I appreciate the men who lead
our singing and these who play the musical instruments each
Sunday. What a blessing we have in this
congregation that we can make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Today we're going to look at
an event in the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ known
as His Transfiguration. It's recorded in the three gospel
narratives, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But I want us to read about
it in Luke chapter 9, Luke's account of our Lord's transfiguration. Luke chapter 9 and beginning
with verse 28. And it came to pass about an
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, and when they were awake, they
saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came
to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master,
it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias, 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. I chose this account, Luke's
account of our Lord's transfiguration out of the three, specifically
because of the subject. Luke tells us the subject of
the conversation. Matthew and Mark tell us that
the three spoke, that is Moses and Elijah and Jesus They were
speaking, but only Luke tells us the subject of their speech. If you notice in verse 31, Luke
says, they spake of his decease, or his death, they spake of his
decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. I have three questions
and answers that I want to give to us this morning. First, what
does the word transfiguration mean? Now Luke doesn't use the
word. Matthew and Mark both do. Luke
simply says his countenance was altered. The word transfiguration
is a translation of the Greek word metamorphosis. And we all recognize that it
is the word, the Greek word from which the English word metamorphosis
comes. And the meaning is to change
into a different form. Insects, the larvae and the cocoon
is changed into a winged animal, metamorphosis. He was changed. Now we know this is speaking
of his humanity because he is the son of God and God does not
change. We know that he is the eternal
son of God. He is the eternal son of God
who was incarnate. That is, he had taken into union
with his person, into union with his deity, the body which was
prepared him by God the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary. And I like the way the Apostle
John tells us this in his gospel. He simply says the word, The
Word that was in the beginning, the Word which was with God,
the Word which is God, that is the eternal Word, the eternal
Son of God, the Word was made flesh. That's very simple, isn't
it? Stated very simply, the Word,
God, was made flesh. He did not cease to be what he
has always been, that is, God. But he took into union, as I
said, with this person, that body which had been prepared
him. He didn't cease to be what he
had always been. He had always been God. And God dwells in light, which
the apostle Paul tells us that no man can approach unto. No man can approach unto that
light. In other words, God is pictured
or declared unto us to be light. God is light. And that speaks
of his holiness, no doubt. It speaks of his righteousness,
his justice. God is light. And that light,
if we might think of the physical sun, we don't hear the astronauts
or the scientists talk about visiting the sun, do we? I know
it's a long way, but the heat, they visit the moon, they go
to the moon, but not the sun. God is light. And that light,
that holiness, God, man, as we are, cannot approach unto Him. The truth is He approached unto
us. He approached unto us by being
made flesh, by becoming the God-man mediator that He is. God is light, and in Matthew's
account of the transfiguration, we are told that his face, when
he became flesh, he veiled that glory, that eternal light to
which man is not able to approach. He veiled that with his flesh,
but in this Transfiguration, his face, rather, Matthew said,
did shine as the sun. In other words, that glory, that
glory broke through, that glory that was veiled by his incarnation shined forth this one occasion. the Mount of Transfiguration.
His Son, His face did shine as the sun. We could not approach
unto God, but He approached unto us by His incarnation. In Hebrews 1, we are told that
Jesus, who is the Son of God, is the brightness of His glory. That is, He's the brightness
of God's glory. Jesus is the brightness of His
glory. Now that word brightness is used
metaphorically to declare the relationship which exists between
the Father and the Son. One of the old Puritans of the
1600s, he gave these comparisons with the physical sun and its
brightness. The sun that we will see when
we leave this building up in the sky. The physical sun, that
is the ball itself, and its brightness. And he gave these comparisons.
First of all, the sun and its brightness are the same nature. The same nature. The sun and
its brightness The same nature. So the son of God and God, the
father, are one of the same nature. To see the Lord Jesus Christ
is to see God. He is God manifested in the flesh. They are of the same nature.
I and my father, he said, are one. Indivisible. They're one. as the sun and its
brightness are indivisible. The sun and its brightness are
of the same continuance, this man said. That is, the sun hasn't
existed one second longer than its brightness. The sun and its
brightness are of eternal duration. There never was a time when the
sun did not have its brightness. I'm talking about the physical
sun. There never was a time when the physical sun was without
its brightness. So there never has been a time
when God was without the sun. He is the eternal son of God. He had no beginning. That's one of the things that
most of the cults have always tried to teach, tried to deceive
the people of God and declare that, yes, he is a God, but not
the God, that he is a created God. That's not so. Just as the sun and its brightness
are of the same continuance, so the father and the son are
eternal. Number three, the sun and its
brightness cannot be separated. You can't have the sun and not
have its brightness. And you can't have the brightness
without the sun. They're one. But yet, here was
his fourth point, they are distinct. The sun is one thing, its brightness
is another. Yes, there's one God, one true
essence, but there are three distinct persons in the Godhead. The brightness is distinct from
the sun. And number five, the sun and
its brightness. is its glory. That is, the glory
of the sun is its brightness, and the Lord Jesus Christ is
the glory of God. When God saves a sinner, and
God does the saving, He's the Savior. He does the saving. Our Lord said, except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Man cannot birth
himself. Man cannot give himself a new
heart. It's a work of God. But when
God saves a sinner, he causes, he shines into that sinner the
truth so that man is able to see the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Just as in the beginning, in
Genesis chapter one, God commanded the light to shine out of darkness. So when God begins a work of
grace in the heart of a sinner, he commands the light to shine
into the heart of that sinner, enabling him to see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the person of Jesus Christ, the
glory of God. And the last thing, This old
Puritan said the sixth thing was, the light which the sun
giveth this world is by its brightness. The light
which the sun giveth this world is by its brightness. And the Lord Jesus Christ confessed,
I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but have the light of life. We sing a hymn sometimes that
goes something like this. I wandered in the shades of night, actually in darkness, in the kingdom of darkness. I
wandered in the shades of night till Jesus came to me. And with the sunlight of his
love bid all my darkness flee. On this occasion, that which
had been veiled from his inception, when he was conceived in the
womb of the Virgin Mary, that body, united to that eternal
person, the Son of God, had been veiled up until this point. But now that glory began to shine
forth, that which had been veiled shined forth. He was transfigured. His countenance, as Luke says,
was altered. And I like the way Luke says
that, his countenance was altered. Because when we think of the
word, Metamorphosis it means change, but we know the Lord
Jesus Christ There is no change He is God God is immutable and
we are specifically told Jesus Christ the same yesterday today
and forever and Think about this my friend if you're here today
without Christ if you're here today lost dead in trespasses
and sins, Jesus Christ the same yesterday. Well, look at him
yesterday in the word of God. Did he ever, did he ever refuse
anyone who came to him with a need? No, he's the same today. He's the same today. You go to
him with all your sins and all your burdens and all your failures
and just who you are, poor in spirit, meek, lowly, and you
find that he receives sinners. He came on purpose to save that
which is lost. Here's my second question. Why
did Moses and Elijah appear with him? Why not David? Why not Abraham? Abraham's the
father of the faithful. Why was it that Moses and Elijah
appeared with the Lord Jesus Christ when he was transfigured? I want you to look back to Matthew
chapter five. Matthew chapter five and verse
17. This is from our Lord's Sermon
on the Mount. Think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. Moses was representative of the
law, because God gave his law on Mount Sinai through Moses. And Elijah, of course, is representative
of the prophets. Moses, I've not come to destroy
the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. It was only
proper that the law as well as the prophecies that he came to
fulfill would be represented there by Moses and Elijah. He had come to fulfill the law,
to magnify the law, to make the law honorable. And he did that
just by him being obedient to the law. He magnified the law. The law that you had broken,
I had broken, that men had broken, the law which pronounced a curse
upon us. Curse it is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the law for to do them. That law that cursed us, he came
to fulfill. And he magnified that law. He
honored that law. And he did so by his perfect
obedience, by his righteous obedience in thought, in word, and in deed. And he also voluntarily, voluntarily
endured its curse. I said the curse of the law,
the law cursed us. And what was the curse of the
law? It was death. It was death. The soul that sinneth
it shall die. But the Lord Jesus Christ, even
though he had perfectly obeyed God's law, God's law could not
curse him. God's law could not charge him
because he had honored his law. But he voluntarily took the sins
of his people. and his own body, and bore them
on the tree. He laid down his life. He became
a curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
tree." Hangeth on a tree, on a cross. In Romans chapter 10
and verse 4, Paul, speaking of his countrymen, the Israelites,
he said, they are ignorant of the righteousness of God, and
they're going about to establish their own righteousness. And
that's the trouble. That's the trouble that men have. We think that somehow we can
do something. Somehow, by our obedience, By
our suffering or some sacrifice that we make No We cannot establish
that righteousness that we need But Paul there in Romans 10 says
for Christ is the end of the law the goal of the law for righteousness
Unto everyone that believe it Everyone that believe it That
righteousness, His perfect obedience, is imputed or charged to the
account of everyone that believes in Him. And therefore, we are
declared justified, just as if we had never sinned by the judge
of all the earth, the Lord God Almighty. He'd also come to fulfill the
prophet's words as well. And I chose out this passage
in Isaiah chapter 61. Isaiah was a prophet. And there's so many places in
the Old Testament we could turn to and look at the words of the
prophets and see how he fulfilled them. He said, I did not come
to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. And I say
here in Isaiah 61, we read these first few verses and we see how
Christ fulfilled this prophecy. The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good things
unto the meek. You know the title Christ means
anointed, anointed. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
anointed. God anointed him to preach the
gospel. Good tidings. And aren't they
good tidings? Aren't they good tidings unto
the meek? That is to those who see themselves
as having no righteousness of their own, of having broken God's
law, having come short of the the righteousness of God, the
glory of God, all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. How that we see ourselves, Christ came, anointed of God,
the Holy Spirit to preach, to declare good tidings unto the
meek. It's good news, the gospel is. Good news to the sinner, to bind
up the brokenhearted. to proclaim liberty to the captives. You see, sin had us captive,
captivated. Our Lord said, whosoever committeth
sin is a servant, the slave of sin. And then he went on to say,
if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. He's
the only one who's able to free the captive, the captive to sin. the captive to the law, the charge
of the law, the captive to death, the captive to the grave, the
captive to hell. He can free the captives to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord. And you know, that had reference
no doubt to the year of Jubilee, the 50th year, but that acceptable
year of the Lord began when the Lord began to preach when He
came here into this world, and it has continued until today. Today, this is still the acceptable
year of the Lord. To appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for Ashes. Oh, the beauty We can't see the
beauty, but God does. Every child of God here, if somehow
God would anoint our eyes, we would see the glory, the robe
of righteousness, which clothes every child of God here in this
room today. We were clothed with ashes, but
he's given us Joy for ashes. The garments of salvation. Oh,
how beautiful. How beautiful are the garments
of salvation. Before I move to my last point
up, I want to mention that Moses and Elijah, they had left this
world years before. Moses had been gone for about
1500 years. Elijah had been gone about 800
years, and yet they were recognized. They were recognized as Moses
and Elijah. One of the questions that I have
been asked a few times is, shall believers know each other in
heaven? Of course we will. We'll know
more then than we know now. Of course we will. The apostle
said, then shall we know even as we are known. But let me ask
you this, where had Elijah, where had Moses been for 1,500 years,
for 800 years? Where had they been? This is
what the writers call the intermediate state. When we've left our bodies
here in this world, but where are we? Where is the saint of
God? I'll tell you where he is, she
is, with the Lord. That false teaching that there
was some kind of a compartment in the middle of the earth or
something where people's souls went to and waited until the
Lord actually came and paid the price, no. God's people went
to be with the Lord when they passed and left this world from
the first one until today. What did Paul say in 2 Corinthians
5? Yes, verse one. Let me read that
to us. 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 1,
for we know, and I just love to read when Paul says, we know. Not a question, not a doubt,
not an if so, or maybe so, or anything like that. When God
says it, we know, we know. that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. We know that by faith. And we know, as he says here,
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle, this tent that
we've been living in for a long time, some of us, and a tent,
you know, can easily be taken down, can't it? Sometimes you
go camping, and you camp in a tent, and a storm comes, you see the
black clouds or whatever, and the wind's blowing, and you say,
we better get this tent down and get in a place of safety. It doesn't take long to take
that tent down, does it? If you were in a house, it'd
take a little bit more. But this body, that's what it's
compared to in the scripture. It's just a tent. in which we
live while we're here in this world, but it can easily be taken
down. But when it is, Paul says, we
know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God eternal in the heavens. To be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. Now, here's my
last question and answer. What did his decease accomplish
at Jerusalem? That's what Luke tells us they
were talking about. What his decease should accomplish
at Jerusalem. What did it accomplish? Well, I'm convinced this morning
that all of us will agree that his death accomplished all that
God purposed for it to accomplish. I know we all agree about that.
God is a God of purpose. And what he purposes, it comes
to pass. No one can stay his hand. No
one can cause God to alter his purpose. You and I, being the
weak, just human beings, we purpose, we purpose to maybe go on a trip
next week and something happens and our Our purpose changes,
not God's. Not God's. Whatever he purposed
for the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish by his death is accomplished. That's for sure. Now I have three
things. Number one, his decease accomplished
the greatest display of the wickedness of man. His decease, his death
accomplished the greatest display of the wickedness of man to crucify
the savior. To crucify the one that Peter
said went about doing good, healing all manner of diseases, liberating
those who were bound by Satan. That's what he did for three
and a half years. And what did man do? Crucified
him. The greatest display of the wickedness
of man. You know, the sociologists, they
would tell us that man is inherently good. That's not true. That's just not true, my friends.
And you certainly see it here at the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Man was created good, but man
has sought out many inventions. Solomon tells us in the book
of Ecclesiastes, man was made upright, but man has sought out
many inventions. Man is not inherently good. Men are inherently evil. The Lord Jesus said, for out
of the heart, out of the heart, that innermost being, that's
where murder, lying, adultery, wickedness of all kind, where
does it come from? From our environment? Oh, no. Man would like to blame it on
his environment, wouldn't he? No. It comes from the heart. The heart, Jeremiah tells us,
is incurably, desperately wicked, and who can know it? And that's
the reason the New Covenant says, I will give them a new heart. A new heart. God saves a sinner
and gives him a new heart. A heart that loves righteousness
and hates iniquity. A new heart. The second thing
his death accomplished, his decease accomplished the greatest display
of the love of God. Romans 5. For when we were yet
without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure
for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commended,
displayed, commendeth his love toward us. in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. The greatest display of the
love of God, the death of his dear son. And the third thing,
his decease accomplished the ratification of the greatest
testament. There's been a lot of last wills
and testaments written through the years. Years ago, wealthy
men, kings and nobles and people like that, they would wait until
they were pretty sure they were on their deathbed and then they
would write out their will. You better not wait. Better not
wait to do that. But the greatest will, the greatest
testament of all is the testament. the everlasting covenant of God. And as we're told in Hebrews
9, a testament can be changed until the death of the testator. But once the testator dies, the
will cannot be changed. And the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his deceased, accomplished the ratification of God's eternal
covenant. The covenant was established
in blood. This is my blood, he said, of
the New Testament, the new covenant. And all the blessings, all the blessings that come to
us through that testament. There could be no forgiveness
of sins without it. There could be no reconciliation
to God without it. There could be no receiving to
glory without his death. But thank God, thank God this
morning for his decease and all that
it accomplished. You ever read the obituaries
in the newspaper? Most of us don't take a newspaper
anymore. But when some wealthy person
dies, sometimes they'll have three or four columns. But never, never do you read,
this is what he accomplished in his death. Never. They'll all talk about what he
accomplished in his life. He was penniless. He was an orphan. And he pulled himself up by his
own bootstraps. And he made himself this great,
wealthy, individual, and he did all these glorious things, established
universities and endowed hospitals and did all of these great things,
but never by his death. By his life, he did those things. But Christ, you see, the great
things that he did by his death. May the Lord bless His word to
us. Let's look at number 467, M number
467. Let's sing. Let's stand as we sing, please.
467. you