THE PRACTICE OF FAITH AND THE ATTITUDE OF FAITH

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LUKE 18:1-14
Lesson #48
THE PRACTICE OF FAITH AND THE ATTITUDE OF FAITH

• Memory Verse: Eph 6:18
• In our previous lesson, Jesus spoke about His second coming to earth.
  • No one knew we would be waiting so long for this anticipated event.
  • However, the same was true for His first coming to earth.
    • The first prophecy given to Adam and Eve of the first coming of the Messiah was in Gen 3:15.
    • Man waited about 4,000 years for the first coming of the Lord.
  • In the last days before the second coming of Christ, there will be a great apostasy or a falling away from the faith. For this reason chapter 18 of Luke begins with faith and prayer, necessary ingredients to see you through tribulation.
• Read Luk 18:1-8 The Parable of the Unjust Judge: The Practice of Faith
  • The central truth of the parable:
    • Jesus gives us the central truth in verse 1.
    • “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (1)
      • Therefore, as world conditions get worse in the last days, the true believer in Jesus Christ will need counsel and comfort in days of great deceptions and persecution.
      • The only way to remain strong in Christ is to maintain an intimate relationship with Christ through prayer and the Word of God that strengthens personal faith.
  • Who does the unjust judge represent?
    • The unjust judge represents God by contrast. Certainly God is not unjust.
      • A characteristic of God’s character is perfect justice balanced with perfect mercy.
      • A characteristic of God’s kingdom is justice equally administered for all people.
        • It is man that thinks God is not just and does not care about the difficult situations that we face.
        • When God delays answers to our prayers, we think He is unjust. We think that Satan is winning.
        • If, when you pray, you think God is unjust, you have a wrong concept of who God is.
        • Instead, God is eager to hear our prayers and to answer them. He does not get weary listening to us.
    • The unjust judge also represents the way the Jewish religious leaders were judging cases unjustly.
      • Notice the judge does not believe in God nor does he believe in right and wrong from man’s standard. (4)
      • The religious leadership was not trusting in God or in man for their unjust decisions.
        • They were like some politicians today.
        • They are opportunists that calculate how every action will benefit them.
  • Who does the widow represent?
    • The widow represents the believer who thinks he is all alone with no one to help him.
    • The believer is portrayed as a widow to indicate weakness, poverty, and persecution because the religious leadership took advantage of widows by confiscating their property and leaving them penniless instead of helping the widows and orphans.
  • Who does the adversary represent?
    • The adversary is Satan and his demons.
    • Because the believer belongs to Christ, the adversary of Christ becomes our adversary.
      • Satan seeks ways to take advantage of believers because we identify ourselves with Christ.
      • Our adversary seeks to defeat, to rob, to kill, and to destroy all that belongs to Christ.
  • The actions of the widow, and what they tells us about prayer:
    • She continually seeks the judge to help her with her struggle against Satan, our adversary. To effectively fight the spiritual battle we find ourselves in, the believer is to always be in prayer.
    • She perseveres in her determination to see justice done. The believer must persevere in his work for the Lord knowing that Christ wins the battle in the end.
    • Her “continual coming” (5) to the judge demonstrates her faith that the judge will respond. In the same way, the believer in Christ must come continually to God for God does not get weary of our prayers that continually ask for the same thing.
    • When her request was not immediately answered, she did not faint (1) but kept coming. In the same way, trials and persecutions may cause believers to get tired of the battle, but don’t be one that gives up and falls into apostasy in the last days..
  • “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?”(7)
    • God is the opposite of the unjust judge in both character and actions.
    • God will avenge his believers eventually because He is righteous and hears our prayers day and night.
      • The word “avenge” means = to work out a perfect justice.
      • Because God’s character and actions are perfect justice, we can trust Him in all things.
  • “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (8)
    • Jesus asks a rhetorical question, one that he does not expect an answer. But if one were to answer it, he would answer, “No.”
    • This verse refers to the great apostasy that occurs in the last days just before the Lord returns to this earth a second time.
      • Read Mat 24:12
      • Jesus told us that the characteristic of the tribulation period will be a lack of love for God and a lack of love for others.
• Read Luk 18:9-14 The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican: The Attitude of Faith
  • Again Jesus gives us the central truth of the parable in verse 9.
    • “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:” (9)
    • The sin of self-righteousness places self before God.
    • The sin of pride comes from a lack of trust in God.
  • To whom did Jesus speak the parable?
    • Jesus spoke this parable to people who trusted in themselves.
      • These people were the self-righteous Pharisees that Jesus called hypocrites.
      • Tradition says that Pharisees thanked God for three things every day. (vs. 11, “not as others”). He thanked God that he was not born a Gentile, that he was not born an ordinary Roman citizen, and that he was not born a woman.
    • Jesus spoke the parable to people who despised other people. (9)
      • A publican was a renegade Jew who worked as an under-collector of Roman taxes. He was under the authority of the tax collectors. Among the Jewish population, he was considered a traitor of the Jewish community because he collaborated with the Romans. He was not allowed to enter parts of the temple or the synagogue, and he was not allowed to give testimony in a court of law.
      • Therefore, the publican was without love for anyone. He trusted in himself.
        • The word despised means = religious egotism that would “count someone else as nothing.” (9)
  • A contrast comparing the attitudes and actions of the two men:

• • Other observations:
    • The Pharisee mentions three kinds of wicked people: the extortionist, the unjust, and the adulterer.
      • The publican may have been guilty of all three of these sins.
      • The publican stands condemned in the eyes of the Pharisee.
    • The Pharisee mentioned that he fasted twice a week.
      • Once a week was the requirement of the Mosaic Law and on the national Day of Atonement. (Lev 16:29 Num 29:7)
      • The Day of Atonement was a national day of repentance from sin.
    • The Pharisee bragged that he tithed on all that he possessed.
      • The Mosaic Law required the tithe on grains and a person’s annual agricultural increase.
      • There was no tithe on possessions. (Gen 28:22 Deu 14:22 Lev 27:30)
    • The Publican had no way to approach God because he was not allowed inside the temple.
      • Jesus Christ at the crucifixion opened the way for all people to come to God. How do we know this?
      • The veil in the temple that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn by God from the top to the bottom to open the way for all to come to God through Christ.
  • What do we learn about attitudes from this parable?
    • In this parable Christ commends three very important attitudes:
      • A humility that causes one to come to God honestly.
      • A repentant attitude that God honors with justification.
      • A faith or trust in God that God honors. (Heb 11:6)
    • When we have a right relationship with God, then we are able to love others as God would have us do.
• Application:
  • How do you know if you are a Pharisee or a publican?
    • There is one easy test:
      • Read Rom 12:3
      • Are you looking at people, or are you looking at God?
        • If you compare yourself with other people, you come up short and feel inadequate, or in pride you place yourself above others and condemn them.
        • If you compare yourself to God, you see your need of repentance. Then God will exalt you in Jesus Christ for your humility according to the kingdom principle in verse 14.
    • What is the kingdom principle in verse 14?
      • God humbles the proud.
      • God exalts the humble.
  • How do these two parables relate to each other?
    • Both parables have a dual application:
      • =1= The Christian must examine his life at any given point in time to be sure he maintains his personal relationship with Christ.
      • =2= The Christian must strengthen his relationship to God especially because persecution of the last days is coming.
    • Together the two parables deal with the two aspects of the practice of faith and the attitude of faith.
      • =1= The believer must maintain his personal relationship with Christ through prayer whether he is living through severe problems or through the persecution of the last days.
      • =2= The believer must maintain his personal priority of faith and love toward God and toward others whether he is living through severe problems or though the persecution of the last days.

Homework
Luke 18:15-30

• Application of Luk 18:1-14
  • How is your practice of faith?
    • Do you pray every day?
    • What good reason can you think of that encourages you to pray every day?
  • How is your attitude of faith?
    • In what way do you show love for the non-believer?
    • In what way do you show love for other believers?
• Preparation for Luk 18:15-30
  • Read Luk18:15-30
    • In what way is the kingdom of God like a child?
    • How does the rich man relate to the camel? (an advanced question)
• Memory Verse: Luk 18:17