May God be pleased to bless his
holy words to us as we meditate in it this evening. Let's turn
to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 17, and we'll read verse 8. The Gospel of Matthew chapter
17, and we'll read verse 8. And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. This was a very wonderful and
a very special occasion. in the life of Peter, James and
John, and it's something which they did not forget. And Peter reminds us in his epistle
of the wonder of it, and we can read in the second epistle of
Peter and the first chapter and verse 16 it is. First, second
of Peter and chapter one and verse 16. It tells us this, for
we have not followed cunningly devised fables. when we made
known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from
God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice
to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven, we heard when we were with him in the holy mount. Well, it's good that we have
a record of that wonderful occasion. It's recorded in three places
in the word of God and plus Peter's confirmation and how wonderful
it was because there the Lord Jesus was transfigured before
those three favoured disciples. Peter, James and John were brought
up into a high mountain apart. You may ask, well why the high
mountain? Well it was somewhere that they would be by themselves,
We wouldn't have a lot of people around. And this was a very wonderful
and special occasion, which was reserved for these three disciples. And we're told what happened.
We're told he was transfigured before them. And that is expanded
by this statement in his face. Did shine as the sun. and his
raiment was white as the light." Well, I'm sure we can imagine
how bright the sun shines. We have that illustration on
the road when the Apostle Paul was converted, and he tells us
that light shone above the brightness of the midday sun. And so we
just have another glimpse of the power of God in these things. And then he says, And behold,
there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with them. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, Unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If
thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one
for Moses, and one for Elias. Well, he didn't really know,
of course, what he was doing, what he was speaking. But while
he was in that mode, as it were, while he yet spake, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them. You know, when Israel passed
through the wilderness, there was generally a cloud But it
wasn't a bright cloud. There was the pillar of fire,
but not a bright cloud. And here was a bright cloud.
And behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Well, the same words really that
were spoken to Jesus when he was baptized. and how important
it is for us today to realize the great truths contained in
the Word of God are to be listened to. They are to be heard. And we should not think that
they are irrelevant. And we should not think they're
for someone else. We should always be concerned
to know that God's Word speaks directly to our heart. And on this occasion, it had
this effect. When the disciples heard it,
they fell on their face and were sore afraid. Now that's the power
of God, isn't it? We're at mercy sometimes if perhaps
we might be afraid. I wonder if we've ever been afraid
before God. When we realize perhaps how great
He is, at how small we are and insignificant. Be perhaps in
some small way like these disciples. They fell on their face and were
sore afraid. And then we read the glorious
Saviour, His compassion. Jesus came and touched them and
said, arise and be not afraid. What a mercy if that has an application
to us in our lives when we hear perhaps the voice of the Saviour
spoken to our hearts through the blessed aid of the Holy Spirit. And that's when we come to this
eighth verse. And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. That means, of course,
that the other two, Moses and Elias, had disappeared. They'd been there, and of course
that signifies the law and the prophets. Moses the law and Elias
the prophets. And now they were not there.
And who was there? Just Jesus. Jesus only. It's an amazing truth, isn't
it? And how wonderful it would be
for us, if perhaps, as we journey on by faith, we come face to
face with this great and glorious Saviour. The one who has indeed
given his life that we might receive life. We don't often really comprehend
the wonder and the greatness of the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And also to realize the power
that accomplishes him and the situation, which we find ourselves
reading about here. He was therefore wonderfully
blessed and transfigured, and his face did shine as the sun,
and his raiment was white as the light. Well in our day and
age we don't expect to see a vision like that but we're thankful
that it was recorded in the Word of God so that we know it did
occur. It wasn't a figment of imagination
and it sets before us really the greatness of God. It's really
very similar to when the Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples
after he rose from the dead. And we read Jesus came and stood
in the midst. The condescension of God is amazing,
isn't it? To think that he looks down upon
sinners of the earth and doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve. but in love reveals himself to
us. Well, it's a great blessing for
you and me if Jesus has come and by faith we viewed him, Jesus
only. Everything else disappears. In one sense, everything else
is irrelevant. But what a mercy if God gives
us that faith to behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. That was a most wonderful occasion,
wasn't it? In the early part of the life
of the Saviour, when John the Baptist was able to speak such
words. And what a mercy if such words
are addressed to our soul. So that by faith, and it is by
faith, we can view the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the bright cloud overshadowed
them, and behold a voice out of the cloud which said, this
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And then it says,
hear ye Him. That's a very direct statement,
isn't it? It's a very important statement.
We are to hear the words of the Saviour. We are to obey the words
of the Saviour. We're not to turn away from them
and somehow think they're not relevant to us. We need to read
the Word of God carefully. And so, to recognise that we
are to hear what Jesus has said. I wonder if in our little lives
we have those occasions when we have heard the Lord Jesus
speaking to our hearts. You know, the only person that
knows whether that is true is yourself. We can't hear for other
people. But what a blessing it is if
God comes and speaks to our hearts and we therefore have the evidence,
and it is an indisputable evidence, that the Lord is dealing with
us graciously, dealing with us as sons and daughters. It's very
significant that the effect it had upon the disciples. They didn't just stand there.
It was so powerful, they fell on their faces and were sore
afraid. It's a blessing, isn't it, when
the Holy Spirit comes and makes us soar afraid. We fall down, as it were, before
God, recognising that He has a perfect right to govern us
in every detail of our life and to realise that wonderful truth that we're not our own, but we're
bought with a price. I wonder if you have considered
that, to think that you've been bought. The glorious Son of God
has purchased you. He's paid the price. He's paid
the price to deliver you from the wrath to come. and the price
he paid was his life, his precious blood. How willing was Jesus
to die that we, fellow sinners, might live a life they could
not take away. How willing was Jesus to give. It's a great blessing. to be shown that the Lord God
has loved us. The Lord God has loved us in
eternity past. He's loved us through our life
and he will love us eternally. It's hard for us to appreciate
and to understand that such a God could love such unworthy sinners
of the earth. But it is true, the Word of God
confirms it to us, and what a blessing it is. to realize that God Almighty
is gracious to us. Yes, to think of the compassion
that the Lord Jesus Christ had. I like to think sometimes on
those first verses in the 12th chapter to the Hebrews. And he tells us, the Apostle
Paul tells us, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us, you and me, lay aside
every weight. There's plenty of weight, you
know, which we need to lay aside. Again, the illustration before
us here is one running a race, someone running a race. They
relieve themselves of everything that might hinder them, any weight. And so he says, let us lay aside
every weight. And the sin which does so easily
beset us. Well, you know what sins there
are that grasp you and hang on you. And you know what the apostle
said when he said the sin which does so easily beset us. We're easily sidetracked by it. And then he says, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us. And if we are
to run this race, and all true Christians have this race to
run, we run it in one way, and that's a wonderful way. And this
is what it tells us, looking unto Jesus. I wonder how often we're found
looking unto Jesus. You young people at school and
college and university and work, and you older ones, are you found
looking unto Jesus? Often. Often. Because he is. the author and the finisher of
our faith. That means he's the one that
commenced his work. He put in our hearts that desire
to come to him, that desire to seek him. He's the author, the
one who begun, but he won't stop. If he's begun that good work, we're told, and the finisher
of our faith. This is the God that we deal
with, gracious, merciful, compassionate. And the apostle tells us, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. Again, that's very wonderful,
isn't it? To think that we have such a Saviour who endured all
the agony of the cross in order to satisfy the holy demands of
the law of God. He endured. We spoke about it
this morning, didn't we? Enduring unto the end. Well,
our gracious Saviour did just that. Who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. Again, it's good
for us to sometimes ponder the depth of such words. They're
not just trivial words, they're important words, because here
we have this great Saviour, who for the joy, the joy of bringing
his saints safely home to glory, the joy and as such they endured
the cross and despised the shame. It was a very shameful death
to die, to be hung on the cross. Usually they were naked and it
wasn't a pleasant death. And yet we're told the Saviour
endured the cross, despising the shame. What shame there was. Try and imagine it yourself.
Hung on a cross without your clothes on, despising the shame. Count it as of no value. and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. What a blessing, isn't it? To
have such a Saviour. And as we think, therefore, of
that situation, Jesus, there He was, appearing to those three
disciples. And what a blessing to have,
therefore, such a great and glorious Saviour. And when they lifted
up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. What a blessing,
if by faith we can view the suffering Saviour, giving His life, paying
the debt which you and I ran up Sometimes we sinned against
light and knowledge. We disobeyed the word of God. And yet the Lord Jesus died for
us. And so we're told for consider
him. That's the gracious word of encouragement. And that puts things so often
in a right place. Consider him that endured such
contradictions of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and
faint in your minds. We are sometimes wearied because
of the assaults of Satan. Well, the apostle goes on just
to tell us, so that we get this in a right perspective, he had
not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. We don't often perhaps really
strive against sin. We might make a modest attempt
to, but to strive means to make every effort against sin. And you're forgotten. The exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children, my son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. So the Lord does rebuke us when
we're doing wrong things, when we're going the wrong way, we're
wandering into the broad road, which leads to destruction, and
the blessed Lord brings us back and speaks to us. And then he
tells us, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons, as with sons. For what son is
he whom his father chasteneth not? Well, what a great blessing
to realize in our little lives that we can trace out the good
hand of God upon us and the good hand of God dealing with us, in love to our souls. It should be very humbling to
think of that. and to trace out His mercy. And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. Again, what a blessing. Jesus came to them. They had
fallen on their face. They were afraid. No doubt they
felt guilty before God. And Jesus came. He came where
they were. He knew where they were. He knew
what they felt. And what did he say? Arise and
be not afraid. Compassion of the Saviour. To say that to unworthy sinners. Arise and be not afraid. And therefore, with that gracious
word of encouragement, and then lifted up their eyes and saw
no man save Jesus only. My friend, surely this is the
only one that you and I want to see. This is the only one
who will do us any real good. This is the only one that will
bring peace into our hearts. And what a blessing therefore,
if in our little lives we've come to a day perhaps, to a time
when we've looked up, looked up and seen Jesus only. We've got that wonderful verse
in the 45th of Isaiah, verse 22, look unto me and be ye saved
on the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there's none
else. I wonder how often we've listened
to such a word as that, and whether it's laid hold of us, and whether
we have come and looked to Jesus. We've looked to him, and in looking
to him, we have that view by faith. of the Saviour, paying
the price of our sins, not just one sin, but every sin, so that
we can come in and say, I'm clean, just God, I'm clean. Not because of our own righteousness,
because of Christ's righteousness and because of his wonderful,
glorious and finished work. What a mercy it is to have such
a God. Well, Peter was blessed with
this view. The other two disciples were
also blessed with this view. But it seems that Peter took
really more notice of it perhaps because we know he'd fallen. He'd fallen so greatly by denying,
isn't him not? What a mercy if you and I have
received a saviour. He's come to us. showed us perhaps
his hands and his feet, showed us what he's endured in order
to redeem our souls. And so we're told, he came unto
his own and his own received him not, but as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. even
to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. Is that not very humbling to
think that you and I, as utterly unworthy sinners, are born through the will of God, not
the will of man. And the word, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and
we beheld his glory. the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth." Well, what a blessing
if God has given us faith to look up, faith to view the suffering
Saviour, and faith to believe that this great and glorious
Saviour gave His life that you and I might receive life. And that not just a temporary
life, but that an eternal life. Or how much we have surely to
come and to praise God for, to come in and praise God from whom
all blessings flow. And they do. And it's good if
we sometimes again come aside and pause and think on these
things. because they are strengthening
to our souls to realize that this great and glorious savior appeared and does appear for
his people. Well, here was Jesus. He came
and touched them and said, Arise and be not afraid. We have reason
to be afraid. We have reason to believe that
God's judgment can come upon us. We have reason to think that
we can be cast out. But yet we have words like this
to encourage us so that we by faith view Jesus, the suffering
Savior. We view Jesus, the Son of Almighty
God. We view Jesus as the one who
was so willing to come into this sinful world to redeem our souls. We could not redeem ourselves. We could not pay the price that
was required for our redemption. How willing was Jesus to die
that we fellow sinners might live. Ponder such great truths. They're very wonderful. it's
good to meditate upon them and to thank God that in his great
love to unworthy sinners he's granted these wonderful favours
and wonderful favours. And as we read on in this chapter,
we read about when they would come down to the multitude, they
came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him and saying, Lord,
have mercy on my son. Well, we need mercy, don't we? For he is a lunatic. We might
perhaps conclude that we're a lunatic. We've turned our back upon God
and we followed our own inclination and saw vexed. Saw vexed. We might feel sometimes to be
saw vexed. Well, what a blessing if we come
and see Jesus only. Jesus only. I often think of
the glorious words in that first chapter of John where the Lord
came and spoke to John the Baptist and John the Baptist was blessed
to be able to baptize the Lord Jesus and he says, he it is who
coming after me It's preferred before me, whose shoes latched
I am not worthy to unloose. We see how John the Baptist viewed
himself. It's good if you and I view ourselves
in the same way. And he says, this is he of whom
I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me,
for he was before me. Again, revelation, isn't it?
It's good, isn't it, when the Scriptures are opened up, and
they were opened up to John the Baptist. And I knew him not,
but he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come
baptizing with water. And John bear record saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a diamond in a boat
upon him, and I knew him not. But he that sent me to baptise
with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see
the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which
baptiseth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that
this is the Son of God. You see, we have so many wonderful
testimonies in the Word of God, of the truth of the Word of God. And what a mercy, therefore,
if you and I can be truly thankful that we have the Bible to read,
which spells out in detail his love, his mercy, his grace, and
his favour. So as you and I journey on day
by day, we may be found looking up, looking up, looking to the
Saviour, not looking down, not looking down at our failures,
but looking up at that glorious redemption which the Lord Jesus
Christ wrought out upon Calvary so many years ago. And my friends,
that never grows tired. It's always fresh. It's always
new. And what a blessing for you and
me. even today, to come to that place and indeed consider Him. That's what we were told. Consider Him. It's a good place. Go home. Consider Him. Think what He's done. Think the
price He's paid to take away all our sins, washed away in
the precious blood of himself. My friends, do we consider it,
as the hymn writer says, invaluable blood. Nothing can take its place. Nothing will redeem our souls. but the precious blood of Christ. So may we indeed be found like
this. And when they lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. Well, may we see no man
save Jesus only and be led into all truth as it is in Jesus and
rejoice in his great and glorious work. and be able to come and
praise God from whom all blessings flow. Amen.