In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. He mentions that these concepts can be learned from the parables in the Bible. The speaker also references a specific hymn, "Wonderful Savior," and encourages the congregation to focus on the salvation and love of Jesus. He then discusses a case he was involved in, where he advised others to keep the truth confidential, highlighting the need to recognize the majesty of God. The sermon concludes with a reference to 2nd Peter, where the speaker discusses the power and coming of Jesus Christ and the future reign of the kingdom.

581 please. 581, nearer my God to thee, nearer to thee, though it be a cross that raiseth me, still all my songs shall be, nearer my God to thee, nearer to thee. 581 please. Nearer my God to thee, nearer to thee, though it be a cross that raiseth me, still all my songs shall be, nearer my God to thee, nearer my God to thee, nearer to thee, though it be a cross that raiseth me, still all my songs shall be, nearer my God to thee, nearer my God to thee, Where is the Savior and the Saviour of the world? Can it be that it is my Savior who died for me? Nearer my God to thee, nearer my God to thee, nearer. Can it be that it is my Savior who died for me? Nearer my God to thee, nearer my God to thee, though it be a cross that raiseth me, nearer my God to thee, though it be a cross that raiseth me, still all my songs shall be, nearer my God to thee, nearer my God to thee. Now we're on the Mount of Transfiguration this evening. Now the Mount of Transfiguration is not here. If ever you go to Palestine and you get up to the Sea of Galilee, you'll find that right at the northern end of the sea, there's a road that runs north and it runs past Caesarea Philippi. It's the town of Syria. And the road runs past Caesarea Philippi and then it takes a further way around this way to go to Damascus and it may well have been the road that saw the path that was on to Damascus when the Lord met us. And the reason the road has to bend there is because Mount Hermon stands there where the Red God is. Right out of the Syrian desert, if you like, this mountain stands there. That's where Mount Hermon was and that's where our Lord was transfigured with all his disciples. Now we're privileged to go to the mountain and be with him on the mountain this evening. And remember we're very privileged because on that occasion when he went to the mount he left nine of his followers behind. He only took Peter and James and John with him. Some people come to me and say, now why did he do it? I don't think you've got any right to say why. If the Lord elects to take three it's no business of yours to begin with. I don't think you need to pry into everything he does. He took three just because he wanted to take three. And sometimes we are so smart, you know. And although there may be even answers to it I don't think that Jesus had any right on this mount of transfiguration. And to take eleven and leave him at the bottom wouldn't look very well. And we might find that there are other answers as we go through, but at the same time it's none of your business. This is the Master's way. This is the Master's business. I always think that it's a very great pity that the editors of Matthew's Gospel and by that I mean the men who put it into chapters and verses I think it's a terrible pity that they separated the last verse of chapter 16 from the first verse of chapter 17. And I couldn't tell you for why they have done so. There is no logical reason whatsoever. And why are we so thankful for the men who edited the book and gave us chapters and verses because they have helped us, no doubts at all they will help us. Yet, you know, whenever man touches anything somewhere along the line you'll find he's mine. And you don't need to get too excited about anybody because every man you've ever seen or you're ever going to see apart from Christ will make a blunder somewhere. But you see the verse 28 says in Matthew 16 Jesus talking to his own disciples said verily I say unto you that there be some standing here which shall not cease from death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. This is a tremendous statement, isn't it? Some standing here some of you boys standing here, some of you twelve you'll not cease to death till you see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom and it's talking about the millennial kingdom when Jesus Christ will come. And there's been a lot of problems about this. And they separated this verse from verse 1 of 17 and after six days Jesus says to Peter, James and John brother and bring us them up into a high mountain apart. Now I've said quite honestly that I don't know any reason why they should have separated these two verses because I feel it was the same editors who did Mark's Gospel let's go to Mark's Gospel chapter 9 for a moment Mark's Gospel chapter 9 and verse 1 begins like this And he said unto them, verily I say unto you that there be some of them that stand here which shall not cease from death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power and after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James and John. Now why for any sakes do they keep the two of them together in Mark 9 and separate them in Matthew 17 would you like to come and try and explain it to me because I don't think there's any explanation. It's just the pure drunk stupidity of men. That's all. It's right here in Mark 9. It's wrong. In Matthew 17. Have a look at Luke's Gospel chapter 9 and this is not at the beginning of the chapter at all now verse 27 Lord Jesus speaking said But I tell you of the truth there be some standing here which shall not cease from death till they see the kingdom of God and it comes with power to part them eight days after these things it took Peter, James and John and so on. Now you look as if you've got the thing called the Bible that I have but they certainly started the paragraph you know the little black marks that are there for paragraphs well they started the paragraph wrong in this one started the chapter wrong in Matthew started the paragraph wrong in this one so you don't pay too much attention now to your chapters or your paragraphs there are these little notes to give us help but don't go swinging on them because the branch will break sometime and there's one or two things we need to note about these different readings Let's go back to Matthew 17 and the Lord Jesus said verse 28 to 16 verily I say unto you there be some standing here which shall not cease from death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom now we're faced with this with the king here because it's his kingdom we're occupied with the king I think you've got that haven't you because you ought to have known that without me saying a word about it because Matthew's always writing about the king isn't he is what we were at the way at the beginning of these lectures that Matthew was talking about the king and that Mark was talking about the servant and that Luke was talking about the man and that John was talking about the son so Matthew's occupied with the king coming back the son of man becoming the king and you see the king in all his beauty in a moment or two have a look at Mark's gospel just how it was put there chapter 9 verse 1 and he said unto them verily I say unto you that there be some of them that stand here which shall not cease from death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power and it's not so much the king we're occupied now it's the power of the kingdom now we are switched from king to kingdom did you notice that because that's worth noting first of all you get occupied with the person and then you get occupied with the power that's pretty good preaching that's why we have gospels and when you come to Luke's gospel it's just a little bit different again verse 27 Luke 9 27 I know I'm shifting you about a bit but you'll work it out all right you'll find it to your benefit Luke 9 27 but I tell you of a truth there'll be some standing here which shall not cease from death till they see the kingdom of God remember when Jesus Christ comes to this earth and he reigns where the sun of its successors journeyed from the earth will see the king all his beauty what a day it will be and remember the power of the kingdom will be extinguished because the nations will learn more and more and the lion will lie down with the lamb and so on but I don't need to go into the power too much this evening remember when that kingdom is on earth it will be the kingdom of God in its millennial sense because there are boys come round the door talking about the kingdom and I have the greatest bit of fun with them ever you've ever seen because they don't know anything at all about the kingdom of God the kingdom of God is in this book in its spiritual sense and that means that it's within you it's in this book in its millennial sense and that's when the king comes to reign for a thousand years but it's in this book in its eternal sense because we're going to be in the kingdom of God for all eternity and in that sense flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God then I mustn't start to give you a lecture on the kingdom of God tonight because I'll lose the chapter and the place but I think you can see that Matthew's thinking about the person and Mark's thinking about the power and Luke's thinking about the principle because the kingdom will be the kingdom of God God will rule but we'll see that just a bit clearer in a moment or two in all these gospels whether it's Matthew or Mark or Luke this thing's not mentioned in John in all these gospels this problem is setting us at least some folks think it's a problem when Jesus said there'll be some standing near with some artists of death till they see the son of man coming in his finger it's just one of those things that tells me that Jesus knew everything because he knew that he was taking three of them six or seven days hence and that he was going to give them a full-on picture of the kingdom of God what it would be like and who would be in it and who would be there so he knew all about it he also knew that they wouldn't die before the six days was up he knows when you'll die you know and me too and when you tackle me about the knowledge of Jesus I assure you I'll give you the biggest lesson you've ever had in your life and when the moderators tackle me and say that they didn't know whether there were pigs on the tree or not you'll find out that I have a very clear easy answer for you next week and I'll have to kick you back to bed you know I went preaching with a fellow once he and I were friends and he preached in the morning meeting first and I was to go second but he trailed on till the very near dinner time and an old fellow said to him, gone out said to him this look son the next time you come here don't tell us all you know in the first day you know you young fellows that go preaching just don't try to tell the football you know in the first day you know because you'll keep the dinner late for them so I've got to keep some things back and it will help to whet your appetite for next week now let's see what the Lord Jesus meant when he said there'll be some standing here which shall not taste of death and look they see the son of man coming in figures and I'm at Matthew 17 now because I think it's maybe the clearest story of them all they're all pretty much the same so it doesn't matter but we'll stick with this one after six days Jesus takes his people James and John his brother and brings them up into a high mountain apart and was transfigured before them this is a very wonderful statement transfigured now here's the bit of the meaning his face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light you know I think we've got to get this into our minds that why do we look at the Lord Jesus at times with his beard and remember he had a beard a gentleman brought his son to me the other night and said have a look at him look at him he had long hair and a beard I said what's wrong with him he says look at the beard I said the Lord Jesus has a beard I've seen one because they plucked the hairs from his cheeks you know he says don't get off from the deep end an old lady brought a pellet to me once and said look at him his hair down to his shoulders and he was in and even off the deep end I said what church did you go to Methodist is it I said you should buy a picture of John Ruffley sometime you'll find his hair was longer than that fellas the old lady didn't know you know but we're not going into the pros and cons of that just now what I want you to see is this that the Lord Jesus standing with a beard and a long eastern robe it was a Nazarene robe he was dressed in the dress of a lowly Nazarene you know you would just think he was a man let me tell you that he was more than that please that while he had a body of flesh and had taken upon him the form of a serpent and was found in flesh as a man remember he was God manifest in flesh don't make any mistakes about that you see when the son of God God the son came down and took upon him the form of a serpent and was found in flesh as a man at that moment he became what he had never been before but at that moment he didn't cease to be what he always was he always was God he always will be but he just veiled his Godhead, his deity in human flesh ah but this day the glory of his deity is shining through comes through the flesh brighter than the sun comes through his clothes it's the glory of God shining through don't make any mistakes about this you know this just wasn't the carpenter's son this was God's son and the glory is shining through and when he comes to this earth and come he will to take the kingdom and to reign for a thousand years the glory of the Lord will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea this is a tremendous thing now but we'll get down to it just in a moment we're at Matthew 17 we're in verse 3 now when he was transfigured here on this mount and the faith that shined as the sun and the dream that was quite as the light behold there appeared unto them Moses well let's have a look at him too this bit always fills me you know I'm so pleased about this because you know I like Moses you know he took a stand one day as a young man you remember by Saint Moses when he was come to years just like this young fellow that I talked to the other night in the middle of the night when he was come to years he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter you know all the glory of Egypt could have been his he was adopted into the palace but he refused the glory of Egypt took a stand with the people of God I can tell you that he went in for a glory that will be there when Egypt's not even thought about and now he's appearing in glory with the Lord and in the land of promise you remember like many another man he blundered and said what he shouldn't say and because that he spake unadvisedly with his lips he wasn't allowed into the land of promise but he's in now because that's the land that was given to Israel you know it goes right on up to the Euphrates he's in the land now on the mount of transfiguration with the Lord he's the representative of the Lord because the Lord was given by Moses so we've got the Lord and the Lord together and it says, blessed be behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elias and you don't need to get mixed up in that word because that's the Greek way of spelling Elijah that's the Greek way make no mistakes at all about it, this is Elijah nice to see him there too because he's the representative of the prophets he was that great prophet and the law and the prophets are meeting with the Lord of glory on this mount just now what a wonderful day it was then answered Peter and said unto Jesus Lord it is good for us to be here if thou wilt let us make here three tabernacles one for thee, one for Moses, one for Elias now Peter is one of those characters who's always opening his mouth and saying something and getting into trouble and I do the same thing sometimes I just say things here and somebody takes them abroad oh well it's a pity of you that's all doesn't cost me any sleep I assure you the Lord understands all right then he says Peter just talking left handed when he shouldn't be talking at all because he had no right whatsoever to put Moses and Elijah on the same pedestal as Christ and he's got to learn because there's an incidental here and I don't want to take time tonight with incidentals you see Peter had never seen Moses in his life he would know that you know it's a way back at the end of the book of Deuteronomy where God took Moses up into the mount and Moses died and God buried him well Peter never saw him and I assure you he never saw Elijah either and now Moses body has been resurrected and he's brought here in his resurrected body that's where we get the argument in Jude when Michael the Archangel was going to raise the body of Moses then of course the devil wanted to argue about this you can't take him out of death but God can do whatever he likes this is the reason here that we will know each other in heaven because Peter stupid fisherman that he was he knew this boy here was Moses and he knew this boy was Elijah and there was no introductions he said let's make up one for Moses and one for Elijah yes we will know each other in heaven oh a fellow came to me once when I said this somewhere I don't remember where it was he said don't write this in I said why he said don't think we'll know each other in heaven at all so I knew there was something biting him under the skin he wasn't telling me what does he know he says I'm a widow oh is that it that's what he's thinking of getting married again now this was the truth of it you see he was going to imagine one and all the other women at all well you're not getting out of it like that you know in any way you'll be changed when you get there and you sure will see there'll be no arguments about it it'll be understood all right there's nothing wrong with getting married again well if you're of a reasonable age oh a fellow of mine who came to me once and said want you to marry me here you get married you go and fix it away and get married somewhere else I don't want you to stand up at the front acting a fool you know no no no so if you go on till you're old and you're getting a young kid to get married don't be coming round to me because I'm not doing it anything sort of half reasonable all right thank you very much here's where you can see that at least Peter knew Moses and Elijah verse 5 while he gets big behold a bright cloud overshadowed them it was a cloud of light that came behold a voice out of the cloud it was the father's voice which said this is my beloved son whom I am well pleased hear ye him just putting Peter in his place you know it's as much as to say now don't you start to get the law and the prophets on the same pedestal as my son you just need to hear him that's all you need to hear him this is very wonderful for us to might have but you see when you get all this company together you can see what I've been getting at on the mount you have a revelation here of the people of the kingdom you know when Christ comes back again my all the people that were raised at the rapture they'll be reigning with him you know not on the earth but over the earth but they're part of the kingdom and you know Elijah will represent those who were raptured and never died you know if Jesus comes now we are going to rise we'll never die just like Elijah did and we'll go to heaven and if Jesus comes now dear old saints whose bodies have been made to rest like Moses they'll be raised and the raised saints and the raptured saints will be present in the kingdom you know for we shall reign with him make no mistakes about that but there's not only one here who represents those who've been raised and one here who represents those who've been raptured but there are three Jews standing there who will represent the realms of Israel in the kingdom why these three boys have seen the kingdom in miniature that's what he was talking about he knew what he would do on the mount he knew they would live seven more days easy enough he knew that these three standing here would not taste of death until they had seen the son of man coming in his kingdom it's a fairly wonderful thing you know it's not a bigger problem now is it you're beginning to see this but you know there's a bit more to it than this verse 6 when the disciples heard that they fell on their face and were so afraid and Jesus came and touched them isn't he always lovely and said arise and be not afraid and when they had lifted up their eyes they saw no man save Jesus only you know when the kingdom shall come in all the power and glory that will attend it when the kingdom of God is upon us and it's millennia reign there'll be no man seen only Jesus as the boss oh yes he'll be the king of kings he'll be the president and the prime minister of all the states what more he'll be the minister of finance and there'll be no dodgery going on then they're all getting caught on these days paying for their work you would nearly need to lift the whole government and put it in wouldn't you my what a pickle of boys we have I have to pray now for the Lord to quieten me down but when Jesus reigns no man but Jesus he'll rule and reign and order my the poor will get a fair deal why the very animals will lie down at his feet and the fools will know for the sower shall overtake the reaper for the harvest will be so great now you know that's the way it needs to be you know if we were getting the blessing out of this as we should get it needs to be Jesus only not only in the kingdom it needs to be Jesus only in the home you don't listen to the wife or the children you know you listen to the Lord let me say if it's Jesus only in the kingdom and Jesus only in the home it ought to be Jesus only in the church but then we get all the mothers and mothers in the end don't we yes that's what it should be but what's this back on the mount we get the revelation of the people of the kingdom on the mount and then coming down from the mount this is the great bit verse 9 and as we came down from the mountain they're just coming down again Jesus charged them saying tell the vision to no man it's the wee things we remember you know I remember being in on a very difficult case there was a great argument about what the man was doing once and I must say this for the Baptist Union they asked me to go to be the chairman on this occasion and all the deans were beside me and a few more and we went into the details of this as best we could and found the truth of it and when we found the truth I said to these fellas tell nobody about it tell no man anything and an old fella said to me in the little dark room I'm not so sure whether you can say tell no man anything is this right I said well that's what Jesus said coming down from the mountain he told them not to say a thing there are times when you can say a thing there are times and it would be sensible to do so tell it not in gasp is the heart of the Old Testament but watch this gently as we came down from the mountain Jesus charged them saying tell the vision to no man until the son of man is risen again from the dead now as far as I know and I stand to be corrected all the time this may well be the very first time when he told them that he was going to die and would have to die and I don't want you to say what you saw up there at all I don't want you to talk about the glory I don't want you to talk about Moses until until the son of man is risen from the dead I'm going to die but I'll rise again you know sometimes I'll think that these men were very slow and yet I have to keep back a little bit from saying anything because I find that I'm just very like them at times you see I was saying to myself the other day now how could Peter stand on that mountain and see the glory shining through Christ's face and see Moses walking about and talking and see Elijah again how could he get that vision and then one day deny the Lord well I assure you you can do it sometimes the Lord says the most wonderful things to us and he really warms our hearts and he gives us so many revelations of himself and the other morning we were talking about five spotters sold for two farthings and we were all rejoicing and two or three days later I'll guarantee some of you were down in the dumps it doesn't work like that you know we're just pure humans you know that's what we are every one of us and there's one time when we're on the mountain top there's no doubt at all about it but you'll find the same boys down in the valley before long so we don't need to shout too much it just shows you what man's made of that you can stand and gaze at the glory of the Lord and then use those in curses to deny him a while later that's the sort of stuff we're made of so we need to watch very carefully verse 10 his disciples asked him saying why then say the scribes that Elias or Elijah must come first or must first come they're talking coming down from the mountain Jesus has told them not to say till he's risen from the dead and they say why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come Jesus answered and said to them Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things now I say unto you that Elijah has already come or come already and that you not that have gone unto him whatsoever enlisted likewise shall also the son of man suffer of them then the disciples understood that he speak unto them of John the Baptist and after all John the Baptist came in the power of Elijah there's no doubt it's all about that and they knew he was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb and there wasn't any body greater born of woman so Christ said yet remember they did unto him whatsoever they wanted to do that's the way they treated the servant of God so you needn't expect medals and the Lord Jesus is saying this likewise shall also the son of man suffer of them that's the way they treated him so he's telling them you know the kingdom cannot come until Christ dies and rises again couldn't come no use for them fellows talking about the kingdom won't thou at this time restore the kingdom you know friend he had to die and rise again go back again this whole dispensation had to take place he will come and take the church home and then the tribulation will come and then he will come and set up the kingdom but if you're following this on the month the revelation of the people of the kingdom are before us coming down from the month the explanation of the place of the kingdom it will be after the suffering of the king you know and then we come to the foot of the mount verse 14 and when they were come and when they were come to the multitude multitude was at the bottom of the mountain there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying Lord have mercy on my son for he is lunatic so vexed for often times he falleth into the fire and oft into the water and watch that often times into the fire and oft into the water and I brought him to thy disciples and they could not cure him then Jesus answered and said O faithless and perverse generation how long shall I be with thee bring him here to me and Jesus rebuked the devil because there was a demon in this little fellow he maybe wasn't just as lunatic as the father thought and the reason that the child was falling into the fire and the reason that he was falling into the water is because he was controlled by a demon of course when I get through these lectures and very soon now we are going to go towards Jerusalem and see the trials and the death burial and resurrection and when we get through following the footsteps of Christ I'm going to pick up demonology because I'm perfectly sure that this is a subject that's not properly dealt with in the churches and I think we're seeing more and more of it far more of it than what you think I heard about these rebels taking a man and spreading him out on an old loft and putting a nail through every finger nails through his feet and left him there for days feet out then they came and cut his tongue off then they came and cut his ears off then they cut parts of him off that I wouldn't need to talk to you about you don't tell me that these are men do you? these are men possessed by the devil a man makes fish a man and shoots them yes when you begin to get about like this there's more to it I'm afraid when big men go streaking out like I tell you this is some game now we're at isn't it? this is demonology this is demons at work when women get up in the meeting and strip themselves off surely demons are at work and demons are a tremendous force they can throw the boy into the water but he's never drowned they can throw him into the fire but he's never burned alive but we'll get into that when we come to that verse 18 Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed with him and the child was cured from that very hour then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said why could not we cast him out? Jesus said unto them because of your unbelief for verily I say unto you if he had faith as a grain of mustard seed he shall say unto this mountain this is one of the objects he took to teach you can't miss this object it's a mountain because it is your proper faith you can remove but I'll deal with that object next week I want you to get the hold of this you see on the mountain you have the revelation of the people of the kingdom they're all there the raised, the ruptured, the remnants coming down from the mountain you've got the explanation of the place of the kingdom it must come after the suffering of the kingdom then you've got now an illustration of the power of the kingdom because when the kingdom has come the devil will be defeated and saints will be delivered from their weaknesses they'll be delivered and I'll tell you this, a groaning, suffering world will set free what a kingdom it will be you know there's not all this here there's more to it, there's a devotional side to this and we'll not linger with it you must see the glory of the eternal sun shining through these garments the glory of the sun must see the majesty of the sovereign you know when Peter talks about this in later years, let's do this before we go let's go to 2nd Peter for a moment 2nd Peter and we're not in the first chapter, 2nd Peter this is it that I love and that's why I'm turning to it now verse 16 for we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ you know when we talk about the coming kingdom and how Jesus will reign how the devil will be defeated and how the lion will lie down as a lamb and all the rest of it it's not just a cunningly devised fable you know and here's what he said for we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but where eyewitnesses of his majesty we saw the king you know in all his glory he's remembering things now all right verse 17 for he received from God the Father surely you can see the difference in the personalities here the majesty of the king and God the Father they must be two different persons for he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with them in the holy mount no problems there because the glory of the son and the majesty of the sovereign was seen and the agony of the sufferer because the cross was the theme that Moses and Elijah talked about they talked to him of his decease and the sufficiency of the savior is there it's a great portion I make bold to say this that next week is the better portion of all there are things we need to know about the sovereignty of God and the human responsibility of man and we've got to learn them from the parables so we're taking the objects and the parables next Tuesday God will and remember that part will be here and we'll give her time and we need to give to the Lord 540 we'll take time to sing two verses 540 a wonderful savior is Jesus my Lord wonderful savior to me hideth my soul in the crest of the rock of pleasure, rivers of pleasure I see and the last verse when clothed in his brightness oh you can't say that now and one day I shall shine to clothed in his brightness transporteth our lives to meet him in clouds of the sky his perfect salvation wonderful love I shout with the millions on high 540 first and last please my Lord wonderful savior to me hideth my soul in the crest of the rock of pleasure, rivers of pleasure I see hideth my soul in the crest of the rock of pleasure, rivers of pleasure I see he hides my life in the crest of the rock of pleasure, rivers of pleasure I see when clothed in his brightness oh you can't say that now to meet him in clouds of the sky his perfect salvation wonderful love I shout with the millions on high he hides my soul in the crest of the rock of pleasure, rivers of pleasure I see he hides my life in the crest of the rock of pleasure, rivers of pleasure I see Lord we thank thee for thyself thank thee the God wonderful thy art the mighty God the Prince of Peace Lord part us with thy blessing take us to our homes in safety for thy name's sake Amen