Luke 18:1-8

Jesus used the contrast between the unjust judge in this parable and God, who will judge you and me, to teach faith. I would like to glean some truths from this parable to help you increase your faith.

(Read Luke 18:1) I recently heard a Pastor teach on prayer and he made this comment on this verse, “If you don’t pray, you will faint.” How true! In doing the Lord’s work, or in just living the everyday life, a Christian will not be able to do it in their own strength. We are in a spiritual battle and spiritual weapons are needed. (Read verses 2-8)

In verse two, we see that this judge was uncompassionate. He could not have cared any less for this widow who needed his help. In the end, he only helped her to get her off his back! (Read Hebrews 4:15) Oh, but our judge is compassionate. He is touched by the feeling of our infirmities! I’m so glad because I have a bunch of infirmities. Jesus was tempted to sin when He walked this earth, but He didn’t. Now He has compassion on our faults, failures, and feebleness. (Read Hebrews 4:16) The widow in this parable had to go to an uncaring judge, but we have a Heavenly Father who wants us to come so He can give us mercy and grace to help in time of need. We don’t have to go it alone! Praise His name! He really cares for me.

When one of my daughters was almost two, we moved into a house for a temporary stay while looking for a house to buy. Dangers were all around. The house was set back from the road, but the road was a four lane highway. Behind it were acres and acres of pine trees. Beside it was a major car dealership with dozens of cars sitting on the lot. The kids had to be watched every minute. On moving day, there was a crew of three men unloading the truck and my sister had come over to help watch the kids. Nevertheless, in all the confusion, my little girl disappeared. I think even the movers stopped their work to help us look. I can’t tell you what I prayed, but I’m sure I prayed! My merciful God answered my prayer with a yes. He allowed me to walk into the kitchen just seconds before a disaster. That curious little toddler had climbed into the refrigerator and was closing the door! Only one foot was showing and she was pulling it in. In a few seconds, she would have been out of sight. Probably she was just minutes away from dying by suffocation because if I had not found her inside, I would have started looking outside. By the time anyone would have started a second search through the house, it would have been too late. If that’s not grace to help in time of need, I don’t know what is! That little miss is now a Mrs. and the mother of a little boy. I’ve told her that story many times to help her appreciate the Lord’s goodness to her and me!

Also in verse two, we see that the judge was not only uncompassionate, but unjust. He didn’t fear God and that will lead to all kinds of wickedness, won’t it? He didn’t even try to do right or help those who came to him even though it was his job to uphold God’s law. But our judge is holy and good. (Read Psalm 34:8) Later on, in Psalm 107:9, the Bible says “He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” Not only is He good, He gives good gifts. (Read James 1:17) Every good gift comes from Him! This is the kind of judge to whom we are praying.

Once in early November, I was driving my kids and my niece to school. As I rounded a curve and headed downhill on one of the busiest streets in town, I saw lots of brake lights coming on ahead of me. Instinctively, I touched my brakes. That was a mistake in those conditions because the road had a coating of ice on it. We went out of control, and started sliding towards the left lane. We were headed into two lanes of oncoming rush hour traffic. I haven’t forgotten what I prayed that time. “Lord, we need your help right now!” Instantly, the car went back into the right lane. We slid sideways onto the sidewalk. The car came to a stop touching the front fender of another unfortunate driver who was off the road and touching a telephone pole. Well, the pole didn’t break and no one was hurt. Our God is so good! I found out later that the Lord had been dealing with my fourteen-year-old son about his soul. That night at church, he walked the aisle and made a profession of faith. I call that minor accident a good gift since the Lord used it to draw my son to Him.

In verse four, I see a similarity between the unjust judge and our God. This judge seemed to be unhearing. He did not answer right away. Though he heard her plead more than once, he did not do anything about it. (Read Psalm 34:15) But our judge is listening! At times He may delay to fix our problems. In the case of Lazarus, Jesus waited two days after hearing he was very sick to respond. In the meantime, Lazarus died and was buried. When Jesus did get ready to journey to Bethany, he told His disciples something that was hard to understand. He said He was glad for their sakes that He wasn’t there earlier. Then He explained that is was for the intent that they might believe. He had a reason for waiting. After Lazarus came out of the grave, many more did believe on Jesus. It was a greater miracle to see Him bring a dead man back to life, than to heal a sick one. He had not ignored Mary and Martha though it seemed like it. He only delayed His answer. If you are waiting for a prayer to be answered, don’t give up. The widow’s judge ignored her, but God is watching and listening to hear from you! His timing is perfect and His will is best. If He doesn’t seem to be hearing, ask Him to show you if there is some sin of yours in the way.

A former pastor of mine told this story about his mother. She evidently had married an unsaved man. He forbade her to tell their six children about Jesus and how to be saved. Oh, that must have been a terrible burden on this woman! It’s hard to think of a harder trial than to obey her husband and not teach her children about the Lord and their need to be saved!! But she obeyed him and put her trust in God. I can imagine her pouring her heart out to God to let them be saved through some other way. For years, as she raised those little ones, she must have whispered hundreds and hundreds of prayers for their little souls. Yet not one of them got saved, at least not as a child. My pastor told with joy of how God honored his mother’s obedience to His word by obeying her husband. He said that all six of her children heard the Gospel and were saved shortly after leaving home! He himself was saved while in the Navy. And later, even his father got saved. How many times do you imagine that mother must have wondered if the Lord was hearing her prayer? But He delayed His answer, possibly to bring greater glory to Himself.

I want to now compare this widow with the children of God.

I’m talking about those who have been born again by realizing their sinful condition in God’s sight and that they cannot save themselves. I’m talking about those who have confessed to Him that they are sinners, and then put all their faith in Jesus’ blood and nothing they’ve done to save themselves. We can’t you know. And if we can, then why did the Heavenly Father allow His beloved Son to suffer and die on the cross? So, let’s look at this widow and compare her with the born-again child of God.

First of all, this widow was unwelcome in this judge’s court. All of her pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears until he just got tired of her bothering him. The only reason he finally helped her was so she would leave him alone. What a difference between this cold, calloused judge and our judge! (Read Luke 11:9-10) Jesus has actually commanded us to ask. Didn’t He say ask, seek and knock? Aren’t we told to pray without ceasing? If you are burdened about something, if it seems there is nothing you can do about a situation, if some problem is keeping you awake at night turn your worries into prayers! How many of you have been kept awake by a barking dog or a squalling cat? Well, it’s happened to me. I have laid there tossing and turning and contemplating ways to get revenge on the critter, before it finally occurred to me to pray. Now this is really a very minor need, but I took it to the Lord anyway. Knowing that the animals obey Him better than we humans do most of the time, I asked Him to please tell His creatures to be quiet. He did and they did and I got to sleep. The Lord is good, isn’t He?

Secondly, this widow seems to have been unrepresented in court. No one else is mentioned as coming with her. She seems to have spoken for herself. But the Christian is never alone, not in your darkest hour, not in loneliness, not if you have been betrayed or rejected and certainly not in prayer. (Read I John 2:1) If you are saved, you have an advocate and an intercessor with the Father. An advocate is someone who will talk for you in your place and explain your cause and ask the judge to give you mercy. People take lawyers into court to speak for them in front of a judge. You have an advocate with the judge of this universe. Jesus is pleading your cause with the Father if you are saved. Not only that, if you are so confused or burdened that you don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit is helping you, too. (Read Romans 8:26-27) The Holy Spirit is making intercession for the saints according to the will of God! Hallelujah! My Judge loves me so much that He has two members of the holy trinity praying for me! My Judge does not want me to be defeated by the world, my flesh or the devil. He wants to see me glorify Him by getting the victory in my Christian life. Think about it, my enemy is His enemy, too.

Thirdly, this widow was probably unrelated to the judge. I think if she was related, he would have helped her sooner. But a born again Christian is adopted by God and has become His child! (Read Romans 8:14-17) You were not His child, but He paid the price and adopted you to be His own! He took you into His family and wants to give you good gifts.

I enjoy a good relationship with my husband’s stepmother. But a few years ago, our family didn’t even know her. My husband was adopted by his stepfather and lost contact with his natural father. This was a sad thing for him and he longed to know his father. There was something missing for many years. By God’s grace, I found his stepmother and we called her. She was overjoyed to hear from us because they had searched for my husband and his brother for many years. Sadly, my father-in-law was already gone when we found her, but we have still benefited from this. She has been a bright spot in our lives for over six years. She has shared her love and her life with us and told us about my father-in-law. She has helped fill a void. She has adopted us as her family, though she didn’t have to. Incidentally, she never had children of her own, so I believe we have filled a void for her, too. She tells people that she became a mother and a grandmother all in one day. What a blessing to be adopted!

Ladies and girls, we are not helpless or alone in living the Christian life, but if we don’t pray, we will faint. We cannot get spiritual victories by carnal ways. Our Heavenly Father knows we have weaknesses and Jesus is touched by them just as a mother is moved with compassion when her child calls “Mommy!” in that certain tone of voice. He adopted us, and tells us to come so He can show mercy and give grace to help in time of need. He is watching His children and His ears are open to our prayers! When we are so burdened we can’t even pray He has the Holy Spirit praying for us! His own Son is our intercessor in Heaven! With a great price He adopted us so He could be glorified in our lives. He knows the number of hairs on our head. Can there be any doubt that He cares for us? We can put all of our faith and trust in Him. He is worthy of it.

Finally, Jesus spoke a second parable in Luke chapter 18. Let’s start in verse nine and read through verse fourteen. Now a Pharisee was a very religious person in Jesus’ time and people looked to them for spiritual guidance. This guy did a lot of things right! But a publican worked for the Roman government which occupied the Jew’s homeland. Publicans were usually dishonest and cheated their own people and weren’t very popular. Yet both men standing there praying were sinners. While the Pharisee told God how good he was, the publican simply agreed with God that he was a sinner and then asked for mercy. From Jesus’ own mouth we hear that the publican went away that day justified or forgiven.

You, too, may be a very good person, moral, trying to live by the Golden Rule, even a church member in good standing, but without humbly trusting only what Jesus did on the cross to pay for your sins, you will not be able to enter Heaven. None of us can be good enough to pay for our own sins. The only reason Jesus had to die was because you and I couldn’t save ourselves.

Today if you are basing your salvation on your good works to save you and take you to Heaven, please look at the publican’s example. He was very humble. He realized and agreed with God that he was a sinner in need of divine forgiveness. He cried out to God for mercy. I hope you will do the same, and put all your trust in Jesus’ blood to save you, because someday, maybe soon, you will stand in front of the Judge of this world. If you haven’t done what the publican did, you will be without God’s forgiveness, and sadly you will spend eternity in the lake of fire. If you aren’t saved, please don’t put this off. Please go to our Gospel page and read what you need to do to be saved today.

“… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” II Corinthians 6:2

Review of “The Judge Wants To See You” from Luke 18:1-8.

Jesus used this parable to teach ___________________

1. The judge was ____________________________

God is ____________________________________

2. The judge was ______________________________

God is ___________________________________

3. The judge was_______________________________

God is_______________________________________

4. The widow was ______________________________

The Christian is _______________________________

5. The widow was ___________________________________

The Christian has an_________________________________

6. The widow was _____________________________________

The Christian is _____________________________________

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