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Luke Chapter Eighteen

 
The Persistent Widow (Lk 18:1-8)
 
INTRODUCTION
 
1. In Luke 18, we find two parables that deal with the subject of
 prayer...
 a. "The Persistent Widow" - Lk 18:1-8
 b. "The Pharisee And The Tax Collector" - Lk 18:9-14
 
2. This is not the first time Jesus used a parable to teaching
 concerning prayer...
 a. Remember "The Friend At Midnight"? - Lk 11:5-13
 b. In which Jesus taught the value of persistence in prayer?
 
3. Evidently the element of persistence in prayer was very important to
 Jesus...
 a. For that is also the theme of the first parable in Luke 18
 b. As the first verse reads: "Then He spoke a parable to them, that
 men always ought to pray and not lose heart..."
 
[Are we persistent in our prayers? Do we appreciate the value of such
persistence? Or have we lost heart and don't pray as we ought? Let's
see what we can glean from the parable of "The Persistent Widow"...]
 
I. THE PARABLE ITSELF
 
 A. THE CHARACTER OF THE JUDGE - Lk 18:2
 1. One who did not fear God nor regard man
 2. An unjust judge, for which this parable is sometimes known as
 "The Unjust Judge"
 
 B. THE DISTRESS OF THE WIDOW - Lk 18:3
 1. She has some adversary who has wronged her
 2. She seeks the aid of the judge to avenge her
 
 C. THE DIFFICULTY SHE FACED - Lk 18:4a
 1. The judge would not help her at first
 2. Repeated attempts seem to fall on deaf ears
 
 D. AT LAST THE JUDGE HEEDS HER COMPLAINT - Lk 18:4b-5
 1. Not out of any sense for what was right in the sight of God or
 man
 2. But only to avoid being wearied by her constant appeals
 
[Unlike many of the parables, we are not left on our own to determine
the point of this parable. Jesus Himself makes it clear as we 
consider...]
 
II. THE PARABLE APPLIED
 
 A. HEAR WHAT THE UNJUST JUDGE SAID...
 1. He was moved by the persistence of the widow
 2. Even when he was not moved by reverence for God or regard for
 man
 
 B. SHALL NOT GOD AVENGE HIS OWN ELECT?
 1. This is an argument from the lesser to the greater
 a. If an unjust judge will heed a persistence widow...
 b. ...how much more will a Just God heed His chosen people!
 2. Our assurance is even stronger when we note the following
 contrasts:
 
 The Widow God's People
 a. A stranger a. His elect, 1 Pe 2:9-10
 b. Only one b. We are many
 c. At a distance c. We can come boldly, He 4:15-16
 d. An unjust judge d. A righteous Father
 e. On her own e. God is for us, Ro 8:31-32
 f. Pleads her own case f. We have an Advocate, Ro 8:34
 g. No promise of an answer g. Promise given, Lk 18:8a
 h. Access limited h. Access unlimited (can pray to
  God anytime)
 i. Asking provoked judge i. Asking delights God
 
 3. If persistence paid off for the widow, how much more for God's
 elect who pray?
 
 C. GOD WILL AVENGE HIS ELECT!
 1. He may bear long with the prayers of His persecuted people...
 - Lk 18:7b
 a. For example, cf. Re 6:9-10
 b. His longsuffering may be to give the persecutors time to
 repent - 2 Pe 3:9
 2. But when His vengeance comes, it will come swiftly!
 a. There is a Day coming in which God will take vengeance 
 - cf. 2 Th 1:7-9
 b. And when it comes, there will be "sudden destruction" with
 no way of escape - cf. 1 Th 5:1-3
 
 D. BUT WILL THERE BE FAITH ON THE EARTH WHEN HE COMES?
 1. The Lord will come, avenging His elect
 2. But His delay may prompt some to lose faith (implying lack of
 prayer is indicative of a lack of faith!)
 3. The Lord's concern over this matter is what prompts this
 parable!
 a. That men always ought to pray
 b. That men not lose heart
 
CONCLUSION
 
1. Have you begun to lose heart? Has your faith weakened?
 a. The state of your "prayer life" reveals the true condition of 
 your faith!
 b. If you do not pray "always" (cf. "without ceasing" 1 Th 5:17),
 your faith is waning!
 
2. But the Lord has given us reason to believe in the power of prayer
 in this parable...
 a. Especially when we are persecuted for the cause of Christ
 b. For we do not serve an unjust judge, but a God who has made us
 His elect people!
 
May this parable of "The Persistent Widow", along with "The Friend At
Midnight", encourage us never to lose heart and stop praying!

The Pharisee And The Tax Collector (Lk 18:9-14)
 
INTRODUCTION
 
1. We've noted that in Luke 18, there are two parables that deal with
 the subject of prayer...
 a. "The Persistent Widow" - Lk 18:1-8
 b. "The Pharisee And The Tax Collector" - Lk 18:9-14
 
2. In "The Persistent Widow"...
 a. Jesus encouraged us to "pray and not lose heart" - Lk 18:1
 b. He taught the value of persevering in prayer
 
3. In the parable before us now, known as "The Pharisee And The 
 Tax-Collector"...
 a. Jesus illustrated the spirit that ought to pervade our prayers
 b. He teaches us how and in what manner we ought to pray to be heard
 by God - Lk 18:14
 
[Without the proper spirit, our perseverance in prayer will be for 
nothing. This second parable on prayer is therefore very important,
and worthy of our consideration as we begin with...]
 
I. THE PARABLE ANALYZED
 
 A. IT IS ABOUT TWO DIFFERENT MEN...
 1. They both go to the temple to pray - Lk 18:10
 2. One is a Pharisee, the other a tax-collector
 a. Pharisees were a religious sect, noted for their strict
 observance of the Law and the traditions of the elders
 b. Tax-collectors were consider by the Pharisees to be
 extortioners and traitors
 1) Extortioners, because they collected more than was
  required, for personal gain
 2) Traitors, because while Jews they represented an 
 occupying power (Rome)
 
 B. IT IS ABOUT TWO DIFFERENT PRAYERS...
 1. The prayer of the Pharisee - Lk 18:11-12
 a. He thanks God that he is not like others
 1) Especially extortioners, unjust, adulterers
 2) or even the tax collector nearby
 -- Thus he reveals his disdain for others - cf. Lk 18:9
 b. He recounts his good deeds
  1) "I fast twice a week" - the Law required only an annual
 fast - Lev 16:29
 2) "I give tithes of all that I possess." - The Law 
 required only a tithe on certain items; this man gave 
 tithes on ALL he possessed - cf. Deu 14:22-23
 -- Thus he reveals how he trusted in his self-righteousness
 - cf. Lk 18:9
 2. The prayer of the tax collector - Lk 18:13
 a. He expressed his repentance and humility in what he did
 1) He stood "afar off"
 2) He would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven 
 (lifting one's eyes to heaven was a common posture for
 prayer at that time)
 3) He beat his breast in anguish over his sins
 b. He expressed his repentance and humility in what he said
 1) Calling himself a sinner
 2) Pleading God for mercy
 
 C. IT IS ABOUT TWO DIFFERENT RESULTS...
 1. The tax collector goes home "justified" - Lk 18:14a
 a. The term as used in the forensic sense means "not guilty!"
 b. He had received that wonderful blessedness described by
 David - cf. Ps 32:1-2
 2. The Pharisee also goes home...with nothing!
 a. He might as well stayed home
 b. The most he might have gotten was the reward of being seen
 by men - cf. Mt 6:5
 
[The meaning and purpose of this parable are very clear, both from the
introductory statement by Jesus in Lk 18:9, and the concluding remark
in Lk 18:14...
 
 "for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who 
 humbles himself will be exalted."
 
But to reinforce the point, here are a few thoughts relating to...]
 
II. THE PARABLE APPLIED
 
 A. JESUS WARNS AGAINST SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS...
 1. The Pharisee trusted in his own good works, but it was to no
 avail
 2. He should have recalled the words of Isaiah - cf. Isa 64:6
 3. We should remember the words of Jesus and Paul - cf. Lk 17:10;
 Ep 2:8-10; Ti 3:3-5
 
 B. JESUS WARNS AGAINST ARROGANCE...
 1. The Pharisee despised others, including the tax collector
 2. He should have recalled the words of Solomon - cf. Pr 8:13;
 16:18; 29:23
 3. We should remember the words of Jesus and James - cf. Lk 14:
 11; Ja 2:1-9
 
 C. JESUS TEACHES THE VALUE OF HUMILITY...
 1. He had taught the value of humility before others in the 
 parable of "Taking The Lowest Place" - Lk 14:7-11
 2. Now He teaches the value of humility before God!
 a. An important principle espoused in Isaiah - Isa 57:15;
 66:1-2
 b. And extolled by Mary His mother in "The Magnificat" - cf. 
 Lk 1:46-55
 
CONCLUSION
 
1. In this parable of "The Pharisee And The Tax Collector", we have
 seen...
 a. The Pharisee pray as one who needed no forgiveness, and got none
 b. The tax collector pray as one needed forgiveness, and he received
 it
 
2. Do we need forgiveness, even as Jesus' disciples?
 a. Of course we do! - cf. 1 Jn 1:8-10
 b. Then let us pray with the humility of the tax collector, who
 prayed like the man after God's own heart (David)...
 
 "Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness;
 According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, 
 Blot out my transgressions.
 "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
 For I acknowledge my transgressions, 
 And my sin is always before me.
 
  - Psa 51:1-3
 
Let us not trust in our own righteousness, but in the mercy and
lovingkindness of God offered so abundantly in His Son Jesus Christ!
As the beloved disciple wrote in his first epistle:
 
 "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
 Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for
 our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."
 
 - 1 Jn 2:1b-2

－－《Executable Outlines》