BibleQuestionsBlog

Luke 10:25 Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, 34 came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ 36 Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

37 He said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Luke 19:11   As they heard these things, he [Jesus] went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that God’s Kingdom would be revealed immediately. ¹² He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. ¹³ He called ten servants of his and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵ “When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business.¹⁶ The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’

¹⁷ “He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸ “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.’

¹⁹ “So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’²⁰ Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief,²¹ for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’

²² “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow. ²³ Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ ²⁴ He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.’

²⁵ “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ²⁶ ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’” ²⁸ Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

 

There is a bit of discussion as to whether the church should be active or passive regarding politics.

In this passage of scripture, those who did not want the Lord to reign over them, were judged by the Lord.

We can think of that as an active fighting against the Lord.

On the other hand, when evil abounds and “good men do nothing”, in a sense, by default, they are letting evil reign, by passively letting evil actively win.

“Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it, and, indeed, to neglect to confound evil men—when we can do it—is no less a sin than to encourage them.”  Pope St. Felix III

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.  Edmund Burke

 

It’s necessary to keep pointing out that churches are muzzled by the 501 c(3) rating.  While they can do charitable work, preach about Jesus, pray for healing and do various other things, you will not hear them weigh in on political matters.

Therefore if you are concerned about what is being taught in your school, if you are concerned about what is happening politically, if you are concerned about learning the truth about the shot (information here), then you are going to have to seek the Lord what He wants you to do.  That kind of information will probably not come initially from the church, or if it does, it may be long in coming.

You may be able to find fellow Christians in your church or circle who want to attend a school board meeting with you, for example, but it is doubtful that it will be initiated from the pulpit.  My apologies to any church for which what I am saying does not hold true, but in my opinion, the majority of church leadership is held captive either by the 501 c(3) or infiltration by modernist forces in one form or another.

Luke 16:1  He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ² He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’

³ “The manager said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵ Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’ ⁶ He said, ‘A hundred batos of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred cors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

⁸ “His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light. ⁹ I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents. ¹⁰ He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹ If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ¹² If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³ No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.”

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him. ¹⁵ He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. ¹⁶ The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of God’s Kingdom is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. ¹⁷ But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall. ¹⁸ Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.

¹⁹ “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. ²⁰ A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores, ²¹ and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. ²³ In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. ²⁴ He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’

²⁵ “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’

²⁹ “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”

This is a question that we can understand enough in order to realize that we have a certain responsibility in relationship to God.  It may not be possible to answer every question, but is more important that we are in right relationship with God than that we can answer every question before we believe God, obey God, and have a right relationship with God.  We know “in part” as the scripture below says.

I Corinthians 13:1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, ⁵ doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; ⁶ doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.

 

God created the heavens and the earth.  He created man.  He created man with free will.  He wanted to fellowship with man.  He wanted man’s love and obedience out of free will.

That is understandable.  Think of anyone that you love.  How much would it mean to you if you had to program that person, to say, for example, “At 10:12 a.m. today you will walk over to me with some flowers, and say you love me.”  “At 4:02 p.m.,  you will call me on the phone asking how my day is going.” “At 5:50 p.m. you will take me out to dinner.”  “At 6:08 p.m.  you will talk to me for 15 minutes.”

How much would it mean if you had to program your husband or wife or children to love you, think about you, or help you?  Not much.  Love is something that is freely given from the heart, if it is love.

And so it is with God.  He wanted the free will love of mankind.

In creating mankind with a free will, that also allowed for the possibility that mankind would make the wrong choice.

If you tell your child to clean the room or wash the dishes, the possibility exists that the child won’t obey.  So it is with God.

Adam and Eve did not obey and lost fellowship with God.  That act of disobedience infected the whole human race with sin, an inborn tendency to “miss the mark” in relationship with God.  Through Jesus it is possible to restore fellowship with God.

So when considering why bad things happen, the element of man’s free will, as well as the fact that satan is on the earth tempting mankind and seeking to steal, kill, and destroy, must be considered.  In the verse below, the “thief” is satan, “I” is Jesus.

John 10:10  The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

 

There is a certain lack of understanding of what Jesus did at the cross.  He made a way for the restoration of mankind, but it is up to mankind to respond.  It is not automatic.

After his resurrection, Jesus gave power and authority and the promises of God to the children of God.  Through these God can help us on earth as we ask, seek, knock and use our God-given rights and authority through Jesus Christ.  However, it is not automatic.

We have things we have to do.  What we have to do is laid out in the Word of God and as a person reads the Bible, the Holy Spirit will help someone understand more and more their part.

In other words, if you have a car, and you have a car key, and you want to go somewhere, you have to put the key in the ignition, turn the car on, and drive.  It is not up to the car manufacturer to get you somewhere.

Often when there are struggles and problems it is very likely there are things that we either need to do (such as tithing or forgiving or helping someone) or stop doing (various things the Bible says to stop doing) in order to position ourselves for blessings.  Again, it is through reading the Bible and being part of a Bible believing church and going to church regularly that these things become more plain.

There is too much thinking that God is sort of a glorified Santa Claus and that all we need to do is lay out a laundry list type of Christmas list for him in prayer and he will do everything.  God works with us, but will not do the part that we should do.