Longing to See one of His Days

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrook. The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, Chapter 18, verses 1 through 8.

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And Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought to always pray and not lose heart.

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He said in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. There was a widow in that city who kept coming to him saying, give me justice against my adversary.

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For a while he refused. But afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me,

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I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. And the

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Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night?

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Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.

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Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

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You may be seated. In the name of Jesus. All right. Our text today from our gospel lesson is, well, teaching us something about prayer.

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But don't think for a second that the punchline of Jesus' parable is just keep nagging

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God and you'll eventually get what you want. That'd be a great way to, you know, that'd be wonderful.

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I can get whatever I want as long as I just nag God. Come on, God. God, I want this. Please give it to me.

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God says no. I go back. Come on, God. I really, really, really, really, really want this. That sounds kind of like the spoiled child approach to prayer.

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That's not what Jesus is talking about. Now, in order to understand what it is that Jesus is really referring to, you'll notice that there was a gap from last week's gospel lesson, the healing of the ten lepers, and this week's gospel lesson.

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And the context and the right way of understanding what Jesus is talking about is found in the gap. Now, as we work through the gap for our context, then, think of it this way.

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We're going to have to learn some, well, theological jargon.

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If you want some big, impressive theological $10 words that you can throw around at Christmas parties and things like that, take some notes and then you can use those to impress your friends later.

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That's really not the point of it. You're going to need some theological jargon because, well, Christianity has some concepts that must be taught and rightly understood.

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So to help us get the context, we're going to pick up at the very tail end of last week's gospel lesson,

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Luke 17, verse 15. If you remember, the point of last week's gospel lesson was that there's a new temple in town, that new temple is

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Jesus, and we're going to note that the Pharisees quickly pick up on what's going on here and its implications regarding the kingdom of God and then watch what

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Jesus does. Here's what it says, Luke 17, verse 15. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, this is the

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Samaritan, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving thanks, and now he was a

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Samaritan. When Jesus answered, we're not ten, cleansed, where are the nine, was no one found to return and give praise to God except for this foreigner.

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We noted that for the first time in 400 years, a Samaritan actually worshiped at the right temple.

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He said to them, rise and go, your faith has saved you.

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That's what the Greek says. Next verse, being asked by the Pharisees.

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The Pharisees were clearly standing by, and they see this Samaritan worshiping and thanking Jesus for healing him, and they can see the connection now.

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Immediately, they pick up on the theme, and they said, so the Pharisees, they asked him when the kingdom of God would come.

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So when is the kingdom of God coming then, Jesus? That's kind of what's going on here. And Jesus answered, then the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.

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The way the Greek says it, the kingdom of God does not come by observation. In other words, those people nowadays who are very, well, dead set on trying to crack the end times code.

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Eschatology, by the way, is the name given for the study of the end times, eschatos, last.

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Okay, so eschatology is the study of the last times. Those who read the newspaper, and with one hand, and the

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Bible with another, trying to figure out, are these the signs and the times, and we can figure out that Jesus is coming back next

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Thursday at four o 'clock Eastern. It always ends up in them making predictions, does it not?

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And you know, I sometimes joke, and this is kind of a silly thing to do, but I joke about how

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I have survived the end of the world at least six times in my adult life. So the next time somebody predicts the end of the world, it's like, oh,

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I gotta survive the end of the world again, really? It always turns out to be a non -event, right?

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So Jesus puts all of that away. He says, the kingdom of God does not come by observation. Now that's not to say that Jesus hasn't given us things to look for that warn us of his eminent return, but keep in mind, the things that Jesus warned us about, well, they are likened to birth pangs, and those of you men who've had your wives go to the hospital because they've given birth, we all know how that works out, right?

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You go to the hospital because the wife wakes you up in the middle of the night and says, it's time, the baby's coming.

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And what do you do? You drive 90 miles an hour to the hospital, and the police pull you over, my wife's having a baby, that's okay,

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I'll escort you, and then, and you're driving now, and then you get to the hospital, and what do you do?

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They hook her up to all the machines, you got the probes and the graph thing going on, okay, we're ready, we're ready, and what do you do?

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You wait. And the doctor comes and says, well, yeah, she's at four sonometers, you know, hunker down, you're gonna be here for a while, 36 hours later and no sleep, right, what are you doing?

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It's like, is this baby gonna come or not? But all along, what is happening is the contractions are getting closer and closer and stronger and stronger, and your wife is getting more and more agitated.

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So all of the signs of the end times pointing to the birth of the new earth, well, they're like that, so hunker in, we're gonna be here for a while.

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That's kind of Jesus's point. So Jesus then says, the kingdom of God doesn't come by observation, nor will they say, look, here it is, or there, for behold, the kingdom of God is among you, it's in the midst of you.

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The kingdom of God is here right now, do you see it? Well, that's an awkward silence.

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You see, the kingdom of God comes to us where people are brought to penitent faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

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The kingdom of God is here now. We believe this by faith, someday we will see it by sight.

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So that's why Jesus says, when they say, there it is, don't believe them, oh, there it is, don't believe them.

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And then he said to his disciples, so he's kind of done with the Pharisees, they're kind of a hopeless case at this point anyway.

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So he says to his disciples, all right, listen, boys, the days are coming when you are going to desire really long to see one of the days of the

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Son of Man, and you're not gonna see it. There's times coming when you're gonna think, oh, man, if only

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I could just have one day with Jesus like we had back in Galilee. And that's not gonna happen.

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And in their lifetime, they're gonna hear people say, look, there's Jesus, or look, here he's over there.

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Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will be the

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Son of Man in his day. In other words, keep this in mind, when we pair this with Matthew 24, we learn that one of the big end times deceptions is going to be a bunch of people saying, that guy over there, we heard that Jesus appeared and has set up court in the kingdom of God in Nigeria.

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We've sent the TBN news crew to go and check to see, oh, yes, we've got Jesus sightings in South Africa, and stuff like that.

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And here's the sad part. The reason why Jesus warns us about this stuff is because there are going to be a lot of people who are

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Christians who are gonna sit there and go, really, really? And then when they see the image, the fuzzy image of Jesus, like the

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Sasquatch pictures on the television, they're gonna go, oh, that's Jesus. And it's like, no, that's not

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Jesus, Jesus told you that's not Jesus. So that's how deceptive things are in the last days.

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So think of it this way. When Jesus returns, it's gonna be as obvious as lightning. Ain't nobody gonna sit there and go, is that Jesus?

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Everyone's gonna know it's Jesus. And if you're sitting there going, is that Jesus? It ain't Jesus. I know it just seems kind of obvious, and I'm trying to have a little fun with this, but this is a dark topic.

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Note this, then. Jesus said, the son of man, first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

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And now Jesus engages in something that's kind of fascinating. As you read this next portion,

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Jesus is going between two poles. This is what we call, and here comes the jargon, this is inaugurated eschatology versus consummated eschatology.

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The last days begin with the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. They end with his coming in glory to judge the living and the dead.

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So Jesus goes to two bookends, and he kind of goes back and forth, switches channels without any warning.

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One second he's talking about inaugurated eschatology, his death, resurrection, and then he switches to when he's coming again in glory, and so you kind of have to watch the two.

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Does that make sense? So he says, for as the lightning flashes, crosses the sky, so will be the son of man in his day, first he must suffer many things, be rejected by this generation, inaugurated eschatology, just as it was in the days of Noah, so will be in the days of the son of man.

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They were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, the flood came and destroyed them all, consummated eschatology.

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You see the two bookends here? They were eating and drinking, likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when

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Lot went out of Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all, so will be on the day when the son of man is revealed.

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That's the end of time. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop with his goods in the house not come down to take them away, and likewise, when the one who is in the field, not turn back.

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And here's the gist of what Jesus is saying. We know what to expect, Jesus told us what's going to happen, and if we happen to be alive on this day when

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Jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, your neighbors are going to do this. Unbelieving neighbors are going to go, oh my goodness, what are we going to do?

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We've got to hide, we've got to figure out how to survive this. Quick, grab the photo albums, get the bug out bag, go get all that food that we've been stocking up and let's go get in our bunker.

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That's going to solve the problem. We, on the other hand, we see the sign of Jesus is coming and we say, that's

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Jesus coming. You know what we do? Grab a lawn chair and wait for the angels to pick you up.

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Seriously. There's no point in running, there's no point in hiding, we know how this is all going to go down and this is

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Jesus' point. So then he says, whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, whoever loses his life will keep it.

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I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed, one will be taken, the other left.

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There will be two women grinding together, one will be taken, the other left. Now notice, when does all this take place?

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On the day that Jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. You'll notice this one taken, one left, this isn't secret stuff.

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This is in conjunction with Jesus' return in glory. So the idea here is that this one taken, one left, this is the separation of the sheep and the goats.

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The sheep on the right, the goats on the left, the angels are doing the sorting. So when they pick you up, alright,

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I'm going to be with the sheep, because that's how that goes, because you is sheep. I know that's bad

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English, but it's true. So then they said to him, where? Now this is an interesting thing, so Jesus is describing consummated eschatology.

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The very, very last day, and they go, where is this going to happen?

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Okay, now watch what Jesus does. He goes all the way back to the other bracket. Where, Lord?

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He said to them, where the corpse is. There the vultures will gather. He's referring to the corpse of his body, and where was

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Jesus' corpse originally? Jerusalem. So in the sense, this last phrase, which is kind of a little bit cryptic,

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Jesus is referring to his death and resurrection, and also returning, talking about the place to which he will physically return on the last day.

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You see it? Now that's our context. So Jesus, in talking about, boys, you're going to wish to see, experience, and have one of those days with me, but you're not going to have it.

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So what do you do in the in -between time, from the time of Jesus' death and resurrection into the time of his return?

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What's your mindset? Because I know you're going to want to see me, but it ain't going to happen.

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And it's going to seem like I'm not hearing your prayers, and oh, you're going to go through all kinds of trials and tribulations.

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It's going to be really awful at times. So what should be your mindset? Here's what he says. So Jesus told him a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

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And so he tells the story about a really ornery judge. This guy doesn't care about anybody except for himself.

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In a certain city, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And here's kind of the point,

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I'm going to kind of tease this out. This unjust judge is representing

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God in certain ways, but Jesus' point is that although this judge has similar power to God in that sense,

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God is nothing like this judge. And so trust that. But here's what he says. So this judge neither feared

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God nor respected man, which means he was neither

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Jewish in his thinking because he didn't fear and love God, and he didn't respect man, he didn't go along with the culture, and that was an honor culture at the time.

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You can say that he didn't go along with Norwegian Jantaloven concepts, right? This guy was totally in it for himself.

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And then there's this widow. Widows in that day had like nothing. They had no power, no authority. She's totally at this guy's mercy.

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And this guy doesn't care about her, doesn't care about their culture, doesn't care about God. The only person he cares about is himself.

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And so she came to him saying, give me justice against my adversary. Interesting little note there.

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That frames what kind of prayer Jesus is talking about, and I'll show it to you from Scripture in a minute.

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Give me justice against my adversary. For a while, he refused, but afterwards he said to himself, self, though I neither fear

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God nor respect man, yet because of this widow, she keeps bothering me, I'm gonna give her justice so that she'll not continue to beat me down by her continual coming.

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It's like, really, you again, seriously? So finally he just acquiesces and gives her the justice that she needs.

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And see, here's the thing. This is the kind of prayer that Jesus is talking about. Because in the in -between time, in the in -between time of Jesus' death and resurrection and his return, we as Christians are persecuted.

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We as Christians have to witness the rise of evil, the rise of apostasy.

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We have to see all kinds of things going wrong in the world and even in our own lives.

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And here's the reason why. Because God is saving people. God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

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And so God in his patience is not giving people what they deserve today.

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Instead, today is the day of mercy. Today is the day when we proclaim that in Christ is the forgiveness of sins.

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In him is eternal life and salvation as a free gift. Today we talk about the free pardon and grace.

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That ends when Jesus returns. Does that make sense? So because of God's great patience and long suffering and his forgiveness and grace,

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God puts up with a lot of nonsense in the in -between. And as a result of it, we

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Christians experience persecution, suffering, well, people who mock us, people who become our adversaries and do injustices against us.

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And what do we pray in the midst of all of that? Lord, are you even there? Do you not care?

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I'm one of your children. And we long to see the day of Christ, just even one day, like Jesus' apostles.

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And God tells us, don't lose heart, keep praying.

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God hears you. He hears you. And that's the point. So Jesus said, hear what the unrighteous judge says and will not

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God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night?

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Will he delay long over them? No, not long. Not long by God's standards, maybe by ours.

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And will not God give justice to his elect? Brothers and sisters, that's you.

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You are the elect. You are in Christ. You are forgiven, bled for, died for, buried and raised with Christ.

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Your sins have been washed away. And a couple weeks ago, we had the Lord's Supper where we feasted on the body and blood of Christ, broken and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins.

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You are his precious blood -bought children. He hears you.

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Keep crying to him day and night. And if you want to get an idea of what this looks like, well, the

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Psalms show us what these prayers look like. Psalm 79 is a perfect example of this type of prayer, that Jesus is encouraging his saints to continue to pray.

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Don't lose heart. God hears. Psalm 79 verse 1 says this, Oh God, the nations have come into your inheritance.

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They've defiled your holy temple. They've laid Jerusalem in ruins. They've given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food.

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The flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth. They've poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem.

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There was no one to bury them. We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.

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See, this is the kind of prayer that Jesus is admonishing us to pray and not lose heart.

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These prayers are not going nowhere. God hears them. The psalmist continues,

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How long, oh Lord? Will you be angry forever?

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Will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name.

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For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. Do not remember against us our former iniquities.

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And so you'll notice, kind of two tracks in a prayer like this. And this is the type of prayer. A prayer for justice, but knowing this, justice does not come until Christ returns.

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And that God is working to save sinners. Sinners like you and like me.

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If he had not been patient and slow to anger, where would we be today? So we pray, do not remember against us our former iniquities.

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God, let your compassion come speedily to meet us. For we are brought very low.

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Help us, oh God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us and atone for our sins for your name's sake.

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Why should the nation say, where is their God? Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes.

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Let the groans of the prisoners come before you according to your great power. Preserve those doomed to die.

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Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, oh Lord.

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But we are your people. We are the sheep of your pasture. We will give thanks to you forever from generation to generation.

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We will recount your praise. And so this type of prayer causes us to bring our petitions to God, to cry for justice, to cry for mercy, and to continue to trust him even if it means for a moment that evil gets the upper hand even against us.

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You can pray this prayer even if you're being marched off to your death. Don't lose heart.

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God hears your prayers. And how do I know this? Because Jesus himself prayed in this exact way.

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And you won't find Jesus's prayer in the New Testament. You're going to find

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Jesus's prayer in the Psalms. It's in Psalm 22. And watch how

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Jesus prays even in the midst of his crucifixion. Remember when

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Jesus was on the cross and he cried out, my God, my

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God, why have you forsaken me? Well, that prayer then in its entirety we see in Psalm 22.

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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning?

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Oh my God, I cry by day but you do not answer. By night but I find no rest. Yet you are holy and thrown on the praises of Israel.

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And you our fathers trusted. They trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued.

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In you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I'm a worm, not a man.

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Scorned by mankind, despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They make mouths at me.

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They wag their heads. He trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him for he delights in him.

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Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breasts.

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On you was I cast from my birth. And from my mother's womb you have been my

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God. Be not far from me for trouble is near. And there's none to help.

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Many bulls encompass me. Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion.

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And I am poured out like water. And all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax and it is melted within my breast.

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My strength is dried up like a pot shirt. And my tongue sticks to my jaws. And you lay me in the dust of death.

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Dogs encompass me. A company of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands and my feet.

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And I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat at me. And they divide my garments among them.

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And for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far off.

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O you, my help, come quickly to my aid. Deliver my soul from the sword.

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My precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion.

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You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. And I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation.

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I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him.

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And stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel. For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted.

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And he has not hidden his face from him. But he has heard when he has cried to him. So Jesus told a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

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And this is the type of prayer that we're talking about. The prayer in the now and the not yet, where we are right now.

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While the world is in labor and the birth pangs are getting stronger and getting closer together, a new world is on its way.

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It's here, but it's not yet here. And in these times of affliction, Christ has comforted us and said, do not lose heart.

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God hears your prayers. And God is nothing like that unjust judge. And he will answer your prayers speedily.

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He will not long delay to give you justice. Trust in him in the same way that Christ trusted while he was on the cross.

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Because this day, these prayers, they're answered on the great day when

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Jesus returns. And so remember, the days are coming when you will desire and long to see one of the days of the son of man.

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Right now, you will not see it. But someday you will see Christ with your very eyes.

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The one who has bled and died for you, whose hands and feet were pierced for your transgressions, whose head was bruised for your sins and your iniquities.

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He has heard your prayers, and he will answer them speedily. Do not lose heart.

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Today is the day of mercy, not the day of justice. So today it looks like evil gets the upper hand.

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But this day is coming to a close. Quickly, continue to trust.

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Do not lose heart. Christ has you. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744 We thank you for your support.

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