Luke 18:1-8

[0:00] And Luke chapter 18 will begin reading at verse 1. It says, And he spake a parable unto them to this end, That men ought always to pray and not to faint, Saying there wasn't a city of judge which feared not God, Neither regarded man, and there was a widow in that city, And she came unto him saying, Avenge me of my adversary.

[0:25] 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 troubled with me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

[0:39] And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said, And shall not God avenge his own elect, Which cry day and night unto him, Though he bear along with them?

[0:50] I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, Shall he find faith on the earth? And we'll stop reading right there.

[1:01] And that passage ends in a question. It ends in a very pertinent question when the Son of man cometh, Shall he find faith on the earth? Which goes right back to what I was explaining just a little while ago about how we have to take the end of Luke 17 and pair it with what we're reading here.

[1:22] But back to verse 1 in Luke 18, it says, And he spake a parable unto them with this insane, That men ought always to pray, And not to fainct say, There was in the city a judge, Which feared not God, Neither regarded man, And there was a widow in that city, And she came unto him, Saying, Avenge me, Of mine adversary.

[1:42] So here we have a parable that Jesus Christ is speaking to the people here. And I've said many times, I don't think that Christ ever spoke a parable that the people could not relate to somehow, some way.

[1:56] I'm sure that the people that were within here, shot of this parable that he was speaking, were aware of such a case as Jesus was speaking of here.

[2:07] They were aware of some widow woman in some city or some region, some village that was round about then, and how she was being taken advantage of by the covetous people, how she was being taken advantage of by society in general, and how she went to a judge of that area.

[2:28] We're not giving a name for this judge, but we know that he was a judge. He was a man that was placed in power. He had power to help, and he had power to cast people into prison.

[2:40] He had all kinds of power about him. We know this about him, but he was placed in this position, but it says that he had no regard for God, and he had no regard for man.

[2:53] He had no fear of God, and no regard of man. Telling me that he was much like the people that we have in places of higher power right now, here in 2022, people that have no fear of God, and they have no regard for their fellow man or their neighbors.

[3:12] They have no fear of God. They have no thought of God within their heart, and they have no regard of their neighbor. Sometimes even of their own family, of their friends, they're all about self, such as this judge was here.

[3:26] We just read in the scripture that this man, after this woman persisted in her prayer to this man, she persisted in her petitions under this unjust judge, and he said that he would do right by her.

[3:42] He would grant her her petition, unless she should worry him. It was all about him. He didn't do it for her sake. He didn't do it because it was the right thing to do. He did it so that she would not worry him, so that she would go on about her way, and she would leave him alone.

[4:00] But here in the scripture it says that widow, she was in that same city that the judge was in, and she came unto him saying, avenge me of my adversary. Avenge me of my adversary, folks.

[4:13] Here in 2022, we have an adversary. We have an adversary called Satan. He's called Lucifer. He's called the devil, and we have many other adversaries that are part of his legion of demons all around this world.

[4:29] But folks, I can tell you now, we can rest assured in the word of God that God will avenge us of our adversary. God will avenge us of every plight and every pain and every toll that we have ever experienced, every toll that we may be experiencing now and every one that we will experience in the future.

[4:53] It's all because of sin that these things are part of our lives, and sin is in the picture because Satan kept it even in the garden to sin. So our adversary, one of these days, he will be avenged by our God.

[5:09] Rest assured of that, my Bible tells me that the beast and Satan and the false prophet, they will all find their places in the lake of fire. Praise God. We can rejoice in this thing because we will have no part of that lake of fire.

[5:26] We will have no part of the flames of hell or the torments thereof because we, as children of God, we as the elect of the Almighty, have a promised place in heaven above with Jesus sitting at the right hand of glory, the right hand of the Father, the right hand of the very just one, the very just judge that we can go to and make our petitions known, and he will answer in his new time and in his will.

[5:58] Praise God and hallelujah. It don't matter if we're just four, or if we're 40 or 400, the message don't change. The message doesn't change in the Scripture.

[6:10] God is just, and God will avenge His own. Verse 5 again, yet because this widow troubled with me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming, she worried me, she lest by her continual coming, she worried me.

[6:29] So once again, this had nothing to do with doing what was just and doing what was right. This man done this on his own behalf. He done it because he was selfish. He done it to benefit himself, not to benefit this widow, folks.

[6:44] And this judge, he would have been one just like the widow that was being spoken of here. He would have been a Jew just as she was a Jew. And they're commanded in the book of Exodus, and in the book of Deuteronomy, they are commanded not to afflict the widows, that they are to look after the fatherless, they are to look after the widows, and this man was doing anything but that, just like some of the Pharisees, Jesus accused them of the same things in the Gospels, of ransacking and looting the widows' homes and the widows' houses.

[7:20] Folks, this man was no different than those Pharisees were or the scribes or anyone else was. They were not treating widows the way that the law of God commanded them to treat the widows.

[7:35] And God says, I will avenge them. I will avenge your adversary. This judge here, I'm not comparing this judge with God. I'm not doing that at all. The Bible says this was an unjust judge.

[7:48] He was an unjust man. My God is completely just. This parable that Christ speaks here, it doesn't just speak of the persistence of prayer.

[8:00] I've heard this preach and I've heard it taught that all this parable states is that if we pursue God and we persist with God and we petition God continually, that eventually He will give us what we want.

[8:16] Folks, that's not what this parable is saying at all. This parable is saying that we are to pray. It tells us what it's about in the first verse. He's spake a parable unto them, to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint.

[8:30] It doesn't say anything about men ought always to pray so that they can get what they want. They should always pray and not faint. Folks, we should be a praying people.

[8:41] The Bible says to pray without ceasing in 1 Thessalonians in the book of Colossians. It says to continue in prayer. The Bible teaches us that we, as born again children of God, should be people of prayer, constant prayer.

[8:57] I'm not saying you've got to spend your life on your knees. I'm saying you should always have an attitude of prayer and you should always be at a place in your life where you can approach God with anything at any time.

[9:11] God help us to be that way and to never come into a situation where we can't get a hold of Him. You think about it, folks.

[9:22] Salvation began with prayer. Salvation began with prayer. You had to come to God and you had to recognize who you were and you had to ask forgiveness. Your salvation began there.

[9:34] I understand that salvation is of the Lord and the Lord is salvation and I understand that it begins with God dealing with your heart. But on your side, your salvation began with a prayer that you made unto God.

[9:48] It began with a confession that you made to God. When you said, God, I'm a sinner and I need a Savior and I can assure you, church, that if it began with prayer, that your salvation and your walk with God began with a prayer that prayer is essential to the life of a Christian.

[10:08] Prayer is a must in the life of a Christian. God help us to not be a prayerless people for I say that if a Christian is a prayerless Christian, they're not a Christian at all.

[10:22] Most that is our communication with God. That is how we go to God. We go to God in prayer. I understand the Bible talks about how the Holy Spirit can understand groanings and utterings that we can't utter, that we can't speak.

[10:36] And I thank God for that because there's been times in my life where I couldn't come up with the words to say. I couldn't come up with the petition to make to God the praise being of God. The Holy Spirit knew exactly how I felt.

[10:49] He knew exactly what I needed and He was able to take the groanings of my heart and to God, He was able to make sense of those things and take that petition and to God and God was able to hear it.

[11:03] He was able to understand it and He was able to answer it. Hallelujah. And the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge said. What did he say in the previous verse?

[11:17] I will avenge her. Lest by her continual coming she weary me. She weary me just on a side note. A little note of humor actually.

[11:28] The phrase there, lest she weary me, the phrase in the Greek for that actually means distraught below the eyes. That's the literal phrase in the original Greek that this is written in, distraught below the eyes.

[11:43] In other words, this judge, he was afraid this widow woman was going to give him a black eye. He was afraid this widow woman was going to punch him. If she continued to come and he continued to deny her, this judge, a man in a position of power, a man in a position where he could have had this woman thrown in jail just for bothering him if he had wanted to.

[12:04] But he says, I'm going to do this thing for her. I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. Hope she persisted after this judge.

[12:15] I'm glad that I've got God the Father that I can go to that wants me to come to him. This judge here, he didn't want the widow woman there. He didn't want the widow woman to pursue him.

[12:27] He didn't want her there day by day and not by now. Folks not only that, this judge, hey, he was just a man. He had to rest every once in a while. He had to get some sleep.

[12:38] I can go to God, my Father, who wants me to come to him any time of the day and any time of the night. This woman was limited as to how she could approach this judge and when she could approach this judge.

[12:51] But I can go to my Father with any prayer or petition at any time day or night that I want to. Hallelujah to God the Father. And the Lord said here what the unjust judge said, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear along with them.

[13:12] Shall not God avenge his own elect? In other words, Jesus is speaking this peril. And he says, this woman pursued an unjust man, an unjust judge.

[13:26] She pursued him and eventually he gave in to her desire. He gave in to her petition. He says, shall not God avenge his own which cry day and night unto him, though he bear along with them.

[13:40] And there's a question mark there. In other words, if this woman can get this out of some unbelieving, some unrepentant, some prideful and unjust judge, how much more can we get out of the just one?

[13:56] How much more can we get out of God who is perfectly just, of a God that once again wants his children to come to him? He wants to hear our petitions. He wants to know our supplications.

[14:07] And the thing is God already knows what we need before we ever approach him with them. But he still wants to hear from his children. Praise God. He says, shall not God avenge his own elect?

[14:20] Shall he not avenge his own, those which he has bought with the blood of Jesus Christ? If you're sitting here born again tonight, you are a part of the elect of God.

[14:31] Shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear along with them? Notice there the commas. Notice the commas in our scripture.

[14:42] And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear along with them? In other words, the elect of God, they will cry them to God day and night.

[14:55] The description of those who are the elect of God is they are the ones that cry day and night unto God. Folks, as I've already said, we should be a praying people. We should pray day and night.

[15:07] We should whether, hey folks, this widow woman here, she didn't go to this judge with a big eloquent speech. She didn't go there. She said just a few words to this judge.

[15:18] Every time she saw him, she would say, avenge me of my adversary. Avenge me of my adversary. Just a few short words. God is a concern with how eloquent your speech is.

[15:30] He is a concern with how big a word you can use in your prayer. God is concerned with his children's needs. He is concerned with his children's period. And God wants us to come to him just like we would come to our own earthly father with whatever need that we have.

[15:49] I would have never, I would have never dreamed of going to my earthly father, my daddy, and using a thousand these in my request to him.

[16:01] He probably wouldn't even understand what I was saying if I had done that. God's not concerned with that. There's nothing wrong with praying like that. Don't get me wrong. But sometimes we put our manner of prayer in front of what we're praying for.

[16:16] And sometimes like the Pharisees, we'll make a big long prayer out of something that could have just a few words. One of the greatest prayers ever prayed in Scripture was three words long.

[16:29] Jesus, when Jesus come to the disciples out on the water, when he was walking on the water, and the disciples were in the boat, and Peter said, Lord, if that's you, bid me come to thee.

[16:42] And Jesus said, Jesus said, come. And Peter stepped out on the water. We all know the account. The waves became tempestuous. They became boisterous. Peter sucked out of the waves.

[16:53] One of the greatest prayers ever prayed in Scripture. Peter come up out of the water and said, Lord, save me. That was a prayer. It was for his need that he had at that time. And what did Christ do?

[17:04] He came to where Peter was at, and he saved him out of that water. It's not the length of your prayer. It's not the length of my prayer. And it's not the speech that we use. It's the need that it comes from our heart.

[17:18] God will inspire those prayers. And I promise you, if God has inspired a prayer, God has every intent and answer in that prayer. Hallelujah.

[17:29] Shall I not have God avenged his own elect which cried to him and not unto him, though he bear along with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. This word speedily, it doesn't mean what you and I would think that it means.

[17:45] It doesn't mean that he'll do just as quickly as possible. It doesn't mean that as soon as we pray, God will enter that prayer. You've had prayers that have gone unentered in your life, and I've had prayers that have gone unentered in my life.

[17:59] God will enter those prayers in his time. This goes back to what I was talking about at the end of Luke 17 when Christ says to remember Lachwa.

[18:10] He was saying remember how suddenly she was returning to that pillar of salt. Remember how suddenly judgment fell on her. Remember how suddenly judgment fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. And remember how suddenly judgment fell on the entire world.

[18:24] Save eight people that went into the ark that day. It's the same principle here. It says, I tell you, he will avenge them speedily. Just like when Jesus says, Jesus says in the book of Revelation, he says, behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give unto every man according to his words.

[18:44] I hope it's been 2,000 years since the man ascended and he's still not here. I don't think that word quickly meant I'll be up there and then I'll be right back. It was saying when I come, it will be quickly.

[18:57] It will be suddenly. No one will be expecting it. What this word speedily means here and what the word quickly means more often than not in Scripture. I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.

[19:09] Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? And that's a question. It's not a statement. When the Son of Man cometh, when he comes, will he find faith on the earth?

[19:24] Will he find faith on the earth? My goodness, everybody on earth at that point, that would include his own believers and he is asking the question, when the Son of Man cometh, will he find faith on the earth?

[19:36] Folks, there's faith all over the earth right now but the problem is the faith is in the small things, the faith is in material things, the faith is in self, the faith is in spouse, in family, it's in job, it's in money, it's in doctors, it's in everything, except for the Lord that gave them that faith.

[19:56] Yes, there'll be faith in the earth, but the question really is, where will that faith be? Where will that faith be? Will it be in the Son of Man when he cometh?

[20:08] Or will it be in something else? If it's in anything other than Christ, and folks, listen, this world is full of people. The houses are full of people that have faith in everything but God.

[20:19] They have faith in everything except for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Look around, look around in the world that we live in. Look around at your own families, look at your friends, look at your workplaces, look wherever, look and see where people's faith is.

[20:35] It is not faith that Jesus Christ is coming back anytime soon. It is faith that I can live how I want to, how I want to, and when I want to. And God is not coming back.

[20:48] Jesus Christ is not going to come back. He is not going to judge. He is not going to avenge His elect. This is the attitude that people have, and that is faith in the false God.

[21:00] That is faith in something that the Bible does not teach to have faith in. The faith should be that Jesus Christ is coming back, and that when He comes back, He will avenge His elect.

[21:12] Hallelujah! Folks, we just need to be patient. Prayer teaches patience. Unanswered prayer teaches patience. And it teaches us to continually ask.

[21:24] It's not that God didn't hear you the first time, but God wants to hear from His children. I'm sure that this unjust judge here heard the woman say, offend me of my adversary.

[21:36] I'm sure he heard her the first time she said it, but she continued coming. She continued coming. When we pray a prayer unto God, God hears us the first time, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with repeating that prayer.

[21:52] I've got lost people in my family. I've got lost friends that I prayed and I begged to God that He saved their undying souls. Folks, I pray that prayer every day. I pray for the same people every day, and every day it seems that that list gets a little bit longer.

[22:08] And I think that God heard me the first time I ever mentioned those people's names, but I continue to mention their names unto God, not because He's forgotten, but because God wants to see that I'm sincere in this prayer, and I want to know that I'm sincere in this prayer.

[22:24] Hey, folks, are your prayers getting shorter? Are you cutting out your prayer life in general? Have you ever been like me and said, I'm too tired to really say a good prayer tonight?

[22:35] I'll just say a little prayer and go on to bed. Hey, I've been guilty of that as well, but folks, those kinds of prayers will get us into danger. Those kinds of prayers will get us into hot water that'll cause us to be sterile and stagnant in our Christian walk with God.

[22:53] I don't want to be sterile in my walk with God. I want to be the life and the self that He has called me to be. And my prayer life will help that.

[23:04] Your prayers will produce faith, and your faith produces prayer. Never forget that. Would you pray to God if you didn't have faith in Him? Would you pray to God if you didn't have faith that He could hear that and answer it?

[23:18] No, He wouldn't. So your prayers will produce faith. And on the flip side of that coin, your faith is what produces those prayers. Your faith will produce those prayers to God.

[23:29] And the more God works in your life, and the more you see God entering those prayers, the stronger your faith should be. And we as Christians, sometimes God will go months, sometimes God will go years without entering a prayer.

[23:43] And we'll think, well, where's God at? Why ain't God hearing me? Why ain't God answering? Why ain't God this and why ain't God that? Hey, it's not that God doesn't hear and it's not that God doesn't enter. My mama prayed for me for three decades, over three decades before I got saved.

[23:58] But I'm persuaded that that woman never gave up on me, never gave up on God's saving my soul. And here I stand before you today, the born-again blood-bought child of God.

[24:10] And I believe that that was God's will, yes. And I also believe it was the persistence of someone's prayers in their prayer life and their faith that God would hear those prayers.

[24:21] And I use myself as an example. And I use myself humbly as an example. I'm not attributing my salvation to my mother. I know that it was God that saved me.

[24:33] But I don't think that she ever gave up on me. In fact, I know that she didn't. But remember, your faith will produce prayers or it should produce prayers.

[24:47] It should produce more petitions unto God. And those prayers should produce more faith in your life, knowing that God can hear them and knowing that God can answer them.

[24:59] And it's a continuous cycle. It's a continuous cycle that should never cease in the life of a Christian. We go to God and we go in faith and we go in believing that He will hear and He will answer according to His will.

[25:15] And if we're a born-again child of God and we have the spirit of God abiding within us, our prayers should be in the will of God the Father. If God is directing those prayers through the Holy Spirit, then they should be in the will of the Father.

[25:32] Shall I go to the binges of the Lord? They are not in Him. Yes, He shall. God will avenge us one day. God will avenge His own elect one day.

[25:44] And it'll be the greatest vengeance. Listen, folks, that ain't necessarily just punishment for the adversary. That's not necessarily what that means.

[25:57] What are we talking about in this parable? We're talking about an unjust judge. What does it mean? What does she mean, the widow woman, when she said, avenge me, my adversary?

[26:09] What was she talking about? Do justice. Do justice. Folks, God is going to do justice one of these days. He is a just God. He is a holy God.

[26:20] And He is a righteous God. He can do nothing but what is just and what is right. And what is just and what is right may not come at the time you think it should or that I think it should.

[26:32] But rest you assured, dear Christian, that it will come because God's word says that it will come.