Jesus and the Parables "Unjust Judge"
Notes
Transcript
Jesus and the Parables week 6
unpacked
Jesus teaches us about the Kingdom of Heaven.
The parable of the unjust judge
Luke 18:1–8 (ESV)
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
1. Always pray with great faith
Prayer is important theme in the Bible
I am going to read a few versus on prayer
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
There are many others versus and passages that highlight the importance of prayer.
And because of that,
I am quite confidant that no one here would argue against prayer,
but I am equally as confident that everyone here this morning to have a more affective prayer life.
Jesus’ goal in telling this story to his disciples was give some more guidance on prayer in order for the disciples prayer life to be more affective.
Jesus story...
Widow venerable (orphans and widows) PERSISTENCE
Unjust judge
How much more the Father
A very short verse sums up Jesus’s message of persistence in prayer is found… 1Thessalonians 5:17
17 pray without ceasing,
17 Never stop praying.
Pray without ceasing is a continual act of faith believing that God is going to give you breakthrough no matter what the circumstance might be in the moment.
The widows circumstances… (Unjust Judge)
Her circumstances did not cause her to stop asking for justice.
When we pray for breakthrough we cannot let our circumstances hinder our faith and trust in God’s power. Amen!
Right now you may be believing for a financial breakthrough, a breakthrough for Divine healing,
it could be for a loved one getting saved.
Whatever the breakthrough is that you are asking God for,
it is important to pray with faith.
What does it mean to pray with faith?
Hebrews 11:1 helps give us clarity on the matter.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) 2007
1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Example of Jim’s dad is dying. Was that faith
True faith is a trust in God knowing that we may not see the breakthrough now,
but we have confidence that God is working even if we don’t see it.
True faith does not stop believing after a day or two of not receiving an answer.
Faith is not based on what we can see in the hear in the now,
but rather faith is believing in realities of what we cannot see.
Example of faith… David Boatright… Come to Church…
Story of selling our house.... 30 days to have an accepted offer
Open house 0 people showed up
3 showings
When we are believing in faith for healing,
or a family member to be saved,
or a financial breakthrough,
Whatever we are asking God for in prayer,
are we letting our situation dictate our level of faith
or
is Jesus’ finished work on the cross dictate our level of faith.
True faith does not focus on the problem but rather on the problem solver! Amen!
2. Great faith is always persistent
Remember the whole idea of why Jesus tells his disciples this parable
is for them to not give up praying for God to intervene on their behalf.
Luke 18:1 (ESV)
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Widow was persistent in her request.
If she saw results making request known to wicked judge,
How much more will God who is righteous answer our request?
It is important to know that God does not get tired of our request...
I believe firmly that God will always answer our request to him.
3 ways
Yes, No, or Wait
It is in the waiting,
that where our faith lies is shown.
It’s in the day’s, the month, and maybe even in the years of waiting that exposes how much faith we really have.
I am afraid many of us,
in the waiting have often times decide to give up.
or
maybe in the waiting we perceive that God said no when really he is testing our endurance to make sure we are ready for when he says yes.
In the moments of stand still that are the hardest,
but in those moments will you dare to keep believing for the impossible?
Mustard seed faith (Small)
Mountain move
Nothing is impossible Matthew 17:20
Mustard seed takes time fully produce
Tend to the garden even when you are not seeing immediate results
Are we willing to contend in faith in the waiting?
Are we willing to continue on in the battle even when the situation seems hopeless.
Grown up in church
The phrase...
Years of suddenly… (Home school joke)
Healing, (years going up for prayer)
Family member saved, (Local Pastor Son)
I want to ask you today what are believing for? (Uncle Chuck)