Men Ought Always to Pray

Introduction: The Unique Parable of Persistent Prayer

0:04 Will you follow, please, as I read from the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 18, this very graphic account in parable form of a strange and godless man and an unusually persistent woman,

0:30 and the great lesson concerning the subject of prayer which our Lord sets before his disciples. Luke, chapter 18, and I shall read verses 1 through 8.

0:44 Speaking of our Lord, Luke tells us, And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray and not to faint, saying, There was in a city a judge who feared not God and regarded not man, and there was a widow in that city. And she came oft unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while. But afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming.

1:23 And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge saith, 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, cometh, shall he find faith or the faith on the earth?

1:53 This parable of our Lord is unique in that it's the only parable in which the purpose of the parable is explicitly stated and the interpretation of the parable is explicitly given. In some parables there is a preceding statement indicating the intent of the parable, but you're left to the general rules of how to handle parables for an interpretation. Other parables are given, then the interpretation is given, but the specific purpose for which the parable is given is not before us. As one old commentator said,

2:36 this is a unique portion of Scripture in that the key to understanding it hangs on the door itself. And of course the key being that first verse, he spake a parable unto them, and to this end. And then of course underscoring the main lesson in the words, and the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge saith, and shall not God. And then he underscores the main lesson of the parable.

The Setting of the Parable: Spiritual Preservation in a Hostile World

3:04 Obviously it deals broadly with the subject of prayer, but it is not just a general exhortation on the subject of prayer. And in order to catch the thrust of what I believe to be the concern of our Lord, as he gives this teaching to his own disciples, we must pause and say just a word about the setting of the parable. Then we shall proceed to consider the purpose of the parable, the actual facts of the parable, then the main point of the parable, and then the sequel to the parable. And that will just bring us right down through the text, verse by verse.

3:42 First of all then, the setting of the parable. This parable is not found in the other synonyms, synoptics, which now those of you who attend the adult class know, refers to Matthew and to Mark, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, constituting what are called the synoptic gospels. It is not found in the gospel of John, and so it is difficult precisely to make any statement about the chronology of the parable, when it was spoken, and as you've been instructed in the adult class, the gospels are not necessarily set before us in strict chronology. But there is no reason not to believe that this parable came,

4:27 at least in some proximity to the teaching given by our Lord in the previous chapter. The previous chapter had as its closing theme the return of our Lord and the circumstances that would be present at the return of the Lord. First of all, the Son of Man must suffer, verse 25 of chapter 17, and, be rejected of this generation, and as it came to pass in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. And then those very familiar words that we find in Matthew chapter 24, we find also in the gospel of Mark, they ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark,

5:10 and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, even as it came to pass in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, but in the days of Noah, in the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all, after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of Man is revealed. And so our Lord has been speaking of the reality of His revelation, the context indicating primarily the revelation at the last day, the second advent of our Lord, and the peculiar temptations which the people of God will face in a generation, in which there is little sympathy for the great realities

5:53 that cluster around the return of Christ. There is this preoccupation with the sensual, the preoccupation with things legitimate in themselves, but a preoccupation that excludes the concerns of the weightier issues of the soul, as in the days of Lot, as in the days of Noah. And then that tremendous warning in verse 32, Remember Lot's wife, who had this lingering, lingering attachment to that which was slated for destruction, and her turning about to look at it was not an innocent act of idle curiosity. It was an indication that her heart was still there.

6:33 And God says, if your heart is there, then the destruction they experienced will be your portion, and God turned her into a pillar of salt. And the Lord says, remember that. Because the prevailing climate will be one of total preoccupation with the sensual, with the external, with the temporal, eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, planting, selling, buying, building. Here are pure materialists,

7:01 and having described such an age as that which will characterize the age at the return of our Lord,

7:12 at least in some proximity to that, our Lord then gives this parable concerning the subject of persistent, persevering, prayer. So whatever the parable may teach in terms of general lessons concerning prayer, the parable has a peculiar reference to that kind of prayer that is inseparably joined to holding one's own spiritually in an unusually hostile environment.

7:50 The biblical writers tell us that Lot's righteous soul was vexed, was vexed, was vexed, was vexed, was vexed from day to day with the filthy conversation of the wicked. What weapon has God given to us living in a generation that is fast becoming marked by the very things that have already inundated our brethren in Britain? And I would say we're probably only about five at the most ten years behind, brother. As I try to expose myself to the mass media and these things in both countries, I'd say we're about five to ten years behind.

8:23 Maybe that's too conservative an estimate. Moving in the same direction at the same rate of speed.

8:29 What does a believer do in such circumstances when there is unusual and blatant and almost total preoccupation with the sensual and the material in which all of us feels himself a lot whose righteous souls are vexed from day to day with the filthy conversation of the wicked? When there seems to be but a trickle or just a droplet of common grace here and there, and the rest is nothing but a parched desert of pure materialism and sensualism and downright atheism, I would suggest that the parable of our Lord concerning the necessity of persistent, persevering prayer

9:14 has peculiar reference to the need of the people of God living in such circumstances. And having given these warnings, having spoken of these circumstances, and he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray. So much for the setting. Now we move very naturally to the explicit purpose of the parable.

The Explicit Purpose of the Parable: Constant and Unwearying Prayer

9:39 The purpose is to underscore, to enforce the duty of constant and unwearying prayer. First of all, to enforce the duty of prayer. He spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray. And the word ought is a word which speaks of the compulsion of duty.

10:03 It's the same word that Peter used in Acts 5, 29, when he said, we ought to obey God rather than men. We are under a compulsion of duty to render obedience to God rather than to man. And so our Lord is underscoring the duty of prayer, but he's underscoring something more than the duty. He says that men, we ought always, literally, at all times.

10:33 It's the word that the elder brother used when he said, Father, I mean, the Father said to the Son, he said, thou art ever with me and all that I have is thine. Thou art ever with me. Thou art at all times under the canopy of my protection and my provision. That's what our Lord is underscoring.

10:50 He is not saying that we ought consciously every moment of the day to be engaged in constant and conscious exercises of intercession. No, no. That would be to relinquish all other duties. But he's saying that our praying ought to be part of our constant experience as the people of God.

11:11 Not praying by fits and starts, but learning something of the habit of prayer. But then he goes on to say that the purpose is not only to underscore the duty of prayer, the duty of constancy in prayer, but the duty of constancy and an unwearying spirit in prayer. Notice the language. He spake a parable to the end that they ought always to pray and not to faint.

11:45 Not to be fainting. And you know what it means to faint. It means to grow weary. It means to have the hands hang down, whether from discouragement, despondency, unbelief, whatever it is.

11:58 But it's an exhortation to unwearying consistency in prayer.

12:08 Now bring the three things together and what do you have? You have our Lord's purpose set before us in such a way that no one can misunderstand it unless he's determined so to do. The purpose of this parable, when we're done studying it, we ought to feel our conscience is bound to the necessity, to the duty of the Lord. Of both constancy and fervency in our prayers.

12:37 Particularly with reference to prayer as a means of spiritual preservation in a hostile environment.

12:50 Nothing less than prayer performed as a duty with constancy and vigor will fit a man or woman to stand in days of unusual spiritual pressure. Watch and pray that she enter not into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Our Lord is saying to the disciples in that word, Matthew 26, 41, in the light of the unusual concentration of temptation that is about to come upon you, coupled with the willingness of a renewed spirit couched in weak flesh, prayer is the divinely ordained means to bring the strength of God into the midst of that weakness.

13:35 And if you neglect the means, the weakness will conquer. And that's precisely what happened. Peter's denial from the human perspective, the fleeing of the others, was the evident fruit of the prayerlessness in Gethsemane. Now the denial was open and manifest to all, but the roots of the denial were known only to the Lord who had withdrawn himself with them a stone's throw.

14:02 And you have in this passage that is before us tonight our Lord's extended exposition of that very principle enunciated in Matthew 26. In the light of days of unusual temptation, every age is a wicked age. Any period of human history, it can be said, the whole world lieth in the wicked one. But there are ages of relative intensity and lesser intensity of wickedness.

14:29 There are periods and epochs when there is more common grace, when men think more, consciously or unconsciously, in biblical categories, in the totality, totality of life. But our Lord is contemplating a situation in which there is very little of that, this total preoccupation with the sensual, the material, the temporal, and all these other things that we've underscored. And in that situation, He says, we ought always to pray. We must feel something of the oughtness of constancy in prayer.

Reasons for the Necessity of Persistent Prayer

15:02 We must feel something of the necessity of maintaining this non-fainting disposition with reference to prayer. Now, why should the Lord have to stir up His own and stir us up by means of such a parable? May I suggest, very briefly, by way of application, three reasons. First of all, because of the hostile environment to a life of prayer found in the world without us.

15:30 The hymn writer was right when he asked the question, is this vile world a friend of grace to help me on to God? When did you ever find anything in the world system when you are in direct contact with it that stirred you up to prayer? Except it was the realization of how absolutely antithetical everything in that system was to your own spiritual perspectives and in desperation it drove you to God. In that sense, it may help us on to God.

16:00 But you see, there is nothing living in a situation in which there is this total preoccupation with the sensual, this total preoccupation with the things innocent in themselves but which have become idolatrous because they occupy all of the focal point of attention and concern in the light of that. We need to have our consciences alert that men ought always to pray. And even though there is this constant and necessary contact with the world system to which prayer is as foreign as night from day, the reality of God is denied. The reality of communion with God, the necessity of walking with these things are not even discussed.

16:42 They are not even considered viable options. Some kind of museum pieces out of the past. Well, in that situation, you see, if our consciences are not bound with the sense of duty with reference to prayer, we are never going to make it. Men ought, they are under solemn obligation continually to pray.

17:03 Even at those times when contact with that world system seems to bleed away the last drop of anything that resembles the spirit of prayer, you are still under solemn obligation to pray. Men ought, men ought always to pray and not to faint. Secondly, because of the opposition from a malicious devil,

17:28 the hatred of the devil for a praying saint is seen in his opposition to such a person.

17:38 Prayer is the first spiritual discipline to be relinquished when a man is being set up for a spiritual fall.

17:47 Prayer is the first spiritual discipline to be relinquished when a man is being set up for a fall.

17:56 Prayer is the first spiritual discipline to be relinquished when a man or woman is being set up for a spiritual fall. The scripture says, be watchful. Why? Because your adversary is a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour, whom resists steadfast in the faith.

18:20 My friend, we must not descend to the tragic position that many are descending to. I read a book this week that reflects it in which they find some direct satanic, some direct demonic activity in every single manifestation of evil, even in a believer. This book had some preposterous things to say about believers being indwelt with dozens of demons and they had them all named and categorized and all the rest ridiculous stuff in which there's this total, total preoccupation with the demonic and the devil just loves it when he gets such attention. And I would resist to death any such inclination, any such teaching.

19:01 But on the other hand, let us not forget that one of the very real aspects of your walk as a believer is that which has reference to your dealings with the devil. The scripture says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resists steadfast in the faith. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

19:32 Take the shield of faith wherewith he shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. So we do have some dealings with the devil.

19:44 And the opposition of the enemy is such that it's only this sense of oughtness that will block up the way by which we can we continually move out of the path of prayerlessness by rationalization. The way out of prayer into prayerlessness. The way out of prayer, not out of prayerlessness. Out of prayer into prayerlessness is a path paved with the blocks of rationalization.

20:09 Well, the Lord knows.

20:12 And God knows this but the word of Jesus ought to hang us up every time we start to lay one of those blocks for a path that leads us out of the orbit of persistent unflagging prayer remember men ought always to pray and not to faint until the Lord Jesus comes and changes that word and says there are many circumstances in which you are not under solemn obligation to pray and not to faint until the Lord rescinds that word. There is nothing but having the conscience conditioned by that clear statement of Luke 18 one that will keep us from the subtlety of the devil. And thirdly of course there is the disinclination of our own remaining corruption.

20:57 Romans 7 21 when I would do good evil is present with me. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these two are contrary the one to the other and as John Owen has so masterfully stated in his exposition of that text in what is now volume 6 of his complete works the principle that you've heard frequently from this pulpit but I hope it's one of the things that will finally get through to us and that's why I repeat it. Owen points out that the more calculated any activity is to shrivel remaining corruption the more violent is the opposition of our corruption to that discipline.

21:41 And nothing is more calculated to shrivel the influence of remaining corruption than the kind of prayer our Lord is talking about. Therefore the opposition of indwelling corruption is most violent against against that kind of prayer.

21:57 Now some will write that off call it pietistic let them do so. Their own shame at the appearing of Christ will mock their pseudo knowledge. Men ought always to pray and not to faint. In such a formidable array of opposition we must be convinced of the duty of constant unwearying prayer and set ourselves to attain the same at any cost.

22:29 If you merely pray by impulse you're in bad shape. Bless God for the times when we're drawn to prayer by holy impulse and by the sheer delight of present realized communion with God. Thank God for those times and I'm sure all of us have had them. When prayer we could have cared less whether it were duty or not it was such a delight there's a sense in which we didn't care if it were a duty.

22:57 But if you're honest you'll acknowledge that those times are the exceptions and not the truth. Having to live in this realistic context of the world the devil and our own indwelling corruption our own remaining sin we need to have our whole perspective with reference to prayer governed by a statement like this that takes us totally out of the realm of what we feel and says you ought to pray and not to faint. It is your solemn duty as well as your blessed privilege. Alright?

The Facts of the Parable: The Unrighteous Judge and the Persistent Widow

23:30 Then our Lord gives a parable to underscore that lesson and if we allow ourselves to be diverted from that explicitly stated purpose of our Lord we end up with all kinds of foolishness in the interpretation of the parable and some men beat their brains out trying to say well the judge can't be God because it's too low a description of God and some have tried a fanciful way to say the judge is God and the widow is the persecuted church no no no no no the purpose of the parable is to underscore the necessity of God's constancy in prayer. Alright? Let's get the facts of the parable which cluster around these two individuals. First of all we have this man the judge.

24:13 There was in a city a judge. His position was one of duly constituted authority. If we look at his position biblically we call him a representative of God. Judges in the Old Testament were called gods in that they administered justice in the name of God.

24:31 If we view his position according to Romans 13 he is a minister of God to avenge evil and to reward good. Well what about his character? Well it tells us that this judge was marked by total impiety. Look what it says about him.

24:48 He feared not God he regarded not man. Utterly indifferent to the first table of the law utterly insensitive to the second table of the law. And those two always stand or fall together. If men do not fear God they will not properly regard men.

25:06 And when men are indifferent to their fellow man it's a reflection of their alienation from God. So our Lord describes this judge as a man whose character was marked by this total graceless condition. Had no thought of discharging his duty as unto God he didn't view his judge's bench as something that had cast over it the shadow of the almighty throne or the bench of God. He didn't contemplate the fact that one day he'd give an account for the stewardship of how he administered his bench of justice when he stood before the bench of eternal justice he feared not God.

25:47 That is pleasing God living his life under the eye of God was something utterly foreign to this man. And we ought to pause to remember there's no new thing under the sun. We say the system's gone bad. Any system in which man's had his fingers has always been bad.

26:04 They had judges in our Lord's day who feared not God and as a result he did not regard man. That is he had no sympathy no sensitivity even in the realm of common grace. You'll find some people at least have some measure of compassion. Granted it's selfish it is not virtuous in the Christian sense it does not flow from a right motive and onto a right end but at least there's something of the milk of human kindness left in the breast.

26:32 Common grace. But this man was devoid of both. His position a judge his character utterly graceless his action well look at it. One which reflected his theology.

26:46 This poor widow this destitute woman came and said avenge me of mine adversary. You are the man appointed to uphold justice. Injustice has been done administered justice on my behalf. The man had no sense well here's a widow and almighty God has much to say in his word about being concerned for widows.

27:05 I'm going to stand before God. I must be concerned with this widow. None of that. Nor did he look upon the widow in her state and say the poor woman if her adversary is not dealt with she may die penniless.

27:18 None of that moved him. He was utterly without any compassion any response but he says just to get her off my back a totally selfish response. Verse 5 Yet because this widow troubles me I will have to venture lest she wear me out and you'll notice in the marginal reading of the 1901 lest she bruise me by her continual coming. And if you can't read that and have your imagination conjure up the image of what our Lord is saying you just are totally lacking in sanctified imagination.

27:54 Day after day when he'd come out of his house when he'd go to his hamburger joint for his lunch or go to the local club for his lunch there she was hounding him troubling him until he was finally moved by no other consideration than she had become a thorn in the side of his own carnal delights. He said I've got to get rid of the thorn to shut her up I will avenge her of her adversary. Alright so much for the judge his position his character his action now let's look at the widow. Her position was that of a widow a widow in Bible days as you know utterly destitute both in the Old and the New Testaments the indication is that to be a widow was to be in a tragic position

28:37 so much of the New Testament is taken up with care for the widow specific directions in 1st Timothy and examples of this in the book of the Acts so here she was utterly destitute apparently a woman just in her cause her complaint in the parable seems to be a valid complaint and her action dogged persistence she came she continued to come and continued and with unwearying vehement cry she fell she finally persuaded the man to be kind to her so much for the basic facts of the parable now what's the point or lesson of the parable our Lord gives it in verses 6 to 8 and the Lord said hear what the unrighteous judge

The Main Lesson of the Parable: God's Gracious Response to His Elect

29:21 saith and then he draws a contrast between the character the attitude and actions of the judge with the character attitude and actions of God with reference to his children and that's the whole point of the parable and understanding that and keeping it at the level of consciousness is that which will move us into the orbit of the very purpose for which the parable was given purpose being to bind the consciences of disciples to the duty of constancy in prayer he spake a parable to this end that they ought always to pray having looked at the facts of the parable now the lesson of the parable is consistent with the purpose statement

30:06 in verse one look first of all at the contrast in character hear what the unrighteous judge saith and shall not God avenge his elect that cry to him day and night and yet he is long suffering over them the judge was unholy unloving unconcerned and yet the persistent cry prevailed God is holy loving bound up with his people in the bonds of everlasting love it is his elect which cry unto him day and night and being long suffering over them

30:51 the scripture says his ears are ever open to the cry of the righteous you see the contrast the judge probably the first few days stopped his ears stuck cotton in his ears took some earplugs that he used when he swam in his backyard pool and stuck them in his ears he only listened when it was the last resort what is the picture the bible gives of God when it anthropomorphizes God it gives him physical human characteristics it says the ears of the Lord are open to the cry of the righteous may I say it reverently God's problem is not that he stops his ears to the cries of his children is that they are so often open and he hears no cries

31:35 God says to the prophet Isaiah there is none that stirreth up himself to take hold upon me what a terrible indictment unlike this narrow hearted godless graceless judge whose reluctant ear is finally penetrated by the power of unflagging persistence shall not God elect whose ears are ever to his people why because his heart has been towards them from eternity to eternity they are his elect upon whom he set his love before worlds were ever brought into being there's the contrast in character

32:19 and then of course the contrast of relationship the judge was bound to this woman in bonds of a common humanity not by choice but by the appointment of God but he felt nothing of common human sympathy the judge was bound to this woman by virtue of his place as a judge he was utterly indifferent to that so the relationship was one of common humanity to this woman one of divine appointment but those two relationships left him utterly indifferent but now what is God's relationship to his people we've already suggested it now let's pause for a moment to draw it out he's bound

33:04 by the cords of distinguishing electing love is not this why our Lord uses that particular description of his people that particular appellation or title he could have said shall not God avenge his own children shall not God avenge his own followers shall not God avenge his own people shall not God avenge his own elect his own chosen ones who cry day and night and yet he is long suffering over them and our Lord therefore brings into sharp focus this contrast of relationship with the judge with the woman was a purely legal relationship a purely

33:48 natural relationship the relationship of the God of this passage to his children is a gracious relationship it doesn't say his children by creation no no he's not envisioned as the God of creation he's envisioned as the God of redemption his elect towards whom he exercises his loving kindness now in the light of that contrast of character and relationship our Lord gives a gracious affirmation and promise in verses seven and eight shall not God avenge his own elect now at this point many have heard and tried to put too much significance on the concept

34:32 of avenge and say well that's only prayers that God will vindicate his cause and judge the wicked no in the context the whole language of the relationship and the parallels it's natural for our Lord to use the language that fits the parable but remember the overall purpose is to underscore verse one that men ought always to pray the kind of praying that is fitting when the people of God are struggling for their very spiritual existence in a hostile environment now part of that prayer will be oh Lord how long before you vindicate your name and utterly judge wickedness part of it is the last prayer of the Bible even so come Lord Jesus

35:17 but that's not exclusively the prayer to which his ears are open and which we are encouraged to pray shall not God avenge his own elect the question then the affirmation I say unto you he will avenge them speedily shortly quickly ah but you say wait a minute that doesn't make sense if he avenges them quickly shortly why do they have to cry day and night well the word does not say he will avenge them immediately upon their first cry he will avenge them shortly same word that we find in the book of the revelation the things that shall come to pass

36:01 shortly hundreds of years have passed and all has not come to pass for we reckon things as creatures of time but I remind you that the God who is the God of distinguishing love who regards his elect with everlasting love and mercy who is long suffering over them it's interesting that that very concept of his long suffering in Peter is tied to this perspective one day is with that God as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day he will avenge them speedily at the proper time God will come to their aid and he will bring deliverance and he will bring ultimate destruction to the wicked and to all

36:46 wickedness and bring his people safely home into his presence but notice the promise is an exclusive promise I say he will avenge them who are the them his elect that cry to him day and night this word cry is a very forceful word it's the word used of the preaching of John it's the word used of what our Lord did when on the cross that agonizing word was given my God my God why has thou forsaken me it's the word used in verse 38 of this very chapter concerning that poor blind man who desperately needed the

37:31 touch of the Son of God in verse 38 and he cried saying Son of David have mercy and it was in the midst of a multitude with all of the noise and the confusion and he cried saying and our Lord here pictures his elect is those who are not just mumbling proper little prayers to salve their consciences they are crying there's the element of desperation there's the element of soul travail there's the element of agonizing reality when John the Baptist cried when our Lord cried upon the cross when the blind man cried Son of David have mercy although we must not limit that to volume we must

38:15 think of that which lies behind it is the element of of earnestness the recognition that these are life and death issues we're not playing games this promise is not to those who've gone through the motions of some kind of Christian experience that may have touched the outer reaches of the intellect and adjusted some of the outer reaches of external conduct and brought them into conformity with evangelical norms he's talking about a people to whom the issues of the soul are so real that they cry to God there's the element of desperation rooted in reality when they live in the

39:00 sodom-like generations they feel the vexation of soul there are times when they say Lord I don't know if I'm going to make it if you've not had such times my friend I wonder if you're half awake when you read remember Lot's wife you don't conjure up your doctrine of perseverance and say well I believe once saved always saved in grace always in grace so that I don't need that no no my friend you read that and you're scared to death because you say Lord I find in me at times something that does look back and looks back not with idle curiosity but that there are lingering

39:45 desires and to taste some of that which I left in Egypt when you're honest before God you cry to Him maybe times when you even pray Lord take me out of the mess before I'd ever live long enough to bring reproach to you you cry to Him there's the element of reality in the prayers you're not saying polite little prayers that your mama taught you the issues are real they flow out of the pressure of that mingling of nature and grace and sin and the work of God and the remains of corruption and you can enter into the spirit of Romans 7

40:28 Romans 8 and Galatians 5 and 2nd Corinthians 5 1 and following Paul speaks we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened again I say somebody write this off oh that's just pietistic drivel oh my friend you better be careful you're maligning the words of God young smart Alex write off the Puritans too subjective to this to that my friend you begin to take your heart honestly and you welcome Dr. Flabel coming to your aid Dr. Owen coming to your aid and Dr. Sibs coming to your aid because

41:13 you sense this man these men are laying out something of the struggles of the soul and deep answers unto deep and you sense you're living in the same world of spiritual reality and comfort they cry and they cry day and night in other words they have not conveniently regulated their lives so that their sense of need is something limited to their formal prayer times that's the emphasis this woman needed to be avenged of her adversary any time she could get the judge's ear she was going to hound him she looked out her window and sees coming home from a late appointment she'd go out there and bother him late at night early in the morning middle of the day until

41:58 he finally says look I've got to get her off my back I can't even predict now he began to plan well she's come out at 8 o'clock I'll fool her I'll leave for work at 730 but isn't long before she discovers it and she's there at his gate at 730 she'll wear me out by her continual coming shall not God avenge his elect which cried day and night day and night in other words they live with the sense of their dependence that drives them to the throne of grace in their formal times of prayer yes but not only in their formal times of prayer and then finally we have the subsequent question of verse 8 not

The Sequel to the Parable: Will Christ Find Faith on Earth?

42:43 nevertheless in spite of all that I've said concerning the father's willingness to hear the cries of his children the necessity of persevering unflagging prayer nevertheless when the son of man cometh you see I believe there is peculiar reference to the Lord's return the immediate context preceding and now the final word by which it is capped and bounded on the other side nevertheless when the son of man cometh shall he find faith better translated the faith on the earth isn't interesting the Lord didn't say when the son of man cometh shall he find prayerfulness on the earth but he said shall he find

43:28 the faith that is adherence to the revelation of God concerning all of life the faith is the body of revealed truth and he says nevertheless when the son of man cometh shall he find the faith on the earth the indication being you see that this kind of persistent earnest unflagging prayer is the acid test concerning how much we're really committed to faith the faith that says the way is narrow that leads unto life and few there be that find it the faith that says it is absolutely necessary as well as certain

44:13 that we the people of God shall persevere in holiness obedience and faith he that endureth to the end the same shall be saved granted all that have once been saved shall endure there is certainty that they shall endure but there is necessity that they endure do you believe that that's part of the revealed body of truth that's part of the faith the faith that not only comes with the declaration of objective provisions concerning how guilty sinners may find acceptance with God on the grounds of Christ righteousness imputed to them

44:51 says if faith is laid hold of that righteousness in Christ it is also brought us into vital life union in which we share the virtue of his death his burial his resurrection his ascension we walk in newness of life we put to death our members which are upon the earth that's part of the faith and you see it's to the extent that that is grasped and presently believed that

45:22 day and night nevertheless when the son of man cometh shall he find thee faith in the earth you remember that man in the iron cage I don't refer to him often when referring to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress because there's some of you dear sensitive souls that are constantly using that as a mirror of yourself and there's no grounds to John Bunyan was a wise pastor and he did have a man in an iron cage who's in a state of despair and when he was asked who are you his answer was I am not now what I once was well Christian says what were you at one time he says I once was a fair and flourishing

46:07 professor he didn't mean he was a good looking college instructor what he meant was I once was a very acceptable saint I walked among the people of

46:24 life bore witness to that confession then Bunyan puts in the mouth of Christian the question how in the world did you ever come here filled with despair eyes cast down with no hope locked up waiting the day of judgment you remember the classic words that Bunyan puts in his mouth he says I left off to watch and to pray those are the first words I left off to watch and to pray then he says I laid the reins upon the neck of my lusts and now I am where I am no

47:09 fair and flourishing professor lays the reins upon the neck of his lust until he first of all leaves off to watch and to pray that's why I said earlier in the exposition that the first step in declension is to be found in the place of prayer and our Lord knew that that's why he said in the light of the abounding pressure to wickedness in the light of your own weakness men ought always to pray and not to faint but in spite of that clear teaching in spite of the great encouragement in this contrast of character

47:54 between the unjust judge and the loving father of the elect the contrast between the relationship of the judge to the widow in spite of every encouragement every warning in scripture when the son of man cometh shall he find thee faith on the earth and I confess that I've tried desperately I've tried desperately to follow the line of logic that is at least purported to be rooted in exposition that envisions a saved world prior to the coming of our Lord through the gospel I'm not talking about the deluded hopes of liberal theologians if we

48:38 even dare prostitute the term theologian when applied to those who reject biblical authority I'm talking about the saved world of esteemed Benjamin Warfield and the vision of some of our puritan forefathers but my dear friends when I come to passages such as this I'm no pessimist I believe God can give the church days of glory that will outshine anything we've ever known before and there's nothing in the Bible to discourage us from praying to that end but to say that I have biblical warrant to believe that there will be at the return of the Lord basically a saved earth when the Son of Man cometh nevertheless in spite of all

49:23 this encouragement shall he find the faith on the earth the answer is almost given the implication is so strong no and Lot went out of Sodom one family when Noah entered the ark one family and the gate is still narrow and in any given generation few there be that find it thank God the accumulated few out of every segment will be a great multitude whom no man can number thank God for that and we preach no frustrated Savior his house will be full

50:07 but my friends the scripture says the way the gate is narrow and the way is constant and the Lord has not changed that statement and if you believe that there is no way to life but the narrow gate and continuance upon the narrow way then you're going to take seriously the teaching of this parable the main lesson of it men ought always to pray because prayer is the primary means by which those spiritual graces essential to our perseverance are imparted to us as the people of God and to despise prayer

Pastoral Exhortation: The Duty and Necessity of Prayer

50:52 is to despise what under God prayer brings to us namely supplies of grace to persevere against the world the flesh and the devil I want to quote from old Bishop Ryle who had such great spiritual wisdom on so many things do we ever feel a secret inclination to hurry our prayers or shorten our prayers or become careless about our prayers or omit our prayers altogether and to that question you must answer what do you ever feel a secret inclination to hurry your prayers your conscience won't let you totally omit them

51:37 but you gotta save them and get them over with so you have a little sad for your conscience are we tempted secret inclination to hurry our prayers shorten our prayers or become careless about our prayers or omit our prayers altogether let us be sure when we do it is a direct temptation from the devil he is trying to sap and undermine the very citadel of our souls and to cast us down to hell let us resist the temptation and cast it behind our backs let us resolve to pray on steadily patiently perseveringly and let out that it does us good however long the answer may be in coming still let us pray on

52:22 whatever sacrifice and self denial it may cost us still let us pray on pray always pray without ceasing continue in prayer let us arm our minds with this parable and while we live whatever we may make time for let us make time for prayer and I close with a very simple but pointed

52:47 I've preached on this parable tonight as the result of honest searching of heart in these days when I've been relatively laid aside with this back injury asking God to give me renewed sensitivity to where we are as a congregation where we're going what the Lord would say to us and I'm convinced that with the gracious good hand of God upon us granting us increase numerically for which we give him praise

53:18 time to pray on Wednesday nights will begin to be the Cinderella of this assembly the moment it does the first letter of Ichabod is being written on the front door of that place not the full name the glory has departed but the first letter is being written the first letter of Ichabod is written when there is a subtle absorption of the attitude well I can slacken my prayers with the people of God you who are members of this assembly have solemnly committed yourselves to be faithful to the stated meetings for prayer and worship which are very few

54:02 some of you have not been resisting with enough vehemence the temptation to slacken your prayers among the people of God this comes as a pastoral exhortation we as a people ought always to pray and not to faint there is a peculiar saying if two of you shall agree as touching what they ask it shall be done we as elders are not setting up some legalistic court in which we're going to check no no we have nothing to do that but I'm seeking to drive home to your conscience the principle and ask you prayerfully to reflect upon it

54:47 and in terms of our own individual lives thank God for the measure to which many of you have grown in knowledge things that once were totally outside the orbit of your understanding you may have even hated and now you love perhaps you do well to ask the question to what extent has my increased knowledge led to increased prayerfulness if I'm growing in the faith I will be growing in my fervency and consistency in unfainting prayer now when I apply that test to myself I tell you I'm humbled there are times when I say God I'd give up all I now know

55:31 to have the spirit of prayer I've known in some other epochs of my own spiritual soldier dear people our Lord meant business having spoken of sobering days remember Lot's wife whosoever will seek to gain his life shall lose it whosoever shall lose it shall preserve it men ought always to pray when you're tempted to think God doesn't hear hear what the unjust judge said I'll hear her even though I have no fear of God or regard for her to get her off my back shall not God avenge no cry from the broken earnest heart of a man or

56:16 woman indwelt with the spirit is ever rejected in the court of heaven much of it has to be purged out and

56:29 God will grant the answer may God grant that we shall hear his own word to us in this parable in book 18 let us pray our father we must confess with shame our failures in prayer we believe we've grieved you when your ear has so often been open ready to hear our cry and we've been dumb Christians our mouths have been

57:14 shut and our hearts have been constricted with narrowness of desire and aspiration oh God forgive us for the sin of prayer lessness and conscious that resolves alone will not bring us into the way of constancy in prayer we ask that the Holy Spirit would write upon our consciences this portion of the word and then so minister to us as to enable us always to pray and not to faint oh God we thank you for your word we thank you for your loving dealings with us as a father

57:58 cleanse us of the sins that have been brought to light by the word quicken us in the duties that have been set before us through the word and for those who sit here tonight who have never prayed who cannot pray because they have never stood in that place emptiness and helplessness looking only to your son for mercy father we thank you that you are able to take a word that has had very little direct reference to them make it an arrow in their hearts and by it draw them to yourself oh we thank you for the confidence we have that your word will not return to your

58:43 void seal to us then the word preached may benediction and blessing of this day rest upon us help us as we go into our respective spheres of responsibility throughout this week may we indeed be light and salt may our whole manner of living speak eloquently of the power of the gospel give us we pray opportunities to convey the gospel by word of mouth oh lord help us as your people help us as a congregation oh god deliver us deliver us we pray from coasting on past mercies give us the sense of our desperate need that will bring us

59:28 together in this place again this wednesday to cry mightily to you to pour out of your spirit upon us oh god give us new measures of the spirit of grace and of supplication hear our cry receive our praises and dismiss us with your blessing we pray may through jesus christ our lord amen