Matthew 16:27-28 Transfiguration or the GATHERING of Israel? AUDIO

All right, well, we're back, ladies and gentlemen, and we're going to go ahead and get started on our subject for today, which is, was Matthew 16, 27, and 28 fulfilled in the transfiguration of Matthew 17, verses one through 13? So we're gonna be looking at these verses, maybe a short study today, but we'll talk about them a little bit in the context. And I remember last year, around June, I think that was last year, wow, it's something when you can't even remember from one year to the next, but I had a debate with Carl Albert, and this was one of the objections that somebody brought up. I think this was a post-debate objection that someone brought up, and that was to assert that Matthew 16, 27, and 28 was fulfilled at the time of the transfiguration. It's not a new argument. It's one that has been made several times. And the reason that it is made is because people feel the force of Matthew 16, 27, and 28. And what I mean by that is when I say that they feel the force of it, the temporal or the time statements are so emphatic. They are so just plainly stated in the text that you cannot get around them. You cannot make any argument that's going to refute them or obviate them. So the next attempt is to try to find a way to explain them away. And so this is what happens in this text. Now, from the background that I'm originally from, everybody would try to make this be a Pentecost text. They would try to force this text into the timeframe of Acts chapter two. And the reason they would do that is they would basically use Mark 9, which is a parallel passage to Matthew 16, 27, and 28, and then use that text to argue that the power that's mentioned in Mark 9, 1, and the power of the Holy Spirit were the same, and thus that marked the beginning of the kingdom or the coming of the kingdom. However, the point that we're gonna demonstrate here is that this text is not the beginning of the kingdom of God. It is rather the consummation of the kingdom. And by the consummation, we mean the coming of the Lord. Some days ago, I gave a parable from Mark 4, verses 26 through 29. And the reason for that parable was to show the progressive nature of the kingdom of God that began from a seed and then grew into a mature plant where the harvest was immediately implemented. That parable is a shortened version of the parable of the tares, which we find in Matthew chapter 13. So you can read either version of it, and they both are basically state the same thing. One just has a bit more detail than the other one. I have often used Mark chapter four and verse 24 or 26 through 29, because it says and gives the information so succinctly that you just can't miss the point that's being made when he talks about the kingdom. We have to see that the kingdom came progressively, that it came over a period of time that spanned about 40 years. The same thing was true when we look at Israel during the time of the Exodus, from the time they left Egypt to the time that they entered into their land, which was a prerequisite to having a kingdom because four things are required for a kingdom, and that is a king, subjects, law, and territory. And in order for them to have the territory, they had to enter into the land where the king's domain, that's where the word kingdom comes from, king domain, and so where the domain could be exercised. And that was the purpose for which God had called him. He said in Exodus 19, five and six, that he had called them to be a kingdom of priests unto him. So they were to be a priestly nation, and you can see that both in the Old Testament as well as the New. He said in verse five, now therefore, if you will keep, or if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you should be a special treasure to me above all people for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. Now, he spoke that to the nation when they were entering into the land, but he also speaks it a second time to refer to the new nation that was created in Christ Jesus. And that one is found in 1 Peter 2, verses nine through 11 or 12. All right, so that statement is mentioned, but it's talking about the kingdom. Now, we're gonna talk a little bit about the kingdom in Matthew chapter 16, verses 27 and 28, a passage that indicates that the Lord was going to return within the first century generation. And this text gives people a lot of problems if they are a futurist, if they still believe that Christ is yet to come, there's a problem with it because of the text. Now, sometimes people wanna separate verse 27, which is obviously a judgment context from verse 28. And so they want to dichotomize them and make one a future return of Christ and make the other one a coming that happened on the day of Pentecost, one that is past. However, whenever the Lord uses the term assuredly, and especially, you know, from the standpoint of the Greek or verily, as you see in your King James version, he is never changing the subject. He is always reiterating a subject that has already been spoken about. So he doesn't change the subject, he's always emphasizing that which he has already discussed. Now, in verse 27, the text says, for the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his holy angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. Now, it might be helpful also to note that verses 24 through 26, that lead up to this context, are also talking about something that's very, very serious and something that is eschatological in nature as well. And by eschatological, we simply mean that which relates to the end times. Because Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. But whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. So the primary import of the statement is based upon what he was just saying about the reward and the profit that a person would have if he chose to gain the whole world and lose his own soul. It's basically saying that's going to be required of him. He's going to have to give an account for the manner in which he treated one of the most important possessions that we all have, and that is the soul that God has given to us. But at any rate, he says, for the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his holy angels or with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. Now, this is an Old Testament prophecy. It is not just a statement that Christ makes in the New Testament. You know, oftentimes when we're talking to several non-Messianic Hebrew Israelites, they want to say that this is New Testament, that we don't believe the New Testament, we don't accept the New Testament. Well, this is a passage that is a direct quote from the Old Testament, and I'd like for us to look at a couple of places where this text is quoted from. It is in Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah chapter 40, a chapter that is Messianic in nature, and that refers to the coming of the Lord. In that chapter, it talks about the one who was going to prepare the way of the Lord, which we'll say something about in this study as well. But again, for the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. All Jesus does is simply gives an interpretation and a clarification of this Old Testament text. So we need to be very familiar with the Old Testament because so many of these passages, and especially eschatological passages, are coming directly from the Old Testament. All of them are coming from the Old Testament. We just have to know where to find them and know how to understand them when we look at them. So if you go to Isaiah chapter 40, and you look at verse 10, now this is in the context where he talks about warfare. So I wanna give you the context in understanding that you're dealing with warfare. So it's a context where there is judgment from the perspective of warfare, and we can denote that from the earlier verse in Isaiah 40. Comfort, yes. Comfort my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now, if you're familiar at all with the book of Revelation chapter 18, the Bible talks about rewarding Mystery Babylon, double for her sins. Revelation 18 in verse six, for her sins have reached to heaven, that's verse five, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works. In the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and live luxuriously, in the same measure, give her torment and sorrow, for she says in her heart, I sit as a queen and am no widow and will not see sorrow. Therefore, her plagues will come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. Well, when you look here and the text says the warfare is ended back in Isaiah 40, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. In other words, this is projecting us down to the time where Jerusalem has been judged. And that was a reference to Mystery Babylon that we find in Revelation, because he talked about the cup that was in her hand. Well, what was the cup? It was full of abominations. It was full of sins, full of the blood of the prophets and of those that were sent in the time of Jesus Christ. Now, notice the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. All right, so the preparation here that's being made is that of a military expedition where you're going through, you're leveling the mountains and you're building bridges, you're doing everything you can to make it possible for the army to continue to move forward. And so he says, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, all flesh shall see it for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. The voice said, cry out, and he said, what shall I cry? Notice the language that he uses, all flesh is grass and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Now, if you're familiar with Matthew chapter 24, Jesus makes the statement in verse 35, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away. Well, that's the statement that you see here. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Now, when he talks about the grass withering and the flower fading, he said that this referred to people because he asked, what shall I cry? Or rather he said, cry out, and he said, what shall I cry? He says, all flesh is this grass and all its loveliness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. So what was going to be fading away, what was going to be burned up, what was going to pass away was the people, the people who rejected the Messiah. Now, if you wanna see that text again, you can look at it at the end of 1 Peter chapter one. 1 Peter chapter one, this is the contrast between those who are born again and those who were not born again. Remember in several lessons now, we have mentioned in Psalm 102 that this would be written for a generation in the time to come for a people who were yet to be created. That's what the text was written for. It was written for a time that was to come for a people who were yet to be created. That is Psalm 102 and the verse is 18. Psalm 102 and the verse is 18. All right, so now notice the quote here. He says, since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the brethren. So there's that phrase we've been talking about. They've obeyed the gospel. They did it through the spirit. And he says, in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart. Having been born again. See, that's the new nation being created. Having been born again, not of corruptible seed. Well, what kind of seed have they been born of before? Corruptible seed because everyone would die physically and therefore that seed was a corruptible seed. But he says, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. Well, if you're born of incorruptible seed and every seed produces after its kind, then it must produce that which is incorruptible. All right, and next he says, through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. All flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. So there is the precise statement that is made in Isaiah chapter 40 and verses seven and eight. Peter applies the statement to his generation, to his people, saying that those in his day were going to experience this. Then in verse nine, O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain, O Jerusalem. You who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid, say to your cities, notice, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand and his arm shall rule for him. Now look at the next verse or next line. Behold, his reward is with him and his works before him. Well, that's exactly what you have in Matthew 16 and verse 27, for the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels and then he will reward each according to his works. Behold, his reward is with him. So the Lord our God shall come with a strong hand. That just means with power. That's just like in the time of Egypt, he delivered them with the body and an outstretched arm. That's a symbol of the power of the divine being. He's using an, what do you call it? Anthro, where you talk about you giving a divine being human qualities. Anthro, I can't even think of the term. My mind, I'm telling you I'm getting old. I wanna say anthropomorphism, but I'm not sure if that's the one. But the point is, what they're doing is they're ascribing human characteristics to a divine being. Behold, the Lord shall come with a strong hand. That's kind of like the statement in Isaiah 53. To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? All right, so that's talking about the power of God. And so behold, the Lord shall come, Lord God shall come with a strong hand and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his work before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs with his arm. And by the way, what that tells you is that Matthew 16, 27 also, since this is a quote, Matthew 16, 27 and 28 is an end time gathering text. It is a text that relates to the gathering of Israel. See, so many people fail to see that Israel is being regathered in the Lord Jesus Christ. They want to have the people gathered in the land of Palestine. At the very time where the Bible is saying his reward is with him and his work before him, he will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs with his arm. That's with his power. And carry them in his bosom. Now, do you believe that the Lord is literally going to carry literal lambs in his bosom? No, he's talking about gathering his people to himself. The same way he used the term about the hens in Matthew chapter 24, 23. When he says, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing. This, he spoke to the unbelieving Jews. He told them you were not willing, but I wanted to gather you. Do you see what he's saying in that text, ladies and gentlemen? Here were rebellious people in Israel, the scribes, the Pharisees, those who were gonna persecute the people of God. And Jesus said, I wanted to gather you together as a hen gathers chicks under her wing. I was answering that question for a young man who had called in and we got cut off that day because I was talking about the term in like manner from Acts chapter one and verse 11. A hon tropon. Well, this is the same word used in Matthew chapter 23. When Jesus said, how often I wanted to gather you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. That's the same Greek word, hon tropon. But he didn't, he wasn't meaning that he was literally going to go out and gather all Israel under his literal arms, ladies and gentlemen. This is a figurative description of the gathering of Israel back. But, and so if this verse in Isaiah 40 and verse 10 is teaching the same thing of Matthew, if that's the verse that Jesus is quoting in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 27 and also 28, then that is also a passage for the gathering of Israel together. Now the import of that is extremely important and powerful because he gives you the time in which Israel had to be gathered. Amen.