Well, let's, for a little while
this evening, turn together to God's Word. I want to turn to
the chapter that we read together in Luke's Gospel, chapter 18,
and consider this parable of the unjust judge, as we read
from verses 1 to 8. We've read it together, so I
don't propose to read it again now. Perhaps we'll read verse
seven, which is really a summary that I want to look at. Verse
seven into verse eight. And shall not God avenge his
own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear
long with them? I tell you that he will avenge
them speedily. Well it's our privilege and favour
week by week to come together to pray. It's always a privilege
to meet with God's people and it's particularly a privilege
to meet together to pray. But we often find, I'm sure,
that we come week by week with the same prayers. Many things
may be different as time goes on and circumstances change,
and there are specific prayers that are on our minds at a particular
time, but generally we often come with the same prayers. As
a church, we would regularly pray for the work of the church,
to pray for the Sunday school, for instance, and it's a regular
prayer, a reoccurring prayer that we ring week by week. We
pray to God for revival, we pray to God that people would come
to hear the gospel, and that's a prayer we bring time and time
again. But personally, do we not also
find that we often bring the same prayers? We have the same
needs, the same desires, and we can be tempted to think that
we need to, as it were, move on to something new. that we
can't just bring the same thing to God again and again. We cannot
keep bringing those same needs or those same confessions of
sin. We need to move on, we need to
improve. And perhaps if there's a particular
thing, a particular situation or person or whatever it might
be that we've been praying over for a long time and we've been
bringing this continual prayer to God, day by day, Sometimes
it's a stronger concern than others, but we know that we're
regularly bringing this petition to the Lord. And as time goes
on, as we don't see an answer, that prayer can feel like a labor.
It can feel hard work. It can feel difficult to continue
because we're tempted to give up. We're tempted to think, what's
the point in praying anymore? What's the point in going on
any further? Maybe the Lord is telling us not to pray. Maybe
it was wrong to pray in the first place. Maybe we're not praying
rightly. Or the devil will tell us that
there's not a God to hear us anyway, and therefore prayer
is futile. And prayer can feel hard work. I think every, I hope every Christian
knows this, I don't think it's unique to me, that prayer can
feel hard work. It can be difficult sometimes
to persevere. It can be difficult to press
through the temptations, the obstacles, the unbelief that
we have. It can be difficult to answer
the suggestions of the devil and his discouragement. So it
can be difficult to go on when we don't seem to receive the
answers we expect or in the time frame that we expect. And sometimes
instead of it being a joy, which sometimes prayer is a joy, sometimes
it can feel like a labor. But Jesus speaks this parable
to encourage us when we feel to be fainting. When we feel
like we're going to faint, when we're going to give up, when
we're going to say there's no point praying anymore, or when
the situation is so big and so difficult that we're not going
to pray about it, we're going to faint under it. So we might
have something in our lives today that is so big And it's so difficult,
be it a natural thing or a spiritual thing, in the state of our own
souls, we might think it's so big and so difficult that we're
going to faint under it. And we're not going to pray.
Or at least we're not going to persevere in prayer. And that's
why Jesus speaks this parable. That men ought always to pray
and not to faint. You see, it's what we ought to
do. We ought to pray. Jesus speaks here of a judge.
There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded
man. This is not a judge who is doing
his role in a biblical way. The judges were commanded to
care for the widows, they were commanded to judge righteously,
they were commanded to protect the fatherless, they were in
an important position. They would adjudicate when there
was disputes. They were to have a right spirit.
But this judge had a wrong spirit. This judge had no regard for
God, who had put him in his position, and who had, in a sense, called
the judges to their places. And he had no regard for man.
He had no care for them. He was a selfish judge. Perhaps
he was proud of his position. Perhaps he was pleased of the
authority it gave him, or of the respect that he had in the
community. Whatever it might be, this judge
thought of himself. But there was no real conviction
in his heart of what was right and what was wrong. He didn't
fear God and he didn't regard man. He didn't want to do what
was right on behalf of others and he didn't want to do what
was right in the sight of God. So this man had power to help
people. He had authority to make judgments.
He had the ability to intervene when it was necessary. He could
help, but this judge's heart was not in his work. He did not guard, neither a guarded
man. And so there was a widow. So the widow comes to the judge.
This widow has a problem. She comes to him saying, avenge
me of mine adversary. We don't know exactly what her
situation was, but clearly there was someone who was causing her
a lot of trouble. Perhaps there was someone who
was demanding high amounts of rent for her property, and being
a widow without any family to support her, she was unable to
pay. Whatever it might be, she had a problem. And someone was
treating her unkindly and someone was treating her unjustly. She
needed justice. She needed the law to intervene
on her behalf, for a judge to make judgment, and for the matter
to be settled. She needed someone to help. She
had no one else to go to. So she goes to this judge. This
judge is in a position to help. Whether she was aware, of what
he was really like. Of course Jesus doesn't speak
in the parable, but she may well have thought that he is an unjust
judge, he is an unkind judge, but there's no one else I can
go to. And so because the need wasn't satisfied, because the
problem wasn't resolved any other way, and there was no one else
who could help, she comes to the judge. And she says, avenge
me of my adversary. She brings her petition to him. And he would not. were told he
would not. And so she comes and she's turned
away. He's not interested, he will not intervene on her behalf.
And this goes on for a while, he would not for a while, she
keeps coming. And he will not. But she has
to keep coming, she has to persevere because the problem she has has
not gone away. She still needs his help, his
intervention. And so she keeps on coming until
finally she receives an answer. Because afterward he said within
himself, though I fear not God nor regard man. You see, he has
some understanding of his poor state. He realizes quite a little
bit of what he's like. Though I fear not God nor regard
man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by
her continual coming she weary me. And so he will help. He will intervene because he
doesn't want to be wearied by her continual coming. He doesn't
want to keep on having this widow knocking on his door. He wants
the matter dealt with. He wants her to go away. He doesn't
want to be wearied by the problem. And so because of her persistence,
he will help. He was worn down, if you like.
by her continual coming, by her continual asking. And he realized
that if he did not intervene, she would keep coming. And so it's because of her persistence
that she received the answer. But you see, the Lord speaks
this parable to encourage us to keep on praying, to be persistent
in our praying. But he contrasts this unjust
judge with the great God who we pray to. He is in no way saying
that God is like this judge. He is not saying that God who
we approach is unjust, or that he has no regard for what is
right, or he has no regard for man. He does not say that God
is someone who simply answers prayer because he does not want
to be wearied by our continual coming. He is not saying God
is like the unjust judge. In fact, he is saying, if the
unjust judge can answer the need, then how much more can the righteous,
holy, and loving God answer our need? He takes the comparison
and says, if the judge does, then how much more does God? But God Shall not God avenge his own
elect? I want to look at briefly this
evening, the last few minutes, four points in this verse. Firstly,
is that God hears his elect. Shall not God avenge his own
elect? When God's people come to him,
they do not come as a stranger, This widow came to the judge
in a sense as a stranger. He had no particular interest
or concern about her life. He would only intervene because
of her continual coming. She came as a stranger. But God
will avenge his own elect. They're not strangers. They are
his people. And so when we pray to God, if
we're a Christian tonight, We must remember that we pray to
our Father. We pray to the One who has elected
us, who has loved us. We pray to the One who has called
us, who has saved us, and to the One who loves to hear His
people pray, His own elect. If the unjust judge hears a stranger,
will not God hear His own elect? There's a beautiful verse in
the prophecy of Zechariah, which speaks of the Lord hearing the
cries of his people. It gives us something inside
into the heart, if I can put it that way, of the Lord. He
speaks in Zechariah 13 in the last verse, I will bring the
third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is
refined and will try them as gold is tried. And they shall
call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, it is my people. And they shall say, the Lord
is my God. That's Zechariah 13, verse nine. They shall call on my name, and
I will say, I will hear them, I will say, it is my people. hear something here of the Lord's
delight as his people come to him they will cry to him and
he will with delight it's my people speaking with me it's
my people crying to me it's my people bringing their needs to
me my elect whom i have loved with an everlasting love and
therefore his people ought to be praying people he says men
ought always to pray we should be a people that pray because
God loves to hear His elect. The second point I want to notice
is that His elect cry day and night. They cry day and night. There is a continuance in prayer. They keep going. They do not
give up. Because his people have continual
needs. We have ongoing needs. And as I said in opening, perhaps
that sometimes we feel that we can't keep bringing the same
things time and again to the Lord. We can't keep asking for
strength to walk through this ungodly world, because don't
we think sometimes we should just have enough strength ourselves? We can't keep asking for mercy
because shouldn't we be getting better and not need mercy? We can't keep asking for God
to keep us that we might not stumble and fall because should
we not rather not be stumbling and falling in our own abilities? We can't keep asking for the
Lord to help us because we should be going in the joy of the Lord
and serving him in our own abilities. You see, we can be tempted to
think we can't keep asking these same things. But he says that
they pray, they cry day and night because we still need these things,
don't we? We still need his blessing, we
still need his help, we still need his strength, we still need
his keeping, we still need to be fed from his word, we still
need his spirit within us, we still need guidance, we still
need him every hour, and therefore we pray day and night. Day and night. The devil will
do his everything to stop us from praying. He knows that a
healthy prayer life is a healthy spiritual life. And we do everything
to stop us praying, to discourage us, to dishearten us, to cause
us to disbelieve, whatever ways it might be, that we would stop
praying. But you see, the Lord says they
cry to him day and night because they have continual needs. And so do not stop praying because
you feel that you're not getting any better in your own abilities.
That should encourage you to keep praying, day and night. So they keep praying. The elect,
they keep praying. Thirdly, we notice, he bears
with them. Though he bear long with them,
he waits, we're told. He waits to be gracious. The
Lord waits to be gracious. I believe you can look at that
word in two ways. One way is that the Lord at times
delays to bring his blessing. He waits and then he is gracious. And sometimes we need to patiently
wait on the Lord that he will appear and that he will come
and pour out the blessing in due time. He delays his blessing. He waits to be gracious. But I think there's a second
way that you can look at that verse and it's this, his very
act of waiting is in itself an act of being gracious. That is
that it is his goodness and his kindness that he waits. He is
being gracious in waiting. And so let us look upon those
periods of unanswered prayer Remembering that God is sovereign,
remembering that God is gracious, remembering that God will answer
in due time. And the time that we're having
to wait, that's an act of a gracious God. It's not by chance, it's
not because the Lord cannot help, it's not because the Lord has
to wait, it's because he is of his own choosing waiting. And he does everything for his
people, for their good. So that period of unanswered
prayer, that period of having to go on and persevere and press
on, that period is also for our good. He is being gracious in
his waiting. This God is not wearied by a
prayer like the unjust judge. He is not answered because we
have persuaded him. He answers in accordance with
His perfect, loving, gracious will. The fourth thing finally we notice
is that He will avenge them speedily. I tell you that He will avenge
them speedily. Let us remember that when we
come to the Lord, He is able to answer prayer. He is able
to do great things. He is able to appear on our behalf
and at times he is able to do it quickly and powerfully. And
we stand amazed. We've waited and then he has
appeared. We have like the people at the
Red Sea, we've been with Moses who said, sit, sit, stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. And then the Lord say unto
the children of Israel that they go forward. Quickly and powerfully
they were brought out through the Red Sea. And sometimes we
come to the Lord, sorry, we come to those times and we join with
the psalmist who says, when the Lord brought again the captivity
of Zion, we were like them, the dream, we were amazed. It was
like a dream, we couldn't believe it. We'd waited for the Lord
and then he appeared. He came. He avenged them speedily
in his own power, in his glorious majesty and in his goodness. You see, this God can do great
things. I was reading Isaiah 25 this
week, which picks up this vein, the end of Isaiah 25, verse 9.
It says, It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God, We have waited for Him, and He
will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited
for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation. Let us remember that our God
can answer prayer. And we may well come to that
time when we say, this is our God. God appeared. We have waited. for him. I tell you he will avenge
them speedily. So just a few thoughts on this
parable that the God of his people, the righteous, loving father,
he hears the cries of his people that persevere and cry day and
night. Perhaps we've been praying for
a particular situation or particular person or particular time in
the church, whatever it might be, we've been praying a long
time, crying day and night, He may be bearing long, but he will
avenge them speedily. Why? It comes back to this. God loves to hear his own elect. Of course, in accordance with
his will and purpose. But we are encouraged to pray,
to bring it to the Lord in prayer. That's why he says, men ought
always to pray and not to faint. May the Lord add his blessing
this evening. Amen.