The following message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. 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. 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 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? This is the reading of God's word. From time to time, Luke is just really helpful And our passage begins with Luke explaining what our passage is about, which is really helpful because sometimes it's not all that clear what our passages can be about. But Luke, he starts out in this verse and says, and he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. That is a glorious help. Rejoice in those times when the Lord saw fit to be that clear as you read your scriptures. Luke begins and he begins by giving us the basic meaning that he's going to unpack for all these eight verses. It says, keep praying. Keep praying. Don't lose heart. By that, he means don't stop doing the good that you are doing when you are praying. Don't get derailed, don't get discouraged from that good work you are doing when you are praying. And if you only had verse one, you would think, well, that's a general meaning and that is absolutely true. But we're going to go further than that because Jesus is going to unpack this point. This was the summary point that Luke gives us, but Jesus is going to unpack specifically where he wants those prayers to be targeted. So you go to the parable. Verses two through five is the parable, and it's memorable, isn't it? It's memorable for the character specifically that you've gotten here. Because he says first that you've got a bad judge. You've got a bad judge. He doesn't fear God and he doesn't respect men. How would you like to feel or how would you like to approach a legal situation? And they said, I've heard about that judge. He doesn't fear God and he doesn't respect people. How do you feel about your odds that day going into court? You're not real hopeful. This is not a good judge, not a good judge at all. but he sort of meets his match, doesn't he? You've got a bad judge, but then you've got a widow and you've got a widow. We have to remember what the Bible means when widows are brought up because widows were incredibly vulnerable in those times. And it was not unusual that vulnerable people back then, just like now, have a way of having their rights deprived of them. And so you've got this vulnerable widow. experiencing the things that you would expect in a sinful society, a vulnerable person to experience. The scripture is actually recognizing how vulnerable widows could be. There were specific prohibitions against taking advantage of widows. You hear the heart of our Lord in Exodus 22 when he says, you shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows, and your children shall become fatherless." You hear the heart of our Lord who says, you do not take advantage of the weak because they have a defender in God. But this widow's meeting the struggles of a judge who clearly has no fear of God, no fear of man. He sees no reason to really help her. She comes to him with her problems. Obviously, she's convinced that she is in the right. She's convinced that she has been wronged and that justice is on her side. And if justice will only step up, she will gain her right back. But she comes to him pleading and he won't do anything. He refuses. A judge who will not step up even for a widow. Such are the depths of this man's failings. He is so bad as a judge that he won't even step up for the most vulnerable in society. He won't even step up for a widow. So what does she do? Kind of gloriously, She just keeps coming back. She keeps coming, and she keeps coming, and she keeps coming again and again and again. She pleads with the one who can help her, recognizing he is the only one who can help her. And so she will not be denied. She may be powerless in that society, but you know what she can do? She can keep showing up. And so that's what she does. She keeps coming back until she wears him down. What a picture of the weak overcoming the mighty. She wears him down. And in the end, what does the judge do? He gives in. But why? Does he give in because, oh, I know I am supposed to take care of widows. Does he give in, oh, she does have a good case. I really should do my job at least this once. No. He doesn't give in for conscience. He doesn't give in for principle. He gives in for pragmatics. Pure pragmatics. The repeated requests are wearing him out. He feels like in his words, they are beating him down. Oh, poor judge, right? He feels like he is being beat down by this woman. He doesn't fear God. He doesn't care about the woman, but she is depriving him of a quality of life that he insists on having. He cannot stand the way that she keeps coming back. So he weighs the pros and the cons. He says, I can either keep putting up with this woman or I can actually do my job and give her justice. Okay, I guess I'll do justice. What a noble judge. What an inspiring figure, right? This theme is not altogether unlike Luke 11. You remember there was the parable and the man has an out-of-town guest arrive late and hospitality demanded that he should be able to provide some food. He's got no food. It's the middle of the night. So he goes and what does he do? He wakes up another friend. The friend's in bed, doesn't want to get up, doesn't want to wake people up. Why will he answer? Because his friend is audacious enough to keep asking. Much, much the same here. Much the same here. In the end, an unjust judge gives justice to a powerless widow because she kept asking. You have to appreciate Jesus by the way that sometimes he is so willing to give parables that are off the beaten path. This is not like Disney's sentimentalism. Saying learn a lesson from a really bad judge who only does the right thing because he gets worn out in the end. Jesus keeps things interesting. He sure does. But what he's doing with that parable is he's setting up for us a contrast and an application. A contrast and an application. Verses six through eight, I'll read them for you one more time. He says, 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? 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? A contrast in an application. The contrast is just getting to know our God better. Getting to understand our God better. I hope you appreciate that when you're learning about the Lord, when you're reading the Bible, one of the big points that God wants is simply for you to understand him better. Just to know him better is a success. It's not always some shortcut to, what should I do now? We talked about this in Sunday school real recently. Knowing your God better is a success in and of itself. Jeremiah would say, chapter nine, but let him who boasts, boast in this, that he understands and knows me. Jesus uses this unrighteous judge, this unlikely figure, to help us better understand the righteous judge. He uses them to better understand the righteous judge. In verse six, the unjust judge gives justice as a response to a persistent appeal, and it's persistent appeal from the powerless. So here's your contrast. How much more so will God How much more so will God, this is very biblical reasoning, an unqualified amoral judge will give justice? How much more so will the perfect and righteous judge give justice to his elect? The unrighteous judge helps us appreciate the righteous judge. The scriptures will describe God like this, Jeremiah 9, 24, we continue the thought that we just started. 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 things I delight, declares the Lord. The Lord delights Injustice. Isaiah 30 verse 18. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. You see, God is the definition of justice. God is the source of justice. Anytime when you or anyone in the world wants to appeal to what is fair and unfair, what is right and what is wrong, you are appealing to God's character. You are appealing to who God is. And so what do we expect from a perfectly just God? We expect perfect justice. We expect perfect justice. Our God is the God of perfect justice and the people of that God rejoice in that. We rejoice that we have the perfect judge as our God. And that justice is going to change how you look at the world. It's going to change how you look at your day to day life. Because what it turns out is that injustice in the world, it is actually an affront to God's character. Injustice is not an affront to your standards. Injustice is not an affront to the constitution. Injustice is an affront to who God is. Injustice ultimately matters, not because it has anything to do with people's rules. Injustice matters because it defies God himself. It defies who he is. It opposes his character. It undermines his perfectly just rule. See, justice doesn't belong to any of us. Justice doesn't belong to the liberals. It doesn't belong to the progressives. It doesn't belong to the conservatives. Justice belongs to God. It is his because it is his character. That is where justice comes from. Because justice comes from him, because justice is not just something we got together and voted on. That is why Christians, the people of the God of justice, must care about justice. We must. It is the heartbeat of our God. We must care about justice. Famously, Micah 6, 8, what does the Lord require of you? But to do justice. and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. Don't let justice get stolen from us. Justice belongs to our God, so we will care about justice. We must care about justice. So we care when the weak are oppressed. We care. We must care when the poor are denied their rights. We must care when God's laws trampled. It's not an option. I say this sometimes. This is not advanced Christianity. This is just Christianity. We must care about justice for the glory of God. We must care about justice. And so a people of justice. who stand for justice, rejoice that the perfect God of justice says he will certainly bring that justice and he will do it soon. That is good news. And not only is our God righteous, not only is our judge perfect and just, our judge cares. That's the other contrast you have here. Our God also cares. You see, you had an unfit judge and he didn't care at all. He did not care at all, not for anyone and not for that widow. He had a complete lack of respect for men. He lived that out. He didn't do anything because he cared for her, but still she receives justice in the end. And so the reasoning comes back around. So how much more do God's people expect justice when the judge loves them? The judge loves them. Not only is he a righteous judge, he's our heavenly father. How much do we expect justice when it's coming from the hand of the perfect judge of heaven who is also our heavenly father who loves us? We expect justice. We have every right to expect justice. His righteousness would be enough to guarantee that we would get justice. So it's kind of like frosting on top of the cake that the perfect judge also loves us. Perfect justice will come from the hand of our loving father. Christians will be blessed to believe these things about God. Why do I say Christians? Because the big picture here is that for non-Christians, for people who have not believed in Jesus, who have not found that covering for their sins that we sing about, who were not paid for on the cross when Jesus died, for those people, justice still has a bounty on your head. Justice still has a bounty on your head. So to believe in perfect justice when you're the criminal running from the law, it's not such good news, is it? What we said last week that I just have to say again is the reminder that the judge who is coming to judge all of mankind, the living and the dead, he's also the one who is willing to pay for your sins if you will believe in him before he gets here. So, justice for the non-Christian is not good news. It's not. But the good news is that Christ can pay the penalty that justice requires, that you don't have to run from the law anymore, that you can have the peace that we're talking about here. But if you are a Christian, there's tremendous blessing in believing in the God of perfect justice. We start with something that we shouldn't miss, and that's namely that just taking God at his word is a blessing for us. It is right for us. It is good for us. It builds us up. We honor God when we believe him, when he tells us something. And so God says, I am the God of perfect justice. And all his people said, amen. Amen. May God be glorified in a people who actually believes what he says about himself. He is a God of perfect justice and we delight in that. But these convictions about God's justice, they will actually bear fruit in your day-to-day life. One of the greatest burdens that we ever bear is when we are on the receiving end of injustice. Am I right? And it's even worse when we're on the receiving end of injustice and that act of injustice is never dealt with properly. Have you been there? Doesn't it grate on you? Doesn't it just kind of keep hurting? It's like that thorn stuck in your heart. This is one of the greatest burdens we bear when we just have to bear the consequences of injustice. When that other party, that other person never has to answer to justice. What happens then? Well, it threatens to rob us of peace, doesn't it? Because what you have is that pain keeps hurting. And so we think about it. We think about it. And we think about it. You think about it enough and you realize you're obsessed with it. You can't seem to stop thinking about that wrong that you suffered. And as that obsession takes root and bears fruit in your life, what happens then? You begin to grow bitter. At least towards that person. As you keep dwelling on how bad they have hurt you, it's only natural that your heart begins to grow bitter towards that person, and bitterness just one small step away from just outright malice toward that person. The pain hurt bad enough, for long enough you couldn't get rid of it, and now you are actually looking for a chance to hurt them back. That's that sinful progression that can all start with an act of injustice. Why does it play out that way? It's because we are disconnected from the justice of God. That sinful progression plays out because we are disconnected from the justice of God. Return to what we know, what we've already talked about, what we believe about God. God is the perfect Infallible, holy judge. Perfect in that he won't miss a single judgment. He will never go wrong. He will never go too little. He will never go too far. Infallible. You will never appeal one of his rulings and overturn the case. He will get it right every single time. Holy. Sometimes we worry that God won't take the sin seriously enough. If you take God seriously enough, you will know you will never take sin as seriously as he takes it. That is the judge of heaven. And the judge of heaven promises, he promises that justice will be done. Justice will be done. If you are trusting that, If you are resting in that, finding real, whole, substantial comfort from that, you don't have to get bitter. You don't have to do anything to make sure that justice is going to be accomplished. Justice is never going to slip through the cracks. Slips through the cracks all the time in our world, doesn't it? God doesn't miss a single judgment. He won't. He can't. He will judge it all. Paul in Romans, he would say in chapter 12, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. The perfect judge will repay. He will repay every sin. He will repay every act of injustice. There is no need for you to pay anyone back. None whatsoever. If you believe in this God of perfect justice, then you know, you don't hope, you know. God will take care of it. He will. Moreover, you have no right to pay anyone back. because God will take care of it. If you trust in the God of perfect justice, there's no need for you to get bitter. There's no need for you to obsess, wondering whether that injustice will ever be dealt with. You know it will be dealt with. It'll be dealt with with Christ nailed to the cross or Christ in judgment on that last day. It'll be dealt with. You don't have to deal with it. God will. But when? That maybe is the heart of this. But when will we have justice? Right? Believing in justice by itself, that's good. That's great. Amen. We love it. But just because you believe in the truth doesn't make it any easier. It doesn't remove the struggle of waiting for justice. If justice happened instantly, right after an act of injustice, it wouldn't be so hard, right? If it happened immediately after, we could say, oh good, that got taken care of. It would help us to move on. But it doesn't happen that way. Plenty of times it doesn't happen that way. And so injustice happens, sin happens, you bear the pain, and then days pass, weeks pass, months pass, years pass. And there's no sign of justice. That person seems to be exactly where they want to be. That person seems like they just got away with it. And so we suffer. We see that injustice, we bear that injustice. And we suffer those wrongs. Maybe even worse, because I know some of you, you can take all kinds, but maybe even worse is we have to watch our loved ones suffer wrongs. For some of us, that's much harder than if we had to bear them ourselves. And in the face of all that wrong and sin and injustice, we wait and we wait and we wait and we see no sign of justice. We see no sign that the perfect judge has executed any act of justice on our behalf. And so we cry out, when? When, God? When is this justice coming? I hope you know this cry is much bigger than you. It's much bigger than us. It's much bigger than this moment. See, Jesus talks about, this is where we start honing in on where Jesus specifically was taking us. Jesus talks not just about justice generally. This is true of justice generally. But what does he talk about? He talks about the cries of God's elect, God's chosen ones crying out to him day and night for justice. God, when will there be justice? And the most natural way we see this injustice, the most specific way we know that Christ is talking about, it's the oppression that the people of God experience for simply being the people of God. It's the persecution they bear for standing in and with Christ. It's more than just living in a secular society that's coming to hate Christ. It is our brothers and sisters who are threatened for gathering to worship. It's the fear they live in. Even as they hear the word, don't you imagine the fear hangs over their shoulders, hoping no one finds them this time. It is our missionaries who are beaten and intimidated for sharing the gospel with Muslims. It is our pastors who are arrested and thrown into prison for contradicting the state religion. There are places where people hear the word and they believe and they're saved. And then in the midst of all that good news, they let their family know and their family is disgraced. And the only way that family knows to restore their honor is to murder them. There are baby Christians who have been murdered simply for defecting to the true God from their family's religion. And in all these crimes, in all these sins, justice doesn't seem to be coming speedily. The family member who murdered their daughter didn't get struck down by lightning. The government who's been oppressing Christians didn't get overthrown. And so still we are with this cry boiling over in our hearts. When, God? When is justice coming? And so again, I point you to, this is bigger than now. This is all of time. This is all of history. The scriptures are full of the people of God wondering when the Psalms, Psalm 13 preached on it not too long ago. David saying how long, Oh Lord. Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Does that sound like justice was coming speedily for David? It wasn't. And he cried out to the heavens, how long? Psalm 119, 84. Again, how long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me? Again, the people of God looking around and saying, I've suffered the wrong, but I'm not seeing you make it right. How long? Do a word study sometime. Look up how long in the Bible. It will feed your soul to hear the people of God cry out. Habakkuk, Babylonian oppression of the people of God, and he cries out, oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? Or cry to you violence and you will not save? Does it sound like justice was coming speedily for him? We find in the book of Revelation, this is the cry of the martyrs across all time, joining before the Lord, crying out with a loud voice, Revelation 6.10, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? You see what I mean? It's bigger than me. It's bigger than you. It's bigger than us. It's bigger than this time, this century. It is all of time, the people of God groaning and struggling with the realities of injustice. And God knows. Jesus knows. This parable is about bearing that burden of injustice as we wait for justice. as the widow had to powerlessly wait for justice so the people of God have to just wait for justice. So Jesus says, I know how much you struggle. I know how hard the wait is. He says in verse seven and eight, will God delay long over his elect? He will give justice to them speedily. We'll see the theme come up again in Hebrews yet a little while and the coming one will come and he will not delay. God knows he is making us wait. He knows the burden of waiting for injustice to be answered. He knows that we struggle. So how does he want us to respond? He wants us to respond in faith. He wants us to respond in faith. He says justice will come. And the theme that he wants us to believe, no matter how many years it's been since he ascended, he always wants us to believe justice will come and it will come sooner than you think. We are never supposed to think, oh, we're in the time where obviously he's not coming. Every generation of Christians is to have this sense of expectation, this sense of urgent expectation that justice will come and it will come sooner than we think. And when he comes, when the perfect judge comes back and he comes back to right every single wrong, Jesus asks, will the son of man find faith on the earth? Will the son of man find faith on the earth? Will he find a people who have continued to trust in their good judge? Will he find a people trusting in the certain, certain approach of justice? Will he find a people who has held steadfast and prays always and does not lose heart, crying out to heaven in their prayers, oh God, how long? If your heart is grieved by the presence of injustice in this world, and it should be, then join the groaning chorus of the people of God. Fall on your knees before the Lord day and night and call to him, how long, oh God. Appeal to your God. Appeal to the perfect judge over all creation, the God of perfect justice and say, you promised you would bring justice. How long until you make good on that promise? How long until you come back and set this all right? Don't go to him accusing him. That's never what the scriptures are telling us. Don't go to him as if you can stand over him and say, you're late. Don't go to him as if you can even step up to the plate and tell him, this is why it would have been a better decision to come right then. No. Come to him in humility. Come to him in faith. and appeal to him, God, you are a faithful judge. You are the God of perfect justice. Come, give your people justice. Day and night, we should be crying out. Why? Because this world is an unjust mess. It is. This world is an unjust mess. And so we cry out. Cry out for your brothers and sisters living in fear. Cry out for the missionaries and the pastors and the church planters hiding. Cry out for the ones who haven't joined with the Lord's people on the Lord's day in a long time because they haven't gotten out of their cell in a long time. Cry out for the martyrs. Cry out for those baby Christians whose blood stained the ground and the hands of their supposed family. Cry out for the ones who died to spread the word of life. You may think, I've got it. I've got it pretty good. You do. You do. But think of our brothers and sisters. There's a lot of them who don't have it pretty good. There's a lot of them bearing the burdens of injustice. As their brothers and sisters, as faithful family members, let's step up. in our prayers to cry out on their behalf, oh God, how long until you bring justice to your elect? How long until you bring justice to your chosen ones? Your heart should long for justice. You should long for justice. Your heart should ache while we wait for judgment to come. But you know there's a very good reason why we're waiting, right? There's a very good reason why we continue to wait for justice. The Apostle Peter, he said in 2 Peter 3, But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness. But he is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. See, we're tempted to look at this in the small picture and say, you're a perfect judge. You're not giving us justice. You must not be a perfect judge. That's not what's going on. That's not what's going on. He's not waiting because he's dropping the ball on justice. He is waiting because he is patient with us. He is waiting because he is merciful with us. If injustice bothers you, know that it bothers the holy God of heaven way more than it bothers you. If it provokes your heart, if it brings you grief, know that that injustice kindles an immeasurable wrath in our holy judge. It's not that he doesn't care. And yet he waits. Why? So that all should reach repentance. Don't you realize it's because of his patience that any of us are here today. There's not a single one of us that would be here without his patience. I mean, even just imagine in your lifetime while you were rebelling against the Lord, maybe in the youthful years, maybe later on in your life as you were rebelling against the Lord, the people of God have been groaning for justice then too, right? Imagine the people of God crying out while you were still unconverted saying, Lord, how long? And he says, you're right, it's time. What's that do for you? It's only because he was patient that you had time to repent. It's only because he was merciful that you were not judged in your sins. We groan under the weight of injustice, but do any of us have loved ones who have not yet believed? And so we feel our hearts tugged in two directions, don't we? On the one hand, we see the injustice, we think of the martyrs, we think of the Christians locked up, and we say, God, give us justice. But on the other hand, we look at our fathers, our mothers, our siblings, our friends, our colleagues, and we think, but if you come now, I see where you are. I see where they are. If he comes now, they're lost. And so we're torn between two places. But we know that God is being patient. He is giving time for them to repent. He is being patient. He is being merciful to not give them the judgment that they deserve. And so on the one hand, we groan and we say, how long? But on the other hand, we say, but I love them. So thank you, Lord, for waiting. I'll labor another day for them that they might have the penalty of justice paid. Thank you for the extra time. I will use it. I will take it. Our souls will always groan under the burden of injustice. They will always groan. And our hearts will suffer as our brothers and as our sisters suffer. But the consolation that God gives us in these dark times is that the delay, injustice being doled out on all the injustices that are going on in this world, that delay is a part of God's plan to show mercy to many. Even as saints die, under the weight of injustice, God is at the same time raising up sons and daughters of Adam to new life. So we wait. So the people of God, just like they've been doing across all time, they wait. They wait through the trials and they wait through the afflictions. And as they suffer, God tells them, keep praying. Don't lose heart. Don't be derailed. Keep crying out for justice. Don't let the burdens of injustice weigh you down and discouraging you and discourage you from obeying the Lord, the way he's commanded us. Don't get derailed from obeying the Lord. Cry out for the elect. Cry out for the people of God as they suffer under injustice. Cry out to the Lord in all faith. How long, O Lord? And as you cry out in faith, continue to believe that the good judge sees. The ear of sovereign grace is not deaf to you, the righteous judge hears. And one day soon, sooner than you think, he will give justice to his chosen ones. Let's pray. Our great God, the perfect judge over all creation. We groan, we groan under the flagrant defying of your will. We groan under the injustices that have grieved us. We groan under the injustices that have oppressed our brothers and sisters. We groan against the injustices that oppose the spread of your gospel. We groan as we wait. And so, Father, we cry out, give us justice. Give justice to your people. But even as we cry out, we thank you for being patient with us. We thank you for being merciful for us. We pray that in this room, there would be those who believe and are saved now, who can rejoice now. Thank God he was patient with me. Thank God he did not judge me before I believed. Lord, we pray that the certainty of your justice would spur many onto faith. And we pray that you would give us all the faith to wait and to trust you the whole time. Lord, we groan, but we know you will hold us up. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. We hope that you were edified by this message. 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