Latest / HBCWestminster / 9.26.21 Luke 18:1-8 Pastor Danny Gardner

Transcript

9.26.21 Luke 18:1-8 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Good morning, church. If you have your Bibles, you can open to Luke chapter 18. Luke 18, verses 1 to 8. Allow me to read our text. If you're able to stand in honor of the reading of God's word, I would ask you to do that now. As I read the first eight verses of chapter 18, then we'll pray and begin. Verse 1, and he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.
• 0:26
  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, give me justice against my adversary. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect?
• 0:50
  who cry to him day and night, will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? And Father God, we ask that you would give us your grace to be doers of the word. Make us willing ambassadors of your Son, Jesus Christ. And it's in his name we pray. And amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated.
• 1:19
  Well, it seems as though our society's general patience is wearing thin. This last week, just a couple of days ago, I was driving from my house to the church and on the way I was driving through
• 1:32
  a residential neighborhood that had a crosswalk, two lanes, you know, a crosswalk there. You're supposed to stop for pedestrians if there are pedestrians present. Sure enough, a man was out walking his dog early in the morning, and so I slowed down and I came to a stop as this man crossed using the crosswalk. I mean, you know, it was... I did the right thing. And so I slowed to a stop. I allowed him to pass. I rolled down my window, said hi to him as I was passing. But the man behind me...
• 2:00
  In his car who had to stop because I stopped you guys let me have it. I mean he laid on his horn I could see him screaming at me pointing through the windshield and screaming at me for slowing him down for delaying his morning, and I couldn't believe it especially because
• 2:18
  It was an older gentleman. You know, this was not a 19-year-old. You would expect maybe some impatience or an impulsive kind of attitude from somebody so young, immature, but not from somebody older. I mean, this man, I think, was probably in his 70s, and he is screaming. I mean, I couldn't hear what he was saying because he had his windows up, but I mean, he was so mad, pointing at me, yelling, laying on his horn in the middle of this neighborhood in the morning, just laying on his horn. And so I, you know, kind of waved.
• 2:48
  to him whatever you know and i just said i i yelled out my window you know relax man it's a crosswalk i just stopped for the crosswalk he was so so so angry this older gentleman so i i began rolling again after that man with his dog had crossed and i must confess i think that my flesh probably got the better of me
• 3:05
  because I was not in a hurry to get out of the man's way. I just, I rolled so slow. I never touched the gas. It was idle speed for a long way, and it's a two-lane, you know, so he couldn't pass me. He kept actually kind of jutting out like he was going to pass in the middle of this neighborhood, you know, and I was being entertained by his impatience, I must confess, probably not very kind or Christ-like of me. Finally, he got fed up with me and took a right-hand turn, went blazing out of the neighborhood. I don't know what happened after that, but I thought, man, it...
• 3:34
  It just seems like people are giving up. Their patience is wearing so thin. Perhaps you feel the frustration that this man felt. If not for crosswalks, maybe you feel it spiritually. Maybe you feel it socially. We're just tired. Maybe beginning to lose heart. J.C. Ryle has said it this way, persevering prayer is the secret of keeping up the faith. Persevering prayer.
• 4:00
  is the secret of keeping up the faith. And maybe you feel like, you know what, I just feel like I'm going to give up. I feel like I'm losing heart. I feel like my patience is wearing thin. And J.C. Ryle would say, continue in prayer, steadfastly in prayer. St. Augustine, when faith fails, he says, prayer dies. In order to pray, he continues, then we must have faith. And that our faith fail not, we must pray. Faith pours forth.
• 4:27
  prayer and the pouring forth of the heart and prayer gives steadfastness to faith. Don't give up. Rather, Augustine would say, pray. And this parable before us this morning has posed problems for many and some in an effort maybe to remain true to the text, but who are also unwilling to bend, force upon the text something the Lord never intended.
• 4:49
  leaving the reader with the impression perhaps that God is a stingy and unjust judge in heaven, right? There would be some who would say, well, this judge represents God and therefore God maybe is this stingy and unjust judge. Maybe if you held to that interpretation, you think that God will only relent and answer those prayers which are most consistent. And based on this parable, the word consistent means annoying. Those who are the most annoying will get their prayers.
• 5:18
  answered. And if this were true, Church, then the most annoying Christians would also be the happiest. But that is not my observation. Is it yours? It does not seem like the most annoying Christians that I know are also the happiest. In fact, it seems to be the opposite. Some others may shrug their shoulders, and not really knowing what to do with the text, just kind of glance by, gloss over it, because they don't know what to do with it. Maybe they just do nothing with it.
• 5:45
  C.S. Lewis one time said this, and I liked it. He says, if the text has smallpox, then the sermon should catch it. If the text has a sickness, then the sermon should catch the sickness. A good sermon, in other words, should derive from the text at hand. And he says, if the text is sick, then the sermon should catch the disease. If the sermon doesn't catch the disease,
• 6:09
  Like if you get to the end of the sermon and you're left with, well, what did that have to do with the text? I mean, here's what the text said. Here's what the sermon said. And these two things weren't the same. He says, if that happens, then something went wrong. And so let me expose us right off the bat this morning, church. Let me expose us to the sickness so that there is no confusion. What is this text saying? Let me just tell you what it says. Jesus this morning gives a lesson on the value of persistent prayer.
• 6:38
  And by using the parable of the unjust judge, he reminds his hearers that if a God hating judge will eventually give justice, then surely a kind and merciful judge will answer our prayer long before that. Let me say that again. If an unjust judge, if a God hating judge will eventually grant justice, then surely a kind and merciful heavenly judge will answer our prayer long before that.
• 7:07
  before that what we see this morning is that our heavenly judge answers the prayers of his people he does it every time he does it with perfect righteousness but what does prayer do and how does prayer work in regard to his answering and what does this text have to do with us and so let's look at a couple of introductory points as we begin from verse one you'll notice the very first word the word and and
• 7:36
  Now this parable is closely connected to Christ's previous teaching on the second coming. You'll recall from last Sunday the teaching of his kingdom. He was asked by a group of Pharisees, when will the kingdom come? And Jesus said, the kingdom's already here. The king is here, therefore the kingdom is here. And so he began to talk about his second coming and about how it will be a day of judgment. He's also willing to save, we said, but it will be a days of judgment, just like the days of Noah and the days of Lot. So it will be the days of the coming of the Son.
• 8:04
  of man in fact most commentators lump this section this parable together into the previous this is an unfortunate chapter break this parable goes it is the conclusion to christ's sermon about his second coming from last week and so the question had been asked how long oh lord and this parable is at least part of that answer
• 8:29
  Again, J.C. Ryle has said, after giving a fearful account of the sifting and the tribulations which shall attend his own second advent, our Lord proceeds to urge on his people for the importance of the habit of persevering in prayer as a preparation for that advent, and of not fainting under trial and giving up in prayer. In other words, if we would prepare to receive Christ a second time, Jesus says we must pray.
• 8:59
  If Christ's coming is the sowing of the seed, then prayer is like the plowing of our hearts. If the second coming of Christ is the seed being sown, if that's what we're looking forward to, he says, then prayer is the plowing of our hearts. It is the preparing of ourselves for Jesus's second coming. In other words, if you ain't praying, you ain't
• 9:22
  ready. If you ain't praying, you ain't ready for Jesus to come again. That's the very first word. But you also notice Christ's command, he says, and he told them in verse one, a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray.
• 9:38
  Now, this is not to say that mankind should be constantly in the act of praying, like eyes closed and hands folded at all times without ceasing, but rather that we should keep up the habit of prayer and endeavor to be in a constantly prayerful state of mind. We should be in our hearts and minds ever in the presence of God all the time. We must, as Brother Lawrence put it so well, practice the presence of God.
• 10:06
  Colossians chapter 3 and verse 2 says that we should set our minds on things that are above and not on earthly things. And as our minds drift, as we daydream, if you want to call it that, as our minds drift, our minds should drift heavenward. We ought always, he says, to pray and not lose heart. And so let's look at, we're going to look at three things. We're going to look at the unjust or unrighteous judge.
• 10:31
  Then we're going to look at the persistent prayer of the widow, right? The persistent request of the widow. Then we're going to answer the question, why is it taking Jesus so long to come back? Okay, so let's start in verse two. Notice the unjust judge in verse two. He said, in a certain city, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. Let's skip ahead to verse four.
• 10:55
  For a while he refused the request of this widow, but afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says. Now we find in verse two, in a certain city, there was a judge that this is a fictional account. This is a parable. It is a story. This was not an actual city. This was not an actual...
• 11:24
  Judge, but it's not too difficult, church, for us to imagine a judge who had no fear of God and no respect for man. That's not too big a stretch to say that it could happen someplace, even in modern times, where there would be a judge who did not care about God, cared nothing about God's commands, cared nothing about who this heavenly father might be, and also had no respect for persons either.
• 11:50
  Now to say that he neither feared God nor respected man to take those two phrases in conjunction made it like a proverbial description of a thoroughly bad man. And you'll notice he was occupying a very high government office. Despite his position, this judge had no reverence for God. He had no interest in people. The fact that he had no regard
• 12:17
  meant that he also had no regard for the law since the law was given by the great law giver and because god's law existed for the good of god's people this judge also had no regard whatever for god's people john macarthur has said this man was ultimately and finally wicked i mean the worst guy on earth that's what he's saying he was
• 12:42
  the ultimate wicked man. And there was no way, MacArthur continues, there was no way to penetrate this man's wickedness, neither from the viewpoint of the law of God, nor from the viewpoint of the need of man. He had no interest in the foremost command. Remember when Jesus was asked, what's the most important commandment? And he said, love the Lord your God. He had no interest in that foremost command, neither did he have any interest in the second command, love your neighbor as yourself.
• 13:10
  In verse 6, Jesus describes him as unrighteous. If you notice in verse 6, the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says. That word unrighteous means dishonest, corrupt, unjust. And not only were his judgments evil, but the judge knew he was evil. He was even comfortable in his wickedness. Notice in verse 4.
• 13:36
  For a while it says he refused, but afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, I. So it's not like this is a description that Jesus is putting on him. He didn't love the Lord and he didn't love people. He was self-declared a hater of God and a hater of people. Proverbs chapter 18 says, it is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive
• 14:06
  the righteous of justice in second chronicles chapter 19 king jehoshaphat
• 14:14
  appointed judges in the land, city by city, in every city in Israel, he appointed judges. And in 2 Chronicles 19 and verse 7, Jehoshaphat even declared, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. So now he's commissioning these justices, these judges, to go out and judge righteously. And he says, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God or partiality.
• 14:40
  or taking bribes. So he says, your whole goal is to execute the justice of God on earth. There is no injustice in God. There is no partiality. There is no taking of bribes. And yet over the course of time, what you find in the Old Testament, even dipping into the New Testament, is that these judges in Israel began to become corrupt, morally bankrupt, and were even known for taking bribes.
• 15:09
  Alfred Edersheim, in his definitive work, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, describes the people's response to wicked judges in Jerusalem. The Hebrew term for those judges, originally, Dayanai Gezeroth, meant that the judge was responsible for the execution of the law of God in Israel. That's what that meant, Dayanai Gezeroth, a man whose job is to execute the law of God.
• 15:38
  But they became so corrupt, these judges of the first century, that Edersheim says that the people actually changed their name slightly to Dianai Gezeloth, rather than Gezeroth, Gezeloth. They just changed that one letter. But it changed the meaning to a judge who is a robber. Rather than a judge who executes the law of God, they changed it to a judge who is a thief.
• 16:06
  The Talmud actually accused them of such perversion that they would actually they said pervert justice for a mere meal One dinner the Talmud says first century judges would be so willing to pervert the law That they would do it for dinner if you just bought them dinner. That's how easy it was to bribe that judge in verse
• 16:33
  Two, when it says that this man had no respect, intrepomai, intrepomai in the Greek means to be put to shame. This man had no shame.
• 16:46
  And in a society which held, and actually Middle Eastern culture still holds, honor as the greatest good, a man with no shame was to be considered the greatest evil in society. And this man, it says, could never be put to shame because there was nothing he was ever ashamed of. This man felt no shame. You can probably recall when you were a kid and your grandparents would say, Danny, you should be ashamed of yourself.
• 17:13
  to act in such a way or to speak in such a way, to treat your little sister in such a way. You should be ashamed of yourself. You know, church, we live in a culture now that I'm not sure even feels shame. I don't know that we can appeal to a person's shame anymore because it seems as though today we live in an age which takes pride in everything that we should be ashamed of. And that was this man.
• 17:42
  proud of the things which were evil. This man would have called evil good and good evil. He was never ashamed. And here we can see in this parable the tragic implications of this man's wickedness. Not only this man's wickedness, but his wickedness combined with his high station. He was actively depriving a woman of justice. He felt no shame whatsoever. He was the worst.
• 18:10
  possible person to fill a very important office. And that scenario was only too common in Israel. And honestly, church, it seems only too common today. Oftentimes, the very worst people fill the very highest offices in our country. We find that to be true, and we find it to be true for some time. But church, if I may just take an aside here for a moment, we can rejoice, beloved church.
• 18:38
  That although we may struggle with earthly injustice, that is certainly true. We may struggle against earthly injustice. We have a judge in heaven who exercises perfect justice. Praise God for that. Listen to Jeremiah 9 verse 23. Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom.
• 19:01
  Let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, declares the Lord. Let him boast that he knows me, he says, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice,
• 19:26
  righteousness on earth we know church that there are unrighteous judges on earth but praise God we have a heavenly judge who is perfectly just and perfect perfect perfectly righteous so that's the unjust judge but notice also it describes this persistent widow look at this woman in verse 3 says and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying give me justice against my adversary
• 19:56
  Now, Israel had quite a bit of experience with widows. It was common for a woman to lose her husband, her husband who would have been the sole breadwinner of their home. This left this wife, his wife, without income. And because men were the ones who were expected to work outside the house, it also most of the time left them without any means to provide for herself. Widows often ended up helpless. They ended up friendless.
• 20:22
  Now, this particular woman had been taken advantage of. She'd been stolen from to the point that she was now destitute.
• 20:29
  The fact that she kept coming meant that she really had no other options. Her persistence with the judge also probably means that she had no man in her life since there was no man advocating for her. She was advocating for herself. We assume that not only had her husband died because, after all, she was a widow, but that she probably also had no father. She had no brother. She had no brother.
• 20:53
  in law and church purely on the basis of mercy this judge should have done something exodus 22 and verse 22 you shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child isaiah 1 17 plead the widow's cause so simply on the basis of just have mercy on her this judge would be unmoved
• 21:18
  we find in the old testament that widows were to be cared for their needs were to be met and you know what honestly we find the same in the new testament now james 1 27 religion that is pure and undefiled before god the father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world first timothy 5 and verse 3 listen to this first timothy 5 3 honor widows that's simply what it says honor
• 21:48
  widows who are truly widows. It goes on to describe which women in the church should qualify as widows. And it says it falls to the church to assist in the care of those widows who are a certain age, who have no other family to care for them, and who have themselves been faithful in their service to the church.
• 22:07
  So you've got this single woman of a certain age. She's too old to provide for herself. She doesn't have other family to provide for her and to care for her. And the Bible says the church should take care of her. She's been serving the church. Now the church should serve her. I can recall a conversation with one of my best friends, Bob Jones. You guys all know him. Beloved man. And he and his wife Dina are some of our closest friends here in Colorado.
• 22:32
  I can remember talking with him years ago, five, six years ago, when he was still living. He and Dina were living in Littleton, Colorado, about a 45-minute drive south. And he just said, you know, Danny, what will happen? Eventually, what will happen when I die and Dina is still alive? When she is a widow, what will happen, right? Because he just says, I'm definitely going to go before Dina. He always jokes. She's going to outlive us all. She'll live to be 150.
• 22:56
  And he says, what's going to happen to her when I die? I was actually mentioning at the time, which is what brought it up. We were talking about the fact that another older couple in our church, beloved friends.
• 23:09
  just live, literally live in between my house and the church. So I drive right past their house every day. In fact, I was out in front of their house only about a block away when that guy was yelling at me in the crosswalk. It was on my way to church. I was right by their house. And so I said to him, I said to Bob, you know,
• 23:28
  I drive past their house every time I drive to and from the church. And if it happens that the husband passes away first, I said, how strategic will it be that his widow will live in route, in route from the church to the pastor's house? I will drive by her house every day. It will be so easy for me to help care for her. Bob took that message to heart.
• 23:52
  Not many months later, they listed their house in Littleton, sold it, and bought a house. Bought a house, church. Not kidding. Literally halfway between my house and the church. I now drive by Bob and Dina's house too every day on my way back and forth to work. There is no doubt. There is no doubt, church. God's heart is for the widow. And to neglect the widow is to neglect the clear command of God. And that's exactly what this judge does.
• 24:22
  Not only could she appeal to mercy, but she also, we find, has the law on her side since she is seeking justice. Give me justice. She's not even asking for something abnormal or out of the ordinary. She's not asking for favors. She has been prevailed upon. And now she is begging for help. We notice it says that she kept coming. Verse three says, there was a widow in that city who kept.
• 24:51
  coming. She was relentless, asking for vindication. And we find in verse four, for a while, he was unwilling. He didn't care. I neither fear God. He kept it for a while, right? Verse four says he refused. He was the worst possible type of man, therefore the worst possible candidate for judge. For a while, he was unwilling. He just said, let her continue to knock. I don't care. Let her continue to beg. I don't
• 25:20
  care. But then eventually, verse five, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. Another translation says so that she won't weary me. Another one says so that because she keeps causing me trouble. The literal translation beat me down was a boxing term.
• 25:43
  It could also be rendered, she keeps blackening my eyes. Literally, she is blackening my face. It's like he says, I can just feel her punching me in the face over and over and over and over. It's actually the same phrase used by the Apostle Paul when he said in 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 27, I buffet my body and make it my slave. I beat it into submission. And now the judge says, this woman is beating me down.
• 26:11
  blackening my eyes over and over and over continually he says at the end of verse 5. continue it literally continually means forever she's going to keep coming forever she's never going to stop and so the unrighteous judge says i will give her justice literally i will vindicate her not because it was the right thing to do but because he knew that she would never leave him alone
• 26:41
  Now, that is the illustration. What was the Lord's intention in its telling? You can go back again to verse 1. Why did Jesus tell the story? He says, so that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. You ought always to pray and not lose heart. Again, John MacArthur says, here we find that the key to the parable is hanging right on the front door.
• 27:09
  right on the front door. There's the key. If you want to unlock it, the key is hanging on the front door. You will recall from last Sunday that Jesus had finished a brief discourse on his second coming, a coming we find that would include horrific judgment, right? The last verse in chapter 17, where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. So he says, when I come back, there will be corpses and vultures. Horrific judgment. Yes, we said he will be willing to save.
• 27:37
  But we find that there will be those who are unwilling to receive his free gift of grace. You say, okay, well, why the delay then? Why the delay? Why is it taking him so long to come back? We find the answer in verses seven and eight. Verse seven, it says, and will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night?
• 28:02
  Will he delay long over them? That is the key phrase, church. The end of verse 7, will he delay long over them? It's like this hypothetical question. He's asking this question that kind of the answer is implied to. Will he delay long? Is the Lord really going to wait one moment longer than he has to? And the answer is no. I tell you in verse 8, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
• 28:32
  The Lord knew when he spoke these words that by our measurement, a significant amount of time would pass between those two comings. At this point, we're coming up on 2,000 years since Christ came the first time. In those 2,000 years, Christ is continually dishonored. Christ is denied his rightful place as Lord of all creation and Lord of every person's heart. The word of God is attacked and mocked. Christ's bride, the church, is harangued and abused.
• 28:59
  Christians are rejected and persecuted. We begin to feel heaven's seeming silence. Like, what is God waiting for? We know that Christ is coming back, but it feels like the Lord is taking forever. Like, come Jesus, come now. And then Christ issues this statement in verse seven. I've already mentioned it. Will he delay long over them? The clear implied answer is no, he won't wait. He will not delay. The Lord, we find, will not delay one moment longer than is necessary.
• 29:29
  You say, okay, then when will it be time? If he's not going to wait one moment longer than is necessary, when is that time going to come? What is Christ waiting for? Turn to the right with me, if you would, in your own Bibles. Go to 2 Peter. Let's look. What is Christ waiting for? 2 Peter, I think, has the answer. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9 says this, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness.
• 29:57
  There you go. Like, why is he so slow? It says, he's not slow. Rather, he is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. What is Jesus waiting for? The answer is people to repent. He's waiting for people to repent. He wants people to be saved. He knows that when he comes back, that's kind of it. That's it.
• 30:26
  And every day he delays is one more day that the gospel can reach new ears and penetrate new hearts. I was saved just before my 14th birthday. February 1st, 1990 is finally when I submitted to the rule and reign of Christ in my life. I repented. I had always believed, but there was a time when I finally said, okay, your will, not my will. That was February 1st, 1990.
• 30:55
  Church, do you know how thankful I am for the Lord's patience? How thankful I am that he didn't return on January 31st, 1990? What if he had returned one day earlier? Would I have been left in my sin? Would I have been left unsaved, unforgiven perhaps?
• 31:17
  Consider the day that you were saved, that you first believed. Aren't you glad the Lord was patient toward you? Aren't you glad that he waited one more day? And you can imagine our Savior in heaven. We're all praying and saying, come Lord Jesus, come now. What are you waiting for? And you can imagine Jesus in heaven. Yes, anxious to return, anxious to receive his bride, but also willing to wait for just one more soul.
• 31:43
  One more soul. Lord Jesus, what are you waiting for? One more soul. Just one more. One more. One more. Church, as your patience wearing thin, don't give up. Pray continually. Don't lose heart. Pray that the gospel would save just one more. Just one more. Just one more. Knowing that the Lord will not delay one moment longer than is necessary. And Lord, I pray. I pray a blessing over the preaching of your word. God, we thank you.
• 32:14
  That when you speak, we can have every confidence that your words will come true. We know that you're coming back. We are willing to be patient, Lord, because you are patient with us. And Lord, we long for your return. But we also, Lord, reflect your desire that people would repent. Just one more. Just one more. God, I pray that our people would not give up and not lose heart. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.