Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20100120.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part LXI: Christ's Identity As God's Savior By His Teaching On Handling Spiritual Fainting Spells
(Luke 18:1-8)
  1. Introduction
    1. Life's trials at times can be so great that the believer faces the temptation to have a spiritual fainting spell, a time when he is seriously tempted to give up living by faith in God and in His Word.
    2. Luke 18:1-8 provides Christ's comments on handling such spells, and that commentary in view of the context works to reveal Jesus is a true God's true Savior of the world as well as directing us in our trials:
  2. Christ's Identity As God's Savior By His Teaching On Handling Spiritual Fainting Spells, Lk. 18:1-8.
    1. The Luke 18:1-8a instruction by Jesus comments on how believers in the coming Great Tribulation will need to respond to the overwhelming trials they face at that time:
      1. Luke 1:3 indicates Luke wrote the events of Christ's life in consecutive order, meaning what Jesus said in Luke 18:1-8a followed His discussion on the Great Tribulation found in Luke 17:26-37.
      2. Also, Luke 18:8b refers again to Christ's Second Coming at the end of the Great Tribulation, meaning Luke 18:1-8a commented on the needs of believers on earth who will live in that coming traumatic era!
      3. Thus, Christ's words in Luke 18:1-8a are directed to believers in that Great Tribulation era, and, according to Luke 18:1, they are given to encourage them to pray and not faint in that time of trauma.
    2. As such, Jesus revealed Himself in that parable to be the true God's Savior of the world by His unusual degree of sensitivity to suffering saints, and He gave us rich application for trials we face today as follows:
      1. Jesus gave the parable of an unjust judge who respected neither God nor man, and how a mere widow begged him to rule in her favor on an injustice, Luke 18:2-3.
      2. Initially, the judge refused to heed her, but her persistence eventually so plagued him, he ruled in her favor lest she wear him out by her persistent appeals! (Luke 18:4-5)
      3. Applying this parable to the needs of Great Tribulation saints, Jesus argued that if even a godless judge would rule in a hapless widow's favor due to her persistence alone, how much more would God Who is upright rule in favor of His people when they are persistent in prayer under steep trials, Luke 18:7.
      4. Jesus said that God might wait a long time in His plan to answer them, but that when it was time to answer, He would answer them speedily, Luke 18:8; Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Luke 18:8.
      5. This instruction will be especially applicable to Great Tribulation era suffering saints (as follows):
        1. In the Great Tribulation, the antichrist will be killing innocent people almost at will, Zech. 11:16.
        2. In such a traumatic setting, believers will be tempted to see God as distant and thus heartless much like the unrighteous judge would have seemed to the helpless widow in the Luke 18:2-5 parable!
        3. Yet, due to God's plan, He must wait to bring His kingdom until after the appointed days noted in Daniel 9:27 and 12:11-12, a wait that will tempt suffering saints to "faint" from trusting the Lord!
        4. However, God will expect His own to deal with this temptation by praying more, trusting that if a godless judge would hearken to a lowly widow due to her persistence, then God Who would then HUMANLY SEEM to be heartless due to the terrible, long trials faced would also heed them!
      6. This parable is then followed by Jesus' question of whether there would be any faith in God on the earth when He arrived following the traumatic Great Tribulation, Luke 18:8b with Luke 17:24, 26, 30!
      7. By way of application, (a) this instruction reveals Jesus is very sensitive to the DRAIN that severe trials has on the FAITH believers have in God, a sensitivity typical of a True, Good God's Savior! (b) Also, if Luke 18:1-8a is God's message to believers in the unparalleled trauma of the Tribulation, how much more should we believers in our lesser trials now heed this Luke 18:1-8 directive from God!
Lesson: In the unparalleled trauma of the coming Great Tribulation, God will expect believers on the earth to handle the lure to cease trusting God due to the severe, long trials they will face by praying incessantly for help as did the widow in the parable who successfully persisted with the unjust judge.

Application: If God will call believers in the overwhelming trauma of the Great Tribulation to offset the temptation to cease trusting Him by praying more, we should do likewise in facing our lesser trials!