Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

IMPORTUNITY

1. Our Lord taught the disciples many things, both by precept and example concerning prayer:
   1. He gave us what is know as "The Lord's Prayer" - Matt. 6:9-13
   2. He warned us against senseless and useless repetition of words in prayer - Matt. 6:5,7,8
2. In particular He spoke of two parables to illustrate:
   1. That men ought always to pray and become weary and faint
   2. The parable of the unjust judge
   3. The friend that came at midnight for some bread to borrow

1. A forlorn hope:
   1. She is friendless - without influence and without defense - "no man cared for my soul" - Ps. 142:4; this reminds us of the trail and sufferings of the Son of man
   2. The desolation of widowhood in the East, lying open to every oppression and wrong is too well known in history
   3. We find many instances in the Old Testament which show how men mistreated a widow
2. What must strike the careful reader is:
   1. That our Lord should compare the attitude of the unjust judge to that of God - this seems uncomprehendable of the God who invites us to pray - Jer. 33:3
   2. But the illustration is not directed against God, as much as it exposes man's misconception of Him (i) to many He seems unjust in governing the world and portioning out the lot of man - "Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne" (ii) to some He seems unjust in His treatment of His creatures - "the whole creation groaneth" - Rom. 8:18-23. Scientists tell us that God's universe is controlled by an unalterable law and man is helpless against its function
   3. Man's helplessness is fitly set forth in the forlorn hope of the widow; so it seems for he is but a tiny speck in the universe

1. This is the special lesson of the parable, "That men ought to always pray and not faint"
   1. The widow is friendless and has no remains; she knows that her only hope rests with the judge and his pity
   2. Historians tell us that there are three ways of treating Asiatic officials - by bribe, by bullying, or by bothering them with dogged perseverance into attending to you and to your concern
   3. The last is the only hope of the poor widow - she has no means to bribe the unjust judge; nor can she bully him; but she can persist in her plea
2. The throne of grace:
   1. The great lesson of the parable of the unjust judge is not to give us the idea that when we come to God in prayer that we come to an unjust judge, who cares not for our needs
   2. Non, no a thousand times no, our heavenly Father is just in all His ways - "Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne; mercy and truth shall go before thy face" - Ps. 89:14
3. The fact remains:
   1. That by nature we are sinners, rebels against God, and as such we are unworthy and undeserving before God - Rom. 3:23; Gal. 3:22
   2. There is nothing in our lives that can justly demand of God favors
4. The attitude of God is clearly manifest in that He has provided a way where-by He is willing to meet with sinners:
   1. The mercy seat or the throne of grace - please compare Ex. 25:17, 22 with Heb. 4:16
   2. Jesus Christ is, in a certain sense the only meeting place between us and God - John 14:6
   3. It is not God but sin in our lives that is the great gulf or barrier between us and Him - Is. 59:1-3
5. Importunity:
   1. Persistence in our supplication before God is the lesson taught in our opening text
   2. Our weakness in prayer is that we give up too quickly, we despair too easily and that is what Jesus seeks to correct