Highlighted New Testament Bible

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Monday, May 6, 2013

St Matthew, Chapter 17, verse: 12, The Vision: The Suffering of Elias and the Son of Man.



Our paragraph topic is:  (On the coming of Elias) Part4. 

The conversation was ongoing as they returned from the mountaintop.  The questions were still in their minds as to what they had been taught all these years about the coming of Elias and the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  Was that day upon them?  Was Elias about to appear?  Would the Lord bring down fire upon the proud and wealthy?  These were the questions that weighed upon them as they returned from the place where they had witnessed the miracle, the vision of Christ, the vision of Elias and Moses.

Christ had forbidden them to talk about it.  He had told them not to speak of it to anyone until the sacrifice was complete and he had risen from the dead.  But they needed answers so they continued to worry, continued to ponder what they would do, continued to think about all the things that were going to happen at the end.  To quiet their minds Christ had to speak with them.  Christ had to address their issues.  Christ had to put to rest the state of things to come.  So he told them:  "But I say to you that Elias has come already, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also shall the Son of Man suffer at their hands."       

The disciples were expecting fire and brimstone.  They were expecting judgment to come.  They were on high alert as to the coming of Elias and the final judgment.  Yet Elias had already come and they did not know, they were not aware.  Where are we today?  Do we expect the world to come to an end tomorrow?  Are we prepared for the final call?  Have we made ourselves ready?

These are the questions that we should be asking ourselves.  Are we ready?  Yet being ready is the last thing on our minds.  We are more concerned about what we are going to wear tomorrow, how we look, wish we could hit the lottery so we could live a life of luxury.  Our thoughts are about playing, and texting, and gaming, and sex and lust, and the voice and American Idol, and who can dance, all the things that we are given by our society.  We are not concerned about dying, and what happens after death and being prepared, and the joy of heaven.  These things are not given to us by the society we live in.  The world does not want us to think about those things until it is too late and then we loose our souls as a result of not knowing, not thinking, not believing.

Elias had already come.  And they did to him whatever they wished.  And they will do to you what ever they wish unless we wake up.  Christ suffered that we might have life.  He did not come and suffer so that we would be lost.  And yet many are.  Many are unaware of who they are and it is up to those who do know to be an example for them.  It is up to those who do know to turn from the ways of the world and be a light unto the darkness.  First we must become a light.  We must open our hearts to the first light, the original light, the light that is and was and always will be that we may know that we are children of that light.  Because it is through Him and with Him that we are.  And it is with Him that we are complete and all our needs and desires are fulfilled.  For there is nothing else or no other, or nothing in this world that will complete us except the one true God, our Father.  

Come!  Know the truth of who you are in Christ.  A path has been given me to pass on to those who want to know, to those who desire, to those who will light up the world like a beacon in the night.  Christ will come to you.  The Holy Spirit will guide you.  And I will walk with you along the way.  I am but a humble light in the darkness, shining so that others may see the light.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.