Jesus declared Himself to be the only Saviour of mankind, and being such He has set the requirements for salvation for man, in other words there is something we must do-well, sort of-that is, and we should explore just what that requirement will be. All other avenues or so-called means of salvation require that a person must strive their entire life to acheive a type of salvation, and I say a type of salvation because at the end of the journey you still, even in their beliefs, will not and do not attain salvation. The Buddhist religion was started by a man named Guatamala Siddartha and he started a religion based upon relieving the "wants and desires" of the people as he concluded this caused stress, greed, envy and the such as people strived to attain and "get ahead". His conclusion was that all the people would give all their sustance and their belongings unto the King. The King would then give to the people what they needed (not what they wanted) and this would eliminate theft, greed,worry etc..,. This worked well for Guatamala as he was the son of the king and thus the inheritor of all the goods and riches of the kingdom and the people. In his journey of 5+ years of solitude, (yeah, he was so alone) he had 5 women who attended his every need, he arrived at this grand scheme or idea. Today we call this system Communism which means commune or communial living, in the which the people work for the state and not for themselves and the state provides shelter, food, medical for the people, we call this slavery. Under this system if you do good all of your life you may one day die and re-incarnate to a higher form and if you do badly to a lower form. This has never been proven, but you do have a lot of people believing that they have been here before in a dejavue type of being. No Salvation as you will eventually ascend into the great Nirvana or the great nothing of non-existence, this too has never been proven. The Hindu have a similiar belief although they see everything as a god, this is why they do not swat the fly that eats from the bowl of food they eat as the fly could be an ancestor and they teach their children to observe this also. This is why you see the children of Africa starving and sick as they get the maggots in their food but will not move them out or kill them, and this is why you can never supply enough for them as you are feeding all the animals and insects of the nation, the same exists in India and other Hindu religious areas, a no win situation. It is important to notice however the rulers and kings live in insect free, air conditioned palaces and they do not mind the religion as it helps in the population control.
The next major religion is the Arabic Nations, and they are the most dedicated to their religion to the point of death. Their religion originally was called Islamic but changed in the mid 15th century as they revered the leader called Mohammad or Muhammad depending on whom you are speaking to and their understanding. If you are not of Arab descent you can forget about their form of salvation of course they will not inform you of this as their goal is to make the whole world convert to Islam, and the key word is "make" people convert at the point of a sword. Two journalists escaped from their Arab captors by converting to Islam although later they confessed they were really Christian and for the lack of a better word "pretended" to convert to the Islamic faith. Their end goal is to die for Mohammad and acheive 70 female virgins when they attain unto paradise, I suppose the women also get 70 female virgins. Their women are not allowed to participate in the religion or state unless the men pass a law condoning such and they must remain covered in public as there is extreme jealousy in the faith and men who rule. You must be extremely good and do good works according to their faith (which does not mention the 70 virgins) or else they will cut off the hands and feet or kill the individual who disobeys, this is why you have so many without hands in the diamond mining as they take the diamonds and their hands are cut off. You must work for your food, and obey all the laws of the land or put your life in peril. Mohammad whom is reputed to have ascended into heaven was actually killed and buried in the desert and became the Christ-like figure for the Islamic faith. Like Christianity there are many branches of the faith and this is the reason for the bombing of their own brethren in Iraq although the Islamic faith states that they are never to kill one another.
Jewish faith is much like the Christian faith with the exception of Christ to whom they did not accept. They have Ten base Commandmants which they are to follow and must give a sacrifice for their sins each year, however, being without a temple they cannot do so and they have plans to rebuild the temple soon. In rebuilding the temple they would start a Jihad or Holy war with the Arabs as they oppose the temple. This will be averted for a time as they are going to divide the Holy City of Jerusalem into three districts, one for the Jew, one for the Arab, and one for the Gentile which is the name used for everyone who is not of the Jew or Arabic faith. When this is accomplished they will begin sacrifice again which will be against the UN charter and they will not condone this action but will not move to stop it either. Jews believe their Messiah will come soon and set up his kingdom on earth and destroy all the enemies of Israel. You can convert to the Jewish faith as it is written in the old testament and many in the lineage of Jesus Christ were Gentiles which converted unto the Jewish one such story is found in the book of Ruth (a beautiful story). The last war will not be between the Jew and Arab as some have proposed but will be between the Christian and Arab as Israel will be converted by God unto Jesus Christ. They await a Saviour. They also do not believe that Elijah has came to the earth yet as he will be the forerunner of the Messiah, they will however, accept the false prophet, whom they think will be Elijah, and they will accept the false Messiah who will be Satan eventually.
Christian, the only religion (based upon Christ) that states the Messiah has came and offers salvation to any who will receive it. Elijah has come and ushered in the Messiah as predicted and Christ died for the sins of all mankind but if they do reject Him then they reject His pardon and payment on the cross and are dead in their sins and trespasses and will go to an eternal fire called hell. All religions have punishment for the non-believer the degree of the punishment is the difference as well is the mode of salvation. All religions state you must work for your salvation except one and that is the Christian faith, and why is that? Because Christ paid the sin debt for you and the only requirement is you accept the payment by asking Christ to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and save you, such a simple thing to do and yet to most people the hardest thing they have ever done or will do to the point of going through other religions to attain their salvation. It is a strange thing as people will generally go to major extremes to "work" their own salvation instead of accepting the free gift of Jesus Christ. I stated that Elijah has come so where is it recognized in scripture, first let's explore the promise of his coming and then his actual arrival.
THE PROMISE OF ELIJAH TO COME
It is written in the book of Malachi that before the Messiah shall come Elijah must first come and restore all thing and a time line is also given in Hosea 6:1-2
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. So much is noted in this verses and we will explore a few, 1.The LORD is spelled with all caps which is also noted in John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. And is mentioned another 3 times in the same chapter spelled with all caps which emphasizes the "glorified" body of Jesus after His resurrection. This is not alway noted in all bibles but is found in some of the NIV's and King James Version which is an accurate rending of the spelling. 2. This is in the old testament as it is written unto and for the Jew, Hosea being a prophet for the Jew, and the Jew is stating "Let us return unto the LORD" meaning they were not with the LORD but not will seek to return unto Him. The LORD has both "torn and smitten" Israel but now He will "heal and bind them up" 3. This will take place "after two days" which is noted in llPeter as two thousand years (which it has been two thousand years since Christ was here) llPeter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Now how would we know that it denotes two thousand years and not two days-because Christ would not come for another few hundred years or more so Hosea could not be speaking of a time denoted by literal 24 hour periods and it would be a time when the Jew would accept Jesus which they did not do when He came so He had to first come and be rejected by the Jew for them to state "Let us return". 4. In the Third day the Jew states,"in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight" which has not yet occurred as Christ is not reigning on the earth as yet but will during what is termed as the "Millenium" or the literal one thousand year reign of Christ in and from Jerusalem. - Back to Elijah -
Malachi 3:1-3 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. The messenger that God would send is identified in Chapter 4 - Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. When Christ came He did not smite the earth with a curse but blessed it with salvation it was a "great" day in that it offered salvation for all who would accept and it was a dreadful day for those who did not receive him. Elijah's job was two-fold 1. To usher in the Messiah and anoint Him as the most Holy and the Saviour 2. To change the hearts of the children to the fathers and fathers back to the children. In Rome during the time of Jesus the parents of the children would sell them on the auction block as sex slaves to pay off debts and to make money and many other atrocious things which would take to much time to describe but at the preaching of Elijah this stopped and since that time parents have cared for and loved their children until this "modern" age which is showing more abuse and ill will toward the children and the reason of course is the Holy Spirit is decreasing His power over the people as the reign of the anti-christ is about to take place, although it is only a six and half year reign.
Matthew 3:1-4 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
This is the same description of Elijah found in llKings 1:8 -
And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
There is one thing which is extremely important to obtain understanding in the Bible and that is we must alway believe the words of God over that of man, now this may seem a mute point but there are many, as a matter of fact most if not all, ministers that do not accept the words of God over man, I can't recall at this point of one minister that believes what God has said about Elijah. Note: 1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. Here God declares His word to be the final authority.
Matthew 11:9-15 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (although the spelling here is Elias it is interpreted as Elijah) Matthew 17:10-13 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
The disciples understood that John the Baptist was indeed Elijah, however, as I stated earlier the ministers do not accept this and why do they not believe it? The most quoted is that of Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And in John 1:19-25 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? They asked him a great question and would have killed him for the answer if it were not for the people who liked John and would have fought for him. If he were not Elijah or Christ he would not be allowed to baptise anyone, and yet he did this proving as well as his statement above that he was indeed Elijah ( I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord). What about the "spirit and power" of Elijah that was mentioned above? Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Men only have one Spirit that is their life which is given by God, so if John had a Spirit and he also had the Spirit of Elijah then there would have been confuscion and contradiction of the scriptures as man only has one Spirit. The power of Elijah was to preach the gospel and return the hearts of parents and children to each other which is what John accomplished. Another reason given by the ministry is reincarnation but this is inaccurate and does not occur as it is appointed for man to die once and then the judgement, the ministers state that Elijah would have been born twice and he would not be made that small - they forget that Christ pre-existed before his birth with Mary thus He was made small also to be born none of these arguments hold any weight against the words of God, that is Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
The next major religion is the Arabic Nations, and they are the most dedicated to their religion to the point of death. Their religion originally was called Islamic but changed in the mid 15th century as they revered the leader called Mohammad or Muhammad depending on whom you are speaking to and their understanding. If you are not of Arab descent you can forget about their form of salvation of course they will not inform you of this as their goal is to make the whole world convert to Islam, and the key word is "make" people convert at the point of a sword. Two journalists escaped from their Arab captors by converting to Islam although later they confessed they were really Christian and for the lack of a better word "pretended" to convert to the Islamic faith. Their end goal is to die for Mohammad and acheive 70 female virgins when they attain unto paradise, I suppose the women also get 70 female virgins. Their women are not allowed to participate in the religion or state unless the men pass a law condoning such and they must remain covered in public as there is extreme jealousy in the faith and men who rule. You must be extremely good and do good works according to their faith (which does not mention the 70 virgins) or else they will cut off the hands and feet or kill the individual who disobeys, this is why you have so many without hands in the diamond mining as they take the diamonds and their hands are cut off. You must work for your food, and obey all the laws of the land or put your life in peril. Mohammad whom is reputed to have ascended into heaven was actually killed and buried in the desert and became the Christ-like figure for the Islamic faith. Like Christianity there are many branches of the faith and this is the reason for the bombing of their own brethren in Iraq although the Islamic faith states that they are never to kill one another.
Jewish faith is much like the Christian faith with the exception of Christ to whom they did not accept. They have Ten base Commandmants which they are to follow and must give a sacrifice for their sins each year, however, being without a temple they cannot do so and they have plans to rebuild the temple soon. In rebuilding the temple they would start a Jihad or Holy war with the Arabs as they oppose the temple. This will be averted for a time as they are going to divide the Holy City of Jerusalem into three districts, one for the Jew, one for the Arab, and one for the Gentile which is the name used for everyone who is not of the Jew or Arabic faith. When this is accomplished they will begin sacrifice again which will be against the UN charter and they will not condone this action but will not move to stop it either. Jews believe their Messiah will come soon and set up his kingdom on earth and destroy all the enemies of Israel. You can convert to the Jewish faith as it is written in the old testament and many in the lineage of Jesus Christ were Gentiles which converted unto the Jewish one such story is found in the book of Ruth (a beautiful story). The last war will not be between the Jew and Arab as some have proposed but will be between the Christian and Arab as Israel will be converted by God unto Jesus Christ. They await a Saviour. They also do not believe that Elijah has came to the earth yet as he will be the forerunner of the Messiah, they will however, accept the false prophet, whom they think will be Elijah, and they will accept the false Messiah who will be Satan eventually.
Christian, the only religion (based upon Christ) that states the Messiah has came and offers salvation to any who will receive it. Elijah has come and ushered in the Messiah as predicted and Christ died for the sins of all mankind but if they do reject Him then they reject His pardon and payment on the cross and are dead in their sins and trespasses and will go to an eternal fire called hell. All religions have punishment for the non-believer the degree of the punishment is the difference as well is the mode of salvation. All religions state you must work for your salvation except one and that is the Christian faith, and why is that? Because Christ paid the sin debt for you and the only requirement is you accept the payment by asking Christ to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and save you, such a simple thing to do and yet to most people the hardest thing they have ever done or will do to the point of going through other religions to attain their salvation. It is a strange thing as people will generally go to major extremes to "work" their own salvation instead of accepting the free gift of Jesus Christ. I stated that Elijah has come so where is it recognized in scripture, first let's explore the promise of his coming and then his actual arrival.
THE PROMISE OF ELIJAH TO COME
It is written in the book of Malachi that before the Messiah shall come Elijah must first come and restore all thing and a time line is also given in Hosea 6:1-2
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. So much is noted in this verses and we will explore a few, 1.The LORD is spelled with all caps which is also noted in John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. And is mentioned another 3 times in the same chapter spelled with all caps which emphasizes the "glorified" body of Jesus after His resurrection. This is not alway noted in all bibles but is found in some of the NIV's and King James Version which is an accurate rending of the spelling. 2. This is in the old testament as it is written unto and for the Jew, Hosea being a prophet for the Jew, and the Jew is stating "Let us return unto the LORD" meaning they were not with the LORD but not will seek to return unto Him. The LORD has both "torn and smitten" Israel but now He will "heal and bind them up" 3. This will take place "after two days" which is noted in llPeter as two thousand years (which it has been two thousand years since Christ was here) llPeter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Now how would we know that it denotes two thousand years and not two days-because Christ would not come for another few hundred years or more so Hosea could not be speaking of a time denoted by literal 24 hour periods and it would be a time when the Jew would accept Jesus which they did not do when He came so He had to first come and be rejected by the Jew for them to state "Let us return". 4. In the Third day the Jew states,"in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight" which has not yet occurred as Christ is not reigning on the earth as yet but will during what is termed as the "Millenium" or the literal one thousand year reign of Christ in and from Jerusalem. - Back to Elijah -
Malachi 3:1-3 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. The messenger that God would send is identified in Chapter 4 - Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. When Christ came He did not smite the earth with a curse but blessed it with salvation it was a "great" day in that it offered salvation for all who would accept and it was a dreadful day for those who did not receive him. Elijah's job was two-fold 1. To usher in the Messiah and anoint Him as the most Holy and the Saviour 2. To change the hearts of the children to the fathers and fathers back to the children. In Rome during the time of Jesus the parents of the children would sell them on the auction block as sex slaves to pay off debts and to make money and many other atrocious things which would take to much time to describe but at the preaching of Elijah this stopped and since that time parents have cared for and loved their children until this "modern" age which is showing more abuse and ill will toward the children and the reason of course is the Holy Spirit is decreasing His power over the people as the reign of the anti-christ is about to take place, although it is only a six and half year reign.
Matthew 3:1-4 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
This is the same description of Elijah found in llKings 1:8 -
And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
There is one thing which is extremely important to obtain understanding in the Bible and that is we must alway believe the words of God over that of man, now this may seem a mute point but there are many, as a matter of fact most if not all, ministers that do not accept the words of God over man, I can't recall at this point of one minister that believes what God has said about Elijah. Note: 1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. Here God declares His word to be the final authority.
Matthew 11:9-15 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (although the spelling here is Elias it is interpreted as Elijah) Matthew 17:10-13 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
The disciples understood that John the Baptist was indeed Elijah, however, as I stated earlier the ministers do not accept this and why do they not believe it? The most quoted is that of Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And in John 1:19-25 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? They asked him a great question and would have killed him for the answer if it were not for the people who liked John and would have fought for him. If he were not Elijah or Christ he would not be allowed to baptise anyone, and yet he did this proving as well as his statement above that he was indeed Elijah ( I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord). What about the "spirit and power" of Elijah that was mentioned above? Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Men only have one Spirit that is their life which is given by God, so if John had a Spirit and he also had the Spirit of Elijah then there would have been confuscion and contradiction of the scriptures as man only has one Spirit. The power of Elijah was to preach the gospel and return the hearts of parents and children to each other which is what John accomplished. Another reason given by the ministry is reincarnation but this is inaccurate and does not occur as it is appointed for man to die once and then the judgement, the ministers state that Elijah would have been born twice and he would not be made that small - they forget that Christ pre-existed before his birth with Mary thus He was made small also to be born none of these arguments hold any weight against the words of God, that is Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
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