Let's look back in Matthew's
Gospel chapter 17 at those verses we read a moment ago. The Mount
of Transfiguration. We're told in verses 1 and 2
that Jesus takes with him that inner circle, the elect of the
elect. That is Peter and James and John,
his brother. And while they were there and
our Lord was engaged in prayer, he was transfigured before them. They beheld his glory. We're told also that Moses and
Elijah appeared with him. Moses representing the law, the
lawgiver. Elijah representing the prophets. But the subject, that which they
spoke about, was not the giving of the law that occurred on Mount
Sinai, but of that one who would satisfy the law on Mount Calvary,
the Lord Jesus Christ. They speak about not Moses, but
Christ. Christ has delivered us from
the curse of the law. We sometimes sing, free from
the law, O happy condition. Jesus hath bled and there is
remission. Cursed by the law, that's all
that it could do. That's all that it was intended
to do, to be our schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ, to show
us our need of Christ, to expose our sin and prove all men guilty
before God. Cursed by the law, bruised by
the fall, all but grace hath redeemed us once for all. Elijah also appeared. with Moses
on the Mount of Transfiguration, representing all the prophets.
But like Moses, the prophets spake of him. Turn, if you will,
to Luke chapter 24. This is after our Lord is risen
from the dead. He appears to two disciples as
they journey to Emmaus, and then he appears to the 11 together. But in chapter 24, We read this at verse 20, 25. I think it's interesting to remind
ourselves that in this chapter, by the conversation that these
two disciples entered into with our Lord, especially verse 21,
When we read their words here, it's not hard to understand why
they would be sad, why they were downcast and heavy-hearted. Look what they say. But we trusted
that it had been him, he which should have redeemed Israel,
referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. But now they're not so sure.
We thought, we thought, we'd hoped, we believed for a while
that it should be he that should have redeemed Israel. But now
they're not so certain of that. They're not so sure. And besides
all this, today is the third day since these things were done.
Then down in verse 25, Then said he unto them, O fools, and slow
of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken, ought
not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his
glory? That night, just prior to his
arrest, he said, except a corn of wheat fallen to the ground
and died, it abideth alone, referring to himself. But if it died, if
it died, it bringeth forth much fruit. Thank God, his death will
never prove to be in vain. It'll never be a miscarriage
because he will be the firstborn. He is the firstborn among many
brethren. Verse 27, and our Lord, beginning
at Moses, that is Genesis, the first five books of the Bible,
and all the prophets, all the prophets, he expounded unto them
in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Now look down in the same chapter
at verse 44. Our Lord now appears to the 11.
And we're told that he does the same thing for them in verse
44. And he said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understandings
that they might understand the Scriptures. And he said unto
them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead the third day." Christ is the key
to unlock the Scriptures. Without this, without him, it's
impossible to understand until we see him. till we see him as
he opened their understanding, showing that all the scriptures
at that time, all the Old Testament, the Psalms, Moses, the prophets,
that's all of it, all spoke of him. Moses spoke of him. They
prophesied of him. And that day, on the Mount of
Transfiguration, the conversation they had was concerning what
he should accomplish at Jerusalem. This is someone well said. The
Bible is a hymn book. Not H-Y-M-N, but H-I-M. It's all about Christ. And Luke
tells us the subject of their conversation in his account of
this. We're told that they discussed,
they spoke of his decease, his death, his exodus is the word,
that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. That's what they talked
about. What Moses experienced in the
giving of the law, what he experienced in Egypt, the crossing of the
Red Sea, the journey in the wilderness, the promised land, as wonderful
as that is, It just has eclipsed so much
about what they talked about. The subject of their conversation
is the greatest subject that can engage the mind of man or
God himself. That is the death of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And what he would accomplish
by that is anything greater than that. Anything greater than that,
anything more glorious than that, anything more comforting to a
child of God than that, than that he then, on Mount Calvary,
obtained eternal redemption for us. Notice the wording. Not that
he attempted it, but he obtained it. They talked about not what
he would take a stab at, but that what he should accomplish
at Jerusalem, and only he could. Only he could. That's why he
came. Moses couldn't do it. Elijah
and all the prophets couldn't do it. They didn't even assist
him in any way. He did it all alone. That's what
Paul says in Hebrews 1. He was the image of God, the
express image of God. And what he had by himself. Glory to His name. No wonder John, when he saw Him
in the book of Revelation, caught up to the third heaven, said,
concerning the Lord of glory, concerning our Redeemer, upon
His head were many crowns. And He deserves every one of
them. When He had by Himself purged
our sins, removed our sins, took them away, carried them away
forever. When he had by himself accomplished
that work, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on
high. In Isaiah, the question is asked,
who is this? Who is this that cometh up from
Bosra, from Edom rather, with dyed garments from Bosra? This that is glorious in his
apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength. Who could this
be? Only one can answer that question. This could only be speaking of
one, and only one could be speaking these words. Listen to how he
answers. Mighty to save. Mighty to save. Oh, this sinner finds that so
comforting for himself and my lost loved ones. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is mighty to save. In Zechariah 3, verse 9, we read,
our Redeemer says, I will remove the iniquity of that land in
one day. In one day. And he did it. He
did it. He removed our sins, our sins. We live in a religious generation. I don't have to tell you that.
You're well aware of it. If there's one thing lost sight
of, it's the justice of God. Ask the average professing Christian,
not the drunk in the gutter, but the man sitting in the pew,
or the man standing in the pulpit, why was the death of Jesus Christ
necessary? Why did God Almighty require
the death of Jesus Christ? And most people would answer,
because God loved us. because God loved us. That's
not what required the death of Christ, not God's love. His love
provided the sacrifice, yes indeed. God so loved that He sent forth
His Son. But why did He require it? Why
was His death necessary? If it was all a matter of simply
love, why couldn't God just say, apart from the death of Christ,
I love you and I forgive you. Oh no, justice. Justice must
be satisfied. God, in saving any sinner, in
forgiving any sinner, his justice must be satisfied. Our sins,
like a huge mountain, stood between the holy Lord God and his people,
and they couldn't climb over it. They couldn't climb over
it, and God in justice couldn't cross it, couldn't come to them,
so Christ. So Christ, he that is mighty
to save, by himself removed it. He took the mountain of our sins,
the sins of all of his people, and he bore them away forever. Moses and Elijah must step aside
and leave him alone. He stands alone as the glorious
substitute of all of his people. the redeemer of all of his elect,
the sinner's savior. A footnote here. Moses had been
dead 1,500 years before this took place. Elijah had been translated
to heaven 900 years before what we read on the Mount of Transfiguration. Oh, but here's the proof. that
him that believeth in me, as he told Martha that day at the
tomb of her dead brother, him that believeth rather in me shall
never die." Here's an example of it. Paul said, matter-of-factly,
with certainty, without any question or doubt about it, when I'm absent
from the body, and what he said concerning himself is true of
every child of God, absent from the body, but not lying in their
grave in some sort of state of soul sleep and certainly not
in some limbo state called purgatory, no. Absent from the body, all
but present with the Lord. And 2 Corinthians said, we know
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
have a building of God. A house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. Oh yes, he that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Look at verse 4. Peter, we're
told in another account of this that he was asleep, caught off
guard, and when he awoke with John and James and saw this glorious,
glorious, view of our Lord and Savior, talking with Moses and
Elijah, poor old Peter just didn't know what to do. I think Luke
tells us, not knowing what he said, but he just blurted out,
this is a good place to be, and certainly it's understandable.
I mean, I can't find fault with Peter. I'd have done the same
thing. So I want to stay here. I want
to stay on this mountaintop. Oh, what a glorious view. What
a vision of our great Redeemer. We need to do something. Let's
build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for
Elias. And while he yet spake, behold,
a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice out of the
cloud which said, this is God speaking. And this is not a suggestion. This is God's command. This is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Hear ye him. And when the disciples
heard it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. Soar afraid, but look in the
next verse, and Jesus came. And Jesus came. Remember what
Paul wrote? There is one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. God alone is a
consuming fire. Oh, but Jesus came, that one
mediator, in whom God said, I am well pleased. Christ is superior
to all others, and God is well pleased in him, perfectly, always. He said, as never a man could
say in truth, I do always those things that please the Father.
Think about that. all the time that he was on this
earth, from birth to death, he never spoke one unnecessary word. He never had one ungodly thought. Everything he ever thought, everything
he ever did, every motive was to the glory of God the Father. And God the Father says, in him
I am well pleased. God finds satisfaction in him,
in him alone. He wasn't speaking of Moses,
he wasn't speaking of Elijah when he said, in him I am well
pleased. God looks for satisfaction. the
satisfaction of his holy law, his justice. He looks for it
nowhere else but in his son. Everything was committed to his
son. God made him, his son, to be
sin for us. And the result of that is this.
if that really happened. Lonnie, if God Almighty made
his son sin, that's the literal reading. God made his son sin
for us. The result of that, the fruit
of that, the accomplishment of that is that we're made the righteousness
of God in him. And God, therefore, has highly
exalted his son in whom I am well pleased and we with him. As Paul in Ephesians 1 and 2
tells us over and over again, we were chosen in Him, accepted
in Him, redeemed by Him. accepted in the beloved, in him,
with all spiritual blessings, and in him, God is well-pleased
with us as well. As he is, John wrote, as he is,
that is Christ, so are we in this present world. And Jesus
came and touched them, and touched them. Oh, the touch. the life-giving, soul-saving,
grace-imparting, glorious touch of the Master's hand. Oh, the
change that takes place in a sinner's heart by the touch of the Master's
hand. He touched me. and made me whole. He touches the leper and the
leper is cleansed. He touches blind Bartimaeus and
he can see. All that come unto him he makes
whole. Be thou clean. Such were some of you, Paul said,
but ye are cleansed. Ye are justified. by the Spirit
of our God. Oh, arise, our Lord said. Notice
what he said there in verse 7. And Jesus came and touched him
and said, Arise, be not afraid. When I read that, I thought of
a hymn in our hymn book that says the very same thing. In
view of our Redeemer, in view of his accomplishments. If that
be so, if that be so, if he really did bear our sins away, if he
really was made sin for us, if he really was made a curse for
us, the hymn writer said, arise, my soul, arise. Shake off thy
guilty fears. The bleeding sacrifice in my
behalf appears. Before the throne my surety stands
and my name is written on his hands. He ever lives above for
me to intercede. Is that not scriptural? It is.
He ever liveth, Paul wrote, Hebrews, he ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Does God hear his intercession?
Is it effectual? Does it prevail with God? Absolutely,
God said, I'm well pleased with Him. He ever lives above for
me to intercede. His all-redeeming love, His precious
blood to plead. His blood atoned for all His
race and sprinkles now the throne of grace. My God is reconciled. His pardoning voice I hear. He
owns me for His child I can no longer fear. With confidence
I now draw nigh. boldly to the throne of grace.
And Father, Abba, Father cried. And Jesus came, our mediator,
and touched them and said, Arise, arise, and be not afraid. Is it so, brother Lord? Is it
so? Can we believe what we read in
God's Word? Can we rest upon it? Can we fall
down upon it? Can we be assured of it? Of course,
of course. He has reconciled us to God. We read that. He has redeemed
us from all iniquity. Jesus only. That's who they saw
when the voice was passed. Verse 8, when they had lifted
up the rise, they saw no man save Jesus only. Moses was gone. Elijah was gone. And that was
okay with Peter, James, and John. When they lifted up the rise,
they saw no man but Jesus only. Jesus only honored and satisfied
God's law. He only was made a curse for
us. With these two words, Jesus only,
let me say this. Jesus only is the only Savior
that presents. A man misses him and he misses
the only salvation there is. In Hebrews 2 we read, take heed,
take heed. Don't neglect such a great salvation. If you do, if you do, there'll
not be another. There'll not be another. I love
the picture of this in chapter 2 of Luke when Joseph and Mary
bring the young child to the temple to do as the law commanded
to be done concerning every male child, presenting him to the
Lord. And Simeon had been promised that old man in Israel, that
believer. God had told him, before you
die, Before I call you out of this world, you're going to see
my salvation. You're going to see with your
own eyes the Messiah. You'll see the Savior. And that
day, as luck would have it, oh no, no such critter, as God in
his glorious providence so arranged it, Mary and Joseph come. And Simeon is led by the Spirit
into the temple at the very same time. And God directs his vision
to that baby in the arms of Mary, his mother. And God's Holy Spirit
whispers to that old man, that's him. That's him. That's God's salvation. And Simeon took him up in his
arms Healed him. Healed him. And that's what we
do. That's what every sinner does. In the arms of faith, we
embrace God's salvation. The only Redeemer. The only Savior. And we can say, we've seen God's
salvation. And that's what Simeon said,
didn't he? He said, I'm ready to leave this world. I'm ready
to die. I can depart in peace because
I've seen your salvation. Likewise, When John the Baptist
was asked by the curious multitude and the religious leaders, are
you the Messiah? Are you the Messiah? Are you
the one we should look for? And John said, no, no. I'm not
the Messiah. I'm not him. He's coming after
me. I'm not worthy to lose his sandals. And when Christ appeared on the
scene, when Jesus of Nazareth that day, and after being baptized,
and again, God identified him as his well-beloved son. John
afterwards said, as he walked by, behold, the Lamb of God. That's good preaching, isn't
it? That's good preaching. Oh, to direct sinners away from
ourself, behold, the Lamb of God. There's God's Lamb. Every
sacrifice, every Passover, pointed to Him. He's the one that shall
take away all the sins of all God's people. There's only one
Lamb of God. Behold Him. Peter likewise said,
there's only one name. One name. They demanded why he
preached in that name. And Peter said, if you're asking
me that, Here's the answer. Because there's only one name
that God Almighty himself has given, only one name under heaven
by which many can be saved, and that's the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus only. Only Savior and only
Redeemer. When God said, when God uttered
these glorious words, deliver his soul from going down to the
pit, I found the ransom. Is that not good news? God himself
says, I've found a ransom. A ransom sufficient enough. A
ransom worthy enough. A ransom satisfactory enough. A ransom with enough value, with
enough merit to redeem my people. A ransom has been found that
I will accept, that satisfies my law, that satisfies every
demand of my justice. Now, my soul, who could that
be? Who could that be? The Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the ransom. We read in
Hebrews 9 and 12, one of my favorite verses, but Christ being come,
when he had by himself purged our sins, Hebrews 1 and 3, and
then in verse 12 and 9, He entered one time into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. Don't you love that? Can't you lay down and sleep
with that glorious, glorious truth in your heart and mind?
He didn't attempt to redeem me or partly redeem me or offer
a redemption that's dependent for its success on something
that I add to it in the future. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. If that
were true, he would have never exclaimed from the cross, it
is finished. Oh, no. He redeemed us. Redeemed us. Oh, redeemed how
I love to proclaim it. And the only way I would love
to proclaim it is if it's this, a complete redemption, a successful
redemption, and it was. Oh, the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. The hope of this sinner
of acceptance before the Holy Lord God is not in anything I've
done. I have a hope, but it's not there.
It's not there. You mean anything you've done
before you were saved? No. I mean after I was saved. Not a thing. But my hope is this,
that one that James and John and Peter lifted up their eyes
and saw standing alone in glorious majesty, The one God and Savior,
Jesus Christ. My hope is Jesus only. You may recall I used an article
in the Bulletin a few months ago concerning a man who visited
a dying preacher in Scotland and going into his room he asked
him how he was doing and he said, I'll tell you how I'm doing,
I'll tell you what I'm doing. He said, I'm gathering up all
my sermons and all my prayers and all my fastings and all my
giving, and I'm throwing them all overboard, and I'm going
to ride the glory on the plank of God's free grace alone. That's a good hope. My hope is
built on nothing less, nothing more glorious than this, Christ's
righteousness. The hope of glory, the hope of
glory, the hope of everlasting salvation, the hope of eternal
life is Christ himself. The old boy said in answer to the question, What gives you a right to believe
you're a believer, to think you're a Christian? And he said, well,
I'll tell you, it's this. This. I am a poor sinner and
nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. That sounds
pretty good. That's a pretty good testimony.
Turn, if you will, to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter
2. Jesus only is our peace with
God. He is our peace. Verse 11 of
Ephesians 2, Paul exhorts us, and it's a needful exhortation. Wherefore remember that at that
time, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, and so we were. Without Christ. Can you think
of anything worse? Without Christ. Without Christ,
I'm without God, I'm without hope. Being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope, and without God in the world. That was our natural state. That's where we were. And there
was nothing we could do about it. Nothing could change it,
except this. Verse 13, but now, right now,
now, right now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off
are made nigh, near, near by the blood of Christ. Now, isn't that marvelous? Now. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances. For to make it
himself of twain, one new man, so making peace. Verse 19, now,
Therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God. I want to be presented
before the throne of God without sin." Without sin. How can that be? Who can do that? The answer is the same, Jesus
only. Are you still in Ephesians? Look
in chapter 5. Look what Paul wrote in Ephesians
chapter 5, verse 25 through 27. He says, Husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for
it, that he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church. a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and
without blemish. That's the result of the accomplished
redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jude wrote in closing
his epistle, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling
and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory,
my soul, who could do that? Who can do that? Who could accomplish
that glorious work? The Lord Jesus Christ. And just like on the mount that
day, Jesus was that one superior to all others. So shall it be
in heaven. He will still be the glory of
glory. Turn back, if you will, to Psalm
73. Psalm 73. Read the desire of
the psalmist, and I think he speaks for every child of God. In Psalm 73, He says in verse 25, Whom have
I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever,
satisfied when I awake in his likeness. Satisfied to be where
he is and to be like him. But the scriptures teach us that
he will be satisfied with us. Imagine that. Imagine that. Isaiah 53 tells us that he shall
see of to develop his soul and be satisfied. Satisfied. Let Jesus only, let Jesus only
be the theme of our songs. the subject of every message.
With Paul, let us be determined to know nothing else in this
religious world with all its Nonsense. May it make us more
determined to know nothing else but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christ is all in creation. John
said, without Him was not anything made that was made. He's all
in providence, in redemption, in grace, and in glory. And may
He who is all be all in our hearts, all in our praise, all in our
salvation, all of our hope, and all of our glory. Paul said,
God forbid that I should glory, saving the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Again I say, Elijah, Moses, step
aside. When we read of God's holy law,
remember this, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. When you read of the sacrifices,
remember this. Christ, by his one sacrifice,
the sacrifice of himself perfected forever them that are sanctified. After he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of the majesty
on high. And the prophets? Peter told
those gathered at the house of Cornelius to hear the gospel,
that the prophets give witness, all the prophets witness unto
him that all who believe are saved from all their sins. I think he was top lady, he wrote.
My name from the palms of his hands, eternity will not erase. Impressed on his heart it remains
in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure
as sure as the earnest is given, more happy but not more secure,
the glorified spirits in heaven. Jesus only. All our salvation. all of our hope, in whom we have
all grace, all grace necessary to bring us the glory. Amen.