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Matthew chapter 17. We'll read verses 1 to 13. Now after 
six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them 
up on a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before 
them. His face shone like the sun, 
and his clothes became as white And behold, Moses and Elijah 
appeared to them, talking with him. Then Peter answered and 
said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, 
let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and 
one for Elijah. While He was still speaking, 
behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And suddenly a voice came 
out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased. Hear Him. And when the disciples 
heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 
But Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and do not be 
afraid. When they had lifted up their 
eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down from 
the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision 
to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. And his 
disciples asked him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that 
Elijah must come first? Jesus answered and said to them, 
Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 
But I say to you that Elijah has come already. And they did 
not know him, but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise, 
the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands. Then 
the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the 
Baptist. Amen. Well, let us again ask 
the Lord's blessing as we look to Scripture. Let us pray. Father, 
thank You for the written Word. We pray now for the ministry 
of Your Spirit. We pray that You would guide 
our thoughts and illumine our minds. Again, forgive us of all 
sin and that which darkens our understanding. And use the Word 
for good to the hearts of believers. Use the Word for good to the 
hearts of unbelievers. We pray again that this would 
be the day of salvation, that sinners would confess Jesus Christ 
as Lord and Savior. And we pray in His most blessed 
name, Amen. Well, in this particular passage 
we see the transfiguration of the Son of God. This was indeed 
a manifestation of His glory. When you look at the parallel 
passage in Luke chapter 9, it says that they awoke and they 
looked upon Jesus and they saw His glory. One of the men that 
went up on the mountain with the Lord Jesus, a man by the 
name of the Apostle Peter, would later write in his second epistle, 
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known 
to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were 
eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the 
Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the 
excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which 
came from heaven when we were with him, on the Holy Mountain. So that is a testimony subsequent 
to this particular event concerning the significance of it. It was 
a demonstration, it was a manifestation, it was a look or a glimpse at 
the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we move through 
the passage, however, we see that it also served as a time 
for the God of heaven and earth, the Father, to speak directly 
to earth and tell men concerning His Son. So it affirmed or confirmed 
what these disciples had been learning up to this point from 
our Lord Jesus Christ. I see this section in two broad 
parts. First, they ascend up the mountain, 
verses 1 to 8, and it's there that the transfiguration occurs. 
And then in verses 9 to 13, they descend from the mountain. And 
that's where the question concerning Elijah and his role or his particular 
function is asked. And then Jesus answers that particular 
question. So God willing, we'll pick up 
verses 1 to 8 this morning, and then 9 to 13 the next time that 
we meet together in the Gospel of Matthew. But let's look first 
at the transfiguration of the Son, secondly, the voice of the 
Father, and thirdly, the response of the disciples. This is one 
of those passages where you feel akin to Moses, when he sees the 
burning bush. I don't feel akin to Moses in 
any other sense than what I'm about to say. He sees the burning 
bush, and the Lord God Almighty says, take your sandals off, 
for the ground upon which you stand is holy ground. This is 
truly holy ground. Ascending this mount with the 
disciples to see the Lord Jesus Christ, to hear the voice of 
the Father. I suggest that when they, verse 
6, in the response of the disciples, they fell on their faces and 
were greatly afraid, that is a legitimate, that is an excellent, 
that is an appropriate response to witnessing the glory of our 
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to hearing the voice from 
the Father. Let's look at the transfiguration. First, the setting. Remember 
the context. What's going on in the context? 
In Matthew 16, they go to Caesarea Philippi, and the Lord Jesus 
asks, He says, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? They 
offer up various responses, and then Jesus says specifically 
to His disciples, But who do you say that I am? And Peter 
confesses, On behalf of the others, Thou art the Christ, the Son 
of the living God. Jesus does not congratulate him 
for achieving information. We need to understand this, brethren, 
when we learn from the Word of God. It's not an achievement, 
but rather it's a gift. Blessed are you, Jesus says to 
Peter, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this 
to you, but my Father who is in heaven. So the disciples confess 
Christ as Son of God, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament 
Scriptures. But then as we drop down in that 
particular account, Jesus mentions something concerning His work. 
In verse 21 He says very clearly, He began to show to his disciples 
that he must go to Jerusalem. He must suffer many things from 
the elders and chief priests and scribes. He must be killed 
and he must be raised the third day. That was a tough one to 
receive for the disciples. This is where Peter tries to 
derail him and say, far be it from you, Lord. This shall not 
happen to you. And of course, Jesus rebukes 
him, calling him Satan. Get behind me, Satan. And then 
in verses 24 to 28, the emphasis is upon discipleship. Jesus says 
that the disciple's life will be like the Master's life. He 
is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He will suffer, He 
will die, but He will be raised the third day. That is the way 
discipleship proceeds. If you are having troubles in 
your Christian life, if you are having difficulties, if you are 
having trials, if you know something of persecution, or you know something 
of the cross that Christ calls you to carry, praise God! This is the way it's supposed 
to be. No believer ever receives the 
crown before the cross, but it's always cross precedes the crown. You need to understand that. 
That's what 24 to 28 highlights. And what I think Jesus does in 
the Mount of Transfiguration is underscores that the cross 
does, however, lead to the crown. In other words, He must suffer. He must die. But He must be raised 
the third day. And then He will ascend on high, 
and there will be the Son in His glory. Chapter 17, verses 
1 to 8, it is as if The Lord Christ peels back the humanity 
to show us something of His divinity. Now, that is not to suggest, 
as we've been studying in our studies in Christology, that 
it's God in a flesh suit. I'm just using common, popular 
language. Jesus reveals something of His 
divinity. Note the participants who go 
along with Him, Peter, James, and John. Peter, James, and John 
will go with Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane. Spurgeon looked 
at this, and Spurgeon saw a good connection. He said that Peter, 
James, and John, the same three, beheld the agony in the Garden. Perhaps the first site, this 
Mount of Transfiguration, was necessary to sustain their faith 
under the second. I think that's a legitimate observation 
there. They're going to see the Son 
of God sorrowful. They're going to see the Son 
of God in exceeding agony. They're going to see the Son 
of God, a sweat blood. And as Spurgeon suggests, this 
first sight was necessary to sustain their faith when it came 
to the second sight. The mountain is not named. There 
have been several options mentioned, Tabor or Hermon or a mount called 
Meron. Probably it's not named because 
we're sinners. Right? Jesus transfigured on 
the mount. What would man do? He'd go up 
there and he'd build a souvenir shop. He'd go up there and he'd 
sell trinkets. He'd go up there and say, this 
is the site where the Son of God was transfigured. It's holy 
ground. Bring your limping bodies there. 
Stand in that space and you will feel the power of the divine. 
It's not name. It's a mountain. It's a high 
mountain. Jesus takes these three up there very specifically to 
show them these things. But you know, this is rich with 
Old Testament allusions too. Where did Moses meet with God? On a mountain. Where did Elijah 
see the glory of God? On a mountain. And now we've 
got Moses and Elijah seeing the glory of God incarnate. Moses and Elijah come and speak 
with the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are witnesses of these 
things as well. The Old Testament bespeaks of 
all the sorts of things that we're looking at in this particular 
passage. The glory cloud came down and 
filled the house of the Lord in the Old Testament. It was 
the glory cloud from whence the voice comes. What many have suggested 
is that we ought to appreciate this Moses-Christ typology, which 
we are taught to appreciate in the book of Deuteronomy. God 
says, I will raise up a prophet like you. Moses was typical. He was pointing forward to the 
Lord of glory, even Jesus Christ. And so we see this connection, 
but we also see superiority in Christ. Now note the particular 
event. He takes these three up on this 
high mountain, and verse 2 is very quick. It says, "...and 
He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, 
and His clothes became as white as the light." We might say He 
had a metamorphosis. Perhaps you've heard that word 
before. The nature of the transfiguration, 
though, we need to understand. He didn't become something else. 
He didn't transform into a bird. He didn't fly away as an eagle. He wasn't now the mighty lion. 
He remained the same Jesus Christ. Frantz says the visual transformation 
is not so much a physical alteration as an added dimension of glory. That's where in the transfiguration 
lies. Christ showed them something 
of His glory. Christ revealed to them something 
of His majesty. That is precisely what Peter 
says. We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For we heard, or we received 
from God the Father, honor and glory when such a voice came 
to Him from the excellent glory. Frantz says the visual transformation 
is not so much a physical alteration as an added dimension of glory. 
It is the same Jesus, but now with an awesome brightness like 
the sun and like light. In any appearance that God gives 
to men, the book of Ezekiel for instance, how is deity described? It's always like something. Because 
there's just not words in our vocabulary And man, the creature, 
cannot exhaust God the Creator in such a way that we can adequately 
explain Him without like, without as, without metaphor, without 
simile. We have to be able to relate 
and connect. What is being shown us in this 
particular instance is the majesty of Christ being revealed to Peter, 
James, and John. Calvin says, there is no necessity 
for entering here into ingenious inquiries as to the whiteness 
of his garments or the brightness of his countenance. For this 
was not a complete exhibition of the heavenly glory of Christ, 
but under symbols which were adapted to the capacity of the 
flesh, he enabled them to taste in part what could not be fully 
comprehended. You see, these men were privileged 
in this instance to see something of the glory of Christ. The glory 
of this transfiguration is seen when we compare texts such as 
Psalm 104, verse 2, speaking of Yahweh, of Israel, who cover 
yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like 
a curtain. And the significance, as I've 
already mentioned, is a manifestation of the glory of Jesus Christ. It foreshadowed, was a down payment, 
it was a deposit It was to say to these men, who had heard their 
Lord say, I must suffer, and I must die, but I must be raised 
on the third day. This underscores the lesson for 
them, that there is life beyond the grave, that Christ will ascend 
upon a great and glorious throne, and He will be clothed in the 
glory and the majesty of His Father for all eternity. Note the attendance. It's Moses 
and Elijah. Spurgeon has a humorous comment 
here. He says, after condescending 
so long to his ignorant followers, it must have been a great relief 
to the human soul of Jesus to talk with two master minds like 
those of Moses and Elijah. It's an interesting take on the 
situation, but I don't think he's wrong. must have been a 
great relief to the human soul of Jesus to communicate with 
two masterminds like Moses and Elijah. He goes on to say, what 
a sight for the apostles, this glorious trio. If we ask the 
question, why Moses and Elijah? Of course, the immediate answer 
is law and prophets. There's other similarities between 
these three men, however. Did you know that there's actually 
a Jewish tradition that Moses didn't die? As clear as Deuteronomy 
34 is, that he died and was buried, but we don't have his grave to 
this day. Nevertheless, tradition arose that Moses never died. Of course, we know that Elijah 
was taken by a whirlwind into heaven. Those two, along with 
Enoch, were referred to as the Deathless Ones. And in a sense, 
that will be true, or that will occur with Jesus. He will die, 
to be sure. It'll be a certain death, but 
he will rise again from the grave. As well, both men symbolized 
the coming of the Messianic Age. the age of the Messiah, the coming 
of the Lord Jesus. As I mentioned, Deuteronomy 18, 
15 to 18, there's a promise made to Moses by Yahweh that he would 
raise up a prophet like Moses for the people. Interestingly 
enough, after he gives that promise, he says, and you shall hear him. It's not what happens when the 
voice comes from the glory cloud. This is my beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased. Hear Him. God is underscoring 
that the age of Messiah is here. God is confirming that Jesus 
is the Christ, the Son of the living God. God is underscoring 
for us all that we have learned up to this point in the Gospel 
of Matthew. He is girding up Peter, James, 
and John with this information, because it will be their charge 
to see their blessed Savior die, but to see Him raise again, and 
then to go out and preach His Gospel, and to make disciples, 
and to plant churches. Both men symbolized the coming 
of the Messianic Age. Both men as well suffered rejection 
from men. Both men suffered rejection from 
other men. There's a lot of similarities 
between Moses and Elijah and the Lord Jesus Christ. But the 
particular function, as I've already mentioned, Moses pointed 
forward to Jesus. It's a typological function in 
the life and ministry of Moses. He was a mediator of the old 
covenant. Jesus is a mediator of the new 
covenant. Moses looked forward to the coming 
day of our Lord Jesus Christ. How did Elijah function? If Moses 
was typological, and just pay attention, a type is an emblem, 
a symbol, a picture of something in the past that points forward 
to something in the future. a bull or a goat being taken 
to the tabernacle to have his throat slit. How did that serve 
typologically? It pointed to the Lamb of God 
who would take away the sin of the world. That's what typology 
is. Eschatology, as we have defined it before, is the study of the 
end times, or the study of the last things. The end times of 
the last things were inaugurated in the first coming of our Lord 
Jesus. And Elijah functioned in that 
eschatological role. How has the Old Testament ended 
with an announcement of this Elijah who would come to prepare 
the people before the great and the terrible day of our Lord? 
In fact, when they descend from the mountain, this is the substance 
of their question. How is it that the scribes say 
that Elijah must come first? Because we saw you first, Lord, 
and then Elijah. It's truly an amazing ascription 
of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, God willing, we'll 
look at next time. But you see, Moses and Elijah 
functioned in this particular way. And in a large scheme, they 
did represent law and prophets. Moses, the giver of the law. 
Elijah, one of the foremost prophets in Israel. Gil says the appearance 
of these two men with Christ was to show that Christ is the 
end of the law and the prophets. I love that statement. Paul says 
it in Romans chapter 10. Christ is the end. That doesn't 
mean you can now go out and commit adultery. That's not what end 
means there. Doesn't mean you can go out and murder. Doesn't 
mean you can look at internet porn because there's no longer 
a seventh commandment. Doesn't mean you can go out and 
covet. Doesn't mean you can go out and steal. Christ is the 
end of the law in terms of focus, purpose, telos, meaning. That's how Christ is the end 
of the law. Remember in 517, he says, I did 
not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but rather to fulfill 
them, to affirm them, to confirm them, to show their beauty and 
their glory. This is what Gil says, the appearance 
of these two men with Christ was to show that Christ is the 
end of the Law and the Prophets, that there is an entire agreement 
between Him and them, and that they have their full accomplishment 
in Him. Augustine, the early church father, 
puts it this way. Elijah and Moses were talking 
with them, because the grace of the gospel receives witness 
from the law and the prophets. These two men are perfectly appropriate 
for the situation. What did they talk about? I mean, 
what would Moses and Elijah and Jesus talk about? Would they 
talk about the local area? How things have changed. Do you 
think Moses came and said, wow, Israel's changed a whole lot? 
Elijah says, you know, that little merchant wasn't there when I 
was here before. No, they talked about Jesus' 
death. In the parallel, in Luke chapter 9, it says they spoke 
of His decease, which He was about to undergo in Jerusalem. This is what the context is all 
about. Christ is getting closer to the 
cross. Christ's movement now is steadfast 
to Jerusalem. He sets his face like a flint. 
He will not be deterred. He will not be cut back. He will 
not be stopped. Moses and Elijah come and they 
discuss these things with the Lord of Glory in this particular 
instance. Do you know what's interesting? 
The Law and the Prophets give witness to the Lord Christ. The 
Law and the Prophets agree entirely with the Lord Christ. But the 
context everywhere tells us and demands that we see the supremacy 
of the Lord Christ. What happens when the voice comes 
from the glory cloud? Hear Him. That doesn't mean go 
throw out Moses and go throw out Elijah. But understand that 
Christ is the one who gives divine interpretation to Moses and Elijah. Christ is the one who synthesizes 
what Moses and Elijah wrote about. Elijah didn't write, but he testified 
concerning it. Moses and Elijah are to be listened 
to. Do not take this passage and 
conclude, well, I don't need my Old Testament. Yes, you most 
certainly do, because Christ by His Spirit speaks the Word, 
the Old Testament as well. But the superiority or the stress 
or the accent falls upon Jesus. They fall. They're fearful, these 
disciples. What happens when they look up 
from that place? They saw only Jesus. It's the author telling us. Not 
that Moses and Elijah were unimportant, but Jesus is super important. Jesus is the divine Son. Jesus is the second person of 
the Trinity. Jesus is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased. It's glorious testimony concerning 
this blessed Savior. Notice Peter's request in verse 
4. Peter answered and said to Jesus, 
Lord, it is good for us to be here. The other gospel writers tell 
us when he proposed to make these tabernacles, he didn't know what 
he was talking about. He didn't. He certainly knew 
what he was talking about in this cause, though. Lord, it 
is good for us to be here. Isn't it? Isn't it good to be 
in the presence of Christ? Isn't it good to be in the immediate 
presence of the Lord of Glory, Jesus? We experience Him now 
by His Word and by His Spirit. I don't mean experiencing, you 
know, this weird kind of, we've got to go like this in order 
to experience Jesus. That's simply not the case. We 
experience Christ in the Word of God. We experience Christ 
by the Spirit of God. The Spirit comes where Christ 
is located, at the right hand of the Father. The Majesty on 
high. And the Spirit comes and He ministers 
to the people of Christ. Do you know, there is a day coming, 
brethren, when we shall see Him as He is. And Peter describes 
it as good. You know, this world is tough 
at times. Jesus underscores this in John 
16.33. In this world, you will have trouble. You will have tribulation. You will have trial. In fact, 
in 16.24-28, He says the very same thing. But be of good cheer, 
I've overcome the world. Brothers and sisters, we need 
to contemplate on the reality that being with Christ is good. 
Being with the one whom the bride considers altogether lovely and 
chief among ten thousand, how could it not be good? What is 
good in your mind? What is good in your life? What 
is good to you? Is it getting away with sin? 
Is it hanging out with friends? Is it doing things that are contrary 
to the law and the will of God? Or is goodness, the very essence 
of it, for you to say, it is good to be with Jesus? Man, I 
wish there were more Peter in us. Lord, it's good to be here. I mean, Peter comes from the 
ground below. He comes up to the mount. And 
what does he see? He sees the glory of the Son 
of God. He sees Jesus transfigured. He 
sees Jesus metamorphosized. Again, not into a bird. The same 
Jesus demonstrating His glory and His majesty and His excellence 
and His power. And what's Peter's response? 
It's good to be here. That's my prayer as we gather 
together as a church. It's good to be in the house 
of God. It's good to be among the Lord's people. It's good 
to be under the preaching of God's Word. It's good to sing 
those hymns and psalms. It's good to pray. It's good 
to encourage. It's good to exhort. It's good 
to manifest ourselves with one another, as we are bidden in 
the Scriptures. We are not to forsake the assembling 
of ourselves together, as is common among psalms. Even more 
so as we see the day approaching. Brethren, the house of God must 
be good. Peter sought. Peter was mesmerized. Peter was captivated in this 
very instant. Now what Peter goes on to say 
was folly, as Mark and as Luke tell us, and as God himself actually 
tells us. Notice what Peter says, Lord, 
it is good for us to be here. If you wish, he is deferring 
to the sovereignty of Christ, if you wish, let us make here 
three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. There is a variant reading, I 
will make for you, for Moses, and for Elijah, three tabernacles. Mark 9 says, because he did not 
know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. That's why Peter 
said this. Let me make three tabernacles." 
Because he did not know what to say. Luke tells us, not knowing 
what he said. Notice that the voice from the 
glory cloud breaks in before Peter can even be answered. It's 
not as if Jesus says, well, you know, that's a legitimate idea, 
Peter. Let's consider this, Moses and Elijah. Let's hang out on 
this mountain in these three tabernacles. No. Peter was wrong 
here. Not wrong for saying it is good 
to be here. Probably not wrong in wanting 
to capture this very moment. But he's wrong because he doesn't 
understand the significance of the vision. He doesn't understand 
that it is to show us the glory and the majesty of the Redeemer. 
It is to confirm the messianic task of the Redeemer. As well, 
he doesn't understand that Jesus is not on equality with Moses 
and Elijah. It's not like you build three 
tabernacles and Jesus has one among the others. No. And Peter's wrong because he 
confuses categories. Why would Moses and Elijah, who 
appeared in glory, need an earthly tabernacle? So Peter's wrong 
here. He's wrong on the request. He's 
wrong on the desire. Yet not wrong like he's a wicked, 
horrible, sinful monster. That's not what I'm suggesting. 
But he's absolutely right in saying it's good to be here. 
It's good to be here. There's nothing more that I desire 
than to be here. In fact, I want to capture this 
very moment, Peter says. If he says, I will build, or 
he says, we will build, let's get these tabernacles constructed. 
These are tents or dwelling places. Some have tried to argue that 
it's because the Feast of Tabernacles was going on. I don't think there's 
any suggestion for that or warrant for that in the Scripture. Peter 
was just responding in the sense of, I want to capture this moment, 
I want to build dwellings for them, I want them to stay here 
so that we can enjoy this. But it was wrong. He was right 
in the reality that it was good. Notice secondly, by way of a 
major consideration, the voice of the Father in verse 5. The voice of the Father, verse 
5. Notice, while he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud 
overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, 
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear 
Him. The Shekinah glory, the Old Testament. When the children of Israel wandered 
in the wilderness, there were times when this glory cloud was 
present with them. They would go into the sanctuary, 
God, This glory cloud would reveal Himself to them. God isn't a 
cloud. There's no hypostatic union with 
clouds going on. But God demonstrates His visible 
presence through this glory cloud. The illusions are strong. What 
is going on on the Mount of Transfiguration, in many respects, has gone on 
previously in redemptive history. And what happened when Moses 
went up on the mountain, very specifically, It was to affirm 
and it was to confirm sort of this special relationship between 
God and Moses. Wasn't that what God the Father 
is doing here in verse 5 by His Word concerning the Lord Jesus 
Christ? The cloud is the visible representation 
of the invisible God in this particular instance. But it's 
the voice that comes from the cloud that ultimately these men 
are fearful of. Notice what the father does. And suddenly a voice came out 
of the cloud saying. It's the same thing from Matthew 
3.17. You can either A. turn there or B. just read verse 
5 again. What happened in Matthew 3.17? 
It was the baptism of Jesus. This is my beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased." Now, I want to just address those who make 
no profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, I don't 
know who you are, I'm just kind of looking out there generally. 
Two times in what's called the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, 
and Luke, two times God the Father speaks to men on earth. Two times 
it's the same message. This is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased." If the Father communicates to the earth this 
particular statement, it's only the two things that He ever directly 
says. Now, God is responsible for the 
entirety of the written revelation, but I think you feel my vibe. 
God the Father speaking to earth. It's about Christ. It's about 
His Son. It's about His pleasure in His 
Son. It's about the unique role of His Son. It's about the messianic 
task of His Son. You really need to pay attention 
to how He underscores it at the end of verse 5 here. You need 
to hear Him! You need to quit listening to 
friends. You need to quit listening to a godless world. You need 
to quit listening to those who would say that you're free to 
do whatever it is you want to do. No, if the Father in heaven 
speaks twice concerning, or speaks to men twice concerning His beloved 
Son, it is to underscore that it is His beloved Son. It is 
the One in whom He is well pleased, and you need to pay attention. 
You need to listen to Him. The Lord Jesus Christ says, Come 
to Me, all you who are weary and debilitated, and I will give 
you rest. Hear Him. The Lord Jesus, at 
the last day of the great feast, stands up and He says, If any 
man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. You need to 
hear Him. You need to listen to the Son 
of God Most High. And by God's grace, you need 
to flee to Him, come to Him, seek refuge in Him, find safety 
in Him, find salvation in Him alone. Very intriguing. Father twice to the earth and 
He says the very same thing. He doesn't speak to political 
theory, not that His Word doesn't. He doesn't speak to economic 
woes, not that His Word doesn't. He doesn't speak to how to ameliorate 
the downtrodden and the poor, not that His Word doesn't. But 
when it comes to the Father speaking to the earth, the main thing 
is this, Christ is my beloved Son. Christ is the one in whom 
I am well-pleased. And for believers, if the Father 
is well-pleased in Christ, how ought we to view Christ? How 
ought we to be well-pleased in Him? How ought our souls be drawn 
out in love and affection to Him? You know, we started on 
Wednesday night, and I kind of used it as a bit of a humorous 
ploy to make a real point. You know what Dagon's disciples 
did for Dagon? You say, who's Dagon? Dagon was 
a god of the Philistines. He was a half-man at the top, 
half-fish at the bottom. And through subsequent dealings 
with the Ark of the Covenant, he lost his head and his hands. Non-affectionately referred to 
him as that half-man, half-head, half-man, half-fish, headless, 
handless monster. You know what Dagon's people 
did? They got up early in the morning to go and present themselves 
before him. I think the take home from that 
is, when we value or we prize something, even if it's a Dagon, 
we will give our time, our attention, our affection, and our devotion 
to that very thing. The story is amazing. The Philistines 
capture the Ark of the Covenant in battle, and they bring it 
to the Temple of Dagon. This was to show complete conquest 
over their enemies. If you captured or if you destroyed 
a people and you captured their gods, what does that say? It says, you've won. The Philistines 
bring Yahweh or the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple of Dagon, 
probably so that Yahweh would bow to Dagon. What happens? They go in the next morning and 
Dagon has fallen. So they pick him up and prop 
him back up. Now, as the author is writing 
1 Samuel 5, he's expecting the faithful Israelite to giggle 
a little bit along the way. Because the thought of a man 
having to prop up his God ought to be outlandish to anybody who 
knows the God of Israel. Because we don't prop Him up, 
He props us up. And lest anyone think it was 
a flu, they leave Dagon next to the Ark of the Covenant and 
go back to bed. Well, again, early in the morning the next 
day, here they come. This time, Dagon has fallen, 
his head is off, and his hands are off. And yet, Dagon worshipped persisted, 
even after all that. See, the followers of Dagon knew 
this. If Dagon means anything, Dagon 
means everything. There was a time when, probably 
in our profession of faith, we would have said the same thing. 
If Jesus means anything, He means everything. Brethren, take the 
exhortations from the book of Hebrews, and instead of whining 
and sniveling and saying how difficult things are, pick yourself 
up in the morning and seek the Lord's face. Growth and grace 
does not happen magically. Jesus was transfigured. Jesus 
was metamorphosized on the mount. We are not going to be. You will 
not be transfigured into a good theologian overnight. You will 
not be transformed because you slept good into some understanding 
student of Holy Scripture. You're going to have to get up. 
You're going to have to stay up late. You're going to have 
to be in church. You're going to have to devote 
some time, energy, and attention to growing in the grace and in 
the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Dagon worshippers 
knew this. They knew that to be present 
with Dagon meant blessing for the worshipper. We're the worshippers 
of the true and the living God. We come here, we're sluggish, 
tired, and just, you know, whatever. Again, if you've had a tough 
week or a tough night, you're tired or sluggish, some poor 
lady that has a little baby is going to say, he's picking on 
me. No, I'm not. If you're tired and sluggish, I get it. Babies 
cry a lot. Like every three hours, man, 
it's like a timer. They just wake up and cry, and 
you've got to do your thing. I understand that. It's a season. It's a period. It's a time. You 
need to press on. You need to be faithful. You 
can't fall apart. Solomon says in the Proverbs, 
if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is weak. And I'm 
not up here as some Tony Robbins, some religious figure. Somebody 
saying, oh man, keep it together. I fall apart. I got issues, struggles, 
trials, difficulties. One brother to another brother 
saying, you know what, brethren? We need to be faithful. We need 
to chart a course. We need to say, it is good to 
be here. It's good to be with our Lord. It's good to hear the 
voice of the Father coming from the glory cloud. It is good to 
be under the things of God Most High. The Father is pleased with 
His Son. Father, in the two times that 
He speaks to earth in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this is His message 
to us. It's as if it were a confession. Not that God the Father needs 
to confess, but if you followed the train of Matthew's Gospel, 
those men that lived among the tombs, those men that were demon-ridden, 
what happens when Jesus casts the demons out into the pigs? 
They confess, truly, you are the Son of God. Don't they? What happens with the disciples? In chapter 14, verse 33, after 
the Lord Jesus walks on the water, after the Lord Jesus calms the 
waves, they say, truly, you are the Son of God. What does Peter 
answer in 1616? You are the Christ, the Son of 
the living God. You see, faithful reader of Matthew's 
Gospel, you need to come to Matthew 17 and realize that God's saying, 
these are right ascriptions. These are right and true. This 
is precisely the message. This is what you need to take 
home. This is what you need to understand. This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased. And when God the Father relates 
that to us, audibly, from the glory cloud, in this section, 
He is bringing two passages in particular to bear on our ears. 
Psalm 2, verse 7, and Isaiah 42, verses 1 to 4. Passages that 
have already come up in Matthew's gospel, by the way. Matthew 3.17, 
for instance. But already in chapter 12 of 
Matthew, we see a quotation of Isaiah 42, 1-4, applied to the 
Lord Jesus. This is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased. Song 2. You are my Son. I have begotten thee. Isaiah 42, He calls Him, His 
Beloved One. What is the Father saying? What 
is the Father affirming? What is the Father confirming 
in this particular instance? That the disciples' newly discovered 
Christology is right. And Isaiah 42, 1-4, goes along 
with a few other passages in the prophet Isaiah. Specifically, 
Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 tells us that this 
servant of the Lord is going to suffer. He's a man of sorrows 
and he's acquainted with grief. He's a man who knows what it 
is to be cut off. He is a man who bears the full 
weight of the wrath of God. As the prophet says, it pleased 
Yahweh to bruise him, putting him to grief. How would that 
serve in the current context? How would that be helpful to 
these disciples? Because not only is He God's 
Son, but He is the Beloved One, described in Isaiah 42, described 
later in Isaiah 53. So you need to pay attention. Not only is He the Christ, the 
Son of the Living God, but it is absolutely necessary that 
He goes to Jerusalem. that He suffers at the hands 
of godless men, that He is killed and that He is raised the third 
day. When the Father says concerning the Son, hear Him. Yes, it is 
to show His superiority over Moses and Elijah. Yes, it is 
to say to hear Him for all subsequent revelation that He will speak 
in His earthly ministry. But hear Him as He announces 
to you that He must die. Because this is what the prophetic 
word testified. This is what the scriptures are 
urging us toward. This is the trajectory of redemptive 
history. You know, I wonder if these men, 
not I wonder, I know that these men had trouble understanding 
or receiving the fact that Jesus would go and die on the cross. 
So all that the Father says in this particular passage underscores 
that He is the Messiah, He is the Christ, He is my Son. I am 
well pleased in Him. And those allusions connect us 
to Psalm 2 and to Isaiah 42, and God is saying that this servant 
must indeed die. Hear Him. Listen to Him. Pay 
attention to Him. Spurgeon says, it is better to 
hear the Son of God than to see saints or to build tabernacles. 
This will please the Father more than all else that love can suggest. It's a beautiful comment. Listen 
again. I kind of transitioned pretty roughly here. It is better 
to hear the Son of God than to see saints. I imagine if Moses and Elijah 
dropped down right here right now, we'd say, wow, there's Moses 
and Elijah. Have you ever asked the question, 
how did they know it was Moses and Elijah? It's probably supernatural 
revelation. God affirmed it, or confirmed 
it, or gave it to them. But you know what's more important? 
It's the Word of Christ. More than Moses or Elijah. More than building tabernacles. 
This will please the Father more than all else that love can suggest. Hear Him. Two times the Father 
spoke to the earth. What does He say? Yes, something 
about His Son, but something to us directly. Hear Him. Pay 
attention to Him. Obey Him. Give your ears to Him. Be where His Word is. Open it 
for yourselves. Don't let days and weeks and 
months go by without reading Scripture. You need to hear Him. 
You need to hear from your altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. 
You need to hear from the One whom the Father delights in, 
the Elect One, the Son of His love that He sent to save His 
people from their sins. Augustine said, The prophets 
speak, the law speaketh, but hear Him who is the voice of 
the law and the tongue of the prophets. This is a blessed passage, 
brethren, that instructs us on the necessity of hearing our 
beloved prophet, our gracious High Priest, our King, and our 
Lord, and our Jesus Christ. We need to give heed to his word. 
Now notice thirdly and finally the response of the disciples. 
Verse 6, And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their 
faces and were greatly afraid. This is a consistent response. 
What did Ezekiel do when he saw the glory of God? He fell as 
a dead man on his face. What did Isaiah do when he saw 
the pre-incarnate Christ according to Isaiah 6? In the year that 
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high, lofty, exalted. The train 
of his robe filled the temple. He heard the angels say, Holy, 
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his 
glory. Now you realize, we read that passage and we say three 
holies. The text indicates that this is what the angels do. What's 
your job in heaven as an angel? I say holy, holy, holy, holy, 
holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. From the time I get up in the 
morning, now I'm really speaking as a man, not that an angel has 
an angel bed somewhere, and he gets out of that angel bed, and 
he washes those angel teeth, and he combs that angel hair, 
and then he goes about his task saying, holy, holy, holy. This 
is their function. This is what they do. Antiphonal 
praise to our great God. What does Isaiah do when he sees 
this? He says, woe is me! For I am 
undone, I am a man of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen 
the glory of the Lord of hosts." You see, brethren, when men are 
given a view of the glory of God in Holy Scripture, they don't 
buddy up to Him, they don't subdue Him, they don't take Him under 
their wing, but rather they fall as dead men at His feet. It's 
what John does in Revelation chapter 1, 17. Now, blessed be 
Christ, he comforts, blessed be Christ, he lays his hand on 
John's shoulder, and Jesus does that sort of thing in this particular 
passage. Their response is fitting. Isn't 
that beautiful? Goodness is not at odds with 
fear and trembling. These are not enemies in the 
Christian church. These are not enemies in the 
Christian life. Rejoice with trembling, David bids the kings 
and the judges of the earth in Psalm 2. Rejoice with trembling. See, we posit a distinction. 
We can either have joy or we can have fear. The Bible doesn't 
do that. The Bible says when we draw nigh 
to our great and glorious God, fear is requisite because He 
is God and we are not. There's no better place to be. 
He is God and we are not. Where else would we go, Lord? 
You have the words of eternal life, Peter says to Jesus in 
John 6. This is an appropriate response 
here. Spurgeon noticed the order. Yes, 
the voice overcame that. Deeper impression was produced 
by the words of the Lord than by the blinding light. Matthew connects the fear, the 
reverence, the falling prostate, the prostrate, to the voice of 
the Lord from the glory cloud. Notice what Jesus does. Verse 
7, reassurance. Two times in Matthew's Gospel, 
when it's a verb, came to them, only two times it's applied to 
Jesus, and it's here, and it's in 28.18. Both instances where 
the disciples were perplexed, where the disciples were fearful, 
where the disciples were in need. Look at what happens here. The 
Father says to the earth, now specifically to Peter, James, 
and John, but by extension to the entirety of God's world, 
hear Him! And note what the first thing 
is He says to His disciples. Arise, and do not be afraid. You see, we need a mediator. We need the Lord of glory. We 
need one to stand in between the Father and us. And Christ 
is that mediator. He can lay His hand upon the 
both parties. He can bring reconciliation. 
He can bring friendship. But it is very intriguing, the 
very first command that Jesus gives after the Father reminds 
us to hear Him, is to arise and do not be fearful. Is that beautiful? Does that encourage you? Get 
up! Be faithful! Press on! Do not be fearful! Matthew Henry 
recognized this, observed, after they had an expressed command 
from heaven to hear Christ, the first word they had from Him 
was, be not afraid. The first word that Jesus spoke 
after having underscored, or the Father underscoring, hear 
Him, is a word of comfort, a word of reassurance, a word of encouragement, 
a word of help, I fear at times we approach the Bible as some 
dark, difficult book full of sayings that we just can't get 
our minds wrapped around. Brethren, you don't need to go 
to Bible school, you don't need a seminary degree to understand 
1 Peter. Cast your care upon Him, for 
He cares for you. It's pretty simple, isn't it? Our confession is right. Those 
things that are necessary to know for God's glory and man's 
salvation are sufficiently clear. Do not not hear him because you 
think his word is so difficult. People who say his word is difficult 
are people generally who have no acquaintance with it. read, listen, pay attention. 
The Lord Jesus speaks comfort to his people. The Lord Jesus 
comes to these disciples and he says, arise, do not be afraid. And then note the result. Verse 
8, when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus 
only. In conclusion, before we look 
at just a couple of things in terms of application, we'll be 
gone soon. Notice how this passage is so Christ-centered. Peter, James, and John see Christ. Moses and Elijah are there to 
talk to Christ. The voice of the Father comes 
from the glory cloud. What is it about? Christ. This again underscores and confirms 
and affirms to these disciples everything they have been learning 
up to this particular point. I mean even down to the prophet 
Isaiah 42. Yes, God says, He is my servant, 
my beloved one, the one in whom I am well pleased. Well, what 
does that go on to say? That's already been quoted in 
Matthew 12 at verse 40. It tells us concerning the Lord 
Jesus Christ, a bruised reed He will not break, and smoking 
flax He will not quench. Does He not display that when 
He comes to Peter, James, and John, and He says, Arise, do 
not be afraid? Doesn't He demonstrate the character 
of that servant, that one who will suffer, that one who will 
die, that one who will rise again? Nevertheless, as one who does 
not crush a bruised reed, He doesn't step on it, He doesn't 
quench smoking flax, but He comes to encourage and bless and strengthen 
and produce hope in them. Every jot and tittle of this 
Mount of Transfiguration testifies to us everything we've already 
seen in the Gospel of Matthew, with the added element wherein 
Christ shows something of His glory. Christ transfigures before 
their eyes and demonstrates that majesty, and shows His disciples 
what He is. Shows His disciples that indeed 
He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The lessons to 
be learned. First, the glory of Jesus. Do 
not depart from this passage and not understand Peter's subsequent 
revelation. I read it at the outset of worship. 
We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Notice in 16 to 18, Peter doesn't 
say anything about Moses and Elijah. You know what I mean? If I saw Moses and Elijah on 
my way home today, I'd probably say something to somebody. I'd 
probably tweet it. I saw Moses in Elijah. I'm not 
suggesting that's going to happen. What was paramount for Peter 
on the Mount of Transfiguration? We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We saw his glory. We saw it. For he received from God the 
Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the 
excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which 
came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain." 
Peter carried that with him, didn't he? Peter treasured that 
in his life. Peter saw that as privilege. 
Peter saw that as something to be enjoyed. The Mount of Transfiguration 
shows us the Savior, King. As well, with reference to the 
voice of the Father, He affirms and confirms for us the identity 
of His Son as Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He 
shows His approbation, His approval of, His love for and delight 
in. This is my beloved Son. This is the one in whom I am 
well-pleased. And again, brethren, I want to 
encourage all of us, if the Father is well-pleased in the Son, then 
we ought to grow in our well-pleasedness with the Son also. I want to 
be godly, then appreciate Christ. I want to be like the Father, 
then love the Son. I want to grow in my conformity 
unto the divine God of heaven and earth, then delight in Jesus 
the Lord." Thirdly, there is encouragement 
in this passage for believers. There is life after death, isn't 
there? I don't accept that Jewish tradition, 
I accept Deuteronomy 34, 5 and 6, tells us Moses died. Elijah didn't die. He was caught 
up in the whirlwind and went into heaven. It tells us that 
there is life outside of what we experience now. Isn't it? There is something beyond this 
earth. There is something beyond this 
age. There is something beyond your 
clock and your calendar. There is something beyond Thursday. There is heaven to be gained 
by the grace of God Most High, and there is a hell to be experienced 
by those who reject our God. Life continues beyond the grave, 
and Christians be encouraged. You know, sometimes we may not 
have the physical persecution like they've got elsewhere, in 
other countries, perhaps Christians suffering under Islam, You know, 
we say we have stress or we have pressure. Have you ever followed 
the career path of Moses? Have you ever tried to take a 
million people somewhere? Have you ever tried to deal with 
five people, three people, two people? Again, moms, dads, little 
kids. It's tough to get three of them 
going in the same direction. It's constant encouragement. 
A few, I don't want to say threats, promises of negative sanctions. 
It's tough, isn't it? Sometimes Moses says, I can't 
do this. I can't do it. Where is he now? Where is he now? Elijah. One of the most ironic statements 
in the entirety of the Bible is when Ahab calls Elijah the 
troubler of Israel. Are you kidding me, Ahab? You have set the benchmark for 
wickedness in Israel and you're going to call Elijah the troubler 
of Israel? I mean, Elijah was an amazing 
man. He was a magnificent giant of 
the faith. What happens? After the victory 
at Mount Carmel, he's sitting under a tree and he says, Lord, 
please take me. Where is He now? Brethren, you 
have to employ the eye of faith to look beyond the present to 
see the glorious future that God has in store for those who 
love Him. The glorious future wherein we 
will be with God. We will see Christ. We will know 
the presence and the power of that triune God in a way heretofore 
experienced. Brethren, there are great things 
in our future. There are glorious things ahead 
for us. There are blessings untold, eye 
has not seen. The mind of man cannot conceive 
what God has laid up for his people. Brethren, think, there 
is great, glorious, wonderful things beyond this grave, or 
beyond this life. And the pattern very specifically 
in the context in Matthew 16, cross, crown, cross, crown, cross, 
crown, cross, crown, suffering, glory, suffering, glory. That would be the case for our 
Lord Jesus. That will be the case for all 
the disciples as he described so clearly in verses 24 to 27. 
And then finally, I just want to read a quote from 
another commentator. Actually, it's two men, Davies 
and Allison. They make an interesting observation and they actually 
show it on a page. They structurally lay it out 
to show the similarities between the transfiguration and the cross. 
The transfiguration and the cross. You think, well, how those two 
things could go hand-in-hand? Well, what do they say? I mean, 
it's a similarity or a parallel, but opposite. The transfiguration 
narrative has a remarkable twin of sorts in the account of Jesus' 
execution. In the one transfiguration, a 
private epiphany, a private manifestation of the glory of Christ. Private 
in the sense that Peter, James, and John are the target audience. 
And exalted Jesus, with garments glistening, stands on a high 
mountain and is flanked by two religious giants from the past. All is light, they say. In the 
other, a public spectacle. You ever consider the fact that 
they want to write in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew over the head 
of the sufferer? It's a public place. This was 
not done in a corner. Men saw the shame and ignominy 
of the Savior on the cross. In the other, a public spectacle, 
a humiliated Jesus, whose clothes have been torn from Him and divided, 
is lifted upon a cross and flanked by two common convicted criminals. All is darkness. My words, based on this, is this. You don't have one without the 
other. You will never see the glory 
of Christ, the fullness of his majesty, the excellence of his 
being, without first coming to the cross. You need the Lord 
of Glory. You need Jesus Christ. You need 
forgiveness and you need a righteousness and it is to be found in Him 
and in Him alone. So believe by the grace of God 
and then you will one day see that glorious, wondrous sight 
of the Son of God who loved us and who gave Himself for us. 
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
the Word of God and for this Mount of Transfiguration, and 
I pray that you would help us to learn the lessons from the 
voice of the Glory Cloud, help us to learn the lessons of even 
Peter, as he said, it was good to be there. Help us to confess 
the goodness of being in the presence of our Lord and Savior, 
Jesus Christ. And as well, may we marvel at 
His glory, and may we marvel at His majesty, and may we see 
the Son of God as that One who is altogether lovely and chief 
among ten thousand. Go with us now, we pray, in Christ's 
holy name. Amen.