04-28-2024 – Snakes, Scorpions or SPIRIT?

Bible Text: Luke 11:11-13 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke | Above are the links to YouTube and audio recordings.

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April 28, 2024
“Snakes, Scorpions or SPIRIT?”
    

Read Luke 11:11-13….  Fathers are to care for their children. If your son is asking for food, would you give him something that could hurt him?  Of course not!

Jesus said something similar (Matthew 7:9), “What man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf [of bread], will give him a stone?”  That’s the principle Jesus is teaching in Luke 11, that a man takes care of his children, i.e., when his children come to him with needs, he seeks to provide for them.

This is clearly not about snakes verses fish, or scorpions verses eggs.  So what is Jesus getting at?  Look again at verse 13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Jesus has been teaching His followers, in Luke 11, that they can pray at any time, anywhere, no matter how simple or complicated their needs might be.  We are taught (cf. Luke 11:1-4) how to pray in accordance with what is pleasing to God; and (Luke 11:5-10) that we should be persistent in bringing our needs to God the Father, for He desires to provide for us what we require.

In Luke 11:11-13, Jesus teaches us that even sinful humanity, i.e., earthly fathers, give their children what they need; and so how much more will God the Father, who is not evil but in fact is holy, provide perfectly and completely for His children, all true believers and followers of Jesus Christ.

If you are a Christian, a born-again son or daughter of Almighty God, who is holy and righteous, you have been justified through the death and resurrection of God’s Son (Romans 3:10-12, 23-24; 5:8; 6:23; 8:1; 10:9-10, 13).

2Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 21, “He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

When a Christian prays to God, asking for his or her needs to be met, Luke 11:13 says God gives them the Holy Spirit.  This is very interesting, because in a parallel passage (Matthew 7:11), we read, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

The most awesome gift God can give us and magnify in us, is the Holy Spirit, also called the Comforter, the Helper, the Teacher, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Power, the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ.

When you go to God in prayer He reminds you that He has provided you with the Holy Spirit, the Giver and the Source of all of God’s Gifts!

God’s children are indwelled by and filled with the Spirit of God, through Whom, we have received, “The fruit of the [Holy] Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23), “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

When you become a child of God, you are given everything you need, i.e., God places in you the source of every good thing, as Paul says (1Corinthians 6:19-20) “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

At spiritual birth, God puts His Spirit in us, the Giver and Source of all good things. The Holy Spirit, God the Spirit, is the third member of the God-Head, and He marks us as God’s possession (Ephesians 1:13-14), “In [Christ], you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

God fills us with His Spirit, then He places us in the Body of Christ, His Church (1Corinthians 12:12-14), “Even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.” 18, “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired,” 20, “There are many members, but one body,” 27, “You are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”

Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

“According to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20), is speaking of the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:1), “Christ Jesus,” 4, “was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness.”

 

Let’s talk about the The Trinity, the Triunity of God, for a moment.  God’s Word is very clear that there is but one living and true God (see Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1Corinthians 8:4), eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  Each Person is equally deserving of honor and worship, for each Member of the God-Head is eternal, and equal in essence, power, and glory.

No wonder Paul ends the Book of 2Corinthians with this verse (13:14), “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God [the Father], and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”

The Divine Title of God is applied to the three persons of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (see Exodus 20:2; John 20:28; Acts 5:3-4).

The Doctrine of the Triunity of God is comprehensively taught in Scripture (see Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; Romans 8:9; 1Corinthians 12:3-6; 2Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1Peter 1:2; Jude 1:20-21).

Each Person of the Trinity is described as: Eternal (Romans 16:26; Revelation 22:13; Hebrews 9:14); Holy (Revelation 4:8; 15:4; Acts 3:14; 1John 2:20).

Omnipresent (Jeremiah 23:24; Ephesians 1:23; Psalms 139:7); Omnipotent (Genesis 17:1; Revelation 1:8; Romans 15:19; Jeremiah 32:17; Hebrews 1:3; Luke 1:35); Omniscient (Acts 15:18; John 21:17; 1Corinthians 2:10-11).        Each Person of the Trinity is described as: Creator (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:16; Job 26:14; 33:4; Psalms 148:5; John 1:3); Sanctifier (Jude 1:1; Hebrews 2:11; 1Peter 1:2); Source of eternal life (Romans 6:23; John 10:28; Galatians 6:8); Teacher (Isaiah 48:17; 54:13; Luke 21:15; John 14:26; Galatians 1:12; 1John 2:20).

Salvation is the work of each Person of the Trinity (see 2Thessalonians 2:13-14; Titus 3:4-6; 1Peter 1:2), and Baptism is administered in the name of each Person of the Trinity (see Matthew 28:19).

God puts His Spirit in us to empower, equip, and encourage us, to do the works of God (Ephesians 2:10), “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Two months ago we studied the teaching of Jesus in Luke 11:1-4, where we are taught how to pray, who to pray to, and what to pray for?  Last week we studied the teaching of Jesus in Luke 11:5-8, where Jesus gives us a parable about coming to God in prayer for what we need, and being persistent in our prayers to God, as Paul writes (1Thessalonians 5:17), “pray without ceasing!”

 

In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus reiterates a very important truth about prayer, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”

God wants intimate relationship with His children, we can talk with Him anytime, anywhere, and we can ask Him for anything that aligns with His will, anything that is pleasing to Him, and He will provide it.

We are told to pray to the Father, through (or in the name of) the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit; for all three are active participants in the prayers of Christians.

    Jesus said (Matthew 6:9), “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.’”

    Jesus said (John 16:23), “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.”

    Stephen, while being stoned to death (Acts 7:59) prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60, “Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them!’ Having said this, he [died].”

    Paul says (Ephesians 5:20) we are to be “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father,” (1Thessalonians 5:16-18), “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

 

Romans 8:26, “We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

 

Jude 21, “Praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God.”

 

Prayer is, at its very core, worship. We praise God for Who He is: Creator, Sustainer, Lord, Savior, Judge over all.  When we offer up prayers of thanksgiving, we are worshiping His goodness, mercy, and faithfulness to us, for God is Love.

 

Worship gives glory to God, and He (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is the only One who deserves worship, for He alone is to be praised, He alone is to receive glory.

 

Revelation 4:11, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

 

Revelation 5:12-13, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

 

Revelation 7:12, “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

 

We are to pray to the Father, through (or in the name of) the Son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  To pray in someone’s name means to pray for what they would want, to pray for what would please them.

 

We are to pray all the time, everywhere, for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, thankful for God’s provision of our daily needs, for God’s Spirit to guide us into all truth and to strengthen us, so we will live in a manner that honors God, as we reach out with the Message of Salvation to the lost, while edifying and encouraging our brothers and sisters in Christ, as we serve together in the Church, the Body of Christ, the Family of God.

 

2Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God [the

Father], and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”

 

 
Pastor Mike Hale
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