Grab your Bible and turn to Luke 18, verses one through eight. We’re going to begin a brand new series. It’s a series called Famous Short Stories. What we’re going to do guys, is look at the parables of the Lord Jesus, which will instruct us on the Christian life. Now, before we look at the first of the parables, we’re going to look at the parable of the persistent widow, or the parable of the unjust judge and the widow. I want to do a little bit of an introduction, a quick introduction as to the purpose and the place of parables, both in the Biblical text and in the life and teaching of the Lord Jesus. Everybody communicates but not everybody connects. Just because someone stands in front of a class and communicates doesn’t mean they’re communicating or they’re connecting. Sometimes they’re just talking to themselves. Sometimes they lack the techniques and skills of good communication.
So everybody communicates, but not everybody connects. And good communication, good preaching, good teaching, uses metaphor, image, story and parable. There’s an eastern proverb that says this, “The great teacher is one who turns ears into eyes so that you can see the truth.” And that helps us in our introduction to the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because good communication takes the dry facts and abstract ideas, and ties them to concrete images, freeing the listener to think with pictures in their heads. In his book on The Parables of Jesus, Dr. Al Mohler says this, “Human beings are not merely homo sapiens, the thinking being, they are homo narratus, the storytelling being.” Don’t children love stories? Don’t you put your children or your grandchildren to bed at night with a story. The culture I grew up in, the Scots-Irish culture, is a storytelling culture. I grew up not so much with television as with stories told by the old people.
Ghost stories, legends, folklore, war stories. Stories is part of the human story, and Jesus was a master at this. The Word made flesh was a master at good communication. He turned ears into eyes through parable. Matthew 13:35, Mark 4:33, 34 tells us that Jesus not only came preaching, but he came preaching parables. Did you know that 30%? Let me say that again, 30% of Jesus’ teaching employed this method of teaching parable. Jesus understood that good preaching and teaching is the work of metaphor. The mind not only reasons, it imagines. And you and I need to communicate pictures alongside of precepts. Good communicators, good teachers, understand that the mind is more than a filing cabinet for facts, it’s a picture gallery for images. In Mark 12:37, it says something very interesting of the Lord Jesus, that the common people heard him gladly. He was able to put the cookies on the bottom shelf.
He was able to capture people’s imagination. Now, he didn’t invent parables. You’ll find them in the Old Testament. You’ll find them in rabbinic teaching. Ezekiel, Amos, Isaiah, all use parables. The entire book of Hosea really is one big parable about the spiritual adultery of Israel. Who can forget the parable of the little lamb as the prophet Nathan confronts David about his sin of adultery. Three things quickly. What about a definition? The definition. The word parable is used 50 times in the New Testament, and it literally means to throw alongside. Really a parable is something that compares and contrasts things alongside one another. They are ideas from different spheres that are put together so that one illustrates the other. Remember, Jesus will say this often, “And the kingdom of God is like.” In a parable there’s a transference of truth from the known to the unknown.
It’s the laying beside of supernatural truth alongside natural pictures so that a connection is made in the mind and truth is communicated to the heart. You’ve probably heard the old preachers say this, and you know what? We could quibble, but we won’t. It’s not far off the mark. “A parable is an earthly story about a heavenly truth.” That’s just about right. That’s the definition. What about the design? Well, again, this is a sermon in itself. We’re just going to hop, skip, and jump. I would say there’s a threefold design or purpose to Jesus’ use of parables. Number one, appeal, number two, reveal, number three, conceal. Appeal, conceal, reveal. Appeal. Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God and he came preaching with parables so that he might appeal to his audience, that he might catch their imagination through metaphor, that he might capture their attention through a story.
Jesus could have got up on the Sermon on the mount and said, “You know what? I want you to know my Father is one who forgives,” but he didn’t. He said, “Let me tell you a story about a rebellious boy.” One of the great short stories in human history, the Prodigal Son, it communicated, it had an emotional impact, it grabbed the attention of the listener. Who couldn’t identify with that? And Jesus took images, lost coins, wine skins, fishermen’s nets, farmers sowing seeds. He took it all and he put it to glorious use. Listen to Spurgeon, “God helping me, I will teach the people by parable, simile, illustration, by anything that will be helpful to them, and I will seek to be a thoroughly interesting preacher of the word.” Make that your goal, young man if you desire to be a pastor or a preacher, be a thoroughly interesting preacher just like your master.
And not only did Jesus appeal, Jesus revealed. Jesus used parables to communicate great truths. Back to our definition, he took common ideas and common images, and he set them alongside everlasting truths, and he revealed aspects of grace and judgment and kingdom. So parables, not only appeal, parables reveal. Remember Jesus is a truth teller. He came full of grace and truth. He said, “I am the truth.” John 1:14, John 14:6. And parables afforded the Lord Jesus a vehicle to reveal new covenant truth, fresh and new revelation of divine truth. He wanted to reveal the hidden. He wanted to make the abstract concrete. By the way, as a little footnote, while Jesus told parables often in the company of a crowd, most of them were directed towards his disciples. It was a teaching tool in the hands of Jesus to disciple his disciples on kingdom, grace, judgment.
In fact, there are many times where he addresses parables to the disciples alone, apart from the crowd. In fact, Al Mohler, in his book on parables calls them the parables of the church, or the parables of discipleship. Finally, appeal, reveal, conceal. Besides the curious, right? Wherever Jesus went, crowds gather. They wanted to hear him teach. They wanted to hear his stories. The common people that were so common were attracted to Jesus’ method. But while he had the curious and he had his disciples, he also had his enemies. As early as Mark 3:6, there are those in the Jewish community, especially the Jewish leaders, who are conspiring to kill him. And they won’t be thwarted. Their minds were closed, their hearts were hardening, and if you read Matthew 13:13 and Mark 4:10 to 12, you’ll see that Jesus used parables to veil the truth for them. Because the parables to them were riddles.
Their minds were closed, and in many ways, on the one hand, parables were used to reveal truth and draw people closer, Jesus also used parables as an act of judgment to those who stood afar off and had no intention of drawing near. If I might put it simply, parables, in that case, were used as a way of sifting the seeker from the scoffer. Parables were used as a means of sifting the seeker from the scoffer. Okay, one more thought and then we need to get going. This is going to introduce the whole series, and we’ll probably pick up some of these threads as we go through different parables. But we’ve got the definition, we’ve got the design. What about the distinctives? Let me give you three distinctives about the parables if you’re going to understand them during this series, and if you’re going to better interpret them.
Number one, study them in context. Study them in context. They’re not isolated stories. They are illustrations, for the most part, insights. They are metaphor and simile of either already existing truth or truth that Jesus is introducing. They are usually triggered by a question. They’re usually tied to a set teaching, or they’re addressing a particular situation. We’re going to look at the unjust judge and the widow. We’re going to be taught to persist in prayer when we are discouraged. And the point of the parable is that the church needs to embrace its status of a widow in the world. We are estranged from the world, we are needy, we are vulnerable. And this parable is tied to Jesus’ immediate teaching on the second coming, and the days of Noah and the days of Lot. And as the days unfold before Jesus comes back, it’s going to get very dismal, it’s going to get very dark, it’s going to get very discouraging. And the question is, “Will you persist?”
Will you endure to the end and be saved? And will you continue to pray for Jesus coming when it doesn’t look like he’s coming? Or we have prayed long for his coming and his coming delays. See? There’s a context to this parable. And once you understand its context, the parable opens up. And we’re not to seek a meaning beyond or behind the context or the text, which is what modern scholarship wants to do. Find some secret hidden message, because remember, according to modern scholarship and liberal theologians, the disciples embellish their stories so you got to get behind the text and go beyond the text to get what the text is saying. It’s a wild goose chase. Number two, we’re not to treat them as allegories. They’re not allegories. They are concrete stories, usually with a singular or central thought. We don’t need to read into every part of the parable.
It usually has one demonstrable point it’s making, so you don’t need to develop all kinds of thoughts about every character and every incident in the parable. You don’t certainly need to turn it into an allegory of the church or the gospel in every case, which is what many of the Middle Age pastors and preachers did. Listen to Gary Inrig. “Although the details may have symbolic significance, more commonly a parable is intended to teach one main point. Therefore, we need to seek to grasp that truth firmly and not wander into the lush forest of speculation, trying to assign meaning to secondary details.” You know the story of the Good Samaritan, we’ll get there. What’s the point? Pretty much a singular simple point. Love your neighbor, and to some degree your neighbor is your physical neighbor, but another degree it’s anybody you encounter on the road of life that needs your help, even your enemy, even a stranger.
Well, according to some preachers, no, it’s an allegory. In fact, one of them interpreted the parable of the Good Samaritan as follows, “The man who fell among the robbers is Adam. Jerusalem represents heaven, and Jericho, since it was away from Jerusalem, represents the world. The robbers are man’s enemies, the devil and his comrades. The priest stands for the law, the Levite for the prophets, and the good Samaritan for Jesus.” Who would know? Do you see the quagmire you’re going to get into? Wonderful things in the Bible I see, most of them put there by you and by me. A parable is not an allegory, it’s a concrete story with an objective truth that’s pretty easy to discover when you teach it and understand it in its context. That’s worthy of something more but we’ll move on to the last thought and get to our parable.
Number three, beware of familiarity breeding complacency. That’s unlikely. As you and I go through maybe 10 or 12 of these parables, our familiarity with some of them, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, it’s going to breed contempt, but it could breed complacency. And as I begin to preach the parable, you may fall foul to this idea, “Well, I know this story, I know what this means.” Maybe. Maybe not. We need to hear these stories that we’ve heard from childhood with fresh ears. I invite you to do that as we come to every one of them. Try and suspend your western mindset and let’s try and get into the history and context of the story. Let’s remind ourselves of what Peter reminds us. It’s a good thing to be reminded of good things. And let’s hear the story as if it’s for the first time.
You know, right now I’ve got a granddaughter, Lily, who I love dearly. She’s two. You know what? When my daughter takes her to story time at the local library, that’s what I want to be like when I come to hear the parables. I want to be all eyes, I want to be all ears. I want to hear them as if I’m hearing them for the first time, that they grab my attention, that they catch my imagination, that they move my will. Let’s not approach them like we do when we’re given the safety instructions on a plane prior to take off. All right. All right, all of that said, let’s go to Luke 18, one to eight, our first parable, our series Famous Short Stories, our first parable, the unjust judge in the widow, and I’ve called this Persistence Pays. Persistence pays. Let’s read the text together.
“Then he,” that is the Lord Jesus, “spoke a parable to them. That men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” This is nothing to do with the text, but it’s a funny story. My mother was visited one day, along with my dad, by her pastor, who’s now with the Lord, a man called Ivan Thompson, who helped mentor me in my early days. And Ivan was a character. He got wonderfully saved out of a background of alcoholism and gambling, and just a lot of nonsense. And he went to my mom’s home one day, and they were painting. They stopped painting and pastor read and prayed with them and said, Billy and Betty, how are you doing? And so on and so forth. And Mom did what she always thought, made him a wee cup of tea, and then it was all done and Ivan was about to leave and she says, “Pastor, won’t you stay and help us paint?”
Ivan looked at her, he said, “Betty, you should know better. Man ought always to pray not to paint.” Okay, let’s move back to the text. Luke 18, “We ought to pray and not lose heart, saying there wasn’t a certain city of judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city and she came to him saying, ‘Get justice for me, for my adversary.’ And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming, she weary me.’ And then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said.'” Here’s the point of the story, “And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?”
This is a good story. Shortly after the Duke of Wellington led his troops to victory in the decisive battle against Napoleon and the French at Waterloo, he was asked to compare the courage of the two armies. He observed this. “My soldiers were not braver than the enemy. The English were not braver than the French. They were braver five minutes longer.” And the message that the Duke of Wellington has for us is that persistence pays big dividends. Whether it’s on the battlefield, whether it’s on the soccer field, whether it’s in the farmer’s field, whatever endeavor of life we seek to pursue, whatever field, staying power is the key to success. Nothing in this world takes the place of persistence. Nothing. The most gifted person in the world will accomplish very little if he quits too soon.
If she only works when the mood grabs her. Wasn’t it C.H. Spurgeon who said, “It was by persistence that the snail entered the arc?” Nothing takes a place of persistence. President Calvin Coolidge is famous for this quote, you’ve probably heard it, but let’s hear it again as we come to look at this parable. “Nothing in this world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than a successful man with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is also a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but there’s a great truth in that. In a quick fix, a world in a microwave culture, dogged determination and unstinting perseverance are qualities rarely celebrated.
We would rather admire the exploit than examine the endurance that brought it about. See, we like the results, but we don’t like the hard work that produces the results. We would rather admire the exploit than examine the endurance that made it possible. But we know that. We know better. We know that nothing worthwhile doing comes easily. We know that the best things in life are the fruit of hard work. We know that persistence pays. Persistence in exercise pays physically. Persistence in saving money pays financially. Persistence in Lord’s day worship and spiritual disciplines pays spiritually. Persistence in love and loyalty pays relationally. We instinctively know that endurance is essential. It’s essential to building a godly character. It’s essential to shaping a good life. And so let’s turn to our parable because that’s Jesus’ point, persistence pays in the field of prayer. This is the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, where Jesus calls his disciples, whom he’s been addressing in chapter 17, he calls them to resilience, spiritual toughness in relation to prayer.
This is a companion of another parable. Can you guess? It’s the parable of the friend at midnight. Earlier in Luke, in Luke 11:5 to 13, but according to Jesus, persistence in life will require persistence in our prayer life. Ephesians 6:18 tells us to always be praying about all things. Colossians 4:2 tells us to devote ourselves to prayer. And First Thessalonians five, verse 18 tells us to pray without ceasing. Now let’s just pause because that’s a rather challenging concept. How do you pray without ceasing? You can’t spend all your days in a prayer meeting. No, I think you can conclude, and I think you would come to this conclusion smartly, that it’s calling us, if not to the act of prayer, to a spirit of prayer, where the act of prayer comes reflectively and reflexively. So you’re either praying or you’re on the verge of praying. And something in life will trigger that prayer and cause you to pray once again.
If I remember rightly, somewhere in my studies, many years ago, one writer said that the word without ceasing can be found outside the New Testament for someone who’s got a hacking cough. We’ve all had it. I just had it badly over Christmas. And the hacking cough is while you’re either coughing or you’re taking a breath in between coughs, or when you’re not coughing, you live in fear of coughing. It’s just there. You’re coughing or you’re not coughing, about to cough. And that’s our word, you’re praying, you’re not praying, but you’re about to pray. I’m going to take time because time’s going to beat me to death. This is worth just reading. Stonewall Jackson is a character, it’s always intrigued me, Confederate general, he talked about praying without ceasing. Here’s what he said about that custom of praying, if I’m not praying, I’m on the verge of praying.
He said this, “When we take our meals, there is the grace. When I take a draught of water, I always pause as my palate receives the refreshment, to lift up my heart to God in thanks and thank him for the living water of Jesus Christ. Whenever I drop a letter into the box at the post office, I send a petition along with it for God’s blessing upon its mission and upon the person to whom I sent it. When I break the seal of a letter, just received, I stop to pray to God that he might prepare me for its contents and make it a messenger of good. When I go to my classroom and await the arrangement of the cadets in their places, this is my time to intercede to God for them and so of every other familiar act of the day.” Do you get that?
It’s good. He associates things and people and gospel ends with every act in the day and it turns them to prayer. Let’s put the text in its context quickly. This is a call to continuous prayer. Right? Not often does the interpretive key hang on the front door of a passage, but here it does. Then spoke a parable to them and he tells what the parable is about. That man always ought to pray and not lose heart. Now this call to continual prayer is tied to the context of Jesus’ teaching in Luke 17:22 to 37 on the second coming. If you go back to that chapter, Jesus talks about his coming, that it’s going to be as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in his day. Jesus coming will be sudden and swift, like a strike of lightning. And he tells us that the days leading up to that day will be days of Noah and days of a Lot, days of great wickedness, days where the righteous will be mocked and persecuted.
Don’t forget, Noah was a preacher of righteousness and the people mocked him as he built the ark. Days of spiritual disinterest, days of spiritual departure. And according to Jesus, during those days, the followers of Jesus will be driven to desperation. Go back to chapter 17 verse 22. Jesus says this to his disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man and you will not see it. You’re going to desire my coming, you’ll want my near and glorious presence, but that will not happen. And during the interval of my leaving and coming, you’ll be tempted to worry and you’ll be tempted to weariness.” So the question is, will the Son of Man find faith, faith expressed in persevering prayer when he returns? That’s the context, guys. Three things, the instruction, the illustration, the implication. The instruction.
The instruction’s simple. Pray and don’t lose heart. And don’t lose heart as you pray. Persistence pays. That’s the instruction. Days will come within history for the church when you’ll be tempted to lose heart. I don’t know, I’ll speak for myself. I’m getting more discouraged by the day. The fight is on to stay spiritual, to remain holy, to be a bold witness for Jesus Christ. Days will come within history for the church when we’ll be tempted to lose heart, but we must not, we need not, because Jesus will come, and the vindication that the saints of God pray for, read about that in verse seven. “Shall God not avenge his own elect who cry to him day and night?” As we wait for Jesus’ return and final vindication, when he’ll come to establish his kingdom within history, which will extend for a thousand years. Read about that in Revelation 19 to 20.
While we wait for that, we must endure. Be the language of Paul, wouldn’t it? I’ll read these words to you. They’re worth taking time to go to. In Second Timothy chapter two and verses 12 to 13. “If we endure, we shall reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, he cannot deny himself.” Matthew 24:13 talks about enduring to the end. That’s the instruction. We’re not to lose heart. It’s interesting, guys, that word means to give into evil. That’s going to be the temptation. To surrender ground to evil. It means to give up in spirit. It means to play the coward. Now that’s interesting. Jesus says, “I don’t want you guys playing the coward when the pressure’s on, when tribulation comes, when trouble doesn’t abate.”
This is a weariness brought about by living in a hostile environment where our spirits sink in the face of injustice, perversity, wickedness, persecution, and our own battle with indwelling sin. All of that’s wearisome, guys. We get it. That’s why our covenant to be with each other once a month is so important. [inaudible 00:31:23] they worship small groups. Paul, Timothy relationships. We need to keep pumping each other up because the enemy is seeking to wear us down. Wasn’t that Lot’s challenge? Talk about what Jesus is talking about, the days of lot. What do we read about Lot in Second Peter two, verses seven to 10, “His righteous soul was vexed.” Tormented.
I had a dear friend, he lost his father. Not only had a dear friend, I have a dear friend who lost his father. And John told me that his dad’s dying words were this, “John, I’m tired fighting.” What do you think he meant? Well, I think he… One, he was tired fighting the illness that eventually took him. He was tired of old age and the losing of his powers, physically and mentally. I’m tired fighting. But I think more than that, and John would say that this would be true. He was tired fighting for his personal holiness. He was happy to go and be glorified, to be saved to sin no more. And Jesus picks that up. He has to tell his guys the last days will drive you to worry and the last days will be wearisome. Guys, don’t lose heart, don’t play the coward, don’t give up in your spirit. Pray and don’t lose heart. We must fight this through prayer. Remember Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 26 verse 41, “Watch and pray lest you fall into temptation.”
Ephesians 6:18 tells us to pray in the context of spiritual warfare. In Acts 4:23 to 31 we have the story of Peter, John’s arrest. And when they come back to the church and tell him that they have threatened us, it says “And the church prayed.” We must not lose heart when we pray. But I want to flip that, and I think it’s also implicit here. It is prayer that will help us not lose heart. It’s a chicken and an egg thing. It’s prayer that affords us the grace to stand. It’s prayer that affords us strength to keep going. We must pray when we feel like it. We must pray when we don’t feel like it. We must pray until we feel like it. A.W. Tozer said, “Pray until you pray.” Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, this is a very good quote.
“Pray when you feel like it for it is a sin to neglect such a privilege. Pray when you don’t feel like it for a dangerous to remain in such a situation.” You get her point. Pray when you are taken to pray because it’s a privilege. What a joy to go to our Father in heaven. What a joy to knock on the door of heaven and into God’s presence and find its swing open, for Jesus on the inside, the one mediator between God and man. If any sins, he’s got an advocate. Jesus will plead your case. What a privilege. You and I are priests unto God. We all wear the miter of priestly prayer. But it’s a danger not to pray when you don’t feel like praying, and to remain in that state pulls the shield down and exposes you to danger. The fruit of prayer is a strengthened heart, a fortified mind, a renewed spirit.
Let me just read a passage and I’ll move on to the second thought. I’m cutting and pasting as I go along here, but just at this point that we’re not to lose heart when we pray, and prayer helps us not heart because it is prayer that supplies the grace. Isn’t that the message of Hebrews 4:14 to 16? This whole letter is about people who are being tempted to go back to Judaism, having come out of Judaism. Their minds have been opened to the fact that Jesus is greater than Moses. Jesus is the final sacrifice. Jesus established a new covenant that’s better than the old covenant. But they’re losing their homes. They’re losing business. They’re being ostracized and punished by family, friends, and community. And they’re tempted to lose heart. The whole book of Hebrews, according to the end of the book in chapter 13, is a word of exhortation.
It’s smelling salts. As they go back into their corner, all beat up, the book of Hebrews comes along with some smelling salts so they may go one more round. And here’s how they can do it. “Seeing then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was, in all points, tempted as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.” The word help there is used in Acts 27 of chains or leather flapping that was put under the hull of a ship to hold it together from breaking up in the storm. What about the illustration? It’s the story Jesus tells.
It’s a short story. It’s an uncomplicated story, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time explaining the details, because I think we get it pretty quick. There was this judge in a city who didn’t fear God nor man. Probably a gentile appointed by Herod or the Romans. We see his disposition. He doesn’t fear God or man, he really doesn’t care. He’s not there to serve justice. He’s there to serve himself. And according to several commentators at that time, just this description that he’s an unjust judge. There were judges during that time were called robber judges. The only thing they listened to was money. It was corruption. The only thing got you justice was paying off the judge, because they didn’t care. They were told about a widow in that city who seeks to get justice from her adversary. It seems like either someone had done wrong to her, someone was threatening her and she needed protection from them.
The fact she’s a widow would remind us, as we see all over the Old Testament and especially the book of Deuteronomy, the widow is vulnerable and must be protected. But we see something in this man’s heart. He doesn’t care about a widow and her plight. And she goes to him and he doesn’t listen. But she goes again and again and again. Once her case was dismissed, no doubt she hung around the steps of the courthouse. As he left, tried to get him, plead her case. There’s every reason to believe she maybe stalked him a little bit. When he was down at the market buying some groceries, there she was pleading her case. Who’s to say when he was having some kind of wine and cheese party at his home, the door was rapped and there was all the elites of society. But as he opened the door, there she stood pleading her case. And at some point, not driven by justice but self-interest, he gives up.
That’s his point. The widow kept coming. Let me read here, “Because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her lest by her continual coming, she weary me.” The word weary there is very interesting. It’s used in First Corinthians nine of a black eye. It’s used of a boxer pummeling his opponent and giving him a bruised cheek and a black eye. Now I don’t know that we need to read that literally, that you know what the judge turned up on Monday morning with a black eye having seen the widow on a Saturday. Maybe. Maybe she did give him a handbagging. I don’t know. But more than likely it’s a metaphor for this woman just pummels me day in and day out. I surrender. I can’t wait for the bell. I’m out. That’s the story. So that’s the instruction, that’s the illustration. Let’s get to the implication.
Although let me say this by way point of clarification, we’ll get to this but I want to insert it here. As we think about the illustration of the story, the story is not intended to be a comparison, and Jesus will make that clear. So the story’s not a comparison in that God’s like this unjust judge. He’s like some Greek God, removed, uncaring, unemotional, detached. And what you got to do is you’ve got to badger God, bully God, bargain with God to get something. No, it’s not a parable of comparison, it’s a parable of contrast. Then the Lord said here, what the unjust said, “Shall God not avenge his own elect to cry to him day and night though he bear with them long?” God’s not an unjust judge, he’s a just judge. More than that, he’s your Father and he loves you. You’re the elect, and therefore you don’t need to badger God. Our persistence in prayer isn’t that some kind of arm wrestling competition. Sometimes when you listen to the old writers, it’s like prayer is a wrestling match.
No. Many ways the persistence in prayer has got to do with God’s providence and timing, and it’s got to do with us growing in grace. We’ll get to that before we’re done. But the point is this, that this woman’s persistence paid off in the face of an uncaring magistrate, how much more. The rabbis love to teach from the lesser to the greater. So how much more will our perseverance pay off in the face of a heavenly king and a loving Father who’s predisposed to give is what we ask. Jesus taught us, right? “Our Father, which is in heaven.” William Temple then said this, “Prayer is not the overcoming of God’s reluctance, it’s the laying hold of God’s willingness.” When you go to God in prayer, don’t think that you’ve got to overcome his reluctance. He set it up at the price of his Son’s death and the shedding of his Son’s blood, he has made a way into his presence, so come boldly and ask in his will, and he’ll give you your heart’s desire.
As you delight in the Lord, don’t think you’ve got to overcome his reluctance. The problem with you and me is we are pitiful, in that we don’t lay hold of his willingness. Gets to the implication. All right? Hear what the judge is saying. Look at verse six. “Then Jesus said, hear what the judge is saying.” The point is, here’s the point of the story, here’s what the judge and this interaction with the widow is telling us. “Shall not God avenge his own elect who cry day and night to him though he bears with them long? I tell you that he will.” There’s the willingness of God. He will avenge them speedily. The judge represents God by contrast. The widow represents us by contrast and by comparison. The contrast is she’s a stranger, but the comparison is she’s needy and so are we. God loves his elect, and he will do right by them as they seek him day and night for vindication in a Christ-hating, Israel-despising, and church-persecuting culture. God will certainly respond to their prayers, but not necessarily immediately, but when he does, it will be swift.
This kind of persistent prayer must be prayed, and it must be prayed right up until Jesus com es and brings final victory and final vindication. So hope you’re ready to hear, There’s three things. Here’s the implications, the instruction, the illustration, the implication. Pray. Pray long. Pray longingly. Pray. Not going to spend a lot of time in this, we covered it. We need to pray continually, believeingly, expectingly. It’s an obligation. Man always ought to pray and not lose heart. It’s our native breath. What breathing in and out is to the body, praying without ceasing is to the spirit. It’s central, it’s critical. JC [inaudible 00:45:20] said it’s the very life breath of true Christianity. Listen, prayer is an evidence of true saving faith. Remember when Paul was discovered after his conversion? What do we read in Acts 9:11? “Behold, he prays.” That’s what Christians do. Now we struggle, but the man who does not pray is not a saved man.
The man who does not continue in prayer is not a saved man. “Will the Son of Man find such faith when he returns? Prayer is an evidence of true saving faith. The neglect of it gets us into trouble. Matthew 26:40 to 41, “Watch and pray. If you don’t, you’ll fall into temptation.” Now here’s the point. According to our text, we are to pray and not panic when the tough times come and the last days begin to emerge. Now we’re always have been in the last days since Jesus ascended, but there’ll be the last of the last days. And are we not beginning to see our world teach shape prophetically? Israel is in the land, globalism, increasing persecution, famines, earthquakes, spiritual deception, lovelessness in the church, coldness of heart among believers. We could go on. But we’re not to panic, we’re to pray. Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the Lord.”
You burdened about our nation, cast it on the Lord. You burdened about your children, cast it on the Lord. You burdened about yourself and your future, and you wonder if you can withstand the onslaught of satanic attack that marks this culture, cast it on the Lord. Right? First Peter 5:7, “Cast your care on him because he cares for you.” The reason we are to pray continually and to pray believeingly and expectantly is because God is committed to our care. Did you notice our text again? He will vindicate his elect. Sometimes he does that within history, as our enemies, according to the Psalms, fall into their own trap. God has judicially taken bad men out, kings and magistrates who have harmed his people. But the real vindication will come in the end when Jesus comes in power and glory, with the church, from heaven and the armies of heaven, and he will visit this world with righteous judgment.
He will vindicate his people. It says in the epistles that he will be glorified in his people. That’s going to be a wonderful day. The crowning day is coming by and by. And we’re to pray to that end. God will not fail us. God’s not some old, grumpy, cold, heartless judge who needs to be cajoled, needs to be bribed. No. 10,000 times, no. He is the one who chose us before the foundation of the world. He’s the one that adopted us in his Son. He’s the one that redeemed us with Jesus’ precious blood. He’s the one that has justified us, and according to Romans 8:28 to 31, he is going to glorify us. It’s so sure that glorified in Romans eight is in the past tense. We’re already in heaven in God’s mind. We’re already completely saved in the plan and purpose of God. We just need to yield to the grace that makes that all true and sufficient.
My friend, we need to pray, and remember that when we pray we’re not like the widow going to a disinterested judge, we are coming as the elect to our heavenly Father. Listen to this, Matthew Henry, “She was a stranger to the judge, whereas God knows his people. She was alone but God’s praying people are many. She came to a judge who kept her at a distance, our God invites us to come near boldly and cry Abba Father. She came to an unjust judge, we come to our righteous Father who’s concerned about our distress. She approached the judge on her own account, we come to God through his Son. She had no friend to speak for her, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus, the righteous. She had no encouragement from the judge, we have all the promises of God. She could only go to the judge at certain times, we can cry day and night. She knew her nagging would provoke the judge, we know that prayer of the upright to God is a delight.”
That’s good stuff. If you really took that to heart, man, your prayers would be bolder and your praying would be often. Here’s a point, we’ll move on. When you come to pray, two little things you need to remember. Remember who God is. He’s not an unjust judge. He’s righteous and kind and loving, and he’s your Father because of his Son. And remember who you are. You’re the elect, you’re the chosen ones, and God cares for you and will hear you. And in believing that, you will not lose heart, you will pray, and in your praying you will not lose heart. Pray. Pray long. Pray long. We ought always to pray and not lose heart. You’ll notice again in verse seven that the elect cry out day and night.
Look at verse eight, “Will the son of man find faith?” That verse is not about will he find this number of Christians in the world. The faith is faith expressed in believing prayer. Will he find you and I praying right up to the end when everything works against us praying, as the last days unfold? Now we’ve got to pray continually and long. The Christian is like the widow, in that we are to ask again and again without giving up. We’re to push harder. I don’t know if you’ve seen the acrostic PUSH, Pray until something happens. God is willing and will answer the prayers of his elect. And when he does, the answer will come swiftly. And while that can happen sometimes within history, I think God here is the promise that you know what? It may be long in coming as Jesus delays his return for several purposes, chief of which is, he’s not willing that any should perish.
But when he comes, the justice and the protection and the longing that we have had for a long time will happen swiftly. Guys note this Revelation one, verse one talks about the Revelation of Jesus Christ and the things that will happen shortly after. The word shortly is not a good translation. It’s actually quickly, in succession. One of the little words in the Book of Revelation is the conjunction and the sequence is sequential. Once one thing happens, the dominoes begin to fall. This happens and this happens and this happens and this happens, and then Jesus comes, and it all happens quickly. It will all happen within a few years. And so we pray long, in the belief that Jesus will return, and when Jesus comes, our vindication will take place, and it will happen swiftly. But while the answer is sure and swift, the delay is long, and sometimes it seems like the answer’s never coming.
Why? What might be the reason? Well, that’s another sermon. So I’ve got two minutes to give you that sermon. I wrote these down. I’ll fill out one or two of them, but you can work this out. Why does God delay when his elect pray day and night? On a personal level, I think there’s several reasons. Our faith grows as we exercise faith. Says we wait for the answer to our prayers and the longing of our hearts. That’s an exercise of faith as we continue to look over the horizon for the coming answer and the returning king. But that very act builds our faith, and that’s a good thing. To pray once about a matter then forget about it, would be presumption and faithlessness. Number two, it develops and deepens patience. It creates endurance. While we are waiting for the gift that we have asked for, God gives us a gift, we have not asked for, patience and endurance.
We live in a fast-food culture, but God is not a fast-food deity. He’s building character. He’s strengthening his people, and he often does that through extended prayer. Number three, he purifies and clarifies desire and motive. You see this in our children, they want everything they see. Leading up to Christmas, they want 50 things, and a wise parent listens, and times goes by, and then the 50 becomes 40 and the 40 becomes 30 and down to the last five things. And over time the motives and the desires get purified down to what the child really wants. And I think sometimes God has us waiting to make sure our motives are true and our desires are pure. It will foster genuine gratitude. The longer you wait for something, when it comes, the deeper your thanks. It allows for us to become part of the answer. As we wait upon God, we are given time to size up the current and unfolding circumstances about which we are concerned.
In the process of mulling these things over, in the presence of the spirit of God, we may be given an opportunity to see our role in answering the very prayers with prayer. That was the case with Nehemiah. There he is an extended prayer, Nehemiah one, for the city of Jerusalem, but over time he becomes the answer to his own prayer. Then finally, sometimes God has a bigger answer in view. I like that one. I hope that one’s true. Certainly the story of Martha and Mary would teach us that, wouldn’t it? “Lord, you got to come. Lazarus is sick.” Jesus delays, Lazarus dies. Jesus comes, Lazarus is raised. Now he could have come and healed a sick man, but he came and raised a dead man. Something far more glorious, something far more spectacular. Wasn’t that true of Augustine’s mom? You know the story. John Piper tells about it in Legacy of Sovereign Joy. She’d prayed for her son’s conversion. He was a profligate, he was a prodigal, and now he was leaving his home city of Carthage to go to Rome, the Las Vegas of the day.
And she’s like, “No. Lord, don’t let that happen. He’s bad enough now, he’ll get there, he’ll be badder.” I know that’s not a good word, but I’m just leaving it there. But he goes to Rome. What happens to Augustine in Rome? Somebody shout out. Yeah, he gets saved. He meets Ambrose, an apologist, who turns him towards Christ and Christianity. Here’s what Augustine himself said of that incident, and about his mother’s crying and long crying. “And what did she beg of you, my God, with all those tears, if not that you would prevent me from sailing? But you did not do as she asked. Instead, in the depth of your wisdom, you granted the wish that was closest to her heart. For she saw that you had granted her far more than she used to ask in her tearful prayers, you converted me to yourself so that I no longer placed my hope in this world, but firmly upon the rule of faith. And you turned her sadness into rejoicing, into joy far fuller than her dearest wish.” God will do that often. Last thought. And everybody said amen.
Pray longingly. Guys, do remember if you go home and say, pastor was long the day, but I did preach two messages. We had an introduction on the parables and we have a parable. But we pray, we pray long and we pray longingly. That’s verse 18, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?” See, this is a parable in a passage focused on persistent prayer. Verse one. And it is persistent prayer with a particular focus, justice and vindication in the face of injustice, in the face of a world that, like the unjust judge, disregards both God and man. And that coming justice and vindication, however, awaits the coming of Christ at the second advent and the final victory and the final vindication. So in the meantime, the church must accept her widow status in the world, alone, needy, vulnerable, and continue to pray for grace to be faithful, until Jesus comes, grace to stand in the evil day, grace to preach Christ in a world dominated by the spirit of antichrist.
Last days will be marked by persecution, hatred, theological defection, spiritual coldness, and unbelief. The hearts of many will grow cold. Matthew 24:9 to 13, verse 24. “So what are we to do? We’re to pray and not faint.” And since prayer is a means of grace, we’re to pray so that we do not faint, we do not falter and we do not fail. And we’re to pray longingly for Jesus’ return, because when he returns, he will establish a righteous kingdom, and we will reign for a thousand years within history and then the end, and then the new heaven and then the new Earth. Can’t you pray? Shouldn’t you pray? Mustn’t we pray? Like John right at the end of the book of Revelation, what did he pray? “Even so come, Lord Jesus.” Every time you see something on the television that annoys you, every time you face with injustice, every time we see our nation turn from the light and walk back into the shadows.
Even so come, Lord Jesus, every time we hear about our brothers in North Korea, our brethren in Lebanon and Egypt and Iran and Iraq, and all over the world where they’re being persecuted, even so come, Lord Jesus. In fact, what did Jesus teach us to pray? This is where we’re at as we close. Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come.” That’s a premillennial kingdom. That’s not the kingdom now. That’s a future kingdom. Because according to Second Timothy four, when Jesus comes, the kingdom comes. Look at Revelation 19. The kingdom is established when Jesus returns from heaven. That’s our prayer, and we should pray it. “Your kingdom come.” We’re done with the mismanagement of man. We’re done with the arrogance of judges. We’re done with the pride of kings and powerful men. Your kingdom come. Even so come, Lord Jesus. When Christians met each other and they laughed each other, what did they say? “Maranatha.”
He comes. That was a prayer as much as it was a statement. It kept them solid, it kept them stable. Those who have thought most about the next life have done most in this life. I just finished a book by Os Guinness, and with this I close. There’s a book called Carpe Diem, Seize the day, Carpe Diem Redeemed. In it he tells the story, “Jews like to tell the story of Napoleon passing a synagogue on a fast day and hearing the loud sounds of lament. And he turned to one of his commanders and he said, ‘What are the Jews crying for?’ The officer replied ‘For Jerusalem.’ Napoleon asked, ‘How long ago did they lose it?’ To which the officer replied, ‘More than 1700 years ago.’ And isn’t when Napoleon the great French emperor replied, ‘A people who can mourn for Jerusalem for so long will one day have it restored to them.'”
Well, do you know what? They have in small measure. And someday Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives and restore the fortunes of his ancient people, his people. My friend, we in the church long for a new Jerusalem, a new heaven and an earth. We long for that millennial reign. And going on now 2000 years, we have cried “Even so come, Lord Jesus.” Sometimes that cry has grown faint, but it will be answered. Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for this new series and the parables of your Son. The stories that taught truth, grabbed imaginations, and directed people’s attention to heavenly truths alongside earthly analogies. Lord, as we engage these stories, we pray that indeed they would become part of our story. We pray today as we leave that we would indeed commit as men not to faint, that we would commit to praying that we might not faint, that we would pray and pray long and pray longingly. Help us to lead our families in prayer.
Help us to lead our friends in prayer. Help us to lead ourselves in prayer. Help us not to faint in prayer. Help us to believe that you hear and answer prayer. Help us to learn, while we are waiting, those lessons you want us to learn, and help us to have an eye to the sky, and to long for Jesus’ return. To them that look for him, he will appear a second time. There is a crown of righteousness that the righteous judge will give to them who love his appearing. May the Son of Man find faith in us in these last days. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.