And we are continuing off on where we left off in Luke chapter 17. Though it's a new chapter, the theme carries over. Jesus is focused on the kingdom of God that will come. Last week we heard there's an already not yet part of that kingdom. We live in the kingdom as people in the church. And as Jesus came and died, he ushered in his kingdom. And so, we as Christians can say Jesus truly reigns today. But we obviously wait for the not yet. For him to return. And as we wait for him to return, we might get a little anxious. And so Jesus supplies us with a remedy for the anxiety of waiting. Waiting for him to come and make all things right. And that's found in Luke 18 with this small parable and his command to us. And so stand with me as we hear from Luke 18. We'll pick up in verse 1. And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. And he said in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in the 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. And 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 who cry out 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. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our Lord stands forever. You may be seated. I was thinking of the great inventor this week, Thomas Edison, who invented the lightbulb. And I don't know if you know it, but he took many, many, many, many, many, many, many attempts at getting the lightbulb right. There was a thousand different ways he failed. But what we know about Thomas Edison is that he was persistent before he finally succeeded. He had to find the right filament. And every filament that he tried just blew up the bulb and it ended in failure. Edison was told by his teachers that he was a failure. That he could not learn. But Edison himself... not taunted by that failure. Simply replied, great success is built on failure, frustration, and even catastrophe. Thomas Edison had persistence. What drove him was his failure. But what maybe drives us as we wait for the kingdom of God is a little different. It's not our failures, but it is prayer. That's perhaps where we are different from Thomas Edison. We are to be a people that pray. Jesus is focused intensely on the coming kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God. He is focused intensely in this passage on it. Last week we were called to be watchful for his kingdom, always to be on the lookout, though we don't know the time or day or the manner of the time. We are to be watchful. And now Jesus wants to continue in that kingdom idea by saying that as we are watchful for the kingdom, we must also pray for that kingdom. We learn that it was a kingdom that is already and not yet. It is like a cake. As you bake and mix the ingredients together, the cake is already but not yet. Is it not? You might taste the ingredients of the cake. You might smell it in the oven. It seems already there, but it's just not yet there until it finally comes out of the oven. The kingdom of God is like that cake. It is already there, but just not yet. You can smell it. You can experience it. But the full manifestation will not come until Jesus himself returns. And this way produces an anxiety in each of us. We long, as Christians, we long for the kingdom. We know that the world is messed up, full of sin and brokenness. And we long for everything to be made right. Who here doesn't long for injustice to be stomped out in its entirely? We all long for the remedy that the Lord brings. But we know it's not yet. We must wait. And so as you wait, Jesus says, pray. Pray. How often do you pray? Let alone, as we'll learn in this passage, how often do you persistently pray? Are you a believer that prays often? Prays for the kingdom often? Persistently prays for things often? I imagine you struggle. I imagine you struggle with prayer. That you imagine perhaps some days that it seems like a useless exercise. Going through the motions. If God is sovereign after all, you might say to yourself, then why do we even ask for him of anything? If He knows the ends and the means to those ends, why do we even ask? With that sort of mentality, prayer might seem arid and unproductive, a waste of time. But often, in the midst of that own pride that you have, the Lord reminds us that prayer is useful in His kingdom. As children of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have this great gift. How are we to bridge our gap between God and man as the Lord gives us salvation? It is through prayer. And when we go to the Lord in prayer, He listens and He cares for us. And so the main point of this text that I want you to see is that since God listens to your prayers, bring everything to Him in prayer. Since God listens to your prayers, bring everything to him in prayer." As the passage opens, we see that hurt hearts need prayer. What does Jesus say as he opens? There are two things that he imposes upon us before he jumps into the parable. And that is, he calls his people to pray and to not lose heart. And I think these ideas are connected together. Look at verse 1. And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. There's no doubt that there is an apparent delay in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ's return. There's an apparent delay. Christians can become disheartened by this apparent delay and the afflictions of this world. And in the midst of that, Jesus says, Pray. Don't lose heart. I say apparent delay, though, because Jesus' return is actually on track. Jesus just doesn't work on your timetables. Much like your families don't always work on your timetables, Jesus' return doesn't work on your timetables either. And so while he might seem sluggish at times, as we pray for the coming kingdom, he is continuing to bring that kingdom to bear. You see, Jesus can't return until the total number of God's people are called. Until every unbeliever that he has called a child comes to him in faith, he will not return. And so we wait. We wait in eager evangelism, drawing people in, hoping that the next person we draw in would usher in his eternal kingdom. But we count the days, do we not? We count the days for his return. I used to hate school. I remember at the youngest age, I hated school. When I was in first grade, I counted the days until I was done with school. I figured that'd be 12th grade. And so I said, 11 more years, Scott. Every day that went by was a day closer to the end of my education. What I didn't know is that I would have an additional 7 years of higher education to come after. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I longed for those days, but I counted the days. Every day that we wait for the Lord Jesus to return is a day closer. It is a day that goes on continuing and advancing that kingdom here on this earth. We might not know the day or time, but we can count the days. And that we know that every day is a step forward to his return. But though we may look forward, Jesus just doesn't say, suck it up buttercup while you wait for me. He gives us tools to help affect our own work, our own encouragement. And what is that tool here? It is to be a people of prayer. Prayer and to not lose heart. To lose heart is to tell us that we are not to become deeply discouraged. So deeply discouraged that it affects the core of our being. It's to become weary, tired, to give up, and to lose hope. Are you ever in that state of affairs? Are you afflicted? Do you feel crushed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down? We're fickle, aren't we? We experience these things often. And that is why the Lord gives us prayer. As we wait in this broken, sinful world for the Lord Jesus' return, we are given prayer to help boost us in the midst of discouragement. What sort of things discourage us? What are our setbacks in this life? Oh, they are myriad. They are legion. Doubt and unbelief can set us back. God feels distant. Feels so distant that we feel broken and beat down. Our own sinful temptations, our sin and temptations. When we experience our own sin, we can fall back into the sins of our previous lives. Those hardships can discourage us and bring us down. We can have spiritual dryness. How many woke up and came to church today and you're like, I don't even know why I'm here. I'd much rather be sleeping. We can become spiritually dry. We can be made low. We can have negative church experiences. This can happen when we suffer injustice at the hands of others. It can lead to setbacks. We can be made low. Who hasn't had a negative church experience? All of us have. We can experience burnout and exhaustion, general hardships, moral failures. All of these things can be setbacks that destroy our hearts and cause us to lose heart. In the midst of those setbacks, Jesus says, come to me in prayer and come regularly to me in prayer. Sometimes we view prayer as the lifeline, the lifeboat that we just only pull the cord when absolute necessary. What Jesus is saying, no, come to me regularly so that you do not lose heart. Come to me with all of your issues, all of your problems. Come to me about the coming kingdom. We get an example, though, of that personal setback in verse 2. When Jesus says, in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, give me justice against my adversary. In order to illustrate our need for prayer and our need to not lose heart, Jesus gives us an example of a crooked judge and a lowly widow. A judge is a person that you'd probably not like to associate with, given that he doesn't fear God or care about the respect of man. Perhaps it's like one of those judges in our own county, if I could say. At least that is the rumor. Those corrupt judges of Madison County. That's the type of judge that is in this passage here. They neither feared God nor they cared about the opinions of man. He failed at both the greatest commandments, to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor. But as a judge, he was no societal pushover. He was an elite. He got his position and he established and maintained that position by his own status. He had much honor. He had so much honor. He was in such a lofty position, everything else seemed below him. Whether that be God himself or his neighbor. But this judge was called to an important position. You must remember that in the Bible judges were esteemed. They weren't merely people that enacted justice in the land. They were people that acted on behalf of God to promote justice. We see this in 2 Chronicles, when it said, And he said to the judges, Consider what you do, for you judge not merely for man, but for the Lord. He is with you in judgment. Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful with what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, our partiality, or taking bribes. We're reminded of the perfect picture of what a judge is to be, and this man is not it. And we know he's not it, given Jesus' other foil to this man, the widow. The widow is in a powerless situation. Perhaps it's easy to imagine widows in our own time as being destitute and needy. We know it to be true. It was even worse in this time. This woman who had her husband die would have been left much more destitute than you could imagine. We live in a society where women own property and vote. This was no such society. When the husband died, all of the family inheritance went to the kids. to the boys, and there was just a meager portion left out so that the widow could survive. And I think, if I could at least speculate a little in this parable, though it's not a real circumstance, is this woman is hoping to get the meager amount to survive on in court. She's just trying to survive. She is lowly and desperate. But look at her fortitude. For the widow went daily to be before this man. When the sun rose, she was there. When the sun set, she was there. She was always looking for this crooked judge. Why? Because she wanted a favorable verdict in matter of life and death for herself. She was in the midst of difficult setbacks and hardships. And what does she do? She shows basically what Jesus says in the first verse. To be a person of prayer, to come with requests, and to be a person that does not lose heart. That continues, that perseveres, that persists. But we all have hardships. Just like this widow, we have hardships. We're not immune to losing heart. I remember in 2021, I had a difficult circumstance and a ministerial setback in my first call. It seems perhaps surprising to some that the COVID pandemic plus a retiring pastor can be a deadly cocktail for assistant pastors. And it was so for me. I remember dealing with a situation that came to a head where they perhaps thought I was going to power play for the senior position. It was so difficult, but I had no aspirations for it. And I remember those setbacks leaving me in tears. A ministry that had gone so well because of unforeseen circumstances seemed to derail everything. I was no Charles Simeon. I loved First Pres. No doubt. They didn't spit on me or throw fruit at me when I went home. They loved me well, but this circumstance was difficult. and there were setbacks. I remember having a call with a mentor who had to pick me up. He had to pick me up and dust me off. He gave me the good advice, and he says, keep your head down, continue to love the congregation, and what, go to the Lord in prayer. Pray regularly. Those next six months, they were grueling. There were repairs. There was trust that had to be reestablished. But there were, if anything else, There was a constant need for prayer. When we are in difficult circumstances, we must be a people that go to the Lord in prayer regularly. Why? Because He is a God that listens to our prayers. If you want to preserve your heart today, if your heart is in all sorts of difficult circumstance, I don't know what it is. Perhaps you can begin today by going to the Lord in prayer. Not just today, but tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. Regularly praying for what ails your heart. But even so, I want you to not forget the bigger picture of this passage is that we are to be a people that not merely pray for our lowly needs, those are great things to pray for, but we are to be a people that pray for kingdom needs. That we are to come before the Lord asking regularly, what, out of the Lord's prayer, will your kingdom come, Lord? We're asked regularly, persistently, we're to annoy the Lord with our prayers if we could do that. Because that's what He calls us to do in this passage. The second thing I want you to see in this passage is that our persistence is rewarded. Our persistence is rewarded. We aren't to make God into the lawless rube as the judge of this passage. We see that persistence in this case is rewarded in the parable. Look at verse 4 with me. For while he refused, but afterwards 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 with her continual coming. Persistence can be exhausting and it's exhausting for this judge here. We see his true character on display. What Jesus says about the judge, the judge says also about himself. That I fear not God and I care not for the opinion of man. This persistent widow, though, pestered him. Pestered him daily with questions for her plea of justice. There's no doubt in how the text is framed that there is justice due to her. She is experiencing injustice and she needs it to be made right. And we see in this passage that also the judge agrees that there is justice due to her. But there is nothing in it for him with this widow naturally. There is no climbing the ladder, there is no money to be made, there are no bribes to be handled. He would gain nothing from her. All he could gain from this widow is an end to her persistent request. Perhaps it would ruin his reputation a little, this judge who is self-proclaimed in not fearing God, nor caring about the reputation of man, for him to acquiesce. would only perhaps ruin his reputation of being a cold, hard judge. But the reputational damage is worth it. Why? Because this widow is persistent and she will not let up. The passage says that he was worn out. That Greek word right there is often used in the context of boxing. It's to be given a blackened eye, to be worn out, to be punched repeatedly to the point of bruising. Her words have been punching him. They have bruised him and he is worn out. I don't know if you watched the recent fight with Logan Paul and Mike Tyson. Not worth it at all if you're wondering. Not only were there buffering issues, but you can't fight a 58-year-old man and it'd be enjoyable. They would bruise each other, though. They would fight. They would leave all of their gas. They would use all of their gas in the tank until the end of the match, until their arms turned to noodles and they could do no more damage. They would be worn out. This judge is worn out in that way. We know it, too, as parents, though. When our children are persistent, it is most difficult. is most difficult. When they come asking again and again and again and again, it gets difficult. It reminds me of a story in National Geographic where they had been sending out rounds of resubscription surveys out, and they accidentally printed up 9,734 subscription renewal notices to one man. to one man in Powder Bluff, Colorado, all peppered and sent to his house all at once. The story is somewhat comical. He decided to travel 10 miles to his nearest location in order to sign back up. When he signed up, he had a note. He had a note that says, I give up. Please, send me no more renewal notices. I will subscribe. We are to send those sorts of renewal notices to God. 9,734. Just keep peppering, keep sending. We are to be persistent with God in prayer. Like this woman, we are to pester God. We are to give Him all of our requests. They don't annoy God like the judge is annoyed. But we are to beat God with our requests. We are to have that freedom. That is what the Lord offers you as you become a son. You become His child. His son and daughter. And now you can pepper Him with your requests. And it's not bad. You parents might be annoyed by your children's constant pestering, but God is not annoyed by your pestering. Come before him regularly asking. Ask him regularly. Lord, let your kingdom come. Lord, expand your church. Lord, reach out to the lost. Draw more in. Draw more and more in. We can ask those prayers regularly. And they do not fall upon deaf ears because the Lord rewards persistent prayers. So come to him regularly, persist, persist. Oftentimes on my day off, the boys ask for a movie. They want to watch a movie together. We don't have many subscription services, but we have a few that they just love to watch certain movies. When they ask, I say the normal dad thing, let me think about it. The thinking about it typically means I will go to my wife and ask her what she thinks. But you know what happens after I say, let me think about it. Two minutes later, those dear boys, they come back and they say, can we watch a movie yet? And you know what I say. Oh, you've been through this a thousand times. Let me think about it. Just give me a few more minutes. And five minutes goes by and they say, dad, have you thought about it yet? Are you done thinking? They pester and they pester. We are to be like that. We are to come to the Lord regularly. Lord, I asked you this last week. I'm coming to ask you again. I'm coming to ask you again and again. And though I might not know your answer today, I come asking. And we have that great freedom. The last thing I want you to see in this passage is that as God listens to your prayers, we're to bring everything to Him in prayer, is that God promises you a response. That's the last thing. Probably the most important thing that we see in this passage is that as we pester God, as we are persistent in our prayers to God, He offers us a response. Look at verse 6 to 8. This is the Lord responding. interpreting the parable. He says, hear the unrighteous judge say, and will not God give justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long over him? And so we see that God interprets the parable. It's a simple parable. It's not a difficult parable. And that is that the Lord is greater than that wicked judge. If the wicked judge is willing to acquiesce and give justice to this poor widow, how much greater is God? This is a parable that goes from lesser to greater. How much greater is God? A one who cares about justice, who loves his people, Who hears and listens all the day long? How much greater is God? Our God is greater than a terrible judge. How much more will He listen? How much more will He receive? He is both loving and just. He has a right view of God as God. And He does love His children. There is to be a contrast here. The scumbag of a judge would only give this widow justice because of the bruisings, but God will do much more because God is gracious and good. He's not like the wicked judge. He is a good judge. His ear is tentative to their needs and has great attention to it. And he looks and he listens. Who does he listen to if you look at the passage? He listens to give justice to his elect. Who are his elect? His people. He's listening to his people. You know, just because we ask, though, doesn't mean we get the answer that we always want. And perhaps that's the one caveat I'll give. God is always listening to your prayers. He's always asking for you to bring his requests to him. But we must also recognize that there's limited freedom in us giving the answer that we want. Perhaps the limited freedom as we think of here in the context of thinking of the coming kingdom is that as we ask for the kingdom come, that the kingdom might not come as quick and as desired as we want it. It is delayed. It is delayed as the Lord continues to draw people in. And so, just because we ask of the Lord doesn't mean we get an affirmation. We must be patient, as God is patient with us. God is still at work. And though we pray regularly for his reign to come in its complete totality, we must be patient as he continues to unveil that kingdom here on earth. Remember, remember, we don't always get the exact thing we want when we ask God in prayer. But we are also to remember Hebrews 12, which reminds us that we are to come on feet, we are to come as people that pray in faith, as Hebrews says, lifting up our drooping hands and strengthening our weak knees as we fall to the Lord. We see this perhaps developed a little further in verse 8 as you look down. I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth? The answer to the last question is a simple yes. We already know that because He will only return when the total number of God's elect are drawn into this kingdom. But perhaps we need to focus a little on verse 8 in light of Hebrews 12. I tell you, He will give them justice speedily. You might wonder, it seems that you've been praying for some things for a long time. Though the Lord listens and he promises a response, it sometimes doesn't seem speedy. I think you'd probably agree with that. But how we understand speedy is perhaps a part of our interpretation. There are a few different ways we can understand speed in this context. It could be time, right? When I tell my wife I'll be home quickly. I'll be speedily. I'll make haste. I will come home quickly. What does that mean? It means I'll be home soon. I'm on my way. It typically happens after a long work day. Around 4.50 at 5 p.m. I get a text, are you on your way home yet? And I say to my wife, I'm wrapping things up and I'll be home quickly. How does she interpret that? You'll be home soon. You'll be home in 10 to 12 minutes because that's how long it takes to drive from your office to our house. But there's another way to understand speed. I think of it when I'm mowing my lawn. You might ask about my nice lawnmower and I'll say something, well, I can cut my lawn quickly with it. I can cut it quickly. This is manner. This is manner. It doesn't mean that I'm going to go cut my lawn right now very quickly. It means that when I do cut my lawn, it will be cut quickly because I have this nice lawnmower that I love. It'll be cut quickly when I act. It will be done in record time when I get on that lawnmower. But it might not be for a few days. And I think that's what Jesus is talking about here. Is that when He answers prayer, He answers quickly. When He returns and brings judgment to the earth, it will be swift. It will not be delayed. He is saying, when I return, I will answer all prayers. And they will be swiftly answered. A good illustration of this is in the previous section. We talked about it last week with the time of Noah and Lot when God brought judgment to the earth. He didn't piecemeal it. He brought it swiftly. When the ark was built and Noah's family got on, the earth was judged and it was judged quickly. In the same way in Lot's time as he warned the people that judgment was coming to Sodom and Gomorrah and they left and what happened? Sulfur and fire fell down on Sodom and destroyed it completely. What Jesus is saying here is I will give them justice and it will be speedy when it comes. I will not delay. In my return, when I return, there will be quick justice. There will be justice in his kingdom. I worked for a lawn cutting business in the summer throughout high school and college, and my boss would always say to me as a warning, a great warning, vengeance is of the Lord. He would tell me this every day before I would leave and go cut lawns. He was a friend of mine, but he allowed us to keep our own time cards. It was on the honor system. And the thing that kept us straight in the midst of this is he'd say, vengeance is of the Lord. Every time we would submit our hours from the previous day, vengeance is of the Lord. If you mess with me, I don't care. It's fine. You've taken a few bucks from me, but you ought to deal with God after. It'll be swift. I might not have justice today. You might rob me today by stealing hours from me, but the Lord will have the final laugh." It kept me straight throughout my college and high school years. I thought, okay, I want to be very honest. I'm very honest with this man because I don't want to stand before the Lord one day and him be my accuser. Vengeance is of the Lord. It's the same way when we're thinking of the kingdom now, as we pray for justice in our land, as we pray for the Lord to return, as we pray for the needs of the kingdom. Justice might not come in its full totality today, but when the Lord does bring justice, it will be swiftly. Vengeances of the Lord. And perhaps this is a good encouragement to Christians. Maybe we need to be a little more like my friend who would remind me regularly. It was a good reminder for him too, to not become bitter with those who were under him. To not become too harsh. Vengeances of the Lord. The Lord will take care of it. There will be justice someday. Perhaps we'll sleep a little better at night if we loosen our grip on everything that we touch by reminding ourselves, well, if I experience injustice today, it will be okay because God will be honored tomorrow. And all justice will come. And so in our prayers, we're to be a people that pray with expectation. Expectation that God will bring justice speedily. It might be somewhat slow felt today, but when he returns, it will be swift. And he promises to answer your prayers. On the lower side of things, yeah, we're thinking about the kingdom, but for your own needs, as we pray to the Lord, he promises to hear your prayers. You might not get the answer that you like. but he promises to hear your prayers and to respond to them. Your prayers do not fall on deaf ears. He listens, and so go to him regularly in prayer, and your heart will be lifted. Your heart will be lifted, even as you don't know the answer. Why? Because you are trusting the Lord with the answer to that prayer. Go to Him in prayer and you will not lose heart. It will help you to maintain a great vigor in your walk with Christ. Those kingdoms not returned today. Lift up these prayers that you might have hope for tomorrow. When we think of people like Thomas Edison, we are called to be persistent in prayers like he was persistent in inventing the light bulb. When God seems distant to us, what are we to do? We are to go to him in prayer, close the gap. Often when we are discouraged, when we are feeling helpless, the best thing we could do is to open the scripture and to fall on our knees in prayer. There is no greater comfort for the Christian than to do those two things. To go before the Lord, to listen to him in his word, and to talk to him with our mouths. Ask for the kingdom to come today. Ask for all the needs of your heart. He will hear you, and he will answer you as you call to him. Let us close in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, you hear our prayers. And so we, O Lord, call to you today that as we have a friend in Jesus, we know, O Lord, that you listen to us intimately as we come to you in prayer. We thank you, O Lord, for this great honor and privilege. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.