This sermon was preached by Pastor Naftali Ogalo of Grace Baptist Church, Eldoret, Kenya, for the Lord's Day, 16th May, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. We welcome you to join with us for worship at Grace Baptist Church, Eldoret. We are located within West Indies Estate on Kago Street, behind Kogo Flats, Eldoret Town. I bring God's Word, and we thank God for leading us to this Lord's Day. I want to bring God's Word, and by way of introduction, let me say this. The name Dennis Chariot would not mean much to many of you listening to this sermon this morning. Or even if I give the name of a school, Kimargis Secondary School in Beaumet County, even that may not mean much to many of you. However, these gentleman called Dennis Chariot became famous as the most improved student in the just-released Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, KCSE. You see, back in 2016, this young man Dennis had scored only 190 out of a possible 500 marks in his KCPE. Now, he was quite discouraged at that moment. However, he received a lot of encouragement from his parents, not to lose hope, but to press on, to persevere. And so he joined a day school called Kimargi's Secondary School in Beaumet County. And this young man is said to have put all the effort he could with, of course, the help he needed from his teachers at school and the support from the family And from 190 at KCPE, Danish actually scored B- in 2020. They just released KCSE results. Now, Danish therefore fully qualifies for university entrance. Now, You may be right, honestly, to ask, now what is the relevance of that this morning to God's Word? I'll tell you. You see, we in life must admit, and especially in reference to God's Word, we must admit that there are truths that we don't understand the first time we hear them taught or preached. We don't understand everything we hear, or at all the things we hear the first time. Now, if we do not lose hope, but patiently obey, then we will come to understand them. And that would lead to our salvation. I have said that because I want us to look at the passage in Matthew chapter 17. Matthew chapter 17. You will remember that last week I preached from verses 1 to 8. Today, I want to preach from verses 9 to 13. However, I am going to read from verse one so that we can get to understand the passage. Matthew chapter 17 from verses one to 13, I read. And after six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. and he was transfigured before them. And his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' Now he was still speaking, when behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him, When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them saying, rise and have no fear. And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down, verse nine, as they were coming down, the mountain, Jesus commanded them, Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. And the disciples asked him, Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? He answered, Elijah does come. and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. Let us pray. Our Lord, thank you, thank you for your word, the living word. It is a word which, when heard the first time, we may not understand what it is talking about. But you are teaching us, Lord, even from this very passage, that we must learn to be patient, to be obedient, and to persevere, and to obey you, Lord, as you speak. Because with time, then our eyes will be open and we will understand and be saved. And this morning, we pray for that. Just that. Lord, I pray for my listeners, many who have heard your word for a long time. One more time, today, would you, oh Lord, not be merciful to open eyes, eyes of their hearts, so that they would understand these truths, that they may be saved. So hear us, for this we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now, I am calling today's sermon, The Conclusion to the Transfiguration of Jesus. The Conclusion to the Transfiguration of Jesus. If you like, the epilogue, a bigger word, but simply means the conclusion. And specifically, we are thinking or seeing the journey of Jesus and the three disciples from the mountain. Now, do remember what we witnessed on the mountain as it were with them. Verses 1 to 8, with Jesus and the three disciples, we saw a number of things that I want to remind you about. One, something of the divine glory of the Son of God. We saw something of his brightness, of his majesty, as we learned from those verses. But also, on the mountain, last week, we saw These Old Testament men of God, Moses and Elijah, these men representing the law and the prophets, they were conversing with Jesus about his departure in Jerusalem. That means his death, the death he was going to die in Jerusalem. And in the third place, We then saw something of the manifestation of God's own presence, which was marked by the cloud. And then in the fourth place, we heard a voice, the voice of God himself, which said, this is my son, listen to him. You see, that episode, that situation on the mountain was such that it made these three disciples say to their Lord, Lord, let us just stay here. Let's stay here a little longer. But they cannot and must not because the situation down the hill was getting desperate. As God willing, we will see next time when we look at this passage. The situation downhill, people there were needy, both the disciples themselves were frustrated and the people who came seeking for help. They cannot, the Lord Jesus and these three disciples cannot remain up the mountain any longer. Well, so as we look at this passage then, want us to see these truths, these three truths that come from this passage. The first is Jesus' strict church, if you like, Jesus' command to the disciples. He gives them a strict charge, a strict command that He expected them to obey. There, in verse 9, we are told, and as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them. Now, that is the strict charge, commanded them. And what did He command? It is this, tell no one what the vision is. Tell no one this vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. Now, for us to appreciate this command and us to try and put ourselves in their place as it were, what would be in your mind from such an experience. Surely there would be excitement or longing in your hearts to just share with those who remained down the hill. You want to let them know what has happened and yet they are ordered to keep silent. Now we ask the question, why the order? Why are they ordered to keep their mouth shut? Well, for one, surely, remember the premature attempt that had been earlier made to force Jesus to be the king after he had fed the thousands of people. The people wanted by force to make him their king. But you see, if there was not this strict church and they go down the valley and they spread this among the nine disciples who were remaining and the crowd also that was waiting, people would go wild as they hear of the experience up the hill. And so the Lord Jesus tells them, keep your mouth shut. And he says, you keep your mouth shut until the son of man is raised from the dead. Now, of course, that means therefore, that after the resurrection, They can open their mouths. They will open their mouths. In fact, they must open their mouths and proclaim. You see, Mark adds some two very important points for us to see. Mark in chapter nine, the parallel passage, Mark chapter nine, verse 10, Mark tells us clearly that they kept the matter to themselves. So they obeyed. They kept the matter to themselves. But think of the pressure. The nine who remained down the hill could well be asking, what happened up the hill? Come on, tell us. You seem to be so, so silent. Tell us something must have happened. They had to keep their mouth shut and they did. But also their own inward urge and think of the need to braggle their own tongue And that was going to be for many days to come before they would open their mouths. However, this is the point, they obeyed. And we thank God for that, they obeyed. So that's one thing that Mark adds, which is very helpful, that they obeyed. However, there is something else that happened. And what happened also in Mark chapter 9 verse 10 is there was a perplexity. There was a perplexity, a big word that is, but there was question or there were questions in their hearts. They obeyed, yes, but they had questions lingering. You see, they were questioning what rising from the dead meant. They were baffled, in other words. Just imagine, and please remember this is for the three who had been warned, don't you speak till after I am raised from the dead. So just imagine, just think. They could be saying like this, Peter, what do you think he meant by this? John, on the other hand, could be saying, do you think he was referring to the resurrection at the last day? Or maybe James could be adding this, why is the master going to die anyway if he's only going to rise again? Well, these are guesses, of course, but you can understand something of the perplexity. questions running in their minds. Well, so that is the first point, Jesus' strict charge, or Jesus' command to these disciples. Now, in the second place, in the second place, we see the question of the disciples to Jesus. These disciples ask Jesus some question. And there we find that question they ask in verse 10. We are now in Matthew chapter 17, but verse 10. We read, And the disciples asked him, Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? Now that is their question. And I would like you to understand the background of that question, or from where was it coming? Why are they asking that question? It is just this. You see, in their reasoning now, if Elijah came and they've been, you know, with Moses up the hill, appearing there. Now, if Elijah came for such a short stay and is gone suddenly, and we are being commanded to say nothing of his coming. Now, why have we been taught by the law, you know, in our laws, by the scribes, Why have we been taught to expect Elijah's public appearance in the world before the Messiah's kingdom? I hope you get that. For the disciples, they knew the Bible. They knew what the scribes had taught. They knew the scriptures, therefore. But you see in the scriptures, it is Elijah to come for his ministry. And when he has done his public ministry, then the Messiah will come to set up his kingdom. Now, must Elijah's coming be a secret? Yet all are looking forward to it. Hope you appreciate this, this concern they have. So they ask, Lord, sort us out. We are mixed up. Something is not adding up. We cannot see how it fits. Now that is the question that the disciples ask the Lord. And then we must quickly now move to The third point, the answer, the answer of Jesus to these three disciples. And you look with me now in verses 11 and 12. Verses 11 and 12, we read this. He answered, Jesus now, Jesus answered, Elijah does come and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come. And they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the son of man will certainly suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them. of John the Baptist. Well, so let's try to understand the answer of Jesus to his disciples. And I want us to see the Lord Jesus' answer to them in two ways. One, we see what we are calling affirmation. He is affirming. something, and then two, an explanation. He offers them an explanation. Okay. So, in the first place, affirmation. In verse 11, there, Jesus says, yes, you are right, Elijah does come first. That's what we are seeing. Elijah comes first, yes. In other words, Jesus is saying, listen, my disciples, I haven't come to change the order of events. No, that's not my commission. That's not what I've come to do. In fact, Jesus basically is saying, the scribes are right there. The scribes taught you rightly. because that is scripture. At this point, therefore, I ask you to turn to Malachi chapter 3. Now, it shouldn't be hard for you to reach the book of Malachi, because if you are in the book of Luke or of Matthew, then you just need to turn back to that last book of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 3. And verse one. Verse one, we read this, Malachi 3, verse one. Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will certainly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts. So that verse clearly tells us there is a messenger, a messenger to be sent and to come and prepare the way of the Lord. So that is chapter three, verse one. Now please, while we are still in Malachi, turn to the very last chapter now, the very last chapter, chapter four. and the last two verses of Malachi and of the book of the Old Testament. And this is what we read in verses five and six, Malachi four, verses five and six. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction." Now, I just want us to appreciate this point, that the scribes taught the people, including the disciples, The scribes taught the people God's word in Malachi, but they did not teach the full truth. They were biased. They were unfair. You see, they chose to teach the people, you know, on those favorable paths. of the Messiah's coming and Messiah's victory. They led the people on such paths as Psalm 2. You read that psalm and you will see the victories pronounced upon the Messiah. He will be victorious. His enemies will have to kiss His feet. In fact, they're advised to do so before he rises against them. And if you read also Psalm 110, another passage talking of the great triumphs of the Messiah. Now those are great truths about the Messiah. However, these scribes did not teach as of equal importance, the humiliation and death of the Messiah. They did not teach that. And of course, in other words, Isaiah chapter 53, verses three onwards, they did not touch that. So they heard the truth, but half the truth, and that did not bring help to the people. We need to get to know this. Have the truth presented as though it is the whole truth is dangerous. The Messiah, yes, will be victorious, but the road he's going to pass through is a road of humiliation and death. And that they kept away from the people, and therefore their preaching and teaching was half-baked and therefore not helpful to the people. So that is what the Lord Jesus Christ is affirming here. Elijah does come first. But then now he goes on, in the second place, to give an explanation. He gives an explanation. And we now look at verse 12, because there in verse 12 he says, But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist." So you see, as we are trying now to get the explanation after the affirmation, we see these at least three things. One, we see Elijah has already come. Elijah has come. He has come in his power and spirit, but in the person of John the Baptist for this purpose, to prepare the Lord's way. You turn with me to Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one, and Luke one, verse 17, This is what we read. Let me read from verse 16. Luke 1 from verse 16, and this passage talking about the birth of John the Baptist from 16. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, verse 17, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. And then, while we are in Luke, you could quickly turn with me to chapter 7, Luke chapter 7, and in verse 27 we read this. This is He of whom it is spoken. Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you." So you see, the passage here, the Lord Jesus is telling us what Luke also confirms. Elijah has already come in his power and spirit, but in the person of John the Baptist to prepare the Lord's way. So that's the first point. Now, in the second point, as we see the explanation, we see this. They did to him as they pleased. We read that in verse 12. They did to him as they pleased. In other They mistreated him. They rejected him and killed him. And of course, you'd remember this story of how John the Baptist was beheaded by King Herod. You could see it earlier in this book of Matthew, but also in Mark chapter six, verse 16, Mark chapter 6, verse 16. If we could reach there quickly, then just to see Mark 6 and verse 16, we read, But when Herod heard of it, he said, that's Herod speaking, he said, John, whom I beheaded, has been raised. So Herod admits beheading, killing John the Baptist. He was mistreated of course and rejected by the people and ultimately beheaded by Herod. So we see then Elijah has already come, they did to him as they pleased and surely in the third place they actually just fulfilled the scriptures. They fulfilled the Scriptures. And that is what we are seeing in our passage. I take you back to Matthew. Don't be weary. Don't be weary, please. But I take you back to Matthew, now in chapter 17, verse 13, our last verse of preaching this morning. Verse 13, this is what we read. Then their disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. Finally, understanding has come to them. Finally, like Dennis Chariot, they have come to score the four marks they need in entering university. These people have come now to realize that, yes, he was speaking of John the Baptist to them. You see, the scripture was fulfilled. John the Baptist, in the spirit of Elijah, died as was predicted for Elijah. If you have the time, read the story behind this. 1 Kings in the Old Testament, 1 Kings chapter 19, verse 2. And you would read about this wicked woman called Jezebel and the unprincipled King Ahab and how they mistreated and pronounced death upon Elijah. Read that in 1 Kings chapter 19 verse 2. Therefore, therefore, John the Baptist is Elijah as to his power, spirit, and mission. Now friends, it took the disciples quite some time and with a lot of questions, perplexities, and questions running in their minds. But finally, they got to see the point. Well, what lessons do we draw from this? What is it that you'd carry home today in this passage that doesn't appear to offer much to us? Well, they're actually truths, lessons, applications that are for our good. I want, in the first place, to show you some two positive examples from the disciples. Let's learn something positive from the disciples. So these two things we are learning from the disciples. One, we are learning obedience to the Lord. Obedience to the Lord as to His word and command. Now that must be complete and unquestioning. We, in other words, we are to obey our Lord Jesus completely without questioning. You see, We have no right, and I'm saying this to encourage each and every one of us, we have no right to suspend or reject obedience till we come to understand every aspect of God's command to us. We have no right. We ought to be what The disciplined forces do, for we are told that when order, command is given, you go do it and then you can ask for explanation later or complain later. With the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to learn this lesson. have complete obedience without questioning. Now, we must not think of and imagine that, ah, then that is mean of the Lord Jesus. How can he expect us to obey when we don't understand something? No, I want us to know that such commands come from one who we love, Because the Bible says, if you love me, keep my commandments. If you love me, keep my commandments. And we know his commandments are not burdensome. They're for our good. They're rich. They're a light to our path. And so we are learning, therefore, obedience to the Lord regarding His commandments. Friends, I am challenging everyone, and particularly those who have not come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely I know you don't know everything, that is true, but you know enough that the Lord Jesus Christ has revealed and He's commanding you, turn from your sin, repent of your evil ways, believe in Me, the Son of God, and you will be saved. Why don't you obey that? Why don't you obey that? If God says, I will accept you in My Son, Surely none of us understands and can comprehend completely the transaction that has gone on between the father and the son who was willing to die in our place. Dying for sinners? I can't understand why. I can't understand the whole truth behind it. But the point is, he says, come unto me and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me. You will find ease for your soul. You will be satisfied. That is a command, a loving command, ours is to obey. We do not understand everything. that it comes from a loving Father. I hope that you will obey God's command without question, that you may be saved. Well, as I've said, we are learning from the disciples these two positive examples. So one is obedience to Christ's command without question. And then two, that that we have meekness, meekness in truths which are perplexing. Now that's a big word, but truths which make our heads swing as it were. Truths which are not fully understandable to us. We still need time. to chew them, to muzzle, munch them and mull them in our mouth till we really get around them. We require meekness. You see, these truths need to be learned in a meek spirit. The disciples demonstrate that in this passage. They discussed with humility, Master, how then do these things work out? We've been taught this and you're teaching us this, but we are not seeing how they exactly merge. We are left wondering how are we to reconcile these things? Well, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who teaches those who are meek. Let me turn you to a passage of scripture of encouragement. Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, and we're looking now at verse 32. Luke 24, verse 32. And we read this. I'll begin from verse 31. Now this is when on the road to Emmaus, the Lord Jesus Christ had risen, but the disciples did not quite know it fully, and they were downcast. The Lord Jesus meets two of them on the road as they walked. Then we read verse 31, and their eyes were opened. and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight, verse 32. They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? Oh, my friend, I'm urging you that together we be those who are meek and can learn at the feet of the Lord Jesus, things which for the moment will just make our heads swing. But if we are meek, if we are patient, if we are learning with all patience under the feet of the Lord Jesus, then then our hearts will begin to burn within us as he will be talking with us, opening our eyes to see these things. That's what I pray for you. First time, they may not make sense. A few times now, the things that I've been preaching Sunday by Sunday maybe haven't made much sense. But you see, It is the Lord Jesus Christ who brings the understanding of these things. Look to Him, look to Him in a spirit of meekness. But we not only learn from the disciples the two things we have seen, we also learn from the Lord Jesus Christ two things. From this passage we learn two things. from the Lord Jesus Christ. The first is what we would call the principle of interpreting scripture. In other words, what guidelines, what rules should help us as we interpret scriptures? You see, our principle of interpreting scripture, interpreting the Bible, must be the same as that of Jesus Christ. Let me show you. The Lord Jesus Christ says in this passage, Elijah has come. Elijah has come. He has come He has prepared the way and now it is the period of the Messiah. Elijah has come, he has done his work and now it is the period of the Messiah. Therefore, all who are still seeking and expecting the coming of Elijah are wrong and deceived. They are wrong and they are deceived. And you know, if they continue on that route of still longing and expecting Elijah, they will miss Messiah also. And it must be said, this is the problem with the majority of the Jewish people, even today. They are still expecting Elijah. So that basically they're saying, if Elijah comes in our own understanding, in our own imagination, in our own expectation. Then after that, now we can look forward to the Messiah. They're wrong. And it will be too late for them. Anyone who is not seeing right now and dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the savior of sinners, will be too late. And if you are not preoccupied now with seeking for and looking to and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be late. You will be late. This is the time to have dealings with the Messiah. It is the Messianic period. So that's one thing we see. we must interpret the scripture the way the Lord Jesus Christ does. But in the second place and the final place, the Lord Jesus is teaching us something else. The Lord Jesus is showing us the centrality of the cross. The Lord Jesus is teaching us the centrality of the cross. The cross is central. The cross cannot be escaped, cannot be sidelined. You see, look at near the end of verse 12. Having said, I'll read verse 12 so that we can see the contrast. For I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also, even so, in the same way, the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. And there we are seeing the centrality of the cross. The Lord Jesus, we may put it this way, cannot escape the cross. He will be rejected, He will suffer, He will die in the process of bringing or accomplishing salvation for his people. And so the cross is central. Until we see the death of Christ as central to the scriptures, all will not be clear. All will not be clear. We may have a bit of truth there and a bit of truth there, but it will not make sense to us. we must see the Scriptures and the all-redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the lens or lenses of the cross. Therefore, dear friends, any gospel that stops short of the cross is not the gospel of God which would lead to salvation. Therefore, health and wealth gospel, the prosperity gospel, which tells you you can live your best life now, come to Christ and all will be easy. All your problems will be gone. It's a lie. It is not of God. All that is opposed to the cross of Christ. Christ had to suffer. Those who follow him must be willing to suffer. He has accomplished our salvation, but he did it through the way of suffering. So, in the message of the cross, there is hope. Is it your hope? Is the cross your hope? Are you glowing in the cross? As a church, our motto is we preach Christ and Him crucified. Is that yours? Are you clinging to that? Oh, please, you must. If you do not, then you cannot be saved. But if you turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who died on the cross, there is hope for you. The cross of Christ is central. If you understand the cross, then you honestly will understand the salvation and receive the salvation. The young man, Dennis, did poorly in his KCPE. Four years later, with encouragement of his teachers and the support of his parents, he later was able, we may say, to understand the things which previously he basically failed. the things of the Lord Jesus Christ would lead to eternal life. You must persevere. You must put effort. What you have learned in the past, add on to what you have learned today and seek the face of the Lord and you will not be disappointed. You put your trust in the Lord and you will be saved. Let us pray. Lord God, please take this that we have seen today and bring good from it. Cause everyone who has listened to your word to come to the understanding, to see that there are many things that will perplex us. but we must obey you. You are worthy to be obeyed without question. That the work the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross is our only hope, to trust Him, to be willing as it were to die with Him. So we must follow Him. Lord, bring good from this. Bring salvation. upon those who are not saved. Hear our prayer. For these things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.