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Come and Reign Over Us

In a time so much like today, God’s people in the time of Judges struggled to live out His commands without compromising with the evil world around them.  Often, they failed, found themselves enslaved, and would cry out to God for deliverance.  When they did, God would send a judge who would save them, but the people only remained faithful until the judge died.

Abimelech was one of those judges, and his story teaches us several lessons.

I.  Judges 9:1-24.  Gideon’s illegitimate son, Abimelech, was a terrible guy who went to his terrible family and gathered around him terrible people to do a terrible thing: he killed the seventy sons of Gideon, his half-brothers, all except Jotham, the youngest.  As Jotham tells Abimelech and his family that they will destroy each other, he gives an extended metaphor that helps us today.  The trees (the family) was trusting in brambles (Abimelech) to rule over them, but they won’t like the refuge that brambles offer.  We must not put our trust in the things of this world but only God.

II.  1 Corinthians 9:24-27.  Also, just because you’re being used by God doesn’t mean He approves of what you’re doing.  Pharaoh teaches us this (Romans 9:17).  So do the wicked men who put Jesus to death and probably thought they were doing the right thing (Acts 2:22-24).  We must persevere in the face of discipline (Hebrews 12:11-17) and obey God’s commands so that we will not be disqualified for the prize.

III.  Psalm 46:1-3.  Thirdly, we must be careful in whose or what we’re taking refuge in.  Our situation being so similar to God’s people’s situation in the time of Judges, we must be careful not to compromise with the world.  The brambles are all around us, begging us to come rest in their shade: the economy, politicians, health, youth, friends, self-concept.  These are all temporary and will melt with the elements in the heat on Judgment Day (Psalm 20:1-9).  Christ and His work on the cross and at the tomb, however, are eternal.  Only in Him, the King of Kings, may we take refuge and live.

In who or what are you taking refuge?  Examine your life, the way you interact with others, your social media posts, how you spend your time.  While calling yourself a Christian, you may find that you’re spending a lot of time in the shade of brambles.

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Will He Find Faith on the Earth?

Perhaps you’ve scratched your head when your friend sees a monster truck and has said, “Wow!  That’s just like my VW Beetle.”  We’re conditioned to see similarities rather than differences, used to comparing rather than contrasting.  That’s why we have trouble with some of Jesus’ parables.  No, Jesus is not encouraging us to be dishonest like the manager who cut his boss’ client’s bills just before he was fired.  And in the parable that begins Luke 18, Jesus is not telling us that God is an unjust judge or that we are to be a pesky mosquito that buzzes continually in God’s ear for Him to even consider listening to our prayers.

I. Luke 18:1-8.  If we start by seeking for the differences between the judge and God in this parable, then it makes more sense.  Both are positions of authority, but the judge is clearly seeking his own interests while God loves us unconditionally–even sending His Son to die on the cross for us.  The point of the parable is that even if this unjust judge will give in to a widow with such persistence, then how much more will a good and caring God give to His children whom He loves?

II. John 17:1-23.  While understanding God’s character so much better in this parable, don’t lose sight of the responsibility Jesus says we have to be persistent, purposeful, and precise in prayer.  So often our prayers are haphazard and vague.  Though names and situations are mentioned before our worship services begin, we pray in general often for the sick and struggling … and then they are forgotten until next Sunday.  Modeling how we in the flesh should pray, Jesus prayed in these ways.

III. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  Jesus contrasts the judge with God, but He also contrasts the widow with us.  The last line of the parable in Luke 18:8 asks if the Son of Man will find faith on the earth when He returns.  It took faith for the widow to be so persistent in her supplication.  So, a lack of persistence in prayer would indicate a lack of faith on our part.  We gain a better prayer life by having greater faith, and we gain greater faith by praying about it.

The more we trust the good and loving Judge, the more we will want to speak with Him.  Try it.  He already knows what you need before you ask Him, and He has invited you to His throne to ask Him.  Do you have enough faith to be persistent in prayer?

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Even if Someone Rises from the Dead

Nowhere in the text of Luke 16 is “The Rich and Lazarus” called a parable, but even if the characters are fictitious, Jesus doesn’t ever make fantasy out of doctrine.

I.  Luke 16:19-31.  We cannot change anything after death.  The beggar Lazarus, who had a terrible earthly life, received comfort after death while the rich man, who never thought about anyone but himself in life, was in torment.  And that was it.  There was no changing their situation, no prayers or purgatory-like system to move a loved one from one side of the chasm to the other.  Death is final.

II.  2 Corinthians 7:10-11.  The time to repent is now.  Allow godly sorrow to produce in you the fruit of true repentance while you still have breath.  One who procrastinates in obeying the gospel and living a life of repentance and obedience may find that time runs out on him suddenly.  We are not guaranteed even one more minute.  The rich man certainly would have liked a second chance.

III.  2 Timothy 3:16-17.  We have everything we need to repent.  The rich man’s brothers had Moses and the Prophets, God’s Word at that time, the same Bible that the resurrected Jesus preached the gospel from on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:25-27).  We have the completed Word of God that thoroughly equips the man of God for every good work.

Like the rich man’s brothers, the world today isn’t convinced of the narrow path to eternal life even though Jesus has risen from the dead.  They continue searching for spiritual truth when all they need is widely available to them within the pages of Scripture.  What will convince you to live repentance now while you still have breath?

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Over One Sinner who Repents

We all know the frantic, panicked feeling we have when searching for something that’s lost, such as our keys, wallet, or phone.  Hopefully, we’ve never known the sheer terror of losing a kid in a store, or if so, hopefully we know the sheer joy when that object or person is finally found.  That’s God’s joy in finding us when we repent and turn back to Him.

Most of the time, however, we are like the German groom in a 2013 Daily News article who didn’t even realize that he’d lost his bride when she went to the restroom at a gas station until he had driven 125 miles.  Sadly, many of us are lost in sin, just driving through life, but don’t know it.

I. Luke 15:1-24.  We will never realize that we are lost in sin and want to repent until we realize our worth to God and His incredible love for us.  For Jesus not to eat with sinners, as the charge was made, He couldn’t eat with any of us (Romans 3:23), but the truth was that He was eating with repentant sinners.  In all three parables that follow, God’s love for us and, thus, the reaffirming of our value to Him are the focus–even in the indignity of the watching Father running to His returning son.

II. 2 Corinthians 7:8-11.  A parent will demand his kid say he’s sorry to someone, but this just reinforces worldly sorrow in that child.  Even if the kid means it but continues to do the wrong behavior, he may have reached godly sorrow but not repentance.  Repentance produces actions that are consistent with a change of heart, mind, and attitude toward sin and selfishness.  When the lost son’s money ran out, he tried to fix his own problem by hiring himself out but found his life empty, physically and spiritually, as the pigs were eating better than He was.  Godly sorrow led him to consider that his father’s hired hands did better than he was doing at that moment.  But, it wasn’t until he “got up” and “went” to his father that true repentance was produced.

III. Romans 2:4-7.  Just as Simon the Sorcerer believed and was baptized but was not living out repentance (Acts 8:13-24), it is quite possible that those who have obeyed the gospel warm our pews with only a godly sorrow or worse–a worldly sorrow.  We need to produce fruit in keeping with repentance daily.  Eternity is at stake!

So, what stage are you in: sinning because the money has not run out yet?  Hiring yourself out to futilely take care of the problem by your own resources?  Or, is your stomach growling while you watch the pigs eat better than you do?  If this brings godly sorrow to you, let it produce repentance.  Get up and go to your heavenly Father.  He’s watching and will run to you with open arms.