Luke 18

​Luke 18:1-8:
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man
​And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 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. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

​Now if this unrighteous judge with no morals can answer a repetitive request, then how much more can a loving God? If this man will answer petitions that come to him from a stranger once a day, then will not God answer petitions that come from his children both day and night? Will God be outdone by man? .
Why does God wait until the money is gone? Why does he wait until the sickness has lingered? Why does He choose to wait until the other side of the grave to answer the prayers for healing? My answer is simply, I do not know. If someone has a better answer feel free to respond.

​Men ought always to pray and not to faint, Luke 18:1.
There can be no room for despair; for prayer exports wants and imports blessings: but our dear Lord knows there is in us all at times a backwardness to prayer; this he would remove: it arises from fainting, this he would prevent; therefore he opposes praying to fainting, for fainting prevents praying. Have you not found it so? When weary and faint in your mind, when your spirits are oppressed, your frame low and languid, you have thought this is not a time for prayer: yea, but it is: pray always. Now sigh out the burden of your heart and the sorrows of your spirit: now, though in broken accents, breathe your complaints into your Father’s ear: now cry to him who loveth you and careth for you with the love and care of the most tender and affectionate father. What makes us faint? Do troubles and afflictions? Here is a reviving cordial: “Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Psalm 50:15. Does a body of sin and death? Here is a supporting promise: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, shall be saved.” Rom.10:13. Do we faint because we have called and prayed again and again to the Lord against any besetting sin, prevailing temptation, rebellious lust, or evil temper, and yet the Lord has not given victory over it? Still, says the Lord, pray always: persevere; be importunate; faint not; remember that blessed word, “my time is not yet come: but your time is always ready.” John 8:6. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” Matt. 26:41. Note the difference between being tempted and entering into temptation. We are assured in due time, we shall reap, if we faint not Gal. 6:9. Do we find the spirit willing, but the flesh weak? and because of our coldness, deadness, and langour in prayer, do we faint? You cannot pray to please yourself: you think your prayers are irksome to God; and therefore do you faint and are ready to give over praying? Look at David; he begins to pray in a very heartless, hopeless way. How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, for ever, Sec. See how he concludes; he breaks out in full vigour of soul; “I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.” Psalm 13:6. Above all, look to Jesus, who ever lives to pray for you: look for his Spirit to help your infirmities. Rom. 8:26.  --From ​William Mason. A Spiritual Treasury for the Children of God. New York: Deare and Andrews, 1803.

​He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. This is very helpful. We are told why Jesus told this parable to his disciples and we are told its intended effect – that Christ’s faithful followers should pray always, and never lose heart. There is always the temptation to lose heart, and we should be thankful that Jesus names it as such. He truly was tempted in every way as are we, yet without sin. He who never lost heart knows that his disciples are prone to lose theirs. It is good that we know that losing heart is not a new problem, but in our own day we can easily find new reasons to lose heart. Consider the current predicament of Christianity. We are witnessing the inglorious end of a civilization birthed by the Christian faith. We are tracing the accelerating secularization of our own society. In the Middle East, Christianity is disappearing on the ground. Historic Christian communities in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and elsewhere are being decimated and destroyed—scattered by violence and threats of genocide. In Europe, the historic base of Christian culture and Christian missions, the European Union is so embarrassed about its Christian heritage that it refused even to acknowledge this truth when it framed its charter. Christianity is disappearing or declining under the dhimmitude of Islam and the domination of secularism. Church buildings in Britain, Canada, and elsewhere are now routinely transformed into nightclubs, pubs, or even mosques. The European elites are so distant from living Christianity that they have virtually no memory of it and American elites are rushing to Europeanize our national intellectual life. Cultural Christianity is disappearing as fast as a morning mist, providing the church the opportunity and challenge to make clear once again the radical difference between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the wisdom of the world. But with the disappearance of nominal Christianity comes a vast moral revolution with a new and ominous moral regime. The most basic moral convictions of Western civilization are being rejected in favor of erotic impulses. Erotic liberty now threatens even religious liberty in the great controversies of the era. The threats to religious liberty are real and present. ---Albert Mohler

Luke 18:7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

​ “Justice” is used 135 times in the Bible (Strong’s with ESV & NET). “Justice” is used far more in the Old Testament (124 occurrences) while it is only used 11 times in the New Testament. The most common word for “justice” is the Hebrew word מִשְׁפָּט mishpat, mish-pawt´ which is used 112 times (See the figure above). To “do justice” is to “keep the way of the Lord” (Genesis 18:19). God “executes justice” (Deuteronomy 10:18). “Justice” is something to be followed (Deuteronomy 16:19). “Justice” is something that must not be perverted (Exodus 23:2). Rulers “administer justice” (2 Samuel 8:15). God’s throne is established for justice (Psalms 9:7). God loves justice (Psalms 33:5). The righteous speak justice (Psalms 37:30). Justice is a good thing for a righteous person to receive (Psalms 94:15). God’s justice is something worth singing about (Psalms 101:1). God works justice for the oppressed (Psalms 103:6). Those who “observe justice” are blessed while those who pervert justice are cursed (Psalms 106:3, Deuteronomy 27:19, Proverbs 21:15). To “do justice” is more acceptable to God than sacrifice (Proverbs 21:3). “Righteousness” and “justice” are paired together very often in scripture (Proverbs 2:8). Only those who seek the Lord understand justice (Proverbs 28:5). While people seek for justice from rulers, they will ultimately receive it from God (Proverbs 29:26). God’s justice is a standard or measurement (Isaiah 28:17). God’s “servant”, who many would interpret to be Christ, would bring forth justice on the earth (Isaiah 42:1-3). “Truth” and “justice” are commonly paired together in scripture (Jeremiah 5:1). God will “feed” his people in justice (Ezekiel 34:16). God’s people will be “betrothed” to him in justice (Hosea 2:19). Jesus proclaims justice to the Gentiles (Matthew 12:18). Justice is one of the “weightier matters of the law” which the Pharisees neglected (Matthew 23:23). The saints of old enforced justice through faith (Hebrews 11:33). The Greek word for “Justice” δίκη dike, dee´-kay, which is used only once in Acts 28:4, is not a reference to the abstract idea of justice but is referencing the name of a Greek goddess of justice named “Dike”. --Tim Arndt; Allendale Baptist

​​Luke 18:9-14:
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ​“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 

​"This parable is important because it shows that it was possible to exalt yourself, even as you are participating in a religion of penance and sacrifice. Notice what the Pharisee boasts about—fasting and tithes. He’s bragging about how good he is at giving up worldly things! And this is still possible today. We can turn a strict and supposedly humiliating religion into a point of pride. But the law of faith excludes this kind of boasting just as much as it does outright Pelagianism. I used that word, and so we should talk about it for a moment. Pelagianism is a heresy named after an early church heretic named Pelagius. He denied that man was a sinner by nature, and he denied that man necessarily needed grace in order to overcome sin. There’s much debate over the precise nature of what he taught and how he explained it all, but the idea of Pelagianism is clear enough. It means human self-perfection or self-salvation without any outside assistance. --Wedgewords

​Luke 18:22-25: So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”​

​" ​Based on the simple reading of the text, there shouldn’t be any confusion about what it means to pass a camel through the eye of a needle (the reference also appears in Matthew 19:24 and Mark 10:25). And yet I’ve witnessed pastors do all sorts of exegetical gymnastics to explain away the clear meaning of Christ’s words—not only in my original Australian congregation, but throughout Europe and America, as well. What at first glance seems like a straightforward hyperbolic illustration has been twisted, contorted, and explained away through eisegesis and iffy archeology. The explanation usually goes something like this: Christ wasn’t referring to the eye of a literal needle—that would be preposterous. Instead, He was talking about a narrow entrance into the city of Jerusalem, a gate known locally as “the eye of the needle.” This gate was so small that a camel could only be brought through with great difficulty, squeezed through on its knees—which depicts how we humbly need to come to the Lord. That explanation can be quite compelling—after all, humility is necessary—as long as you don’t read the next two verses of Luke’s gospel: “They who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ But He said, ‘The things that are impossible with people are possible with God’” (Luke 18:26-27). Christ’s words make the point of His illustration abundantly clear. He can’t mean that the rich man can only attain salvation through humility—getting a camel to stoop and squeeze through a narrow gate might be challenging, but it doesn’t require divine intervention. In context, His point is unmistakable: Manufacturing your own salvation is just as impossible as threading a massive beast of burden through the eye of a sewing needle. Apart from the intervention of the Lord, it cannot be done. - Cameron Buettel