St Matthew, Chapter 17, verse: 13, The Vision: John the Baptist.

Our paragraph topic is:  (On the coming of Elias) Part 5. 

The disciples had questions that needed to be answered.  Jesus knew that they were puzzled.  He had told them to speak to no one about the vision.  Yet their minds were abuzz with all the questions that they needed to have answered in order to make sense of what they witnessed.  They had heard the voice of God speaking to them, telling them to hear Christ and to listen to him, to listen to what he had to say.  They listened and now they had questions.  And Christ spoke to them about the questions that they had.

They needed to make sense of all they understood.  The disciples needed closure.  They needed understanding.  They needed clarity.  They needed focus.  And Christ intended that they should have focus, to have clarity, on all things in due time.  For the time had not yet come for the sacrifice.  The time had not yet come for the lamb to be slaughtered.  And the time had not yet come for the disciples to take their place as the teachers and leaders of Christ, giving witness to his divinity.  Indeed Elias had come, and all things were being prepared for the coming of the Lord.  So, the disciples were right in seeking to know the truth.  They were right in seeking to know of the coming of Elias.  And with that truth, they understood.  Now they knew.  Now they could make sense of all that had transpired.    Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them of  John the Baptist.  

They understood.  They knew.  They had clarity of what had happened and what would happen.  Do we understand what has happened?  Do we understand what has transpired?  We all have to make sense of our world to ourselves.  We live in this world and it has to make sense to us in order for us to function in it.  There is much that goes on around us and we have to find some way to understand all that we experience.  If we do not understand then we do not accept and acceptance is the key to helping us as human beings survive in this world. 

It is amazing that in this world that we live in, our lives are dictated by our environment.  We see, we hear, we smell, we touch, and we believe what is given to us by the world, by our environment.  Different people live in different environments and sometimes those different environments cross, intersect and become one.  But it is the environment that determines who we are, who we become, and what we believe.  There are common threads that cross most environmental boundaries that are common to our experience of the world.  We believe in, a god, a higher power, a higher transcendence, something that is greater than ourselves that helps us to know that there is good in the world despite all the evil, and violence, and pain, and suffering in the world.  Our belief in a god helps us to believe that there is something good that prevails over all.

Despite our belief in the good in the world, we do not believe in the evil in the world.  We do not hold fast to the belief that evil affects, influences, causes, or has real impact on our way of life.  Instead we believe that people make decisions to do evil acts, commit violence, cause pain and suffering in the world.  Yet there is an overall good God or something, that helps us believe in the good nature of the world.  But we do not believe that there is an overall evil in the world that causes us to do evil.  And there in lies the subtlety of evil, not to be known but to still have influence. 

To those who know and are aware of the evil, they are awake.  But to those who do not know and are not aware, they are still asleep.  And when one awakes there is still the need for understanding, the need to make sense, the need to know for certain that there is good in the world.  Some believe without knowing.  Some live their lives thinking that they know and yet do not know.  And with that half belief they are open to falling asleep again.  For one must know for certain.  One must have a knowledge of the truth.  One must see through different eyes the world around us and the influence of evil in it to be truly awake. 

I was asleep.  I was lost.  I was dreaming a dream of my own desires led by the beliefs fed to me by the world and the evil therein.  I was unknowing and yet lived my life thinking that I knew.  And that half knowledge led me down the path of destruction and back to sleep again in the world.  Today I know.  Today I see.  Today I have something real to go to in times of need, in times of pain, in times of temptation, in times of joy, and in times of sorrow.  For he was given to me a guide.  He was given to me a protector.  He was given to me eyes to see the way.  And I walk a different path, very thankful that it has been given to me.  Come!  Walk the path with me.  Walk a different path that you may know the truth of who you are in Christ.  He awaits you.  He seeks you.  He desires to know you.  And the Holy Spirit will be with you, to guide you along the way.  Your treasure awaits.  Come! Follow the path.

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.  

St Matthew, Chapter 17, verse: 10, The Vision: The coming of Elias.

Our paragraph topic is:  (On the coming of Elias) Part 2.  

They had witnessed the vision of Christ.  They had seen the vision of Moses and Elias.  They were puzzled by what they had seen and what they had heard.   And yet the disciples knew that they had witnessed a great miracle.  God the Father had spoken to them.  He had  instructed the disciples to listen and hear his son.  He had given them the proof that they needed to believe in Christ through the visions they had witnessed.  So they pondered within their minds the answers as to what they had seen and heard.  But Christ warned them not to speak of it.  He told them not to say what they had seen and heard until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

The sacrifice had to be completed.  The mission had to be finished.  The debt had to be paid so that mankind would be redeemed.  And what they had witnessed must be kept secret until that time.  The disciples were puzzled.  There were questions in their minds.  There were burning answers that needed solutions.  And they did not know how to proceed without answers to those questions.  For they had been taught from childhood by the Pharisees the scriptures of their religion.  They had been drilled as to the passages and the words that were passed down from old.  So they questioned Christ as to the correctness of what they had learned.   And the disciples asked him, saying, " Why then do the Scribes say that Elias must come first? "

Christ had taken three of his disciples up to the mountain that they may experience for themselves the truth of who he was.  He wanted them to know with all certainty that he was the Messiah, the Son of the Father.  So they were there to witness for themselves what they would hold within until the sacrifice had been made and the mission completed.  They asked for understanding.  They sought to know the truth of what they were taught and what they believed.  Christ spoke to them about the raising from the dead, an expression that they did not understand.  And today we ask that same question.

Will we die at the end our last days on earth?  Will we sleep for an eternity when our time comes, only to be awakened at the final call?  What will happen in the end?  Do we go to heaven now and wait for the final judgment to come?  Many have gone beyond death and returned to tell of what lies beyond.  Many have experienced the horrors of hell and come back to warn us of what we will face if we continue in our evil ways.  Does that deter us?  Does that turn us around?  There are many lost souls in the world that do not know the truth.  The message is out there.  We hear it being proclaimed in the background but do not listen.  We have some knowledge of what we are to do to avoid judgment but fail to do it.  We are weak.  We are misled.  We are influenced by the temptations of the world, born into a world destined to lead us away from the truth.

Looking back  on my life, I was lost.  I was misled.  I was caught up in the whirlwind of the world thinking that I had to compete, I had to succeed, I had to win the prize.  Little did I know that I was on the road to destruction.  And if I continued on that road, I would loose my soul and the life that had been given me by the sacrifice made by Christ.  I am grateful that he held on to me.  I am thankful that he gave me life.  I am blessed that he did not give up on me.  Now I know who I am.  Now I have found my treasure.  Now I know with certainty that I am a child of God and my father loves me.  And now I can see me through the veil of the physical and know me for who I am. 

If you are reading this message, come follow the path that is laid before you.  You will find peace.  You will find joy.  You will find happiness.  And you will find the truth of who you are in Christ, here and now.  Be certain.  Be knowing.  Be loved.  Christ loves you, the Holy Spirit will lead you, and God the Father will protect you.  May the gift of God be in your heart.

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!  

St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse 28, The Cross of Man: The Blessed Vision!

Our paragraph topic is: (The doctrine of the cross) Part 6.    

Christ spoke to his disciples in no uncertain terms.  He wanted them to know the truth.  He wanted them to understand the rules.  He enlightened them on the ultimate value that they possessed and that all men possessed in their souls.  What would it profit a man to gain all there is in the world and then to loose the most valuable thing on earth.  There is nothing more valuable that a man can give other than his soul.  And this is the very thing that Satan wants to posses.  For Satan minds the things of man and the things of this world.  Christ is from the father and minds the things of God.

So Christ came to give man instructions.  Christ came to show man how to live.  Christ came to be an example.  And Christ came to be the sacrifice to satisfy the judgement placed upon man, a judgement made by God before man sinned.  And God told Adam, do not eat of the fruit in the middle of the garden least you shall die. 

And so it was that Christ knew his fate, he knew his destiny, and he knew the hardship of the road that he had taken.  He knew that his father loved him, provided for him, and would keep him in the final hour.  But death had to be overcome.  The price had to be paid before the sentence was removed.  And the disciples feared death.  The disciples knew not what lie beyond death.  So Christ told them that some would see him in his kingdom before they would pass through the doors of death.  He gave them the faith to know that he would be waiting for them on the other side of death.  He said to them: "Amen I say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death, till they have seen the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

The blessed vision that some would have.  The blessed experience that some would be able to stand in both realms, heaven and earth, and live by both experiences.  To see Christ coming in his own kingdom, to have the experience of knowing that Christ lives in his glorious majesty and splendor before facing death is an experience to die for.  For who would not want to be with him in heaven?  Who would not want to taste the glory and the majesty and experience the truth of God's love in heaven?  Who, after having that experience, would want to live in this world anymore?

But Christ gave us hope.  He gave us the faith to continue to live in this realm even though we know that our home is in heaven with him.  For those who know, blessed are they in Christ.  For those who do not know, lost are they in this world.  And yet it is the knowledge and the truth of who we are in Christ that allows us to experience this life with love.  For God is love.  He did not demand, or force, or punish us to bring us into compliance with his will.  Instead he gave us free choice to choose if we wanted to live with him or live without him.  He gave man free will to decide if he wanted to have eternal life with Christ or to not have eternal life.  And this is the truth of the battle. 

God loves us so much that he created us in his image and likeness and gave us free choice.  And then Satan wants us to choose him or not to choose our heavenly Father and Christ Jesus.  Some will be blessed enough to experience the touch of God's love.  Some will be blessed enough to experience his mercy.  Some will be blessed enough to experience the truth of his wisdom and the forgiveness of his compassion for us.  And some will have the blessed vision of Christ coming in his kingdom, either in life or before death comes.  The experiences are yours, waiting for you. 

What does it take to know them?  Only your willingness to search for them, only your willingness to believe that they exist, only your desire to know that he is real and his words are truth.  Come!  Seek the treasure that is yours; know the truth of who you are in Christ.  I sought!  I found!  I believed!  And now I know!  Christ has given me a gift to give to you, a path, a trail, a tried and tested method that works.  It is all laid out for you to follow.  And I will walk with you.  Christ loves you and so do I!  The Holy Spirit awaits you and greets you.

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!         

St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 21, The Future of the Church: The Foretelling

Our paragraph topic is:  (Passion and resurrection foretold) Part 1.   

And so it was that the church was established in Christ Jesus.  And Simon Peter became the first member of the church here on earth.  For it was in him and through him and of him that the word was spread throughout the earth by the will of Christ Jesus and the love of God the Father.  Two thousand years the church has withstood the wars and deaths and crimes and evil in the world and still stands today.  It has been battered and beaten and torn from within and still survives as Christ willed it during his here mission on earth.  

And now the final days were approaching.  Christ continually spoke to his disciples about his mission and his purpose.  He told them of the future.  He described to them what was coming.  He gave them the vision of what was to happen to him and how it would all end.  Yet they did not understand.  They did not know.  They did not fully comprehend that these things must take place to save mankind.  The disciples only saw the material.  They only lived in the flesh and not in the spirit.  For the time was approaching when the sacrifice must be given that man would be saved.  So Christ taught them of the things to come.   From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and Scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.

This was the future of one so meek and mild.  This was the future of one so loving and understanding.  This was the future of one so forgiving and one so passionate about what must be done for mankind.  Death was waiting.  Torture and pain were at his doorstep.  Humiliation and dishonor, hatred and abuse, bloodshed and mutilation of such kind that no man could endure.  Yet knowing all this he willingly submitted.  Christ was the only begotten son of God, first, before all things were created.  He knew not pain.  He knew not suffering.  He knew not death.  And yet he gave up his heavenly crown, his kingly position, his place on the throne at the right hand of his father to become man that all mankind would not be condemned to death.

This was his mission.  This was his passion.  This was his purpose in becoming man and taking on human form.  God, the ultimate judge, pronounced that if Adam eat of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die.  That was the judgement.  That was the decision made by Adam.  And death came forth to rule over mankind until the judgement could be satisfied, placated, annulled.  And it could only be satisfied with the blood from one so pure and without sin.  And so Christ entered into his mission knowing the consequences of what was to take place. 

He gave of his life so willingly because the price had to be paid that man could have life and have life eternally.   So those who seek, those who desire, those who want to know, can find eternal life in Christ.  For through him and in him and with him comes forth spiritual life in man.  And those who do not seek, those who do not know, those who do not desire are of death and have not life eternal.  Come!  Follow the path set before you.  Seek the knowledge that brings eternal life and know the truth of who you are in Christ.  The spirit awaits your coming.    

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!