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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Norman McNulty

Will Jesus Find Faith?

Well good morning everyone And a happy Sabbath to each 1 of you It's always good to come back to Advent.

Hope this is always a homecoming for me Although I don't recognize most of you, so that's the nature of the Advent movement in Loma Londa.

But it's been 8 years since I moved away from here, and it was definitely a period of life that was 1 of the highlights of my life to be part of this group.

And so it's always a privilege to come back, and I bring greetings from the state of Tennessee, where the air is cleaner and the grass is greener, and we have 4 seasons.

I do miss the winters here, I'll say that.

Well, before we start our message, I would like to offer a word of prayer and we will get into our message.

Father in heaven, we thank you so much for this Sabbath day that we can worship you, And I pray that you would speak through me now that Jesus would be lifted up and that our faith would be challenged and that we would be determined to have a deeper faith experience with you.

So I pray for each person here, and I pray for the time that we have together this morning.

The title for the message today is, will Jesus find faith?

And I want you to turn to the book of Luke chapter 18.

Luke chapter 18 and Jesus asks this famous question at the end of verse 8 and he says, nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

And a lot of times we take the last part of that verse, and we don't see how it connects to the parable that Jesus tells to get to the point where he asks that question.

Jesus looks down at his last day church and he asks the question, when I return will I find faith in my people?

Now if Jesus is asking that question about you, Don't you think it would be well for you to pay attention to what Jesus is wondering about?

And in order to understand why Jesus asks that question, let's go back to Luke 18.

Luke 18, verse 1, and he spake a parable unto them, to this end, that men are always to pray and not to faint." So Luke is telling us why Jesus gives this parable, and he's saying this parable is given to you by Jesus so that you would learn how to pray and that you wouldn't give up in your prayer life.

Now, how many of us could use a boost to our prayer experience with God?

I think all of us could do better in our communication and in our prayer life with God.

And so Jesus tells a parable about prayer, but if you're paying attention, it's connected to the kind of faith that God's people will need when Jesus comes back.

So your prayer life is directly proportional to the kind of faith that you have.

So let's look at this parable that Jesus tells, starting in verse 2.

There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man.

I can tell you that if I were ever to stand before a judge, I would hope that this judge would be a fair judge and a just judge.

But in this parable, this judge doesn't care about God, doesn't care about man.

This judge is in this position solely to enrich himself and to have position, influence, and authority.

This judge doesn't care about the things of God or what the law of God says, and this judge doesn't care about how his decisions will affect the people who come before him.

That's not the kind of judge I would want to face.

And the parable continues, and there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him saying, Avenge me of mine adversary." Now if you're paying attention carefully, if you look in society, especially in the time of Christ, A widow would especially be someone who had fallen on hard times.

Now things are a bit different now, but even still, if you're a widow, that is a very hard lot to fall upon.

But back in Bible times, it's even harder because a widow or a woman relied on her husband to provide for her.

So if she loses her source of support, she doesn't have that source of support, and she's lost her emotional support and her family, and she doesn't have that support that she needs.

She's the downcast of life and she needs a judge to hear her case, and it's not the kind of judge that is inclined to help her.

And when she comes to this judge she says, "'Avenge me of mine adversary.'" Now, this word adversary in the Greek is the Greek word antidikos, which means opponent in law.

So, in other words, this widow had an adversary or an enemy who had wronged her according to the law of the land.

She had been treated unfairly, and she needed justice.

So when she says, avenge me, and the Greek word for avenge is the Greek word ektakeio, which means that justice will be carried out.

I need justice, Judge, because I have been wronged according to the law of the land, and I need you to set things right.

But she's coming to an unjust judge who doesn't care about her.

Now most people with a heart would see someone who has fallen on hard times, and they would have a sympathizing ear for the plight of such an unfortunate person.

Verse 4 says, "...and he would not for a while." So this widow comes to the judge And she's saying, I'm pleading with you, avenge me of mine adversary.

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

This widow would not take no for an answer.

And she knew that the judge was supposed to administer the law according to the law of the land.

And she knew that even though he didn't fear God, and even though he didn't care about man, his job was to carry out the law of the land.

And she knew, according to human nature, that you can wear somebody out.

And so she would keep coming back, avenge me of my adversary.

How can you let this person who has broken the law to wrong me get away with what he's done?

I'm begging you." And the judge, It didn't touch his heart.

It never reached a point where he was like, you know what, she's been wronged.

I need to set things right according to the law of the land.

According to the parable that Jesus gives, Jesus says that this judge didn't care about her plight, he simply was tired of hearing about her request.

And so because he was tired of hearing her request, he says, fine, go away.

I'll sign whatever paper I need to sign, I'll stamp it with my seal, it will have the effect that it needs, and you will be set right.

You will have justice, and you will no longer bother me." Now, notice what Jesus says starting in verse 6, and the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge saith.

And you're thinking, What's Jesus trying to get at here?

Notice verses 7 and 8, "...and shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them?

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily." So notice Jesus compares this widow coming to the unjust judge and then he asks the question, shall not God avenge his own elect who cry day and night unto him continually?

Now remember, what was the purpose of this parable?

It was that men are always to pray and not to faint." So Jesus is giving this parable and he's saying, here is this widow who has been wronged and she's facing an unjust judge, And despite the fact that she was facing an unjust judge, she continued to plead to this unjust judge to give her what was her lawful right until she got what she wanted and needed.

And then Jesus asked the question, shall not God avenge his own elect who cry unto him day and night continually?

Are you crying unto an unjust judge who doesn't fear God?

No, he's the God of the universe who wants you to come before the throne of grace in your time of need.

But where are God's people who are crying unto him day and night?

So Jesus then asks the question, he says, I will avenge them speedily.

I will avenge my people speedily, nevertheless.

So now he says this word to set apart everything that he has said to make his next point.

Nevertheless, where am I going to find these people?

I'm looking down to my last day church, and I see what they are focused on.

And there's all these issues in their lives, and let's be honest, friends, we all have baggage, we all have sin issues, we all have struggles, we all have things that we know are not measuring up to the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus.

We know that they're there, and yet we don't take the time to cry unto God day and night saying, Lord, deliver me from this struggle.

And he's like, I would avenge you speedily if you would just ask me, but you're not even asking me.

And you're not developing faith, And then you sit back and say, well, everybody else is living that way, so I guess it's just okay for me to keep living this way.

And God is saying, I have so much that I want to give you, and you're not even crying unto me.

Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily." You know, there's nothing like developing faith as when you're in a crisis and you are required to cry unto God.

Well, you're not required to, but the circumstances create a scenario in your life where you realize that the only way that you can get the help that you need is to cry unto God day and night.

And that is when your faith life begins to develop.

And that's what Jesus is speaking about here.

This parable is given with the idea that men are always to pray and not to faint.

Now let's dig a little bit deeper into this parable.

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Will Jesus Find Faith?

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