Will He Find Faith? 🙌 | Luke 18:1–8 📖 |

[0:00] Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we are encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ.! I'm Pastor Patrick Daly, and each week I share sermons that balance the grace and love of Jesus Christ with the truth of the Word of God.

[0:15] Together, we'll explore Scripture using observation, interpretation, and application. This helps us discover practical ways to live out our faith every single day.

[0:26] Let's dive in together into God's Word. Let us turn our Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18. In your ESV Pew Bible, you'll find it on page 1042.

[0:50] You know, parables are very simple and easy to understand, but they carry with it much depth and much weight.

[1:04] Each parable can speak to you in a certain way. And that's the power of God's Word. That it is living and active.

[1:17] It speaks to us today, much like it has throughout, well, throughout the centuries. And how blessed we are to have the Word of God together and read it.

[1:29] So what I'd like for us to do, let's read the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18. And it's going to be verses 1 through 8.

[1:42] Are we all there? Church, let's read it together. And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought to always pray and not lose heart.

[1:56] He said, in a certain city there was a judge who what? Neither feared God nor what? Respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him saying, saying what?

[2:12] 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 what?

[2:28] keeps bothering me. I will give her justice. So that she will not, what? Beat me down by her continual coming.

[2:41] And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night?

[2:53] 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?

[3:10] We read that. We can, we first begin by looking about how Christ is talking about the coming of the kingdom.

[3:20] And that it will come in such a way that people may not understand what's going on. And so, even in the prior verses, leading up to it, where it says in verse 20, Christ is saying, The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, Look, here it is there.

[3:42] For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. Speaking of Christ being right there. And it's going on further about how Christ is the better way.

[3:55] The coming of Christ, that he is here. Let us not lose heart. And we see then, even after we have the Pharisee and the tax collector.

[4:09] The two people who go into the temple to pray. We learn about how the tax collector is saying, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

[4:20] And the Pharisee who, well, he did all the right things. But yet, it was only the one, the tax collector, that was justified. And so that kind of gives us a little bit of space to see, well, what exactly is going on?

[4:35] You have the coming of the kingdom, and that there is this delay. There is this misunderstood arrival, as it were. And he's showing his disciples that they need to, well, that first verse, always to pray and not to lose heart.

[4:57] And so we begin then, always pray, right? Never lose heart. We know that in Scripture, just as when Scripture says to pray without ceasing. And to not give up.

[5:11] We see then this scene, this judge, with this language on here, where it's saying that this judge neither feared God nor respected man. Isn't that very interesting that we should know, as Christians, if you don't, we're called to love the Lord with all our heart, right?

[5:30] Love God and to love people. But this judge does neither of them. He doesn't love the Lord, and he does not respect people.

[5:42] We can easily say that this person was a wicked judge. Do we have wicked judges these days? Please don't answer too much here, right?

[5:54] Right? We have people, and many times in Scripture, where there are people in positions of authority or in people that are in power, those that are wicked and those that are not.

[6:07] Let us be reminded of many Scriptures that say we pray for those who are in authority. Then we have the widow, this woman, who keeps coming and bothering this judge.

[6:23] And I'm imagining this guy who, you know, he's in this very high status, this place of authority, and this woman keeps bothering him. She is persistent.

[6:35] She is asking for justice from a wrong that has happened. What does he say? He says no at first, right? For a while, he refused.

[6:49] How many of us have tried getting an answer or getting a response, or maybe you have identified with seeking justice and been denied it? Isn't it interesting we find this in Scripture then?

[7:02] To continue and never to give up. And eventually, well, though I neither fear God nor respect man, this widow is bothering me.

[7:15] I'm sick of her. Why does she keep showing up and keeps asking the same thing for justice? Well, eventually, well, he's getting so bothered, he's like, fine.

[7:27] I'm going to give her justice, right? I will give her justice so that she will not, I love the language in this, she will not beat me down by her continual coming.

[7:40] I mean, just the thought of a judge, I mean, even if we think of nowadays judges, right? Someone bothering the judge so much. Maybe a modern day comparison would be, will you hear my court case, maybe, judge?

[7:56] You know, can you speed things up along? Maybe that might be a modern day comparison. And so then, the judge gives in, but he is so bothered.

[8:08] And then you have Jesus who's saying, listen up, God is not like this wicked judge. Amen. I mean, if that's anything we should praise God for, it's that.

[8:19] Because God is holy. God is righteous, and he is just. We see here, God is greater than the judge.

[8:31] And what's interesting is that final part then. In that verse 8, he will give justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth.

[8:45] How very interesting. This then takes us then into the interpretation. What can we learn from this scene? What can help us grow in our faith?

[8:57] And the first one is that persistent prayer reveals real faith. The widow doesn't win by force. It's not like she's stronger politically or physically.

[9:11] But she's showing her strength by her persistence. Continuing to pray, enduring by that faithful persistence. And Jesus is showing that we, in the same way, are to be like that widow.

[9:30] Just as Scripture says, to pray without ceasing. Do you see how that's connected there? An example of something like that. Even when we find in other verses in Scripture, like Revelation 6.10, how long, O Lord?

[9:45] Or in Psalm 81, or 88.1, I cry out day and night before you. This is nothing new. We find in Scripture that there are many people and many situations where there is a cry to the Lord for justice.

[10:02] And I can't help but think about even today, are there still injustices in the world? Right? Are there still people that are, well, mistreating others?

[10:17] Absolutely. And we can go on and on about that. I'm just giving a broad view here because we can understand just as it says in Ecclesiastes that there's nothing new under the sun.

[10:29] There are still injustices that happen in our community, in this country, and even in the world. other Scriptures, right? We know even so many times crying out to the Lord, hear my prayer.

[10:48] There needs to be justice for this wrongdoing that has happened. And it's continuing. Continue to pray to the Lord. Just like we don't give up on people, we don't give up on the Lord.

[11:04] we continue to pray every single day. And it can be very frustrating for many of us when we pray. How many of us we've prayed for the, there's the classic scenario, you pray for patience and then you get impatient and you, it's the classic scenario, right?

[11:23] Sometimes we pray for a day and we expect God to, for it to happen. But it's all on God's timing. It's continuing to pray for when He will act.

[11:36] That's the thing. God will answer, you've probably heard this before in three ways. It's yes, no, or not yet. And we don't like the not yet.

[11:49] We'd rather hear the no immediately and move on. But in a lot of these situations, we continue to pray. I can tell you on a personal note, there are people that I continue to pray for that have completely gone off the deep end.

[12:06] People that have become anti-Christian, people who have become, well, like the wicked judge. Neither fearing God nor respecting man. We may know people that are like that wicked judge.

[12:20] And certainly, in the same way that we pray to God for justice, we can pray for the heart of the judge, human judges, human beings, people, for their hearts to be softened.

[12:34] And that leads us to the second one, that God is not like the judge. Praise God for that one. Amen. The judge is a human being. But he's a wicked human being at that.

[12:48] Not fearing God and, well, no love for people. It is the opposite. It's flipped on its head, right? The call to love God and to love people here is a scenario where you see the opposite.

[13:02] And perhaps the judge is a representation of those that are wicked, even wicked systems in place. Certainly, we can think of systems that exist in the world today that are wicked.

[13:18] And what's very interesting, and I want to take a moment for us to think about this, because what Jesus is doing is something that is a common pattern throughout Scripture, where Christ is saying, look at how this judge was so bothered to give justice.

[13:35] How much more will God give justice to those that he love? It is a, I'm going to teach you some Jewish right now. Can you say, Cal?

[13:49] Cal Vol Hamer. Cal Vol Hamer. Okay? And what that means is from lesser to greater. We find this in parables, we find this throughout Scripture.

[14:03] Example is the mustard seed, right, being planted into the ground, representing the kingdom of God that is expanding. In this situation, it is the justice of an unrighteous, a wicked judge, and God saying, hey, look, my justice is much greater.

[14:21] Or when we think of, well, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not in your own understanding in all your ways, acknowledge him. how many of us lean on our own understanding, recognizing God knows far more than what we can comprehend from lesser to greater.

[14:41] That's another way you can remember it, right? That God in his essence, who he is, is far greater. How? It's the question of, it's literally translated into the English, how much more?

[14:56] How much more will God give justice? How much more will God's love be for his people? Examples of this is in Jonah. If you guys remember the Jonah series where God provided a plant to the prophet Jonah and the plant provided shade and Jonah was basically, that's a cool plant.

[15:16] I like a plant that gives me good shade and then the plant dies. And then, and then God is saying, hey, you were, you were upset that this plant died.

[15:27] How much more do I mourn for my people? Lesser to greater, right? It's showing God's, it's the magnification to show God's love for his people.

[15:43] I mean, I can imagine having a tree that gave really good shade and it died. It really upset me. But think for a moment, how much more is God's love for his people? Even in, well, it's the question, if Jonah loves a plant, how much more will God love the city of Nineveh?

[16:01] In Luke chapter 11, verse 13, if flawed parents give good gifts, how much more will God give to his own? Or even in Matthew chapter 6, verse 30, if God clothes the grass, how much more will he provide for his children?

[16:21] Do you get it? God's love is showing the magnitude of God. And so this judge is basically showing the limited, the limit, limited ability of what a human can give.

[16:39] And Christ is using this as a teaching moment for what God can give as something that is greater. The third thing then is that faith must endure in a world gone cold or even in a world that's gone mad.

[16:53] We know this world has gone cold. How many of you heard that song, What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love? Amen to that. They need the love of Christ.

[17:07] It's very unfortunate when people are divided, exhibiting hatred and anger towards one another. Let us recognize then the love that God has.

[17:20] Jesus is closing with this question, Will He find faith? Isn't it interesting that even in the Garden of Gethsemane where He asked His disciples to pray with Him, were they all praying?

[17:34] Or did He come and they were all asleep? Some of you know that story. It's the same kind of question that Christ is asking. Let us not be asleep.

[17:46] Let us remain faithful to the Lord even when we continue to pray without ceasing and we're not having answers. Let us be faithful in our prayers. It's showing the faith and devotion that we have to the Lord.

[18:03] In Matthew chapter 24 verse 12 it talks about the love of many will grow cold. and oh does this world grow cold.

[18:17] Even at Luke chapter 21 verse 36 where Christ is saying to stay awake at all times. So it's not just about the question of if Jesus returns, it's about us believing and continuing to be faithful to Him when He does.

[18:36] we've got to remain faithful even in times of trials, even in times of injustice, even in seasons of delay. None of us here have never experienced, right?

[18:49] Or have we had those moments before where we've had to patiently wait upon the Lord and His timing. We continue on. And that leads us then into the application then is how do I apply this to my life?

[19:06] All right, Pastor, you talked about this persistent widow who was annoying to a judge and the judge is like, all right? And Jesus is saying, my justice is greater than that. How do I live this out?

[19:18] Well, the first one is to keep praying even when it does feel pointless. Some of us have had that frustration. Why am I even praying for this person?

[19:31] You keep praying for them. Like the widow, show up, keep praying, and stay faithful because God hears our prayers.

[19:45] In Romans chapter 12, verse 12, be constant in prayer. The second thing then is to trust God's character over corrupt systems.

[19:59] well, you should know. If you don't know, you should know. Earthly systems can be unjust.

[20:11] They can be biased. They can be wicked. I'm not saying all systems are, but they certainly can be. And God does not get worn down.

[20:24] God has much greater love, mercy, and justice. Think about that. In Lamentations, that's a book we don't really think about.

[20:39] Chapter 3, verse 25, the Lord is good to those who wait. It's a good encouragement from such a sad book in Scripture.

[20:52] And then the third one, then, is to guard your faith in the delay. It can be challenging for us to understand God's timing.

[21:06] I get it. When we pray, we want it to happen now. But we are to remain faithful in our prayer. Don't let the silence, don't let it harden your heart.

[21:20] let me say that one more time. Don't let the silence, don't let the delay harden your heart. We continue to pray for those whose hearts are hardened, don't become the very thing that they are.

[21:39] Pray for God's intervention on whether there are wicked judges that you know. You may know someone that is like that. It is a call for us to continue to pray for those in authority, those that we know that, well, they need a softening of the heart.

[22:00] Just as in Galatians chapter 6 verse 9, it says, don't grow weary in doing good, or even when Christ says to keep watch. And so we think about these things.

[22:14] Who do you identify with? Do you identify more with the persistent widow? Or do you identify more with the judge? If you identify more with the judge, I pray that your heart is softened, that you come to know the Lord, and that you will have a love for God and a love for people.

[22:36] And if you identify with the widow who's constantly praying for friends and families, or asking God for justice, don't lose heart.

[22:48] You keep praying. You keep praying. Pray without ceasing. That is a good thing for us to learn in all of this.

[23:00] And so, like it says, keep praying even when it feels pointland. Trust in who God is. And guard your faith. Protect it.

[23:12] Don't be discouraged. Know that God is there for you, and he will answer in his timing. We don't know when, but we know that God will answer again in those three ways.

[23:28] It could be a yes, it could be a no, it might be a not yet. It's in those times of waiting we remain faithful to the Lord. Just like the widow, she cried out for justice.

[23:44] And even let us remember that last verse at the end.

[23:58] When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith? And I pray that for each and every one of us, we patiently wait upon the Lord, we remain faithful to him, and we don't lose heart.

[24:12] let's pray together. And Father, we thank you for this parable. It's a very different parable as it's talking about human judges, but there's such depth in this, Father, when it talks about how much more your justice is for us.

[24:37] Just like how greater your love is, and how greater your mercy is. And Father, we recognize that there are unjust people and there's unjust systems in the world.

[24:50] Father, if there's anyone that we know specifically that needs that kind of prayer that instead of disrespecting God or not having a love for God or respect for people, we pray that hearts will be transformed, whether that is a literal judge or maybe a politician or maybe a family member, maybe someone that we know who goes to class with us, maybe someone who works in the same department, or maybe it's just someone that we've forgotten about that needs that prayer.

[25:36] Father, we recognize the power of prayer and we recognize that you hear our prayers, but we have to trust in your timing and in your answer. And so, Father, we thank you for this wonderful parable that shows us how much greater you are than us as human beings.

[25:58] We love you, we praise you, we glorify you, and we honor you. It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray and we all say together, amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you for listening for this week's message from Ontario Community Church.

[26:14] I pray that you are encouraged and strengthened in your walk with Christ. For more sermons and resources, visit OntarioCommunityChurch.org. May God bless you as you live out his grace and truth every single day.

[26:38] Thank you. Thank you.