Daily Bread 6-3-17

Matthew 17:10

And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

ref. - Mal 4:5 - Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

If we look at the life of Christ, it is easy to see that everything was done decently and in order. Not one thing out of order, in front of what was supposed to come first, but decently and in order. In this scripture we see that the disciples, when they fell witness to the voice of God declaring Jesus as his son, asked why then does the scripture say that Elias must first come. They hadn't realized that John the Baptist was Elias, but also thought that if Christ was there already, then Elias, who represented repentance and water baptism, wasn't necessary. The Messiah was already here so why go through the other? Today, we live in a world that is fast forward and skip over this to get to the next. But, just as Christ even had to die on a cross to show us the example, we must go about our salvations decently and in order. In many places the gospel is misrepresented in that there is no repentance or remission of sins, baptism comes before repentance, false prophets proclaiming that the Holy Spirit lives within us even before repentance. All has been brought by false prophets that are ignorant of the true gospel that was brought by Christ. If we look at the life of Christ it was not a bunch of rules that he wrote down. Quite the contrary, he didn't write a word. All the books of the New Testament are recollections and prophecy written by others. No, Christ lived the gospel, leaving us the proof by his own example. He was taken at a young age to the synagogue where he asked questions and learned of this things of God. Not that he did not already know them, but as an example, he was later baptized by John the Baptist(Elias in this scripture). And then the Spirit of God came down upon him,(baptism of the Holy Ghost.) You seek, he was already saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost, but did all of this as a living example of how things were to go. He lived after that, was tempted, was tried, taught the gospel, helped others, even was killed off in the flesh and resurrected, as an example to us. So, when we look at the way things are given to us, in order through the Holy Ghost, we mustn't ask "why can't we skip this or that?" But rather suffer(endure) through it all so that when our resurrection comes, we are fully equipped and ready for our souls to be harvested and taken up to be with our Lord. If it was written in the Bible, it either has or will come to pass. If it is the life of Christ, it must come to pass in our lives, decently, and in order, for us to please God. Remember, all that we do on this earth should be in preparation for the Spiritual journey that we will all take some day. We will find that living our lives to please God down here will bring us out on the glory end of things. Otherwise, hell awaits those who cut corners and try to jump out in front of the perfect example that we have been given in Jesus Christ. He didn't come down here and do all of this so that a tale could be written, he did it as an example for us!!! And thank God that he did!! Live well and prosper in Jesus Christ and let all things be done decently and in order Brothers and Sisters!!! Have a great day!!!