Our paragraph topic is: (On the coming of Elias) Part 3.
The disciples posed a question to Christ about the teachings of the Pharisees. They were taught that Elias must come first before the end. They believed that when Elias comes then the end is near. There was conflict in their minds. There was an understanding that needed to be had that was not forthcoming. There was a sense of things that needed to be made sense of and they did not have that sense of knowing. After seeing the vision of Christ with Moses and Elias they needed to have a sense of understanding. As they came down from the mountain it all began to hit them as to what they had seen and heard.
It was a puzzling experience. The voice of God the Father said to them that they should hear Christ. In their efforts to hear him, they had to make sense of what they had heard and seen and experienced. For this reason they believed that the great and dreadful day of the Lord was upon them. They were taught that the Lord would bring fire upon the proud and the wicked upon that day. On that day fire would be set to the wicked and there would be no root or branch but only dust. And those who fear the Lord shall tread down the wicked and leap like calves of the heard. These were the thoughts of the disciples as they tried to make sense of what they had experienced. And they were in fear of the coming of that day and the coming of Elias. So they asked Jesus, if that day was upon them, where was Elias. But he answered and said, "Elias" indeed is to come and will restore all things."
People today would describe fear and False Evidence Appearing Real. In other words, our emotional reaction is based upon false evidence that is not real but only appears real. And our reaction to that evidence is not justified. We live in a world where our fears are minimized. We are led to believe that we should not be afraid, that we should not fear being robbed, or raped, or shot by a stranger or bombed by a terrorist. We are led to believe that we should live free of fear and terror and danger and unexpected events that would cause us harm. We believe in a free society, protected from the danger. In other parts of the world freedom is not so espoused as in the USA.
We go about our lives without the fear of the Lord and the coming judgment. God is love and his love fulfills all our needs. We search, in this world, for those things that would fulfill us and make us happy but we discover that, that fulfillment is only temporary. Even love, as we know it, is temporary. Because our love is based in the physical realm it is only temporary. Spiritual love is everlasting and comes from God, for he is love. He fulfills all and completes the need and desire for love. Yet we live in a society, in a world, that would have us believe that we can have the desires of our hearts. We live in a world that would have us believe that we are protected and provided for through our own efforts. We have nothing to fear. We should live and love and enjoy and have fun to satisfy our hearts desires and pleasures. And there is nothing to fear, there is no fear of the Lord's judgment.
Our God is a God of love and he loves us because he created us in his image and likeness, an image of love. To protect us and to provide for us he gave us the commandments to keep us from harm. For he is the ultimate judge. Before Adam and Eve sinned God proclaimed that they should not eat of the forbidden fruit. And if they did then they would die. Satan tempted them, based upon the logic of the physical mind, into believing that they would not die even though he knew that they would lose their souls and die spiritually. And the judgment was final. Only a propitiation would annul the punishment and bring back the spiritual life that was lost. God is love and he loves mankind. But there is evil in the world that would have man die spiritually and loose his soul forever.
Christ became the sacrifice in order to annul the sin and give back spiritual life eternal. Do you know the truth of who you are in Christ? Do you know the truth of who you are spiritually? There is a gift waiting for you. Come, you can discover who you really are, only if you look. Christ wants you to know who you are. The Holy Spirit wants to live with you, guide you, protect you, provide for you. Come! Seek the truth of who you are in Christ. Christ loves you and so do I.
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!
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!
Our paragraph topic is: (The doctrine of the cross) Part 3.
No one knew what came after death. There was no certainty. The Jews believed that they were God's chosen people and that he had prepared a special place for them. But no one knew for certain what they would encounter after death. Everyone wanted to live. Everyone wanted to have life. Everyone did not want to face the consequences of what would happen after they died. And yet here was Christ preaching to his disciples the outcome of his journey to Jerusalem. Here was the Messiah telling his disciples that he would go and face persecution, torture, and death. And nothing but fear came upon them.
They knew not what to expect. They knew not what was to happen. They knew not the why and wherefore of these actions. But Christ instructed them to follow. Take up your cross and follow me if you want to come after me, he told them. Face the evil in the world and fear not, he told them. For whoever would work to save his life in this realm will loose it and whoever would loose his life in this physical realm, for his sake, would save it in the spiritual realm and save it for eternity. Where is it that we place our value? Is it in the physical realm? Or is it in the spiritual realm that we value ourselves. Christ told his disciples: "For what does it profit a
man, if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul?"
We are told and we believe that we have a soul. We hear it in church. We read about it in the Bible. We see it in our entertainment media. And we believe it in ourselves. But of what value is it? How does it profit us to have a soul? What can we do with it? How does it help us or hinder us as we live, grow, and prosper in this world? Those of us who are youthful do not consider this value. Those of who are older think about its value. Those of us who are declining in age know of its value as we look forward to what comes after death. For we believe that the soul exists. Yet Christ posed a meaningful question to his disciples and to members of the church today: "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and loose his soul?"
And it is this meaningful question that weighs in the balance each and everyday of our lives. Do our actions, our thoughts, and our beliefs gain us the world or gains us our souls? Do we act as if we want to gain everything in the world or do we want to keep our souls? Do we want our souls to profit or do we want our passions for the world to profit? Do we attempt to sit on the fence and fish from both sides or are we certain that we know on which side we want to jump into? The world wants us to live in it and to prosper in it. The world would have us loose ourselves and our souls in it that we may prosper in worldly things. The world would have us addicted to our passions and criticize us if we are not fully engaged in them.
To laugh, to enjoy, to be hopeful, to be passionate about the prospects of today and what tomorrow has to offer is how we are raised and live. Forgetting about when the thief in the night that may come to steal us away from our souls without the opportunity to repent, is not something that the world wants us to consider. We make every effort to protect ourselves from death but it comes despite all our efforts. It comes to the young. It comes to the old. It comes to the innocent. It comes to the unexpected. It comes. For it is the soul that the world is after and nothing less.
What does it profit? What do we gain? How do we value what we have, how do we value what is given us from birth? We are raised in the world with the love and are given the hopes and fears of our parents and care givers. And when we come of age we are filled with the desires and passions of the world. So we go forth seeking to gain all that it has to offer and to enjoy all the passions that it brings, not knowing or believing that we are asleep in the world. Some are awaken by the struggles that life in the world brings. Some continue to struggle in the passions that this world has to offer. And some face the question of life and decide to give up on it not knowing that they have a choice.
We are aliens in a different form and do not know who we are. Come! The opportunity is given you to know the truth of who you are. Come! Opportunity knocks at your door, bringing truth, and joy, and peace, and love with it. Your life, your soul, is valuable. Do not sell it for something less. Do not offer it for what the world offers for it is worth much more. Do not exchange it for the trinkets and treasures of this world for they are worthless. What will it profit you? You can know, now, the truth of who you are. You can see the life that is given you. You can know the light of your spirit here on earth as it was given to you. Come! Follow the path set before you and know the truth of who you are in Christ.
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!
