SHALL NOT GOD AVENGE HIS OWN? Luke 18:1 8

Transcription

1 SHALL NOT GOD AVENGE HIS OWN? Luke 18:

2 LAST DAYS This parable has special reference to the end of time (p. 164) in that we are to always pray and faint not. (p. 164) It is for deliverance from Satan that we are to pray (p. 166) 2 2

3 ACCUSER This will be Satan s work especially as we approach the close of this world s history (p. 168) Often we will be before people in official positions who do not make the word of God their guide. This parable shows us what we should do. Christ, our example, did nothing to vindicate or deliver himself. He committed his case to God. So his followers are not to accuse or condemn, or resort to force in order to deliver themselves. (p. 171) 3 3

4 ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS Is justification He places upon the repenting, believing ones his own robe of righteousness and writes pardon against the names on the records of heaven. (p. 170) 4 4

5 Though he had forsaken his position as covering cherub, yet if he had been willing to return to God, acknowledging the Creator s wisdom, and satisfied to fill the place appointed him in God s great plan, he would have been reinstated in his office. But pride forbade him to submit. He persistently defended his own course, maintained that he had no need of repentance, and fully committed himself, in the great controversy, against his Maker. (GC 495.3) 5 5

6 Jesus did not contend for His rights. (DA 89) But there were some who sought his society, feeling at peace in his presence, because he never contended for his rights. Tho he loved his brethren, yet they hated him, and manifested the most decided unbelief and contempt. (ST, August 6, 1896 par. 8) 6 6

7 PRAYER Moves the arm of God (p. 172) Has subdued kingdoms Has worked righteousness Has obtained promises Has stopped the mouths of lions Has quenched the violence of fire Has turned to flight the armies of the aliens (Hebrews 11:33, 34) 7 7

8 Never is one repulsed who comes to God with a contrite heart. (p. 174) Not one sincere prayer is lost. Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cries of the weakest human being. From our private closets and as we walk by the way, our words reach the throne of God. They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die away into silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business. 8 8

9 Nothing can drown the soul s desire. It rises above the din of the street, above the confusion of the multitude to the heavenly courts. It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard. 9 9

10 ANGELS In every assembly for business or pleasure, in every gathering for worship, there are more listeners than can be seen with the natural sight. (p. 176) Invisible armies of light and power attend the meek and lowly ones who believe and claim the promises of God. (p. 176) By these angel messengers a faithful record is kept of the words and deeds of the children of men. (p. 177) 10 10

11 As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart all appear as if written in letters of fire. (GC 666.2) 11 11

12 WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMETH, SHALL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH? 12 12

13 Time elapsed Attack on the Scriptures Time of trouble 13 13

14 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8, 9) 14 14

15 Time elapsed Attack on the Scriptures Time of trouble 15 15

16 Spiritual darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. There are in many churches skepticism and infidelity in the interpretation of the Scriptures. Many, very many, are questioning the verity and truth of the Scriptures. Human reasoning and the imaginings of the human heart are undermining the inspiration of the Word of God, and that which should be received as granted, is surrounded with a cloud of mysticism. Nothing stands out in clear and distinct lines, upon rock bottom. This is one of the marked signs of the last days. (1SM 15.2) 16 16

17 This Holy Book has withstood the assaults of Satan, who has united with evil men to make everything of divine character shrouded in clouds and darkness. But the Lord has preserved this Holy Book by His own miraculous power in its present shape a chart or guidebook to the human family to show them the way to heaven. (1SM 15.3) 17 17

18 But the oracles of God have been so manifestly neglected that there are but few in our world, even of those who profess to explain it to others, who have the divine knowledge of the Scriptures. There are learned men who have a college education, but these shepherds do not feed the flock of God. They do not consider that the excellencies of the Scriptures will be continually unfolding their hidden treasures as precious jewels are discovered by digging for them. (1SM 15.4) 18 18

19 Time elapsed Attack on the Scriptures Time of trouble 19 19

20 As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God s forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation's iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return. The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress which prophets have described as the time of Jacob s trouble. The cries of the faithful, persecuted ones ascend to heaven. And as the blood of Abel cried from the ground, there are voices also crying to God from martyrs graves, from the sepulchers of the sea, from mountain caverns, from convent vaults: How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? {5T 451.2} 20 20

21 The Lord is doing His work. All heaven is astir. The Judge of all the earth is soon to arise and vindicate His insulted authority. The mark of deliverance will be set upon the men who keep God s commandments, who revere His law, and who refuse the mark of the beast or of his image. {5T 451.3} 21 21

22 God has revealed what is to take place in the last days, that His people may be prepared to stand against the tempest of opposition and wrath. Those who have been warned of the events before them are not to sit in calm expectation of the coming storm, comforting themselves that the Lord will shelter His faithful ones in the day of trouble. We are to be as men waiting for their Lord, not in idle expectancy, but in earnest work, with unwavering faith. It is no time now to allow our minds to be engrossed with things of minor importance. While men are sleeping, Satan is actively arranging matters so that the Lord s people may not have mercy or justice. (5T 452) 22 22

23 God has always wrought for His people in their greatest extremity, when there seemed the least hope that ruin could be averted. The designs of wicked men, the enemies of the church, are subject to His power and overruling providence. He can move upon the hearts of statesmen; the wrath of the turbulent and disaffected, the haters of God, His truth, and His people can be turned aside, even as the rivers of water are turned, if He orders it thus. Prayer moves the arm of Omnipotence. He who marshals the stars in order in the heavens, whose word controls the waves of the great deep, the same infinite Creator will work in behalf of His people if they call upon Him in faith. He will restrain the forces of darkness until the warning is given to the world and all who will heed it are prepared for the conflict. {5T 452.2} 23 23

24 What revelations will be made in the day of final reckoning that will show how much suffering unjust judges have brought upon their fellow-men! It will be made manifest that their injustice has not come upon men because of ignorance of what were their rights, but because they were unmindful of the privileges that God had given to their fellow-men. Tho they stood as judges, they themselves brought upon men terrible oppression, and assisted the robber, the thief, in robbing their fellow-men

25 The day is coming when these judges will be arrayed before the throne of eternal justice, and will have to give an account before Him who is the judge of both the quick and the dead. When the books are opened and men are judged according to the works written in the books, sentence will be pronounced against the evil judges who have brought so great oppression upon the innocent and the helpless. They will be called upon to behold every deed of injustice, and to see the sufferings that they have thereby caused their fellow-men. Those actions that had the appearance of external propriety, and even of goodness, will be unmasked, and the hypocrisy of men will be seen in its true character

26 Those who do a deed of justice simply to rid themselves of the trouble of listening to the pitiful tales of suffering that the afflicted pour into their ears, are placed in sharp contrast with the all-merciful, all-pitiful Father, who considers the appeals of his suffering children with infinite compassion and love. The Lord calls upon men and angels to hear what the unjust judge said. Heaven is cognizant of the actions of men. The Lord places in contrast the spirit and action of the unjust judge with his own Spirit and action, saying: And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, tho he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. {ST, May 21, 1896 par. 4} 26 26

27 What is prayer merely the presentation of our soul hunger? No; the presentation of our perplexities and necessities, and of our need of God s help against our adversary the devil. As the elect of God we need to understand the nature of our wants and the motives that prompt us to prayer. We need to remember that we are in need, and that our wants must be supplied from the heavenly storehouse. Prayer is to be offered for the preservation of life, for the preservation of every power and faculty, that we may render the highest service to our Maker. It is to be offered for temporal necessities and blessings. In the prayer Christ gave His disciples, the request is made for daily bread. Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, the Saviour said. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? The realization of our need urges us to pray earnestly, and our Father is moved by our petitions. {ST, September 15, 1898 par. 7} 27 27