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Viewpoint from Michael Clarry 28/01/2022
 Michael Clarry
Elder, Great Yarmouth Adventist Church
End Time Faith
Hebrews chapter 11, better known as the ‘Faith Chapter’, starts by explaining the full meaning of ‘Faith’. Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see”
Jesus told a very interesting parable in the book of Luke! Luke 18:1-8 is known as the parable of the ‘Persistent Widow’. Jesus tells this parable to His disciples to explain about how they, and we, should pray - without giving up! Within the parable there are two main characters: - 1) The Persistent Widow; she is seeking justice in a dispute against an enemy. 2) The Judge; who doesn’t seem to care about the widow
 To paraphrase the parable, it goes as such. There was a hard and heartless judge that didn’t really care about people or their needs. A certain widow whom was having a dispute with an enemy came to the judge for help. The judge ignored her for a while, however the widow was persistent and nagged the judge for justice. Finally, the judge got tired of her nagging and carried out the justice due to appease the widow!
At first glance one would think that Jesus is misrepresenting the love and kindness of God, because clearly the judge in the parable is a fitting symbol for God! This may be so in the parable however, unlike The God of heaven, whom is full of unfailing love and is so ready to listen to anyone who turns to Him in prayer, the judge in the parable had to be hard hearted because he was not the main focus character. Jesus used the example to highlight a specific characteristic of the ‘widow’, the symbol of us! She was ‘persistent’! She didn’t give up! She fought for justice! And she got it!
This is the point that Jesus wanted to bring across. The very importance of being persistent in prayer and never giving up!
Saying all this, I have found the final part, Jesus’ explanation of the parable, to be most important as it has a direct implication to you and me! After telling the parable, Jesus explains it to His disciples and makes the point very clear on how quickly God will answer prayers opposed to the hard-hearted judge, and also how persistent God’s chosen people are to cry out to Him; but the most thought-provoking point is in the last comment that Jesus makes, “But when I return to, how many will I find on earth having faith!”. This is the comment that makes this parable so important for everyone living today. This parable is specifically told by Jesus for the people living just before He returns, and He asks “How many will He find having faith?”
I encourage everyone to kneel down and sincerely ask God to increase our faith so that when Jesus does return, we may be found having faith. Remember Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see”
May God bless you in a special way
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