Luke 18: 1-8

(Luke 18: 1-8)

 

『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)

 

The Bible says, "Life is like grass in the morning." And said, "It's like sleeping for a while. Our life is seventy and eighty, fly at a moment". But humans think that they will live forever in their hearts.

 

『And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 』 (Hebrews 9:27) "Prepare the Judgment," but it seems to have no such mind at all. People have a vague idea, "If you believe in Jesus, you will go to heaven." The Bible says, "Go before unrighteous judges and relieve grudges." However, people are accepting these words as "prayers that hang on and plead with God." The Bible says in Hebrews 11: 11-16 that "the home we are to return to is the kingdom of God."

 

『These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 』

 

However, few people think that the kingdom of God is their home. Hometown means "lived there," but the human spirit is from God, but people do not think it is the kingdom of God because they do not know it.

 

To return home, we must know that the human spirit is from God. God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites, saying in Leviticus (25:23).『The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.』The meaning of this word can be thought of as God speaking about the land of Canaan, or speaking about the world. If God speaks of the land of Canaan, Israel is from Egypt, and Egypt is the home. But it makes no sense that Egypt is home. So this world is a stranger.

 

In the words of Hebrews (11: 13-16) above, the ancestors of Israel looked far from God's promise and testified that they were strangers to this world. In other words, there is a home to go back. If Abraham is referring to all of the Ur of the Chaldeans who have left, there is a chance to go back, but that is not the case. Not even Egypt. Hebrews says that a better home is "in heaven." The meaning of "better place" iss not the material world, but the kingdom of God, the spirit world.

 

Every spirit in life is a stranger who comes from God's kingdom and has to return for a while. Jesus said in John (6:63).『It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life』. It is also said in Ecclesiastes (12: 7).『 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it』.

 

It means that the body returns to the earth and the subject who returns to the kingdom of God is the spirit. However, most people think of their subject as a mind that originated from the flesh. In the Bible, the fleshly mind is expressed as the old man. This old man is of the flesh, and must die to have the spirit alive. God said, "It is spirit that saves." The spirit must not be in the flesh, but must be in the spirit world. But it is unnatural to have a spirit in the flesh because it is trapped. The Bible also says, "People are imprisoned." The purpose of Jesus' coming into the world was to "release the prisoner."

 

『God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.』 In John (4:24), God is the Spirit. So God is in the kingdom of God. Humans also have a spirit. In Luke (8:55), the daughter of the synagogue president (Jairo) died, saying that the Spirit returned because Jesus was raised again. 『And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.』 According to Jesus in John (6:63), "the spirit is dead." "Dead" means "disconnected from God."

 

The world in which humans live is called the material world. When God made the Spirit in the kingdom of God, why is it not in the kingdom of God but in the material world? That is, the spirit is trapped in the body. The spirit is free when it is in the kingdom of God, but not when it is trapped in the soil. But Jesus said he would give freedom to those who were trapped.

 

The spirit comes from the body when the body dies, but the spirit does not come from the body while the body is alive in the world, but freedom is found by Jesus Christ. If the old man of flesh died on the cross with Jesus, he would make the spirit free. The mind of the spirit is different from that of the flesh. To deny self is to deny the old man of this flesh, because the old man of the flesh is a projection of the desire to be like God. This is the mind that "I will do good without God."

 

God put the spirit in the dust to become human. To the spirit, the world is a stranger. Putting it in the soil means "contained." The apostle Paul confesses in 2 Corinthians (12:4):『 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 』 Paul expressed that "paradise is an inexplicable place." But the human spirit of dust is confined in darkness.

 

Jesus spoke of the unjust trial and the parable of the widow. Cry, will you not hear the resentment of God's chosen one? It is Satan who has deceived those who choose to be like God. We must realize that we are servants of Satan, repent and return to God. "We must reprove and plead Satan with temptation." It is not a blessing to the world. In order to return to the kingdom of God, we are to reprove Satan and pray to return with Jesus.

 

In order to return to the kingdom of God with Jesus, old man must die with Jesus. You must take off your old clothes, put on Christ, and enter the kingdom of God. Jesus said in Luke (8:8):『I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?』

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