Spoken at SGBC
Luke #80
11-17-96
"The Transfiguration"
God says, "Listen to Christ!"
(Luke 9:28-36 NASB)
{28} "And some eight days after these sayings, it came about that He (Jesus) took along Peter and John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray. {29} And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. (The word "gleaming" is used to describe the brightest of lights such as periodic flashes of lightening.) {30} And behold, two men were talking with Him; and THEY WERE MOSES AND ELIJAH, {31} who, appearing in glory, (Both Moses and Elijah were dazzling, bright to the eye and brilliant in appearance. The three of them . . . ) were speaking of His departure (This word means exodus, going away or weighing anchor as in preparing to sail ones ship to another port.) which He was about to ACCOMPLISH at Jerusalem. (The word accomplish means to "fulfill." By Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension He would fulfill His mission and the Old Testament Prophecies concerning Him.) {32} Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory (The lightening like brilliance of His face and clothing.) and the two men standing with Him. {33} And it came about, as these (Moses and Elijah) were parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: (Lean-too type shelters.) one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah"-- not realizing what he was saying. {34} And while he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. {35} And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My Son, My Chosen One; LISTEN TO HIM!" {36} And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen."
One of the fathers of our faith declared of this passage that, "It lifts a corner of the veil which hangs over the world to come and throws light on some of the deepest truth of our religion." That it does!
As we consider this passage of scripture I wish to speak to you concerning the following things.
1. The future glory of Christ and of the
redeemed.
2. I wish to point out what this text teaches about our saved
loved ones who have gone before us.
3. I want us to notice that the Law and the Prophets all had to
do with Christ.
4. We must see that God Himself declares Christ's superiority
over all other teachers.
First of all we see something of Christ's future glory and of ours as well. We see this in verses 29 and 31. In twenty nine Jesus is "gleaming" and in thirty one Moses and Elijah appear in a "glorified state."
Matthew uses the word transfigured to describe Jesus. The Greek word is the one from which we get out word metamorphoses meaning to transform. Christ was transformed before the Disciples eyes. That is, they were allowed to see through the vale of flesh in which he lived on earth. They saw and through these scriptures we see something of the glory Jesus laid aside when he came to earth. We see that in the Son, as is the case with the Father, there is only light and no darkness at all. We stand with the three Disciples and catch a glimpse of Christ's Divinity, of His Glory. The scriptures bear testimony to Him being all and only LIGHT in many places. Consider these texts.
(1 John 1:5 NASB) "And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that GOD IS LIGHT, AND IN HIM THERE IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL."
Isa. 60:19 "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an EVERLASTING LIGHT, And your God for your GLORY.
John 12:36 "While you have the LIGHT, believe in the LIGHT, in order that you may BECOME SONS OF LIGHT." These things Jesus spoke, and He departed and hid Himself from them.
1 Timothy 6:16 ". . who alone possesses immortality and dwells in UNAPPROACHABLE LIGHT; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
There will come a day when we will be allowed to enjoy the vision of the glory of both the Father and the Son forever. Those who have gone before us enjoy it now but all the blood bought people of God will one day approach these UNAPPROACHABLE LIGHTS that are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Consider Revelation 21:23.
"And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the GLORY OF GOD HAS ILLUMINED IT, AND ITS LAMP IS THE LAMB. (Jesus.) Re 22:5 And there shall no longer be any night; and they (The redeemed of all the ages.) shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the LORD GOD SHALL ILLUMINE THEM; and they shall reign forever and ever." This brilliance is the Glory of God and of His Christ.
The Disciples were allowed a glimpse of the Glory that Jesus knew before His coming to earth and would soon enter into once again. It was a glistering light! The word is used to describe brilliant flashes of Lightening. Some believe that the brilliance that came forth from Christ on this occasion flashed forth form Him like lightening bolts! Oh the glory that is Christ's! But, wait, we who believe shall share in that glory, for we are the "SONS OF LIGHT". The glory saved humans will share in was seen in the persons of Moses and Elijah, mere men, saved by grace through faith in Jesus. There was a supernatural brilliance about them. Luke says they "appeared in Glory". We cannot imagine it to be the same as Christ's brightness but a real glory nonetheless! Consider these words from Romans.
(Romans 8:16-21 NASB) "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, {17} and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and FELLOW HEIRS WITH CHRIST, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be GLORIFIED WITH HIM. {18} For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY THAT IS TO BE REVEALED TO US. (Something of that Glory is revealed to us in the passage we are presently studying.) {19} For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the REVEALING OF THE SONS OF GOD. {20} For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope {21} that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into THE FREEDOM OF THE GLORY OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD."
Jesus addressed this subject to a degree in His High Priestly Prayer found in John 17. There He prayed for His Twelve Disciples except for Judas, all others who had truly believed in Him and all those given to Him by the Father for salvation would most certainly believe in the future. Lets remind ourselves of those beautiful words.
(John 17:20-24 NASB) "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, (Believers living at that time.) but for those also who believe in Me through their word; {21} that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in US; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. {22} "And the GLORY which Thou hast given Me I HAVE GIVEN TO THEM; that they may be one, just as We are one; {23} I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. {24} "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order THAT THEY MAY BEHOLD MY GLORY, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world." Christ has given us some of His Glory and we will behold Him in His full Glory. What mysterious things these are.
Were going to leave the subject right here. Are there a thousand questions left to be answered? Yes, there are but God has not revealed the answers to those questions we must wait until we share in His glory, then all will be clear to us. What and encouragement to persevere is the knowledge of the coming glorification of the Saints of God!
2. Secondly there is something to learn in this text about Christians who have died. Here we see two ancient men, one was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind the other, Moses, has been dead some fifteen hundred years at this time. Yet here they both stand! They are alive, well and recognizable. What do you think of that? These men are not dead in the sense of being no more. There souls are not asleep in a tomb somewhere on earth. Rather, they are in heaven with God the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit!
Therefore, we conclude that those who have gone before us are safe in Jesus' care. What else do we know about them? Very little. Where exactly is Heaven? Don't know. Do those in heaven have any knowledge of or interest in what goes on here? The Bible doesn't answer that question. What it does tell us is that "The things revealed belong to us but the secret things belong to the Lord." There are some things we do not need to know and should not spend out time seeking to know. Should it not be enough for us to understand what we discover in this text? That departed Saints are alive, and share in Christ's glory?
The conversation between these three helps us think about the subject of death. The text declares that they were discussing Christ's DEPARTURE. That is to say His death, resurrection and ascension. The word departure can be translated, "exodus." When one embarks upon an exodus he is leaving one place to go to another. There is no annihilation in an Exodus! Christ was not going to cease being. Rather, He was about to change His address, to embark upon a journey to a new place, Heaven. The word can also be used to describe a ship that weighs anchor so as to sail to another port. Is this exciting or not? Death for the Christian is a departure, an exodus, it is a move to a new dwelling place. It is not the end but the beginning of real living, real joy, peace and happiness as we have never known it before. Jesus was about to begin His exodus from here to heaven. Moses led the people of Israel on an exodus out of physical earthly Egypt to the physical and representative Promised Land. This was a picture of Christ leading His redeemed people out of bondage to sin into rest in Himself and at last to Heaven. Jesus led the way into heaven, the real Promised Land. Moses and Elijah stand before us today alive and well testifying to these truths. Look at them and take comfort as you think about your own exodus and that of your loved ones as well. Look with me to 2 Corinthians 5:1-9 NASB.
"For we know that if the earthly tent (Our body.) which is our house is torn down, (Ceases to live physically.) we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. {2} For indeed IN THIS HOUSE WE GROAN, longing to be clothed with our DWELLING FROM HEAVEN; (This must be a reference too our new and glorified body that all believers will posses at the resurrection.) {3} inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. {4} For indeed while we are in this tent, WE GROAN, BEING BURDENED, because we do not want to be unclothed, (naked) but to be clothed, (With our dwelling from Heaven.) in order that WHAT IS MORTAL MAY BE SWALLOWED UP BY LIFE. {5} Now He who prepared us FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. {6} Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-- {7} for we walk by faith, not by sight-- {8} we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather TO BE ABSENT FROM THE BODY AND TO BE AT HOME WITH THE LORD. {9} Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him."
All who have fallen asleep in Jesus are with Him right this minute and so shall WE be when we weigh anchor and sail for Heaven's port.
3. Now let us consider what we see in this scene as concerns the Law, represented by Moses and the Prophets represented by Elijah. Our text says that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus were speaking about His departure. To put it another way we could say they were speaking about the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. They were talking about the At-one-ment. They were speaking of redemption, of saving the children of God from their sins by the shedding of the blood of Jesus. They were discussing the fact that Jesus, the promised Messiah, must die and rise again according to the Scriptures, which scriptures are the inspired words of the Prophets. They were not speaking of the Law and its worth or value in the salvation of men. For the Law could not save a man's soul. They were not speaking of the greatness of the Prophets but rather of the fulfillment of all the Messianic prophecies in Christ. We need to see that the Law and the Prophets are here focused, as they always have been, on Jesus. They are concerned, as they always have been, with His redemptive work on behalf of sinners. Brothers and Sisters from the first to the last the whole company of believers depend, for their salvation, on the blood and righteousness of Christ. Moses and Elijah were dependant on the Blood and Righteousness of Christ for salvation. The Law and the Prophets, the Temple and the Ceremonies all looked forward to Jesus, to His death as the only mediator between God and man. Moses and Elijah were admitted into God's heaven because they trusted in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. They had faith unto salvation looking forward to His death. We have faith unto salvation looking backward to His death. Salvation has always been by faith in Christ. We must make sure that we look to Christ alone for salvation. For it is by faith in Him that we become the righteousness of God and are saved from the wrath to come.
(Romans 3:19-24 NASB) "Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; {20} because BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW NO FLESH WILL BE JUSTIFIED IN HIS SIGHT; for through the Law comes the KNOWLEDGE OF SIN. {21} BUT NOW apart from the Law (The Law of Moses and the Prophets.) the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the LAW AND THE PROPHETS, (That is to say, both Moses and the Prophets spoke of the righteousness of God being necessary for salvation. Both of them spoke of and pointed to Jesus Christ the only Lord and Savior of the lost.) {22} even the righteousness of God THROUGH FAITH in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; {23} for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, {24} being justified as a gift by His grace through THE REDEMPTION WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS";
4. Fourth I would point out how clearly and undeniably God declares the superiority of Christ over the Law and the Prophets. He says, "This is My Son, My Chosen One, LISTEN TO HIM!" LISTEN TO JESUS, to His word. In His words you will find the way of Salvation. For He is The Way, The Truth and The Life. He is the only way to God, the only truth about man and God, He is the only source of eternal life. There is, my friend, no other name under heaven by which men MUST be saved.
Listen to Him, says our Father! Do not listen to Moses for he cannot save you. The same it true of Elijah, the Fathers, the Philosophers, the Psychologist, the Psychiatrist, or anyone else when it comes to matters of the soul. Jesus has the answer, indeed He is the answer! He is The Chosen One, LISTEN TO HIM ALONE through His word, the Bible. Jesus says if any man come to Him for salvation he will not be cast out but will be saved from the wrath to come. Will you listen to Him? Do you believe He speaks the truth? There is salvation in no other, friend, LISTEN TO HIM. He alone is the Son of God sent to save God's lost sheep from their sins. Look with me to Hebrews 10:1 NASB.
"For the Law, (Moses) since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can NEVER by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. . . {4} For it is IMPOSSIBLE for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. {5} Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING THOU HAST NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY THOU HAST PREPARED FOR ME; {6} IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN THOU HAST TAKEN NO PLEASURE. {7} "THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE ROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO THY WILL, O GOD.'" . . . {9}. . . He takes away the first (Covenant) in order to establish the second. (The new covenant) {10} By this will (Covenant) we have been sanctified through the offering of the BODY OF JESUS CHRIST once for all. . . . . {14} For by one offering He has PERFECTED FOR ALL TIME THOSE WHO ARE SANCTIFIED. (The believing Elect) . . . {18} Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. {19} Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS, {20} by a NEW AND LIVING WAY which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,. . . {28} Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. {29} How much SEVERER PUNISHMENT do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot THE SON OF GOD, and has regarded as unclean (Ineffective) the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?"
Moses looked to Christ for Salvation. Elijah looked to Christ for Salvation. What will you do for the salvation of your soul? To refuse to believe in Christ for salvation is to say His blood was not sufficient to wash away your sin. It is to trample Christ underfoot as if He were not the Son of God, the Savior of all who will come to Him. It is to insult the Spirit of Grace, who has in a thousand places and in a thousand different ways said "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. I join with the Spirit of Grace as an ambassador of God and of His Christ to . . . {20}. . . beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. {21} He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (1 Corinthians 5 NASB) . . . behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION"--" (2 Corinthians 6 NASB) My friend not matter who you are or what you have done come to Jesus right now, call upon Him for He will hear and is ready to save all who come to Him by faith. There is not other place to find forgiveness of sins and peace for a convicted conscience. There is not other name under heaven by which men must be saved, than the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.