Persevering Prayer for Vindication #1 (Lk 17:20-18:8)

Introduction: The Certainty and Delay of Christ's Return

0:01 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, January 6th, 2002, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 Now may I urge you to turn with you in your own Bibles to Luke chapter 17, the Gospel of Luke and the 17th chapter, and follow as I begin reading at verse 20. Read to the end of the chapter, continuing right on to the first eight verses of chapter 18.

0:44 Luke 17 and verse 20. And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God comes, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God comes not with observation. Neither shall they say, Lo! here or there, for, lo, the kingdom of God is in your midst.

1:09 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you shall not see it. And they shall say to you, Lo! there, lo! here, go not away, nor follow after them, for, as the lightning, When it lights out of one part under the heavens and shines unto the other part under heaven, so shall the Son of Man be in his day, but first he must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation.

1:50 And as it came to pass in the days of Noah, even so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate. They drank. They rocked.

2:02 They married, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 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 day that Lot went out from 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.

2:40 In that day, he that shall be on the housetop and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away, and let him that is in the field likewise not return back. Remember, Lots. Wife. Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

3:06 I say unto you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed. The one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. There shall be two women grinding together. The one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

3:23 And they answering said unto him, Where, Lord? He said unto them, Where the body is, there will the eagles also be gathered together. And he spoke 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.

3:51 And she came often to him, saying, Avenge me of 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 she wear me out by her continual coming. And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says.

4:21 And shall not God avenge his elect that cry to him day, and night, and yet he is longsuffering over them? I say unto you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find that kind of faith on the earth?

4:47 Well, let us again pray and ask for God's help as we come to his word.

4:55 Our Father, we are very conscious again. Left to ourselves, we stumble along. In our native blindness, we are like the disciples of whom it was said again and again, this saying was hid from them. They understood not the words of Jesus.

5:14 But we thank you that we live this side of Pentecost and the promised gift of the Spirit. And we pray that we may know his ministry as the spirit of wisdom and illumination, giving us eyes to see and hearts to grasp the teaching of our Lord Jesus, meet with us, we pray, as we take up your word together. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

5:41 The story is told, and I can't verify the accuracy of it, but it could be told in many places, that a preacher looked out into the faces of his people on one Lord's Day and asked them this question, Do you believe? Do you believe that the Lord Jesus will return again in power and in glory at the end of the age? To which his people responded, whether by a corporate amen or a raised hand or a nodding head, Yes, they did, without exception, believe that the Lord Jesus would come again in glory and in power at the end of the age. Then he asked a second question, Do you believe, not that he will, but that he might come today?

6:38 How many of you believe that he might come today? And the story is told that no hands were raised or no heads were nodded, no ears wiggled, no corporate amen was forthcoming. Then he asked another question, Do you believe he might come tomorrow?

6:56 And there were no takers. Then he asked the third question, or the fourth question, the third in this series, Do you believe he might? Do you believe he might come before the week is over? No hands, no corporate amen.

7:13 And at that point the preacher said, I want to give out my text for the morning. In such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes.

7:27 In trying to drive home to his people that the reality of the Lord's return is not to be a matter of detached biblical and theological conviction, but it is to be something, something that presses in upon the consciousness that we constantly live in the light of the Lord's return. And it is this truth of the certainty of the return of the Lord Jesus, which we have considered for some months together under the general heading of the return of Christ in New Testament belief and experience. And without any arrogant attempts to set dates or carnal activities, efforts to embellish the truth with imaginative sensationalism, I've sought to expound the major categories of the New Testament witness to the return of Christ, seeking to grasp the major strands of biblical emphasis with respect to that return. And having then opened up the what of the return of Christ, we've been spending some weeks now considering the so what, what are the practical implications of this glorious truth of the Lord's return at the end of the age. And I have stated that there are gracious consolations derived from the truth of the Lord's return,

Motivation to Persevering Prayer for Vindication

8:56 and we've looked at several of them. And now we are considering that there are manifold motivations rooted in the truth of the Lord's return. Specifically, we have seen, and in each of these headings, I've brought forward, at least two or three biblical witnesses that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word would be established. And we have seen that the truth of the Lord's return is to be a motivation to persevering faith, to spiritual sobriety and watchfulness, to the serious pursuit of personal holiness, and fourthly, to the faithful exercise of the stewardship of our common gospel privileges and, of our diverse gifts and opportunities, the parables of the minor and of the talents. Now today, we take up the fifth category of motivation rooted in the truth of the Lord's return, and it is this. The truth of the Lord's return should motivate us to a life of persevering and believing prayer for the ultimate vindication of the people of God, which is sure to come at the return of Christ. The truth of the Lord's return should motivate us to a life of persevering and believing prayer

10:23 for the ultimate vindication of the people of God, which is sure to occur at the return of Christ. Now I know that's a moment. It's a smart and mouthful, but in trying to summarize the essential teaching of Luke 18, 1 to 8, I don't know how to reduce it to a simpler common denominator. To say simply that the Lord's return is to motivate us to a life of persevering prayer is not to do justice to the emphasis of the passage.

The Setting of the Parable: Christ's Second Coming

10:56 This passage teaches us that the truth of the Lord's return should motivate us to a life of persevering and believing prayer for the ultimate vindication of the people of God, which is sure to occur at the return of Christ. Now with the Luke 18 passage before us, I want to seek to demonstrate that this is indeed the teaching of this portion of the Word of God. One has quaintly said, The key to this parable hangs on the door, referring to the fact that, the duty to be explicitly enforced is stated at the beginning of the parable. Verse 1 of Luke 18. He spoke a parable unto them to the end, that they ought always to pray and not to faint. This old writer has said, The key to this particular parable hangs on the door. But I want to go further and say, but the door is held in place by a frame.

12:05 And the frame is attached to a house. And to seek to use the key to open the door, while being indifferent to the frame which holds the door in place, and to the house which, in a sense, holds the frame in place, is to fail to understand the burden of the passage. And so I want us to begin by considering, first of all, the setting of this parable. According to chapter 17 and verse 20, some short time before, the Pharisees, in company with the disciples, in some semi-public setting, had asked when the kingdom of God would come. And knowing how they thought about the kingdom, they were looking for a kingdom that would come with military and political power and visibility. And Jesus, knowing what was the content and the significance of their question, responds by saying, the kingdom of God comes not with observation. The kingdom of Messiah that I have come to introduce and establish, that kingdom is not introduced with observable political and military phenomena.

13:29 In fact, Jesus says, that kingdom is already, within you or among you. I am among you. Jesus had said, when some had made the accusation that he was casting out demons by the prince of demons, he said, no. If I, by the finger of God, cast out demons, then has the kingdom of God come among you.

13:52 John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, the kingdom is at hand. Jesus came preaching, the kingdom is at hand. In the presence and ministry of the king, the kingdom of grace, the kingdom of God had come. And so, with respect to their question about the kingdom, our Lord says, no, the kingdom is already within you or among you.

14:18 Then he says to the disciples, now he's speaking to his own, in whose presence he's been continually correcting their faulty notions about the kingdom, the days will come when you shall desire, to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and shall not see it. There is a particular day of the Son of Man in the establishment of his kingdom that you will desire to see, but you will not see it. And what is that particular day in the outworking of the Son of Man in the establishment of the kingdom of God that they would not see? Our Lord identifies it.

15:03 Verse 27, They shall say to you, Lo there, lo here, go not away nor follow them. For as the lightning, when it lights out of the one part of the heaven, shines unto the other, so shall the Son of Man be in his day. The day that you will desire to see and shall not see it. Here our Lord is clearly teaching that there will be a delay in this particular day of the Son of Man prior to it.

15:33 Verse 27, He must suffer. He must be rejected. Then he returns to the subject of that particular day. And by looking at the parallel passages in Mark 13 and in Matthew chapter 24, we know that our Lord is speaking primarily now of that particular day of his glorious return in power and glory to consummate the work of his kingdom.

16:00 And with respect to that day, our Lord is giving us giving specific instruction. There will be particular dangers. There will be peculiar pressures upon the people of God. But he is clearly speaking of the subject of his second coming.

16:17 Then in that context, verse 1 of chapter 18, and he spoke a parable to them. In the setting of having given this instruction concerning that special day of the Son of Man, the day of his return, he gives this parable which has as its focus concern that men ought always to pray and not to faint, but that he is still thinking of that parable and that purpose in the context of his second coming is clear because when the parable is concluded, Jesus asks a question. Verse 8, I say unto you, he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, in spite of the teaching that I have taught you, in spite of the instruction that I have given you, in spite of the instruction of this parable, nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find that particular kind of faith on the earth? So it's clear that the setting of this parable is the reality of the second coming of our Lord Jesus. It is clear from the preceding context, verse 22, to 37 in chapter 17, and the subsequent conclusion of the parable, nevertheless, in spite of what I've taught,

17:44 when the Son of Man comes, shall he find the faith, that particular kind of faith on the earth. So the setting of the parable then is the setting of the Lord's return. It was uppermost in his mind. It should be uppermost in the mind, of anyone who studies the parable with the concern, Lord Jesus, what am I to learn from this portion of your word?

18:14 Now this is not some novel opinion that I've picked up along the way in an effort to be unique. I hope by the grace of God I have never submitted to that tendency of the human heart. But just to validate that this is understood by other responsible expositors, let's listen to William Taylor in his introductory words on this parable. The parable of the importunate widow was designed to enforce the lesson that men ought always to pray and not to faint.

18:45 But in order to see what these words specially referred to, we must go back upon the discourse which is summarized in the latter portion of the chapter which immediately precedes. That discourse, as you will at once perceive, treats of the second, personal appearance of the Lord Jesus upon the earth, and while dwelling upon the certainty of that event, it particularly emphasizes these two things concerning it, namely, that it should be long delayed and that it should occur when it is least expected. Days of Noah, days of Lot. There would be many times in the history of the church when contending with adversaries and suffering injustice at the hands of their persecutors and their persecutors, its members should desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man and should not see it. But they were not to cease to expect or to pray for that great deliverance because of its being so long deferred. It would surely come, and when it came, it would bring a speedy issue out of all their troubles. Therefore, at all times and in all circumstances, they were to keep the great event of the Lord's return in mind, and make its coming the object of their earnest supplications.

20:11 Mr. Taylor's come to the same persuasion that I've come to, that the context is determinative of an accurate understanding of the parable. Alfred Edersheim, the respected scholar who has written books that have been so helpful to so many over many years, writes, the prayer, the perseverance, the delay, the ultimate answer of which this parable speaks are all connected with the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the setting of the parable.

The Stated Purpose of the Parable: Always to Pray and Not to Faint

20:47 Now then, secondly, what is the stated purpose of the parable?

20:53 Luke tells us that our Lord was speaking this parable with a very clear and simple end in view. It was to enforce the duty of these disciples in two areas, intimately related areas. One is positive, the other negative. Look at the text.

21:10 He spoke a parable unto them to the end. And then you have that expression of necessity that they ought, that they were under solemn duty always to pray. That's the positive. And with the sense of the oughtness carrying over and they ought not to faint.

21:31 He spoke this parable with this end in view. That they ought always to pray. That in the light of His return, in the light of the suddenness of that return, in the light of the circumstances they would be in until that return, they were under solemn obligation to maintain the discipline, the spirit, the activity of prayer. He is not saying they ought to do nothing but pray.

22:01 Every moment of every day, every day of every week, do nothing but pray. That would contradict the whole teaching of Scripture. But that this prayerfulness, particularly in this context, ought to be part of the rhythms and patterns of life. They ought always to pray and they ought never to faint.

22:22 To faint means to grow weary or to despond, to grow discouraged, dispirited, and quit. Galatians 6.9 uses this word. For in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint, if we do not despond, if we do not give over to discouragement and quit.

22:43 So then, they had this solemn obligation not only to be constant in prayer, but not to quit. They ought always to pray and not to faint. Now it would be grossly irresponsible to take this stated purpose of the parable and to totally remove it from the category of a generalist, a general exhortation to steadfastness and non-faintingness in maintaining the habit and spirit of prayer. What I mean by that is this.

23:14 If someone were bringing a topical message on the biblical teaching concerning the necessity of steadfastness in prayer, it would be right to use Ephesians 6.18, continuing therein with all perseverance for all the saints. 1 Thessalonians 5.17, pray without ceasing, it would be perfectly legitimate to take Luke 18.1 and say, Jesus said, men ought always to pray and not to faint. I am not saying that this text should not be used as a supportive proof text for the general duty of perseverance in prayer. However, it would be poor exegesis to say that that is all that the text says, or that that is the main purpose of the text in its entirety. In its context, in its context, it is not enforcing prayerfulness generically, non-faintingness in prayer generically, but it is an enforcement of constancy in prayer

24:22 and non-faintingness in prayer in the light of the peculiar circumstances of the people of God when the Lord delays His coming. That's the source of prayer. That's the setting of the parable. He's telling them, you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man.

24:42 You will live in circumstances that will make you very conscious you ain't home yet. You will desire to see that great day, that consummate crushing of the serpent's head, that deliverance of the people of God from the last enemy that is death, that deliverance from all of the effects of the devil, and his minions and the host of darkness. You will desire to see one of those days, but you will not see it. You're going to live in the overlapping of the ages.

25:15 And in that setting, the Lord Jesus said, I'm going to give you a parable by which to underscore you are always to pray and not to faint, not generically, but specifically with reference to my certain return, to my delayed return, and to your circumstances in that period of delay. So we've looked at the setting of the parable, the stated purpose of the parable. Now let's look at the specific elements of the parable. We're going to consider the characters introduced and then the interaction described.

The Characters Introduced: The Wicked Judge and the Oppressed Widow

25:55 Here are the characters introduced. Verse 2. There was in a city a judge who feared not God and regarded God and regarded not man. And there was a widow in that city and she came off to him saying.

26:13 So we have the two characters introduced. We have the wicked judge and then we have the oppressed widow. Let's look at the wicked judge. In an unnamed city there was a judge, a man given by God the solemn responsibility of being God's representative to punish evil, and to protect the innocent.

26:37 Romans 13. Most likely, those who heard our Lord would have thought of someone who in some way or another was an appointee of the Roman government. This would not be the kind of setup that would obtain in the Jewish setting, but they would have been aware of it. And our Lord says there was in this unnamed city a certain judge.

27:01 This man was utterly unfit for his task because of the fact that he was an unnamed judge. Because of the prevailing disposition of his soul was consummately wicked. Look how he's described. He did not fear God.

27:15 That means he had no sense that as a judge he had a stewardship from God and that he was accountable to God in the exercise of that stewardship. Furthermore, he had no fear of God. That means he had no desire that his administration of justice would be a burden to him. That is, that his administration of justice would be a burden to him.

27:34 That is, that his administration of justice would be a burden to him. That is, that his administration of justice would reflect God the just one. There was no sense of, as it were, harnessing his adjudications to the law of God. He did not fear God.

27:45 He had no respect to God. He had no regard for God. He had no sense of his accountability to God. God was a non-factor in how he functioned as a judge, to put it bluntly.

27:57 God was a non-factor. Furthermore, we are told he did not regard man. The word regard means to reference God. or to honor. It's the word used in Luke 20 in verse 13 where the husbandman says, I will send my son, surely they will honor him. They will honor him. Hebrews 12, 9, we had fathers who disciplined us and we gave them honor, we gave them respect. This man had no respect for men as fellow image bearers. He was heartless in the presence of his fellow men.

28:31 Now, there are many people who don't fear God, but at least in common grace, they have a regard for their fellow men and they genuinely seek to do them good. How we've seen that since Wednesday when we had this emergency with my wife's lung collapsing and all of a sudden we need the surgeon to take a tube in her lung and medical care to give her infusions of blood. They descended on her like bees on flowers full of nectar. They were genuinely concerned for her.

29:06 Not one of them gave any evidence they feared God, but they at least had regard for one of their fellow creatures who was in need and suffering. Common grace gives men genuine concern for one another, but this man was consummately wicked. He did not fear God. He had no regard for man.

29:26 Furthermore, he was acutely and accurately conscious and arrogantly unashamed. Now, this condition. Look how the Lord describes it.

29:38 We read verse 4, and he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, this is a reflection of his own self-consciousness, though I do not fear God nor regard man. He wasn't self-deceived about his condition. There's some of you sitting here, you don't have an ounce of the fear of God. Yet you think you fear God. You say, sure I fear God. I'm in church today.

30:04 You don't really fear Him, but you think you do. You don't really regard man and love others as yourself, but you think you do. Because you occasionally do a little act of kindness. But this man was not in the la-la land of self-deception.

30:23 Jesus describes him as a man who in reality, this was his assessment by the Lord Jesus. He had no fear of God, no regard of man. And what he was in reality, he was in his own...

30:36 Consciousness, and he was arrogantly and unashamedly so. He says to himself, not to trigger repentance, or remorse, or self-loathing, but in order to accurately assess the situation, though I fear not God nor regard man. That's the judge, the wicked judge. No fear of God, no regard of man, that's God's assessment.

31:04 He's acutely accurate. Accurately conscious and arrogantly unashamed of that condition. Not a pretty picture. But then there's the oppressed widow.

31:17 Look at her condition and her problem. And there was a widow, verse 3, in that city. In a day when widows were the epitome of destitution. No social services.

31:32 No support systems intact with the government or society. She was a widow. Indeed, to use Paul's language. And was destitute.

31:44 At the mercy of people's compassion. At the mercy of perhaps whatever little savings or whatever little inheritance was left by her husband. She was a widow. And when our Lord said, a widow in a certain city, all of his hearers would have known immediately our Lord was describing someone in this destitute condition.

32:08 No public... No advocate to plead her cause.

32:12 If she could not get a judge to adjudicate. You didn't go through lawyers. You came directly to the judge and pleaded your case. Then you'd had it.

32:21 So that was her present condition. And her present problem was somewhat and wrongly taken. Her money, her property, her means of sustenance in some way or another. This one had made himself her adversary.

32:36 This is the word used in Matthew 5 when Jesus said, Agree with your adversary, the one who has something against you. Here she says that she has an adversary, that is, the person who had wrongfully, unjustly taken her money, her goods, the title to her home, whatever it was, she knew she had a clear-cut case of social and legal injustice. There's no question in her mind, Jesus describes the situation in such a way that it is compelling that this was not a matter where if you had a jury, they'd come back with a 5-4 vote. They'd come back unanimous in 10 minutes, the case is clear, it's a no-brainer, to use current terminology. Her condition, a widow, destitute. Her present problem, someone has wronged her, made himself an adversary. A righteous judge would have adjudicated the thing immediately, quickly, restored what was taken from her, punished the criminal.

33:40 This is the situation. The wicked judge, the oppressed widow. And may I say in passing, it's amazing how our Lord Jesus can teach such profound lessons with such rotten stuff. Who would ever think of using a character like this unprincipled, wicked, unrighteous judge in order to...

34:03 Set forth by way of vivid, stark contrast, the nature and character of God. If I were to do that in illustration, some of you would cost me at the door and say, Pastor, I think you stretched it a little too much. Well, the Lord stretches it. And he says, if I'm going to teach you how to be constant in prayer in the overlapping of the ages, when you long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and you will not see it, I want you to listen to me while I tell you a story.

The Interaction Described: Persistent Petition and Selfish Response

34:33 A story about an unprincipled, consummately wicked judge and a destitute, needy widow whose case is not taken up by him and adjudicated righteously. So then, that's the characters introduced. Now the characters interacting. Let's look at their initial interaction and then the subsequent or ultimate interaction.

34:57 The widow's action was one of continual, aggressive approaching the judge and then the subsequent or ultimate interaction. And crying out with the imperative of earnest petition, execute righteousness and justice to me with reference to my adversary. The NIV translates it, grant me justice against my adversary. And that's a good translation.

35:22 We read, and this widow came often to him. And the tense of the verb is continuous past action. She was continually. She was continually coming unto him and she had one thing that she kept pleading before him.

35:40 Grant me justice against my adversary. Grant me justice against my adversary. Where did she come to him? The Lord doesn't say.

35:51 Did she meet him outside the door of the place where he sat in court? I don't know. Did she park outside his house and greet him when he came out in the morning? I don't know.

36:02 Doesn't tell us. Our imagination is left free. All we know is that this woman continually troubled this judge. Do what a judge is supposed to do.

36:15 You are supposed to sit in the place of judgment to punish evil, to reward good. Evil has been done. I have an adversary. Punish him.

36:25 Effect a just adjudication of this matter. And what was his initial response? It says, And he would not for a while. Literally, he was not willing for a while.

36:43 Again, an imperfect. That is, here was past action repeated. He was continually making it plain. Look woman, I am not going to adjudicate this matter.

36:54 I'm not willing to take up your case. I have no intention of taking up your case. You can holler and scream and you can dance around my court and outside my house. I am not willing.

37:04 I am not willing. But then, there was a subsequent or an ultimate interaction. And we find it in verse 4. And he would not for a while.

37:16 How long, we don't know. But enough time passed that we could call it for a while. But afterward, he said within himself, Though I do not fear God, nor regard man. In other words, I'm not at all moved with the thought that she has a just case.

37:32 And I am answerable to God for the administration. God for the administration of justice. God was a non-factor. This woman is a destitute widow.

37:40 I know it. But I could care less about widows. I don't care as long as I've got bread in my pantry and food on my table. I don't care about widows.

37:48 I have no regard for men. Totally self-centered, he said, for a while. I'm not going to adjudicate her case. But afterward, he said with himself, Though I do not fear God, nor regard man.

38:00 Yet, because this widow troubles me. I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming. And the commentators all point out, This is the same word, wear me out, that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 9, 27. He said, I buffet my body.

38:18 I literally bruise myself under the eye. And some suggest that maybe he was afraid that this persistent, hot-headed woman would one day actually cock her fist and punch him. I think that's straining it a little bit. But one thing is clear.

38:34 This woman was hassling him. We could at least say that much. She was making life miserable. Instead of getting up in the morning and thinking about his schedule for the day, he said, that woman, she's going to be there somewhere.

38:46 Outside my door, outside the door. He said, lest she wear me out. She's hassling me. She's on my case.

38:53 Like some of you kids say, Dad, Mom, get off my case. They love you enough to keep on your case. Thank God for it. But he's saying, get off my case.

39:03 Get off my case, woman. He said, she's not getting off my case. He sensed in this woman a determination of will and a purpose that he says, for one reason alone, lest she wear me out by her cunning. That is, I have no principle of the fear of God, love of man, moving me to respond.

39:23 One thing moves me to respond, the thing by which I live. Total self-centeredness. I don't fear God. I don't regard man.

39:30 But I do like my own ease and my own pleasure and my own comfort. And she's disturbing it. And so for no higher motive than his own comfort and his own ease, he said, I'm going to take care of her case. You see that in the text.

39:43 Though I do not fear God, nor regard man, yet because this woman troubles me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming. So he adjudicates her case. She goes singing, dancing down the street. I hope if she, in the parable, if in reality there ever was, there was such a woman that she perhaps had pled her case before God and saw beyond this hard-hearted, consummately wicked judge.

The Climactic Application: God Will Avenge His Elect

40:11 And thank God, all of that, your imagination can go where it wants. Just don't make it part of your preaching. All right? Now then, it comes time, after the Lord has given the parable, and I've tried to open up the facts of the parable, that we now come to the climactic application of the parable.

40:31 We've looked at the setting. We've looked at the context. It is the second coming. We've looked at the purpose of the parable, to teach steadfastness, non-faintingness in prayer, during this period when the Master is absent, and we long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, the specific elements of the parable.

40:55 We've looked at the two characters and their interaction. Now, the climactic application of the parable, verses 6 and 7. And the Lord said, and dear people, this is crucial. It's amazing.

41:09 I've read some commentators. It's like the Lord didn't say that. Here, the Lord says, is the point of my parable. Here's the central issue.

41:18 Notice what it is. And the Lord said, not watch what the widow did. Listen to what the widow said. No, no.

41:28 The Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge did. The judge said, if you want to get the thrust of my parable, what you must do is brush all secondary issues aside and concentrate on what the unjust judge said. And he only said it within himself. And we only know it because Jesus puts the words out for all to hear.

41:58 What did the unjust judge say? He said, Though I regard not man, I'm sorry, though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming. Though I'm a consummately wicked man, utterly unprincipled, I sustain no bonds of the fear of God that would move me to act beneath the eye of God, no bonds of common affection for my fellow image-bearers that would move me to respond to her need. I'm an utterly, totally, totally self-centered man, and in my self-centeredness, this woman is an irritant.

42:37 I'm going to get rid of her by giving her what she's asking for. He says, hear what he said. Hear what he said. Let what he said sink down in until you see this character for what he is, an utterly loathsome character.

42:54 I hope you feel some disgust for this dude and that he would admit that's what he is. Hear what the unjust judge said. Here, listen. Because the Lord said, there is a day and night contrast.

43:13 Look at the next verse. 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, he will avenge them speedily. What is our Lord doing?

43:38 He's saying once you've listened and you've let the words of the unjust judge sink down into your soul until you see him for the utterly loathsome, despicable creature that he is, now you're ready to see what it is that will fuel constancy, non-faintingness in prayer, when you long for one of the days of the Son of Man, and he does not come, and wickedness continues to abound and proliferate, and the evils perpetrated against Christ and his church and his people continues. Remember what the unjust judge said. Think of this utterly unprincipled, despicable character who moves to give the request of the widow out of total sin, self-centered, selfish motives, and he says, shall not God, what God? The God who infinitely loves himself in all the purity and beauty of who he is as God, the God who is committed to uphold all of his character in his righteousness, his justice, his holiness, his goodness, and his truth, shall not God, the utterly principled God,

45:06 the foundation of whose very character is his holiness, shall not God avenge his elect, those whom he has regarded, not just in time, but upon whom he has set his heart in eternity, when beholding them as part of the human race that would fall in Adam, out of free, sovereign love, set his heart upon a people whom he gave to his Son with a view that the Son would assume all liabilities and in time would come as the Word made flesh, place himself under the law, and scrupulously obey that law on their behalf, and then go to the cross and bear the unleashed fear, the unleashed fury of the righteous anger of God against their sins, that their sins might be righteously and justly punished in their substitute, shall not this God avenge his elect, those whom he has loved from eternity, freely, sovereignly chose in love and gave to his Son, for whom the Son became incarnate,

46:34 for whom the Son was even now to Jerusalem to die, and to rise from the dead, having conquered sin and death, shall not God avenge his elect, not some widows, to whom he sustains no personal relationship but that of the common grace and affection, much less, to whom he has no relationship, they are not to avenge his own elect, whom he has loved, for whom he has given his Son, whom he has chosen to everlasting life, whom he will bring indefectibly into the perfection of the age to come, his elect that cry to him day and night. They cry to him not as the widow cried to the reluctant judge, hoping that her brassy insistence would finally overcome his unprincipled reluctance, but his elect that cry to him day and night in the confidence that he has loved them from eternity, that having promised that his Son would return and that when the Son returned he would bring the ultimate final bruising of the head of the serpent

48:03 when he cast the devil and his angels into hell, when he renovates all the influence of sin and he purifies the created order, ushers in the new heavens and the earth, shall he not avenge his elect that cry unto him day and night, not thinking by their crying that they will overcome reluctance like this woman was persuaded she could and did, but crying on the basis of what God has promised you in that day of the Son of Man. Jesus come, Jesus hasten your coming, echoing and re-echoing the final prayer of scripture, even so come Lord Jesus. Shall he not avenge his elect? You see, one of the few prayers that we're going to carry with us from this state into the age to come is recorded in Revelation 6. The souls of glorified saints under the altar, and what are they crying?

49:08 How long before you avenge our blood? In other words, they are crying out for the coming of the Son of Man. When God will ultimately, finally, and completely deal with evil. And so the Lord Jesus said, here's the climactic application of the parable, hear what that judge says, and then think of the God who's chosen you, who has sent his Son for you, who has promised this is what he will do in the return of his own beloved Son.

49:51 That's the application of the parable. Shall, how much more shall this God, shall not God, shall not God avenge his own elect? That's the first question the Lord asks in the climactic application. What is your answer?

50:14 Shall not God avenge his own elect and cry on him day and night? Yes, Jesus said, notice how he answers. I pass over the phrase, and yet he is long suffering over them. It has a lot of difficulties.

50:28 I've come to a persuasion as to what it means, but in the interest of time, it doesn't affect the overall exposition that I'm giving. I say unto you, he will avenge them speedily. That word speedily does not mean tomorrow or the next day. It means when he comes forth to avenge, he'll do a quick job.

50:46 It's one of the words used in the book of Acts, chapter 12 and verse 7, speaking of the servant of God leaving town, quickly, done quickly. Behold, I come quickly. God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly, quickly. When he moves to do it, it will be done quickly.

51:07 One of the days of the Son of Man. That day will come suddenly, quickly and decisively. Then he asks the second question. I say unto you, he will avenge them speedily.

51:23 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find? The faith on the earth. That is, shall he find that faith in the certain return of the Lord Jesus that finds expression in crying day and night for that coming which is sure to occur? Shall he find the faith, that kind of faith on the earth?

51:53 And the Lord leaves to you and to me to answer that question. It's an unanswered question. And all kinds of inferences are drawn from it by the commentators that in my judgment ought not to be drawn. The Lord leaves that question with you.

52:09 And leaves to you and to me to say, Lord, I don't know whether it will be many or few. For you have said, because iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax cold. And because of tribulation and persecution arising from the word, many shall be offended. Fathers shall deliver up children, deliver up parents.

52:32 But Lord, as for me, by your grace, you will find that faith in me. Lord Jesus, should you come, the assurance that that faith is operative in me is that I'm one of those who continues to cry unto you day and night. I keep the day of consummation before me. I cry, even so come Lord Jesus.

52:55 I cannot be satisfied with anything here. I long for what you will bring. At your coming, Lord Jesus, you asked when the Son of Man comes, shall he find that kind of faith in the earth? By your grace, you'll find it in me.

The Nature of the Elect's Prayer and God's Response

53:08 That's where the personal application comes home. Will he find it in you? Well, I'm struggling now with the abiding message of the parable. And these things are too critical to just pass them over.

53:29 So let me conclude by pressing this one area of application. Do you see in the parable how the elect of God are described? It's a very interesting description. The Lord assumes that the synonym for the elect of God is this.

53:48 They cry unto him day and night. The verb to cry is the verb to cry out. In other words, they have a keen sense of their need. This is not saying their prayers.

54:05 They cry to him day and night. That is, the disposition that makes them cry is what regulates their life. It is a disposition of antsiness about this life in this present age. It is a disposition that as we saw in the opening studies marks the people of God.

54:30 They love and yearn for the return of Christ. It's part and parcel of who they are. And Jesus is prepared to describe his elect as those who cry unto him day and night. When he says, shall not God avenge his elect?

54:47 That is, those among his elect who are marked by this separate distinction that puts them a class above the rest of the elect. No, no. Shall he not avenge his own elect that cry to him day and night? And they do not cry, and this is the one application that I want to make.

55:05 They do not cry with the mistaken notion that the Lord is teaching here that if we pray hard enough and long enough and intense enough we'll overcome reluctance in God and get what we want. This passage is often used to teach a doctrine of persevering prayer that is pagan. Jesus said, don't be like the pagans who think they shall be heard for their much speaking. No, this woman is no more a model for us than the wicked judge.

55:36 She has the idea, I can overcome reluctance by persistence. That's a pagan concept of God and of prayer. The prayer that Jesus says we ought always to engage in and not to faint is not the silly notion that by our persistence we can overcome a reluctant God. No.

55:57 But that convinced that God is going to do what he's promised to do and his heart is toward us in love to do it, we continue to pray until he brings it to pass. See the difference? In one, our confidence is rooted in the heart of God and the purpose of God and the promises of God. In the other, it's rooted in our ability to get God in a hammerlock and touch him till he cries uncle.

56:23 If you've got any of that in your head and heart, ask God to root it out. Root it out! We are not persistent widows who get a reluctant God to respond to our wearing him out. Since when can the creature wear out the Creator?

56:43 We'd wear out long before God, even with breathing hard, increased his heart rate. No, she's no more a model in that sense than this man is. As someone said, some imagine that if they will only hold at God as a foolish child does at an indulgent parent, they will at last receive what they want, whatever it may be. They give the impression that they believe the Lord's unwilling to bless them and they must wring favors out of him by force of importunity.

57:11 They think in other words that they'll be heard for their persistence in speaking to him. Now, the success of our prayers does not depend on anything of that kind, and it is a libel on God to cherish the notion that he's reluctant to bless his children. Moreover, it's an entire perversion of the purpose of this parable to take it as if it meant to teach us we shall get from God that which we want, provided we browbeat him into giving it by our persistence. The inference from the parable is not that we shall be heard because we persevere in prayer, but rather we should persevere in prayer even when the answer appears to be long delayed, because it is God to whom we are praying and we know he's always willing to bless and will ultimately give us that which is best. See the difference in those two? A world of difference, a universe of difference. And while God is increasing among us the spirit of prayer, the devil is near at hand.

58:11 To inject his false doctrine of importunity in prayer as though we can somehow get God discouraged enough to give in and give us what we want. God help us if that notion approaches the doors of our hearts to reject it for what it is. And may we grow in the kind of persistence in prayer that is rooted in the confidence that God's heart is toward us we're his elect. He loved us.

58:43 He chose us in Christ. He sent Christ to die for us. The spirit to awaken us and regenerate us and bring us to repentance and faith. And he has promised he's going to send the Lord Jesus for us at the end of the age.

58:58 And he's going to complete the work of salvation in us. And while there are other passages that teach other nuances of the general doctrine of persistence in prayer in this context, the persistence in prayer is persistence for the day of ultimate avenging. When the final warfare between the two seeds will be consummated. The dragon has gone forth to make war with the woman and her seed.

59:26 And he makes war with us. And we long for the day when that warfare is ultimately and finally brought to its conclusion. We long for the day of deliverance when we will love him with unsinning heart. When we will no longer have to make part of our daily prayers.

59:45 Oh God, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. When we'll no longer see sin ravaging our bodies and the bodies of those we love. When there'll be no more funerals. When there'll be no more sympathy cards.

60:03 Dear people, you long for that? Pray for it in the confidence that it is coming. Even so, Jesus said, I come quickly. We say even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Conclusion: Pray for the Hastening of Christ's Return

60:18 Well, may God help us to learn from this parable as we hear the words of the unjust judge and say our God is the total antithesis to that scoundrel. And we can pray persistently and without fainting in the confidence that he will accomplish all that he's promised. Let's pray. Father, we're so thankful for your word that it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway.

60:54 We do pray that you would purge from our hearts all misconceptions of you that we may see you for the God of gracious, sovereign love that you are committed in that love and purpose to save your people, to send your son back for your people, that he might raise his dead ones and unite them to their glorified spirits, that he might change the living saints in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. Renovate this sick earth. Bring it forth in pristine beauty and glory. Oh, Lord Jesus, help us, help us to cry day and night. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Have mercy upon those who do not cry, who do not fear you. Oh, Father, as they've seen this despicable judge, may they see their own hearts.

61:56 And seeing their hearts, may they flee to you for grace and transforming power and for giving mercy in your beloved Son. Bless, then, this portion of your word that the truth of the return of our Lord Jesus will indeed motivate us to persevering, non-fainting prayer for the avenging of your church and the avenging of your people and the avenging of your cause. Oh, Lord, hasten that day and stir us up to pray as never before that you would hasten that day. Hear us as we plead for these mercies in Jesus' name.

62:38 Amen.