Saturday, August 15, 2020

The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 18:1-14 comments: persistent in prayer and who is justified before God?




Luke 18:1 ¶  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

In this passage we find instruction to be persistent in prayer. Paul will later tell Christians;

Romans 12:12  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

And

1Thessalonians 5:17  Pray without ceasing.

This isn’t the first message on this subject that Jesus has given. Read Luke 11:1-13. By using this wicked judge as God in type it is as if Jesus is saying, “If this mean-spirited, godless judge will respond to the persistent pleas of a widow why would you not expect that a holy, gracious, and loving God will respond to persistent, heartfelt prayer?”

God’s ways are sure but they can take a long time, as far as we are concerned. Yet, when His judgment comes, it will come quickly.

Revelation 6:9 ¶  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Jesus asks a rhetorical question that, of course, as with all questions He knows the answer to but it calls us to consider how many will be trusting Him and looking to God for justice when He returns. With the church removed from the world there may be no one giving thanks or seeking His justice left on the earth.

    18:9 ¶  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13  And
the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The obvious point here is who is more accepted with God; the self-righteous person who acts like God is lucky to have that person on His team or the humble man or woman who realizes the sorry state they are in before God?

When Jesus gave His popularly called ‘Sermon on the Mount’ to His disciples He said;

Matthew 5:3 ¶  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Isaiah wrote in passages given by inspiration of God;

Isaiah 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Only the person who realizes they are spiritually and morally bankrupt without God is justified before Him. The strutting peacock who comes to church in his or her finest with Bible tucked under their arm acting like they are a part of some kind of superior social club is lacking in that regard. We have to realize that we are abject sinners whose condition is miserable without Christ, and whose future is a gallery of horrors without God’s salvation, in order to turn from our sins, our dead works, to Christ. What I am saying is that even if they come to church people will not come to Christ as long as they view themselves as the proverbial, “all that and a bag of chips,” or, “the cream of the crop.” Cultural Christianity draws the self-righteous and occasionally one of them gets saved.

Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

How many people, one can only wonder, do not come to church because they feel that air of superiority, of self-righteousness, directed against them? How many Christian congregations are composed of a majority of people who are smug and self-satisfied, who would dislocate their arms trying to pat themselves on the back in an orgy of self-congratulation?

Along with trusting in God and accepting His will for your life this is a hard thing for people of faith, a temptation that damages their testimony.

1Peter 5:5b  …Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

If a person depends upon their own righteousness to justify them before God they themselves are not a blessing but a blemish on the house of God. In one of Paul’s long sentences he wrote;

Philippians 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Ask yourself, which are you, the Pharisee or the publican (tax-collector)?

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