Pick a Side - Luke 11:14-28 - August 13, 2023

Luke 11:14-28 Pick a Side

Good morning!

Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke chapter 11, verses 14-26, that’s on page 869 in the pew Bibles.

Today is a special day for our church family as we are having a baptism right after this sermon. In many ways baptism is a picture of exactly what this passage in Luke is really all about.

In our passage this morning Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees about who He is and where His power comes from. Their argument is untenable and inconsistent and honestly ridiculous but it gives Jesus the opportunity to challenge all who would listen to pick a side.

Let’s read our text and dive in.

14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 

24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Let’s pray.

So here we have Jesus casting out a demon that made this poor man mute and unable to speak. There is no question that Jesus had done this miraculous thing but there were some in the crowd, that Matthew in his account identifies as the Pharisees, who accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan.

Verse 15 says, some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.

Beelzebul, or Beelzebub, were other names for Satan. The word means, “dung god,” or “lord of the flies.” It was a name borrowed from the false god of Ekron, Baal-zebub which you can read about in 1 Kings 1.

Now we know that the Pharisees were motivated by jealousy to try and tear down Jesus but here He had clearly cast out a demon in the presence of a crowd and they couldn’t deny that there was supernatural power at work in Him. So instead of denying that there was supernatural power at work in Him they called into question the source of that power.

But Jesus knew their thoughts…

There is tremendous power in those words. Jesus knows the thoughts and intentions of people, of you and me. 

The thoughts and intentions of these Pharisees were far from pure. They were not standing up for the people in order to defend them from false teaching or demonic influence; they were standing up to Jesus to protect their own influence over the people. And they were clearly desperate.

…some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. This was an expression that was not unfamiliar to them either.

It is ridiculous to assert that Satan would destroy his own work in people or cast out his own agents. This is tantamount to civil war which destroys countries or constant strife within a household that ends up in ruins.

But Jesus fires back at these Pharisees and questions them and exposes their own hypocrisy.

19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

If demons can be cast out by the power of other demons, why aren’t you questioning your own followers for doing the same thing? Why is it ok for them but not for me to cast out demons by the power of God? You can see that this man has been set free from the demon, why can’t you admit that it was by the power of God that this man was set free?

The problem was that the Pharisees had chosen a side and it was not the side of Jesus. 

It would be impossible for them to recognize that it was by the Spirit of God that Jesus was casting out demons because that would mean they would have to admit that the kingdom of God had come to them and that Jesus really was Messiah.

Their little kingdom of religious influence and power was crumbling and they were desperately trying to hold it together.

Jesus goes on to give a great picture of exactly what was going on in the spiritual realm through His ministry and even in that very moment.

21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.

The strong man in this picture is clearly Satan, fully armed with all his devices, guarding his palace, the goods of which are the hearts and minds of his captives.

But when One stronger than he, that’s Jesus, attacks him and overcomes him he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 

Satan is a defeated foe. But that doesn’t mean that he’s gone, not yet. We talked about his final destination last week from Revelation 20, the lake of fire, but he isn’t in there yet.

Don’t be misled, we are at war, but we are not at war with people. 

The kingdom of God is at war with the kingdom of Satan, but those who reject Christ are not Satan’s soldiers, they are Satan’s captives just like the poor man possessed by the demon that made him mute.

But Jesus makes it very clear that there is no neutral ground. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 

Jesus is declaring that He is for the kingdom of God and there is only His way into it. There is no other way to gain entrance to God’s kingdom, not the religion of the Pharisees, not being a good person, not doing good works, not practicing some other religion thinking that they are all the same and all lead to God, they don’t.

Jesus refers back to the man who was now free from the demon in verse 24.

24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

The man who had been exorcised of the demon now had a choice to make. The demon had gone but not for long. If this man did not trust in Jesus so that he might be filled with the Holy Spirit, that demon would come back with his friends to find his old house all cleaned up and ready for him and that poor guy would be worse off than he was before.

He couldn’t just say, “Thanks Jesus!” and walk away, to choose neutrality is to chose the enemy because there is no neutral ground.

I’m sure I’m not alone in knowing people that have received wakeup call after wakeup call from the Lord and they might praise Him for helping them but still do not put their trust in Jesus. It’s heartbreaking.

The people there that day had to make a choice, the man cleansed of the evil spirit had to make a choice, they had to make up their minds. “What do we do with Jesus?”

There is no neutral ground. There is no neutral ground. There is dead and there is alive, that’s it.

Dead because of sin or alive because of faith in Jesus, those are the only two options. 

Ephesians 2 says, …you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

These folks that are getting in the water today have made their choice and are being baptized to publically declare that they trust in Jesus to save them from their sin, that they have accepted the truth that Jesus died in their place on the cross, that they have turned from their sin and have committed to follow Jesus according to His Word.

If you still haven’t made that choice you can right now.

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Amen.

Impudence and the Grouchy Neighbor - Luke 11:5-13 - July 23, 2023

 Luke 11:5-13 Impudence and the Grouchy Neighbor

Good morning! I want to begin this morning with an important disclaimer. The sermon that you are about to hear is, by definition, hypocrisy. Meaning, that what I am about to say to so over the next half hour or so is not what I do well if I do it at all. 

The beauty in that, is that all the authority is in the Word of God and not in my words. These words were spoken and recorded over two thousand years ago and they are still true today just like they were then because they are God’s words.

So with that in mind, we will turn our attention to the topic of prayer as recorded in Luke 11:5-13, and that’s on page 869 in the pew Bibles.

You may remember from last week we addressed the Lord’s Prayer and that’s why Luke recorded these words of Jesus kind if thematically rather than chronologically; meaning, that Jesus most likely gave this teaching at a different time that He gave the Lord’s Prayer.

So let’s look at the text together. 

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Let’s pray.

This business of preaching is a difficult thing. In my study this week in preparation for today’s message I’ve had to wrestle with some long held misconceptions I’ve had about our Heavenly Father. This is often the danger when we read the Bible with only ourselves and our own good in mind, or what we think is our own good anyway.

The Lord Jesus gives us this little story about a man who had a friend on a long journey stop by his house unexpectedly and he had nothing to give his friend to eat. So the man goes to his other friend who lives nearby at midnight and asks him for some bread to give his friend to eat.

Now, I’ll tell you it doesn’t matter what culture you’re from, or what century you live in, going to a friend’s house at midnight when the doors are shut and the lights are out asking for bread is not the thing to do.

But that’s what this man did. He woke up his friend and asked him for bread to set before the weary traveler. And how did his sleeping friend respond? ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’

This is a pretty polite response I can imagine. 

First Century Palestine was pretty much one room living for most folks so banging on this guy’s door in the middle of the night now meant everybody in the house was awake. In fact, the houses were so close together, sometimes sharing adjoining walls, most likely the neighbors on either side were woken up by this as well. But the man persisted and his friend relented.

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

Because of his impudence… That bears some definition. Impudence means audacity, insolence, shamelessness, a lack of sensitivity to what is proper.

This man shamelessly persisted in his asking for bread in the face of all that seems reasonable.

 Add to this Jesus’ following words, “9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Now the tenses of the Greek words for “ask, seek, and knock,” are important. Perhaps you’ve heard this before, they are in the present, active, imperative. Which means that the instruction is to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, and it will be given to you, you will find, and it will be opened to you.

Take a minute and think about this. What kind of picture of prayer does this paint in your mind?

The clear implication is that we are the friend who has a guest show up at midnight with no bread to offer them and so we go to God with our need and we persistently must keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking until what? 

Be honest, it’s keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking until God gets so annoyed with us that He gives us what we are asking for so that we will shut up and go away. Isn’t that the truth?

But is that really what Jesus is saying?

We tend to get wrapped up in the ask, seek, knock part but remove it from its whole context which makes this passage much more beautiful. Look at verse 11.

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The instructions from Jesus here are not to just keep on praying for whatever thing until God relents.

We are certainly encouraged to pray by the Lord Jesus here but not like an impudent friend at the door of an annoyed formerly sleeping friend.

Warren Wiersbe said, “In this parable, Jesus did not say that God is like a grouchy neighbor. In fact, it’s just the opposite. If a tired and selfish neighbor finally meets the needs of a bothersome friend, how much more will a loving heavenly Father meet the needs of His own dear children?”

 Jesus doesn’t give us the threefold instruction to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking because the Father won’t listen to us until we’ve put adequate time into the effort but rather because of our own mistrust that God knows what is good for us.

We ask and keep on asking because we don’t trust that He has heard us, we seek and keep on seeking because we think that He has hidden what is good for us, we knock and keep on knocking because we think that He has locked away what is best for us.

But none of that is true.

We are instructed to persist in prayer, not so that God will relent but so we will.

After a while we start to question our motivation if we are wise, and we start to ask ourselves, “Why do I want this thing that I’ve been asking for? Is it for my glory or for His, is it so my life would be easier or comfortable, so things wouldn’t be hard for me or for those I love?”

Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-33,

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

God knows what is good for us and what is good for us is more of Him.

When we recognize our dependence on Him and make His kingdom and His glory our priority our prayers start to shift. Our focus in prayer starts to move away from the things that we want to the things that will bring our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ the most glory.

But we are certainly instructed here to pray sincerely, consistently, and urgently. But we are not heard by a grouchy God that just wants us to leave Him alone, we are heard by a loving heavenly Father that wants better for us, for others, and for the church than we could ever realize.

John Calvin wrote, “Nothing is better adapted to excite us to prayer than a full conviction that we shall be heard. Those who doubt can only pray in an indifferent manner; and prayer, unaccompanied by faith, is an idle and unmeaning ceremony. Accordingly, Christ, in order to excite us powerfully to this part of our duty, not only enjoins what we ought to do, but promises that our prayers will not be fruitless.”

Ephesians 3:11-12 says that we have boldness and access with confidence to the Father through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, we can, as RC Sproul said, “Pray like we mean it,” because we have a good, loving, heavenly Father that wants to give us good things according to His good and perfect will. 

And when we pray for things that are not according to His will, He will say, “no,” for our good, for the good of others, and for the good of the church.”

So let’s pray with the Lord Jesus, “Not my will but yours be done.”

Amen.

Lord, Teach Us to Pray - Luke 11:1-4 - July 16, 2023

 Luke 11:1-4 Lord, Teach Us to Pray

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 11:1-4, and that’s on page 869 in the pew Bibles.

This morning we are going to turn our attention to some of the most well known words of Jesus, or at least a version of them in Luke 11, a passage known as the Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew records these words and includes them during the Sermon on the Mount, Luke, includes it more thematically in this section on prayer not chronologically.

There are actually two prayers in our text this morning, one from the disciples and one for the disciples, let’s look at the text and see.

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

Now it’s our turn, let’s pray.

Did you see the two prayers in the text?

The first prayer is from the disciples: “Lord teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

This is a good prayer, there is wisdom in that prayer.

John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray, and now One far greater than John is here, Lord teach us how we ought to pray.

Matthew excludes this first prayer, instead he records Jesus saying in Matthew 6:7-9, 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

This is a good reminder to start out with, don’t heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words…

This is an echo of something we talked about last week, performance based Christianity. Our prayers are not more effective if they’re longer. They are not more effective if they are more eloquent. They are not more effective if we say “Father,” or, “Lord,” every other word.

There is also a key difference between Matthew’s record and Luke’s.

Matthew records Jesus saying, “Pray then like this,” and Luke records Jesus saying, “When you pray, say…”

This is not a contradiction, it’s not a restrictor, it’s a broadener of our understanding of prayer. The fact that the Holy Spirit included both in His Word means that this prayer of Jesus is good for us to use in its very words as well as in its formula for prayer, its categories.

What I mean to say is that if you want to memorize the Lord’s Prayer and recite it daily, go for it, if you want to use the Lord’s Prayer as a framework for how you pray and what you pray for, go for it, these are its intended purpose, provided you aren’t just heaping up empty words, rather praying from your heart.

I’d like to give our time this morning to examining the categories and formula of the Lord’s Prayer.

Because, as John Calvin wrote, “It was not the intention of the Son of God to prescribe the words which we must use, so as not to leave us at liberty to depart from the form which He has dictated. His intention rather was, to guide and restrain our wishes, that they might not go beyond those limits: and hence we infer, that the rule which He has given us for praying aright relates not to the words, but to the things themselves.”

Just like the Ten Commandments have two distinct tables within them, one table concerned with loving the Lord your God and the other with loving your neighbor, the Lord’s Prayer had two distinct sections even within Luke’s abbreviated version.

And Just like the Ten Commandments the first portion of this prayer is concerned with the glory of God and second with the good of the person praying. So let’s look at those component parts one at a time.

The first part, the first word, is the most important and, in that day, the most controversial: “Father.”

What made praying to God and calling Him, “Father,” controversial? It’s not at all controversial today. It’s a popular notion that God is Father of all people ever; that we are all children of God because He is the Creator. And while it’s true that everyone was created by God we are not His natural children, merely His creation. The only way to become a child of God is through adoption.

When Jesus called God, “Father,” the First Century Jewish understanding was that Jesus was Himself claiming to be God, to be equal with God. This is exactly what the Pharisees charged Him with that led to His crucifixion.

John 5:18 says, This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus refers to God as His Father in all His recorded prayers except His prayer from the cross where He quoted Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But as controversial as it was for Jesus to call God, “Father,” it is beneficial for us, His disciples, to call Him, “Father.” In fact, it is only because we are His disciples that we are able to call God Father, because it is only by faith in Jesus Christ that we are adopted as God’s children.

We can’t call on God as Father without faith in Christ that makes us His children – there is no other way of praying rightly without dependence on the Mediator, Jesus.

As Romans 8:14-16 says,

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…

Abba, Father, hallowed be your Name.

What does that mean, hallowed be your Name? It means that the Name of God is to be revered as holy, that the Father deserves all the glory, weight, and worth that we could ascribe to Him, that the glory of the Lord would shine in the world and be duly acknowledged by all mankind. His Name should never be used as a curse word, nor should His Name be thrown around and slandered. 

His Name is holy and as such we should regard what He says to be right, no matter what. We must embrace His Word with the obedience of faith because He stands completely apart as something wholly other and completely higher than us.

Your kingdom come.

I used to think that this meant the return of Christ, that we were instructed to pray for the coming of God’s eternal kingdom. The truth is, the date for that is already set and the Father is the only One who knows it.

In reality, in praying for the Father’s kingdom to come we are praying for His reign in the hearts of mankind through faith in Jesus through the preaching of His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit.

We are praying that He would subdue the desires of the flesh. Really, what is prayer other than an admission of our powerlessness and His almightiness? When we pray rightly we submit to the power and will of the Father in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

We ought to check our prayers and see if they sound different from that.

The first half of this prayer is the same as the first table of the Law, loving the Lord your God, your Father through faith in Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And what about the second half? In the second half we can see Jesus’ concern for our present, our past, and our future.

Give us each day our daily bread… Here we pray for the present.

Is it wrong to pray that the Father would provide temporal necessities for daily living? Obviously not!

But there is a restraint built in for us, to restrain our desires and to teach us that we depend every moment on the goodness and kindness of God. Not to teach us to depend on God but to teach us that we depend on God whether we realize it or not.

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us… Here we pray about our past, even if it is very recent past.

First of all let me say that Jesus is not saying that our forgiveness is based on our forgiveness of others, rather, that He is implying that we ought not be so bold as to ask forgiveness for sins without the willingness to forgive others.

Sin is a moral debt, a debt that we can never repay. When Jesus died on the cross one of His last words was, “tetelestai,” “it is finished.” This word literally means, “the debt is paid,” the moral debt that we owed God has been paid by the blood of Christ and only by faith in Him can we receive the credit for that payment into our moral bank account.

And finally, lead us not into temptation… This is prayer for our future.

James 1:13-15 says,

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

It is not God that leads us into temptation, in fact, unless God Himself delivers us we will constantly and consistently fail. We have no strength for living a holy life except that we obtain it from the Father.

Our prayer is that the Father will lead us away from the situations and circumstances that will test our resolve against both the inward and outward pressure and desire to sin.

The devil wants to tempt us, he wants us to fail, he wants us to be destroyed. But look at your flesh, your carnal desires, are they any different? If left on our own we would destroy ourselves for sure, without the Father’s intervention we are done for.

John Calvin again wrote, “Whenever we engage in prayer, there are two things to be considered, both that we may have access to God, and that we may rely on Him with full and unshaken confidence.”

The Lord’s Payer give us a framework for prayer, a framework for worship and submission, or dependence and forgiveness. As Martin Luther put it, “The Christian prays a never-ending Lord’s prayer.”

Amen.