Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds Luke 17:20-18:8, focusing on the parable of the persistent widow and the unrighteous judge. He argues that God's elect are characterized by persevering prayer for vindication and the return of Christ, crying out day and night. Martin emphasizes that such unfainting constancy in prayer is rooted in a vigorously alive and active faith in Christ's certain return, which must be sustained by continually feeding on God's promises and purposes. He concludes by highlighting that this persevering prayer and faith are integral to the believer's involvement in the cosmic conflict of redemption.
Primary Texts
menu_book
Luke 17:20-18:8This entire section of Luke's Gospel, encompassing Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom of God and the parable of the persistent widow, forms the foundation of the sermon.
Application 3: Heightened Appreciation of Cosmic Conflict40:11
Key Quotes
“God has no elect who are called. Called by the gospel. Who do not join the company of those who cry to him day and night.”
“If we are to maintain unfainting constancy in our prayers for the return of Christ, our faith in the certainty of his return must be vigorously alive and active.”
“That is the subsoil out of which persevering faith grows, and is sustained, and by which alone it can be sustained in a climate that would shrivel the plan to persevering faith, persevering prayer in the return of the Lord Jesus.”
“It becomes a conviction that's put in the book of our stated Christian convictions and placed upon the shelf and gathers dust.”
“by constantly feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming.”
“he doesn't need to be worn down by your prayers but he delights to have you confess your confidence in his heart's commitment to your well-being as you pray and remind him of what you are to him and remind yourself of what he is to you in the bonds of free sovereign covenant love and grace”
“if our perspectives on and our prayers for the return of Christ are to be compatible with this parable we must have a heightened appreciation of our involvement in the cosmic conflict of redemption”
“God says I'm starting a war and I'm going to continue the war and when we read through our Bibles that warfare of redemptive grace motif is there throughout our Bibles from Genesis to Revelation”
Applications
All listeners
Determine to conclude every season of private prayer with the words, 'Maranatha, O Lord, come.'
In public prayers, include more expressions of 'Come, Lord Jesus. Avenge your church. Avenge your people. Avenge all the enemies of your Son.'
Keep your faith in the return of Christ vigorously active and alive by constantly feeding on the promises and revealed purposes of God concerning his coming.
Do not only feed your mind on the news or innocent things, but specifically feed your mind upon the pronouncements of Holy Scripture and God's redemptive purpose.
Contemplate who your God is—righteous, loving, compassionate—and confess your confidence in his commitment to your well-being as you pray.
Remind God of what you are to him and remind yourself of what he is to you in the bonds of free sovereign covenant love and grace.
Be determined to use every means at your disposal to keep your faith in the promised reality of Christ's return vigorously alive and active, resisting indwelling sin and the devil's attempts to dampen your ardor.
A full transcript is available on the
tab. 54 paragraphs, roughly 46 minutes.
Machine transcription
Introduction and Reading of Luke 17:20-18:8
The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, January 13, 2002, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn together in our Bibles to the 17th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. And I shall read in your hearing the portion that I read last Lord's Day morning as I sought to expound this portion, particularly the latter part of it. And come this morning to give primarily some vital applications based upon last week's exposition.
Luke chapter 17, I begin the reading at verse 20. And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God comes, he, that is Jesus, 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 within you, or in the midst of you. 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 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 lightens, out of one part unto the heaven, 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. 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 married, they were given in marriage, until the day of the Son of Man. until the day of the Son of Man. until the day of the Son of Man. 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 after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 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 Lot's wife, whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I say unto you, in that night there shall be two men 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 and they answered they answering say unto him where lord and he said unto them where the body is there the eagles also will 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 and she came off to him saying avenge me of my adversary and he would not for a while but afterward he said within himself though i you 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 and the Lord said hear what the unrighteous judge says and shall not God avenge his elect that cry to him day and night and yet he is long suffering over them I say unto you that he will avenge them speedily nevertheless when the son of man comes shall he find this kind of faith on the earth well again let's briefly pray and ask God for the help of his spirit as we come to his word our father we have already poured out our hearts to you in prayer in the Spotify And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, that there would be present and powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, causing that seed to be watered with the dew of heaven, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer for the Holy Spirit's Work
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to germinate, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit. And so again we come praying that as your word is as seed cast upon the ground of our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit, causing it to take root in our hearts, bringing forth fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Application 1: The Elect are Persevering Criers
Look at the passage, Luke 18, verse 7 indicates that the true people of God, God's true elect who have been called into faith and repentance will attain at least some degree of competence in the performance of that duty. Because notice how Jesus describes the elect. And shall not God avenge his elect that do lie unto him day and night. Verse 1, here's your duty. He describes the elect as those who have attained, now notice my words, carefully chosen, some degree of competence in the performance of their duty.
God has no elect who are called. Called by the gospel. Who do not join the company of those who cry to him day and night. If you're one of his called elect, you're one of his criers day and night. You see that in the passage? I didn't put it there. Jesus did.
Because when God's elect are effectually called, they're brought to some awareness that what they now have is but the earnest, the down payment, the foretaste of the best that is to come. And the yearnings to be perfected in body and mind, to be done with sin and weakness and weariness and death and this messed up world, fixes their hopes on the age to come. And they become part of the company of the day and night criers. Lord Jesus, come. Even so, come. Lord Jesus.
I've been challenged that in my private prayers, I'm determined. That as a standard rule now, I don't want to conclude any season of prayer without at least saying the words, Maranatha, O Lord, come.
And in my public prayers, there's going to be a lot more of this. God's dealt with this preacher. And he's honed my conscience that I ought always to pray and not to faint. And in the context, that prayer is crying day and night. Come, Lord Jesus. Avenge your church. Avenge your people.
Avenge all the enemies of your Son. Second point of application.
If we are to maintain unfainting constancy in our prayers for the return of Christ, our faith in the certainty of his return must be vigorously alive and active. I'll give it to you again. Amen. If we are to maintain unfainting...
If we are to maintain unfainting constancy in our prayers for the return of Christ, our faith in the certainty of his return must be vigorously alive and active. Verse 8a, form of verse...
Yes, verse 8a are the key to fulfilling. Verse 8.1. I say unto you, he will avenge them.
When it is God's time to avenge his own, it will be done with haste. It will be done with speed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trump of the Lord shall sound. That's the language of speedily, in an instant, like lightning, Jesus says in the Luke 17 and parallel passages. Now, what is the key then to always...
He is praying and not fainting. It is living in the confidence of an active, vigorous faith. He is coming. He shall...
That's why Jesus says, Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, not shall he find the persevering prayer on the earth, but shall he find the faith. That is, the kind of faith. That is the subsoil out of which persevering faith grows, and is sustained, and by which alone it can be sustained in a climate that would shrivel the plan to persevering faith, persevering prayer in the return of the Lord Jesus. We must live out our days in a context in which, in every age, the language of unbelief all around us is the language of 2 Peter 3. Where is the promise of his coming? Since the fathers fell asleep, everything continues. It was until now.
That's the atmosphere of the world. To live in a context of constancy, of prayer, Lord Jesus, come! Our faith in the promised coming must be vigorously...
Alive and active. And I use those terms to underscore that we can have a faith in the coming of the Lord Jesus that is not relinquished or abandoned, but becomes dormant, becomes languid. It becomes a conviction that's put in the book of our stated Christian convictions and placed upon the shelf and gathers dust. That's what I'm saying.
It doesn't mean that one has abandoned his faith and confidence in the return of Christ. But it becomes a detached and distant element in the corpus of one's faith. But it must be this vigorous, living, active faith. Lord Jesus, you are coming.
You shall come. Lord Jesus, in the light of that. Oh, Lord Jesus, come. Come.
Sustaining Vigorous Faith: Feeding on God's Promises
And if you ask the question, how can we keep our faith in the return of Christ vigorously active and alive and not allow it to become dormant and languid and sluggish? I give you but two simple words of counsel. Number one, by constantly feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. By constantly feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming.
And the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. That means if all you're doing is feeding your mind on the news, feeding your mind on things that may be innocent in themselves, but not feeding your mind upon the specific pronouncements of Holy Scripture, not feeding your mind upon the great sweeping structure of God's redemptive purpose, in which he calls the present age but the earnest, the foretaste, the down payment, the arabon of redemptive privilege, reminding ourselves the best is yet to come and it will all break in upon us in its full glory. When Jesus splits the sky and comes and appears in glory and in power, feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. When Jesus splits the sky and comes and appears in glory and in power, feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. When Jesus splits the sky and comes and appears in power, feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming.
When Jesus splits the sky and comes and appears in power, feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. When Jesus splits the sky and comes and appears in power, feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. When Jesus splits the sky and comes and appears in power, feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. When Jesus splits the sky and comes and appears in power, feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming.
Sustaining Vigorous Faith: Contemplating God's Character
When Jesus splits the sky and comes and appears in power, feeding on the promises and the revealed purposes of God concerning his coming. and now by stark contrast contemplate who your God is shall righteousness and love compassion shall not this God who designates you as his own will he not avenge you he doesn't need to be worn down by your prayers but he delights to have you confess your confidence in his heart's commitment to your well-being as you pray and remind him of what you are to him and remind yourself of what he is to you in the bonds of free sovereign covenant love and grace that's how you feed faith and keep it vigorous and living and active in this context verse 1 and verse 8 underscore the doleful fact that persevering in spiritual duties and in spiritual vigor are not natural or automatic they are not natural they are not natural when Jesus said this parable is spoken to the end that they ought always to pray and not to faint he's assuming that fainting is natural when he asked the question nevertheless when the son of man comes shall he find this kind of faith on the earth
he's assuming that this kind of faith is not natural remember brethren all of the teaching of Matthew 24 Mark 13 1 Thessalonians 5 1 Peter 2 Peter teaches us that the people of God are to live out their sojourn in the hope of the Lord's return in a very incompatible climate and that climate is not indifferent to them nor are they indifferent to it Jesus says because iniquity shall abound the Lord and his wife got a letter for someone that used to sit in the cracker box for the ministry and one was in the ministry for years and I have books from him signed your son in the faith with God his marriage he's gone out because iniquity shall abound
Application 3: Heightened Appreciation of Cosmic Conflict
the love of the many shall wax cold friends if you really believe this passage you're going to be determined that you're not alive in the certain return of Christ and all that God has promised to do in his return to grow languid and lifeless and dormant and dormant but you will say oh God I'm determined to use every single means at my disposal to keep my faith in that promised reality vigorously alive and active your indwelling sin is a context of incompatibility and there's a wily devil constantly seeking to dampen the ardor of your faith but there's the great lesson now we come to application number three if our perspectives on and our prayers for the return of Christ are to be compatible with this parable we must have a heightened appreciation of our involvement in the cosmic conflict of redemption now again I know that's a Martin mouthful but there ain't no wasted words in it
again I don't just trip these things off if you saw all the white outs and all the scrap paper that gets thrown away but it says what I want to say because I believe the passage warrants it if our perspectives on and our prayers for the return of Christ are to be compatible with this parable we must have a heightened appreciation of our involvement in the cosmic conflict of redemption now let me explain what I mean the first revelation of God's purpose of redemptive grace is recorded in Genesis 3.15 you remember the incident God comes to the sinning shrinking man and woman who have followed the suggestion of the devil and have sinned and God now begins to speak to the different parties the woman, the man, the devil and as he's speaking to the serpent notice verse 15 of Genesis 3 and I God says I will put enmity what's enmity? warfare antipathy tension where there was amity harmony oneness I'm going to break up the oneness I will put enmity between you that is the serpent the devil and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head
and you shall bruise his heel the first words of redemption is the first act of redemptive grace I didn't say the first acts of redemptive grace God's clothing of Adam and Eve may well be redemptive acts as we shall see later on and that comes subsequent this is the first word of redemptive grace is couched in the language of conflict Eve had aligned herself with the devil Adam had aligned himself with the devil by aligning himself with Eve's suggestion to take the fruit now God says God comes along and says alright here is a vicious satanic alignment you Adam and Eve have detached yourself from covenant fidelity to me the God who made you sustains you put you in a perfect environment gave you all you could desire you've aligned yourself with the serpent the liar the murderer but I'm going to break up that alignment I will put enmity I will break up the alignment and I will do that in this very context and I will perpetuate that breaking up of the alignment God says I'm starting a war and I'm going to continue the war and when we read through our Bibles that warfare
of redemptive grace motif is there throughout our Bibles from Genesis to Revelation it culminates when we turn to that majestic scene in Revelation 9 where the returning Christ is set before us under the figure of a conquering general sitting on a white charger and the armies of heaven it says follow him the people of God are his army and they come forth to bring the final defeat of all the powers of darkness and in between that motif comes out again and again when Jesus makes his first pronouncement about the church in Matthew 16 in what image does he give it I will build my church and the gates of hell will prevail against it we my church will storm the gates of hell it's warfare imagery warfare imagery
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors.
It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
Luke 17:20-18:8
This entire section of Luke's Gospel, encompassing Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom of God and the parable of the persistent widow, forms the foundation of the sermon.
Texts Expounded
auto_stories
This is the primary passage for the sermon, read and expounded by Pastor Martin.