By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #278 ~
Pray! Pray! Pray! And keep praying! That’s what you should do. Jesus uses a parable to teach us about faith and prayer (Luke 18:1-8). First, He gives the meaning of this short story, that “at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1). We are to have faith, to persevere in prayer. Yes, we may be tempted to give up, to quit, but God wants us to keep looking to Him, to keep trusting Him, to keep praying.
This parable is about a widow, and she was needy, she was hurting, for she had been taken advantage of by her adversary, and so she’s going to a judge for justice. But this is an unjust, uncaring judge – he “did not fear God and did not respect man.” For whatever reason, this judge did not want to spend his time helping this widow. But this poor widow is persistent, she does not give up, she keeps bothering him. Finally, this evil judge has had enough, and he gives her justice. Luke 18:2-5
Jesus then explains how this parable applies to the elect, to believers. “Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night?” (Lk. 18:6-7). It’s a lesson from the lesser to the greater. If this unkind and unrighteous judge helps this widow, how much more will our loving and righteous Father give us justice? Jesus tells us that a key to this justice is desperate, persevering prayer. It’s the asking, seeking, knocking kind of prayer He had talked about in an earlier parable. Luke 11:5-13
This parable is most applicable at this present time. It’s obvious to me and I’m sure to you that we are living in an increasingly unrighteous country. (Matt. 24:12). It’s not just that more people are evil, but that lawless judges and DAs don’t even address the evil. (Is. 5:23). Many government officials are unjust, are soft on crime, and are letting criminals go free. Not only that, but they are going after believers, and like never before. It won’t be long before Jesus’ prophecy about the end-times is fulfilled – “You will be hated by all nations on account of My name.” Matthew 24:9
So what can you do when you personally experience injustice? You can address it to a judge in court – but most importantly, pray to the Judge, to God Himself. You may get justice from the judge, and you may not. But you will definitely get justice from the Judge. And now we are watching all this lawlessness in our cities, states, and country – and the people affected may or may not get justice from the judge. That’s why it’s imperative for Christians to not put their hope in earthly judges, but to keep asking the heavenly Judge for justice. Sooner or later, He will give us true and perfect justice.
No matter what happens in our courtrooms on earth, know that God is on His heavenly throne, and He will most certainly bring justice (Ps. 97:1-3). He won’t excuse sin – He can’t let it go – He must punish it, and God deals with it in four ways: 1) A person may be judged by an earthly authority (Rom. 13:1-4). 2) He may in some way suffer God’s wrath while he is on earth (Acts 12:18-23, Rom. 1:18). 3) If he dies and is unsaved, then he immediately goes to hell where he’s justly punished (Lk. 16:22-25), and then at the great white throne judgment he’s cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15). 4) He may be alive on earth when Christ comes back, and will experience God’s wrath during the day of the Lord. Revelation 8-9. And this final point is one of the themes of Luke 18:1-8.
This takes us back to Luke 17:22-37, the prophecy passage that’s just before the prophecy-related parable in Luke 18:1-8. In Luke 17:26-30, we read of two examples of God’s justice, of God pouring out His wrath on sinners. There’s the flood during the time of Noah, and the fire and brimstone during the time of Lot. Now it’s our time, and the result of the sin we’re seeing will be God’s wrath, similar to the sudden, devastating justice we read about in the days of Noah and Lot. In this present crisis of evil, we must know that it is our duty to pray, to keep crying to God for justice. And this justice will be dealt out at the end of this present age, during the day of the Lord, which is point four from the previous paragraph. So keep praying, for “He (Christ) is coming to judge the earth.” Psalm 98:9
There’s another point we cannot overlook, and it’s the last phrase of vs. 7 – “delay long over them” or “be patient over them”. From the 1st coming until now is close to 2,000 years, and God’s justice upon this earth is being delayed, even though many believers have cried out, “How long O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10). This justice is delayed because God is patient, because He wants to show mercy to the chosen, to the rest of the elect. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
James 5:7-9 says it this way – “Be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, until it gets the early and the late rains. You too be patient for the coming of the Lord is near… behold the Judge is standing right at the door”. Farmers must wait for the right time to harvest the grain, and Christ is waiting for the right time to rapture the church. “Reap, for the hour to reap has come.” Revelation 14:15
This country, the United States of America, is going down fast, driven by a devilish increase in sin, and a corresponding decrease in justice. This is clearly affecting believers. Just the other day, a Christian, standing across the street from some people celebrating sexual sin, was arrested for reading the Bible, for what the policeman said was disorderly conduct. Do you see what’s going on? God’s enemies are coming after us more and more (John 15:18-25). Persecution against Christians is growing worse in this country. So what should we do?
We are to have faith, we are to keep praying to God for justice. And that’s how this parable concludes – “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth” (Luke 18:8)? We are living in the end-times, in very difficult days, and we need to keep having faith until Christ comes. It would be sinful to be worldly, to be complacent, to be unbelieving. “We are not of night or darkness, so then let us not sleep… let us be alert and sober… having put on the breastplate of faith and love” (1 Thess. 5:5-8), and let us keep praying. Then “He will bring about justice for them quickly.” This justice, this day of the Lord wrath, takes place at the end of this age, and it will happen quickly, suddenly, for Christ returns, Christians are glorified, and God pours out His wrath on this most evil world. Rev. 6:12 – Rev. 9
But remember to be patient, and to pray for God’s mercy upon sinners. Jesus told us, “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). So do your part in sharing the gospel “to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14), and the Son of Man will rapture the church and judge the world. “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9
P.S. Here are a few other posts to read that are related to this subject, and will be very helpful to you: “How Then Should We Live in the End-Times?”, “It’s Going to Get Worse Before It Gets Better”, and “Living with Evil in the End-Times.”