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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