YES, HE is Talking to YOU! (continued)

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Yesterday we finished our discussion on Light with some practical and scientific worldly examples of Light and what it means to us all. We will likely someday discover for ourselves that all is Light and all is Energy and that these are the very nature of our Manifested God. We also covered the first of our two parables which at the outset we said are considered to be about persistence. We found that this is not, from our spiritual perspective, completely accurate as regards the Parable of the Friend at Midnight which more shows us in parable form that we will get what we ask for; not because we are a friend and not because we are persistent but because we need and we ask. Today we look at the other of these two which is called the Parable of the Unjust Judge. The parable goes thus:

“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).

It is said that this parable is similar to the Parable of the Guest at Midnight but a careful reading shows that the Master has a very different theme in mind here. We should also note that there is a interpretation by the Apostle Luke that precedes it and an interpretation of sorts by the Master at the end. However, seeing that this is a parable we will go on the understanding that there must be a hidden meaning for us all besides the apparent and spoken interpretations.

That the widow prayed and did not faint is found in the idea that she did trouble the judge much. That the judge feared not God nor regarded men can be seen merely as a sign that he acted without partiality; that Jesus calls the judge unjust could be seen more in the motivation of his action than in his personal credential. We should look at some of the terms used here so as to have a better understanding. First is the idea of faint; the lexicon says that this is defined as to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted² which does not lend the proper idea insofar as praying. Vincent tells us that it should be seen as to turn coward or to lose heart⁴ of which the idea of lose heart seems to show better the Master’s intent. One does not stop praying because of exhaustion but because they see no results, they lose heart and to this idea Strong’s agrees. The next word is avenge, from the Greek word ekdikeo, of which Vincent tells us that the translation into: the word (avenge) is too strong. It means do me justice⁴ and with this the lexicon² agrees though they do list numerous possible translation ideas. On the idea of “lest by her continual coming she weary me” Vincent tells us the literal translations for this phrase could imply that the judge was ‘fearful‘ that the widow would assault him in some way which would make her a bit more than a persistent pest. Now just so that we know that these things can get complex Vincent also tells us that the phrase the unjust judge is literally the judge of injustice⁴ which does not change the story, it only changes the thoughts of the Master regarding the judge.

So these differences, if we accept them, paint the picture this way; We should pray always and not be discouraged nor lose heart. There was a impartial judge to whom a woman came with a case and asked the judge for justice but the judge did not comply. The woman persisted angrily and the judge consented to hear her. The Master tells the people listening that they should hear what the judge of injustice says; that he will hear her and do her justice and this likely because of her persistence and his sense of fear.

Going on then to Jesus’ own interpretation for the people where He says, using our interpretation of the words above, that shall not God do justice for His own elect? We must understand that the word elect in this reference is to those chosen and the context for us should be that they have chosen Him. Being no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) why would God choose any one person except by the idea that the person follows the word and in which case we should see that the person chose God. The reverse of this idea leads to much misconception. So we, choosing God, shall get our justice from the Lord; what can this mean? Let us continue and find out. We choose God and we pray without losing heart and the Master tells us that in doing so we, through our prayers, beg more revelation and more of the Spirit of God and that through our persistence, even our angry demands, we will get our justice, and our reward. Some of the bible translations do use the idea of justice in place of avenge but the common idea of these verses seems to be vengeance which idea is, in our view, misplaced.

The last line we have visited before; the Master asks: “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” and what can we say here? Remember the first line of this parable saying: “and he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint“; can we see in this last question by the Master is His questioning as to whether any will heed this call; to pray and not to faint. To have the Faith to persist until His return; to have the persistence to demand and receive His justice and His reward. Shall He find Faith? will there be any that do not fall away into the seemingly easier ways of the world?

This brings me to a point which I did not know how to bring into our discussion and this is the teachings today of some parts of the Christian church and in particular a very fast growing segment which I shall not name here. I generally stay away from the prosperity teachings but I caught one, not unexpectedly, under the guise of good news for the poor. So that you do not misunderstand my perspective, this is one of my favorite preachers and teachers; he is generally insightful. Being who and what I am and seeing what I write, I do not agree with much of what he says as relates to the relationship between God and man nor his views on the bible itself but his messages generally deliver insight and food for thought. The message this day was on being poor. This minister steadfastly considers other church groups and the messages delivered from their pulpits wrong and says, of course, that his group has the right message. He encourages his parishioners to acknowledge that, although they may be in the minority, that they are the only ones reading scripture correctly. Now this opinion is rather normal as each of the denominations makes this claim and can provide their interpretations of scripture to support it.

I want only here to go through a few of this minister’s claims to make for a clearer understanding of the Master’s words above where He is asking if He will find any Faith. We should remember that this Faith is not just some belief in Jesus as a Saviour but it is an active participation in or a striving toward the Kingdom of God which perforce includes our keeping His commandments. There are a number of pastors and ministers in the world today who live a high life style and preach that this is good and right and it is the will of God. Many of these fly around in private jets and live in luxurious homes, even mansions, and they teach that this is life more abundantly. I have no qualms with success and I do believe that the message that they preach overall is bringing some people closer to the Lord and this is good. What I disagree with is the seemingly intentional misrepresentation of scripture and the demeaning of the beliefs of others. They may believe that they are right and I certainly do not know what is in their hearts but when one cleverly cuts up a verse or cleverly picks one that meets the needs of his beliefs or his lifestyle, it becomes for me seemingly intentional. It is these type of things that have resulted in the thousands of differing denominations of the one Christian Faith.

Let me list here a few of the ideas that I heard in this message with a little comment and we can be done with this subject for awhile.

• Poor is not only really poor but it is marginally poor as well and is defined by not having the things that you want. This encourages people to pay attention to the ideas that they can pray for and believe for the things of this world and thereby get them; not necessarily things that are needed but things that are wanted.
• The the line in the Lord’s Prayer saying thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven is used to say that we should be living here on Earth as God lives in heaven; there is no lack in heaven. How does God live is the question posed and the answer is the streets of gold from the Book of Revelation. The idea from Revelation is painted as reality even though there are definite encumbrances to relating any of this verse to our reality: “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass” (Revelation 21:21). What we have then is pearls as big as the gate to the city (very large oysters then) and gold as clear ast glass and since God lives this way we should live in luxury or in plenty as well.
• To say that there should be no lack in the world, the verse from Acts is brought out that says “There were no needy persons among them (New International Version (NIV)) but there is no mention of the rest of the verse which says in full from our King James Version (KJV): “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need” (Acts 4:34-35) which paints quite a different picture.
• The third letter of the Apostle John is used and a single verse containing the word prosper and which says: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health , even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John:2). While alternate translations are often used to make a point they are not used to defer one that suits a current need. For example, in this verse several translations say that the Greek word that is translated prosper here in the KJV is translated as “that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well” in the NIV and some others. Additionally, while word studies are used when needed to make a point they are not used in places like this. The Greek word here is euodoo of which Strong’s says: to get along with, to have a way opened, to prosper, get along well and is used as to have a prosperous journey³ which last idea agrees also with Vincent⁴. The last point here would be that there is no understanding of the True nature of the Soul or one would understand that as a Soul prospering in a monetary sense is not an issue.
• The overall message is that if one has in abundance then one can give in abundance and while this is true, that 10% of a lot is more than 10% of a little, following after money and prosperity for the ability to give more is contrary to so much of what the Master teaches as is the related idea of tithing and giving much because it will be returned many fold.
• Taking a verse from one gospel and ignoring the same verse from another as in Luke’s saying of: “Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20) so as to say that God does not want any poor but without citing the verse in Matthew that says “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
• The worst part of this all is not so much in what is taught but it is in calling preachers that say otherwise liars and telling listeners that there are lies coming from the pulpit of other churches. While the idea of preaching poverty or living a rather plain lifestyle may be in error, it is no more in error than teaching prosperity; it is a belief and an interpretation of scripture on both sides.

There is more but this is enough to allow me to vent at what I see as injustice and misleading remarks. There is a point of moderation in these things and a way of presenting an idea in Truth. To say that one believes that the word of God is the Bible should require that it is preached accurately and not interpreted towards ones lifestyle or in any convenient manner. We believe that the words of the Master are spoken for all and are understandable on many levels and that the only teaching that the Master gives clearly is that we do His word and His word is Love.

Note on the Quote of the Day