Come back to Matthew chapter
17. Matthew 17. I titled it, Jesus
Only. Jesus Only. Our Lord had asked
His disciples, whom do you say that I am? He said, whom do men
say that I am? They said, some Elias, some Jeremiah, some prophet. He said, whom do you say that
I am? Peter said, Thou art to Christ the Son of the living
God. And after that, the Lord began
to show unto his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer
and be rejected of the scribes and the elders and die and rise
again the third day. And it's evident they were so
overcome with grief when they heard that he was going to Jerusalem,
that he was going to suffer, that he was going to be rejected,
and he was going to die, that they missed. They missed. I'm going to rise the third day. It would do us well to listen
to the whole message first, wouldn't it? We need to catch the whole
message, not just a part of it and then run off on a tangent.
As soon as they heard that, that's when Peter took him aside and
rebuked him. That's all he heard. He didn't
hear the, I will rise again the third day. Sometimes people hear one point
in a message and they miss the whole message. I had a man call
me when I was preaching on the radio. I preached a message on
the new birth. And he called me and I made a
statement in that message. The scripture says flesh is flesh. That which is born of flesh is
flesh. That which is born of spirit is spirit. I said, if
you could go back into your mother's womb and be born again, you'd
still do the same thing. You'd still be just as rotten.
And he called me. He said, I enjoyed your messy butt. He said, you
said that if you could go back into your mother's womb and be
born again, as Nicodemus said, He said, I wouldn't do those
things. Yes, you would. I said, yes,
you would. Flesh is flesh. If you go back
to your mother's womb, pay attention. Do you ever want to tell your
kids, pay attention? It's like that foghorned leg going to slap
that little chicken and say, pay attention. That's what you
feel like sometimes. Just slap them and say, aren't
you paying attention? I'm going to rise the third day. going to rise the third day.
The Lord has revealed more to them, more plainly to them, about
His death. He's going to die. He's going
to suffer. And they are overcome with grief. And no doubt, some
of them, it may be that these three were more overcome than
the others. I don't know. I don't know, but He chose these
three. But He's going to reveal something of His of His true
glory, of His resurrected glory, of the glory that He possessed
before the world was, and of the glory that He possessed at
that time, but they really, with these human eyes, could not see.
But He's going to give them a glimpse, almost to say, behind the veil. Those three are going to get
to see behind the flesh. They're going to get to look
beyond that veil of flesh and see God. See His Godhead. That's what's going to happen.
You know, we can only take revealed truth one step at a time. We
can only take it one step. When you teach these children,
they can only take so much. You know, you have to go step
by step, little by little. That's why it takes a good while
to graduate and go through school. We can only take so much. And
the same thing is true with spiritual Truth and learning, we can all
take so much at a time. Now it's time for them to learn
a little more. But I'll tell you this, no matter how long
we live, we'll still not learn at all. We will still not. This is one part, one school
we do not graduate from. We know in part, and we preach
in part. And that's the way it will be
until we die. Now after six days, six days of thinking about this,
meditating upon what He has said to them and what He has taught
them, they had time to think about this. And after six days,
maybe it was on the seventh day, the Lord's Day, what we call
the Lord's Day, Christ took three of His disciples, three of them,
and He took them into a high mountain apart. He separated
them from the rest. He's going to reveal Himself
to them. Oh, what a sight! What a revelation! When God reveals Christ to the
heart, they are going to get to see Him. He chose the ones
to whom He would reveal His glory. Even to this day, our Lord chooses
whom He will save. He chooses whom He will reveal
His glory to. He chooses the place, the time
to reveal His glory to them. When it was time for them to
see His glory, they are going to see it. They're going to see
who this... Peter said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Peter, you're about to see it.
You're about to see the Son of the living God. There's a time
for every child of God to see His glory as the Son of God. As for who He is. Now they go
up, he says, to a high mountain. The name of the mountain is left
out. Because without doubt, Without
doubt, they would enshrine that mountain. If that mountain was
named, you'd see someplace built over there on it to worship,
for people to flock to. So it's left out. The name of
it's left out. Because the name of that mountain
is totally irrelevant. The name that's important here
is His name. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But oh, what
a transport! It is to see His glory, to see
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, when He
was transfigured before them, the first thing they saw was
His face shining. His face, it says, did shine
as the sun over in Luke, it says, it glistened. His clothes were
glistening, white as the snow. Here it says, bright as shine
as the sun. But listen, it was the same face
they had always looked into. His face did not become disfigured. It was the same face they looked
at every day. This same one, this same Jesus,
this same Nazarene is God. He's God, that's who He is. The
same face, same eyes that they had always beheld, except this
time, His shine as the sun. The glory has always been there.
The glory has always been there. It's just now He's given them
a greater glimpse of it. It's like growing in grace. You
know, we start out as babes in Christ, young men in Christ,
and fathers in Christ. We grow in grace and knowledge
of Him. They're getting to grow in grace
and knowledge here. of who this man is, the Messiah,
the one that Peter just confessed. Thou art the Christ. Now they're
getting to behold a little more of Him, a little more of His
deity. They were given a glimpse of
His Godhead. They witnessed His manhood. They
followed this man for nearly three years now. They've watched
this man. Now they're going to get a glimpse
of His Godhood. The Son of God. That's what's
going to happen. That had been veiled behind His
flesh. It's like that tabernacle in the wilderness. It looked
like all the other tabernacles. But you go inside of it. Inside
was just your kind of glory of God. And He's letting that come
out now for them to see. Up until this time, they saw
our Lord heal many. They saw Him heal many. They
saw a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. They saw Him. They
witnessed His power over demons. But now, listen, now they are
going to see Him. They've witnessed His power.
They've watched Him walk in the flesh. They've watched Him feed
5,000. Now they're going to see Him. They're going to get a real
glimpse, a real glimpse of His glory before He dies, before
He goes to be crucified. They're going to get to see Him.
Not a miracle performed by Him, but Him. Him. His glory as the Son of God. I want you to turn over to John
chapter 17. Here's what they are getting a glimpse of. John
chapter 17. In verse 24, John 17. Father, I will. That they also, whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am." Not where I was, where I am. He was with the Father while
he was on the earth. Be with me where I am. That they may
behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world. That they may behold my
glory. Well, they are getting a glimpse
of it here. And you and I are given in salvation a real glimpse
of His glory. But that's really all we have
right now is a real glimpse of it. A real glimpse of it. But it's real. It's real. We
are given a glimpse of His glory. The Scripture says over in 2
Corinthians 5, God was in Christ, reconciled the world to Himself.
God was in that man. He is the God-man. John wrote
this, we beheld His glory. That's of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth. We beheld it. John says,
and he's speaking of this transfiguration. We beheld His glory. We saw Him. We witnessed His transfiguration. Peter wrote it. Peter said we
were eyewitnesses of His majesty. Speaking of this particular time,
we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. Now, why did the Lord choose
these three? Well, first of all, what first
thought came to my mind, well, that's His business. That's His
business. He's the Lord. He can choose
whom He wills to take and reveal whatever He wills to them. But
I believe it's this. He chose these three as a witness. Let everything be established
before two or three witnesses. And that's why he chose them,
because John said, we beheld his glory. Peter said, we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. And then he also did it to encourage
them in his hour of death. This terrible time that they
were about to go through and watch their Lord be beaten, rejected
and crucified. He did this to encourage them.
And then fourthly, those who preach must be clear as to who
they're preaching. We must be clear concerning the
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely clear as to who this
man is. God manifested in the flesh.
We are not preaching a system of doctrines. It's not a system
of doctrines. We are preaching the Son of the Living God. We
are preaching a real, living person that's alive at this time,
right now, seated at God's right hand. We are preaching Christ,
the Messiah. And not only did His face shine,
but His raiment, they said, was white as the light. White as
the light. Scripture says God is light.
God is light. I am the light. I am the light. They're getting a glimpse of
His Godhead here. His glory shines through His
flesh and His clothes. And they were able to see it.
They were able to see that. That hidden nature. That hidden nature that they
could not see. Couldn't see with these fleshly
eyes, these human eyes, they couldn't see that hidden nature.
They were allowed for a few minutes, maybe a half an hour, not long,
but they were allowed for just a little bit to get a glimpse
of His true glory as God. It's like one writer said, it's
like they lifted up the veil of the curtain and got to peek
in just for a little bit and got a glimpse of His glory. Moses
said, Lord, show me your glory. He said, you can't handle that,
Moses. You can't handle it. I'll put you in the cleft of
the rock. And as I pass by, you can see my back parts. Now we're not looking at his
back parts, are we? We're looking at his face. We see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. When you look into the face of
Christ, you're looking into the face of God Almighty. And behold! There appeared unto
them Moses and Elijah talking with him." Well, this is not
the first time they talked with him. I thought about this this morning.
Moses had died about 1600 years before this happened. Elijah,
about 900 years before this happened. They were with the Lord. all
those years before He ever became incarnate. They were with Him
in glory. They were with the Son of God
in glory. They knew Him, talked to Him, and worshipped Him before
He ever became incarnate, before it ever happened. But here they
come, they appear, and they are conversing with their Lord. Here's
what appeared, the law and the The Law and the Prophets, and
Moses and Elijah appeared. All the Law and the Prophets
spoke of Him. They wrote of Him, and they are
fulfilled in Him. There appeared unto them also,
now listen, this is, I found it to be encouraging. There appeared
unto them those who had died a long time ago. They died sixteen, one of them
sixteen hundred years, one nine hundred years. And here they
are, standing in their bodies, talking with the Lord. There's
a glimpse, there is a glimpse right there, of all those who've
departed and are with the Lord right now. There's a glimpse
of them. Moses and Elijah, standing there
in their body, talking, talking with the Lord. Alive? I thought, my, what a blessing.
Those who die in the Lord are alive forevermore. They're not
dead, they're alive. Everyone who has died in Christ
is alive right now with Him in glory. Just as alive as we are. Just as we are. And what was
the subject of their conversation? What was the subject? Well, over
in Luke chapter 9, it says, They spoke of His decease, of His
death, the death that He should accomplish. That's what they
spoke of. The death that He should accomplish. That was the subject of their
conversation. They spoke of His redemptive
glory. Give unto the Lord the glory
that's due unto His name. Give unto Him the redemptive
glory that's due unto His name. They spoke of His redemptive
glory. They spoke of the death that
He should accomplish at Jerusalem. That's what they spoke of. They
spoke of Christ crucified. That's what they spoke of. They
didn't ask Him how He was doing. I can assure you this was not
idle chit-chat. This was not just, how are you
doing today? No, it had nothing to do with
that. They talked of His glory and of the salvation and the
redemption of His people. That's what they spoke of. They
spoke of the same thing they spoke of right here in His Word.
The law didn't change. I'm sure it did not change. They
spoke of His glory. He's their only hope as well
as ours. His death is their only hope
as well as ours. His life after that is their
only hope as well as ours. And that's what they spoke of.
And that's what we're going to speak of until He comes. On Him hinges all the law and
the prophets. He is their message. He is our
salvation. Unlike Peter, now listen, unlike
Peter who said, Lord, he rebuked the Lord, said, Lord, be it far
from thee, don't you let this happen. I can assure you Moses
and Elijah didn't say that. No, they spoke of his redemptive
glory, of the death that he should what? Accomplish. For you and
I, it's an event. For him, it was an accomplishment. One might say, what a blessing.
What a blessing it must have been to see Moses and Elijah
standing there talking with the Lord of glory. You know what
I think a much greater blessing is? I believe this to be a much
greater blessing to have the words of Moses and Elijah speaking
of him in his Word. Because what happened shortly
after that? They disappeared. But we still have His Word. He
said, My Word abideth forever. That's the greater blessing.
I'd rather have His Word than a vision of them. Rather have His Word. Then answered
Peter. Sometimes wisdom is knowing when
to shut up. Then answered Peter. This is said for our learning.
It's said for our learning. Peter wanted to know, after they
saw this, after they saw Moses, Elijah, and the Lord talking
together, Peter wanted to know if he should build three tabernacles
or three shrines, one for Moses, one for Elijah,
and one for Christ. Putting Christ on the same level as Moses and Elijah. He's their
Lord. He's our Lord. They worshiped Him. We worship
Him. And we worship no one else. We do not worship departed saints.
We worship the Lord of saints. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
only one we worship. We don't worship anyone else.
But that's what Peter was asking. You want us to make tabernacles
for these three so we can give offerings and worship? No. Absolutely not. You know, one
of the things that encourages me is that those who were closest
to our Lord could say some of the most stupid things and still
be saved. That encourages me. I've said a lot of stupid things
myself, and I feel a real kindred spirit to them when they say
something like this. I think, boy, I would have said that. Have you ever, when you were
in school, have you ever had the teacher ask a question and
you knew the answer? And some other kid raised their
hand and gave the answer, and it was wrong. You say, boy, I'm
glad I didn't break. I'm glad he took the embarrassment
on that one. I'm glad he took that one. He
saved me from that embarrassment. Well, the disciples, now listen,
the disciples have saved us from a lot of embarrassing questions
that we would have asked. They've saved us from a lot of
embarrassment. But our Lord did not educate
them all at once. They did not have this knowledge
and understanding just all at once. He didn't do that. He educated them gradually and
let them ask these questions, like they did, that he might
educate us more fully. That we would learn something
from this. By even the questions that they ask, and we think,
why did you ask that? Well, I guarantee you if I was
there, I would have asked it too. I would have too. But while Peter was babbling,
while he was babbling on, not knowing what he was saying, he
didn't know what he was talking about when he was saying this.
A bright cloud overshadowed them. Not a dark cloud like sinai,
a bright cloud. A bright cloud. I'm so glad that God overshadows
our ignorance and speaks to us in truth. I'm so glad He does
that. The Scripture says, all thy children
shall be taught of God, and He's going to teach them and us something
here. You see, the natural light in us must be overcome by the
light of His truth. Has to be. Has to be. If we're
to learn anything that is truth, we're to learn it. Natural reasoning
is nothing but darkness. That's all it is. That's all
it is. But here's the message. The Father
speaks, the voice that I read to you there in Psalm 29, the
voice that's upon many waters. Oh, that voice, that powerful
voice, that life changing voice. This is my beloved son, after
Peter asked this question. This is My beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased." He didn't say that about Moses. He did
not say that about Elijah. He said, This is My beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him. Worship Him. Give Him the attention. Listen
to Him. The voice they heard and the
message they heard was far better, listen, than what they saw. It was far better than what they
saw. Notice what happened when they
heard the voice speak in verse 6. And when the disciples heard
it, when they heard this voice speak, when they heard Him speak
and He spoke of His Son, here's what happened. They fell on their
face and were sore afraid. They fell on their face. When
God speaks now, He'll get your attention. I'm telling you, if
God speaks to the heart, He'll get your attention. They were
not so afraid of what they saw. Moses, Elijah, and the Lord speaking
together. Peter said, well, it's good for
us to be here. It's good for us to be here to
see this. Let me make three tabernacles. No, but I tell you what, when
they heard that voice, they became so afraid. That powerful Powerful
voice. I hope the Lord enables you and
me to hear His voice this day. Oh, I hope we hear His voice
in the message, in His Word. I hope we hear that. Without
it, no man will be saved. If they had heard this voice
first, speak from heaven, speaking of Christ, had they heard this
voice first, before they saw Moses and Elijah and Christ talking
together, Peter would never have said that. Peter would never
have asked to build three tabernacles. But this was allowed to happen
for our learning. Here's what the voice said. Here's
what the Lord God spoke. This is my beloved Son. This
man. Here's another. Here's a witness
from heaven. This man. who is despised and rejected
of men, this man who is going to Jerusalem and be rejected
and be crucified and killed, this man is my son. And this voice came from heaven.
God the Father owned him. He owned this man, Jesus of Nazareth,
he owned this man as his son. And he said, in him I am well
pleased. Outside of Him, God is not well
pleased. In Him, God is well pleased and
He is well pleased with everyone in Him. This is my Son whom I am well
pleased. Hear ye Him. Everything is wrapped up in Him. Everything. And notice this. This is also the process of salvation,
if I can call it that. They heard the voice speak from
heaven. They fell to the ground, sore
afraid. And then the Lord Jesus touched
them. The Lord Jesus touched them.
There's no such thing as comfort before conviction. You can't
comfort someone that's never been convicted. Someone who's
never been brought down. Someone who's never been laid
in the dust. There's no comfort. But boy, when they heard that
voice speak from heaven, and that voice spoke of the Son of
God. This is my beloved Son. They fell to the ground, and
verse 7, and Jesus touched them and said, Arise! Arise, be not
afraid. Oh, this is our Mediator. This is our Mediator speaking
now. He touches them and tells them
to be not afraid. Without our Mediator, we'd have
much to be afraid of. You better be afraid if you don't
have Christ as your Mediator. You better be afraid. But not
if we have Him as mediating force. Be not afraid. I've taken care
of it. Be not afraid. And here's the
purpose of the whole experience. Here's the purpose for this whole
lesson. And when they lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. And that is true conversion. That is true conversion. When
everything else finally fades away, and the only thing you're
left with, the absolute only thing you are left with is Jesus
only. And that's what they were left
with. They held Moses in such great esteem, Elijah in such
great esteem, but now, now they see who he is and they are left
with him only. And he only is the one we need.
He's the one we need. The loss of the sight of Moses
and Elijah was not a problem. That's not a problem, as long
as they saw Jesus only. We may see and do great things,
but when all is said and done, Jesus only is our hope of salvation. Jesus only is our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Jesus only is our mediator. Jesus only is our peace. He only
is our justification. He only is our message. He only
is our message. Jesus only is to be worshipped
in our hearts and no one else. He said, except you, hey, mother,
father, sister, brother, more than me, you're not worthy of
me. Nothing comes before Him. Absolutely nothing comes before
Him. If you have not found Jesus only to be your all in all, You
are not yet saved. God has not yet brought you down
into the dust. He has not yet stripped you.
If Jesus Christ only is not your all in all. And He charged them. He charged them to tell no man
of the vision. That's probably why He just took
three. Because if there's twelve up
there, somebody's going to leak it to the press. Especially Judas. But He took
three of them up there. And He revealed to those three
His glory, His Godhead. Do you realize what a glimpse
they got that day? He said, you don't tell any man
until the Son of Man be risen from the dead. Well, that charge
is gone now because the Son of Man is risen. Now let's tell
everyone, let's tell everyone we can that Jesus only is the
hope of He's alive and seated at God's right hand. I tell you
what, if I could just find a sinner, I've got good news for you. I
absolutely have great news. There's a Savior seated at God's
right hand. This man receiveth sinners and
he eats with them, fellowships with them. All right, Mike.