Deepen and strengthen your relationship with Jesus. 

Hartland Summer Campmeeting 2017: Abiding in Christ

<p>Deepen and strengthen your relationship with Jesus. </p>

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Hartland Institute of Health and Education

Stephen Bohr

The Judge, the Widow and the Adversary

Father in heaven, thank you for the privilege of living another week.

Thank you, Father, for the hours of your Sabbath.

What a joy it is to just unwind, to forget everything ours and remember everything yours.

Thank you, Father, that we can remember that everything that we are, everything that we have, comes from your hand.

And thank you for giving this weekly memorial so that we can remember that you are the wonderful Creator, you are He who planned our redemption and soon you will send your Son to pick us up from this earth, this dark, dreary, sinful earth, to live with you a thousand years in heaven and then on the earth made new.

We ask that as we open your holy word, inspired by your spirit, that the same spirit that inspired it will come and be close to us and through the ministry of the angels, explain the important aspects that we need for these last days.

Thank you, Father, for hearing our prayer, for we ask it in the precious name of Jesus.

This is the passage that we're going to take a look at in a special way this evening and I'm going to begin reading at verse 1 and then we'll review the main details of the parable.

Then he spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying, There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

Now there was a widow in that city, and she came to him saying, Get justice for me from my adversary.

But afterward he said within himself, Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

Then the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said, and shall not God avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them.

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith in the earth?

Now we want to take a look at the main actors in this parable and the central lesson of the parable.

So let's go to verse 1, we'll go verse by verse and then after we review the main elements of the parable then we're going to give an explanation and make an application of the parable.

Then he spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.

Now this is the central lesson of the parable.

The central lesson of the parable is that we always ought to pray and we should never give up.

We should continue praying and praying and praying even when it doesn't appear that we are getting an answer.

Saying, there was in a certain city a judge, So in this story there is a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

So now Jesus is going to illustrate the central lesson, central lesson is we always ought to pray and never give up, never lose heart, and now Jesus is going to illustrate the central lesson with a parable, with a story.

And in the story there is in a certain city a judge, and this judge does not fear God, nor does he regard man.

And then we notice in verse 3 the first part of the verse that we are told that now there was a widow in that city, so we have a second actor in this story.

The first actor or actress I might say, the first actor is the judge, the second actress is the widow.

And then I want you to notice that it is emphasized that the widow is persistent in coming to the judge.

It says there in Luke 18 and verse 3, now there was a widow in that city and she came to him saying, get justice for me from my adversary.

Now the translation of the verb here that she came is not does not fully reflect the meaning of what the widow was doing because we find a little bit later on in verse 5 that she simply did not come but she kept coming and coming and coming and coming, which is the central lesson of the parable.

So when it says here that she came to him, she came to the judge, what it really means is that she kept on coming to the judge and she says to the judge get justice for me from my adversary.

In other words this widow was relentless she had independent unyielding defiant perseverance under very aggressive circumstances.

Now you notice that there's a third protagonist in this story.

So it says once again the last part of verse 3.

And she came to him saying, Get justice for me from my adversary.

Now those who have studied this parable, the scholars that have studied this parable have concluded, and I believe that they're correct on this point, that when this woman's husband died he owed huge sums of money to a creditor that had lent him money.

And when he died, of course, this creditor went after the widow and took everything that her husband had.

In other words, she was left totally destitute.

And her only hope was found in the judge.

This woman had no children, because she was a widow, no evidence that she had children.

She had no home, she had no money, and apparently she had no friends.

So she had absolutely nothing to lean upon because she was wiped out by her adversary, by her husband's creditor.

Her only hope resided in the judge doing her justice.

But then the parable takes an interesting turn.

We find that this widow woman kept coming and coming and coming to the judge.

The judge kept putting her off when she kept on coming.

Notice Luke chapter 18 and the verses 4 and 5.

It says, He would not for a while, but the widow disregarded his ignorance of her pleas and kept on coming.

So it says, and he would not for a while.

But after what he said within himself, though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, it's another way of saying that this widow is a pest.

This woman just keeps coming and coming, I'm so tired of having her come.

Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

So there you have the parable, interesting parable.

You have a judge, you have a widow, you have an adversary of the widow, and in the story you have a delay.

Now I want us to notice when this parable especially applies to.

The parable obviously applies to all times.

In other words we should pray all the time and we shouldn't give up when we pray, it applies to all periods of history, but it has a special application to the last generation that will live upon this earth, and you say how do you know that?

Number 1, if you read the verses that come immediately before the parable.

Jesus said, as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

And then Jesus said, as it was in the days of Lot, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

The second reason is that the parable ends with a very important question.

When the Son of Man comes will He find faith in the earth?

So this parable is found between 2 references to the second coming of Jesus, And so the parable even though it applies to everyone everywhere during all periods of human history it has a special application to the end time, a special application to God's people to the final generation that will live upon this earth, and that will become clearer as we move along.

Now Jesus also explained the meaning of the parable.

Let's notice Luke Chapter 18 and verses 6 through 8.

Jesus did not always explain his parables, but in the case of this parable he explained who each of the actors represents and then we're going to unpack each individual, each 1 of the persons in the parable.

Then the Lord said, here comes the explanation of the parable.

And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them?

Now let's ask the question, who does this widow represent specifically in the end time?

Well Let me ask you this, what does a woman represent symbolically?

A pure woman represents what kind of church?

A harlot woman represents what kind of a church?

You see we're dealing here with symbols, aren't we?

The judge represents something, the adversary we're going to find represents something, We're going to find that the widow also is symbolic, she represents some reality in human history.

We don't have to guess, because in the explanation that Jesus gives He says, and shall God not avenge His own elect.

Now the question is when do the elect especially live?

Well we have to let Jesus explain when the elect are going to live.

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The Judge, the Widow and the Adversary

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