Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist and there was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

And he would not for a while. But afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God nor regard men, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her lest by her continual coming, she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 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. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, notice this question, Shall he find faith on the earth? And speaking on this subject, continual coming, continual coming. Lord, we need your help this morning as we deal with the subject of prayer. And Lord, I pray that you would really help our people through this passage.

As you have helped me, in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. As always, I like to kind of break a story apart and look into it. Let's begin first at verse three. And number one, I want you to see the cry of the widow. What was it that she had to say?

Look at verse three. She was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. First of this, I want you to see, number one, her demand. We do not know what the nature of this situation was. We don't know who the individual was that had done her wrong, and we don't know what the individual had done to her. She used the word adversary, and this word adversary in the Greek basically means someone that is continually driving me down, beating me down, and we don't know what this individual was doing to her, and we don't know who it was.

We don't know the relationship or anything like that. But this widow lady had come to this judge because it was the only place that she could come to. Number two, I want you to see her disadvantages. And if you'll notice in verse three, it says there was a widow in that city. Now this poor woman had several things against her.

Number one was this. She was a woman, and women were not allowed at this time to speak in court. Because she was a widow, she did not have a husband to speak on her behalf, and she as a woman was not allowed to speak in the court. Number two, because she was a widow, she didn't have a husband to help meet her needs, and she didn't have a husband that could help fight on her behalf, and she didn't have a husband that would obviously speak in the court for her. Number three, she was a widow, not just a woman, but she was a widow, and she often took advantage of widows. By the way, that still goes on today. And today there's a lot of people that take advantage of elderly.

I mean, we have mechanics and garages and different things charging them for things that don't need because they know they can take advantage of them, and you understand what I'm talking about here. So this woman had a great many disadvantages. Number four is that she was a widow, and being a widow in these days was synonymous with being poor. She had no money. She did not have enough money to try to find justice or get justice. And here's the reason. Because in these days, it was common that judges would be bribed, and that's how you would get justice.

You would have to find something to give them for them to do something for you. And because she was a woman, she couldn't speak in court. Because she was a widow, she didn't have a husband that could speak for her in court. Because she was a widow, she obviously didn't have much money. And because she was a widow, a lot of people were trying to take advantage of her, and she didn't even have the resources to try to get real justice done in her life.

So here we see her demand, and we see her disadvantages, but I want you to notice, thirdly, her determination. Notice if you would in verse five. The Bible says, Yet because this widow troubleth me. Now, here's this judge, and the Bible says that this woman said, Judge, would you avenge me of mine adversary? This woman was disadvantaged, and obviously we see that the judge would not do anything for her. The Bible says in verse five that the judge said, Because she troubleth me. Notice the end of that verse, he said, I will avenge her lest by her continual coming.

That means this. This lady had absolutely nowhere else to go to get what she needed. There's nobody else that could do anything to bring justice to the situation but a judge. And she kept coming to this judge, and the Bible says that that judge said that she troubles me, and she's continually coming to me. That means she went to the judge, he didn't listen to her, and she went back to the judge. And she went back to the judge. And when the judge didn't listen, and the judge dismissed her, and the judge didn't do anything like the continual dropping of a water faucet. It just irks you.

Do you have anybody in your life that irks you? No, I don't wanna, we're not talking about marriage this morning, so let me just get on to something else. It was literally to the point that this woman knew that there is nobody else and nowhere else that she could go to to get the help she needed, and even though this judge that would not listen to her said no, she continuously came to him. She kept coming to him and coming to him and coming to him and coming to him and coming to him and coming to him, and it just seemed that all everything he said, everything he did, nothing could keep her from coming back. The principle God here is teaching is the principle of prayer. You see, dear friend, you and I, if we're gonna be serious about prayer, we have to continuously come to God. Do you agree with that? Say amen.

Amen. I want you to notice, fourthly, her desperation. Because of her social standing and because of her financial standing, she had no other hope but this judge. This widow represents us. And there are times in your life and my life that we have such big burdens and such huge cares upon us that we literally almost can't seem to go on. Just like whoever this adversary was kept bothering her, there are things in our life that keep bothering us. There are burdens that keep us up at night. There are things that keep us from sleeping.

And you and I are not made to be able to carry those type of things. We just can't do it. It'll drive us crazy. It'll keep us up. It'll keep us from eating. It'll mess up our stomachs.

It'll make us so sick and worried and fretting. And you know what, this widow represents us. There are oftentimes things that we need help with and we don't have the resources to help. And we don't have the resources to fix it.

And we don't have all the things it takes because we're disadvantaged, because we're human beings. By the way, can I remind you, you and I are limited. You all need to wake up this morning.

I need a little bit more feedback than I'm getting this morning. You and I are limited. But we serve a God that is limitless. Number two, we've seen the cry of the widow. Number two, I'm just giving you the basis of this story. Number two, I want you to see the coldness of the judge.

Now we're told some interesting things about this particular judge. Look at verse two, if you would. This woman is saying that obviously she has this, look at verse two, saying there was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man.

Number one, I want you to see about this judge that he was corrupt. The Bible says he feared not God. Now you look at me this morning, anybody that does not fear God is corrupt.

Because if you don't fear God, that means that you're relying on your flesh, and the Bible says our flesh is evil continually. So this man feared not God. Warren Wiersbe that's written obviously numerous commentaries I read what he had to say about this story and I just wanted to read this to you.

I thought this was interesting. He said in this day, he said the courtroom was not a fine building but a tent that was moved from place to place as the judge covered his circuit. The judge, not the law, set the agenda and he sat regally in the tent surrounded by his assistants.

Anybody could watch the proceedings from outside but only those who were approved and accepted could have their case tried inside. This usually meant bribing one of the assistants so that he could call the judge's attention to the case. So what is going on here, here's a woman that cannot get her case heard because she doesn't have money to bribe an assistant or bribe the judge, so she had absolutely everything against her. It would have been different if she found a godly judge but she was facing a corrupt judge. By the way, dear friend, you know what you and I often face in this world is corrupt.

You and I oftentimes want to try to fight a spiritual battle with fleshly means. I want you to notice number two, not only was he corrupt but number two, he was calloused. Look if you look at verse four, the first part, and he would not for a while. This woman kept coming to him and coming to him and the Bible says he would not for a while. He wouldn't hear her, he wouldn't listen to her, he wouldn't give her any time, he didn't want to be bothered by her and here's a widow that didn't have anything, didn't have any money, didn't have any family and you would think that maybe somebody like this guy would have a little bit of a heart for somebody like this but he had no heart for her, he was calloused and he began to always reject and reject, didn't want to listen, didn't want to be bothered. In fact, the verse tells us that he considered it troubling that she kept coming to him. He had no heart for her, he was calloused and by the way, you'll find that as you face trials in your life, and I'm gonna tell you something, you're not gonna find a whole bunch of comfort in this world because there's a lot of people that are just calloused.

They're hardened because of sin and I mean Christians too, they're hardened. I want you to notice the third thing, he was condescending. You notice at the end of verse four, he says, though I fear not God, nor regard men. In other words, he looked at men, the average person as being way below him because he was a judge. He was condescending. You know what I find interesting is this man was corrupt, this man was calloused, this man was condescending. He was as far away from God as you could get because he didn't fear God. He didn't think anything about his fellow man because he said he thought men were below him which tells us exactly where he thought women were, let alone widow women. I mean he thought she was as low as she could go. He's corrupt, he's calloused, he's condescending, yet as I read this story, guess what? In the end, he helped her.

She had everything stacked against her but in the end, she got what she needed. Now you say preacher, I just don't understand all this. Well, let me give you a couple things that this judge, when he used the word troubleth and weary, the Bible says that he said this woman coming to him not only troubled him but it made him weary. This word troubleth that he uses here means to reach forth, to beat another, to cause another trouble.

The second word he uses is weary and this word weary in the Greek is to beat down or to blacken the eye. Look at me, what got this guy so upset is by this widow continually coming to him, it was literally giving him a black eye in society. It was starting to make this guy look bad that this woman kept coming to him and he did nothing and it was getting on his nerves. Now, what is the point of this whole story?

Well, the point is this, that if by this woman continually coming to an evil, rotten, hard, calloused, corrupt individual and she was still able to get what she needs, don't you think that you and I, by continually coming to a heavenly Father that loves us, don't you think he'll give us what we need? I was reading, I found in a book they had some excerpts from John Wesley, he was a great Methodist preacher obviously, he kept a diary and I found in this book it had about 10 pages of his diary and I just took about one paragraph out. But I want you to listen to this, he kind of went through his diary, what he went through each day. And in his diary it said this, Sunday A.M., May 5th, preached in St. Anne's, was asked not to come back. Sunday P.M., May 5th, preached in St. John's, Deacon said get out and stay out. Sunday A.M., May 12th, preached in St. Jude's Church, can't go back there either. Sunday P.M., May 19th, preached at St. Somebody Chapel, Deacon's called special meeting, said I could not return. Sunday A.M., May 26th, preached on the street, was kicked off the street. Sunday A.M., June the 2nd, preached at the edge of town, kicked off the highway. Sunday P.M., June 2nd, preached in a pasture, 10,000 people came. 10,000 people came.

You know why? He got kicked out and kept going back. He got removed here and kept going back. If this is what God wants me to do, then I'm just gonna keep going and keep going and keep going and keep preaching and keep preaching and if I get kicked out of every church, I'll go preach in a pasture and 10,000 people came. I want you to notice number three, I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, number three, I want you to see the compassion of our Father. As he gives this story in verses one through six, he tells this story about a cold, calloused, condescending judge that did not wanna do one thing for this woman and yet because she continually came to him, he finally broke down and gave her what she needed.

Not because he loved her, not because he wanted to, but because he got tired of her bothering him. Then God draws the conclusion, if you'll notice, in verse seven, and shall not God avenge his own elect? In other words, this woman needed avenge of her adversary and this unholy, callous guy wouldn't do anything for her, but he finally did because she kept coming to him and in verse seven, God says this, won't God take care of his own? Notice what he says next, which cry day and night unto him?

In other words, God hears his children and his people crying to him day and night and if an old calloused judge that doesn't love her will finally help her, don't you think a God in heaven that loves you more than you've ever been loved, don't you think he'll do something for you? Look what it says at the end of verse seven, though he bear long with them. In other words, this, it might be that you're coming to God and it might be that the answer hadn't come yet and he hadn't done what you needed yet and it hadn't happened yet. It doesn't mean God's not listening because in verse seven it says he's gonna avenge you and it doesn't mean God doesn't hear you because it said that he knows they come to him day and night. It says he bears long with them.

You know what that means, dear friend? That means God is working on your answer. The minute you pray, he is working on your answer.

But you're just gonna have to keep coming to him and keep coming to him. You say, preacher, why is that? Well, I want you to notice first in verse seven, number one, we see this, he hears his people, the compassion of our father. He hears his people. Verse seven, it says that he hears them cry unto him day and night. You can say, preacher, I've been praying for such and such and I've been praying for this particular person and I've been praying for my son and I've been praying for my daughter and I've been praying for my husband and it just doesn't feel like God's done anything, man. I've been praying two or three months, I've been praying two, three years, whatever the case might be, and I just don't think God's listening. Listen to me, dear friend, all over in the Bible, the Bible says God hears our prayers, but right here it says this, that he knows that you're crying out to him day and night.

He's listening. Number two, he honors our persistence. Now, I love this, at the end of this verse seven, though he bear long with them. It says in the first part of verse seven that he will avenge though he bear long with them.

You say, preacher, what does that mean? Look at me, the key is not giving up. God isn't just making you and me wait.

Now look up here, I know you're getting hungry, but you look up here and you gotta get this party, you'll miss it. God is not making us wait just to be mean. And God is not making us wait just to make us wait.

He is already working on the answer that you seek. The first time, the minute you asked him, the minute you came to him with your burden, he was beginning to work on an answer. But look at me, I want you to get this, our persistence in our prayer demonstrates the depth of our burden. If you can pray about something once or twice and then give up, you really weren't burdened about it. That was really good, Brother Daniel.

Did you hear me? Now I know I'm preaching a little bit different this morning, and I'm trying to give you a lot of, look at me, if you can pray about something once, twice, three times, and you kinda quit, that means you really weren't that burdened about it. Why should God meet a need when you're not even burdened about it? Why should God listen to you day and night if you're not gonna cry out day and night to him?

That's what you and I do. We pray once or twice, week sometimes in between, and we say, well, God hasn't answered my prayer. Well, no wonder, because we don't have a burden. But when you are burdened so much that you continually come to God, he will answer your prayer. A genuine burden will put you before God and keep you there until he answers.

I hope you just got that phrase. I'm gonna say it again. A genuine burden will put you before God and keep you there until he answers. So many personal things I'd like to say to this.

I'm gonna move on. Third thing I want you to see is this. Not only does he hear his people, not only does he honor our persistence, but number three, he handles our petitions.

He handles them. Look at verse eight. I tell you that he, speaking of God from the verse before, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.

Remember the story. This woman has to continuously go to this judge, and he finally gave her what she needed. And God is saying here, if she continually went to that judge and finally got what she wanted, when you come to God who does love you, and you do belong to him, he will avenge you speedily.

The problem is you and I and God have different opinions of what speedily is. Can I say this, and I found this in a commentary that I thought was just, it's too deep. You probably, if you'll write it down and maybe think about it in the next couple weeks later, it'll finally click with you, because it took me a while to click. But listen to me. And I found this phrase, I thought this was good. In truth, real prayer is the evidence of God's impending answer. Real prayer is the evidence that God will answer.

Now let me tell you, this is how they explained it. Real prayer always begins with God. The Spirit burdens our hearts, and we offer the burden back to God, who is already engaged in bringing about the answer.

Look at me, when you get burned about something, it's because God put that burden on you. And when you go back to God with that burden, and you just keep going back, and keep going back, and keep going back, God's already working on the answer. And the fact that you prayed it is the proof that he's gonna answer it. Did you hear me? Just by you praying, that's the proof that he will answer.

That's how guaranteed it is. Oh dear friend, if you and I could just be spiritually discerned to grab this, to understand it. God loves us, and if a wicked man would finally do something for a woman that needs it, don't you think a loving Heavenly Father will, if we'll just be burdened enough to come to him? I want you to notice, lastly, the challenge to the saints. Alright, he tells the story. This is the cry of the widow, this is the corruptness of the judge, this is the compassion of the Father. We understand how it all fits in our life, now what is our job? It's amazing how the Bible just preaches itself.

I want you to notice the challenge to the saints first. As we look at this story, what is it that God wants us to do? Number one, and it is in verse one. Number one is this, be committed to prayer. Look at verse one, and he spake a parable to them to this end. To this end means to make this point, that men ought always to pray and not to faint.

Number one is this, be committed to pray. First Thessalonians 5, 17, this is the idea we find. Pray without ceasing, and that word pray without ceasing means this, no intermission. That means this, you wake up in the morning, it doesn't mean you get down on your knees and stay there 14 hours and then go right back to bed. It means when you get up during the day, you open up your conversation with God, you open up that communication with him, and you have open communication throughout the rest of the day. There is no intermission to your prayer.

It means there's a constant spirit and attitude of knowing that God is with you, that you're spending time with him, and you want his direction throughout the day. Amen, yes sir. You know why you and I usually don't get what we need? We don't pray.

We didn't ask for it. Be committed to pray, and other things I was gonna say, number two, be consistent in prayer. Be committed to prayer, number two, be consistent in prayer.

What did he say? Not to faint. It means this, oftentimes you and I will lose heart, and we don't see the results, and that's why we go right back to eating when we don't see the results after a week of dieting. Oh boy, did I get to the choir there, didn't I? You know, we're good, we eat good for about eight hours, and we say, well, I don't see any difference. It's just my genetics.

You know, I ate that five pound burger without cheese, and I don't see any difference. You and I, listen, we are human beings, and we are made the way we're made, and let me tell you how we are made. It is hard for us to stay motivated about anything unless we see results, and God does not work the way you and I work, and you and I have got to understand that, you know what, we've gotta be so committed to prayer that although we might see a result, although we might not see a result, we are gonna keep praying and keep praying and keep praying because we are so burdened about this particular thing that we are not going to let God go, and we're not gonna move away from his doorstep, and we're gonna keep going to the judge and going to the judge and going to the judge, and we are gonna keep going and stay burdened and stay motivated and stay committed long enough till we see God answer our prayer. You're burdened about your child or your children, whatever the case might be, don't ask God once a month to help your child, but you oughta get down on your knees in the middle of the night by their bed, say, God, would you touch them? God, would you keep them from what Satan would love to do to their life?

I want you to notice, thirdly, be continuous in prayer. I notice in verse eight, look, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily, notice this, nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? In other words, this, God's gonna answer and God will help, but he asks this question, when he returns, is he gonna find anybody that has enough faith? Is he gonna find anybody that had enough faith in God that they just kept coming to God, believing and trusting? God's gonna answer this prayer. God's gonna meet my need. God's gonna do what he promised he would do. When God comes back, will he find us faithful? Be continuous in your prayer. You say, preacher, I just haven't seen the results. Dear friend, may I say this?

You don't know everything God is doing. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kerwinbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app.

Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.