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?”

Parousia Pending, Persistent, Proper, Prayer

Walking with Jesus into the Kingdom of God.

Parousia Pending Prayer

Parousia- A visit from a ruler or royal figure. The Pharisees, are wondering, when the King is going to come and set up His kingdom.

The context of the parable, is told just after the Pharisees begin to inquire of Jesus, concerning the timing of the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Luke 17:20–21 ESV

20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

Jesus’ answer likely caused the Pharisees to scratch their heads a bit, and may cause us to do the same.

Luke 17:22–37 ESV

22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

What is the Kingdom of God? We have been working our way through this book, and as we have done so, I have repeatedly mentioned that we are, in essence, following Jesus, into the Kingdom of God.

So we are traveling with Him, but that leads us to consider where are we going and when will it happen?

Pray Persistently

Just as the widow “kept coming to the judge and continued to inquire of the judge, in the same manner, or the same way, Jesus encourages us to inquire of the Lord God, regularly, without fail, unceasingly.

Luke 18:7 ESV

7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

Will not God give justice to His elect?

We however, should not think that God is “bothered” by our prayers, as the judge in the story is bothered.

Not too long ago, I was talking with a young boy, whose family was going to be leaving the next day, to visit an aunt and uncle who lived in another state. The boy mentioned that they would drive in the morning and be at their destination right after they ate lunch somewhere at a restaurant. However, in reality, they would be driving for at least 8 hours. He wasn’t wrong to say they would arrive after lunch, but he was being more than optimistic, that it would be right after lunch. In reality, they would probably need to stop for dinner too.

My guess, is that ride seemed like it took forever, for that young boy, and maybe even more so for his younger brother, and possibly even longer for his mother and father, who had to listen to him ask, “are we there yet?” When are we going to be there?”

I also know that we can sometimes get that same feeling, when it comes to us waiting for the Lord’s return. While we await the final establishment of the Lord’s Kingdom. But listen to what James says in James 5.

James 5:7–8 ESV

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

I also recall having a difficult time, being patient in the car, as our family travelled from Eastern PA, to DownEast Maine, when I was a child. I felt it was taking a week. It was about a 14 hour trip, which we normally split into two or three legs. 4 to 7 hours at a time, with short “pit stops” in their. The thing that made it most difficult to be patient, was that my Grandparents, who I absolutely adored and respected, were there waiting for us to arrive.

Pray Eagerly & Properly

We pray eagerly, not because we have earned the right, or because of anything relating to ourselves, rather we pray eagerly, because of the character of God and because of His promises to us, because of the New Covenant, which He has made to those who are in Christ. To those who have been made new, by the precious redeeming blood of the Only Begotten Son of God, the perfect Lamb of God, who by His sacrifice has made us to be in a right standing with our Heavenly Father.

We eagerly ask, expecting that His kingdom will come and His will, will be done.

The Kingdom of God is Already and Not Yet! His Kingdom has been established by Christ first coming to earth when He suffered the cross and the grave, but He has risen from the dead. Now we wait with confident assurance, for His 2nd Coming. We are waiting for God to establish a new heaven and a new earth! These are the last days. What the parable of the persistent widow teaches us, is that we can and should continue to pray, asking the Righteous Judge, to bring about justice on our behalf.

Listen to the way Peter describes the situation for us.

2 Peter 3:1–14 ESV

1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 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. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

First of all, Peter addressed the whole “patience” issue in this passage as well. But he also makes the point, that I mentioned, that we are to pray eagerly and properly. He uses the term diligently.

Pray Eagerly & Properly

Secondly, in relation to the verses in Peter, which I just read. Notice, that Peter doesn’t say, well, you’ve got assurance of your salvation, so live like you want to. There are some who teach a “free grace” gospel, wherein, they say, we just need to accept God’s gift and then we can go on living as we want to. That is not the message of the Word of God. You hear it in the passage I just read.

2 Peter 3:11–14 ESV

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

One final point about our prayer, the Parousia pending, persistent, proper prayer is that we should also pray as the publican prayed, in Luke 18:9-14.

Pray Publican-ly

Luke 18:9–14 ESV

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Several weeks ago, we looked at the illustrative prayer, that Jesus spoke as He was teaching His disciples to pray, and the same week, we looked at the parable of the friend asking for bread at midnight. Similarly, here in the parable of the persistent widow, Jesus uses a man, in this case a unrighteous judge, as a comparable contrast to the Righteous Judge.

The comparison is to show how much more confident we can be in asking God the Father to give us justice, than the widow can expect to receive justice from a man who does not fear God or respect men. And as we see in the second parable of this chapter, we are not confident in our “righteous deeds, or our upright outward appearance” we are confident that as we ask God to bring justice and mercy to our humble selves, He will do as He has promised.

2 Peter 3:14–18 ESV

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Parousia Pending, Persistent, Proper, Prayer allows us to praise the Prince of Peace.

God, The Righteous, Almighty, Faithful, True, Loving and Holy Merciful One, wants us to pray to him. He wants us to pray, with expectation of His coming. He wants us to pray persistently, never failing, unceasingly, bringing our needs and our praise before Him. He wants us to eagerly and diligently seek to be found without “spot or blemish”, walking in holiness and in peace, as we await His return. Keeping our eyes on Him, the author and finisher of our faith. May His kingdom come and His will be done, here on earth as it is in Heaven. We must remember, that His kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world. It is in our midst, and it is coming!

1 Thessalonians 4:17–18 ESV

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.