Luke chapter 9. Let's begin reading
at verse 28. And it came to pass, about in
eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James
and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and
glistering. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elias, or Elijah, who appeared
in glory and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were
with him were heavy with sleep." Sounds just like me. And when
they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men that stood
with him. Now Peter reacts like a child
getting caught doing something he shouldn't be doing. He just
doesn't know quite what to say. I think Mark tells us he was
afraid and just didn't know what to say. So he blabbers this. And it came to pass as they departed
from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to
be here. Well, there's no question about
that. Oh, but this is where he misses the mark. Let us make
three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for
Elijah, not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came
a cloud and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered
into the cloud. And there came a voice out of
the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. And when the voice was passed,
Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close and told
no man in those days any of those things which they had seen."
We're accustomed to referring to this incident in the life of our Lord
as the Transfiguration. And that's a good title. In my Bible, at the head of verse
28, better than that title they gave in the Song of Solomon,
but the transfiguration Our Lord had spoken to his disciples about
the necessity of his sufferings. In verse 22, comparing Mark and
Matthew's account, which we'll do as we go along. We may not turn there and read
it, but if I say things that we didn't read in Luke, it's
because Matthew and Mark record the same thing. But we're told
after Peter had answered the question as to who Christ was,
that is, the Messiah, the Christ of God, he says in verse 22,
after they realized that, he says, the Son of Man must suffer
many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests
and scribes and be slain and be raised the third day. And
then consequently, He speaks of their sufferings too, not
like His. But in verse 23, And He said
to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Now, in light
of that, in light of Him telling them that He must die, and they
just didn't grasp it. They just didn't. Until after
His resurrection, they just didn't understand what He meant. It
was like they just refused to believe it. Couldn't understand
it. But perhaps this is one reason
they're given Peter, James, and John, this glimpse, this glimpse
of Christ in His glory. Look at verse 27 of chapter 9. We should have included that
in our reading. Christ says, but I tell you of a truth, there
be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they
see the kingdom of God. And then they go to the Mount
of Transfiguration. And they see Him come in His
glory. They see a glimpse of that time when Christ shall come
in power and glory to gather His elect out of the four corners
of the earth that where He is, they may be also. In light of
what these three were privileged to see on the Mount of Transfiguration,
Oh, it's no wonder that Paul said, I suppose, in Romans 8,
Paul says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed
in us. Look again, if you will, at verse
28. And it came to pass about in eight days after these sayings,
he took Peter and John and James and went up into a mountain.
The what? To pray, to pray. The Son of
God prayed. Do we need to say any more? If He prayed, how much more do
we need to pray? The Son of God prayed. Look at verse 29. And as He prayed, You remember when he entered
upon his public ministry, when he publicly showed himself, declared
himself, though very few realized it at the time, but showed himself
publicly as the substitute for his people? I speak of his baptism. Suffer it to be so now, John,
for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. And John baptized
him. You remember what happened? A
dove descended, and at the same time as it descended upon him,
God the Father spoke again, just as He did to Peter, and said,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. Likewise, in the garden of Gethsemane,
oh, as our Lord entered His work as our substitute at His baptism,
publicly declared so, likewise here in Luke, in a picture of
His glory and in His sufferings, as was in the garden, He prayed. Prayed. Lord, teach us to pray. Lord, teach me to pray. Verse 29. And as he prayed, the
fashion of his countenance was altered, transfigured, and his
raiment was white and glistering. Glistering. The word means to
emit flashes of light, to shine or to glister as lightning. That's what the word means. I
do want us to turn to Matthew's account of it and see what he
says about this, how he describes what happened and what Peter
and James and John saw. In Matthew chapter 17 verse 2,
speaking of this same event, We read concerning Christ, and
was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the
sun, and his raiment as white as the light. I want you to turn
to Mark's account, Mark chapter 9, and see how he describes it. And we get some idea of the glory
revealed to them, just some idea, a glimpse of it, of what they
saw by considering the three accounts. Mark 9 chapter or rather
Mark chapter 9 verse 3, and his rain that became shining exceedingly
white as snow, so as no fuller, that is launderer, on earth can
white them. That's a picture of Christ's
essential, absolute righteousness, as no fuller, no launderer on
earth could wipe them. The righteousness of Jesus Christ
can't be duplicated. It can't be copied. Oh, we wear
it if he is pleased to put it upon us, but we can't by our
own works, nothing we ever do, Nothing we ever do or ever will
do will ever duplicate the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Brothers and
sisters, it ain't gonna happen. Nothing I've done before I was
saved, of course, but I mean nothing I ever do after God was
pleased to save me. Nothing can ever attain to duplicate
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It's His own. It's His own righteousness. But He's pleased to place it
upon His people, to dress them with it. That alone makes them
acceptable before a holy God. That robe of righteousness that
our high priest weaved in life and in death, not one thread
of it is added by you and I. Not one thread. You remember
what Paul said concerning his brethren after the flesh, the
Jew? He said in Romans 10, I bear
them record. They have a zeal for God. Remember
that, Louie? They have a zeal for God. All
they do, they claim to be doing for God. They touch not and taste
not and go not and wear not. They deny this and that and the
other. Oh, they dress their religion
is what they put on. He says, they have a zeal for
God, but not according to righteousness. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness and they proved their ignorance. Doesn't this
sound familiar? They being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted to, have not bowed to the righteousness
of Christ. Because Christ is the end, Paul
said in Romans 10 and 4. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. Bless God, I like that. To everyone
that believe it. Oh, great is the mystery of godliness. We look again back in Luke 9.
And see ye who as man prayed, we see him transfigured, a glimpse
of his glory, and we say with Paul again, O great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And let us bow before Him in
view of who He is and what He was about to accomplish for His
people. Oh, we can say with His enemies,
what manner of man is this? What manner of man is this? They said no man ever talked
like this man. No man ever spake like Him. Oh,
but brothers and sisters, we know also that no man ever walked
like Him. I mean by that, no man ever lived
a life of obedience unto God like him. No man. From the cradle to the grave
he could say, I do always those things that please the Father. Now chew on that for a minute.
Christ said, I do always. When I read that and thought
about that again last night, I couldn't help thinking of myself. I haven't, I can't lay claim
to that for 60 seconds of any period in my life. That's exactly
right. That's exactly right. There isn't
a minute in my life or never will be where I can say in that
60 seconds, I satisfied and I pleased the Father. No, no, not so. Oh, but Christ said, every minute
of my life, from the time I entered this world until the time I breathed
out my last, I did always those things that pleased the Father.
The Father testified to it, didn't he? Here, this is my beloved
son. Matthew says, he added, in whom
I am well pleased, hear ye him. That brings us to our text. Let's
look again at verses 30 and 31. We read again, And behold, there
talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory and spake
of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. They talked of his decease, his
death. The cross was always uppermost
in his mind. We read what he said in verse
22. In Matthew's account of this, we're told after this event,
the transfiguration, as Peter, James, and John in Christ descended
the mount, he told them, don't tell anybody until the Son of
Man is risen again from the dead. Before this, that was in his
mind. After this, that was in his mind.
During this, the conversation was his deceits that he should
accomplish at Jerusalem. That was the subject. In Matthew's
account again, when he spoke of the necessity of his death,
burial, sufferings, raising the third day, Peter took him aside,
remember, and said, I won't allow that. Remember that? Peter said,
Lord, I won't allow that. He had just said, you're the
Christ, the Son of God, and in the next breath, Lord, he's saying,
I won't let that happen. Isn't that a picture of us? And
our Lord, remember what Christ said to him? He said to Peter,
one of the three that was here. He said to him, get thee behind
me, Satan. Oh, even for his friend. His chosen. His bride. He wouldn't allow him to get
in the way of what he came to do. Oh, and the conversation
that he had with Moses and Elijah. Moses, the great lawgiver. Elijah,
a great prophet. They spake of his decease, we're
told in verse 31. The only reason I chose Luke's
account is because he's the one that tells us this. They spoke
of his deceased, his death. You know what the word is literally?
Literally? It could have been translated,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus. His exodus. That's the word. You remember
when Moses was keeping sheep on the back side of the desert
after fleeing Egypt for his father-in-law Jethro? And there was a bush
there on fire but wasn't consumed. Remember that? And Moses turned
aside to see it. And God spoke from the bush and
said, Moses, take off your shoes because the ground you're standing
on is holy ground. Moses turned his side, we're
told, because this bush was on fire and yet it wasn't consumed. We come here in Luke 9 and see
Christ transfigured. And brothers and sisters, this
is holy ground. This is holy ground. Let us approach
it reverently and humbly and thankfully. Oh, because you see,
like that bush, Christ was consumed with doing His Father's will. Our Lord burned with an intense
longing from eternity. Oh no, not just when He came
to earth, but He burned with a longing from eternity to save
His people from their sins. That's why he's called the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Like that burning
bush that was on fire and yet not consumed, he declared, I
have a baptism to be baptized with. I will be covered up. I will be immersed in sufferings. I will be overflowed with God's
wrath and fury when he makes me to be sin for my people. I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Until that time he was consumed
by the wrath of God for his people, and he cried out, My God, why
hast thou forsaken me?" Oh yes, brothers and sisters in Christ,
this is indeed holy ground. Moses and Elijah appeared with
him. Moses lived nearly 1,500 years
before this. Elijah over 900 years before
this. This simply confirms our Lord's
words, doesn't it? to those two sisters at Bethany,
when he said, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die, shall never die. Or as Paul said in 2 Corinthians
5, for we know, thank God we know, Lord, if the earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a house We have a house
in the heavens, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Thank God. And here's proof of
it. They appeared with Him in glory,
we're told in verse 31. Moses and Elijah appeared with
Christ in glory. The glimpse of His glory, not
purgatory. That's right, not purgatory. Oh, no, glory, glory. Oh, the old hymn writer said,
oh, that will be glory for me. Oh, when my dear Savior's face
I shall see, that will be glory, be glory for me. That's what
makes heaven heaven. That's what makes glory, glory.
Jesus Christ is there. Moses and Elijah appeared there
and talked about what? They talked about His exodus. Not Moses. Not Moses' exodus. Moses saw some great things in
Egypt, didn't he? But they didn't talk about that.
Elijah didn't even die. He went to heaven in a chariot
of fire. But that wasn't the subject,
was it? You know why? I mean, think about
that. I mean, you go back in Exodus
and read what God did to His servant Moses. He went before
Pharaoh, let my people go. Plague after plague after plague.
Moses saw that. At the Red Sea, he holds his
staff out, and the sea parts, and they walk across. It's not
even mentioned, Elijah. on Mount Carmel before the false
prophets of Baal. Let the God who answers by fire,
he said, let him be God. And you know the outcome. It's
not mentioned. And he went to heaven. It was
translated that he should not see death. Oh, but you know what? And you do know. You that know
Christ know that those things pale in comparison to this. His exodus. his decease, his
death, that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Peter, you don't
need three tabernacles. You only need one. You only need
one. The One. This One. The Word was made flesh and tabernacled
amongst us. You don't need Moses. You don't
need Elijah. All you need is Jesus Christ. He's all in all. And Peter, this is my beloved
Son. Listen to Him. Hear Him. In him I am well pleased." Thank
God for Jesus Christ. He's all we need. Paul said,
for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. As Peter spake these words, a
cloud overshadowed them. And they were fearful as they
entered into the cloud. But Christ comes and says, don't
be afraid. Matthew tells us in his account.
Don't be afraid. Arise. Don't be afraid. Oh, isn't that a picture of Him
as our Mediator? There is one God, and one mediator
between God and man, and that's the man Christ Jesus. Peter, don't be afraid of my
Heavenly Father, because He's my Father, and your Father, and
my God, and your God. Arise up, Peter! Because I'm
the intercessor. I'm the mediator. I'm the high
priest that He hears. your elder brother, and you're
my brethren. What did we read in Hebrews chapter
2? Oh, I and all those, I Father, and those that you have given
me. Oh yes, there's one mediator,
and his name's Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. You don't want
to deal with God apart from Jesus Christ, do you Lord? Oh, some
of y'all, some of y'all, there's some here right now, if they
leave this world today, if God is pleased to take you out, you'll
stand before Him in your own shoes. God make you aware of
that. God give you some understanding
of that. I can think of nothing more awful.
Nothing more terrible. And if you weren't blinded in
sin, you would feel the same way. I'm going to stand before
God Almighty without anything between my sinful soul and a
holy God. Nothing between. If you don't
have Christ, The only mediator between God and man, the wrath
of God abides on you. Oh, but here's the good news.
He's the mediator. Believe on Him. As God instructs,
hear Him. Bow to Him. Till God in human
flesh I see, my thoughts no comfort find. The holy, just, and sacred
three are terrors to my mind. Hmm, I recall that. Oh, but,
but. Oh, but can it. But if Emmanuel's
face appear, my hope, my joy begins. His name forbids my slavish
fear. His grace removes my sin. Oh, but if Emmanuel, remember
who He is? God with us. If He appears, my
hope, my joy begins. His name forbids my slavish fear. His grace removes my sins. Verse 31, let's spend the remainder
of our time here. They spake of his exodus that
he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Isn't that a strange word? To
describe death? An accomplishment? An accomplishment,
Louis? Oh, it would be if it was anybody
else but him. His death was an accomplishment. Because it was unlike any other,
any other. He was on a mission and it required
his death. It required him laying down his
life for his sheep, but he takes it up again. He said, no man
taketh my life from me. I have power to lay it down and
power to take it up. This commandment have I received
of my father. He told Pilate, you would have
no power at all against me. Pilate said, why won't you speak
to me? Don't you know I have the authority to let you go or
to crucify you? Why won't you speak? Our Lord
said, you don't have any power. You peon, you pygmy, you would
have no power at all over me unless it was given to you by
my father. God's on the throne. I almost
hesitate to mention this. We hear we're bombarded with
this talk about a God who tries. You better not trust Him. You
better not trust Him. Our God is in the heavens, and
He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. They talked about what
He should not take a stab at, what He should accomplish at
Jerusalem, and whatever His intention was. Listen, whatever the intention,
whatever the purpose of was God sending His Son into the world,
whatever the mission of the Son of Man was, shall be, He said,
accomplished. Accomplished. Now if it was to
save all the world, if He died for the sins of the whole world,
I tell you, the whole world would be saved. But that's not so. That's not so. He laid down His
life for His sheep. He accomplished, He obtained
eternal redemption for us. And all those that look to Him
will find that that's so. That He's able to save to the
uttermost. Oh, thank God for that. Accomplished. We read obituaries. read about
men who would die, famous men, and it talks about all they accomplished
in life. It stopped at the grave, didn't
it? They don't accomplish anymore. Oh, but our Lord, He talks about
what He should accomplish in His death. I want to just read
a few verses, and we'll draw this to a close. I won't comment
a whole lot, but just look at them with me. What did He accomplish
by His death, brothers and sisters in Christ? Turn first of all
to Matthew chapter 20. Let's read a few of these blessed,
blessed verses. that tell us that He put away
our sin. Let's look at them again. You
know them. They're familiar to you. Oh, but I pray God will
make them fresh to our hearts this hour. Matthew chapter 20. Have you guessed where I'm going? Verse 28. Listen to this. Listen to this. And if you hear,
if when I read this in your presence, you hear You're thinking, maybe,
hope so, perchance. You're not hearing it right.
You're not hearing it right. Something's wrong with your hearing.
Oh, because this is a matter of fact. Verse 28. Even as the
Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to
give his life a ransom for many. To give his life a ransom for
many. Well, was the ransom accepted? Was the ransom enough? Did it
satisfy God? Let's see if it did. Turn, if
you will, to Romans chapter 1. Again, you know where I'm going.
Romans chapter 1 answers that question. Because if the death
of Christ did not satisfy God, if Christ didn't do everything
that God the Father required, He'd have stayed in the tomb.
Exactly right. Exactly right. Romans 1 verse
3. Paul speaks of that gospel which
concerns his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the
seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the
Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by
the resurrection from the dead. When he cried on the cross, just
before he bowed his head and said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit, what he said just before that was this,
It is finished. And three days later, God said,
Amen, my son, it's finished. Come up and sit at my right hand
till I make all your enemies Your footstool. I've given you
a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ,
every knee's gonna bow and every tongue's gonna confess that you're
Lord to the glory of God the Father. You don't deal with God
apart from Jesus Christ. Turn, if you will, to Galatians
chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. Paul speaks about this mission
being accomplished. Being accomplished. Oh, good
title for the message, Bobby. Mission accomplished. That's
what they talked about, wasn't it? On the Mount of Transfiguration. Galatians chapter 3, verse 13. Paul writes, Christ had redeemed
us from the curse of the law. Being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."
Turn over to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1, we read these
sweet words, verse 3. Speaking of Christ, who being
the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His
person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when
He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the
angels, as He hath by inheritance attained a more excellent name
than they." Oh yes, mission accomplished. And remember two of those witnesses
that was on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter and James and John? They
add their testimony to what we're reading concerning the accomplishment
of the Son of Man. Turn if you will to 1 Peter chapter
2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Peter remembered this and under
divine inspiration he gives his witness and testimony to it in
1st Peter chapter 2 verse 24 He says, who, speaking of Christ,
who his own self bear our sins and his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose
stripes we ye were, not might be, hope to be, will be, but
ye were healed. Him, at the time He died, He
brought in an everlasting righteousness. And John, John who was with Him
on the mount, adds his testimony as well. He said, the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. He said, God
commended His love toward us. No, that was Paul, wasn't it?
It's all one testimony. But John said, He is the propitiation
for our sins. Moses, who was there, knew something
about propitiation, didn't he? Didn't he? He saw Christ, the
propitiation, that night, when under God's command, he killed
the Lamb. And they put the blood up on
the doorpost of the houses, because God said, I'm going to pass through
Egypt this night in absolute justice and holiness. And I'm
going to smite the firstborn, every one of them. From Pharaoh's
son who sits on the throne to the slave in the dungeon. I'm
coming through Egypt in absolute justice. God is still just today. Regardless of what preachers
tell you, God is absolutely just. All but Moses, he saw the propitiation. He saw Christ in that sacrificed
lamb and he heard God when he said, when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. He saw the Redeemer at the Red
Sea when God parted it and he walked across and he led the
children of Israel in that song which said he had redeemed his
people. Lord, you in your mercy has brought
forth the people that thou has redeemed. Oh, Isaiah said, he
shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Think about this. You who believe
Christ died for everybody, you find some kind of strange comfort
in that, but I don't understand it because that means he's a
failure. Oh, Don wrote in a bulletin a few weeks ago on that verse,
Isaiah 53 and 10. He said, it speaks of a satisfied
Savior, not a frustrated assistant. Oh yes, he shall see it through
the veil of his soul and be satisfied. I've got to wrap this up. I like
to think, I don't know that it's exactly so, I think that it is. I'm kind of a soft-hearted, sentimental
fellow. I believe I get that from my
mother, she is. I get emotional. I watch an old
movie. Lord, I get emotional. I was
watching something not long ago that comes on regularly. I think
it was Saving Private Ryan. There was a woman who had five
sons during World War II. Four of them were killed. Whether
this is true, I don't know. It's a good illustration nonetheless.
There was one son left. So a lieutenant and a group of
men were given the mission to go find that one son. He's not
going to be killed. That dear mother has sacrificed
enough. Four of her sons, there's one
left, go find him. That's what the movie's about.
So this lieutenant and these men went searching for Francis,
I think was his name, Francis Ryan. And they found him. Oh, but they,
when they found him, took part in a battle in which the lieutenant
that led this mission and the men that he led all died. The last scene in the movie is
Ryan that was saved, that they rescued, is now an old man. He's
old. And he's standing before the
grave of that lieutenant that found him and rescued him. In
the background is his wife, obviously, and children and grandchildren. And he calls his wife over and
he asks her. He said, am I a good man? Have I led a good life? And he's just standing in front
of the grave of that lieutenant. And she said, well, of course
you have. Of course you have. The reason he asked that question,
because when the lieutenant laid dying, young Ryan stooped down
next to him. And that lieutenant said with
his last breath, don't you forget what was done
for you here. Don't you ever forget. the sacrifice
that was given for you here. Live your life in honor of these
men that sacrificed theirs for you. And then the last scene of the
movie, the old man steps back, Ryan, who's now an old man, with
the tears just rolling down his cheeks, and he salutes the grave
in which that lieutenant lay. I thought about that and I thought,
my soul. In Hebrews 2, in our reading,
we read about the captain of our salvation, who in bringing
many sons into glory, learned obedience by the things which
he suffered. Oh my, how he suffered. How can I honor him? How can
I honor him? How can I salute the captain
of my salvation? He loved me and gave himself
for me. Paul said, if ye then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not things below. Oh, bless God! What a Redeemer! What a Redeemer! He accomplished
my redemption. He came here on purpose, Lester,
to save me. When I didn't know any better,
I thought He shed His blood for everybody. You know how I looked
at it? That weren't much. That cheapened it. I mean, you
mean it didn't do no more for Judas than it did for Peter?
You mean his blood didn't save those who go to hell? What's
special about that? Oh, but when he was pleased to
reveal to me, this is my blood, Larry Chris. I'm shedding it
especially for you. Doing it for the first time in
my life. I thought my eyes saw What a
Savior. What a Savior. God help me never
to get over the wonder of that. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.