Fresh Bread

Guest (Male): You are listening to Fresh Bread, Dr. Harry Reeder's daily devotional from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

Harry Reeder: Luke chapter 9, you want to maybe mark it aside from verses 28 down to verse 36. We looked at the definitive text in the Gospel of Luke from the teaching of Jesus on discipleship. What does it mean to deny yourself? And then what does it mean to take up your cross daily and what does it mean to follow him?

You can't follow him until you die daily and you die daily because you deny yourself. And then all of the motivations that are given, if you lose your life for Christ's sake, but we don't want to gain the world and lose our soul. What we want to do is gain Jesus, and then Jesus, of course, is our life.

And then, of course, the glorious truth that we can confess him, that those who confess him before men, he will confess before the Father, not because our confession saves us, but because of the fact that those who are saved confess him. With the heart man believes, with the mouth he confesses unto salvation.

And then he's made this interesting statement that there are some standing around him that will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God coming in glory. That was in Luke chapter 9 and verse 27. What did that mean? Well, that could mean the ascension, that some of those there would be there at his ascension from the Mount of Olives. It could mean his resurrection.

But I think it means what he is about to do next. And that's where we are. I believe those who will not taste death until they've seen the glory of God and the glory of Christ in his kingdom in this world are actually three very specific people: Peter, James, and John. And when and how will they see Jesus lifted up in the glory of his kingdom in this world? I think it is at the Mount of Transfiguration, which is the next thing in the chronology of the life of Jesus as recorded by Luke himself.

So let's take a look at this. We're going to spend a few days here this week. Here's what he says in Luke 9 and verse 28. "Now about eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter and James and John and they went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."

You see what he's doing? He takes them up on the mount, this mountain. And as he arrives there, they go up to pray. But as he is praying, all of a sudden the Shekinah glory of God, the kingdom glory of God, descends upon them. And two are there, Moses and Elijah. They are there in resurrected bodies and they are all wrapped up in this glory that is overwhelming Peter, James, and John.

And they're having a conversation. The specifics of the conversation is about Jesus' atoning death, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension, all that will take place in Jerusalem. And Peter, James, and John are listening in on this. But they're not just listening in, they're listening in in the context of Shekinah glory that is surrounding the King and this glorious representative of the Old Testament law, Moses, and of the Old Testament prophets, Elijah.

What is happening here? These three, Peter, James, and John, are seeing the glory of the King and his kingdom. And they have not yet tasted death, yet they are now seeing it. So now you see the fulfillment of it, but what is happening? Why Moses and Elijah? And why this discussion about what Jesus is going to do in Jerusalem that will lead to his ascension?

Well, I'm glad you asked because that's what we're going to cover in another slice of Fresh Bread. Well, listen, you go meet your Savior this Lord's day with the Lord's people at church, and then I'll see you back here for another slice of Fresh Bread.

Guest (Male): Dr. Reeder gives us interesting insight into baptism by considering God's instructions concerning circumcision. Ask for your free copy of the series, Unlocking the Relationship of Baptism and the Great Commission. Call 1-800-488-1888.