The Church's Elijah Ministry to a Land

By James Tarter

This projected conversation in heaven between Jesus and John the Baptist in 60 AD shows God’s calling to Elijah and John. God called them to minister to their nations to bring them to repent and live in God instead of destroying themselves as people and a nation. Today God calls His Church in a land to bring it and its people to repent and live in Jesus instead of destroying themselves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365573033

Book preview

The Church's Elijah Ministry to a Land

The Church’s Elijah Ministry to a Land

Dr. James M. Tarter

Copyright Page

Third Edition

ISBN 978-1-365-57303-3

Copyright 2016, 2017 by James M. Tarter.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted to make copies for purposes consistent with furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible® (1995 Updated Edition): 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.  (www.Lockman.org)

In the references, I italicize all Scripture.  I also boldface and underline words in Scripture for emphasis or relevance.  In the conversation, Scriptures are often discussed but rarely quoted.  Two Scriptures near the end of the conversation are italicized to help discussing their details a little later.

The Setting

This book is a make-believe conversation in heaven between Jesus and John the Baptist in 60 AD. This was between their ministries in Judea near 30 AD and its full judgment for rejecting Jesus starting near 70 AD.  John asks Jesus a few things about his life on earth that John never understood while he was on earth.  Then John asks about his ministry that never came together as he had expected.  Jesus answers him with a full perspective that includes fulfilling Elijah’s ministry.  This also includes showing how both Elijah and John are models for the Church’s ministry to the people in each land and people group.  For nearly 2000 years the Church has needed to improve its fulfillment of this ministry.  The Bible shows that we shall improve in the tumultuous time ahead before Jesus returns.

In the conversation, Jesus sometimes uses I to refer to Himself as God, and sometimes to Himself as the man who was a few months younger than John.  John interacted with God while Jesus was a finite man on earth: John knows Jesus both as God and man, and speaks either way. For example, in the first two sentences John speaks to Jesus wanting God’s answers, but also referring to God’s work that the finite man Jesus did not do.  God always is the true God, and never a distortion of Him, an idol, or a false god.

Again, this book is a make-believe conversation.  It contains a picture that I see very clearly in the Bible, which can help the Church see and move into its often overlooked ministry. To make a reasonable projected conversation between Jesus and John the Baptist, I made assumptions about what John knew at that point in the conversation, with the footnote to the Scripture that I used to be the basis for my assumption. These footnotes are listed and often quoted from the NAS Bible at the end of the whole projected conversation.  Readers who do not know about John’s ministry can start with Matthew 3 and 11:7-19.

Nine books briefly described at the end of this book show this picture in the Bible.  Each book is a systematic Bible Study from a specific Scriptural perspective – for example, from the book of Malachi.

The Personal Conversation

John:  Jesus, I want to ask You some questions that I don’t understand about my life on earth.  I still don’t see how everything is working out according to Scripture and God’s personal words to me.

Jesus:  John, I can explain some things now that would not have been good for you to know while you were on earth.

John:  Why could I not know these things?

Jesus:  You are My excellent child and want things to be right.  A child grows without knowing how.  As My son, you needed to grow through some situations without fully understanding them or being prepared to fix them with My better solutions.  I can help you know a lot more now.

John:  Good.  My first question is that I really don’t understand Your reply to me when I was in prison.  I sent my disciples to ask You if You were the One to come, or should we look for another.  You answered them with Your mighty works that I already knew about.¹  After I was beheaded You let me know what You told the crowd as soon as my disciples left.²  Thank You for so much honor, but why did You not tell my disciples this word, which would have given me more hope?

Jesus:  God had already answered after your direct question to Him, but this time you didn’t hear Him.  My answer repeated His answer so that you realized He had answered