but the power of no condemnation is the very thing that changes somebody?

He didn't shame her into not sinning again. He didn't condemn her, gave her grace. And then she walked in the freedom that he provided and actually changed her life. Oh my gosh.

I got to land this plane. Jesus said this. Remember, he said, among those born among women, in another passage, he said, among the prophets, there was none greater than who? John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets. Now, he didn't do the miracles he lied to did, but I got to believe it because God's word said it. He prepared the way of the Lord. He prepared, it said that he was one crying in the wilderness that makes strange things.

He prepared the wilderness to make straight the paths of the Lord prepared the way. That was a great, great thing. But Jesus said this. He said the law and the prophets were until John.

So that when John came, there was a shift that took place. That's what he did. He dropped the mic. He picked up the Jesus mic.

He said the law and the prophets were until John, but since that time, how long did John the Baptist been dead? That's the same amount of time Jesus came on the scene. Since that time, the kingdom is preached and people are pressing to do what? Get in.

When Moses came off of Mount Sinai with the tablets of stone, they shinning. Guess what the people did? Ram. They ran.

When Jesus descended off the hill with Peter, James and John, you'd run right into the story of the father who's son that he couldn't cast the demon out. It said when the people saw him, they were amazed and ran to him. Different mountain. Different result.

Condemnation repelled. Conviction draws in. John the Baptist said this and we apply it incorrectly so many times. John 3.30.

He says, the law and the prophets were until John. And from that time, the kingdom is preached and people are pressing to get in. John said, I must decrease and you Jesus must increase. One was a decreasing glory.

With Jesus, it's an increasing glory. John shut out an error that would never be picked up again. He was actually straddled between two dimensions in time. He's living under the old covenant, but he can see the reality of the new.

He says, I need to be baptized by you. I need what you have, Jesus. He said, time's not yet. But there's coming a day when people who are standing here will see the kingdom coming.

That's coming. We're in it now. He was straddled between two times. I'm going to finish.

Give me 10 minutes. If you need to leave, you're free to leave. You'd like to stay or free to stay. I'm going to fast forward to the end of the story in Luke 9.

It says this. So after they come off the mountain, the father says, hear him. Don't hear them. They're heading into Samaria.

It's that Jesus' face is set like Flint to go to Jerusalem. But when he comes to Samaria, it says this, it came to pass when time to come to be received off. He said fast, he said his face to go to Jerusalem. He sent messengers before his face.

And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for him. But they did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, and here's another brilliant idea. Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them as Elijah did?

I think it's kind of amazing. They thought they could actually call down fire from heaven. That's pretty cool. Jesus didn't even correct them for that thought.

He didn't say, oh, you're, no. He said, do you want us to call down fire like Elijah did? You can read the story in 2 Kings 1, the King Amaziah of Samaria, same city, he gets hurt. And he says, go inquire of the Lord of Echron whether I'm going to recover or not.

And Elijah runs into him and says, well, because there's no God in Israel because you tried to inquire of the Beals above the God of Echron, you're going to die. And so, yeah, Amaziah sends three groups of 50 people, and the first two, they go, man of God, come off the mountain, Elijah says, if I'm the man of God, disintegrate. And then he vaporized. The third one, he's like, man of God.

Are you okay with you? And so, Elijah did go to Amaziah and say, hey, you're going to die because you inquired another God and not the God of Israel. But what they say is, do you want us to call down fire on the Samaritans like Elijah? What's Jesus saying?

He turned and reviewed them and said, you don't know what manner of spirit you are. There was a time for the spirit of Elijah. There was a time for the spirit of Moses. I didn't get a kick out of that song.

These are the days of Elijah. No, they're not. And the third line, these are the days of Moses. No, they're not.

These are the days of Jesus. These are the last days. They're the days of Jesus. He said, you don't know what spirit you're up.

The spirit of Elijah has passed. The spirit of Jesus has come. He said, I didn't come to destroy life, but to save. They more destroy what Jesus used in John 10, 10.

We said the thief comes not like forth a steal to kill and destroy. That's not Jesus. He said, but I've come that they might have life had more money. Let's close with these last two verses.

And then we'll just cut it short and figure out how we're going to do it next time. The law brought condemnation, right? The ministry of condemnation. Jesus says, for God sent not his son into the world to tend them the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

John chapter 12 says this, the prophets brought, they were the law enforcers. They brought judgment. Fire. If anyone hears my words and does not believe, I do not judge him.

I did not come to judge the world. But to say, Jesus goes on to say, my words will judge you in the end. See, there's coming a time when that will happen. There's coming a time that if you don't make a decision, you will be judged.

But for right now, if you accept Jesus, he's taken care of. That's the first step in transformation. The next step, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine hundred, ninety nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety eight, a billion is continuing to behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. And he will progressively transform you from one degree of glory to another even at five years.

Your job is to behold. His job is to be changed. Now, when it closes, I get one more verse. I got to the very end.

I want to read one before that. And this is where Christal said earlier. She said, I see somebody that's reaching up and God's reaching down. When Jesus said this, after he told him this was a dumb idea, it said, Jesus came and touched him and says, what's he saying?

Rise. Same word that he says to the lame guy when he says, arise, get off your mat. But this arise is in the past of ten. Which means when Jesus touched him, he said, let yourself be lifted up.

He's not making you get up off the ground yourself. He's actually allow yourself to be picked up by me. And that's what grace does. Jesus reaches down and picks you up wherever you're at.

Whatever level you're at, allow yourself to rise. Allow yourself to be raised up. Allow yourself to be raised up. And don't be afraid.