Praying For Justice
Luke 18:1-8
April 19, 2020
This morning we come to a pretty familiar story.
This story of the persistent widow is not uncommon to us, we’ve all heard it before.
In one sense it is quite an easy story to understand.
• The analogy Jesus makes is pretty obvious to us, as is His point about persistence in prayer.
But in another sense it is a widely misunderstood story
• And one that we miss the point of completely.
To show you how we miss the point,
I would just first direct your attention to the final verse of the text.
Look at verse 8.
• This is after we are told to pray and not lose heart.
• This is after we are told about the persistent widow and the unrighteous judge.
• This is after we are reminded that God is not at all like the unrighteous judge.
• This is after we are reminded that God will bring about justice for us.
And then at the end of vs 8 we read this rather peculiar statement.
(8b) “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
In my studies I had actually written on my scratch sheet:
“Why does He mention the second coming here?
Why not say, ‘However, do you trust Him enough to pray day and night?’”
It almost seems like the reference
To the second coming comes out of nowhere.
We might ask:
• What does His coming have to do with our praying about injustice?
• What does His coming have to do with our persistence in prayer?
This is one of those places in the Bible where
THE CHAPTER BREAK is extremely unfortunate.
If you were with us two weeks ago, and even before that, you’ll know that
We have been listening as the Lord spoke of the coming of His kingdom.
• It all started back in 17:20 when the Pharisees sort of dared Him to produce
signs of His kingdom.
• Jesus instead told them that the spiritual kingdom was here and they needed
to enter it.
• He did, however, then turn to His disciples to talk to them about the coming
of His kingdom.
• And so you know that 17:22-37 was all about the second coming and the
setting up of Christ’s kingdom on earth.
And the temptation is to think that
The sermon was over at the end of chapter 17, but it wasn’t.
When you get to chapter 18 we read, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”
Nothing there indicates a new audience or a new setting.
In fact, if verse 18:1 was actually 17:38
You’d be more likely to unite it with the previous train of thought.
THE SERMON CONTINUES
Now remember what Jesus told them?
Luke 17:22 “And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.”
Jesus told His disciples that there was coming a time
When He would be gone and they would long for Him,
But would not see Him.
• During this time would be great deception.
• If you read Matthew’s gospel you know there would also be persecution.
And one might ask: How are believers supposed to endure this time period without Christ in which deception and persecution abound?
AND THE ANSWER: We are to “pray at all times and not to lose heart”
“lose heart” translates EKKAKEO and it means “to be utterly spiritless;
to be wearied out, exhausted; to give up, or lose courage.”
And so perhaps you understand now a little better
Why the purpose of this parable.
It is NOT a simple parable about prayer in general,
But rather IT IS the specific instruction of our Lord to His disciples
Regarding how we are to handle this difficult period
Between His ascension and His second coming.
• This time period when we long for Him.
• This time period when we so badly want to see Him.
• This time period when injustice and evil and godlessness abounds.
• This time period when God is mocked and Christ is rejected.
• This time period when babies are aborted and immorality is sought.
• How do we handle such a time without losing heart?
• How do we handle this time period without growing weary?
• How do we handle this time period without losing courage?
The answer: WE PRAY
This parable is specifically about
• Praying for the Lord’s return.
• Praying for God’s vengeance and justice.
• Praying for Christ’s return and the day in which He will judge His enemies.
As Christians we pray for that day.
John said:
Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
Now to that end, BEFORE WE GET FURTHER into our text let me remind you again of those truths we have so often studied in the Psalms.
They are called the Imprecatory Psalms.
The Psalms where David calls down judgment on His enemies.
Psalms 5:8-10 “O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; Make Your way straight before me. There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.”
Psalms 7:6 “Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.”
Psalms 10:12-15 “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted. Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, “You will not require it.” You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan. Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.”
And as we have studied these we have talked about
How so many of the current Christian community
View prayers like that as actually “Un-Christian”.
They say, “We must never pray like that.”
And of course the go-to passage is where Jesus prayed on the cross
That God would forgive His enemies.
And we certainly do not overlook the importance of that prayer.
• Certainly we pray for our enemies.
• Certainly we pray for those who persecute us.
• We pray for their repentance.
• We pray for their salvation.
But at the same time we do not pray that
They will be able to live in sin indefinitely and spurn God forever.
WE STILL LONG FOR JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Psalms 7:12-16 “If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate.”
We want repentance, but we are not willing to just roll over
And treat evil as something we will tolerate forever.
• We pray for the day when Christ will come and judge His foes.
• We pray for the day when Christ will come and set up a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells.
Romans 8:24-25 “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
Philippians 3:17-21 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
We know this wicked world will be destroyed when Christ comes,
But that doesn’t keep us from eagerly waiting for Him.
Our desire for the wicked to repent does not in any way diminish
Our desire for the Lord to return and judge the wicked.
In fact, tonight we’re going to look at Psalms 69.
It’s a Psalm with several Messianic fulfillments
For instance:
Psalms 69:21 “They also gave me gall for my food And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
You recognize that event. It spoke of the cross of Jesus
When they gave Him vinegar on the cross.
Do you want to see the very next verse?
Psalms 69:22-28 “May their table before them become a snare; And when they are in peace, may it become a trap. May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, And make their loins shake continually. Pour out Your indignation on them, And may Your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be desolate; May none dwell in their tents. For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded. Add iniquity to their iniquity, And may they not come into Your righteousness. May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.”
That catch you off guard?
You were expecting, “Father forgive them” weren’t you?
THE POINT IS that even in His righteous suffering,
And even while He prayed for the forgiveness of His persecutors,
Even Christ looked with an eye to the future of His coming kingdom
And the day His enemies would be destroyed.
Or perhaps you remember these Psalms?
Psalms 57,58,59.
We called them the “Destroy Not” Psalms.
They were set to “Al-tashheth” which means “destroy not”
But we noted that was a strange distinction
Since in those Psalms we read statements like:
Psalms 57:2-3 “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.”
Psalms 58:6 “O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.”
Psalms 59:5 “You, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. Selah.”
Psalms 59:13 “Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more; That men may know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah.”
How can you call those the “Destroy Not” Psalms?
Because they weren’t sung for God’s benefit, but for our benefit.
They were songs of David sung to remind him and his men
To never take their own revenge,
But rather to leave room for the wrath of God.
Remember?
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”
Even Jesus taught us to pray:
Matthew 6:10 “’Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”
WE KNOW OUR ROLE. On this earth, without Christ, as evil abounds.
• We are tempted to lose heart.
• We are tempted to shrink back.
BUT WE DON’T.
Instead we pray for the return of the Lord
When He will come and set all things right.
• We are tempted to take our own revenge and take matters into our own hands.
BUT WE DON’T.
Instead we pray for the return of the Lord
When He will come and set all things right.
We, in many ways, are like the martyrs below the altar:
Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ” How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
So I hope you now have a better understanding
Of what we are talking about in this parable.
• We have a widow who wants justice.
• We have a widow who wants vindication.
• We have a widow who wants deliverance from her opponent.
• She is not losing heart.
• She is not taking matters into her own hands.
• She is instead doing exactly what we must do.
• She is bringing her burden to her judge.
The blessing for us, is that unlike her we have a righteous judge.
So let’s look at the story together and learn how we are to respond
During this time of evil while we wait for the return of Christ.
Let’s break this story down into 3 points this morning.
#1 THE PREFACE
Luke 18:1
We actually find here what is NOT COMMON to all of the parables.
• And that is that Luke actually makes sure we get the point of the parable right off the bat.
Luke prefaces the parable with this explanation.
“Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”
Jesus has mentioned that He will be leaving.
• During His absence His disciples will long for His days and won’t see it.
• He has told us that deception will abound.
• And we know that evil and persecution will abound as well.
In fact we read passages like:
1 Timothy 4:1-2 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,”
Or
2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”
Or
2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
Or perhaps even more relevant to the current point:
2 Peter 3:3-4 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
We see the promises all throughout the Bible that
This world is not getting better, but is in fact getting worse.
As time goes on and we still await the return of the Lord,
Our world seems to take His absence as a sign
That He isn’t coming at all.
Some even mock that He won’t come.
Certainly we see irreverence on the rise.
I’m sure some of you caught the news conference by Governor Cuomo this past week in which he said, “The number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that. Fate did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that.”
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2020/04/new-york-governor-andrew-cuomo-god-did-not-stop-spread-of-virus/
And that’s to not even mention some of the other attacks of governors on Christianity in the past 2 weeks.
We know how Christ is mocked and how people say His return is myth.
JESUS EVEN PROMISED THAT.
Remember Luke 17 when He spoke of His return.
• He said it would be like the days of Noah and the days of Lot.
• Both of those days where extremely immoral days.
• Days when men lived in the grossest and vilest sin imaginable.
And they lived in that sin with absolutely not thought given to judgment.
Remember how Jesus put it?
Luke 17:27 “they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”
Luke 17:28-29 “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.”
They were undisciplined, unholy, unconcerned men.
• They lived in their worldly pleasures with absolutely no concern of a coming judgment.
• They ignored the righteous men in their midst that they might swim in the filth of their sin.
WE UNDERSTAND THAT.
We understand the pain of living in a sinful world.
We understand what Peter says about righteous Lot.
2 Peter 2:7-8 “and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),”
That’s a good way to put it isn’t it?
TORMENT
• We are tormented by abortion.
• We are tormented by sexual immorality.
• We are tormented by homosexuality and other sexual perversion.
• We are tormented by greed and deception and a lack of integrity.
And all the while it just keeps getting worse
And Jesus still hasn’t appeared.
We long for His days but we don’t yet see them.
So what’s the command?
“pray and not to lose heart”
THIS STORY IS ABOUT THAT.
The Preface
#2 THE PARABLE
Luke 18:2-5
You understand this story pretty well without much explanation.
1) AN UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE (2)
“In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man.”
Incidentally, there was a specific warning in the Old Testament
That all judges must do this.
2 Chronicles 19:6-7 “He said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD who is with you when you render judgment. “Now then let the fear of the LORD be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the LORD our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe.”
But this judge didn’t care.
• In fact later, he’ll say this about himself. (4b) “Even though I do not fear God
nor respect man,”
“respect” is a Greek word which means “to be put to shame”
What Jesus is saying is that this judge “was not ashamed before people”
• He didn’t care what they thought.
• He wasn’t worried about their opinion.
• He had no shame.
He was just a vile and carnal man with no moral code.
He was only a judge for what he could get out of it.
2) A HELPLESS WIDOW (3)
“There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’”
She must have been ALONE because in their culture
Any women would have rather a man go on her behalf.
She was a widow. She was helpless.
She had no power to resist or stop her legal opponent.
HER ONLY HOPE was that this judge would act on her behalf.
Literally that he would vindicate her.
That he would give her justice.
You already understand what a FAR-FETCHED NOTION that was
Since this man already rejected the two great social pressures
That would have caused him to do it.
On one hand it is all throughout God’s word
• That He would have us care for the orphans and widows; but this man didn’t
fear God.
On top of that, there is a certain social pressure
• That society would put on a judge to help the less fortunate, and he didn’t care
about that.
In reality, he was probably more likely to rule in favor of the opponent
Because this widow had nothing to offer him that would profit him
And it is likely that the opponent did.
She was in a tough predicament.
3) THE INITIAL JUDGMENT (4a)
“For a while he was unwilling”
• He just said, “No”.
• There was nothing in it for him.
• His only motivation was what was good for him and this widow had nothing.
She was on her own.
He didn’t care about her.
4) THE EVENTUAL JUDGMENT (4b-5)
“but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’”
You do need to understand the culture a little here.
It is true that women in that day had no basic rights.
Yet, they were held in high respect and had honor.
And this meant that they could get away with certain behaviors
That men could not get away with.
• Namely, they could badger and beg and even yell non-stop at the judge without real fear of repercussion.
We might understand that in today’s unwritten rules like,
“You should never hit a woman”.
If a man gets in your face and starts mocking and threatening, you might feel at liberty to sock him in the nose, but you won’t do it to a woman because she is a woman.
Well that’s where this man was.
There was a certain honor in place
And a certain line that even he couldn’t cross.
He couldn’t stop this woman from continually badgering him.
He actually said, “by continually coming she will wear me out.”
“wear out” is HUPOPIAZO (hoo-poe-pee-od-zoe)
Which literally means “to strike in the face” or “to treat roughly”
Or “to beat black and blue”.
1 Corinthians 9:27 “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
This woman was gnawing on him and beating him up
From the inside out and he couldn’t take it any longer.
So finally he consented.
• Not because he feared God.
• Not because he respected man.
• But because this woman wouldn’t leave him alone,
He gave “her legal protection”
He gave her justice – He gave her vindication.
THAT’S THE PARABLE.
The Preface, The Parable
#3 THE POINT
Luke 18:6-8
“Hear what the unrighteous judge said”
What did he say?
“because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection”
He basically stated that there’s no other way of dealing with her
Than to give in to her requests.
To which Jesus responds.
“will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night”
The important thing here obviously is to recognize the CONTRASTS.
• We contrast an unrighteous judge who does not care for this widow,
• With a righteous Father who certainly cares for His elect.
Matthew Henry noted 9 important contrasts here that further emphasize the point.
1) This widow was a stranger, but we are God’s own elect, whom He knows and loves.
2) She was one, but the praying people of God are many.
3) She came to a judge who bode her keep her distance, but we come to a Father who bids us come boldly to Him.
4) She came to an unjust judge, but we come to a righteous Father.
5) She came to this judge purely on her own account, but God Himself is engaged in the cause which we are soliciting.
6) She had no friends to speak for her, but we have an Advocate with the Father, His own Son who ever lives to make intercession for us.
7) She had no encouragement given her to ask, but we have a promise that if we ask it will be given to us.
8) She could have access to the judge only at some certain times, but we may cry to God day and night and at all hours.
9) Her importunity was provoking to the judge, but our importunity is pleasing to God.
(Henry, Matthew [Matthew Henry’s Commentary in one volume; Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI; 1960] pg. 1481)
It is an obvious contrast isn’t it?
If that unrighteous judge would bring about vindication
For this widow then certainly God will for us.
THIS IS THE ANSWER TO THE FRUSTRATION
That all believers feel as we long for the return of Christ.
As we see a world of evil and corruption and immorality and blasphemy and defiance.
• We, like the disciples, long to see the days of the Son of Man.
• We feel the anguish of righteous Lot.
• We identify with the Psalmist’s prayers for justice.
But here, our Savior reminds us that VINDICATION IS A CERTAINTY for God’s children.
• He will not leave us as orphans.
• He will come to us.
• He will vindicate us.
• He will come and make everything right in the end.
That is a certain promise meant to encourage us.
In your frustration, in your despair,
Cry to God who will most certainly respond.
Now, we do need to do a little work on that next phrase
Because it is a little MISLEADING.
(7b-8) “and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.”
Now, in reading that statement IT DEFINITELY SOUNDS LIKE that
If you will simply cry out to God for justice then He’ll give it to you quickly.
There is a problem however isn’t there?
The Bible is filled with stories of BELIEVERS who cried out for vindication or justice WHO DID NOT receive it quickly. (At least not by human terms)
That is the point of all those imprecatory Psalms.
That is why we so often read the phrase, “How long..?”
We know that many believers lived lives of great injustice,
And were even martyred before any vindication in this world occurred.
We certainly do not doubt any words from our Lord,
But is it possible that perhaps
This is not exactly what He was saying?
“delay long over them” actually translates MAKROTHUMEO
• In relation to time MAKROS means “distant”
• THUMOS means “wrath”
The word Jesus used here literally means “to be patient”
It is translated “delay long” because translators assumed
Jesus was reinforcing His answer that God will vindicate.
However, there is much reason to believe
What Jesus was actually doing
Was EXPLAINING WHY VENGEANCE IS DELAYED.
Let me show you some OTHER PLACES that MAKROTHUMEO is used.
Romans 2:4 “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
Romans 9:22 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?”
In both of those you see that what Paul referred to was
GOD PATIENTLY ENDURING SINNERS.
He was delaying His wrath in judgment and giving them an opportunity to repent.
Paul actually credited that patience as the reason for his own salvation.
1 Timothy 1:16 “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
Peter speaks of this same concept going on during the days of Noah.
1 Peter 3:20 “who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”
But perhaps the most telling usage of this word
Comes in Peter’s second letter.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
There we are reminded that the reason Christ seems slow in regard to His promise to come and vindicate His children is because He is patient.
• He is not willing that one single one of His elect should perish.
• He will not judge the world until every single one of His sheep are found.
Peter mentions it again later.
2 Peter 3:15 “and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,”
And this gives us a better explanation
Of what Jesus is talking about here in Luke’s gospel.
He certainly promises that God will vindicate His children,
But at the same time He explains why there is a delay.
He is patiently waiting for all of His elect to come in.
A better way to read the verse would be like this:
“will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night?” (YES) “but He exercises patience over them.”
And then Jesus says:
(8) “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.”
Which DOES NOT speak to quickly in a calendar sense,
But rather in a sudden sense.
His return is a sudden event
And that is what He is saying here.
• Do not lose heart in this world.
• Do not quit praying.
• Do not quit trusting.
God is a good Father who faithfully cares for His elect.
He most certainly will bring vindication for His own.
The only reason for His delay
Is that He is patiently waiting for all His elect to come home,
But when they do, His return and judgment will be sudden and swift.
And then Jesus ends this story with a very important question.
(8b) “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
What is He talking about?
When the Lord returns there will be two types of people.
• Those who eagerly sought and anticipated His return as evidenced by their faithful prayer and not losing heart.
• And those who dismissed His return as evidenced by their busyness in all of the world’s ventures.
Those who were only interested in the affairs of this world
Will be judged suddenly.
Those who were ready for the return of the Lord will be saved.
And the implied question is: WHICH ARE YOU?
Have you given up on the Lord?
• Are you tempted to lose heart when looking at this wicked world?
• Have you adopted the “if you can’t beat ‘em you might as well join ‘em”?
• Are you convinced that He’s not coming back and so you aren’t concerned about the way in which you live?
Or, are you faithfully holding to the promise?
• When life is unjust, are you able to refrain from taking your own revenge because you still believe that one day Christ will return and vindicate you?
• Are you able to simply cast all things on Him in prayer and trust His coming?
• Are you walking in faith that He will come and set all things right?
That is how we handle this difficult time
Between the Lord’s ascension and His departure.
We walk in faith that the Lord’s timing is perfect and His day of reckoning will come.
2 Peter 3:9-10 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
