Well, good morning to everyone.
If you would open your Bibles to Mark chapter nine, you also
might wanna find second Peter. We're gonna look at the verse
in second Peter before we look into Mark nine this morning. Before we begin, let's bow before
our Lord, seek his blessing. Our Father which art in heaven,
Holy and reverent is your matchless name. Lord, we bow before you
in awe and wonder at how a holy God could love and show such
mercy and grace to sinful men and women such as we are, all
through and because of the sacrifice of your darling son. Father, we can't even begin to
thank you. Oh, how we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, for
his righteousness, for his blood, for everything that he is. He
is our only hope, our only plea. We only dare come into thy holy
presence in his precious name, pleading his precious, wonderful
person. And Father, I pray this morning
that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ would be lifted up and
exalted in everything that's done here this morning. Father,
I beg of you that you would send your spirit upon us and enable
us to truly worship. Worship from the heart. Give
us the faith to behold our Lord Jesus Christ and believe him
and rest in him. Cause us to be his servants. To only be concerned about Christ,
his cause, his purpose, his gospel, his people. And Father, we pray
for ourselves in the class this morning. We especially pray for
our children's classes, that you'd be pleased to bless in
a special way, be it our teachers, be it our children. Father, use
this time to plant the seeds of faith in the hearts of our
young ones. Of all the things that we would ask for our children,
this is the chief prayer, the chief request, that you'd be
merciful to their souls. Father, we pray that you'd be
with those who are away from us as they travel with family
in different places. Be with them, bring them back
home safe to us. And Father, be with those that
you brought in the time of trouble and trial. They're heartbroken,
they're sorrowing in deep waters. You know, you know the need of
your people. Father, I pray you'd be with them, that you give them
a fulfillment of your promise that your grace is sufficient.
comfort their hearts with your presence and deliver them as
soon as it could be thy will. In all these things we ask and
we give thanks in that name which is above every name, the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. And I titled the lesson this
morning, Seeing the Glory of Christ. Our text this morning
is the account of the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration.
where the Lord took some of his disciples so that he could reveal
his glory to them. Now if we're honest, every one
of us would have liked to have been on the mount that day and
see what the apostles saw and hear what they heard. But do
you know by faith, this morning sitting right here, we can have
a more clear revelation of Christ's glory than the disciples saw
on the Mount of Transfiguration. We'll see that if the Lord be
pleased to show himself to us in his word. And I know that's
so because look at 2 Peter chapter one. This is what Peter had to
say. Now Peter was there that day
on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter had the word of God and
this is what he has to say about it. 2 Peter one verse 16. For we've 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 we received from God the Father, or 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'm well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven, we heard when we were with him in the holy mountain.
We saw this, we heard this. Now look at verse 19. We have
also a more sure word of prophecy, a better word of prophecy. or
until you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in
your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now, Peter was one of
those men who saw and heard everything that went on there that day in
the Mount of Transfiguration. And years later, this is what
he had to say about it. I'd rather have this word than
see that, what I saw, and hear what I heard with the natural
eye and the natural ear. This word reveals Christ's true
glory, even better, more clearly than if we saw what the apostles
saw that day on the Mount of Transfiguration. Now that's a
big statement, but that's true. Let me see if I can show you
that in three points from this account that Mark gives us in
Mark chapter nine. Number one is this. The glory,
the preeminent glory of Christ is the redemption that he accomplished
for his people through his death. Mark chapter nine, verse two.
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
shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth could
white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses, and
they were talking with Jesus. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
God. And here on this mountain this
day, he gave his disciples a glimpse of his glory as God. All anybody
ever saw of him, unless the Lord gave him eyes of faith to see,
was a man in the flesh. But here the Lord pulled back
his flesh just for a little bit and revealed a glimpse of his
true glory as God Almighty. This word transfigured, he was
transfigured before them, means he changed from one form to another. The man, Jesus of Nazareth, is
a real man in the flesh. But he pulled back that veil
of his flesh for just a minute so that the glory of God shined
forth from him. And that glory was so bright,
the disciples couldn't look straight at it. It was brighter than the
sun. Now that's God's glory. That kind of glory cannot be
produced by a man. Mark tells us that the Lord Lord's
clothes and himself personally shined exceeding white as snow.
He said, no fuller on earth can make anything that white and
that bright. That glory was not man made. It's God's glory. The Lord Jesus,
our savior, revealed his glory as God. And he also revealed
the glory that awaited him after his suffering, after he died
as a substitute for his elect, After he offered the sacrifice
for sin that would put away the sin of his people, and he ascended
back to the Father, this is the glory that the Redeemer earned
for himself by saving his people from their sin. Now I want us
to see this. Christ's glory that he revealed
on this day is tied to his death. It's tied to his sacrifice. You
can't separate Christ's glory from his sacrifice for the sin
of his people. Here's how I know that. Moses
and Elijah appeared that day. Moses and Elijah. They appeared
there and they talked with the Lord. My goodness. Moses has
been dead for 1,500 years at this time. Elijah, he'd been
caught up into heaven 900 years ago, and here they are. They've appeared, talking with
the Lord. I mean, there's several things
here. First of all, this is clear evidence. There is life after
death. Moses had died, Elijah was caught
up in heaven, but they're still there. They're in a different
form. I don't know everything there
is to know about that, but I know that they are, and they appeared. But also note this. Here are
the disciples watching this. They knew Moses and Elijah when
they saw him. They knew who that was. Now,
they didn't have any drawings. They didn't have any pictures.
Then how did they know that's Moses and Elijah? Well, they
just did. Just like we know one another.
You know, in heaven, we're all gonna know each other. We're
even gonna know those people we've never met. We're gonna
know each other. Now, Moses and Elijah suddenly
appear. talking to the Lord. What on
earth were they talking about? Well, I can show you. Look over
at Luke chapter nine. They were talking about this
thing that is tied to the Lord's glory. They're talking about
his death. Luke nine, verse 30. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory
and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. The death of Christ was not a
defeat. It was a victory. The death of
Christ was an accomplishment. When our bodies die, that won't
be an accomplishment. It'll be simply what sin brings
forth. Sin, when it is finished, brings
forth death. But when Christ died, his death was an accomplishment. Now, what did the death of Christ
accomplish? Well, I thought of several things.
First of all, the death of Christ accomplished the remission of
sins. Remember when the Lord instituted the Lord's table?
He told those disciples, this wine is my blood, which is shed
for many. For what? The remission of sins. The death of Christ accomplished
putting away the sin of his people. The death of Christ accomplished
eternal life for all of his elect. Our Lord told Nicodemus, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. That, for this reason, whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, eternal
life. That's what Christ accomplished
for his people in his death. In his death, Christ accomplished
drawing all of his people to him. Our Lord said in John 12,
verse 32, if I be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all unto
me. Now, if you look that up, you'll
see your Bible says I'll draw all men unto me, but that word
man is in italics. It's been added by the translators.
What the Lord actually said is, I will draw all unto me. I will
draw all my elect unto me. I will draw all that the Father
hath given me, I'll draw them to me. I'm gonna deal with the
Lord's birth in the message this morning. But you know, this time
of year, everybody is just so head over heels crazy about baby
Jesus, aren't they? It's not baby Jesus that draws
men to Christ for salvation. It's Christ lifted up on the
cross. Now he had to be born first, didn't he? But there is
no one ever come to Christ for any reason other than this. They
see him lifted up as a sacrifice for their sin. And if God ever
shows you that, no preacher's gonna have to beg you to come
run into Christ. Nobody's gonna keep you away. You're coming
to him. In Christ's death, he accomplished
purchasing the church of God with his own blood. Just like
Paul in Acts 20 told the Ephesian elders, You be sure you take
care of and you feed the church of God, which he purchased. He
purchased it with his own blood. In his death, Christ accomplished
making all of his sinful people holy. Hebrews 10, verse 10. We're sanctified, we're made
holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. That's what he accomplished.
When Christ died, he accomplished bringing all of his people to
God. 1 Peter 3 verse 18 says, Christ also has once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
He puts death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit. And
I could go on and on and on, but you've seen it. In his death,
Christ accomplished a whole lot, didn't he? He accomplished everything
that's necessary for the salvation of his people. And I tell you
how glorious this is. I want you to think about this.
For 1,500 years and 900 years, where Moses and Elijah been?
They've been in heaven. They've been in heaven, be absent
from the bodies to be present with the Lord. If there's such
a thing as pearly gates and streets of gold, Moses and Elijah have
seen them. They've walked through them,
they've walked on them. Moses and Elijah have seen the seraphim,
and the cherubim. I mean, you think about what
they saw and how they appear talking with the Lord Jesus on
this mountain and what do they want to talk about? They want
to talk about what Christ is going to accomplish in his death.
That's what they wanted to talk about because that is the preeminent
glory of Christ. How he has redeemed his people
from their sin. Moses and Elijah came from heaven,
you know what everybody's doing there? They're talking and singing
about the blood of Christ. Moses and Elijah come here to
earth, they just talk with the Lord about the same thing they've
been talking about and singing about in heaven, the blood of
Christ, the blood of Christ. Now that tells me, if the theme
of the song of heaven is the blood of Christ, unto him that
loved us and washed us from his own blood, And that's the theme
that Moses and Elijah wanted to talk with the Lord about.
That's got to be the theme of our preaching in our worship
service. It's the glory of Christ and
what he accomplished by his death on the cross as a sacrifice for
his people. All right, number two, you wanna
find out about this glory, this sacrifice, what Christ accomplished
in his death? All you gotta do is go to the
scriptures. All of the scriptures speak of Christ and his sacrifice
for his people. Moses represents the law. That's
all the Jews, when they talk about Moses, Moses was the law
giver. The law came by Moses. Moses
wrote the first five books of the Bible that contains the law. We call it the Mosaic law, because
God gave the law to Moses. Elijah represents all the prophets.
The Jews thought that Elijah, was the best prophet. He just
was the best of all of them. He represented all of them. Now
they hated him when he was alive. They wanted to kill him when
he was alive. I mean, he thought, well, I'm the only one left,
you know. Nobody believes God but me. Nobody's preaching God but me.
And they killed them all. Now they wanted to kill me too.
They hated him when he was alive. But when he was dead, they sure
did love him. Sound familiar? The law and the prophets. That's
who showed up to talk with our Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. The law and the prophets all
wrote of Christ. That's what the Lord said about
Moses, he wrote of me. They all preached, they all wrote
about Christ crucified. Now it was in type, it was in
picture, it was in prophecy, but they all wrote of Christ
and him crucified. You think about the law, Moses.
The law was not given to point us to us. I think that's a good statement.
I wish people who would look to the law and want to keep the
law would think about this for just a minute. The law was not
given to point us to us. The law was not given to show
us a way that we can make ourselves righteous. The law was not even
given to give us a moral code that we would know how to live.
The law was given to point us to Christ. You know why God gave
the law to Moses? So there would be no doubt in
anybody's mind or heart, we cannot keep the law. I can't do that. I cannot obey that law. I can't
obey it outwardly. I certainly can't. Obey it in
heart and mind and spirit and desire. I cannot keep the law.
What the law shows me is I need somebody to come and obey the
law for me. All I've ever done in reference
to God's law is break it. I need somebody to come pay the
price for me. That's why God gave the law.
We need somebody to come and save us from our sin. Every detail
of the law points us to Christ because every commandment of
the law is just like a hammer from heaven just pounding and
pounding and pounding and thundering this message. We need Christ. Every commandment I look, I can't
obey that. I need Christ. I look at the
next commandment, same thing. I can't keep that. I need Christ. The law points us to Christ,
the law keeper. And it points us to Christ, our
Sabbath rest. Human beings are the laziest
thing in God's creation, yet you give us a day that we're
commanded to rest and all we want to do is work. I mean, if
that doesn't tell you about our nature, I don't know what does.
I need somebody to obey that for me. I need Christ to come.
So he's my Sabbath rest, so that I can rest in him. I need someone
to come who loves God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and
strength, and loves his neighbors himself. I need somebody to come,
be that good Samaritan that will love me. Come down to dish with
me. Pour the oil and wine, and that's
what I need. Moses, the law, all it pointed to is Christ.
And the same thing's true of the prophets. The prophets all
wrote of Christ and crucified. They all told us, here's somebody
that's coming. Now it's in type, it's in picture,
it's in prophecy, it's in promise, but there's somebody coming who
will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Someone's coming
to accomplish salvation for his people. And the prophets all
wrote, it's not in us, it's not in our obedience, it's all in
Christ. It's all been done by Christ. Now you trust him. The
subject of every page of the scripture is Christ. It's Christ and Him crucified,
it's His sacrifice, it's the glory of His person that would
make us trust Him. And if you read the scriptures
and you see something besides Christ and Him crucified,
I'm promising you this, you've missed the main meaning of the
text. Every page tells us of Christ. And if the Lord ever
enables us to see Christ in His glory, That's all we'll want
to talk about. That's all we'll want to talk
about. Christ is all we'll want to preach. Christ is all that
we'll want to hear because he is the subject of all of the
scriptures. When I was a young man, I forget
how old I was, but you remember how the men would meet in Henry's
study before Sunday night, Wednesday night services. And I finally
worked up the nerve to go in there one evening, sit with those
men. And I ended up sitting over in
a corner. Paul Williams sat right to my
right. Paul sat in the corner. Beside
him sat John Chapman. Beside him sat Dale Simpson. Beside him sat Tom Hardy. And Cecil Roach sat in the middle
of it. And me, I just sit there, I keep
my mouth shut. I mean, these men are giants. They're giants. And every two
or three weeks, Cecil Roach would come walking in. And he'd open
up his Bible. He'd be sitting there by Tom
and John. And he'd say, I want to show
you something that I saw. Let me show you this. I'm sitting
just a few, yeah, he wasn't talking to me. He was talking to these
other, you know, his co-giants. But I'd listen. Not one time,
not once did Cecil say, boys, we got to correct our behavior
and start acting better here because the law says this. Every
single time Cecil would say, this is Christ. This is Christ
our Savior. And he'd be just so amazed. And I tell you what happened. He'd be talking. and these men
would get their pens out and start writing. They're thinking,
I'm going to use this as an outline next time I preach because it
was always Christ. That's the subject of the scriptures.
And I'm telling you, if the Lord will ever let us see him. Oh,
I mean, we're going to get excited because he's the subject of all
the scriptures. Oh, I just every day, I just
beg the Lord that he'll show me Christ in the scriptures. And he'll enable me to preach
Christ to you and get out of the way. So you see him because
he's the subject of the text, whatever text we choose. All
right, here's the third point. And if we would see Christ's
glory, we've got to understand this. Christ is the only issue. He's the only issue. Look at
verse five in our text. And Peter answered, and said
to Jesus, master, it's good for us to be here. Let us make three
tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses and one for Elijah.
For he was not what to say, for they were so 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 looked
round about, they saw no man anymore, save Jesus only. themselves now Christ is the
only issue and I've said this recently Peter's right it's good
for us to be here but don't take something that's good and make
it have more significance than the best thing don't don't take
something that's important and make it more important than the
most important thing that's what Peter did here But he said, let's
make three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and
one for Elijah. Like, you know, you three are
all on the same plane. And Mark tells us here, Peter
said that because he didn't know what to say. I'm trying to learn this lesson.
If we don't know what to say, that's a mighty good time to
say nothing. Other than maybe, I don't know.
I don't know. But Peter said, let's build three
monuments to commemorate this occasion. It's good for us to
be here. A monument for Moses, a monument
for Elijah, and then one for the Lord. And the Lord spoke
audibly from heaven, and he told Peter, and he told all of us,
the father is only pleased with his son. And he's only pleased,
he can only be pleased with us in his son. That's the message
of the law and the prophets. That's the message of Moses and
Elijah. Almighty God can only be pleased
with us in Christ. Christ is the message of the
gospel. Christ is the glory of the gospel.
We look to Christ to be saved. We don't look to Moses and Elijah
and Christ. We look to Christ only to be
saved, only. Let's not get our eye off the
ball then. The only issue is Christ. I mean, it's pretty special. I mean, I don't think I'm lying
at all when I say it's pretty special. Moses appeared on that
mount that day, don't you reckon? But God wasn't pleased with Moses.
I mean, it's something pretty spectacular that Elijah suddenly
appeared in glory on the top of that mountain talking with
the Lord, but God wasn't pleased with Elijah. The father is only
pleased with his son. He is so pleased with his son
that the father put everything into the hand of his son. Everything. The father put the entire covenant,
his entire covenant of grace, his entire promise to save his
people by his grace. He put all of that covenant into
the hand of his son to fulfill. The father is pleased with the
obedience of Christ. It's the only obedience that's
ever been on this earth. He's pleased with the sacrifice
of his son. He's pleased with the blood of
his son. He's pleased with the death of
his son. The death of his son pleased the father's justice. Pleased with his son. And he's
pleased with the mediation of his son. He's pleased with his
son as our mediator. Isn't that good news? The one
who ever lives to make intercession for us, as he makes intercession
for us in our sin and our failure and our weak faith and our doubts
and fears that are all unfounded and everything that's so shameful
about us, how much we need a mediator. Aren't you glad that the Father's
pleased with Christ as our mediator? And as rotten and low down as
we are, the Father's pleased with us. in his son, in his son. Now the disciples heard the father
speak from heaven and they were sore afraid. Look back at Matthew
chapter 17. Matthew gives us here a detail
that Mark doesn't give us. Matthew 17 verse six. And when the disciples heard
it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. And Jesus came
and touched them and said, arise, be not afraid. And that's when
they lifted up their eyes and saw no man save Jesus only. Our
Lord has such compassion on his disciples. He had compassion
on Peter making this bonehead statement. He had compassion
on his disciples who were so afraid. They just faced down
in the dust, you know. He came to them and he touched
them and said, don't be afraid. Now that's a picture of salvation.
The Savior comes to his people and says, don't be afraid. Don't
be afraid of the law. I've obeyed it for you. Don't
be afraid of my father's justice. I've satisfied it for you. Don't
be afraid of death. I've died and risen again for
you. Don't be afraid of the father.
I've satisfied him for you. Don't be afraid. Only believe. Only believe. Hear the gospel
and believe on Christ. See, this is it. Christ is the
issue. He's the only issue. Everything else going around
is just fades in significance, Christ is the only issue, which
is what the father told us. What did he say about his son?
Hear him. Hear him. Hear him, hear his
gospel. Hear him, hear him in his word.
Now let's remember that. Let's not get pulled off on a
tangent now on the law and the prophets and other men and other
issues. If Christ is all to the father,
Don't you reckon? He must be all to us. He must
be. And when they lifted up their
eyes, they saw Jesus only. If the Lord ever gives us eyes
of faith, those eyes of faith will see Jesus only. These eyes
see all kinds of things. I can get my attention pulled
away pretty easily. But eyes of faith see Jesus only. He's the only issue concerning
life and death. He's the only issue, the only
source of righteousness. He's the only source of holiness.
He's the only source of hope. He's the only source of grace.
Then let's get our attention on Christ and not get it off,
not get it off. God help us to trust Christ alone,
to preach Christ alone, to seek out preachers that preach Christ
alone because he's the only issue. Now I know there are other things
that we gotta deal with, but there is no other issue worth
preaching. There's no other issue worth
dividing over, and there's no other issue worth uniting over.
Christ only. Then let me give you this quick
in closing, verse nine. 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. Now, I'm just sure of this, that
one of the reasons that the Lord told his disciples, there could
be many, but one of them is this. Don't tell anybody what you've
seen, because you don't know what you've seen yet. I mean,
you know the facts. Moses and Elijah were there,
and I was transfigured, you saw my glory, but you don't know
what you've seen yet. You don't know this was a display
of my redemptive glory. You don't know that, because
I haven't died and risen again yet. You can't tell the true
meaning of what you've seen yet, because you don't know. That's
another thing I wish we'd learn. Let's just not say anything until
God teaches us something of Christ. Just don't say anything. But
when God does show us the redemptive glory of Christ, let's not talk
about anything but Him. Because that's His glory. And
that's the only issue. That's the only issue that will
help our souls and to help unite us together. All right, hope
the Lord will bless that.