Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from Luke 18. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Each of us has dreary and depressing things in our lives. Sometimes they are numerous, weighty, and suffocating. Sometimes they are bearable, and we can pretty much forget about them.
- Often we don’t give a thought to taking our troubles and burdens to God. Perhaps we don’t believe that He really cares about us. Perhaps we’re not certain that He really intervenes in human affairs. Perhaps we’re not very optimistic that He will resolve our difficulties the way we want Him to.
- For those of us who are of northern European stock, there is a certain genetic “stoicism” that we have inherited – a kind of inner assumption that we’re supposed to just “suffer” things. This can also tie in to a predilection to depression and perhaps even despair.
- In our text, we see that the Lord is well aware of such dismal effects of mankind’s fall into sin – and we see that in our life of faith and discipleship to Him this is not His will for us, that we should become pessimistic and lose heart. He knows us through and through, and He knows the rigors of following Him and living a life of faith and love. And He does not want us to lose heart in our discipleship!
- So He instructed His disciples, and He instructs us today, so that we “DON’T LOSE HEART.” The antidote to this is prayer, but Jesus makes clear that:
I. Christian Life Requires Perseverance In Faith
A. Especially In The Times When It Seems We Have To Wrestle With God
OT Lesson: “Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. . . . [at the end, the man said to Jacob] you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed. . . . [and Jacob concluded] I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
B. We Must Also Persevere When It Seems That God Does Not Answer Our Prayers, Or Even To Care About Us
One of the more puzzling examples of this is the response that Jesus gave to the Gentile Syrophoenician woman who begged Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter. He replied:
Mark 7:27 “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
Text: “In a certain city there was judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused.”
C. We Must Persevere Also When We Have To Endure Affliction – Especially When Others Reject God’s Word And Sound Teaching
Epistle Lesson: “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry – [in view of the fact that] the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
Statement: These enigmatic responses to our prayers, from God Who is love, are part of the many things that make our lives somewhat dreary and depressing. When we pray for deliverance and help we want it right now, right away, and exactly as we ask for it. However, God has His own design and His own plans – for working all things together for our good, and sometimes this means that our faith will be tested, or that other things need to happen first, before He answers our prayers and grants us relief. Jesus warns us about this so that we “DON’T LOSE HEART” in our prayer, our hoping, and our trust in God!
Application: So this means that we are going to have to have perseverance – in our praying and also in our life of faith. It is good for us to know this and to understand it even though we likely will not appreciate it. So we need to remain close to the ongoing realities of God’s great love for us – the many assurances of His Word regarding His forgiveness and mercy, His redemption and salvation, and His promises to bless us, that His plans for us are always good, with the best in mind for us.
We need to keep in mind the final outcome of the parable, the application that Jesus gives us: “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.”
Transition: And this is one of the keys to not “losing heart” – hearing and heeding God’s Word, for:
II. Adhering To Holy Scripture Helps Us A Great Deal With Our Persevering In Faith
A. For God’s Word Assures Us Of His Gracious Salvation, Strengthening Our Faith In His Love
Epistle: “As for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
B. And These Same Scriptures Will Train Us And Equip Us For Christian Life – So That We Do Not Have To Wrestle With God
Epistle: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
C. And In This Way Our Prayers Are Always Faith-filled, Optimistic, And Hopeful
Deut. 31:6,8 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. . . . It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Luke 11:9,10 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
Statement: We need these promises of God, assurances of His love and His faithfulness to us, in order to persevere in prayer and not “LOSE HEART.” It is true not only of saving faith, our knowledge of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus, but also true of all faith and trust in God that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” [Rom. 10:17] So Paul’s advice to Timothy is fitting for all of us, that we need to continue in what we have learned from God’s Word, and continue learning from God’s Word. This will increase our faith and perseverance so that we “DON’T LOSE HEART.”
Application: The greatest cause of “losing heart” is lack of faith – and Jesus voiced this concern in our text: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” We know how we struggle with faith, to have absolute trust that God will bless us in all things! So let us take Jesus’ Word seriously and accept our need to continue hearing His Word and growing in our knowledge of His Word. Ultimately it is His Word that will secure us safe in our faith and trust in God – so that we always pray and never lose heart.
Conclusion: We’ll never escape all of the troubles, worries, sorrows, and burdens of this world – until we die or the Lord Jesus returns in glory. However, we can keep fear and depression in check by abiding in God’s Word and continuing a faith-filled life of prayer.
Obviously this is Jesus’ good and blessed will for all of us – and He states this clearly in our text. May He grant us faith and perseverance to heed His Word and to receive ever greater faith and confidence in Him! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.