Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 199. 199. Sinners Jesus will receive, Sound
this word of grace to all, To the heavenly pathway lead. All who linger, all who fall,
Sing it over and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the
message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Come and
He will give you rest. Trust Him for His word is plain. He will take the sinful list. Christ received the sinful men. Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ,
receive a sign from Him Make the message clear and plain Christ
receive as sinful me. Now my heart condemns me not. Pure before the law I stand,
He who cleansed me from all spot, Satisfied its last demand. Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ,
receive a sign from Him Make the message clear and plain Christ,
receive Christ receiveth sinful men,
even me with all my sin, purged from every spot and stain. Hymn with Him I enter in, Sing
it o'er and o'er again, Christ receiveth sinful men. Make the message clear and plain,
Christ received a sinful man. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
355. 355. From every stormy wind that blows,
from every swelling tide of woes, there is a calm sure retreat
is found beneath the mercy seat. There is a place where Jesus
sheds the oil of gladness on our heads, a place that Besides more sweet, it is the
blood bothered. There is a scene where spirits
blend Where friend holds fellowship with friend Though sundered far
by fate They meet around one common mercy seat. Ah, whither could we flee for
aid when tempted, desolate, dismayed? How the hosts of hell defeat,
That suffering saints no mercy see. of their own ego wings restored. And sin and sins molest no more,
and heaven comes down ? Our souls to greet ? While glory crowns
the mercy seat ? Mark chapter nine, Mark chapter
nine. Couple announcements, let me
look, make sure I got them right. We'll have a lunch here next
Sunday. And a directory's back there on the table. And if you
need to change a name, address, add someone, take someone away,
it's back there. You just make your adjustment
to it as you see fit. Mark chapter 9, read the first nine verses. And He said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, that there be 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 and James and John, and leadeth them up into
a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before
them, and his raiment became shiny, exceeding white as snow,
so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared
unto them Elias and Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
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,
one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wished not what to say,
for they were sore afraid, 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 round about, they saw no man anymore save Jesus
only. 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. our Lord and our God, our blessed
Savior, oh, our Lord Jesus Christ. How we love that name, precious,
precious name. She had precious, precious blood
and gave us precious, precious faith. Lord, we come to thank
you, to bless you, to praise you. Lord, you're worthy of all
of our Energy, you're worthy of all of our heart, all of our
soul. You're worthy of our worship,
our praise. You're worthy of our best thoughts
and everything we can think about you and exalt you above everything
that's ever been named on this earth, heaven, or hell. Lord,
you're worthy of it all. And so, Lord, we've gathered
here this morning as we always do to worship the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I pray you'd give us a worshipful
spirit, that you'd bless us to worship in spirit and in truth,
that you'd enable us, oh Lord, to preach the gospel, enable
us to glorify Christ, enable hearts to be opened, minds to
be opened, take away the darkness from the mind, take away the unstopped ears, do for these
people and for me what only you can do. And Lord, we've had requests
for prayer, and we pray for that request. Lord, we know it's a tough situation, but God,
please be merciful, be gracious, be pitiful. And Lord, we pray
again for this congregation. Lord, that you'd bring glory
to yourself through us all. Please enable me to speak, enable
them to hear. Have mercy, oh God. upon our
lost loved ones. They have no thought of you,
don't care about you, not interested in you, and have no need of you. But Lord, you can do all those
things, for you did it for us. Please, meet our needs today,
and do it for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's stand together as we sing
the hymn of the day on the back of the bulletin. A refuge for sinners the gospel
makes known. is found in the merits of Jesus
alone. The weary, the tempted, the burdened
of sin are never excluded. This refuge for sinners God's love
did ordain. In Jesus the Lamb from eternity
slain. In Christ the Redeemer, who lived
and who died, God's law and His justice are now satisfied. Should conscience accuse us,
as often it may, the blood of our Savior has put sin away. Be seated. Subject this morning is they
saw his glory. They saw his glory this story
about Christ's transfiguring on the Mount of Transfiguration
Is up on a high mountain. That's what it tells us. He took
his Disciples James John and Peter unto a high mountain apart
by themselves and And while they were there This is in Matthew
17, they've got this story in Matthew 17, first few verses
in it in Luke chapter 9, all these stories, and they all say
it's a little bit different. But our Master here is talking
of some people seeing His Kingdom before they die, and His Kingdom
is manifested here in the glory of His Kingdom seen here in His
transfiguration. And it tells us, you know, after
six days there in verse 2, after six days Jesus is taken with
Him, and it was after the things that had been said, this is why
He does this. You know, our Lord said back
over in verse 31 in chapter 8, And he began to teach them that
the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the
elders, and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and
after three days rise again. And oh my, that's what he said,
these sayings. And then Peter began to rebuke
him and then confessed him. He said, Who do men say that
I am? He said, Thou art the Christ. Peter's confession of him. That's
all believers' confession. Then He's coming to SUFFER and
to be REJECTED of the elders, and be rejected and slain, and
rise again the third day. And then He talked about self-denial. You know, if you're going to
deny self, you've got to follow Me. And if you don't follow Me,
you're going to end up losing your life. And what would a man
give if he lost his life? He'd give the whole world and
he couldn't pay back for his life. And then He was talking
about before He passed into that awful, awful darkness of rejection,
His death on the cross, He said, There's some standing here, some
standing here. Now, who do you reckon He is
talking about standing here? He's talking about these three
disciples. Before they ever died, they're going to see the kingdom
of God in His glory. and all they going to catch a
glimpse of His glory, and all who were blessed to catch a glimpse
of His glory and His kingdom. And they which said it would
be before they tasted death. And look what it says there now,
he said in verse 2, And he taketh after six days Six days he takes
Peter, James, and John, that s the inner circle, and leadeth
them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. And Matthew
it says he was praying, went up into a high mountain to pray.
And Luke it said he went up into a high mountain to pray. And
he was transfigured before them, transfigured before them. Oh,
my, what are you talking about? Transfigured before them. Something
new is happening here. Something new is happening for
them to see. And I, Lord, take these men apart
to be alone with Himself. And he says, Oh, and I pray that
the Lord enable us and take us apart. He said He took them apart
by themselves. May the Lord take us apart. take
us apart, and He HAS taken us apart. He drew us off to Himself,
made Himself known to us when He took Himself off to Himself.
And oh, to be alone with Christ, just us and Him! And oh, Lord,
that may He take us into a high mountain! And oh, they went with
Him, knowing what did not have any idea what was in store. But look what He says, transfigured
before them. Now, transfiguration means it
s a change. It s countenance change. It was
ALTERED! His countenance was ALTERED!
ALTERED! Now, I want you to look over
with me in Luke chapter 9. This is the best version of it,
in my opinion, the best, more of the set about it over here
than anywhere else. In Luke 9 and verse 28, excuse
me, verse 29. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance in Raymond was white and glistering. And
oh, his countenance changed! And oh, what a countenance! Well,
you know, when your countenance changed, you know, Jacob said to Laban, His countenance
changed towards me. In other words, he looked at
him in a different way. But when Christ's countenance
changed, he changed his absolute physical appearance. He looked
like something that no one had ever seen before, and they came
to see the kingdom, and He said, You see the kingdom of God in
His glory, and it was altered. And over in Matthew it says His
countenance was like the sun, like the brightness of the sun.
We all see how bright the sun can be. He said that's the way
He looked. He looked as bright as looking
at the sun. And then in other places it said
it was like lightning, lightning. and another place it said, He
glistened like the sun. And so white, Raimond was white,
and over there in Mark it said He was whiter than any fuller,
and a launderer, that s what a fuller is, somebody that washes
clothes. They could not bleach anything
and make it more white, more beautiful, more glorious than
what Christ was changed into. And oh my, but let me tell you
something, this countenance, and it said His countenance was
altered. and his raiment was white and
glistening. You know, our Lord was always
like this. He always had this glory. He
said, Father, give me the glory which I had with you before the
world began. He had a glory with the Father
before He came here. This glory was always in Christ. But you know why men couldn't
see it unless He changed Himself for them to see it? Because He's
veiled in flesh. That glory was ALWAYS there!
The glory of God was ALWAYS in Christ! The glory of God SEEN
in Christ! But here s the time that He is
ALTERED, but that glory was ALWAYS there! And I tell you something,
everybody that s ever seen Christ, they see a glory in Him that
they see in nothing else in this whole world. They see a beauty
about Him, a glory about Him. Oh, His PERSON is so glorious! I mean He s God, and as God He
s glorious, and as a MAN He s glorious. What makes Him glorious as a
man? His sinlessness, His holiness, His righteousness. Oh my, this
countenance was always there, it s veiled in flesh. When it
talked about over in Philippians 2, it said He emptied Himself. Now, what does it mean He emptied
Himself? That means He emptied Himself of His glory, emptied
Himself of everything that was, you know, Abraham saw His day,
but He emptied Himself, emptied Himself of all the glory and
the reputation and everything so that the only people that
can ever see His glory is those that Christ takes apart to Himself. And once you see His glory, you'll
never see nobody else as glorious. And every once in a while, you
get a real glimpse of that glory. And oh, he lets them glimpse
what he always was before, before he came into this world. And
it said here, it said his raiment was white and glistening, glistering. I mean, it was just, you know, I don't have a clue
what this, what he's actually saying here, how beautiful and
how glorious that our Lord Jesus Christ was on this day. And He
said you'll not die until you see this Kingdom of God, this
Kingdom of God in His power, and here's the power of God in
Christ, and oh my, let me tell you something, the natural eye,
the natural eye, the scripture said we see no beauty about Him
that we should desire Him. The world don't see no beauty
in Christ. THE WORLD DON'T SEE NO GLORY
IN CHRIST. THE WORLD DON'T SEE NO BEAUTY
IN HIS PERSON. THE WORLD DON'T SEE NO BEAUTY
IN HIM AS A REDEEMER, AS A SAVIOR. THE WORLD DON'T SEE NO BEAUTY
IN HIM AS THE LORD OF GLORY. THE WORLD DON'T SEE ANYTHING
BEAUTIFUL ABOUT CHRIST. THEY SEE BEAUTY IN HEALING. PEOPLE
WANT TO SEE GOD AND DO A MIRACLE. People wanna see healing, people
wanna see a miracle, people wanna see all kinds of things. They
wanna see how to speak in tongues, but they don't want to see Christ
in His glory. They wanna go and be told how
to have a happy marriage, and how to have a happy life, and
how to be healthy, and all the things that people are interested
in. But who wants to see Christ in
His glory? Oh, see Christ in His glory.
You know, the scriptures tells us that the glory of God, the
glory of God, you know where it's at? When you look in the
face of Jesus Christ. And oh, the natural eye sees
no beauty about him. But oh, whether a man sees it
or not, he's still all glorious. Whether anybody sees it or not,
he's within what he is without. And oh, He took them, He took
them, and if we seize glory, He has to take us to be alone
with Him. And then look what else happens
here now. In verse 30 here, we're in Luke chapter 9, And behold,
there talked with him two men, which were Moses, and that Elias
is Elijah. That's who He's talking about,
Moses and Elijah. And look what it says, Who appeared
in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish. You
know these two men appeared with Him, and it says they appeared
with Him in glory. Now, what does that mean? That
means they were glorified, too. Whatever a glorified body is
like, whatever we're going to be like in heaven itself, whatever
body God gives us, that's the body these men were standing
there with Christ in. They were in their glorified
bodies when Christ was in HIS glorified body. Now, their glory
was NOTHING like the glory of Christ. THEIR GLORY COULD NOT
POSSIBLY BE LIKE THE GLORY OF CHRIST, BUT THEY APPEARED WITH
HIM IN HIS GLORY, AND THEY APPEARED WITH THEM WITH THEIR GLORY. THE
GLORY THAT THEY HAD WE'LL ALL HAVE WHEN WE GET THESE NEW BODIES. WHEN WE PUT THIS CORRUPTION PUTS
ON INCORRUPTION, THIS MORTALITY PUTS ON IMMORTALITY, WHEN DEATH
IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. BUT OH, LOOK WHAT IT SAYS NOW,
THEY APPEARED WITH HIM IN GLORY, AND WATCH WHAT HAPPENS NOW. MOSES
AND ELIJAH and they spake of His decease, or His death, and
what His death should accomplish at Jerusalem. He had already
told them about His death, but here they are, they're listening,
and here they are, what they're talking about is talking about
the death of Christ and what it should accomplish. You know
why these two men are talking about the death of Christ and
what it should accomplish? Because our Lord says, Moses
wrote of Me, THE PROPHETS SPEAK OF ME. TO HIM GIVE ALL THE PROPHETS
WITNESS. MOSES POINTED TO CHRIST. MOSES TALKED ABOUT CHRIST. MOSES
TALKED ABOUT A SAVIOR. MOSES TALKED ABOUT A REDEEMER.
AND YOU KNOW MOSES, REMEMBER WHEN MOSES WENT UP TO THE MOUNTAIN,
AND HE SAID, FATHER, HE SAID, O LORD, I WANT TO SEE YOUR GLORY. HE HAD SEEN ALL THESE SIGNS AND
ALL THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN EGYPT. But after we went up
on that mountain, and he said, Father, God, I wanna see your
glory. I wanna see your glory. And you
know what our Lord said to him? He said, you can't see my glory
and live. He said, I gotta put you in a
rock and I gotta put my hand over you, put you in this cleft
of the rock. And he said, then you can see my hinder parts. You can go behind me and see
my hinder parts. But now, he's standing here and he sees Christ
in all of his glory. He ain't looking at the back
parts now. He's seeing Christ in his glory. And he's standing
there in a glorified body himself, sitting in a glorified body.
And they began to talk. You know, let me tell you something
about Moses and Elijah. You know, God killed Moses himself. The Lord took Moses' life, and
the Lord buried him. The Lord Himself, Scripture says,
God took Moses, took him up over to Mount Moriah, let him look
into the Promised Land. He can't take, the law can't
take nobody to the Promised Land, and Moses represented the law.
And so he looked up, and he seen that in the Promised Land, and
God took him down. He died, and God buried him. God buried him. How would you
like God to bury you? That'd be the best burial you'll
ever have. And you know why I'm gonna tell
you? I don't know why I'm saying this, but do you know why God
buried Moses? Because I tell you one thing,
if they would have ever found his body, they would have worshiped
Moses. They've already worshiped Moses.
They said, we have Moses. We're disciples of Moses. As
for this man, we don't know where he come from. But God took him
and buried him, and now here he stands, Moses stands, representing
the law before Christ, and he now sees his glory, and he s
in a glorified body! So wherever he was buried at,
God took him out of his grave, took him to heaven, and now he
s in a glorified body! I know EXACTLY where you re at,
Moses, I m going to come get you! And he come and got him,
and here he is standing before Christ in HIS glory, and Christ
in HIS glory. And then Elijah, Elijah, you
know what Elijah did? God took him to heaven in a chariot. You know, them old spiritual
songs say, swing down low, chariot, and if you swing down low, no
one will take you up to heaven. But I tell you, God took Elijah,
God swooped down in a big old chariot, and I tell you, picked
Elijah up, and that chariot took him right straight on up into
glory. And here stands Elijah, he represents the prophets. He
represents the prophets, and here our Lord Jesus Christ, and
so here s these two men, and I tell you what, they see Christ
in His glory, and wherever we go and whatever we see, we want
to see Christ in His glory, whether in death or changed in a moment.
And I tell you, this is the subject that they were talking about,
Moses and Elijah. They were talking about what
His death would accomplish. Now, I tell you what, what do
you reckon his death accomplished? That's what they was talking
about. What is your death gonna accomplish? That's what they
were talking about. You know, what's your death gonna accomplish?
He'd already told them that he's gonna die. He's gonna be killed
and he's gonna be raised the third day. What did his death
accomplish? What do you think it accomplished?
Whatever God intended for it to accomplish, that's exactly
what it accomplished. God intended for Christ to die
shed his blood, die an awful death, die a cruel death, die
a death on a cross, nailed to a cross with the crown of thorns
on his head, and everything that he would endure. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, what do you reckon his death accomplished? You thinking
it was just a valiant effort on God's part to try to save
somebody? Do you reckon it was God just
getting people in a notion of trying to love Him and accept
Him? Do you reckon Christ died for everybody on this Earth?
You know, the Scriptures tells us that when Christ died, He
died for a particular people. He said, I lay down my life for
who? The sheep! No goats! He never laid down
His life not for one goat. And God don't change goats into
sheep. People's always been sheep. And
He's the Good Shepherd that laid down His life for the sheep.
And our Lord Jesus Christ said, All that the Father give me,
they're going to come to me. ALL THAT CHRIST DIED FOR, EVERY
SINGLE ONE OF THEM, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED
WILL BE SAVED. EVERY SOUL FOR WHOM HE SHED HIS
BLOOD FOR, THEY WILL BE WASHED IN HIS BLOOD. EVERY SINGLE SOUL
WHOM CHRIST DIED FOR WILL BE REGENERATED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE GOSPEL IS GOING TO COME TO
THEM AND You know, I'm about that far from getting old, but
let me tell you something, if there's anybody that I ever preached
to that Christ died for and shed His blood for and was given to
Christ in the eternal covenant of grace, if God blesses me to
cross their path, and they hear with their spiritual ears, God
opens their ears, and if they're one for whom Christ died, I'll
guarantee you that they will believe, and they will be saved. and there's no danger of them
never NOT being saved, there's no DANGER of them never being
lost again, there's no DANGER of them EVER not coming to Christ,
there's no DANGER of them not believing on Christ, because
God is GUARANTEED that Christ was gonna get what He paid for!
I love that kind of, I love that!
I do! I'm not on a fool's errand here!
Most preachers are up this morning on a fool's errand! They're on
a fool's errand. They're out there trying their
best to talk SOMEBODY into accepting Jesus, trying their best to get SOMEBODY
to come to an ALTER, come to a FRONT, come to a DECISION.
They'll walk up and the first thing they want to know is, Do
you want to go to Heaven? Who's going to say NO? You going
to say NO? That's the first thing they ask.
Who wants to go to Heaven? I don't. You know that's what
you're going to tell people. No, no, that first thing they
say, you want to go to heaven? EVERYBODY wants to go to heaven.
Well, let me ask you a second thing. Do you think you're a sinner?
Well, I've not been perfect. Well,
I tell you, God says you're a sinner. Are you a sinner? Well, let me
tell you something. If you want to go to heaven,
he said, here's what you got to do. You got to admit to being
a sinner. Now, listen, do you want to be
saved? Oh, yeah, yeah, I want to be
saved. He said, well, I tell you what,
you want to pray? And then they'll pray and they'll
say, Lord, accept this poor sinner for Jesus sake. Amen. You're
saved. You're fixed up, you're ready
to go. And you know how many millions of people out here in
this world that went right down that road? Oh my, but heaven and hell is
not the proposition that Christ is talking about. Heaven and
hell's not the issue. Christ, and that's what they're
talking about, what His death accomplished. They're talking
about His death. That s what s got to happen,
there s got to be a DEATH. It s either our death or somebody
else s death. Either we got to die for our
sins or a substitute s got to die for our sins. We got to be
punished for our sins or somebody ELSE got to be punished for them.
God s law said the soul that sinneth shall die. And so, beloved,
we ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we have
sinned enough today to damn our eternal souls forever. But here's
the thing, if God provided us a substitute, one who honored
God's law, magnified God's law, justified us in the sight of
God, on His blood was shed on Calvary's cross, God said, I'm
gonna take that blood and I'm gonna apply it. I'll apply it. I'll cause Christ's death to
do something. His death, that s the thing,
if Christ died for men that can save themselves, what in the
world does His death mean? If Christ died and it s left
up to you, what in the world does His death mean? If Christ
died and it s up to your free will, what does the death of
Christ mean? If the death of Christ is left
up to you and your choice and your decision, what did the death
of Christ have to do with anything? But oh, listen, the death of
Christ, between the eternities, and then you know, eternity is
eternity. There's no ending, no beginning
of it. Eternity is eternity. We're bound
here in time. There was a time when there wasn't
any time, and there'll be a time when time will be no more. But
between the eternities, while we're here in time, THE GREATEST
EVENT THAT EVER HAPPENED IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE, IN THE
HISTORY, IN THE SIGHT OF GOD ALMIGHTY WAS THE DEATH OF HIS
SON. THERE'S NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT,
NOTHING MORE PRECIOUS, NOTHING MORE POWERFUL, NOTHING MORE DELIGHTFUL,
NOTHING MORE SAVING THAN CHRIST DYING ON A CROSS. OH, THE GLORY
OF GOD SHONE THAT DAY IN A WAY THAT IT WILL NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN.
That God Almighty took His Son, nailed Him to a cross. And why
did He nail Him to a cross? If salvation's left up to you.
And I'm so thankful it's not left up to you, me, or anybody
else. It's left up to Christ. It's
left up to God. Huh? God said, I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. And folks want to walk up and
talk about God s got to do this, God s got to do that. God don
t have to do anything but what He wills to do. He don t have
to save anybody. You know, if He saves you, thank
God for it, but He don t have to save you if you re not saved.
You re in His hands to do with Him what He will do. It's not
left up to us, it's left up to God, and I'm grateful it's left
up to God. If it's left up to me, you know
how many people had already been lost? Every time I got mad at
somebody. God said one time, if we had
the power of God, we'd do what we wanted to do with anybody
we wanted to do it with. But if we had His wisdom, we'd
leave it all up to Him. And oh, the wisdom of God! You
think about God's blessed wisdom that God made a way in His wisdom
that God could be a just God. I mean JUST! Absolutely just! Perfectly just! Righteously just! And He made a way THAT GOD COULD
STAY JUST AND TAKE A BUNCH OF SINNERS, A BUNCH OF REBELS, A
BUNCH OF GOD-HATERS AND CHRIST-REJECTORS AND A BUNCH OF SINNERS FROM THE
TOP OF OUR HEAD TO THE SOLE OF OUR FEET. HE MADE A WAY THAT
HE COULD STAY JUST AND TAKE A BUNCH LIKE US AND TAKE OUR SIN, TAKE
OUR REBELLION, TAKE OUR GUILT, TAKE OUR SHAME AND PUT IT OVER
HERE ON THIS SUN. And that son, by all our sin,
by all our iniquity, and God turns around and said, Listen,
their sins have been paid for. I'm going to justify them. I'm
going to declare them righteous, and I'm going to give them the
faith to do it. Oh, the wisdom of God. He's just,
but He's also the justifier. He's a Savior. He's just, but
He's a Savior. You know, I never get tired talking
about this. We'll get back here in a minute
to where we was, but I never get tired talking about this. How that God, infinitely, eternally
just, can at the same time slay us as sinners, punish us as sinners,
pour his wrath on us, and punish us for every sin we've ever committed. everything we've ever done, and
then kill us and give us life at the same time, through His
blessed Son. And that's what they was talking
about. They spoke of His death. Greatest thing that's ever. His death saved me. His blood
washed me. I don't look white as snow right
now, but I am. I don't look like I've got any
glory, but I do. Whose glory you got? Christ.
Christ in you, the hope of glory. And you know, when it spake of
His decease, you know, this is the most glorious, this subject
is the subject of heaven itself before Christ came. It s the
subject of heaven since He went back. It's the subject of the
multitude that no man can number. They sang a new song, and that
song is, unto him that redeemed us by his blood, unto a lamb
as it had been slain, who had redeemed us by his blood out
of ever kindred, tribe, nation, and tongue on this earth. Oh
my, and I'm telling you what a profound effect HIS DEATH HAS,
AND ITS ACCOMPLISHMENT HAS BEEN UPON MULTITUDES THAT NO MAN CAN
NUMBER. AND THEY APPEARED IN GLORY, AND
I TELL YOU WHAT, THE ONLY GLORY THEY HAD HERE, AS FAR AS I'M
CONCERNED, DID NOT MEAN THEY HAD THIS GLORIOUS BODY, BUT NOT
LIKE CHRIST, AND THEIR ONLY GLORY WAS AS THEY TALKED OF CHRIST'S
DEATH AND ITS ACCOMPLISHMENT. And how many times do you reckon
our Lord spoke of His death about Moses and the prophets? Look
over here in Luke with me, chapter 16. Look in Luke chapter 16. Look what our Lord said over
here about His death in verse 29. Well, you know the story here.
Let me give you the story. There was a rich man that died
and went to hell. And while he was in hell, he
said, would you send Lazarus, the old beggar that died, put
a drop of water on my tongue while I'm in this place of torment.
And he said, I want you to send somebody to my father's house. I've got five brothers that he
may testify unto them, not come into this place of torment. Now
look what our master said to him here in verse 29. They have,
Abraham saith unto him, they have Moses and the prophets,
let them hear them. And he said, no father Abraham,
but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And
he said unto them, if they won't hear Moses and they won't hear
the prophets, even if somebody rose from the dead, they wouldn't
be persuaded. And that's the death of Christ
and He's raised from the dead and they don't believe it. Look
over in Luke chapter 24 and verse 27. Now our Lord's talking to the disciples
on the Emmaus Road. He's talking to them, to the
disciples there on the Emmaus Road. In verse 25, then He said
unto them, O fools and slow of heart, that sounds like me, slow
to understand, to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
And this is what the prophets have spoken. That's why they're
talking about His death and what it should accomplish. Ought not
Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His
glory? And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, He expounded unto them and all the scriptures,
the things concerning Himself. Christ, you know what Christ
preached? Preached Himself. He preached
Himself. All right, let's go back over
here in Luke chapter 9. This is the best one. You know,
they appeared with Him in glory. Our Lord often spake about Moses
and the prophets. But look what it says now, down
here in verse 32. And Peter and they that were
with Him were heavy with sleep, Oh, my. That's a sad state for
disciples to be in. Here our Lord is being transfigured.
His countenance altered. He's shining like the sun. He's
glistening. He's snow white, glorious in
His appearance. And these fellows are sleeping.
Their eyes are heavy. Their eyes are heavy with sleep. Oh, that's a sad, sad state. That's a sad state. Do you ever
come and say, boy, I'm sure in a sad state? Do you ever get
in a sad state with yourself? You ever get like that? Oh, my
eyes so heavy. Well, their eyes were heavy.
Heavy was sleep. Davis said, Oh, Lord, don't let
me sleep the sleep of death. Oh, my. But look what happens
now. And when they were awake, Christ woke them up! He woke them up, and when they
woke up, look what happens now. They saw His glory, and the two men that stood with
Him, they saw Christ's glory, and they saw the two men that
stood with Him. Oh my! It was just a moment in
time, but they saw it. They saw it. And you know when
you see them eyes with heavy, you know what that tells us?
Man at his best state is altogether vanity. Man at his best state
is altogether vanity. Oh, altogether vanity. And I
tell you what, and as they saw those two men standing with him,
Verse 33, look what it says, Man at his best states altogether
vanity. And it came to pass, they departed
from him. Moses and Elijah departed from
him. They departed, they departed from Christ. And I believe Christ
went back to what he was. And look what old Simon Peter
says, he said unto Jesus. Now he just woke up, now you
think about this, he saw those two men, And he says, Master,
it's good for us to be here. You know, it was good for them
to be there. It's good to be where Christ
is at. It's good to see Christ's glory.
If he'd have stopped right there and said, It's good for us to
be here. That's enough. Oh, it's so good to be here in
the presence. Good to talk about Christ's death.
Good to see Christ's death. Good to see Christ's glory. Good
to see Moses and Elijah and Christ in his glory. But oh my, good
for us to be here. Good for us to be here. Oh, if
you'd have stopped there. But look what he goes on to say.
Let us make here three tabernacles and tabernacles there means a
tent. just means a tent, like the tabernacle in the wilderness
is a tent. And here he says this, he said, Let us make three tabernacles,
three tents. And here s what he says, Of course,
we want you to be first. Let us make thee a tabernacle. Let s make one for you. He says,
Let s put you first. And look what he goes on to say.
And then one for Moses. Now, how in the world did he
know that was Moses? He'd never seen Moses before. I don't have
a clue what Moses looks like. And he'd never seen Elijah before,
but he knew it was Moses and he knew it was Elijah. How'd
he know that? I don't know, but they knew it.
And you know, our Lord said this. He says, when we get in the kingdom
of God, we'll eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said, we're
going to sit down at a table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the man that God made covenant with. And oh my, so when we get
there, we're going to know Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We'll know
Moses when we see him. We'll know Elijah when we see
him. Look what he goes on to say now. And let us make one
for Moses and one for Elijah. And look what it says. He did
not have any idea what he was saying. Do you ever do that, start talking
and you say, whoa, why did I say that? Why'd that come out like
that? And that's what he said, didn't have a, it's over in Mark,
it said he was sore afraid, scared to death. That's what he was,
he was so scared. And he's just talking, talking,
just to say, not knowing what he said. And oh my, he just saw
Christ's glory. He just saw Moses, he just saw
the light, who departed two men, And after seeing Christ's glory,
he wanted to make Christ equal with these two men. And they're
just men. He said he wanted to make Christ
equal with the law and with the prophets. Law and the prophets. Now I want you to look with me
over in 2 Peter 1. Look over in 2 Peter 1. Peter talks about this. Peter
talks about this. talks about this day on this
mountain. But oh, he saw Christ's glory, he saw Moses and Elijah,
and he wants to put Christ on equal footing with these two
men. When they appeared there just
for one reason, is to talk about the death of Christ and what
it would accomplish. And that's what Moses and Elijah do, that's
what the law and the prophets do, they speak of Christ's glory. Now look what he says, Verse
14, Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, and
he said, I'm going to die pretty soon, and even as our Lord Jesus
Christ has showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that
you may be able after my decease, after my death, to have these
things in remembrance. I want you to remember what I'm
telling you. He said, FOR WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED
FABLES. WE HAVE NOT CUNNINGLY DEVISED
FAIRY TALES, MEN'S FABLES, AND MORALITY FABLES. WHEN WE MADE
KNOWN UNTO YOU THE POWER AND COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. NOW WATCH WHAT HE SAYS, THE COMING
AND POWER, AND WERE OUR WITNESSES 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. This is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. And this voice came from heaven,
we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount." He remembered
everything happened that day. And oh my, he saw Christ. Now let's go back over here and
let's go back down through here and finish this up. And while
he thus spake, in verse 34, while he was talking about these three
tabernacles, while he thus spake, there come a cloud, and this
cloud always represents God's Shekinah glory. It come down
on the tabernacle, it was a beautiful cloud, it come down, a shining
cloud, and it would come down, and it overshadowed those three
men, overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into that
cloud. That cloud came down and they went into that cloud. And
they feared as they entered into that cloud. And that cloud come
down over the Shekinah, glory of God. And there came a voice
out of that cloud. How would you like to be standing
in a cloud to hear a big voice? Oh my goodness. I've seen a I've
seen a psychiatrist or two in my time back in the day. They
said, do you ever hear any voices? You know what I told them? I
said, if I hear Christ's voice, they'd probably put me away. What voice do you hear? I hear
God's voice. What does he say? He said, this
is my beloved son. Did he really say that? This
is my beloved son. Well boy, I tell you what, I
don't know about you hearing voices. This is my beloved son. Listen to what he has to say.
You listen to him. Moses got something to say. He
had his time. Elijah had his time, but I don't
want you to, who I want you to listen to is what my son has
to say. You listen to him. And you know
what our Lord said? He said this, no man comes under
the father, but by me. You won't come to God, you gotta
come to Christ. You wanna be saved? He's the
only one savior. You want to be washed in the
blood? It's his blood that we shed. If you want to hear from
God, you've got to hear from His Word, and you've got to hear
from Christ. And oh, God's glory is centered in one person, and
that's what He said, This is My Beloved Son, hear Him. God is jealous over His Son,
and a voice came out of that cloud. And let me tell you something,
He's not asking these folks here, Would you like to? Would you
like to? hear what my son has to say.
I invite you to hear what my son has to say. I'd like for
you to hear what my son has to say. No, no, there's no option
here. This is a commandment. This is
a commandment. There's no option here. If you
ever hear from God, you'll hear through him, your son. I used
to love what Scott Richardson used to say, He used to say, God will not
speak to nor be spoken to by any member of the human race
apart from Jesus Christ. God won't even look in your direction
apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. He won't speak to you, won't
have nothing to do with you. And then look what happens, and when
the voice was passed in verse 36, and when the voice was passed,
Jesus was found alone. Over in Matthew it says this,
they saw no man, Jesus only. That's good when you see nobody
but Christ and Christ was alone. And oh my, they kept it close.
He's the one we must see alone. And then they told no man in
those days, they kept it close. They didn't understand what was
really happening and they kept it close. But oh my, to see the
glory of Christ, to see His glory, to see His, there's nothing like
Him, no one like Him in this universe, no one like Him. And oh boy, you think about all,
Moses is in glory now, Elijah's in glory now. God let him come
down here for a moment in time, talk with Christ, talk about
His death, what it would accomplish. What a blessed, blessed Savior
is Jesus our Lord. Our Father, in the blessed, blessed
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for allowing me to
preach the gospel again this side of eternity. Lord, I know
this old body gets weak and gets frail, and
I know their bodies get weak and frail, but Lord, thank you
for speaking with us. Thank you for coming among us
one more time. Thank you for giving us your precious word
to such power and such glory, and that tells us about our Savior,
our Lord Jesus Christ, and His glorious glory. Thank you, Lord
Jesus. Thank you. Amen. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's
just something about that name. Jeter, Savior, Jesus, let all
heaven And after the rain Jesus, Jesus, Jesus that the heaven
and earth proclaim. Kings and kingdoms will all pass
away, but there's something about that name. Amen. See you tonight,
six o'clock, God willing.