Persevering Prayer for Vindication #2 (Lk 17:20-18:8)

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin introduces the sermon as the second part of an exposition on Luke 17:20-18:8, focusing on applications. He reads the entire passage, which includes Jesus' teaching…

The Word of God is likened to seed cast upon the ground of hearts, needing the Holy Spirit's operation to be watered, germinate, take root, and bring forth fruit. This illustrates the need for divine enablement for spiritual growth.

me out by her continual coming and the Lord said hear what the unrighteous judge says and shall not God avenge his elect that cry to him day and night and yet he is long suffering over them I say unto you that he will avenge them speedily nevertheless when the son of man comes shall he find this kind of faith on the earth well again let's briefly pray and ask God for the help of his spirit as we come to his word our father we have already poured out our hearts to you in prayer in the Spotify And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, that ther...

4:04 - 5:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Determine to conclude every season of private prayer with the words, 'Maranatha, O Lord, come.'

What believers currently have is described as an 'earnest, the down payment, the foretaste of the best that is to come,' illustrating that present blessings are a guarantee of future, greater blessings, fueling the yearning for Christ's return.

Because when God's elect are effectually called, they're brought to some awareness that what they now have is but the earnest, the down payment, the foretaste of the best that is to come. And the yearnings to be perfected in body and mind, to be done with sin and weakness and weariness and death and this messed up world, fixes their hopes on the age to come. And they become part of the company of the day and night criers. Lord Jesus, come. Even so, come. Lord Jesus.

30:20 - 30:58 Read in full sermon

Driving home: That is the subsoil out of which persevering faith grows, and is sustained, and by which alone it can be sustained in a climate that would shrivel the plan to persevering faith, persevering prayer in the return of the Lo…

The speed of God's avenging his own is compared to 'in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,' and 'like lightning,' emphasizing the suddenness and swiftness of Christ's return.

When it is God's time to avenge his own, it will be done with haste. It will be done with speed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trump of the Lord shall sound. That's the language of speedily, in an instant, like lightning, Jesus says in the Luke 17 and parallel passages. Now, what is the key then to always...

32:37 - 33:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: That is the subsoil out of which persevering faith grows, and is sustained, and by which alone it can be sustained in a climate that would shrivel the plan to persevering faith, persevering prayer in the return of the Lo…

Faith is described as the 'subsoil out of which persevering faith grows, and is sustained,' illustrating that a deep, active faith is foundational for enduring prayer in a hostile spiritual climate.

That's why Jesus says, Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, not shall he find the persevering prayer on the earth, but shall he find the faith. That is, the kind of faith. That is the subsoil out of which persevering faith grows, and is sustained, and by which alone it can be sustained in a climate that would shrivel the plan to persevering faith, persevering prayer in the return of the Lord Jesus. We must live out our days in a context in which, in every age, the language of unbelief all around us is the language of 2 Peter 3. Where is the promise of his coming? Since the fathers fell asl...

33:23 - 34:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It becomes a conviction that's put in the book of our stated Christian convictions and placed upon the shelf and gathers dust.

A languid faith in Christ's return is compared to a conviction 'put in the book of our stated Christian convictions and placed upon the shelf and gathers dust,' illustrating how a belief can be held but not actively engaged or vital.

Alive and active. And I use those terms to underscore that we can have a faith in the coming of the Lord Jesus that is not relinquished or abandoned, but becomes dormant, becomes languid. It becomes a conviction that's put in the book of our stated Christian convictions and placed upon the shelf and gathers dust. That's what I'm saying.

34:42 - 35:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not only feed your mind on the news or innocent things, but specifically feed your mind upon the pronouncements of Holy Scripture and God's redemptive purpose.

The contrast between feeding one's mind on news versus feeding on Holy Scripture illustrates how spiritual vitality is maintained by focusing on God's promises and redemptive purposes, rather than worldly distractions.

And the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. That means if all you're doing is feeding your mind on the news, feeding your mind on things that may be innocent in themselves, but not feeding your mind upon the specific pronouncements of Holy Scripture, not feeding your mind upon the great sweeping structure of God's redemptive purpose, in which he calls the present age but the earnest, the foretaste, the down payment, the arabon of redemptive privilege, reminding ourselves the best is yet to come and it will all break in upon us in its full glory. When Jesus splits the sky and comes ...

36:11 - 37:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Contemplate who your God is—righteous, loving, compassionate—and confess your confidence in his commitment to your well-being as you pray.

Martin shares a personal anecdote about a former 'son in the faith' who was in ministry but 'gone out because iniquity shall abound,' illustrating the reality of apostasy and the warning that 'the love of the many shall wax cold'.

he's assuming that this kind of faith is not natural remember brethren all of the teaching of Matthew 24 Mark 13 1 Thessalonians 5 1 Peter 2 Peter teaches us that the people of God are to live out their sojourn in the hope of the Lord's return in a very incompatible climate and that climate is not indifferent to them nor are they indifferent to it Jesus says because iniquity shall abound the Lord and his wife got a letter for someone that used to sit in the cracker box for the ministry and one was in the ministry for years and I have books from him signed your son in the faith with God his mar...

38:51 - 40:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Be determined to use every means at your disposal to keep your faith in the promised reality of Christ's return vigorously alive and active, resisting indwelling sin and the devil's attempts to dampen your ardor.

The 'enmity' God puts between the serpent and the woman's seed in Genesis 3:15 is explained as 'warfare, antipathy, tension,' illustrating the cosmic conflict that defines redemptive history.

again I don't just trip these things off if you saw all the white outs and all the scrap paper that gets thrown away but it says what I want to say because I believe the passage warrants it if our perspectives on and our prayers for the return of Christ are to be compatible with this parable we must have a heightened appreciation of our involvement in the cosmic conflict of redemption now let me explain what I mean the first revelation of God's purpose of redemptive grace is recorded in Genesis 3.15 you remember the incident God comes to the sinning shrinking man and woman who have followed th...

41:39 - 43:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Be determined to use every means at your disposal to keep your faith in the promised reality of Christ's return vigorously alive and active, resisting indwelling sin and the devil's attempts to dampen your ardor.

The returning Christ in Revelation is depicted as a 'conquering general sitting on a white charger' with the armies of heaven following him, illustrating the ultimate victory in the cosmic conflict.

of redemptive grace motif is there throughout our Bibles from Genesis to Revelation it culminates when we turn to that majestic scene in Revelation 9 where the returning Christ is set before us under the figure of a conquering general sitting on a white charger and the armies of heaven it says follow him the people of God are his army and they come forth to bring the final defeat of all the powers of darkness and in between that motif comes out again and again when Jesus makes his first pronouncement about the church in Matthew 16 in what image does he give it I will build my church and the ga...

44:35 - 45:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Be determined to use every means at your disposal to keep your faith in the promised reality of Christ's return vigorously alive and active, resisting indwelling sin and the devil's attempts to dampen your ardor.

Jesus' statement 'I will build my church and the gates of hell will prevail against it' is interpreted as 'my church will storm the gates of hell,' illustrating the church's active role in spiritual warfare.

of redemptive grace motif is there throughout our Bibles from Genesis to Revelation it culminates when we turn to that majestic scene in Revelation 9 where the returning Christ is set before us under the figure of a conquering general sitting on a white charger and the armies of heaven it says follow him the people of God are his army and they come forth to bring the final defeat of all the powers of darkness and in between that motif comes out again and again when Jesus makes his first pronouncement about the church in Matthew 16 in what image does he give it I will build my church and the ga...

44:35 - 45:40 Read in full sermon