Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 856
Delivered on Lord’s-day Morning, FEBRUARY 21, 1869, by, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
“And He spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint, saying, 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 my adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge says. 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.”- Luke 18:1-8.
REMEMBER that our Lord did not only inculcate prayer with great earnestness, but He was Himself a brilliant example of it. It always gives force to a teacher’s words when his hearers know that he carries out his own instructions. Jesus was a mighty Prophet both in deed and in word, and we read of Him, “Jesus began both to do and to teach.” In the exercise of prayer, “cold mountains and the midnight air” witnessed that He was as great a Doer as a Teacher. When He exhorted His disciples to continue in prayer and to “pray without ceasing,” He only bade them follow in His steps. If any one of all the members of the mystical body might have been supposed to need no prayer, it would certainly have been our Covenant Head, but if our Head abounded in supplication, much more ought we, the inferior members!
He was never defiled with the sins which have debased and weakened us spiritually. He had no inbred lusts to struggle with. But if the perfectly pure drew near so often unto God, how much more incessant in supplication ought we to be! So mighty, so great and yet so prayerful! O you weak ones of the flock, how forcibly does the lesson come home to you! Imagine, therefore, the discourse of this morning is not preached to you by me, but comes fresh from the lips of One who was the great master of secret prayer, the highest paragon and pattern of private supplication—and let every word have the force about it as coming from such a One.
We turn at once to our text and in it we shall notice, first, the end and design of the parable. Secondly, we shall have some words to say upon the two actors in it, whose characters are intentionally so described as to give force to the reasoning. And then, thirdly, we shall dwell upon the power which in the parable is represented as triumphant.
I. First, then, consider our LORD’S DESIGN IN THIS PARABLE—“Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” But can men pray always? There was a sect in the earlier days of Christianity who were foolish enough to read the passage literally and to attempt praying without ceasing by continual repetition of prayers. They, of course, separated themselves from all worldly concerns—and in order to fulfill one duty of life neglected every other! Such madmen might well expect to reap the due reward of their follies.
Happily there is no need in this age for us to duplicate such an error! There is far more necessity to cry out against those who, under the pretense of praying always, have no settled time for prayer at all and so run to the opposite extreme. Our Lord meant, by saying men ought always to pray, that they ought to be always in the spirit of prayer—always ready to pray. Like the old knights, always in warfare—not always on their steeds dashing forward with their lances in position to unhorse an adversary—but always wearing their weapons where they could readily reach them and always ready to encounter wounds or death for the sake of the cause which they championed. Those grim warriors often slept in their armor. So even when we sleep, we are still to be in the spirit of prayer, so that if perhaps we wake in the night we may still be with God.
Our soul, having received the Divine influence which makes it seek its heavenly center, should be evermore naturally rising towards God Himself. Our heart is to be like those beacons and watchtowers which were prepared along the coast of England when the invasion of the Armada was hourly expected, not always blazing, but with the wood always dry and
the match always there—the whole pile being ready to blaze up at the appointed moment. Our souls should be in such a condition that ejaculatory prayer should be very frequent with us. No need to pause in business and leave the counter and fall down upon our knees—the spirit should send up its silent, short, swift petitions to the Throne of Grace.
When Nehemiah would ask a favor of the king, you will remember that he found an opportunity to do so through the king’s asking him, “Why are you sad?” But before he gave him an answer he says, “I prayed unto the King of Heaven.” Instinctively perceiving the occasion, he did not leap forward to embrace it, but he halted just a moment to ask that he might be enabled to embrace it wisely and fulfill his great design in it. So you and I should often feel, “I cannot do this till I have asked a blessing on it.” However impulsively I may spring forward to gain an advantage, yet my spirit, under the influence of Divine Grace, should hesitate until it has said, “If Your Spirit goes not with me, carry me not up.”