Matthew 17, as my usual custom,
I try to find a title for the message from the verses that
we have read here. In Matthew 17, I'm taking the
title for the message from what is said in verse 8. But let's
read verse 7 and 8. The Lord Jesus Christ, as those
three men, Peter, James, and John, prostate in the dust, with
their face in the dust, and the Lord, and they were so afraid.
And the Lord came and touched them and said, arise and be not
afraid. And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no one. They saw no man save Jesus only. A sight of the Lord Jesus Christ
only is salvation. They saw no man save or accept
the Lord Jesus Christ only. Moses was gone, Elijah was gone,
and they saw no one. They fixed their eyes upon the
Lord Jesus Christ. They saw no man save Jesus only. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only Savior of sinners. We had on the radio this morning
from Acts chapter 4, neither is there salvation in any other,
for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. Salvation is in Him. in the Lord
Jesus Christ. As I've often said over the years,
salvation is in a person. He is the Savior. He is the one
who really saves his people from their sin. The angel from heaven
said, call his name Jesus, which means Savior. He shall save his
people from their sins. Seeing that God says the Lord
Jesus Christ is the only savior of sinners, that he came to fully
save them and completely save them by his sacrifice, by his
righteous obedience unto death, that he came to fully save them,
the question is for us, did he get the job done? When he said
it is finished, Did he really finish the work the Father gave
him to do? Yes, he did. Is the Lord Jesus
Christ enough? I had a dear pastor friend of
mine years and years ago. He had asked this question, is
the Lord Jesus Christ enough? And his answer was, if He's all
you've got, You have everything God has provided for sinners
in the Lord Jesus Christ. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory through the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Apostle Paul writes, Christ is all and in all. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily and in Him you stand complete. Complete
in Him. We are accepted in the Beloved.
He said, this is my Beloved Son, verse 5. Matthew 17, this is
my Beloved Son, and whom I'm well pleased. We are accepted
in the Beloved. You remember Ephesians chapter
1? We're accepted in the Beloved to the praise of the glory of
His grace. Now let's go back to verse 1
in Matthew 17. and we'll try to work our way
down through these verses. Notice the first thing that takes
place, the Lord Jesus Christ on purpose, he waited six days,
seven or maybe eight days, Luke says, about eight days, but he
waited a period of time. Now what he was doing on these
six days, we don't have any idea. We know this, he was about doing
his father's business, but after these certain, Days were passed. At the appointed time, at the
appointed place, he takes these appointed men, these three men,
Peter, James, and John. Peter, we know, was an apostle. James and John, they were both
the apostles of the Lord. And he takes these men and he
brings them up to this high mountain. This high mountain is an unnamed
place, and we know why it was an unnamed place. Six days after
the Lord told his disciples that he must suffer and die and put
away their sin, you remember back in verse 21 of Matthew 16,
from that time forth, Jesus began to show unto his disciples how
that he must go to Jerusalem. He must suffer many things of
the elders and chief priests and be killed and be raised again
the third day. All these things must come to
pass because they were decreed of God Almighty. After these
days, the Lord takes these men aside and gives them another
lesson, another lesson that he must suffer, that he must die,
that he must be raised up again. You know, he says this three
times. There are Matthew 16, 21, turn one page in Matthew
17, Verse 22, and while they abode
in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, the son of man shall be betrayed
into the hands of men. They shall kill him. The third
day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorrowful. He was determined like Paul to
preach nothing among them, but Jesus Christ in him crucified.
Turn over here to Matthew 20. Remember, He said this again.
We read this last week, but it would be good to read it again.
Matthew 20 verse 17, And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the
twelve disciples apart in the way, and said to them, Behold,
we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed,
and the chief priest under the scribes, and they shall condemn
him to death. and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and
to scourge and to crucify him, and the third day he'll be raised
up again." So he repeated this message over and over and over
again. The Lord Jesus Christ knew exactly
why he came, he knew exactly what was going to take place,
and he knew exactly what he was going to accomplish, the salvation
of his people. Now remember, even though Peter
was sharply rebuked when the Lord told him that he must suffer,
that he must die, look back in Matthew 17, when the Lord, Matthew
16, rather, verse 22, then Peter took him and began to rebuke
him, you see that, Matthew 16, 22, saying, be it far from thee,
or pity thyself, this shall not be unto thee. And the Lord turned
and said to Peter, get out of my way. Get behind me, Satan. Thou art a phantom to me. Thou
savorest not, or you mind not the things that be of God, but
those of man. Christ crucified was decreed
of God, decreed of God. But even though Peter was rebuked,
the Lord does not cast Peter aside, but takes him with James
and John and gives them a special revelation of his glory, the
glory of who he truly is, both man and God and one blessed person
who has come to fulfill all the law and the prophets. Peter,
before, was saddened by the news of the Lord Jesus Christ dying. He didn't fully understand what
was going on, but now he's gladdened by the sight of seeing the Lord
Jesus Christ glorified before his eyes. Look at verse 2. And
the Lord was transfigured before them, and His face did shine as the
sun. Now, how bright is the sun? You can't look on the sun, the
sun up in the sky, the S-U-N, without special provision. His
face was like the sun and his raiment, his glory of his deity
just shined through his clothes. What a glorious vision. What
a glorious vision. The Lord takes these three men
up into a high mountain. It seems to me somehow the Lord
unveiled and exposes his glorious deity before them that shines
through his real humanity. His substance was not changed,
but his appearance changed. He was transfigured before them.
I kind of get the idea in my puny mind that somehow the Lord
just kind of peels back his flesh and the glory of his deity just
shines forth, shines forth. and all of His glory. It says
in Mark 9, verse 2 and 3, His raiment became shining, exceeding
white as snow. It says in Luke 9, verse 28,
the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment
was white and glistening. This is a glorious sight. It's
His true deity shining forth through His humanity. humanity. John and Peter both write about
this occasion in John chapter 1, where John writes, the word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the
glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
full of truth. Peter writes about it in 2nd
Peter chapter 1, Let me remind you, don't turn, I'll just read
it to you again. For he received from God the
Father, the Lord Jesus, he said, we've not followed cunniling,
devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his
majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him
from the excellent glory, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased." So both Peter and John write about this. We
were eyewitnesses of his glory, of his majesty. Now why didn't
he just take one man? Why didn't he take four men?
You remember the Old Testament law? In the mouth of two or three
witnesses, let every word be established. That's what the
Lord was doing here. He was establishing this truth,
how He was glorified, glorified before them. Our Lord Jesus Christ veiled His deity. with the robe
of his flesh, remained what he was and became what he was not,
flesh and dwelt among us. But now he peels back his flesh
and exposes his true glory, his true Godhead, his deity. He is indeed both man and God
in one blessed person. Now I can't explain that, but
I know he was so much God that he was not man, and so much man
that he was not God. God and man in one blessed person. That's who he is. And it's who
he is that gives power to everything he said and everything he did.
That's who he is. We read this in Philippians 2,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, wherefore
God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at that name every knee should bow, Every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. John Gill said
of this transfiguration, he appeared in the form and majesty of God. There was a divine glory which
from his deity shone itself in a visible manner through his
flesh. Matthew Henry said of this occasion,
he showed his true Godhead through his real manhood in a most unusual
manner, a double nature of his glory. His face, it says there
in verse 2, his face did shine as the sun. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, where
it said, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our heart that we might see the glory of God
shine in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who He is. We see the glory of God that
shines in the face, and I mean by that, the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's called in Malachi chapter
four, he's called a son of righteousness with healing in his wing, S-U-N,
son of righteousness with healing in his wing. And it says there,
secondly, his raiment was white as the light. Now how white is
light? How white is light? Pretty light,
isn't it? Pretty white, isn't it? How white
is light? His raiment was white as light. God is light, and in Him is no
darkness at all. God is holy, and there is no
darkness in Him at all. 1 John 1 says this, This then
is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto
you that God is light, And in him is no darkness at all. God is light. Holy, holy, holy
Lord God Almighty. The Lord said in John 8, 12,
I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He is the
light of life. He's the light of salvation,
is he not? Salvation shines in the face of our blessed Savior.
Now look at verse three. Matthew 17 verse 3, and behold,
there appeared with him Moses, Moses was a lawgiver, and Elijah, Elijah was a prophet
of God, talking with him. What did they talk about? We're
gonna see in just a minute. We're gonna find out what they
talked about in just a minute. There appeared with him Moses
and Elijah, Now Moses had been dead over 1,500 years, and yet
Moses appears with the Lord Jesus Christ right now. In the last
chapter of Deuteronomy, chapter 34, Moses, when he was 120 years
old, the Lord took him to glory. The Lord buried his body in the
land of Moab, and no man knows where his body is buried. Moses
is not there, because Moses is here with the Lord. Elijah, the
prophet of God, we studied that in 2 Kings, remember? When Elisha
came on the scene, and Elisha was the prophet that succeeded
Elijah, and when Elijah's ministry was over, the Lord took him to
heaven in a whirlwind, in a chariot of fire. That happened over 900
years ago. And yet now, both Moses and Elijah
appear with the Lord in glory with the same identity. Moses
was Moses. Elijah was Elijah. All believers who have died in
the Lord do not cease to exist. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. We know Paul writes this, believers
who have died do not cease to exist, but rather they're in
the immediate presence of the Lord. We read this in 2 Corinthians
5, for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, And it will be, it will be. Sin brings death to
this body. We have a building of God, a
habitation of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. And then the apostle writes this
in the same chapter. The absent from the body is to
be present with the Lord. For me to live is Christ, to
die is gain. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. Our Lord told the dying thief.
You remember? Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. This day thou shalt be with me. Where? In paradise. In paradise. Now, what did the Lord Jesus
and Moses and Elijah talk about? What would they talk about? You
know we have the answer? Turn over here to Luke chapter
9. Luke chapter 9. Luke chapter 9 beginning at verse
28. Luke 9 verse 28. What did they talk about? Luke 9 verse 28. And it came
to pass about eight days, six to eight days, after these sayings,
he took Peter, John, and James and went up into a mountain to
pray. Now here's a prayer meeting. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and
glistening. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory
and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. So what did they talk about?
They talk about how the Lord must go to Jerusalem, He must
die, He must suffer, He must be raised again. But notice,
they talk about His decease, which He should accomplish. The Lord Jesus Christ dying the
appointed death for the appointed people at the appointed time
was an accomplishment to satisfy God's law and justice, to put
away our sin, and to save His people by His blood atonement. It was an accomplishment. And
that's what Moses was talking about. That's what Elijah was
talking about with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why we make
much. of Christ and Him crucified.
All that Moses wrote about and what all the prophets wrote about
and preached about, the Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill,
didn't He? Don't turn. Let me just read
this to you. You're familiar with this. Back in the book of
Luke, in chapter 24, He says, Ought not Christ to
have suffered these things, and enter into His glory? And beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them all the
things concerning Himself, He said, these are the words
which I yet spake with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets,
and in the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding
that they might understand the scripture. And here he says this
again. Thus it is written, thus it behoove Christ to suffer,
to rise from the dead the third day. that repentance and remission
of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem, and you are witnesses of these things." He goes right
back to Christ and him crucified, doesn't he? Right back to his
glorious sacrifice, putting away our sin. Now look at verse four. Then, Peter's hearing them talking
about the things that he must accomplish. How long that went
on, I don't know. And Peter, after hearing what
they were talking about, he answered and said, Lord Jesus, it's good for us
to be here. If you will, let us make here
three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Again, Peter utters something
he thought was good and excellent. Lord, it's good for us to be
here. Well, it's true to be on a mountain with the Lord in this
prayer meeting. That would be some kind of communion, would
it not? Communion with the Lord is a special blessing along with
the Lord Jesus Christ on the mountain, the mountain of the
Lord's choosing, praying with Him, praying with Moses. What
a prayer meeting that must have been with Elijah. But then Peter says this, and he makes another great error
by what he says next. Let us make three tabernacles.
One for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. Now, what's wrong
with that? Putting them as equals. One for you, one for Moses, one
for Elijah. No, no. When left to ourselves,
we always have the wrong thoughts about spiritual things. The Lord
Jesus Christ must have all the glory. He has no equals even
among glorified saints. You remember Colossians chapter
1? He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have
the preeminence. He's not going to have a tabernacle
like unto Moses or Elijah. He's going to have all the honor
and glory in all things. For it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. Now look at verse 5. And thank
God that we have this here. While He yet is speaking, while
these words are yet in His mouth, God the Father interrupts Him
and says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. Hear Him. Hear Him. Hear Him. Now we've seen these
words before. Do you remember? Look back at
chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3. We've heard
these same words before. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
to John to be baptized in verse 13. Matthew 3 verse 13. Matthew 3, 13, Then cometh Jesus
from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John
forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee. Comest
thou to me? And the Lord answering him said,
Suffer it to be so now for us, for thus It becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then he suffered him, he baptized
him. And when Jesus was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were
opened unto him. And he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from
heaven sang, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,
in whom I, this is my son, I'm pleased with him. Same message,
isn't it? Same God, isn't it? Our Lord
Jesus Christ, while Peter was yet speaking, the glory of the
Lord overshadowed them, and God the Father declares that this
is my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased. Our Lord said in
John 8, 29, I do always those things that please my Father.
Not only in his essential character as the only begotten well-beloved
Son of God, eternally one with the Father, one with the Holy
Spirit, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, these three are one. We read
in Proverbs chapter 8, The Lord said, then was I by him, as one
brought up with him. I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him. Not only in his essential character
and person was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son, pleasing to
the Father, but also in all of his mediatorial work. This is
essential now. In all this mediatorial work
as our great high priest, accomplishing all of God's will and redeeming
the elect of God, seeing we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast
to that profession. Our Lord said, my meat is to
do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. The
Lord Jesus Christ, talking about his mediatorial work. There's
one God, one mediator between God and men, that is the God-man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our great high priest, as he
represents us before God, through his blood sacrifice, we know
that he satisfied the law of God for us. You remember in Matthew
5, 17, he said, I didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets,
I came to honor the law and the prophets. We read about it in
Isaiah 42, the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake, he
will magnify the law and make it honorable. We studied about
that in the book of Hebrews, didn't we? He's a surety of the
everlasting covenant. The God of peace that brought
again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd
of the sheep to the blood of the everlasting covenant. God
the Father is well pleased with the obedient life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. holy, harmless, undefiled, and
separate from sin. God said, this is my son. I'm
well pleased with him and everything he did. God is well pleased with
the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus Christ. John writes
this, when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous. God is well pleased with the
sacrifice of Christ. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Well-pleased
with the sacrifice of Christ, well-pleased with Christ satisfying
the law of God for us, well-pleased with Christ as our advocate,
Redeemer and Savior, God is well-pleased with all those that are in Him. Now do you notice what it says
there? Matthew 17 verse 5, this is my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased. God is well pleased with the
Son, God the Son, but He's also well pleased with all those in
His Son. What God says of the Lord Jesus
Christ, He says of every believer in Him, we are accepted in the
beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. The old songwriter said, more
happy but not more secure are the glorified saints in heaven.
More happy but not more secure. We are secured in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's our surety. God is well
pleased with all those in Christ. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon Him. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. You think about this now. God
said, this is my son, well-pleasing. God says that of every one of
those in Christ. Now, how'd you get in Christ?
God put me there. When did God put you there? Before
the foundation of the world. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And then, knowing that this is
my beloved son in whom I'm well-pleased, Look at the last part of verse
5. What should we do? Hear Him. He has the words of
life. He has the words of salvation.
Hear Him. Let us be eager and willing to hear the message of
the Lord. Now, I want you to get this now. I thought about this this morning.
I want you to listen to me. I have His message, but I want
you to hear Him. See what I'm saying? I want you
to listen to me, but I want you to hear Him. I want you to hear
Him. He has the Word of His own will,
begat he us with the Word of truth. Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of the Lord. He said, My sheep hear
My voice, I know them. And what do they do? They follow
the Shepherd, don't they? They follow the Good Shepherd,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's go back to Matthew
17, and I'll wind this up. When the disciples heard the voice of God in this cloud, declaring
that Christ is all and in all, when they heard that message,
They fell on their face in reverence with a broken heart. They fell
on their face and they were sore afraid. And the Lord Jesus Christ,
the tender, merciful Savior, he came and touched them. He
laid his hand on them and said, arise. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. And here we actually see a picture
of regeneration and conversion. When we're blessed to hear the
Word of God, what do we do? We fall on our face broken hearted. And then we hear the good news.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Arise, don't be
afraid. He came to save, such as we are.
This is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation. The Lord
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. And when they had lifted up their
eyes, no more Moses, no more Elijah,
their heart, their eyes of faith were fixed upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus only. The Lord Jesus only,
only. He's the only object, single
object of saving faith. Not Moses, not the law. Moses
represents the law. Not Elijah. He represents the
prophets, but Christ alone. Saving faith is looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising his shame,
and is set down at the right hand of God. The Lord Jesus Christ
is all our hope of salvation. I go back to that question. Is
he enough? He's everything God has provided
for us. If he's all you have before God,
you have everything. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
are accepted in the beloved. It's Christ alone. The Lord Jesus
Christ stands alone as all of our salvation. We put no trust
or confidence in the deeds of the flesh or works of the law.
It's Christ alone. It's grace alone who is justified
freely by His grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is mercy alone, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy,
He saved us. Christ is everything in salvation. Christ is all and in all. There is no salvation apart from
Him. Neither is there salvation in
any other. The Lord plainly says to us,
you remember what the Lord, God the Father speaks and said, hear
him. What did he say? He said, I'm
the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man come to the Father
but by and through me, Christ alone.