Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sunday Sermon 1-30-2011


Luke 10 KJV

 1After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
 2Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
 3Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
 4Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.
 5And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
 6And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
 7And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
 8And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:
 9And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
 10But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,
 11Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
 12But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
 13Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
 14But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.
 15And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
 16He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
 17And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
 18And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
 19Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
 20Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
 21In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
 22All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
 23And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:
 24For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
 25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
 26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
 27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
 28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
 29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
 30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
 31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
 32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
 33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
 34And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
 35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
 36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
 37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
 38Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
 39And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
 40But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
 41And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
 42But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

This one pretty well speaks for it's self. And, helps to show one of the things I don't like about organized religion, church, and learned preachers. Is that when they preach they take a book:chapter:verse and use it solitary with no reference to any of the rest of the chapter or book. This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about, I came across this passage while doing research on the fall of Satan and Luke 10:18,
 18And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven., was referenced as Jesus' account of his witness to the fall of Satan. And, yup I'd say I'd have to agree, until I read the rest of the chapter. This verse is in the middle of a chapter that (to me) talks about how you should treat your fellow man, and work for what you have. It starts by talking about how little labour was made for what was had, and goes on to talk about how you should be humble and have faith in God. And, even the context of the verse can be changed with a simple comma... And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Now, that says I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning falls from the heavens... And he said unto them, I beheld Satan, as lightning fall from heaven. Now, this gives it a whole new meaning, I saw Satan (bright and with much power) like lightning fall (does) from heaven. This is why when I'm in church and a Bible verse is referenced, I always read the whole chapter the verse is in.

There was also references to Ezekiel 28 & Isaiah 14 but in reference these two seem to be talking about the kings of the time. Also, Revelation 12 was referenced, to me this is a reference to the great war after the Resurrection, and as far as I know that hasn't happened yet.

This little quest was inspired by a quote by Mark Twain that I read a few years back. "But who prays for Satan? Who in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most, our one fellow and brother who most needed a friend yet had not a single one, the one sinner among us all who had the highest and clearest right to every Christian's daily and nightly prayers, for the plain and unassailable reason that his was the first and greatest need, he being among sinners the supremest?"

"How can you pray for your neighbour, who's lost a child, out loud. When you can't pray for the one who has been damned the worst and longest, Satan, in silence?"  - Jeff C.

I know I've touched on this before, but I think it needs repeated. But, this time in a different way. I'm not going to repeat the Mark Twain quote from when I talked about forgiveness, you can look it up if you want to. But, I got to thinking about this during service this morning. And, I wonder how this prayer request would be taken by the Church. Would they think to themselves that he does need a prayer for him, or would they shout blasphemy? How would you feel to be asked to pray for the worst of the sinners? Would you pray for God's revered angel? Even though he has fallen? You will find sympathy in your heart for a confessed murder. Some will find sympathy in their hearts for a child molester, or someone who steals candy from a little five year old girl. Although I have no sympathy for anyone who sins, I do not try to judge them. That is not my place. But, I know there have been prayers sent to Anton LeVey, Charles Manson, and Jeffrey Dahmer. And, people will shout out against the Devil as the reason these people do what they have done, but none will pray for Satan. Why? Wouldn't it make things much easier if he asked God for forgiveness and was saved by the Lord God? Just like you or me? If he causes us to wander then if he is saved, and becomes an angel once again, then shouldn't temptation be completely removed from the Earth? If he is what causes bad things to happen, and he becomes holy once again? What would that do for... Everything?

Just some brain nuggets for your mind to chew on for a while.
And, I have my own thoughts of what or who Satan may actually be to/for God, but I'll save that for another day.

1 comment:

  1. To deep for my feeble mind. At least on a Monday night.

    I left you an award (or curse, depending upon opinion), over at my blog. I have mixed feelings feelings about the whole thing, but I guess it's just part of the whole blog thing.

    ReplyDelete