The Coming Of The Kingdom: Faith in the waiting. to Luke 18:1-8
Notes
Transcript
Text - Luke 18:1-8
Subject - Perseverance
Theme - Perserverant Faith
Thesis - Perseverant faith is marked by persistent prayer and unwavering confidence in God's righteous rule.
Principle - We must persist in prayer as we await Christ return, trusting that God hears, cares, and will act according to His perfect will, even when answers are delayed.
As we pick up in chapter 18 of Luke this week.
I wonder, if you were here last week, how did the text leave you feeling?
Jesus shared some difficult teaching on the coming kingdom.
His teaching was meant to show the urgent, yet unknown nature of His return.
That his second coming will bring judgment upon those who are not prepared.
It left his disciples to ask Him the question, where Lord?
I believe their question was a matter of them thinking, we need to say something but don’t know what to say.
If we break things up along chapter lines, chapter 17 ends in a rather abrupt way.
37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
We must remember again that chapter breaks, section titles, and verse markers are not inspired by God.
They have been put in to help us navigate such a large book.
This is another example of how the chapter break does us a bit of disservice.
Before we go any further let’s read our text together.
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?”
We often read this passage and think of it as a call to persevering, persistent prayer in general keep pestering the judge until he gives in, so to speak.
Persevering prayer is surely a valid application, the question though is why are we persevering?
After all, Jesus tells this parable as verse 1 says “to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
We need to recall the preceding context and the opening question in Lk 17:20
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,
Notice, we have not had a change of venue, or a change of audience.
Jesus is still speaking to the Pharisees and to his disciples on the way to Jerusalem.
It was that question asked by the Pharisees about the Kingdom of God which launched Jesus into these specific teachings related to His return and the implication that there would be a some delay.
Jesus, in His humanness said that only the Father knows the time of Christ return, but in his divine nature, He also knew that it would seem like that return was a long way off or perhaps never coming.
He knew it would be easy for His followers lose heart because of the delay. (Perhaps he heard it in the disciples question or saw it on their faces.)
It brings up a very relevant question for us right from the beginning of our passage to consider.
What do you do when it feels like your prayers are hitting the ceiling?
When you’ve pleaded with God over and over, but nothing seems to change?
Maybe you’re hoping for healing, for a prodigal child to come home, for justice in a broken situation—but God seems silent.
Jesus knew His disciples would face seasons of doubt and discouragement as they awaited His return, and that includes us!
So he told this parable.
This parable is a call to persevere.
To persevere is to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.
Our call is to persevere in faith, to always pray and not lose heart.
Perseverant faith is marked by persistent prayer and unwavering confidence in God's righteous rule.
The Call to Perseverant Faith (Luke 18:1) — The Command to Pray
The Call to Perseverant Faith (Luke 18:1) — The Command to Pray
Jesus offers that call through this parable.
This is one of the rare parables where we know the purpose right from the start.
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Jesus teaches that His disciples must always pray and not lose heart—an urgent truth for us today.
Jesus is talking here specifically to His followers as noted in verse 22 of the previous chapter.
He has been talking about the fact that the Son of Man is going to come, that He is going to come in a way that is visible and the whole world will see His coming.
It will flash across the sky like lightning from one end to the other.
And He's going to come in horrific judgment as it was in the days of Noah, as it was in the days of Lot.
He's going to come in a way that's going to divide marriages and families, one taken, another left.
He's going to come in a way that's going to create death and devastation and carcasses all over the earth so that vultures will gather as we see in verse 37 to devour the flesh of those that have been destroyed.
He's been talking about His Second Coming in judgment.
Yes He's coming to set up the kingdom.
Yes He's coming to glorify Himself.
Yes He's coming to establish His rule of righteousness and peace in the world.
But that will not happen now, in His current appearing on the earth.
Jesus is telling His disciples that they must pray and not lose heart between now, Jesus first coming and his second coming.
That is the period we live in currently.
We currently live as members of a spiritual kingdom that the Lord is building through salvation.
We catch imperfect glimpses of it through the church as we imperfect people gather to worship the Lord, love and serve one another and our community around us.
It is far from perfect though and is wrought with trials and difficulties as we navigate the sinful realities of this broken world.
Nevertheless, Christ kingdom is being built.
His lasting and eternal kingdom though will be fully visible and will be a kingdom of righteousness.
There won’t be any double motives, lies, deception.
In Christ eternal kingdom we will see the end of the reign of Satan and sin, the establishment of the glorious kingdom of righteousness,
There will be immeasurable joy and peace in the establishment of the new heavens and the new earth.
That is all in the future and associated with Christ second coming.
Through this parable, Jesus is saying you need to view that event with prayer and not to lose heart.
That's the key to understanding the meaning of the story.
With the craziness of the world around us.
The speed with which news travels.
In a world of injustice, delays, and trials, as Christ followers, we must develop a habit of persistent prayer instead of falling into discouragement.
Let’s look further into Jesus teaching to help us do that.
The Illustration of Perseverant Faith (Luke 18:2-5) — The Parable of the Widow
The Illustration of Perseverant Faith (Luke 18:2-5) — The Parable of the Widow
Jesus introduces us to the first character - we learn a lot in this introduction.
The Judge (v. 2)
Jesus description of this man is less than pleasant.
So much so that we ought to wonder, why is he even a judge at all.
He has no fear for God, and no respect for man.
To be a good judge in Jesus day in Israel, first they needed to have a healthy respect for the Lord, second they had to care about people.
This man had neither.
This is the first contrast we see and one of the main factors that helps to interpret this passage.
Is this judge anything like God?
No, absolutely not.
God certainly loves and cares for people. (Read Psalm 138 - David describes the character of God)
This judge is corrupt and lacks both fear of God and concern for people.
Verse 6 gives us even more information - Jesus adds to his list of character traits that the judge is unrighteous which means he is one who deceives, who suppresses the truth and thus brings about injustice rather than justice.
So let me ask you -- Do you have a genuine fear of the Lord?
Or are you more like this "certain judge" described by Jesus?
The next character comes in verse 3 -
The Widow (v. 3)
This woman is powerless, vulnerable, and without earthly help.
Widow does not mean that she was old necessarily, many people in Jesus day only lived into their 30s.
In ancient Israel widows were in general helpless, defenseless.
This woman was in particularly difficult situation.
She was facing some sort of injustice, and she did not have a man in her life to go to court for her.
In Jesus day in Israel, the courts did not belong "to women, but belonged exclusively to men."
For a woman to come to court would mean there was no man who could plead her case.
This woman was persistent, she did not let up.
Perhaps she would wait for this judge on his way to work and try to speak with him.
Saw him in the market. (I imagine him seeing her coming and ducking way to avoid her)
Jesus describes her as relentless, continually pleading her case.
When we look at what she wants - she wants justice.
The KJV has "avenge" but that is not the best translation.
We see most of the modern translations calling for justice or vindication.
This verb is imperative as well, she is demanding it. Judge! You give me justice!
The idea of avenge is to retaliate while the idea of vindicate is to maintain, uphold, or defend one's just cause.
This woman has been unfairly/unjustly treated and needs outside intervention to make it right.
The Judge’s Reluctant Response (vv. 4-5)
Jesus says though that the judge does not care.
For a while he was not willing to acknowledge this woman.
He is the worst kind of judge imaginable.
The reason for not helping the widow is because he was unwilling.
And when he does finally act, it is not out of kindness or even duty for that matter, but rather of his own selfish motives.
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.’ ”
This is where our frequent interpretation of this parable goes astray.
This judge is the exact opposite of our loving and gracious God.
God acts out of self sacrificing love, especially as we see it in sending Jesus to come and die on the cross.
J Vernon McGee wrote (Thru the Bible)
"Now, I have heard many Bible teachers say that this parable teaches the value of importunate (troublesomely urgent, overly persistent in request or demand) prayer.
Although I don’t like to disagree with men who are greater than I, that isn’t so.
This is not a parable on the persistency or the pertinacity of prayer—as though somehow God will hear if you hold on long enough.
This is a parable by contrast, not by comparison....
If this unjust judge would hear a poor widow because she kept coming continually, then (BY WAY OF CONTRAST) why do you get discouraged going to God who is not an unjust judge, but Who actually wants to hear and answer prayer?"
Jesus uses this contrast to illustrate that if even an unrighteous judge eventually gives justice, how much more will the righteous and loving God respond to His people’s cries?
Does this mean we must never engage in insistent/persistent prayer, fervently going to God?
Certainly not!
The teaching of the parable is that we must continue in our prayers,
Even or perhaps especially when there seems to be no answer, because God, unlike the unjust judge, is loving, good, and gracious.
We persist in prayer not because we have not yet gotten God’s attention, but because we know He cares and will hear us
Samuel Storms poses some relevant questions in his book Reaching God’s Ear that we can use to evaluate our prayer lives.
Do we repeat a request because we think that the quality of a prayer is dependent on the quantity of words?
Do we repeat a request because we think that God is ignorant and needs to be informed, or if not ignorant at least he is unconcerned and therefore needs to be aroused?
Do we repeat our prayers because we believe that God is unwilling to answer and we must prevail upon him, somehow transforming a hard-hearted God into a compassionate and loving one?
Do we repeat a petition because we think that God will be swayed in his decision by our putting on a show of zeal and piety, as if God cannot see through the thin veil of hypocrisy?
The Assurance of Perseverant Faith (Luke 18:6-8a) — God’s Certain Justice
The Assurance of Perseverant Faith (Luke 18:6-8a) — God’s Certain Justice
This parable’s lesson has often been greatly misunderstood, because most people think it teaches that feverish troublesome, persistence in prayer is a virtue.
This text does not teach that we must frantically beg God to answer our prayers.
This is not the idea at all.
The parable of the unjust judge and the pestering widow is a parable of contrast.
The clear lesson of the parable is that God is not like the judge, for God is good and gracious.
There is another contrast though as well -
You and I, we are not like the nameless widow
For we are his chosen ones.
As Jesus says in verse 7
English Standard Version Chapter 18
will not God give justice to his elect
That word elect in Greek carries the meaning of being selected, chosen.
Those members of mankind who God has drawn to himself.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
Clearly, this drawing is a one-sided affair.
God does the drawing to salvation; we who are drawn have a passive role in the process.
We have a responsibility to respond to His drawing us (that is where the mystery comes in), but the drawing itself is all on His part.
Rabbit Trail!
Why does God need to draw us to salvation?
If He didn’t, we would never come.
The reality is that we have no ability to come to God on our own, more than that we don’t even have the desire to come.
Because the unregenerate man’s heart is hard and his mind is darkened, the unregenerate person doesn’t desire God and is actually an enemy of God.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
We must not get put off by the Jesus choice of the term elect.
We really ought to think of it as sons and daughters adopted into the family of God.
In adoption, if parents are not actively seeking a child, a child cannot chose a parent.
We ought to leave the mystery of election to God.
Enjoy the intimacy of the family relationship because of our justification by faith in Jesus "through Whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand." (Rom 5:2).
It is because of this grace that we can cry out to him day and night and he joyfully hears us, unlike the unrighteous judge.
We don’t have to look for him in the market, we don’t have to catch him on his way to work.
Prayer is not a way of talking God into doing something he does not want to do!
Rather as his children, we persist in prayer because our God is a just, wise, and loving God who listens carefully when we pray and will answer our prayers in his best way, at his best time.
We do not persist in prayer because God does not listen, but because he does listen.
And unlike the unrighteous judge, he listens intently.
Persisting in prayer means coming to God with our own personal requests, spending time each day alone with God in prayer.
We need God’s provision for our daily needs.
We need God’s protection from Satan and his deadly assaults.
We need God’s peace for all the stresses we face in our daily work and all the broken relationships that can only be reconciled by grace.
We need God’s power to triumph in our own desperate struggle with remaining sin.
So every day and every night we call upon God in private prayer.
Indeed, persistence itself is one the things we need to pray for, asking God to help us keep praying until he provides.
Jesus assures His disciples that God will bring swift justice for His people.
This is ultimately fulfilled in Christ’s return, when He will make all things right.
The most direct application of Jesus parable here is to pray persistently for God’s kingdom to come.
Though justice may seem delayed, we as believers must trust in God’s sovereign plan and continue praying with confidence in His righteous rule.
As Jesus says in verse 8
English Standard Version Chapter 18
I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.
Second yo last verse
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
The hard part for us in this verse is the word speedily, swiftly, or quickly in other translations.
Here we sit, some 2000 years on the other side of Jesus life, death, burial, and resurrection and yet He has not yet returned.
Perhaps you have something you have prayed for most of if not all of your life and you have not seen that prayer answered.
This does not feel quick or speedy.
As Peter quotes from Pslam 90. 2 Pet 3:8
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
God told Noah there would be a flood and 100 years went by without a drop of rain.
He promised Abraham a son, but Isaac was not born until Sarah was 100.
He promised to send the Messiah but there was 400 years form the last prophet before God sent His Son Jesus.
Quickly by God’s "calendar" is not quickly by ours!
One answer to the problem of delayed answers to our prayers is to get a proper view of God.
Know, understanding, believing upon His character.
As we live today, awaiting the return of Christ.
Jesus closing question is equally as relevant as when he first asked it.
English Standard Version Chapter 18
When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
The Challenge to Perseverant Faith (Luke 18:8b) — The Question of Faith
The Challenge to Perseverant Faith (Luke 18:8b) — The Question of Faith
Jesus asks, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
This question is meant to challenge the disciples: Will they endure in faith and prayer, or will they lose heart?
It is meant to challenge us to pray and not give up because we have a part to play in faith being found on earth.
This questions is again one of readiness.
When the Son of Man comes the way he promised in Luke 17, will he find people praying the way he commanded in Luke 18?
Will He find you in the faith?
True disciples will be marked by faith that perseveres in prayer until Christ returns.
Restate the Thesis:
Perseverant faith is marked by persistent prayer and unwavering confidence in God's righteous rule.
Call to Action:
Commit to Persistent Prayer – Don’t lose heart, but keep seeking God, especially in seasons of waiting.
Trust in God’s Justice – Know that He hears and will act in His perfect timing.
Persevere Until Christ Returns – Be found faithful when the Son of Man comes.
