WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.960 Turn, if you will, to the 16th chapter of Matthew. 00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:09.140 And there's a very familiar scripture there, 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:17.239 full meaning, and yet I feel that this portion, 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:21.239 the Word of God, has been grossly misunderstood. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:27.339 It's a time in the ministry of the life of Jesus. 00:00:28.649 --> 00:00:37.689 when he became very personal with his own. Perhaps 00:00:37.689 --> 00:00:43.289 he was saying to them, I'm going to have a little 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:49.409 heart -to -heart talk with you now. And getting 00:00:49.409 --> 00:00:57.820 very confidential, he said, Whom? do men say 00:00:57.820 --> 00:01:03.719 that I am? What are they saying about me on the 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:11.939 streets? And one spoke up and said, some say 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:15.859 you're John the Baptist, some that you are Elijah. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:22.760 And still there are others who say that you are 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:27.890 Jeremiah the prophet. Most all of them agree 00:01:27.890 --> 00:01:31.629 that you must surely be one of the prophets. 00:01:33.230 --> 00:01:37.030 And then, I believe that without even raising 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:44.049 his voice, he continued by saying, Whom say ye 00:01:44.049 --> 00:01:50.269 that I am? And very quickly, before anyone else 00:01:50.269 --> 00:01:53.689 could answer, Simon Peter answered and said unto 00:01:53.689 --> 00:01:59.689 him, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 00:01:59.689 --> 00:02:03.109 God. There was no question in Peter's mind. There 00:02:03.109 --> 00:02:09.870 was no hesitancy whatsoever. He had the answer. 00:02:10.889 --> 00:02:19.289 He knew. He understood fully. No doubt. No questioning. 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:27.099 It was a positive... Answer to a positive question. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:34.759 Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:42.060 He didn't say just thou art the Christ. Thou 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:46.819 art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And 00:02:46.819 --> 00:02:49.560 Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:54.710 thou, Simon Barjona. For flesh and blood hath 00:02:54.710 --> 00:02:58.370 not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which 00:02:58.370 --> 00:03:04.310 is in heaven. In other words, this has been spiritually 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:10.069 revealed unto you. This has not come through 00:03:10.069 --> 00:03:14.030 much learning. This has not come through teaching. 00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:19.069 This comes through spiritual revelation. Then 00:03:19.069 --> 00:03:26.340 Jesus continues and said, I also say unto thee 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:31.280 that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:35.439 build my church, and the gates of hell shall 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:42.580 not prevail against it. He does not promise to 00:03:42.580 --> 00:03:47.539 build his church upon Peter, get this now, but 00:03:47.539 --> 00:03:58.979 upon himself. his deity, his divinity. The church 00:03:58.979 --> 00:04:03.539 of the Lord Jesus Christ is built upon Christ, 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:09.460 the very Son of the living God. He is the head 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:15.520 of his church. And when he was talking to Peter, 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:21.759 he did not promise to build his church upon Peter. 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:28.699 upon a personality, but upon himself, as Peter 00:04:28.699 --> 00:04:32.779 himself is careful to tell us in 1 Peter, the 00:04:32.779 --> 00:04:35.480 second chapter. Read it, if you will, please, 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:40.220 from the fourth to the ninth verses. But this 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:42.060 isn't what our little heart -to -heart talk is 00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:45.939 all about. Because Jesus said on the day when 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:48.220 Peter confessed, thou art the Christ, the son 00:04:48.220 --> 00:04:54.129 of the living God, and in that same chapter, 00:04:54.129 --> 00:05:00.689 he said, Verily I say unto you, there be some 00:05:00.689 --> 00:05:04.750 standing here which shall not taste of death 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:07.910 till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:11.889 There are those who contend that the fulfillment 00:05:11.889 --> 00:05:15.709 of those words required the return of Jesus and 00:05:15.709 --> 00:05:18.069 the setting up of the kingdom during the lifetime 00:05:18.069 --> 00:05:22.579 of his disciples, and that therefore Because 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:26.519 no literal kingdom was set up during the lifetime 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:31.019 of the disciples, Jesus must have meant a spiritual 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:35.720 kingdom, which they claim was inaugurated on 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.579 the day of Pentecost and that Jesus now reigns 00:05:38.579 --> 00:05:46.339 through the church. Is this true? If not, what 00:05:46.339 --> 00:05:52.720 is the explanation of the words of Jesus? I want 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.779 you to see something. Here we see the misleading 00:05:56.779 --> 00:06:02.180 character of chapter divisions in the King James 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:07.579 Version of the Scriptures. There should be no 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:11.399 chapter division between Matthew the 16th and 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:17.819 the 17th chapters. This chapter division is very 00:06:17.819 --> 00:06:23.420 misleading because you cannot separate The 28th 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:27.139 verse of the 16th chapter of Matthew from the 00:06:27.139 --> 00:06:33.319 first verse of the 17th chapter. There should 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:37.300 be no chapter marking there whatsoever. Get this 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:40.040 if you will, please. I hope you have your Bibles. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:43.600 This will mean nothing to you unless you're following 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.639 me in the reading of the Word. I'll read it to 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:52.759 you exactly as it... should be given without 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:57.939 the chapter marking. Jesus begins with the word 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:01.660 verily. Therefore, we know that it is something 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:08.920 most important. Verily I. And whenever Jesus 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:13.579 says I, he wants you to know that it comes from 00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:17.220 the highest authority in heaven and earth. There 00:07:17.220 --> 00:07:22.589 is no higher authority. There can be no questions 00:07:22.589 --> 00:07:29.649 asked. It comes straight from the very Son of 00:07:29.649 --> 00:07:37.670 the living God. Therefore, I say unto you, there 00:07:37.670 --> 00:07:42.470 be some standing here which shall not taste the 00:07:42.470 --> 00:07:46.569 death till they see the Son of Man coming in 00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:55.329 his kingdom. And after six days, Jesus taketh 00:07:55.329 --> 00:07:58.310 Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth 00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:02.430 them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured 00:08:02.430 --> 00:08:06.870 before them. And his face did shine as the sun, 00:08:06.970 --> 00:08:12.329 and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, 00:08:12.709 --> 00:08:20.939 there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah. talking 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:28.439 with him. See something for just a minute. When 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:34.539 Jesus turned to his disciples and said, There 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:42.360 be some standing here. Not all. And we find out 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:48.179 later that only three were included. Peter, James, 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:53.460 and John. He did not name them at the time. Which 00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:57.620 shall not taste of death till they see the Son 00:08:57.620 --> 00:09:04.799 of Man coming in his kingdom. And six days later, 00:09:04.980 --> 00:09:07.740 the very thing that he was talking about came 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:14.799 to pass. And the first word in chapter 17 begins 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:20.850 with and. After six days. Jesus taketh Peter, 00:09:20.970 --> 00:09:25.210 James, and John, his brother, and bringeth them 00:09:25.210 --> 00:09:31.190 up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured 00:09:31.190 --> 00:09:39.529 before them. Oh, this is glorious. His face did 00:09:39.529 --> 00:09:46.929 shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as 00:09:46.929 --> 00:09:52.850 the light. Where was the glory? I'll talk about 00:09:52.850 --> 00:09:54.850 that in another little heart -to -heart talk, 00:09:54.950 --> 00:10:00.990 perhaps in a day or two. Where was the glory? 00:10:03.490 --> 00:10:11.929 On just one. Just one. He was transfigured before 00:10:11.929 --> 00:10:18.429 them, and his face did shine as the sun. and 00:10:18.429 --> 00:10:25.110 his raiment was white as the light. And behold, 00:10:25.710 --> 00:10:31.470 there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking 00:10:31.470 --> 00:10:38.070 with him. Keep in mind, Peter, James, and John 00:10:38.070 --> 00:10:42.009 recognized Moses. They had never seen him before. 00:10:43.549 --> 00:10:48.259 Yet he was standing there in bodily form, They 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:52.960 saw him. They recognized him. They had never 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:59.980 seen Elijah. And yet, immediately, they recognized 00:10:59.980 --> 00:11:04.480 him. They knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:08.740 was Elijah. But we'll not go into that just now. 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:13.000 But I want you to see something that's most important. 00:11:14.340 --> 00:11:19.710 In this transfiguration scene, We have a glorious 00:11:19.710 --> 00:11:24.190 fulfillment of Christ's words that there were 00:11:24.190 --> 00:11:29.370 some, only three, Peter, James, and John, of 00:11:29.370 --> 00:11:31.850 his disciples who should not taste the death 00:11:31.850 --> 00:11:39.850 until they saw the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. 00:11:40.870 --> 00:11:44.730 For the transfiguration scene was a rehearsal. 00:11:46.090 --> 00:11:52.009 of the second stage of Christ's second coming. 00:11:52.490 --> 00:12:01.549 But why was Moses standing there? Why? Moses 00:12:01.549 --> 00:12:05.070 stood upon that mount of glory, the representative 00:12:05.070 --> 00:12:10.169 of the law. Elijah there represented prophecy. 00:12:11.970 --> 00:12:16.000 Moses for the law. with its requirements, its 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:21.539 provisions, and its shadow of sacrifice. Elijah 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:28.100 for prophecy. Not foretelling merely, but foretelling. 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:33.039 That glorious, wonderful gift bestowed upon various 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:37.039 men among the ancient people and continued at 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:42.059 intervals in unbroken succession until it ceased 00:12:42.059 --> 00:12:50.289 with Malachi. There was Moses. His presence signified 00:12:50.289 --> 00:12:56.889 that in Jesus the shadow of the law was all fulfilled 00:12:56.889 --> 00:13:01.850 and now withdrawn. And here upon the mount was 00:13:01.850 --> 00:13:09.049 the great lawgiver himself. And by his presence 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:14.649 acknowledging that this glorified one who should 00:13:15.210 --> 00:13:17.929 presently be crucified in the name of the law, 00:13:18.149 --> 00:13:23.889 did in himself gather up all that was hinted 00:13:23.889 --> 00:13:30.570 at, suggested, included in the economy of the 00:13:30.570 --> 00:13:37.669 past. There he stood. Oh, this is wonderful. 00:13:39.210 --> 00:13:47.400 Peter, James, and John had a foreview transfiguration 00:13:47.400 --> 00:13:53.639 of the glorious coming of Christ. In that scene, 00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:58.840 Moses was a type of the first resurrected saints. 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:05.600 Elijah, a type of those who shall be caught up 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:12.340 without dying. And in their glory on the Holy 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:16.879 Mount. We have a sample of the glory of the saints 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:24.980 at the time of the rapture. Go with me for just 00:14:24.980 --> 00:14:29.799 a second to the scripture in 1 Thessalonians, 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:35.480 the time of that glorious resurrection. In the 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:39.919 fourth chapter, we have it. For the Lord himself... 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:46.440 shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:48.980 the voice of the archangel, with the trump of 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:57.360 God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:08.759 And there was Moses, a type of those who had 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:15.210 died. saints of God. For the word of God said 00:15:15.210 --> 00:15:25.909 Moses died and was buried. He is a type of the 00:15:25.909 --> 00:15:31.909 saints of God that died. And when the trump shall 00:15:31.909 --> 00:15:36.909 sound, they shall be resurrected. Those dead 00:15:36.909 --> 00:15:41.690 bodies shall be resurrected. from the dead. Is 00:15:41.690 --> 00:15:48.730 that all? No. Then we, which are alive and remain, 00:15:48.970 --> 00:15:51.610 shall be caught up together with them in the 00:15:51.610 --> 00:15:54.529 clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall 00:15:54.529 --> 00:15:59.409 we ever be with the Lord. Elijah had never tasted 00:15:59.409 --> 00:16:05.909 of death. Never. You cannot find anywhere in 00:16:05.909 --> 00:16:13.159 the Word of God. Elijah died. For as you well 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:18.399 know, God has chosen him to be one of the two 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.659 witnesses for that which is still prophecy and 00:16:22.659 --> 00:16:30.740 will be fulfilled in the future. Therefore, on 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:34.679 the Mount of Transfiguration, Elijah was chosen 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:42.519 to be the type He was the type of those of us 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:47.139 who may not taste the death, but who will be 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:53.159 caught up at the time of the rapture of the church. 00:16:56.179 --> 00:17:02.500 Now, Peter understood fully, completely, the 00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:06.869 meaning of that which he saw. And remember, these 00:17:06.869 --> 00:17:13.690 things only come by spiritual revelation. I've 00:17:13.690 --> 00:17:18.970 often wondered why Jesus just chose the three 00:17:18.970 --> 00:17:22.529 of his disciples to witness his glorious scene 00:17:22.529 --> 00:17:26.069 on the Mount of Transfiguration. Just Peter, 00:17:26.170 --> 00:17:31.869 just James, just John. I cannot give you the 00:17:31.869 --> 00:17:37.059 answer. But I believe that all three understood 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:43.240 perfectly without any explanation exactly what 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:50.279 they were seeing. I'm sure Peter did. For later 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:53.720 he refers to it. 2 Peter, the first chapter, 00:17:53.940 --> 00:18:01.299 the 16th verse. For we have not followed cunningly 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:06.339 devised fables. when we made known unto you the 00:18:06.339 --> 00:18:10.500 power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:19.299 but were witnesses of his majesty. No, we're 00:18:19.299 --> 00:18:25.119 not following comingly devised fables. Peter 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.769 said you may feel we are a little touched. These 00:18:29.769 --> 00:18:31.890 things are just figments of our imagination, 00:18:32.190 --> 00:18:37.509 but they're not. Peter says we have proof. We 00:18:37.509 --> 00:18:45.430 saw. We were there. We saw our master as he was 00:18:45.430 --> 00:18:52.089 transfigured and transformed before our very 00:18:52.089 --> 00:19:01.630 eyes. We were witnesses. We saw Moses. We saw 00:19:01.630 --> 00:19:10.349 Elijah. We were not dreaming. If only one had 00:19:10.349 --> 00:19:14.170 seen, it might have been different. But there 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:19.069 were three of us. We were there. We were eyewitnesses 00:19:19.069 --> 00:19:24.009 of his majesty. For he received from God the 00:19:24.009 --> 00:19:28.750 Father honor and glory. When there came such 00:19:28.750 --> 00:19:33.250 a voice to him from the excellent glory, this 00:19:33.250 --> 00:19:37.450 is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. 00:19:37.630 --> 00:19:44.710 And this voice, which came from heaven, we heard 00:19:44.710 --> 00:19:57.710 when we were with him in the holy mount. The 00:19:57.710 --> 00:20:03.789 same voice, Peter said, that was heard at the 00:20:03.789 --> 00:20:07.069 baptism of Jesus when he came up out of the waters 00:20:07.069 --> 00:20:12.589 of baptism. The person they did not see, but 00:20:12.589 --> 00:20:15.190 they heard the voice. They knew it was the voice 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:19.150 of God the Father when he said, This is my beloved 00:20:19.150 --> 00:20:24.450 Son in whom I am well pleased. This same voice 00:20:24.450 --> 00:20:27.970 which came from heaven we heard. when we were 00:20:27.970 --> 00:20:38.490 with him in the holy mount. No, beloved, we follow 00:20:38.490 --> 00:20:46.390 not cunningly devised fables. We know in whom 00:20:46.390 --> 00:20:49.829 we have our faith, our trust, our confidence. 00:20:51.190 --> 00:21:00.710 I know what I believe. I am sure of my belief.