R.A. Torrey explores the profound event of the Transfiguration of Jesus, where He reveals His divine glory alongside Moses and Elijah, emphasizing the significance of this moment as a fulfillment of prophecy and a testament to Christ's true nature. The sermon highlights the importance of prayer, the recognition of Jesus' supremacy over the law and the prophets, and the conscious state of departed saints who are interested in Christ's mission. Torrey also discusses the disciples' reactions and the divine confirmation of Jesus as the beloved Son, urging believers to heed His words. Ultimately, the message underscores the necessity of understanding Jesus' suffering as a precursor to His glory and the importance of sharing the revelation of Christ with others.

(Compare Mark 9:2–13; Luke 9:28–36) DISCOVERY OF THE FACTS 1. Jesus, Moses and Elijah, vv. 1–4 Of what prophecy of our Lord is this lesson a fulfillment? (Matt. 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27.) How many of the disciples did He take with Him? Did He take these three with Him on any other occasion? (Mark 5:37; Matt. 26:37, 38.) Why did He take them only? Does He today grant the same exalted experience to all His disciples? Why not? (1 Cor. 12:5, 11.) What evidence have we of the profound impression it made upon those who saw it? (John 1:14; 2 Peter 1:17, 18.) What was Christ’s purpose in going up into the mount? (Luke 9:28.) Why did He go into the mount? Why did He take any one with Him? What wonderful thing happened? What does “transfiguration” mean? What transformation had He undergone before this? (Ph. 2:6, 7, Greek.) Who are some today who undergo a similar transformation to that recorded here? (Phil. 3:21.) What transfiguration is possible to us in the life that now is? (Ro. 12:3.) How did our Lord appear when He was transfigured? (Mark 9:3; Luke 9:29.) How can our countenances be made to shine? (2 Cor. 3:18.) What was He doing when this wonderful change came? (Luke 9:29.) Was He always transfigured when He prayed? Will prayer bring any glory into our faces? What other wonder did the three disciples see besides the transfigured Jesus? Why were Moses and Elijah chosen as the persons to appear? Had either of them died? (Deut. 34:5, 6.) Was Moses conscious when he appeared on the mount? How does this fact bear upon the doctrine that the dead are unconscious between death and the second coming of Christ? What great desire of Moses was gratified by this appearance in the mount? (Deut. 3:23–26.) How did Moses and Elijah appear? (Luke 9:31.) What does this indicate as to the state of the blessed dead even before the resurrection? Did the disciples recognize Moses and Elijah? How? How does this bear on the question whether we will recognize our friends in heaven? What was the subject of conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah? (Luke 9:31.) What does that indicate as to the fact that is most central in the Gospel and most interesting to the heavenly world? (1 Peter 1:10–12.) Will the death of Christ be much spoken of in the coming glory? (Rev. 5:8, 9.) Had Moses and Elijah any personal interest in the death of Christ? Was this a real thing that the disciples saw, or a dream in their sleep? (Luke 9:32, R. V. and margin; 2 Peter 1:16–18.) In what physical condition were the disciples when the manifestation began? Were they much in the habit of going to sleep in prayer meetings? (Luke 22:45.) Do men nowadays miss anything by not being waked up in meetings? What man acted like himself at this stupendous moment? What was his comment on their presence there? What did he mean? Was it good for them to be there? Would it have been good for them to have remained there (vv. 14, 15)? Where is the best place for us to be always? What proposition did Peter make? Why? (Mark 9:6.) When a man doesn’t know what to say, what is generally the best thing to say? Was any attention paid to Peter’s proposition? Why not? 2. Jesus Only, vv. 5–8 What occurred just then? What was this cloud? (Ex. 40:34, 35; 1 Kings 8:10, 11; Acts 1:9; Rev. 1:7; Ps. 104:3.) Over whom did the cloud come? What came to the disciples who were on the outside of the cloud? Whose voice was it? What did God say? Of whose words was that a divine confirmation? (Deut. 18:18.) What will happen to one who does not heed this command of God to hear His Son? (Acts 3:22, 23; Heb. 12:25.) What will happen to one who does obey? (Heb. 5:9.) To whom did God bear testimony? What was it? What does that one do who rejects this testimony? (1 John 5:10.) If we accept the beloved Son, how much does God love us? (John 17:23.) By this testimony given at this time whom did God subordinate to Jesus? What was the effect of the voice upon the disciples? Had Peter any more suggestions to make? How were they reassured? What occurred just as soon as the voice had spoken? (Luke 9:36.) Was there anything significant in their departure just at this point? When they looked up whom did they see? Would it have been better to have seen Moses or Elias? What would the Jewish world rather have seen? Wouldn’t it have been better to have had Moses and Elias go down from the mount together with Jesus? 3. Death, Resurrection and Return of the Son of Man, vv. 9–13 What charge did our Lord give His disciples about what they had seen? Why? Is it always best to tell all that has been revealed to us? When Paul said he had “not shunned to declare all the counsel of God,” did he mean he had told them everything God had revealed to him? (2 Cor. 12:3, 4.) Does the word translated “vision” always mean a vision seen in sleep? (Acts 7:31, Greek.) Does it here? (Luke 9:32, R. V.) What question were they prompted to ask? What suggested it right here? What was our Lord’s answer? Are we to understand from this that before Christ’s final coming there is to be another coming of Elijah? (Acts 3:21.) In whom did he mean Elijah had already come? (11:14.) In what sense was John the Baptist Elijah? (Luke 1:17.) What three prominent events in His history does our Lord mention in connection with His transfiguration? What was the relation of His transfiguration to these events? In the light of this majesty of Jesus revealed at the transfiguration and the command from heaven uttered by the Father at the transfiguration of His Son, what must we say of the rejection of Christ? CLASSIFICATION OF TEACHINGS 1. Jesus (1). His true humanity: Son of man, 9; need of prayer, 1; must suffer and die, 12, 9. (2). His true deity: My Son, 5. (3). His majesty and glory: Testified to by the law and prophets in the persons of Moses and Elijah, 3; by the outshining of the indwelling glory, 2; by the overshadowing shekinah glory, by the audible voice of the Father, 5; beloved of God, fully meets all the demands of God’s affections, obedience to Him commanded by the Father, 5; grants special experiences to individual disciples, not for their own sake alone but for the sake of others, 1, 9; loved seclusion and prayer, desired fellowship and sympathy, 1; His compassion, His comforting touch and voice, 7. (4). His sufferings: Never lost sight of in moments of exalted glory, 12; prepared for by the experiences of the mount, 1–8, 12. (5). His death: Must precede glory and its proclamation to the world, 9; the central fact of revelation in heavenly interest, 3; His return, 10, 11. (6). His superiority to Moses and Elijah: He a Son, they servants, they gave way to Him, 3–5. (7). His all-sufficiency: Jesus only, 5. 2. Peter Spoke unthinkingly when he had nothing to say and so spoke what was not worth hearing, 4; preferred to be on the mount beholding visions to being in the valley ministering to the unfortunate, 4; desired to have Moses and Elijah, not recognizing the all-sufficiency of Jesus, 4; terrified by the voice of the Father, 6; reassured by the voice and touch of the Son, 7. 3. Prayer Its necessity—Jesus prayed; place—alone with God; time—in the face of coming trial, 1 (16:13–28); power—transfigured while He prayed, 1, 2 (Luke 9:28, 29). 4. The Departed Saints They exist in a conscious state, in glory, can talk, can be recognized, are especially interested in the death of Christ, 3, 4.