Let us turn in our Bibles today
to Mark chapter 9. Today we're looking at the transfiguration,
Mark chapter 9, beginning with verse 2. And after six days, Jesus taketh
with him Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into
a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before
them. And his raiment became shining,
exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white
them. And there appeared unto them
Elias with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Peter answered
and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here, and
let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses,
and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say,
for they were so afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed
them, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my
beloved son, hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked
round about, they saw no man anymore, save Jesus only with
themselves. And as they came down from the
mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what
things they had seen till the Son of Man were risen from the
dead. They kept that saying with themselves,
questioning one with another what the rising from the dead
should mean. I want to make three very simple
observations from this passage of scripture. First of all, and
then I'd like to speak to us from Peter's words in verse five. Master, it is good for us to
be here. The first observation is that
this is one of three times when the Lord Jesus took these three
disciples apart. He did so when he went into the
home of Jarius, the ruler of the synagogue, whose daughter
had died. He chose these three apostles
to go with him into that room when he took her by the hand
and commanded her to arise when he raised her from the dead. And then he also took these three
apostles apart from the other 12 when he went into the garden
that night, the garden of Gethsemane, and they were closer to seeing
him in his great agony there as he prayed unto the Father,
if it be possible that this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not
my will, but thy will be done. And here he was transfigured
only to these three apostles. What stands out to us about this? Well, in the law, that is the
law that God gave in the Old Testament through Moses, any
matter of extreme importance, if something had to be established
because of its importance, It was to be established in the
mouth of two or three witnesses. And here we see three witnesses. And all of these men witnessed
to the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ. They witnessed
to the truth of who he is. James, he witnessed to the truth
about the Lord Jesus Christ by suffering death at the hands
of Herod. He used a sword against James. He was the first of the apostles
to be martyred. Now, tradition tells us that
they all were martyred in some way or the other, but James is
the only one that the scripture records his death by sword. And then John, we know that he
lived to be the oldest of the apostles. Many believe he was
the youngest of the 12 apostles and lived past the age of 100. And he witnessed to the Lord
Jesus Christ by suffering, being exiled to an island to work on
a rock island. And that was hard labor that
this old man had to perform alone. But he wasn't alone, was he?
He was alone as far as people are concerned, but he was not
alone. And then Peter, of course, he
witnessed in his second epistle to this when he wrote these words,
we, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty, for he received from
God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice
to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. My second observation is that
the Lord Jesus was transfigured before these three apostles.
The Greek word, which is translated transfigured, is our English
word metamorphosis, which means, of course, to change. When the
eternal son of God was made flesh, when he was born of the Virgin
Mary just over 2,000 years ago, when he came into this world
as a man, the word was made flesh, he veiled his glory. As equal
with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, he had always had
that glory. Dwelling in light, the scripture
says, it is unapproachable. that as God, he had always had
that glory. But he veiled that glory when
he took a body to himself, joined himself, his person, to the body
that was prepared him from the Virgin Mary by God the Holy Spirit. And when we think of glory, I
think most of us think of brightness, of shining, and that's what took
place here. His glory. His essential glory
as the Son of God broke through, shined through. And the scripture
here says that His face did shine as the sun and His garment was
so white, whiter than any fuller, any cleaner could ever cause
a material to be white. The Lord Jesus was transfigured
before them. And these apostles, is it possible
that they saw, when they saw Christ transfigured here, they
saw what every one of God's children one day shall be in the kingdom
of our Father when we shall shine, our Lord said, as the sun in
its brightness. And the third observation is
they all, Jesus, Moses, Elias, Peter, James, and John, they
were all overshadowed or enveloped in a cloud. Now, when God gave
his law on Mount Sinai, we read in Exodus that the mountain was
covered with a cloud, but it was a thick cloud, a thick cloud
upon the mount. But this time, in Matthew's account
of this, it was a bright cloud. So we have a thick cloud versus
a bright cloud. And isn't that a good description
of the two dispensations? The old dispensation until the
death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The old dispensation
was like a thick cloud. Yes, the gospel was revealed
in types and shadows and pictures, but it was dark, darkly seen,
wasn't it? But now with this, in this dispensation,
it's a bright cloud. The gospel is so clear, shines
so clearly through the Word of God. Because now the God-man
has come and he's been crucified. He shed his blood to redeem his
people. He was buried and he has risen
again and ascended to the right hand of the Father of glory. A bright cloud. Now, I want us
to look the rest of the time at Peter's words. Master, it
is good for us to be here. Now Mark tells us in verse six
that Peter said these words, wist not what to say. He wist
not what to say. He didn't know what to say. And
then Luke tells us, not knowing what he said. Peter said these
words, not knowing what he said. And I want us to think about
this. He did not know what to say, but we can imagine he knew
why he said what he did. He didn't know what he was saying,
but I believe with all my heart he knew why he was saying what
he said. Master, it's good for us to be
here. And I have two points about that. First of all, he said what he
did out of great joy. Master, it's good for us to be
here, out of great joy. Here he was, now think about
this, here he was enveloped, covered over in a cloud with
the Lord Jesus Christ. two Old Testament saints, and
these two New Testament saints, James and John. It's good for us to be here. What joy, what joy to be in the
company of the Lord Jesus Christ and God's people. You know, one
of the marks the Apostle John gives in his first letter of
a person having been born again of the Spirit of God is God's
people love one another. He said, we know. We know. He gives several marks there
in the first letter of John. How a person might know if he's
truly been born of the Spirit of God? Are we just playing church? Are we just religious like most
of the world or have we really experienced the grace, the saving
grace of God? Have we been quickened and made
alive? Do we have a new life? Is Christ
our life? John gives, I think it's five
marks there to differentiate between those who are merely
playing church and those who have truly experience the saving
grace of God, and one of those is, he said, we know that we
have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. God's people love each other. They love to be in fellowship
with each other. Lord, it's good. Master, it's
good that we be here. Here I am, Peter, here I am with
thee, with these two saints of old and with my brothers in Christ. Here I am. It's good for me to
be here. It's good. God's people love
to be in fellowship with each other. In fact, God's people
are called sheep. They're not called goats. They're not called dogs. They're
not called pigs. They're not called elephants.
No, but out of all of the many animals that there are, God chose
the sheep as a symbol and as a picture of his people. And one thing about sheep, they
must live in a flock. They must live in a flock. When
you see a sheep by itself, something's wrong. Something's wrong. Now
there's a word for that, of animals that must live in a flock. God's
people love. It's good, master, it's good.
for us to be here with God's people. You know, I read this
one time years ago, and I believe it's so. This author, I can't
remember who it was, but he said this. He said, if there was one
child of God in a rather large city, only one believer, only
one believer in a city, and one day another believer moved into
that town, into that city, It wouldn't be long before they
knew each other. It wouldn't be long before word
got out. Well, you are like so-and-so.
You're like so-and-so. You believe what so-and-so believes. It wouldn't be long until these
two believers had met together and were worshiping God together. Moses. Now, Peter said, it's
good for us to be here. Think about it, Moses and Elijah,
they were not just standing there like statues. They were not just standing there
like statues shining, shining forth. That would have been something. No, they were there talking,
talking with the Lord Jesus. And Luke tells us what they were
talking about. They weren't talking about the
weather. That's what most of us talk about, isn't it? That's
one of the most common things that we talk about, the weather.
Oh, it's beautiful today. Oh, it's bad today. They weren't
talking about the weather. Luke tells us what they were
talking about. They were talking about His,
that is Christ's, decease that He should accomplish at Jerusalem. That word deceased, if you look
it up in the concordance, the Greek word, it's the word exodus. They were talking about his exodus
from this world. How he would exit this world
by dying upon the cross. How he would exit this world
by shedding his precious blood to redeem his covenant people. Moses, we know, is representative
of the law. We think about these two men,
Moses and Elias. Moses is representative of the
law. And Paul wrote this in Romans
10, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness unto everyone
that believeth. Now the word translated end,
Christ is the end of the law. That word end is a word goal,
the goal, the purpose of the law. As Strong in his concordance
points out, it explains the point aimed at as a limit. When, when children and not only
children, but adults, they play, they play soccer. That's a big
sport in most of the world and more so every day in our country. But if you ever lived in one
of these Latin countries, especially, when someone made a goal, and
you were hearing the announcer, it's not like, there it goes
over the fence. He hit a home run. Oh, no, it's
goal! You know what I'm talking about,
don't you? I mean, they emphasize a goal, because very few goals
are made in soccer. I mean, sometimes they run up
and down that field. for an hour, I guess it is, and
maybe one goal or two goals, three, not very many. The end,
the goal, Christ is the goal, the end of the law for righteousness
unto everyone that believeth. The law of which Moses is representative
It was never given. The purpose of the law was never
given so that a person might earn or gain or merit eternal
life by performing righteous deeds. The end, the goal of the
law, it always pointed to Christ. It always testified that what
we cannot do in ourselves because we are fallen individuals, all
of us come into this world, sinful individuals, it doesn't matter
how Holy the law is, and yes the law is holy, good, and righteous. We admit that, but we also confess
by experience and by the word of God that none of us are capable
of obeying the law as the law requires. That is perfect obedience
in every jot and every tittle. Christ is the end of the law.
He was never given. that by it men might obtain eternal
life, but it was given to point to Christ, who the scripture
says is God's righteous servant who magnified and made honorable
God's law. He magnified the law, made it
honorable. He brought in by his obedience
to the law, he brought in an everlasting righteousness. That's the righteousness that
God imputes unto everyone that believes. That's the only righteousness
I want. That's the only righteousness
that I need. That's the only righteousness
that God will accept. And we're talking about his decease
that he should accomplish. I've mentioned this many times
before, but sometimes you'll read an obituary Some famous
person has died, or some wealthy person has died, and boy, they'll
have a whole column, column one, column two, column three, of
all that this man accomplished in his life. They never say one
word that he accomplished in his death. Men did not accomplish anything
by dying. Christ did. Christ did. the work that God sent him into
this world to do. And then there was Elias, Elijah.
We know that he's representative of the prophets. And Peter later
was privileged by God to take the gospel to the house of Cornelius. He said God chose him to open
the door of faith to the Gentiles. And part of what he said that
day in the house of Cornelius is to him. preaching about Christ,
to Him give all the prophets witness that through His name,
now listen, all the prophets, all the preachers that are called
of God, we all give the same witness that through His name,
that is through Jesus Christ our Lord, whosoever believeth
in Him shall receive remission of sins. All the prophets, Elijah
and all those Old Testament prophets, they all witnessed him who was
to come, who was to fulfill all righteousness. They all gave
witness that remission of sins is received. Get that word received. Peter said to him, give all the
prophets witness that through his name, through him, whosoever
believeth in him shall receive, not earn, not merit, receive
remission of sin. Just another way of saying, for
by grace are we saved through faith. Well, he didn't know what he
said, but he knew why he said, Master, it's good for us to be
here. He was in the presence of the
Lord and the presence of two Old Testament saints and two
New Testament believers. It's good. Isn't it good to be
among God's people? Good to come here and worship
the Lord on Sundays and Wednesdays when we gather together in his
name. It's good. It's good, isn't it? Master, it's good that we be
here. And the second thing, he said
what he did out of great love for Christ. Not only out of great
joy, but out of great love for Christ. Master, it's good for
us to be here. Why? For thou art here. You're
here. It's good to be where you are.
You know, How many times in the Gospels do we read where the
religious people came to his disciples and they were perplexed
many times. They were nonplussed with questions
and difficulties that were submitted to them and they couldn't answer.
They didn't know what to say. The Lord Jesus always was there
to answer for them, to answer the question, whatever it is.
Master, it's good for us to be here, for thou art here. Thou art the fountain, Peter
might think, thou art the fountain of all good. That's where I want
to be, don't you? I want to be drinking at the
fountain of all good. He's that fountain. It's good
for us to be here. He's the fountain of all grace.
That's what I need. Every day, all the day, that's
what I need, God's grace. Master, it's good for us to be
here because you're here. And out of great love for Christ,
that he's the fountain of all good, the fountain of all grace.
Lord, thou art all and in all. It's good for us to be here.
Well, this truth begs this question. Where is Christ with his people? He was with his people at this
place on the Mount of Transfiguration. So I ask us today, where is Christ
with his people? Now, as the eternal Son of God,
one with the Father and one with the Holy Spirit, he's everywhere. He's omnipresent. There's no
escaping the presence of God. Don't you love that Psalm 139
where the psalmist goes through that fact? If I ascend into heaven,
if I make my bed in hell, there's no escaping God's presence. And
he's God. And as the eternal son of God,
he's everywhere. As the God-man, as he became
flesh, as the surety of the eternal covenant, where is he? He's on
the throne. In the midst of the throne, there
was a lamb, John tells us. Out of the throne of God and
of the lamb flowed the water of life, the river of the water
of life. That's where he is as the God-man.
But where is he, especially with his people? Well, let me mention
these six things. He is with them in their prayer
closet. Master, it's good for us to be
here when the Lord meets us in prayer. He said, when you pray,
enter into that prayer closet. Now we wouldn't call that place
where we pray probably a closet. And maybe what was meant by a
closet back then is not what a closet means today either.
I don't know. But I hope every one of you,
like myself, you have a place where you pray, where you get
along, maybe in your car, maybe in your bedroom, maybe in your
bed, maybe wherever. But there's a place, and you
meet the Lord there. It's good, Master, it's good
that we be here. Why? Because He's here. Two things
about prayer I want to mention. First of all, George Mueller,
if you've ever read the life of George Mueller, the English,
he was a German, I believe, but lived in England, and he had
several orphanages, and he was known as such a man of prayer
and a man of faith. But he said this about prayer.
He said, first of all, realize the presence of God. When you
get along to see God's face, realize the presence of God. You're not just speaking into
the air. Your words are not just hitting the ceiling and bouncing
back down. Realize the presence of God. And then I think about a missionary,
John Payton. He's a Presbyterian missionary,
I believe from Scotland, years ago, to the new cannibals in
the new Herbadee's Island. If you've ever read his biography,
what a blessing. What a blessing. But I remember
this. He told this about his dad. His
mother and dad had a number of children. I think almost 10,
I believe it was. I may be wrong about that. But
a large family. They lived in a three-room house.
And they made their living in that house. They made holes.
I assume that means stockings, I'm not sure. But that's what
they did. But he told this, he said, every
day at 12 o'clock, every day, except the Lord's Day, at 12
o'clock, my dad shut that door to that room, and that door to
that room, and he was alone with God in that middle room. And we all knew who he was dealing
with, who he was speaking with. Master, it's good that we be
here when we meet with the Lord in that closet, that place, that
special place that you have. And I trust that we all have
one. You know, they knew that Judas knew where to find the
Lord Jesus that night, didn't he? He knew where he would be
because he often went there to the Mount of Olives. Why? To
pray. to spend the night in prayer. Number two, he is with his people
in the temple. Not only is he with his people
in the closet, the prayer closet, but he's with his people in the
temple. You know, Moses was told by God
in Exodus, in the place where I record my name, I will come
to thee. and I will bless thee in the
place where I record my name. Now you and I know that place
was the mercy seat and the most holy place in the tabernacle. But I use it this morning to speak
to us of the temple when we gather together because the Lord Jesus
has promised his people where two or three gather in his name.
that he will be in our midst. Master, it's good for us to be
here. Number three, he's with them. He's with his people at his table. When we observe the Lord's table,
it's his table. It's not the church's table.
It's the Lord's table. And when we come here to observe
the Lord's table, what do we have laid out there? We have
a picture of Christ crucified. The bread that is broken, his
body that was broken for us, the wine, his blood was poured
out for us. It's good. Master, it's good
for us to be here. And number four, he's with us
when we pass through the waters. Most all of God's children are
going to pass through the river, the water, one time or another. And His promise in Isaiah chapter
43 is, I will be with thee. When thou goest through the water,
the water's not going to overcome thee. The flood's not going to
overcome thee. The river's not going to swallow
thee up. The fire's not going to kill
thee. Why? because I'm with thee. Master,
it's good for us to be here. And number five, he is with his
people when they pass through the valley of the shadow of death.
Now there's going to come a time for all of us, if we're not alive
when the Lord comes again, there's going to come a time when you'll
be laying maybe on your bed And your wife, your mother, your
children, they love you, and they're with you right to the
very end. But there's going to come a time when they're not
going to be able to go any farther with you. He will. He will be with his people. Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they
comfort me. And lastly, he is with them when
they arrive home in heaven. I don't know. He may be the first one we see.
I hope so, don't you? I mean, when we close our eyes
in death here and open them in heaven, God's people Master,
it's good that we be here to look upon him who loved us and
gave himself for us. Scripture says, at his right
hand are pleasures forevermore. It's good. Master, it's good.
As I said at the beginning, we don't know, and the scripture
tells us, Peter didn't know what he was saying. But we can imagine
he knew why he was saying what he said. Why? Because he was
in the presence of his Lord and his Savior. I trust the Lord
will bless this word to all of us here today. I want us to sing.