Posted on 01/23/2014 9:17:46 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:1-8)
Jesus would have his own to “always pray and never to faint…”. Therefore he gives us this parable, in which we find ourselves and our (desperate) times. Like this widow woman, the true church, (the elect of God) realizes that the world we live in militates against justice, righteousness, and truth. She is oppressed and seemingly has no defender, nor worldly power, or resources to plead her case.
Who cares about the Sudanese Christians who have been slaughtered with impunity, as well as the Copts in Egypt, the Syrian villages wiped out, the Chaldeans of Iraq, the Ukrainians, Serbs, the millions of Armenians who were slaughtered by the Turks? As the days darken, we see the voices of the free world,(Once influenced by Judeo-Christianity) are hushed in the face of these outrages.There is little or no official opposition, so Muslims and Communists persecute with impunity.
But God sees, and cares, and is taking down names.
The other part of the Parable that speaks to our situation is that this “Judge” had no regard for God or man! A precise description of our societies, Judges and leaders who sweep aside millennia of tradition and accumulated wisdom, in order to establish abominations such as “Homosexual marriage” and “Abortion on Demand”, No Fault divorce. The arrogance of these ‘judges” is staggering!
This is part of the horror of living in the last days. All of the ancient certainties are cast aside, the old landmarks are bulldozed out-of-the-way, because these godless legislators are part of a rebellious movement which would make a “Brave New World”, a humanistic enterprise, a godless Utopia made in the Image of the same ideals which brought us the French and Russian Revolutions.
“The Kings of the earth and their rulers, have taken counsel against the Lord and His messiah, saying, let us break their bands and cast away their cords from us”(Psalm 2)
These Kings do not fear God, nor do they have any real respect for man, made in the Image of God.
The elect of God are the widow, for our husband is away (for the time being) and seemingly we are powerless. In worldly terms we really are, for ours was never to be political power, or military power, or financial or media power. We stand as the witness to the world to come, our only power is Truth,”The powers of the Age to come”, and the power to cry out…day and night to God!
This is one of the marks of the elect of God, They don’t merely “Say their prayers” … they desperately cry out! As Ezekiel saw in his vision of the Angel with the pen and paper, who was instructed ;
And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.(Ezekiel 9:4)
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them...?
The elect see what is going on, it grieves them and divorces them from hope in this world. Also they know that the church is powerless and even weak in worldly terms. The Moral majority and Operation rescue were noble and beautiful but they were never going to really change anything. Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world…”.
What do we do about all of this decay and rot? Of course we continue to bear witness to the ruth, even if it pleases God to cause us to do it from a position of seeming weakness and humiliation, as the ‘tail and not the head’.
But above all we are to continue to pray for the Kingdom to come, to cry out for the Divine Vindication, the coming in of the Age of Righteousness, and to never faint, cave in and give up. Lift up your voice to God, individually and in congregation and cry out, as the widow did, for the day of Righteousness, for setting of all things back into the right, for the crushing of evil, and for the ultimate triumph of the Lamb of God!
I needed to read this. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by everything in the news lately.
I know the feeling. In our human frailty, it is easy to get overwhelmed. If I did not know Jesus, I think I would be totally freaking out about what is going in the world, rather then just being a little freaked out.
define Elect
Something I remind myself of every day - “Is God’s arm short?”
Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (KJV)
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