Beholding Christ's Glory: Christ Transfigured

Q: What does the Bible say about beholding Christ's glory?

The Bible teaches that we can behold Christ's glory through faith, strengthening our understanding of His majesty and sovereignty. The Scriptures, particularly in Matthew 17:1-9, emphasize the importance of seeing Christ's glory as a means of strengthening our faith. When Peter, James, and John beheld Jesus transfigured, they witnessed His divine majesty and were reminded of His unique position as God incarnate. This experience assures believers that seeing Christ, even in glimpses, elevates our perspective of Him and the world around us. By faith, as we comprehend who Christ is and what He has accomplished, our hearts are encouraged and we find peace and strength in our daily lives.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of Christ's divinity is true?

The doctrine of Christ's divinity is affirmed by eyewitness testimonies of His glory and His fulfillment of Scripture. The divinity of Christ is a central tenet of Scripture, substantiated by the testimony of His apostles who witnessed His transfiguration. In Matthew 17, when Jesus is transfigured, His glory is displayed in a way that sets Him apart as the Son of God, showing that He is not merely a prophet but God in human form. Furthermore, the continuity of Christ with the Law and the Prophets, as seen in the presence of Moses and Elijah, reinforces His status as the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan. As believers, we recognize that His being crowned with glory and honor is a testament to His divine nature, reaffirming that He is indeed God incarnate.

Q: Why is the transfiguration of Christ important for Christians?

The transfiguration of Christ reveals His divine nature and reassures believers of His ultimate authority and sovereign plan. The transfiguration of Christ is a pivotal moment in the New Testament because it provides a profound glimpse into His divine glory. Matthew 17 describes how Jesus' appearance changed, reflecting His true nature as the incarnate God. For Christians, this event serves as a reminder that Christ is not merely a teacher or prophet; He is the sovereign Lord who rules over all creation. The transfiguration also strengthens our faith as it points to the promise of His coming Kingdom where believers will share in His glory. Recognizing the significance of this moment in the context of Christ's redemptive work encourages us to put our trust in Him and live in light of His magnificence.

Q: How does witnessing Christ's glory change our perspective on the world?

Seeing Christ's glory through faith makes worldly concerns appear insignificant. When we truly behold the glory of Christ, as described in Matthew 17, it transforms our perspective on earthly matters. The overwhelming majesty of Jesus encourages believers to view the things of this world as pale in comparison to the divine truths of His Kingdom. This shift in focus reassures us of His sovereignty, reminding us that our lives are held in His powerful hands. As we understand His nature and authority, our worries and anxieties can be diminished, enabling us to find peace and contentment in our relationship with Him. In essence, the more we see Christ elevated, the less we are troubled by the temporal challenges we face.

I told you this is a Sunday morning
message, but I don't save the best messages for Sunday. When
John wrote of Christ, he said, We beheld His glory. Speaking of himself and the apostles,
Peter said, We have not devised cunningly, we have not made any
cunningly devised fables, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. When we saw His power and His
coming and we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. He was talking
about when they were up on the mount with the Lord, beholding
Christ's glory. And if we, by faith, can see
just a glimpse of who Christ really is, then it will greatly
strengthen our faith. Faith is in a person. Faith is
to believe He is the Christ, who He is. And it will greatly
strengthen our faith just to see Him a little higher than
we saw Him before. It will give us more peace to
know that He's our God and we're in His hands and He ever lives
to reign over us. And it will make this world,
if we see Christ a little more glorious than before, it will
make this world pale a little bit. It will make the things
of this world a little more insignificant. So we need to see Him, don't
we? We need to see His glory. That's what this is all about.
What this is all about. I thought about why I preach,
and I really, I'm sincere when I say this, that the first thing
I want to do is glorify our God, His Christ. I'll be true to His
Word, and I want to edify you. I want to do something, strengthen
the brethren, edify the brethren, feed the sheep. Well, we are
strengthened and edified when God is glorified. They go hand
in hand. Go hand in hand. Back in chapter
16, the Lord had just told the disciples in verse 27, the Son
of Man shall come. The Son of Man shall come. Peter
later on wrote, in the last days, scoffers, mockers shall say,
where is the promise of His coming? All things continue as they have
since from the beginning. Peter said, I want to remind
you, I want to stir up your minds by remembering. He shall come.
He is coming. He's told us to wait. When we
come here, that's sort of what we're doing. We're coming. to
one more time hear of His coming. And we're waiting on Him. And
I truly believe the Lord is going to come when His people are gathered. I believe that. Whether it's
a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night, I don't know. But that's
how He said He would come, when they were all together on top
of the mountain. So come in like manner as you've
seen Him go. So that's what I believe anyway. But He shall come. He said he
will come. He said, I come quickly. In the
last chapter of this book, that is, the whole book, he said,
behold, I come quickly. Compared to how much time has
elapsed, it's quick. It's soon. It's very soon. We're
in the seventh day. And it says, he shall come in
the glory of his father with his angel. In the glory of his
father. All flesh shall see him. as He really is. As He really
is. How is He? He's God. In the glory
of His Father. That's what He meant by that.
All flesh will see Him. Most don't. Right now, they see
Jesus. Made a little lower than the
angels. But we know that was for the purpose of suffering
death, don't we? That's what Hebrews 2 said. But
we see Him crowned with glory and honor. High and lifted up. that all flesh will see him as
he is in the glory of his father. In verse 27, he shall come with
his angels and then he shall reward every man according to
his works. Now that should not trouble you.
You have heard enough gospel, most of you, to know that Now,
no man is justified by words. You know that. So you know the
Lord's not saying that, don't you? And the reason I'm dealing
with this now is because I didn't deal with it fully Sunday. But
now the Lord will reward all unbelievers, all the ungodly,
for their works. And the works of the flesh, Paul
wrote, are manifest. Adultery, fornication, lasciviousness,
uncleanness, and so on and so on and so on. Manifest. Very
clear. The works of the flesh. This
is what people strive for, work for, long for, and that's what
they do. And God will reward them. Eternal
condemnation. Destruction. But now, His people,
those in Christ, are rewarded. They work. But it's faith which
worketh by love. And let me just sum this all
up by what Isaiah 26, 12 says. The hour has wrought all our
works for us. It says in us, but it's one and
the same. That the Lord is going to reward
us for what Christ has done. And God will acknowledge our
works as being Christ's works. That's something, isn't it? All
right, let's go on. He says in verse 28, Verily,
truly, I say unto you, that there be some standing here which shall
not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in
his kingdom. The Lord never said that his
people died. They taste, but they don't die,
they sleep. But he says here, there will
be some standing here that will not taste of death till they
see the Son of Man coming is in his kingdom. There's some
then, when the Lord spoke that, and there's some in here right
now who have already seen him coming
in his kingdom. See, the kingdom is Christ's
dominion, and the coming king is the glory and the majesty
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have we not seen something of
that? That's salvation, to see that before we taste of death.
And if we do, we'll never die. We'll never die. Peter, James,
and John are about to see the Son of God coming in His glory,
aren't they? The Lord's going to take them
up on this mountain, and before they die, John, we don't know
if he did, John, do it on the Isle of Patmos. He never gives
the record of his death. We know Peter did. We know James
did. They saw him in his glory. So
that's what the Lord is saying there. And verse 1 now, chapter
17. After six days, the Lord waited
six days, and everything in scripture is
significant. Six days. Then the Lord reveals
himself. Didn't Peter say, don't be ignorant
of this one thing. A day is a thousand years. A
thousand years is a day. It's been six days, folks. It's
been six days. Well, he takes Peter, James,
and John, his brother. The Lord chose these few. Many are called, but few are
chosen. To do what? What did he choose
these three to do? To behold his glory. That's why
we're chosen, folks. That's why we're chosen. Our
Lord said that in Isaiah 43, didn't He? You have I chosen. He said, one thing, to be my
witnesses, that you might know that I am. And John, that's one
of the last things John wrote, didn't he? Now we know and are
sure this is the God of all glory. And we've been chosen also to
behold His glory and to be witnesses of Him. In this story, we're
going to behold three witnesses. There's three that bear record
in earth. Here in our story, Peter, James,
and John. In a moment, we'll see other
witnesses. All right? He took Peter, James,
and John up into, bringeth them up into a high mountain apart,
separated them from the rest of the world. and took them up
into a high or lofty place to behold his glory, a mountain. The God took Moses. Remember
when God took Moses up on Mount Pisgah where he killed him and
then buried his body? I just read that today, last
chapter of Deuteronomy, and that's some story. But the Lord buried
Moses personally. Nobody attended that funeral
but God. I thought that's some story.
The Lord buried him. He had his body somewhere where
nobody could ever find it. One of the old writers, Matthew
Henry, said he didn't think he saw corruption. I don't know. Anyone. The Lord took Moses as the Lord
took Moses up on Mount Pisgah to behold from those lofty heights
all the things that God had promised. So it is that we come up in Mount
Zion in a lofty view and we behold God's glory, see all those things
that God has promised us in Christ. See all things, all the promises
of God are in Him. We behold His glory, a mountain
high and apart. High apart, safe, separate from
the world. I thought of the eagle. Have
you ever seen a special on television of eagles? I know you have. Have
you seen where they make their nests? Nobody can get to them. And where they hover over their
young. These majestic birds, you know. Isn't that what Scripture says,
we shall mount up on? Wings of Eagle. The Lord takes
us up. And this church is a refuge.
The church is a refuge, a high and lofty place where we see
glorious things. And it's a safe haven, isn't
it? It's a good place to be, like Peter is going to say in
a minute. It's good to be here. So verse two, excuse me. And the Lord was transfigured
before them. That is, His figure was metamorphosed,
changed, transfigured before them. And his face did shine
as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was
and is God, manifests in the flesh. God who took an image,
Christ It was the fullness of the Godhead in a body. Christ
is the expressed image of God. The only image God ever had,
or has, or ever will have, is Jesus Christ. We're going to
see God someday. Yes, we are, like Job said. Though
no man has ever seen God, yet Job said, and we shall see God
ourselves with these eyes. Not another, but we shall see
him. Jesus Christ. He is God manifest in the flesh. The image of God. God is spirit,
but Barbara, he put on an image. He entered into an image. And
here he was transfigured. He wasn't changed. He didn't
change. God didn't change when he came
down here and put on a body. He just veiled himself. He clothed
himself in flesh. But what he did was peel back
that veil for these human beings to see him briefly, just briefly. And for a brief moment, removed
that veil for them to see him as he is, as he is. And it says in the Revelation,
his face did shine as the sun in his strength. His face did
shine as the sun, S-U-N, in its strength, that is, at its zenith,
high noon, at its strongest point. Now, all of this is beautiful. When
the sun is coming up in the morning, you can look at it briefly, can't
you? They've got it briefly. But now
when it hits high noon, you cannot glance at it for a second, can
you? You can't gaze at it anymore. And especially on a cloudless
day. Well, do you know how far we
are from the sun? Is it 93 million miles? Is that
it? Is that right? 93 million miles
away from the sun. And we can't even hardly look
at it. Now, did you get that? Now, God said, I'm higher than
the heavens are above the earth. My glory. Kelly, human flesh can't look on God.
God is a consuming fire. God dwelleth in light which no
man can approach unto. We can't even look at the natural
sun, let alone the S-O-E-M in all his glory. Ninety-three million
miles away, and we can't look at it. Well, Christ has said
in the Revelation, that is, when we all get to see Him, when we
all bear transformed bodies ourselves, we will be able to look on Him
as He is, as the sun shineth in His tree. And we will dwell
as beings of light, in light, beings in light. Well, and the
Lord is much more glorious than the natural sun, and as I said
before, most people speak only of Jesus, and it's obvious they
haven't seen His glory. We've seen just a bit of it.
We preach in part, we know in part, don't we? We try to say
something of His glory, we haven't seen it, have we? We try. We've seen more than most. And Peter, James, and John did
too, but what did they see? They weren't able to look long.
But most folks just have not seen his glory or they would
not speak of him as they do, would they? Are you with me?
Folks wouldn't run around referring to him like they do any ordinary
man if they've seen his glory. Disciples didn't. We've seen
him high and lifted up as the sun Scripture says, "...a son
of righteousness that has arisen with healing in his wings." Well,
look at verse 2, "...and he was transfigured, and his face did
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as light." His face and his clothes. That's his person. They saw his
person and his work. That's a picture of Christ's
person and his work there. And it's in that order. Listen
to me very carefully now. Christ's glory, His chief glory
is His person. If you've ever seen His person,
that's what you'll talk about. And His work is what He does
for us. But, you know, I wouldn't, if
all I ever said about my wife was she's a good cook, she washes
my clothes, she's a good housekeeper. Do you love your wife? Yes, she's
a good housekeeper. Yes, she does things for me.
and she keeps my clothes clean. You get where I'm coming from?
There are some preachers who sing to preach Christ. He preaches person. You love His person, His personality,
who He is. As my pastor has said for years,
you don't arrive at Christ through doctrine. You arrive at doctrine
through Christ. You preach Christ, His person,
and His reignment, and you don't make a God out of His righteousness.
We don't worship His righteousness. We worship Christ, our righteousness. It's a huge difference. Let that
sink down into your ears. His person and His work. His
face. We've seen the glory of God in
the face. Not the work, but the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. The person. Verse 3 says that,
Behold, there appeared unto them, that is, the disciples, they saw this. They saw Moses
and Elias or Elijah. the Tishbite, Moses and Elijah,
talking with him. They appeared unto them, but
these two were talking with him. They weren't talking. They didn't
come to talk to them. They already had. You understand? The Law and the Prophets
had already been written. Do you remember when the rich
man in Hell said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus and so forth. Lazarus up there to warn my brethren,
he said, they have Moses and the prophet. Oh, but no, no,
no. No, that's good enough. If they
won't believe Moses and the prophets, they won't believe that one rose
from the dead. So that's significant, isn't
it? They talked with Christ, not them. All they had to say
had already been written. But now this is also a picture
of how the law and the prophets came to bear witness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I said there were three that
bear witness in heaven. Well, John said that. I didn't
say that. John said there are three that bear record in earth,
bear witness, and there are three in heaven. So these three from
earth were to bear witness of Christ, and three were to bear
witness from heaven of Christ. Anybody catch that? How many? You say, there's only two. Uh-uh. There's a third person. And we're
going to hear from him. God was there. Moses, Elijah,
and God. Three from heaven. Though they
see him not, he's there. They're going to hear from him.
And they all, all three, speak of hood. speak to whom and of
whom? Christ. Paul wrote this in Romans
3, that the righteousness of God, who is Christ, is borne
witness by the law and the prophet. And all these give witness. All
the prophets give witness. And talking with Christ. Plus,
the fact of the matter is, the law can't talk to us. The law
won't talk to us. But Christ But Crike, our advocate,
he deals with the law for us, who Moses represents. How did
they know it was Moses and Elijah? How did they know? Well, doesn't
Paul say that he that hath the mind of Christ knoweth all things? Doesn't it say that? In Crike,
don't you know all things, discern all things? In Crike? In Him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge and so forth. Plus, this is a clear
evidence to us that we will know as we've been known in heaven
when we get to glory. We're all going to know everybody.
There's not going to be any introductions. Everybody will be waiting on
us and we'll know them. That's right. They knew Moses
and Elijah, never seen them in their lives. They'd been introduced. They knew them immediately. Didn't
they? I sure did. We'll know as we've been known.
And in Luke's gospel, I love this. And this is how we dealt
with this the last time we looked at this story. In Luke's gospel,
it says that they spake to the Lord. Moses and Elijah spake
to Him of His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. Now, I love that, and if I'm
not careful, we'll dwell on that again. But they spoke of his
decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Now, well, I've got to deal with
it. His deceit. They spoke what Moses
and Elijah, the law and the prophets were speaking of was of Christ
crucified. They were speaking of that great
redemption which Christ accomplished at Calvary. The bringing in of
an everlasting righteousness. The redemption of his people.
Bringing in of this eternal kingdom. The accomplishment of Christ.
The glorious, eternal accomplishment of Christ. Not the attempt that
he should make, but the atonement that he made for his people.
The accomplishment. Death itself was an accomplishment
for Christ. Nobody could kill him. He had
to do it willingly. Death was an accomplishment.
It's not an accomplishment for you and me. It's going to happen
to us. It's appointed unto us. There's nothing we can do about
it. And we don't call anybody's death an accomplishment, do we?
Somebody dies, we say, well, that's the end of all things
he hoped to accomplish. No. Well, he couldn't finish
his task. He didn't finish what he hoped
to accomplish. But when Christ died, they said,
he said, it is accomplished. Everything. All the work the
Father gave me to do, D-O-N-A, accomplished. the decease which
he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Well, and they were talking with
him of that. That was their subject. We don't
know how long they spoke of it. But however long it was, they
didn't grow tired. In the other Gospels it says
Peter and the boys were asleep and woke up and saw them. And
that's us in it. I announced Sunday morning I
was going to preach from this, and we got a smaller crowd than
we had. That's something, isn't it? Well, there was just three to
behold this. Just three. Just three. All right. Then answered Peter. Oh, my. Have you ever been somewhere
and seen something and been just amazed by something and you just
had to say something? I mean, we're all that way. We're all that way. It's just
flesh, isn't it? You get really excited and something just really
overwhelms you and you're all something. Like a teapot, you
just got to spout off, boil over. That's what David said. And it's
not bad always. David said, My heart is indicting
a good matter. I tried to be silent, but he
said, My heart was as a bottle ready to burst. And old Peter
was ready to bust. And he said, Lord, it is good for us to be
here. I'm just so glad to be here. He spoke on behalf of me. I'm
sure James and John were just nodding their heads, yes, isn't
it good? That's fine, had he just stopped right there. I concur with Peter, don't you?
There are times when I concur with him. Oh, Lord, it's so good
for us to be here. We're so glad you chose us to
be here. We're so glad, Lord, you've caused
us to approach unto you, to behold your glory. So glad. It's good for us to be here.
Folks, this is a good place to be. This is good for us to be
here, isn't it? There's nothing else in this
world really good for us, but this is good for us to be here. Can you imagine what we're going
to say, Kelly, when we get up there? Boy, it's good to be here. We're just going to say that
a thousand times over. Thousand times over. But he had
to keep going. Somebody said, Peter sounds like
an Arminian preacher now. He wanted to build something. He said, Lord, if thou wilt,
let us make here three tabernacles, this pitch three tents, or three
shrines. Tabernacle, you know, was a place
where God dwelt. What they were conscious of. Peter thought, what can we do
to honor these three great men? Let's build, Lord. He said, Lord,
if this is okay with you. He should have just said, Lord,
what can we do? We want to do something. But
no, let's build three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses,
one for Elijah. And while he was speaking, while
the words were coming out of his mouth, a bright cloud overshadowed,
not a dark cloud. God's clouds over his people
are not dark. The cloud is darkness to Egypt,
but it's light to the children of Israel. Do you remember that? A bright cloud overshadowed them.
That's the dust of his feet. God stirred himself. And behold,
a voice out of the cloud. Here's the third witness with
Moses and Elijah, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye Him." I would not make
an attempt to sound as he did. No man can.
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now, Peter
was so amazed at seeing Moses and Elijah and the Lord, glorified
as he was, And yet he puts all of them on the same equality. It says in Mark's Gospel that
Moses and Elijah appeared with him in glory. They were in their
glorified bodies. As we shall. We all shall have
glorified bodies. So Hannah, they were glorified.
They were beings. They looked like angelic creatures.
You remember when John on the Isle of Patmos fell down at the
feet of the angel and worshiped him. He thought this is some
divine being and the angel said, don't do that, I'm one of your
brethren the prophets. It could have been his brother,
well it didn't say who it was. But anyway, Moses and Elijah
were glorified beings at this time and old Peter puts them
all three on the same level, on equal footing. And that's ignorance of a young
believer. I remember as a young believer, I remember reading,
and maybe it was because that was going to be my calling. I
read every book I could get my hands on, by every puritan, preachers. I began reading Spurgeon's Sermon,
New Park Street, and just read all the way through, the first
three huge ones, and on and on. Pink, every book I could read
by Pink, and on and on. Tried to read as many as I could.
Couldn't get enough of them. And I esteemed them more highly
than I ought to. I esteemed those old preachers
much more highly than I ought to. I thought certain books were
almost inspired like the Bible is. I really did. Like Pilgrim's
Progress. It's not inspired. No, it's not. It's not inspired. It was written
by man. This was not written by man. This is God's Word. But I remember being able to
quote those old Puritans more than I could quote God. Now that's bad, isn't it? That's
bad. And I remember Bill Clark one
time from the pulpit rebuked me. I wanted to hide. I guess he
always heard me as a young man talking about the Puritans. And
one time he was preaching and he looked right at me and he
said, now Paul, he said, in that Irish voice of his, he said,
don't be too taken up with the Puritans, they're sinful in the
end like we are. They're just sinners like we
are. You know, and I wanted to melt.
Well, what he said, I was mad at him for one thing, for embarrassing
me, but I'm thankful to him to this day. And it wasn't shortly thereafter
that I Put them down and start reading God's word and stand.
And Peter, you see, was just as impressed with Moses and Elijah
as he was with the Lord himself. And God Almighty had to tell
him, this is my son. Christ is my
well-beloved, only begotten son. Jesus is the only begotten well-beloved
son, thee. This is my only son. The way, the truth, the life.
Isaiah 42, that my servant, remember that glorious message? Behold
my servant, on down it says. In Isaiah 42, the Lord is well
pleased for his righteousness sake. Moses and Elijah received
everything they received from Jesus Christ. If there was any
goodness in them, they got it from Christ. Any wisdom, they
got it from Him. Right? Any ability, they got
it from Him. These are the ones in charge
of the storehouse. They received it from Him. Everything they
knew, they learned from Christ. So God Almighty says this is
the only high potentate. King of kings, Lord of lords.
This is the one. He's the one here to worship
and bow down to and stand in awe. Don't be in awe of any man,
but be in awe of my son. My son. Don't you wish the whole
Catholic world could hear this? Don't bow to anybody but my son. This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. God is not pleased with anybody
outside of Christ. Doesn't matter how good they
appear to be to us, how holy they appear to be to us. If they're
not in Christ, they are not holy. They are positively unholy, wicked. All right, let's go on. I'm going
to quit. So, you know, Christ gets all the glory. In verse
6, when the disciples heard this, they fell on their face. When
we truly see Christ as all, We'll fall down and worship Him. And
the fear of the Lord, you see, is the beginning of wisdom. Fear
of the Lord. Who do we fear? The Lord. Who's the Lord? Jesus is Lord. We fear Him. And they fell on their face,
sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them
and said, Arise and be not afraid. He's the only one that can allay
our fears, isn't He? lay hold of us and tell us, fear
not. And when they lifted up their eyes, look at this, when
they lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. Now after they've been taught
of God, you see, they'll all be taught of God. What are they
going to be taught? Jesus only. That's it. that Jesus Christ
is all the religion you need. Not only the law, the law and
the prophets point to him. Christ is all. He saw no man,
whatever that means. He saw no man as holy, no man as well-pleasing,
no man as a mediator, no man but one, Jesus only. And as they
came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell
the vision to no man until the Son of Man be risen again from
the dead. And his disciples, a little while went by, I think. And his disciples, I think they
were still in awe. You know they were. They were
spellbound. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say
the scribes that Elias must first come? Now. This is this, you're like this,
this is good, this is important. The disciples were young and
still somewhat ignorant. And they're still thinking of
an earthly kingdom and they're still using carnal reasoning.
Of an earthly kingdom. And Christ said, the son of man
coming, they think, Stan, they think he's coming to set up his
reign in Jerusalem and so forth. Isn't that what they said on
the road to Emmaus? They were walking along. We hoped he'd
been telling them. He kept telling them. They're
not listening, he said. They're not listening. He'd already told
them. Remember back in chapter 11,
he already told them, if you'll receive it, John, this John is
Elijah who is to come. Remember that? They didn't hear
it. They weren't listening. They weren't listening to him.
And what about us? We're worse. We've heard more
than they did at that time, in more years. But anyway, they're
still thinking of an earthly kingdom and using carnal reason,
as most people do. Most people still do. And Christ
plainly said that. He said, My kingdom is not of
this world. Now, let's get that through our
head. You know that. You ought to know that. We know that. Christ
said that. My kingdom is not of this world. Now do you realize that, that
he's not going to sit on a throne in Jerusalem? His kingdom is
not of this world. And it says, the kingdom cometh
not with observation. Oh, here it is. Oh, there it
is. Good, I have it. No, I don't
have it. Last Sunday's book. Anyway, it
talked about Remember the master artist does
his painting, his picture, in private until it's finished?
In secret to everyone until it's finished? And the kingdom of
God is secret to most, except to those whom he reveals the
secret to. And when it's finished, it's over. And his kingdom is
a spiritual one. And it doesn't come with observation.
And all these people out there looking for signs, they're not
going to see them, damn it. They're not going to see them. Armageddon's
brewing up there. There ain't going to be one. And 666, there it
is. Yesterday, you know, was June
6, 2006. You know, everybody got excited about that. Everybody,
but anybody with any sense about it. You know, tribulation, tribulation
period is coming. God's people know that we've
been in that for years. As the Revelation says, who are
these? They are those who went through
great tribulation. You must through much tribulation
enter the kingdom of heaven. We're going to get to Matthew
24 eventually, when the Lord sums it all up for his people.
But numbers on the floor, a beast on the throne, there's going
to be a beast on the throne. Well, what idiot couldn't see some monster
up on the throne and run from him? That's not the way it goes. It doesn't come with observation.
It's not seen with the naked eye. It's not things clearly
seen. You understand that? Sure you
do. Peter, what about Elijah? What about David? He's already
come. Elijah's already come. Who? John! And I've pointed out to you from
God's Word how that most things written in Scripture are already
fulfilled. When John wrote the Revelation,
he wrote this, let me read it to you. He said this, the Lord
told John, he said, you write, let me find it here, write the
things which thou hast seen, listen, This was 2,000 years
ago. 2,000 years ago. He told John,
write the things which thou hast seen. What's that? That's the
past. So much in the Revelation is a recounting of Old Testament. Alright? Write the things which
thou hast seen and the things which are. That is, you write
the things that are going on right there. 70 AD. Got that? Things have been, things that
are, and the things which shall be hereafter. Another nineteen
hundred and thirty years. It's over, folk. People are waiting on stuff.
It's all ready. What about Elijah's coming? He
already has. I say unto you, Christ said,
Elijah has already come. Come already. And they knew him
not. You see, folks, people aren't
going to see the coming of Christ who didn't see his first coming.
People pretend to be interested in the second coming of Christ,
you don't care about his first coming. You don't know why it
came the first time. These prophet hounds think they
know something about Revelation, Roy, and they don't know anything
about Genesis. You understand, if you don't know the first chapter
in the book, you sure can't go to the last one and figure it
out, can you? The introduction is the most important part of
a book, is it not? If you miss the introduction, forget it.
Genesis is called the beginning. In the beginning. And God writes
a whole book, Genesis, about who he is and how he does things. And he doesn't change. He doesn't
change. From there on out. And Revelation
is a recounting of the same gospel. The same Christ. Many of the
same things that have happened. And were happening. And were
about to happen. And it's the 11th hour. It's
1159. I believe. You see it, don't you? Last day. The last of the last
day. And the whole world's going to
be looking for something and they're not going to see it.
Our Lord said that in Matthew 24, as in the days of Noah. They
were eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, and it came
on them unawares. Unawares. Unawares. They were taken aback. Didn't
have a clue. At a time when you think not,
Christ said. My pastor said that an old preacher
asked another friend of his, said, do you think the Lord is
coming tomorrow? And the fellow said, I think
not. He said he probably is there. There's a time when you think not. When
they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction. Now,
we're not as those that are in darkness. It's not going to come
on us anyway. We're waiting. We're watching.
We're looking. Elijah's already come. And so
many other things. And then the disciples understood.
A little bit. They understood at least that
he was talking about John the Baptist. But, you know, the Lord
kept telling them many chapters earlier, and here, and on and
on, until he goes to Calvary, why can't Why He came, didn't
He? The Son of Man must suffer many
things. Christ must suffer. He kept telling
us, this is why for this hour, because I came into this world.
This is what He tells His people. This is what His people know.
Why He came. What His whole purpose was for
Him coming. The redemption of his people.
And we know what he did on Calvary. What did he do, John? He finished
the work. He accomplished it. It's done. Now it just remains for him to
gather them up. He's right now winnowing the
threshing floor. Threshing floor. Separating the
chaff from the wheat. All right. Stand with me.

Beholding Christ's Glory: Christ Transfigured

What does the Bible say about beholding Christ's glory?

How do we know the doctrine of Christ's divinity is true?

Why is the transfiguration of Christ important for Christians?

How does witnessing Christ's glory change our perspective on the world?

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Beholding Christ's Glory: Christ Transfigured

What does the Bible say about beholding Christ's glory?

How do we know the doctrine of Christ's divinity is true?

Why is the transfiguration of Christ important for Christians?

How does witnessing Christ's glory change our perspective on the world?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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