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Amen, so Mark chapter 9, we're going to look at. This evening is the story in the very first part of Mark chapter 9 of the Transfiguration of Jesus. So I'm really enjoying this series where we get to just look at different aspects of Jesus' life. We get to see not only the miracles that He did, but the people that He was with and why He did things the way He did as we study these stories in the Bible, and this story this evening is going to be no different. You know, a lot of times we get into the Bible and we study the Old Testament and different things in the Bible, whether it be prophecy and, you know, maybe, you know, feel like sometimes maybe we don't spend enough time in the Gospels. You know, we're just looking at the life of Jesus on this earth and, you know, what are the things that He said, the things that He did, and what can we learn from those things. So that's what we're going to look at this evening. We're going to look at some of the decisions that Jesus made and some of the people that Jesus kept close to Him and look at the reasons why. So look down at Mark chapter 9 and verse number 1, and let's do a little bit of a Bible study to start off this evening. The Bible says, And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you... This story is also, by the way, in Matthew chapter 17, but we'll mainly focus on Mark chapter 9. And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you that there will be some that stand here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. Now a lot of people are confused about this verse in the Bible. They don't, they're like, what does this mean? You know, and I'm sure that the men that heard this at the time were thinking that, you know, Jesus was going to come back after He, you know, rose again and ascended into heaven. I'm sure that they were thinking Jesus was coming back very soon. And because they just misinterpreted things that He said like this, many people still don't understand this. But all you have to do is just really just read the next couple of verses and you understand exactly what Jesus was talking about. Notice He says that there will be some of them. He doesn't say all of them. He says some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days, Jesus taketh with him Peter, James, and John. So Jesus takes some of them right away. He takes some of them to this place and He leadeth them up to a high mountain, apart by themselves, and He was transfigured before them. And His raiment, so what does that mean? What does that mean that He was transfigured before them? Well, the Bible tells us here in Mark chapter 9, it says, His raiment became shining, exceedingly white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them. So it was the whitest thing you could ever see. It was so bright and it was shining. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses and they were talking with Jesus. So here they see these men who were, these men, these men were dead. This was Elijah and Moses is who the Bible is talking about here. Turn to Revelation chapter 11, Revelation chapter 11. So here they see Jesus up on this mountain. Jesus changes. He's transfigured, meaning His figure changes before them and it turns into this, He's this white shining, He's this figure that's wearing this white shining raiment that's as white as anything. And then here are these Old Testament saints who we know are in heaven. I mean, these men are not on earth. These men are in heaven. So we are seeing, we are seeing the kingdom of God. We're seeing a vision of the kingdom of God in the transfiguration of Jesus. Go to Revelation chapter 3 real quick and I just want to show you why some people think that the two witnesses in Revelation is actually Elijah and Moses. Look at Revelation chapter 11 and look at verse number 3. So the Bible says in the end times that there will be two witnesses that are sent to earth by God and the Bible says in verse number 3, And I will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth. So there's a big, you know, everyone has their opinion on who these two witnesses are, but I just want to, I don't want to give you my opinion tonight. I don't need to have an opinion right now, but the point is, is that, you know, a lot of people think because of this story in Mark chapter 9 that the two witnesses are Elijah and Moses. And you know, that's not a, it's not a stupid conclusion to come to. I mean, it seems when Jesus is transfigured and there's two men that appear to him, it's Elijah and Moses. I mean, it seems like that fits. Another theory is that it's Enoch and Elijah. Enoch and Enoch, those two guys have one thing in common is that, you know, they weren't buried on earth. God, like literally, those are the two men that God just took. He just took them. He took them to heaven. So a lot of people think that it's Enoch and Elijah. The point is that I want to just point out that people that think it's Elijah and Moses, mainly they're referencing this story right here, which, you know, it's a decent piece of evidence. Okay. Verse number five. But, you know, ultimately, I'll let you know. I'll let you know who it is. Okay. All right. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias. For he was not what to say, for they were sore or afraid. I mean, it's quite a vision that they're seeing here. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. And suddenly when they had looked around about, they saw no man anymore, save Jesus only with themselves. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen till the Son of Man were risen from the dead. So let's look at this event for a few minutes. Turn to Isaiah chapter 53. So first of all, Jesus was changed before them. Peter, James and John were there. Jesus was changed before them. So what did Jesus look like before? He was changed into this white shining figure and he was transfigured before them into this. And I'll show you what he looked like after. But in Isaiah 53, we get a glimpse of what Jesus looked like before he was transfigured. We could almost make, you know, you know, a painting of Jesus. No, we can't. But I mean, the point is, the Bible does tell us some details about what Jesus looked like as he walked on this earth. Look at Isaiah 53 and verse number 1. And this doesn't seem to match anything that you see, by the way. But the Bible says, Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we would desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised. We esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53, 1, look down at verse number 2. He shall grow up as a tender plant and a root out of dry ground. We have no form nor comeliness, and we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire of him. Jesus was a normal looking guy. I mean, Jesus wasn't 6'5", you know, this king looking, he wasn't like Saul. I mean, when you read stories about Saul, I mean, the people, you know, they wanted Saul to be their king because, I mean, he looked like a king. You know, he was head and shoulders above everybody else, you know, he was a strong warrior. Jesus looked like just a normal guy, the Bible says. You know, he wasn't this strikingly good looking person that everyone's just like, you know, wow, you know, I mean, look, he was just a normal average looking person. Turn to Isaiah chapter 52. As a matter of fact, the only time that you'll see the Bible talking about, you know, Jesus looking in an extraordinary way, Isaiah chapter 52 verse 14 tells us, is basically during the crucifixion, is the time when Jesus had an extraordinary look that nobody else had. Look at Isaiah 52 and verse 14. The Bible says, as many were astonished at thee, his visage, that means his appearance of his face, was so marred more than any man and his form, that means his body, more than the sons of men. So basically, the only time that the Bible says that Jesus looked like extraordinary above and beyond any man was when he was just like brutally beaten and disfigured from the crucifixion and the torture that he went through. Other than that, he was just an ordinary guy before that. It's not something, and look, it makes sense. I mean, that's kind of how God operates. God operated where, you know, he didn't, Jesus was the Messiah. He would never want, it was what he did and what he said and what he taught and ultimately what he sacrificed himself that proved that he was God. I mean, especially as we're looking, you know, at the miracles of Jesus. It was those miracles of Jesus, not the fact that he was just some, you know, perfect specimen of a person, okay? But now, go to Revelation chapter 1. So we see that he's ordinary. He's just an ordinary looking person. But what did he look like? What did Peter, James, and John see when he was transfigured? You know, Mark chapter 9 says that his raiment, his clothing was white and shining. We see that. But we get more detail in Revelation chapter 1 on what the transfigured Jesus, what the glorified Jesus looks like. Look at Revelation chapter 1 and verse number 12. Revelation chapter 1 and verse number 12, the Bible says, And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and a gird about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and hairs were white like wool and white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire. And his feet were like undefined brass as if they burned in a furnace. And his voice as the sound of many waters. You ever stand out on a beach for a long time and try to have a conversation? It's irritating. It's annoying. You can't hear anything because the waters are crashing down. And it's just this loud, surrounding noise. And the Bible says that was the voice of Jesus. And he had in his right hand seven stars. And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. So here we see there's more glory, there's more shining happening here. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. Look, when somebody appears to you in a way, and immediately your reaction is to just fall down because you're afraid and you're in fear, look, John, John, as you'll see, and as we'll read, John had lived a life that was pleasing to the Lord at this point. John had sacrificed, he had been willing to sacrifice his life at the time of this writing right here. And I will read that to you. But John, he had nothing to quote unquote fear from Jesus. But when he saw the picture of Jesus here, when he saw Jesus in his glorified state, he fell down as dead. That was the state of this image. And behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys. Oh, he says, fear not, I am the first and the last, Jesus says, I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I'm alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. I love that phrase right there as well. But that's not part of the scope of this sermon. So this is the glorified Jesus that they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration. They saw this ordinary man, this ordinary man who was God on the earth, who was the Messiah changed into and they got a glimpse of heaven here. And they saw Elijah and Moses there. And I mean, it was quite a privilege for these men to be there, Peter, James and John. So the next thing I want to focus on is why? Why did Jesus take these three? Why Peter, James and John? These men were the same men who in Matthew chapter 26 and verse, well why don't you just turn there, Matthew chapter 26 and verse number 38, Matthew chapter 26 and verse number 38, Matthew chapter 26 and verse number 38. These were the same men that were at the garden with Jesus. Look at Matthew chapter 26 and verse 38. The Bible says, then he said unto them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. Tarry here and watch with me. In verse 37 it says, and he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. That's James and John and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed saying, Oh Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. I think that's a pretty powerful, just kind of a demonstration of the Trinity right there as well. That's how, you know, there's a, you know, Jesus, the son is, you know, he's respectful to the father, but he's asking the father a question. He's not just a robot. That's exactly what the father wants. He's just asking the father a question. But the point is, when Jesus was praying to the father right before he was about to be arrested, who did he take with him? He took Peter, James and John. So the question is, why these three? So let's start at the beginning. Let's just do a quick Bible study and find out why these three and I'm not saying I know exactly why these three, but we can get a good idea. Go to John chapter one, go to John chapter one. What we know for sure is that when Jesus chose his inner circle of these three men, Peter, James and John, he was correct. He was right. We can see that in the Bible and how things play out. But you know, we just know that Jesus would always make the right decision. Let's look at John chapter one and look at verse number 40. Let's start at the beginning. The beginning when these men come on the scene. And the Bible says, one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon, Peter's brother. We're talking about John the Baptist here. We're talking about John the Baptist. So here we see that Andrew had heard John the Baptist speak. This is John chapter one, remember. This is the talking about John the Baptist. He first findeth his own brother Simon, that's Peter, by the way, Simon Peter, Peter is the same name. It's kind of a middle name type thing. We have found the Messiahs, which is being interpreted the Christ, and he brought him to Jesus. So Andrew finds, hears of John, and Andrew, you know, hears Jesus, and we have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ, and he brought him to Jesus. When Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah, thou shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone, which is why, you know, many people say that Peter is, you know, his name means, you know, a rock, Cephas, a rock, thou shalt be called Cephas. Jesus kind of gives him a nickname, so to speak, right here. The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee and findeth Philip and say unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethesda, the city of Andrew and Peter. This is super interesting here, by the way. Philip findeth Nathanael, and said unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? And Philip said unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith to him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. So Andrew is first listening to John the Baptist, he goes and he gets his brother Peter, and then they find Philip, who's from the same town as, you know, Andrew and Peter, and then Philip goes and he gets his buddy Nathanael. And so they all kind of are conglomerating. Now turn to Luke chapter five, they're kind of all getting their buddies in and going and meeting Jesus. Now turn to Luke chapter five, Luke chapter five, you say, But what about James and John? Go to Luke chapter five. Look at verse number three. And look what the Bible says. And it says, And he entered into one of the ships, Jesus did, which was Simon's, that's Peter's ship. And he prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land and he sat down and taught the people out of the ship. Look he already Jesus already knew them at this point. They already knew Jesus at this point. Look at verse number four. And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, that's Peter, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answered, saying, Master, we've toiled all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at Thy word, I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net break. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in an other ship that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships so they began to sink. And Simon Peter saw it and he fell down at Jesus's knees saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. He's like, I'm sorry that I doubted you. And he was astonished and all that were with him at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. And so was also, here's the partners right here. These were the partners with Andrew and Peter or Simon. And so also was James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. So here we see that James and John were business partners with Peter and Andrew. So basically, we see five of the disciples here, six, seven of the disciples. They all knew each other. They were all, they were all, they all were, they were either in business with each other, they were from the same town, they were friends, they were acquaintances. Now, you know, just a side note, this is one of the ways that, this is one of the main ways a church grows, by the way. I mean, this is just a pragmatic way the church grows, because people, they get in a good church, or they find something biblical that's good, and they care that their family gets into this, or their friends get into this, or hey, we found the truth. We found the truth. And they tell people, come, we found biblical preaching. I mean, these guys were like, hey, we found the Messiah. We found the Christ, you know, come on over here. So look, that's a, it makes sense that a church would grow that way. You know, that people would care, I mean, I just said that out to a lady soul winning today. I was like, you know, I was explaining to her, you know, her salvation is one thing, but how about being profitable to others? This lady was really concerned that she would know that she's going to heaven. You know, as one of those people, you come to their door, and you're like, do you know you're going to heaven? She's like, no, but I'm really concerned about it. I mean, this is why we go soul winning. She's like, no, but I'm really concerned about it. I'm really worried about it. Well, how about, you know, after she gets saved, how about now? Are you worried about it for a year? I see some kids walking around back there. Are you worried about it for them? Yes, I am. So I mean, that is, that's why it makes sense that a church would grow this way. Because I mean, you want everybody that you love to know the truth. It only makes sense. So again, why these three? I mean, we don't fully know, but we can see some clues here. Look at Matthew chapter 16. We can get some clues. First of all, Peter was the first to express faith in Jesus. I mean, just to just basically answer straight out to Jesus. This is who you are. This is who I believe you are. Look at Matthew chapter 16, in verse number 13. The Bible says, When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But that's a little, that's confusing. That's a lot of people to choose from. I mean, who is this guy? Well, he might be a prophet, or John the Baptist come back from the dead, or whatever. And he said, He said, But who, whom do ye say that I am? He says, And Simon Peter, he's the first one that answered. He asked all the disciples this. And Peter answers him and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter says to Jesus, turn to Mark chapter three. What about James and John? What about James and John? Now these two, these two were bold. That's what we know about these two in the Bible. And also from other historical documents that we'll look at this evening as well. But these two were bold. Look at Mark chapter three, Mark chapter three. Mark chapter three and look at verse number 17. Mark chapter three and look at verse number 17. And James, and James, this is going through a list of the 12. And James, the son of Zebedee, and John, brother of James, and he surnamed them, Bonodris, which is the sons of thunder. Now look, if you if you want a nickname, if you're after nicknames, that's a good one. Okay. Now, I mean, let me you guys are going to go to work and you guys are gonna start working in different places and all this. Nicknames are kind of like a landmine, right? I mean, you don't want a bad nickname. Okay, this is just a side note. Somebody gives you a bad nickname, like, hey, we're going to call you moron or something. You got to stomp that right away. You're like, how do you stomp that? Any way possible. Like fight if you have to. I mean, you don't want a bad nickname. You know, I mean, legend, that's a good nickname. Legend. I don't know who came up with that one, but it's a good one. That's a keeper. Okay. Generally, nicknames are not good. Sons of thunder. That's a good one. Okay. And the reason is, is because they were bold. Turn to Luke chapter nine. Probably says something good about their dad, too. Turn to Luke chapter nine and look at verse number 54. Luke chapter nine and verse number 54. So Jesus here, He's preaching and He's not received well in a certain area. He's not received well. And the Bible says, and look at verse number 53, and they did not receive Him because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem. And they did not receive Him because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem. This is talking about the Samaritans. They didn't receive Jesus well in this case in verse 54. And when His disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did? I mean, you got to love these guys. You know, I mean, here they're with Jesus and Jesus is preaching and He's in this area and they just don't receive Him. They're just like, come on, Jesus, just let us just burn them up. Let's burn them up. And Jesus is like, whoa, whoa, sons of thunder. You know, I mean, it's not like, hey, let's shake the dust off our feet. Okay. Yeah. This was a not receptive neighborhood. Okay. You know, next week will be more receptive, brother. I mean, just calm down, you know, and you're like, let's just command fire from heaven. You know, on, you know, Huntington Boulevard or whatever it is, right? Just fire from heaven. Jesus is like, whoa, you know, Jesus rebuked them. It said in the next verse, He said, you know, not matter of spirit year of. He's basically just saying, hey, just relax. Okay. But these guys, they're, they're zealous. You got to love it. Right. They're zealous. They're fired up. You know what? Turn to Matthew chapter 20. They're willing to die for Christ. They're willing to die for Jesus. Look at Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20 and look at verse number 22. Matthew chapter 20 and verse number 22. Matthew chapter 20 and verse number 22. And these guys, so these guys are talking to, look at verse number 20. We'll start up there. Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping him and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, what wilt thou? And she said unto him, grant these that my two sons may sit one on thy right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom. And Jesus answered and said, you know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and be baptized with the baptized bit baptism that I'd be baptized with? And they said, so the mother comes and advocates for them. Just like, can my boys sit right next to you in heaven? You know, but they're there too. And Jesus says, are you able to drink of the cup that I'm going to drink of? And look, these guys were like, yes, we are. You know, I mean, you know, Jesus drank quite a cup. I mean, he died for the sins of the entire world. And these, these guys were just like, whatever it takes, we're in. And they, you know, they proved it in their life. They said unto him, we are able, is what they said. So look, they're, they're zealous. And James actually turned to Acts chapter 12. James made good on this, because James was actually the first of the apostles to be killed. He was actually the first of the apostles to die for Christ. Stephen, of course, was a deacon at the church was killed in Acts chapter seven. But of the apostles, James was the first, he was the first to die. Look at Acts chapter 12, verse number one, Acts chapter 12, and verse number one, the Bible says now about the time that Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church, about that time, Herod the king, and he killed James, the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened bread, you know, the Passover. So look, all of these men, and we're going to look at some historical accounts outside of the Bible, and you can take those for what you want to take them for. But all of these men, except for John, did die the martyr's life. They did give their life for Christ. Look at John chapter 21, Peter and John kind of had a special, Jesus actually prophesied to Peter that Peter would die for him. And after Jesus was risen from the dead, you know, Jesus says this to Peter, and then he gives a hint on John's life as well that many people, you know, don't really, I don't think too many people connect, but he gives a hint at the end of John chapter 21 about John's life as well. And we'll look at that right now. Look at verse 14 of John 21. Now this was the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the dead. So when they had died, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest me more than these. And he said unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, he has said unto him, feed my lambs. He said unto him the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, and he said unto him, feed my sheep. Verse 17, he said unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? It's almost like Peter starting to think like Jesus doesn't believe me. Of course, Jesus had denied Jesus three, Peter had denied Jesus three times. Jesus asked him this question three times. I don't think that that's an accident. Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep. And then Jesus says, verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest, but when thou shalt be old. So there's your first hint right there, is Peter is going to live, and he's going to become old, the Bible says. Thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, another clue on how Peter would die, and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. He's telling Peter how he's going to die right here. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me. Then Peter turning about, seeing the disciple who Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? This is John, by the way. Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do? And Jesus saith unto him, verse 22, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that the disciple should not die. Yet Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die, but if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? So basically, what Jesus says here, what people interpret Jesus is saying, is that he tells Peter he's going to die not of his own accord, with his arms stretched out when he's old. And then he basically says about John, you know, maybe I won't have him die. Basically is what he says about John. And what's interesting is if you look at the martyr's mirror accounts of these three men, or especially these two, I'll read you John's first, and then I'll read you Peter's. Now look, the martyr's mirror is not the Bible, but I find it to be a very historic, it's the most historically accurate thing I can find outside of the Bible as far as actually what happened to the church, especially in the first and second centuries. But it goes on for hundreds and hundreds of years. But it does detail what happened to every single apostle, which is super interesting. John did not die, by the way, but it's not, it's not that people didn't try to kill John. I'm going to read you the account of John from the martyr's mirror right now. John is called throughout the gospel the beloved of the Lord, or the disciple, quote, whom Jesus loved, because the Lord so especially loved him. But since it is the will of God to bring his children to glory through much tribulation and distress, let that one sink in, this beloved friend of God, John, also could not escape but was tried throughout his life. With manifold tribulations, according to the Lord, according to what the Lord had told him and his brother James, ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of, and with the baptism that I am baptized, withal ye shall be baptized. That is, ye shall also be subjected to my suffering and distress, is what Jesus was saying here in the martyr's mirror. This was afterwards fulfilled in him in manifold ways. That means in many ways, okay? For besides what ancient writers have recorded concerning it, namely, that at Rome he was put into a vat of boiling oil, but was miraculously delivered out of it the merits of which we leave unquestioned. So the martyr's mirror is talking about how this is documented that this happened to him in Rome and he didn't die. And it says we don't question the account, the writer of the martyr's mirror. This much, according to the scriptures, is certain. And I like the martyr's mirror because it basically says, it's saying this is a historical account, but we know this because it's in the Bible, it says. This is what is certain, that he spent a long time on the desert island of Patmos, whether he had been banished for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Concerning this, John himself makes this declaration, I John, this is from Revelation 1, I John who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. So that is the account of John from the martyr's mirror. That he was, I mean, he lived a persecuted life. He was tried, they tried to murder him, but he was miraculously delivered and they finally banished him and that's where he received the book of Revelation from Jesus himself. Here's the martyr's mirror account of Peter, and the Bible says this. It says, and notice in Acts chapter 12 when it talks about James being killed, Herod immediately went after Peter. The Bible says, the martyr's mirror documents that, it says, afterwards King Herod stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church, and he killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw it please the Jews, he proceeded further and apprehended Peter also and put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. But in the night, the angel of the Lord led him out through the midst of the soldiers so that he returned to the believers who rejoiced greatly on account of him. Finally there was fulfilled according to the testimony of history, the prediction of Christ, that he should glorify God by his death, for while he was at Rome, he was sentenced by the Emperor Nero to be crucified. But esteeming himself unworthy to be crucified with his head upward like his savior, he requested to be crucified with his head downward, which he easily obtained, for the tyrants were forthwith willing to be ready to increase his pain. This occurred, as stated, after Peter had preached the gospel for 37 years and when he was 70 years old. That's the documented account of the death of Peter, and it was from the Emperor Nero. This is why I also believe that Paul was martyred and killed by Nero. Nero was one of the worst psychopaths you'll ever read about, ever, in the history of the world, ever. So look, these are the accounts of these men. What can we take from why Jesus chose these men? What can we take from the leadership example that Jesus gives us by choosing these three men to be his right-hand men, his inner circle? We see these clues and we see that they were at the transfiguration. We see that later John was trusted with the revelation of Jesus Christ. These were special men chosen by Jesus. The first thing I want to point out in the examples that we can take from this is that Jesus chose leaders. Jesus chose leaders. You will read in the Bible about how these men throughout the gospels tripped up and they didn't do things exactly the right way, but these men became leaders. Peter was a leader of the church at Jerusalem. Many people, Jesus surrounded himself with men who would lead, is what he did. Many people make this mistake. Many people in the secular world make this mistake. They surround themselves with followers. They surround themselves with followers. I've seen this mistake made so many times and then, because they like it, a weak leader needs people that will just follow anything, that will just listen to anything. But here's the problem. When you try to put those people in charge of anything, that's when it all goes wrong because they're not leaders. They're just followers. You must surround yourself with people who have leadership ability or build people into leaders as Jesus did in order for them to take ownership of anything. Jesus needed these men to take ownership of the church when he was gone. He needed these men to plant churches. He needed these apostles and these disciples to go out and endure everything. I get it. Blind followers are easy to lead. Do what I say just because I said it, but they will never lead anything. That's the problem. That's why Jesus needed many secular businesses, many secular management programs, corporations make this mistake. They make this mistake. They just promote people that just have been just following and blowing smoke and they're not leaders. And they get in charge and it's a disaster. Jesus needed men that could take over when he was gone. Start churches. Spread the gospel. These men had to take some heat, some of them literally. Here's another thing. Jesus chose men with courage. Jesus chose men with courage. There's a reason that these men, the rock, the sons of thunder, there's a reason for this. Peter in Acts chapter 2 was the one that preached the gospel. In the miracle of the day of Pentecost, Peter preached the gospel. Peter in Acts chapter 10, he brought the gospel to the Gentiles. It was Peter. It was the same Peter that was kind of falling all over himself, you know, in the gospels. But Peter stepped up and he was the leader of Acts, or one of the leaders. He was one of the leaders of the main church. James, I'm going to read you the account of his death. The account of James, the son of Zebedee, the account of his death is nothing short of amazing. I'm going to read it for you from the martyr's mirror. Like I said, this is just a historical document. All we know from the Bible is that Herod killed him with the sword. But the martyr's mirror details this. It says this apostle lived only until the fourth year of the Emperor Claudius, at which time Agabus had predicted there should be a dearth throughout the whole world. At that time, Claudius charged Herod Agrippa to suppress the Church of Christ. Then Herod laid his bloody hands on this apostle, and on the feast of the Passover, put him in prison. Speaking of James. Shortly afterwards, he was sentenced to death and executed with the sword in Jerusalem. This occurred in the year 45 after the birth of Christ. This is like 12 years after Jesus was crucified. This is the account, basically, of Acts chapter 12 and verse number 2. Clemens relates that the executioner, seeing his innocence, James, was converted to the Christian faith and died with him. According to the annotation of Eusebius Pamphleius from Clemens, the executioner was so moved on the account of the death of James that he professed himself to be a Christian, and so, as he states, both were led forth together to death. As they were led out, the executioner asked James to forgive him. James, after a little deliberation, I love that. He thought about it for a few minutes, or a few seconds. James, after a little deliberation, said, Peace be with thee, and kissed him, and thus both were beheaded. I mean, that's quite a story. I mean, if you're going to go out, that's how you want to go out as a Christian, right there. These guys were not messing around. Okay? All of the apostles, and here's the thing, all of the apostles, here's the thing, none of them went screaming to their death. None of them. They all kept preaching at the threat of death, and they all kept preaching when that threat was made good. All except for John, who was allowed to live. So I mean, pay attention to that today. Okay, I mean, we talk about how bad things are getting, and we talk about where things are going, but look, I have to read the martyr's mirror in doses. You know, I have read pretty much the whole thing at this point, but I had to read it in doses. You can't just read it straight through. It's bad. It's bad. I mean, especially under the Romans in the first century, let me read you one more passage from the martyr's mirror. Especially under Nero and the Romans in the first century, it was terrible. And I'm not going to read the details of, you know, the things that Nero did, but martyr's mirror said that it all had a purpose, and the purpose was this. These proceedings, this is after it listed all the torturous things that Nero did to the Christians, the different ways that Nero persecuted and killed the Christians in horrible ways that I would never repeat here, but it says these proceedings, according to the testimony of Tacitus, although it had the appearance that the Christians were punished as male factors who had deserved the extremist penalty, nevertheless it moved the people to compassion. For they understood well enough that the Christians were not exterminated for the good of the commonwealth, but simply to gratify the cruelty of one man, Nero. Look, it was a witness. It was a witness. And that's why Jesus was choosing the men that he chose, and that's why the men that he chose had to be the men that he chose. Because Jesus needed this powerful witness to get this thing off the ground. We need to keep this perspective. We need to keep this perspective of what these men did, who these men were, what, I mean, they didn't just say it. You could read that in the gospels of, yeah, of course we're willing to drink of the cup that you drank of. Look, they didn't go through what Jesus went through, but they were willing to go through anything. And they proved it. And look, that should give us hope, and it should get us ready for anything. Turn to Matthew chapter 24. Now I'm going to scare you. Turn to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24 and verse number 21. And look, I don't know if we're in the end times. I think we're, I mean, we're in the end times, we know that, but I don't know if it's coming in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, whatever. I don't know when it's going to be, obviously, but I know this. Look at Matthew chapter 24. I know what has happened in the past. I know how bad that was. And I know Jesus says this in Matthew chapter 24. Look at verse 21. The Bible says, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever will shall be. That's a big statement right there. That's a huge statement. From the beginning of the world until now, there has never been tribulation like the great tribulation is going to be. You know how, I mean, this, this makes Fox's Book of Martyrs look like a kid's cartoon. It's ugly. It's ugly. There's a point in there where it says men's creative minds have been worn out and they've reached the bottom of what men can think of to do evil to other men on how to kill people and torture people and all this. And the Bible says in Matthew 24, 21, that it's going to be worse than all that. And you think, how could it be worse? But it's going to be worse. But it's going to be worse. So just keep that in mind. Be, you know, you have to put things in perspective in your life. Here's another thing. Jesus chose men with the right hearts. He chose men of courage and he chose men with their hearts in the right place. Now this is the hardest one for us to duplicate right here. You know, we can kind of see some of the other things that we've been talking about, but Jesus can see men's hearts. I can't see man's hearts, but guess what? The Bible, the Bible gives us a methodology on how to see men's hearts too. Listen to James chapter 1. James chapter 1. To a degree anyway, it gives us at least a method that we can use. Look at James chapter 1. So Jesus chose these men, they had their hearts in the right place. James chapter 1. Look at verse 26. James chapter 1 and verse number 26. The Bible says, if any man among you seemed to be religious. You look at a man among you and you say, he seems really spiritual and really religious. But the Bible says, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is in vain. So here the Bible is saying, if somebody seems to be religious, they look the part, they walk the part, you know, they sound pretty good, but then he says certain things. They say things. You're just like, whoa. You're just like, whoa, it's like that man's religion is in vain. That man is deceiving his heart. That man, look, that's a clue. That's a clue into what's in someone's heart by what comes out of their mouth. So listen to what people say. Men that seem to be religions, but then they say things that makes you wonder. If that's ever happened to you, whether you're a church or you just know somebody who seems to be a religious person, and then they say certain things, look, don't dismiss that. Because James is telling you here that that's a clue that that person's religion is vain, meaning it means nothing. It's just for outward show. Turn to James chapter 2. James chapter 2. Look at verse 18. But they say things. And then it says, pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. So here you have in James chapter 1, you have somebody that claims to be religious, they may look religious, and they say things and they're worldly, basically. You know they're not religious. You know it's not real. You know their heart's not there. You know they're not going to be inner circle people. Jesus wouldn't have had them as inner circle people. Look at James chapter 2. Look at verse 18. Yea, a man, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I'll show thee my faith by my works. That's how we should be, by the way. We should show people our faith by our works. By what they do. So James, James is such a great book, especially chapters 1 and 2, because what it's doing is it's telling us how we can judge, how we judge our brother, don't judge, yea, how we can make proper judgment about our brothers and sisters in Christ. And guess what it is? It's very simple. We judge other people's hearts, our brother's and sister's hearts, by what they say and by what they do. It's very simple. It's very simple. So what you say and what you do, folks, by the way, is important. It's important. Because guess what? It's pretty accurate. Think about it. Think about it. Think about, you know, people that you've met or whatever and you're like, oh, that's a pretty spiritual person. But then just match up, you know, what they say and what they do. Do those things match together? And many times when you find that someone's religion is vain, those things don't add up. They don't match together. You know, these are people that just say things, right? Oh, somebody talks really spiritual. They have all the right speech and all the right words, but there's no actions there. Well, yea, say, do, know. I mean, you know, look, it's like, you know, it's like this morning, you know, I'm not up here for my own good time. You know, I mean, some people really take things to heart. They do the things. That's how I can see your heart. That's how I can see somebody's heart when, you know, they listen to the word of God and then they do those things. You can see people's heart that way. You can see where people's are others, they talk, they don't walk. You know, I mean, it's, we can see people's heart through this method. You know, Jesus could see directly to the heart, which is obviously, you know, he would never make the mistake of trusting the wrong person. I mean, Judas was there to fulfill a role, to fulfill a prophecy. Jesus knew it the whole time. It's not that, oh, Jesus didn't know. I mean, read the Bible. He knew. With men, we have to guess to a degree, but we can still tell. But you know, of course, people can fake it. People can fake it with us. But you know, James chapter one and James chapter two is certainly better than nothing. So we see here some leadership examples from Jesus. We see how Jesus picked these three men. We see who these men were. Look, these men, they were imperfect men, just like us. But they talked, and they walked, for sure. They had the James chapter one and James chapter two. Peter, James, and John, the sons of thunder, and the rock, you know, Jesus chose wisely. And there's a reason that he had him at his side. And there's a reason that he sent them first. And there's a reason that Peter was the first to preach the gospel. There's a reason that James was the first to die. There's a reason for all this. Jesus knew what he was doing. Jesus knew what he was doing. We can take those same examples forward in our lives. So this is a great, miraculous event in the Bible that we can just learn a ton from. And you know, we should aspire to be, you know, like these apostles. We should look at these men. Look, these men were not perfect men. I mean, there's plenty of times. And look, there's times that we're going to stumble, and we can kind of learn from that as well. I mean, they, Peter stumbled. I mean, Peter denied the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine? That's another, it's another great example. It's a comeback story. You know, it's a comeback story. You think, oh man, I've stumbled in my life. Peter stumbled pretty hard. You know, he gave up on the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at him, look at him now. Look what he did. For 37 years he preached the gospel, and he went out like he was supposed to go out. So it's a great story, great lessons we can learn. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.