The Church: Preparing the Way for Christ (Santosh Poonen)

Matthew 17:9-13 When Jesus said that Elijah “already came” and “is coming” (Matthew 17:11), that was dual fulfillment of prophecy. In the same way that John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus' first coming (Matthew 17:13; 11:14), the Church exists on earth today to prepare the way for Jesus' second coming. The Church's calling, then, as the "Elijah" of today is: 1. Discerning the True Jesus There were other religious leaders in Jesus’ time who taught many good things (Acts 5:36-37). So, it was critical that John the Baptist know exactly who was the true Messiah, in order to point the disciples to Him. He received this by personal revelation from God (John 1:29-34). God has placed the Church on earth, likewise, to identify the true Jesus from all the false Christs that exist in the world today (II Corinthians 11:2-4). One of the primary marks that the true Jesus has been revealed to us is a passion to decrease so that Christ may increase (John 3:27-30). 2. The Ministry of Restoration God promised that the Church would be involved in reconciling people to God (II Corinthians 5:14-21) and restoring God-ordained relationships (Malachi 4:5). 3. Confronting the Spirit of Babylon The Church will also call people out of a life of “limping on two divided opinions” (I Kings 18:21), to choosing God over Mammon.