Don’t Give Up!

Don’t Give Up!

“Don’t Give Up!”

(Luke 18:1-8)

Series: Certainty in Uncertain Times

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

 

  • Take your Bibles and open to Luke, chapter 18 (page 706).

 

If you’re visiting with us we preach through books of the Bible, verse-by-verse through books of the Bible, believing this is the best way to preach, teach, and learn the Word of God.  We left of at the end of chapter 17 and so we pick up this morning in chapter 18.

 

Jesus continues to speak to His disciples (Luke 17:22), dealing with the consummation of the kingdom.  Jesus is talking about that great day when the Son of Man returns (Luke 17:22-37) and God will avenge Christians and right all wrongs.

 

There is a sense in which the disciples very much want that day to come right now, just as many of us yearn for the return of Christ. In fact, some today are like, “Is He never going to return?!  I mean, what’s the deal?  I’m struggling and I’m fed up and I keep enduring persecution and suffering.”  And what Jesus says next in our passage is, in essence, a call to “hang in there” until Christ does return.  In fact, it’s more than a “hang in there,” it’s a “keep moving, keep praying, don’t give up, trust Me to do what is right.  trust Me and if you don’t trust Me I wonder then whether “when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (verse 8)?’”

 

  • Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

 

1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,

2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, “Get justice for me from my adversary.’

4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, “Though I do not fear God nor regard man,

5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”

6 ¶ Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.

7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?

8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

 

  • Pray.

 

Introduction:

 

It was 16 years ago this month that I preached my first sermon.  As a layperson considering God’s call upon my life I was asked by my pastor to preach on what was called “Baptist Men’s Day.”  I’ve shared this with some of you before.  My text was a passage of Scripture that really ministered to me.  It was Psalm 73 and I brought a rather superficial exposition of the first half of that psalm.  It is a psalm written by a guy named “Asaph” and Asaph is losing hope in God.  He is struggling in his faith.  And he writes in the psalm that he could not understand why it is that the wicked seem to prosper while the godly people suffer harm.  And he uses this phrase, “I almost slipped.”   That is, “I almost lost all hope.”  Asaph says he was this way until verse 17 of Psalm 73, “until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.”  And that was Asaph’s way of acknowledging that God knows what He is doing and that He will judge the wicked.  Asaph was reminded of this truth when he went to worship.  Because Asaph was a music man, assisting King David in the leading of music, I titled my first sermon, “If You Don’t ‘See Sharp,’ You’ll ‘Be Flat.’”

 

Psalm 73 is a good parallel passage to run alongside our text this morning in Luke 18.  Jesus is addressing a similar concern of the disciples.  He has just told them in the end of chapter 17 that the kingdom of God is something to be understood in two senses.  There is a “now” of the kingdom and a “not yet” of the kingdom.  Those who have trusted Christ as Lord and Savior are “now” in the kingdom, but in another sense they await the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom when Christ returns and rights all wrongs.  So when Christ dies on the cross, is raised, and ascends to heaven there is this period during which the disciples–and future disciples–await Christ’s glorious return to usher in the fulness of His kingdom.  That’s the “not yet” of the kingdom.

 

So there is this interval between Christ’s first coming and His second coming.  Jesus foresaw this interval and He prepared His disciples for it, it is an interval between His resurrection and glorious return.  You and I live in that interval.  That’s why Jesus told this parable.  He’s teaching us how to live in the interval.  The days will not always be easy and Christ’s disciples will face hardships and difficulties.  How many of you known hardships and difficulties?  Most of the hardships will come as a result of Christian persecution, but all hardships and difficulties come as a result of living in a fallen world, a world in which we yearn for Christ’s return.  So Jesus is teaching us what to do in the meantime and how to think of God during this interval time.

 

So we look at verse one and we read:

 

1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,

 

Jesus is teaching what to do as we live in the “not yet.”  In fact, you could write that in as a subtitle underneath the part of your Bible that tells us this is the parable of the persistent widow.  You could write, “How to live in the ‘not yet’ of the kingdom.”  That’s why Jesus tells this parable.  This is not a text to be lifted from its context and used to teach a general message on prayer.  It is connected to what precedes, this teaching about Christ’s return.  That is also clear in the last verse of the parable, verse 8, where Jesus talks about “when the Son of Man comes.”  Okay?  So this passage is more specifically about how to live until Christ returns, how to live in the “not yet.”

 

Verse one again, “Then He spoke a parable to them–for what reason? Answer–that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”  This is how to live in the “not yet.”  Pray and have faith.

 

And the kind of prayer Jesus is talking about is a persistent prayer in light of the preceding passage.  So this is not a general kind of praying nor is Jesus suggesting a non-stop continuous prayer, just praying over and over again the same things to God, but this is a call to be in a continual state of prayer, praying as we go about our days looking forward to Christ’s return.  The content of the prayer then, in essence is, “Your kingdom come (Luke 11:2).”  And this is a state of prayer, regularly talking to God, not so much going into the prayer closet, but a regular talking with Him as we go about the events of the day.  Doing this will keep us from–verse one– “losing heart.”  We will persevere in our faith.  We will not quit.  We will not give up.  When the going gets tough, we will keep going.  When we face hardships we will persevere.  So here is the parable to teach this truth.  Verse 2:

 

2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

 

Jesus says there is a judge known for two things: He neither fears God nor regards man.  That is, he doesn’t care about God and he doesn’t care about you.  Sounds about like the sort of judge I would get.

 

In fact, I did stand before a judge like this once.  My very first traffic offense occurred in metro Atlanta.  I was on my way to an evening class at Georgia State University.  I approached a traffic light that turned yellow at just that right time, you know?  I did one of these things where you brake and then go and brake and go, not really sure whether to go or not.  There were no other cars around so it is not as though I was endangering anyone’s life by speeding up and trying to drive through the light.  In fact I ended up just sort of coasting through it as it turned red.  Well, my luck: there was a cop there just waiting for people like me.  He gave me a ticket.  I tried to explain to him what happened, but this guy seemed to me like a rookie who was more excited by the fact that he had succeeded in writing me a ticket.  A friend suggested I go to court since this was my first offense and explain to the judge what happened.  I went.  And as I waited for my case I watched a judge “who neither feared God nor regarded man.”  He seemed to enjoy his job very much and I could not discern why he ruled one way one time and another way another time.  Finally, it was my turn and I stood before the judge and explained the situation.  I told the judge it was not my intention to drive through this light, it was just one of those situations that happened and that I really tried to prevent it.  The whole time, the officer is standing there too, nodding his head in agreement.  So I had stressed that I had not intended to do this.  Finally the judge says, “Son, in all my years of serving as judge I’ve never had anyone tell me they intended to run a red light.  Guilty.  Go over there and pay.”  He neither feared God nor regarded man.  By the way, l learned you pay court costs, too, when you go to court.  So I’ve learned to mail these things in and I’ve been mailing them in ever since.

 

So Jesus says in verse 2 there is this judge who does not keep the two basic commandments; Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself (cf Luke 10:27).  He neither feared God nor regarded man.

 

3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, “Get justice for me from my adversary.’

 

Widows and orphans were among the most vulnerable people in the ancient near east.  So here is a widow and we don’t know the full story, but someone has been bothering her and so she is going to the judge with it.  She says, “Get me justice from my adversary.”  In other words, “Take care of this situation.  Avenge me.  Judge the wicked.”

 

Luke writes that “she came to him” with this plea.  The verb is in the imperfect tense, denoting continual activity; incomplete action, she “kept coming” before the judge.  She kept coming over and over again.  She’s like, “Get justice for me, get justice for me, avenge me from my adversary, judge the wicked.”  Verse 4:

 

4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, “Though I do not fear God nor regard man,

5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”

 

The judge is like, “Look, even though I don’t care about God or anyone, this woman is wearing me out with her persistent coming before my bench.  In fact the word “weary” there in verse 5 translates a Greek word that means, “to hit under the eye” or, “to blacken the eye.”  This probably better expresses the judge’s frustration!  Today we’d say, “She is driving me crazy!”

 

So the judge says, “I’m getting sick and tired of this woman (knocking on pulpit) coming and saying, “Hello, it’s me again.  Hello, it’s me again.”  So I’m going to avenge her.  I’m going to hear her concern and judge the guy who is troubling her.  Jesus says in verse 6:

 

6 ¶ Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.

 

Jesus says, “Hear it, now.  Let it sink in.  This is an unjust judge.  He is not a good judge.  He is unjust, but hear what he said.  This unjust judge is going to avenge this woman, deal with her concern, judge the wicked.”  Now watch verse 7 as Jesus makes the connection.  Are you watching?  Jesus is making a connection here, verse 7:

 

7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?

 

Jesus is saying, “If this is what the unjust judge does, how much more will the just Judge do?  See the contrast Jesus is making here?  If this is how the unjust judge acts, how will the just, the righteous Judge act?

 

This is like back in Luke 16:1-13 with the parable of the unjust steward where Jesus uses a scoundrel to draw people into an illustration that is ultimately about God.  It is a definitely an attention-getter because people are like, “Where is Jesus going with this ‘unjust judge’ business?!”  And the point again is, “If the unjust judge listened to the request of this persistent widow, how much more will the just Judge, the Supreme Judge of the universe, listen to you and answer your request?”  Or like where Jesus says, “If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father in heaven give…to you (Luke 11:13)?”

 

See, God is not like the unjust judge.  You don’t have to badger Him.  You don’t have to go to Him over and over again and beg Him to do stuff.  What is more, whereas the unjust judge does not regard man, doesn’t care for people, God loves you.  Unlike the relationship between the unjust judge and the persistent widow, God loves you no less than He loves His own Son.  He wants to hear from you.  So the lesson is not to “bug” Him like the persistent widow wore-out the unjust judge, a lesson about praying the same thing over and over again until finally God is like, “Okay, already!  I’ll do what you want!”  That is not the lesson here!  The lesson is to trust God and lovingly talk to Him continually throughout the day in prayer.

 

Verse 7 is an encouragement.  Jesus says, “Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?”  And the implied answer is, “Of course He will.  Of course God will avenge His own elect.  Of course God will do this because He’s not an unjust judge, He is a just Judge.  And you are not a marginalized widow, cast aside by a judge.  You are God’s child!  You are God’s “elect,” His chosen.  He loves you.  He loves you no less than He loves His Son Jesus.  We sang it earlier in the praise chorus: “You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same!”  So God is going to avenge you.  He’s going to take care of you.  He’s going to right all wrongs.  Believe Him!  Jesus drives that truth home in verse 8:

 

8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

 

God will avenge His children.  Trust Him to do so.  Jesus ends the teaching at the end of verse 8 with a question to all who profess to be His followers.  He asks, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”  That is, “Will Jesus find folks who are truly people of faith, people in a continual state of prayer and trust, people who regularly commune with Him throughout the day and trust Him to do what is right or will He find folks who have lost heart and just plain given up?”

 

John Piper is helpful here:

 

The implication seems to be: prayer and faith stand and fall together. If we lose heart and drift away from prayer, then the Son of Man will not find faith in us when he comes. Faith is the furnace of our lives…and the…shovel for feeding the (furnace) is prayer. If you lose heart and lay down the shovel (of prayer), the fire (of faith) will go out, you will grow cold and hard, and when the lightning flashes from sky to sky and the Son of Man appears in glory he will spew you out of his mouth (Rev. 3:16). Two will be sleeping in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And the test will not be whether you once walked an aisle, or prayed a prayer, or made a vow, or were baptized. The test will be whether you continued in prayer and did not lose heart. God’s elect will…surely be saved; and, as verse 7 says, the sign of the elect is that they cry to God day and night. Those who endure to the end will be saved (Matt. 24:13).

 

So having read through this passage of Scripture we are left with two straightforward action steps that rise from the text:  **Two Action Steps.  First:

 

1) Keep Talking to God throughout each Day

 

This parable is a call for us to be in a continual state of conversation with God.  If you pray day and night–continually–talking to God not just in the morning or at mealtimes, but throughout the day, then you will persevere to the end and be ready when Christ comes.  You will not faint in times of trial and testing.  That’s the idea.

 

Do you regularly converse with God?  As you get up in the morning and get dressed and get in your car or walk down the street do you regularly converse with God?  As you go about your work or school, are you talking to God in your thoughts?

 

This may be new to some of you. Let me encourage you this week to think of God as though He were actually right there with you in your bedroom, at your kitchen table, in your car, in your cubicle, at your desk, on the assembly line.  Think of God as standing right there with you and talk with Him regularly throughout the day.

 

See if you will do this, you will be focused on things that matter.  You will be living soundly in the “not yet” and you won’t be surprised by Christ’s return.  You will be prepared.  So rather than Lot’s wife who was not regularly communing with God, but regularly communing with the things of the world (Luke 17:32), you will be ready for the judgment to come.   Your heart will not be bound up in the things of this world–money, stuff, fame, toys, recreation, self-centeredness–but your heart will be bound up in the things of God.  Why?  Because you’ve been talking to God throughout each day, talking to Him, focusing upon Him, preparing for His return.  I guarantee you you will have a greater sense of joy if you will focus on Christ throughout each day.  So keep talking to God throughout each day.  Second action step:

 

2) Keep Trusting God throughout each Day

 

Some of you need to trust that God knows what He is doing in your life.  If the unjust judge avenges this unloved widow, how much more will the Just Judge avenge you, whom He loves no less than He loves His own Son?  Trust God!

 

Trust His timing.  Verse 7 indicates that some would question Christ’s delay in His second coming: “Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them.”  The NIV has, “Will He keep putting them off.”  Or, “Will He delay forever?”  Will Christ not eventually return?

 

This is similar to what Peter addresses in his second letter, 2 Peter 3:3-4: “Scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’”

 

Some are like, “I’m not sure Christ will ever return and judge the wicked!  I mean He hasn’t returned yet, has He?!”  Peter dealt with this in his day and he said something that would be applicable however long Christ determines to delay His second coming.  Peter goes on to say, 2 Peter 3:8: “Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

 

Trust God’s timing.  He’ll come when He’s good and ready and it will be at just the right moment.  In the meantime, trust Him.  See that Christ finds faith in you when He returns.  See that Christ finds you not fainting or giving up, but persevering, trusting throughout each day.  Persevere in your faith!  Bear fruit!

 

Be like the seed Christ talked about that fell on good ground.  Luke 8:15, “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”  Don’t quit!  Keep talking to God and keep trusting God throughout each day.

 

God is not an unjust judge; God is a just Judge.  Abraham reminds us in Genesis 18:25 that the “Judge of all the earth always does what is right.”

 

Some of you need to hear that this morning.  God knows what He’s doing in your life.  If He’s delaying answering your prayers it’s because He knows better than you.  He is allowing time to work out His perfect will, allowing time for folks to believe the Gospel and be saved, allowing time to fulfill His perfect plan for your life, building character in you and through you, shaping you through your hardships.  Trust in Him.

 

We sang it earlier:

 

I’m gonna trust in God

I’m gonna trust in Jesus

Without shame and without fear

I’m gonna fix my eyes

On the hope of glory

For His day is drawing near

 

(And) when the cares of life

Seem overwhelming

And my heart is sinking down

I’m gonna lift my hands

To the One who’ll help me

To the One who holds my crown

 

Keep talking to God; keep trusting in God.

 

  • Stand for prayer.

 

Jesus is saying, “I’m telling you all this now so that when the going gets tough, you will hang in there and trust in Me and keep going and not fall apart.”

 

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.